<p>Sculpted Moon:
Who in the world said my daughter spends all of her time in the dorm room?? She has a job and does work some in the studios. My complaints, if you had ever actually read them and maybe comprehended them, expressed that her problems took place during the very late night hours when she tried to sleep or during the 9 to 10 p.m. range, when it is healthy for a teen to study. Kids on the other floor where she lived were making noise hanging out ALL night long on a couch, in the hall, that wasn’t supposed to be there, probably taken from the lounge. It was also a zoo at her previous dorm floor in the bathroom, and right outside the bathroom. Please read what I wrote instead of casting aspersions for the sake of it, as another poster indicated. By the way, “Reading is Fundamental.” Sorry I don’t view the world through rose colored glasses.</p>
<p>I really miss those “Reading is Fundamental” vans that used to deliver books in my neighborhood when I was a child…</p>
<p>I read it CD. As I stated, I have been reading this thread since August as well as your other one about the nightmare known as American University according to Cadmiumred and Mini Red. As this juncture I would be surprised if you or your “daughter” even could point out the shade cadmium red or any other in the spectrum, for that matter, as I do not believe that she nor her advanced talent in art exists.</p>
<p>Thank you to everyone else for the warm welcome. DC is such a vibrant, diverse and manageable city; it is a wonderful place for a young adult to study. I am happy for all of our (existing) children at this exciting time in their lives.</p>
<p>We will also cut down on the meal plan next semester. She can’t eat that much and isn’t using it…did it to be on the safe side. The fridge holds a lot and she likes to go to Whole Foods and another grocery store…</p>
<p>sculptedmoon - welcome! DC is fabulous. D is loving AU and the city.</p>
<p>My son is almost down to zero eagle bucks, and wants a refill. He has a fridge but isn’t eating the cereal I brought for him. and I think he’s using eagle bucks instead of his meal plan (he has the lowest meal plan but never eats breakfast there and rarely eats lunch there) GRRR! He thinks I should refill his eagle bucks because “he’s only a freshman” and still learning how to budget and he wasn’t able to get a job this past summer to build up his bank account. I would like to help him learn by not refilling the eagle bucks - but I am concerned that any limit I set will futile because my husband will probably refill it anyway.</p>
<p>I’ve had to restock Eagle Bucks twice, and have had a couple of unpleasant conversations on the subject with D. (I think the non-dining hall options are pricey and the Eagle Bucks disappear fast.) She is eating in the dining hall more often now. Second semester I’m going to go down to the 100 block plan and put the difference into Eagle Bucks and see how that works out. Things were simpler when I was in college; there were no food temptations on campus, and it was eat at the one of the dining halls or starve!</p>
<p>D visited the Newseum recently, liked it, and wants to revisit with us during Family Weekend. Over the years, between college tours and school and family trips we’ve all seen a lot of DC’s sights, so it’s nice to have something new. I’d like to see “The Wild Party” at AU, but D’s theater class is seeing it as a group (not very good planning). As the family’s political junkie, I’d also enjoy the panel discussion with Michael Steele and Harold Ford, Jr., but that will be a hard sell for H and D. Hope you all have a great time!</p>
<p>I’m also about to restock the Eaglebucks for a second time.</p>
<p>S is on the 200 block plan and seems to be using it. But he always seems to want that “fourth meal”–he is very physically active and seems to burn through calories.</p>
<p>We stocked his room with a lot of breakfast and snack type relatively healthy foods but they are long gone.</p>
<p>Ruth is not well. In one post the paranoid “mother” accuses someone of hiding “behind the persona” of a wife, and then in another post paranoid “mother” asks if SHE gets credit for attending a class if SHE enrolled on Friday. I suspect this family has met their mental health deductible.</p>
<p>-cadmiumred
-“Mini: Interesting, you say my daughter doesn’t exist, when you hide behind the persona of your wife, “Ellen.” No one ever knows to whom they are responding. Ellen, the nurse, claims that her husband also posts through her “mini” threads, but also says she never knows when? On a number of posts, parents are confused and think you are a mom. Once, on a past thread, you corrected a poster, and actually said you were a father. You post negative responses, and your wife takes the blame. She then tries to distance herself by signing some of her posts as “Ellen.” Everyone check out all " mini " threads and you’ll see what he or she does. Thank goodness I am honest and actually care about
my family and others.”</p>
<p>-cadmiumred
-“I meant will I get credit for attendance if I enrolled fri. and clicked today?”</p>
<p>Hmm…haven’t refilled Eagle Bucks at all. D does have a babysitting job and buys healthy (I hope) snacks with that. I was down in Sept and stocked her on some stuff and send stuff from here…but she said the 200 is too many meals so I am happy to decrease it! I’d love to go down again but we’ll see…</p>
<p>I’m starting to think that Cadmium Red is AJay Bruno. Hope there are other current AU students/recent alumni who can back me up on this…</p>
<p>Those who don’t know could probably google and find something. AU kicked him out for harassing female students, particularly in College Republicans. Never had a good thing to say before he came to American and I suppose he definitely doesn’t now. Anyway, he’s anti-social and lives solely through the internet. Thinks he’s going to be President. He was at AU just long enough to know something about what goes on in the dorms and lived on North Side in Leonard. Also had several roommate changes…</p>
<p>I would say just stop responding.</p>
<p>Our daughter is a HS Junior and AU is on our ‘list’. Planning to come out for a visit over our Spring Break. Any advice? </p>
<p>CR - you really don’t need to respond, my sides are sore from laughing at your posts already, thanks</p>
<p>Our D did not do an overnight at AU but did spend much of a day with a current student going to classes and meals with him and his friends. She got a lot of useful information and a feel of the school that way. That was in the fall of her senior year. The previous spring she had visited when she was in DC for another event and got a tour of the school by a friend who was finishing up his MA in Public Administration. </p>
<p>Good luck in your college search.
Ellen</p>
<p>Like Ellen says, it would be good to accompany a friend on campus to get a realistic view. it would also be good to schedule an individual interview with admissions , and maybe a meeting with a department she is interested in , to find out what her curriculum might look like once she would be on campus.</p>
<p>Actually the day our D spent with a going to classes was set up by the admissions office. Accompanying a friend would certainly work if the prospective student has a friend going to the school. I assume you can do overnights as well but many schools only do those for seniors.
Ellen</p>
<p>Update–</p>
<p>H and I spent the weekend back in Ohio (we moved to Chicago over the summer) to visit friends and to deal with some issues with our house that hasn’t sold yet. Son called home Thursday night to ask if he could meet us in Ohio as he had no classes on Friday or Monday–he found a $178 round trip ticket out of BWI so we got to spend the weekend together back “home.”</p>
<p>We went to both boys’ and girls’ soccer games–it’s so much fun to watch when you know all the kids playing, but your kid isn’t the on-field target for the other team. </p>
<p>Son was very chatty this weekend–not necessarily directly to us, but we got to overhear what he was telling his old friends and his teachers, so we learned a lot.
He is just so happy! Strong grades at midterm–not perfect, but strong–likes his classes and professors, loves all the resources that are available, feels that he is at the beginning of some friendships that will sustain him all his life, a lot of those all-night philosphical conversations.</p>
<p>He’s very at peace with his decision not to play soccer at the college level, although he had opportunities. Playing for the AU club team is enough–it’s the first time in a long time that he can have both a social life and an academic life. Club soccer and his other major EC consumed his time outside of academics since middle school so he feels like he is breathing fresh air actually having time to hang out, go to parties, etc.–he feels like he has so much free time!</p>
<p>He made an interesting observation at one point–he actually came over during one of the games to sit with H and me, instead of in the student section–saying that he didn’t feel “comfortable” with all the high school students so much any more, that they seemed so young to him! He was put off by all the “social posturing” and “whispering” of the “high school kids.” </p>
<p>I think in high school he was basically oblivious to it–he was either on the field, or , if the high school season was over, he was away with his club team or with his EC. He never thought much about competition or popularity because it didn’t concern him–when he was one of the 10 senior boys on the honor court for Winter Homecoming (at our school, the Queen is elected at football, the King is elected at basketball, and together they have the first dance at Prom)–he wore a sign saying “Vote For XXX”, a developmentally handicapped student who also was nominated for King, and persuaded several others to do the same. I never even knew he had been one of the 10 because he never told me! because he had no intention of becoming King, so I didn’t need to be at the basketball game. (Yes, XXX won the election).</p>
<p>So, other than the fact our house isn’t selling, we had a great weekend! </p>
<p>I hope some of you got to enjoy your kids over break this weekend, or that you will enjoy them next weekend at Family Weekend!</p>
<p>Just wanted to point out that all freshmen living on campus have to purchase the 150 meal plan or higher. I wish I could reduce the plan for my daughter, who doesn’t eat in the cafeteria that much, but we can’t do that until next year.
[American</a> University Dining Services | Meal PLan Options](<a href=“http://www.american.edu/ocl/dining/mealplans.cfm]American”>American University Washington D.C.)</p>
<p>Groan. I wondered if we could reduce it next semester but I guess no - ? bummer. She is only eating like 10 a week!!!</p>
<p>The 150 meal plan works out to about 10 meals a week, and the 200 meal plan is about 12 meals / week.</p>
<p>I think they lose money on my son.</p>
<p>Is it true that your date to register for classes for spring, if you are a freshman, is based on the the number of AP credits you came in with, and not how many credits you are currently taking? Why don’t freshman all register at the same time? Not all schools offered APs or IB???
No other schools do this, do they? You could be pushed into December trying to register for classes that are all already filled.</p>
<p>Yes, CR all other schools do this…it’s based not just on AP or IB a student comes in with but the fact that those students (and others who have taken “for credit” courses in HS) have more credits going into registration; it’s based on # of overall credit…my older daughter entered college as a 2nd semester freshman fwiw and always registers earlier than her peers.</p>