Parents of College Class of 2018 (A.K.A., "Is this the line to the poor house?")

[elgerber]

DD had her 2 day orientation 2 weeks ago. She is all registered for her classes and met her roommate who she connected with on RoomSync. They both attended the same orientation session. DD came down with a nasty cold a couple of days after we returned from her NYC graduation trip, so she had to go to orientation kind of icky. Luckily the worst day of her cold was the day before orientation where she slept on and off throughout the day, so it could have been worse. Now that she knows her roommate (who wants to coordinate dorm stuff) we get to start shopping for her dorm. I'm asking friends to save their BB&B 20% off coupons for us. The dorm stuff should be in the stores right after the 4th of July. Summer is already half over for DD! I'm guessing by now that everyone has been through graduation and are now hopefully enjoying summer! Do we need to migrate to a new thread -- college class of 2018?

Our bed bath and beyond has had the dorm stuff out for a couple of weeks already.

 

[TLuvsD]

If you have a local Container Store, they may do a Dorm Night event...everything you purchase that night is a certain percent off. They do have some nice things, but they can be pricey.

Be sure you know what your student's dorm allows, provides, and forbids before you go shopping!

BBB will let you shop at your local store and pick up at the store near the college if that is more convenient for you. You can "sort" your pick up pile (ie take things out). They will have it all gathered up for your pick up, but a lot of students use this option so be prepared for some lines. Still, it saves a lot of space and hassle if the college is some distance from home (particularly if you have to fly to move in). Those space saving hangers are amazing.....

 

[tyedye]

Wow! I've seen so many folks mention that their kids have had orientation already. It seems like my DS is the only one who has to wait until he is on campus in August.....

Same here, DS orientation is the Friday and Sat before classes start. He doesn't even register for classes until then too. Graduation was last week so we are finally getting into 'summer' mode and it seems it's now time for get ready for college mode!

I haven't posted much but I've tried to keep up reading this thread. There is so much going on right now and yet we have so much to do in such a short time.

Does anyone know what size laptop screen most students have in college? DS doesn't know what to get and the school sells 2 (a 13 and 14" screen size) but I think we will buy our own and I've told him he will need to carry it around at times etc but any input is appreciated as I'm not getting info from DS. Thanks in advance.

 

[mom2rtk]

Does anyone know what size laptop screen most students have in college? DS doesn't know what to get and the school sells 2 (a 13 and 14" screen size) but I think we will buy our own and I've told him he will need to carry it around at times etc but any input is appreciated as I'm not getting info from DS. Thanks in advance.

My son had a laptop already, so we didn't do any research. But I do know that when we took him to school we found out that the school's IT department was actually authorized to do warranty work on Dell computers. So I wished we had gotten one of those. So you might call school and find out if they have a brand (or size) they recommend.

That said, my son got a virus at one point on his computer, and they were able to help him out anyway.

 

[sk!mom]

My DD got the 13inch Macbook air. She wanted the 12 hour battery and light weight. We checked with her University before purchasing.

DD got the call last week that she got the job that she interviewed for while at her orientation. It seems like it will be the perfect job for a ballet dancer turned college student. She'll be the all around assistant for a local ballet school. She'll teach a few classes, work the office, staff the boutique, fit pointe shoes, sell Nutcracker tickets- basically whatever they need on any given day. It will only be Mon-Thurs for 3 hours a day. They'll pay her $10 an hour.

I was a bit concerned about her determination to get a job immediately. I had been thinking that maybe my irl friends who are mostly having their students take the first semester or year to settle into school without work were right but this seems like an opportunity for her to get immediately involved in a community that she has grown up in. The hours should leave plenty of time for school and school activities and the pay is a bonus- she can work fewer hours. She and I will drive back up there in a couple of weeks so that she can train with them for a day.

Next on the list is researching the best deal on her books. Time is getting short and last week the dentist threw in the need to have her wisdom teeth out before she goes.

 

[tyedye]

The 2 the school sells are both Dell but for the specs the price seems really high. It says they are covered under warranty thru them etc but my experiences with that are that if we need to use the warranty then whatever is the problem prob won't be covered... but even still we could buy almost 3 laptops for the price they are charging.

One other question about laptops, the school website says the minimum requirements needed for the computer and doesn't list a dvd drive, is there any need for one in a laptop? I have one on mine but I back up my pics to a data dvd so I need it. I could always buy an external one that he could keep in his room when needed I guess.

 

[sk!mom]

In our laptop research, it seemed that DVD's are on their way to being obsolete and are included less often. If DD ends up wanting one, she'll get an external.

 

[cedricandsophie]

My grand daughter had orientation last week at university of Illinois It started with kids and adults then the kids went with their college..ie LAS.. And then broke into smaller groups by discipline. She is in chemistry so she has a heavy load first semester but was able to AP out of a couple 100 level courses. She didn't like her dorm assignment so asked for a change and won't know her roommate until her dorm is confirmed. I wncourage parents to go to parent sessions..very informative. Kind of amuses me when I see how anxious parents get about separation. She has been at boarding school since 8th grade in canada and only came home on short breaks and summer. Having her only a 2 hour drive away will be great. It's fun to see how excited she is to start a new chapter. My biggest concern for her is managing her free time. At her school she had regulated hours for everything like meals, study time, sports and so on. Plus lots of tutoring help available all the time. And teachers that knew you and constantly followed up. I've reminded her a few times that now it is entirely up to her and that her teachers for the most part won't really know her or care about her needs or feelings. It will be interesting to see how she handles being part of a 100 plus class rather than one of 12. Also parents be prepared for the fact you have few rights...can't request grades or talk to teachers about your kid unless he gives written permission. And as one counselor said just because you don't hear from them for a couple of days doesn't mean they are dead...just not interested in you. Also don't call or even email. Text and you are likely to get immediate response. Might be...stop texting me so much...but at least it's response.

 

[mom2rtk]

My grand daughter had orientation last week at university of Illinois It started with kids and adults then the kids went with their college..ie LAS.. And then broke into smaller groups by discipline. She is in chemistry so she has a heavy load first semester but was able to AP out of a couple 100 level courses. She didn't like her dorm assignment so asked for a change and won't know her roommate until her dorm is confirmed. I wncourage parents to go to parent sessions..very informative. Kind of amuses me when I see how anxious parents get about separation. She has been at boarding school since 8th grade in canada and only came home on short breaks and summer. Having her only a 2 hour drive away will be great. It's fun to see how excited she is to start a new chapter. My biggest concern for her is managing her free time. At her school she had regulated hours for everything like meals, study time, sports and so on. Plus lots of tutoring help available all the time. And teachers that knew you and constantly followed up. I've reminded her a few times that now it is entirely up to her and that her teachers for the most part won't really know her or care about her needs or feelings. It will be interesting to see how she handles being part of a 100 plus class rather than one of 12. Also parents be prepared for the fact you have few rights...can't request grades or talk to teachers about your kid unless he gives written permission. And as one counselor said just because you don't hear from them for a couple of days doesn't mean they are dead...just not interested in you. Also don't call or even email. Text and you are likely to get immediate response. Might be...stop texting me so much...but at least it's response.

No need to be amused by people being anxious about the separation. Your experience having your GD in boarding school is definitely the exception to the rule. For most, having a child leave for college as a huge adjustment for both sides, and it's quite reasonable to be nervous about such a big change. I'm sure everyone will work their way through it just as we did when our son left last year.

And yes, it's quite normal to not hear from them for days at a time. And no, that doesn't mean they are dead. But it also doesn't necessarily mean they aren't interested in you. Maybe they are busy with their work? I was actually happy when mine started calling less often. And no, he wasn't sick of me or anything of the sort. It just meant he was adjusting. Or caught up in his very hectic schedule. And that made me very happy.

 

[Gina]

Be sure you know what your student's dorm allows, provides, and forbids before you go shopping!

BB&B has a neat kinda hidden feature where you can search for a school and pull up what's provided/allowed/not allowed, as well as the closest BB&B to the school:

http://www.bedbathandbeyond.com/store/selfservice/FindCollege

Next on the list is researching the best deal on her books. Time is getting short and last week the dentist threw in the need to have her wisdom teeth out before she goes.

Sorry for all the websites! But this one is my favorite for textbooks: www.cheapesttextbooks.com

Paste the ISBN number in and it searches in real time for prices and shopping sites. I've frequently double-checked it against the actual sites it gives, and it has always been right down to the penny. Very helpful!! And no, I don't do all this for my son, I promise -- I went back and finished my degree in '09 and used this site a lot.

Summer is already half over for DD! I'm guessing by now that everyone has been through graduation and are now hopefully enjoying summer! Do we need to migrate to a new thread -- college class of 2018?

If y'all like, I can just edit the thread title, or someone can start a new thread -- whichever, I'd just like it to keep going one way or another!

Kind of amuses me when I see how anxious parents get about separation. She has been at boarding school since 8th grade in canada and only came home on short breaks and summer.

I find it kind of sad that there might be parents who *wouldn't* feel a certain level of anxiety about separation... And I wouldn't have traded these high school years with all the marching band stuff, and football games, and competitions, and fun with my son in general. I guess I wouldn't have any separation anxiety either -- or all our memories -- if he had been shipped off to a boarding school.

 

[mjkacmom]

BB&B has a neat kinda hidden feature where you can search for a school and pull up what's provided/allowed/not allowed, as well as the closest BB&B to the school:

Thanks! Dd17 doesn't have orientation until the end of July (huge school, lots of dates), but I know BB&B will be out of a lot by then.

 

[FlightlessDuck]

In our laptop research, it seemed that DVD's are on their way to being obsolete and are included less often. If DD ends up wanting one, she'll get an external.

We went with the Dell Inspiron 11 3000 Series 2-in-1

http://www.dell.com/us/p/inspiron-11-3147-laptop/pd?oc=fndor1204b&model_id=inspiron-11-3147-laptop

It's small for a laptop, but is designed to be used as a tablet or laptop as needed. So far, our graduate is happy with it.

But, like you said, it doesn't have an optical drive.

 

[FlightlessDuck]

Wow! I've seen so many folks mention that their kids have had orientation already. It seems like my DS is the only one who has to wait until he is on campus in August.....

Our graduate's college has orientation several times between now and the beginning of the fall semester, and we got to pick which one to go to. The earliest one was last week, and that was the one our graduate chose to attend.

Freshman still show up a week early for various activities. Unfortunately, students in marching band camp miss a lot of those.

 

[IDoDis]

I keep seeing this thread and I guess it's time I join! My dd17 graduated this past Wednesday evening (yes I teared up!) and she'll be leaving for her freshman year in college on August 22. The school she's going to is six hours away.

Her orientation is July 16 though the 18th so we still have a bit of a wait.

Right now we're still in high school graduation mode with all the grad parties going on and all the other things the kids have planned for their last summer together.

I hope this summer goes, really, really slow!

Welcome aboard! When does your DD start school? I'm guessing since she just graduated you have until sometime after Labor Day.

Our bed bath and beyond has had the dorm stuff out for a couple of weeks already.

There isn't much dorm stuff out here yet. The stores really get stocked within a week or so after the 4th of July. I have 4 BB&B coupons so far! We debated about buying a TV for the dorm room and thought we'd see how it went w/out a TV since DD is not a big TV watcher, but then I found a new 40" TV with a 3 year Square Trade warranty for $230. Since the price was so low, we figured what the heck. It will be delivered tomorrow or Tuesday.

If you have a local Container Store, they may do a Dorm Night event...everything you purchase that night is a certain percent off. They do have some nice things, but they can be pricey.

Be sure you know what your student's dorm allows, provides, and forbids before you go shopping!

BBB will let you shop at your local store and pick up at the store near the college if that is more convenient for you. You can "sort" your pick up pile (ie take things out). They will have it all gathered up for your pick up, but a lot of students use this option so be prepared for some lines. Still, it saves a lot of space and hassle if the college is some distance from home (particularly if you have to fly to move in). Those space saving hangers are amazing.....

Unfortunately, we don't have a Container Store here. I've shopped at one before though and will look at what they have online. DD's school is close by so we'll be transporting all of her stuff on move-in day. There's a BB&B a mile from our house.

My son had a laptop already, so we didn't do any research. But I do know that when we took him to school we found out that the school's IT department was actually authorized to do warranty work on Dell computers. So I wished we had gotten one of those. So you might call school and find out if they have a brand (or size) they recommend.

That said, my son got a virus at one point on his computer, and they were able to help him out anyway.

We are buying DD's laptop the first weekend in August which is our state's tax free weekend. She has decided on a Retina Macbook Pro or Macbook Air (13"). If she REALLY wants the Pro (which I don't think she needs the Pro), then she will have to use the Sony laptop she has now until the new Pro's come out, probably in September or October). We don't want to buy a Pro now since they are the 2012 models. The Air was recently upgrade though, so if she decides on an Air, we'll get that in August. She has her college .edu email account now and DH and I are both teachers with .edu accounts, so either way we can get the education discount.

I read the dorm contract on what's allowed and what's not allowed. No hedgehogs or pet monkeys! Darn it!

 

[Katelly]

Welcome aboard! When does your DD start school? I'm guessing since she just graduated you have until sometime after Labor Day.

Thank you! My daughter starts on August 25, which seems to be a bit earlier than some of the colleges start. She has a late August birthday and she's complaining that this is the first time she will be in school for her birthday. All through elementary, middle and high school she started school about a week after Labor Day.

Well, it's a new chapter in our lives....should be interesting!

 

[AnnMarie3]

Just joining in. My ds moves into the dorm next Tuesday and has orientation Wed-Fri. I am so proud of him and so happy to see him excited about starting the next chapter of his life. But, I have been dreading this time as well...I have been emotional at the thought of my boy living away from home, even though he will only be across town. I the rational part of me says that this is nothing compared to the parents that have to say goodbye as their kids go to college across the country, or parents whose children are serving in the military overseas. The other part of me is going to miss giving him a hug every day and making his meals . I get emotional at the thought of not having him here with us. We all want the best for our kids, and this moving forward is a natural progression. As I type this I also dream about going all "Beverley Goldberg" for those who watch that show- and moving into the dorm with him

 

[momto1]

I just found this thread! Ironically, today was the day I moved into the Poor House - made the first tuition payment! DS leaves for school on August 16th. Going for a visit tomorrow so the girlfriend and the grandma can see where he is going.
Lori

 

[PrincessKsMom]

Haven't been around in a while. End of the year craziness.

DD had an Honors overnight June 22 and orientation/registration on June 23. And graduated on June 24. We had thought about changing her orientation/registration day but they said we should keep it because it would give her the best chance of getting the classes she wanted and she also needed to attend a Blackboard meeting for the online course she is taking (for free ) which started today. So she needed to find out how to navigate it and meet the professor so we kept the original dates. And I'm glad we did. Her online class started today.

DD never had a laptop before so this was a new adventure. I spoke with my IT friend in work and since I have always bought Dells and my company does as well, and I was able to get an employee discount, I went with the Inspiron 14 5000 Series, touch screen. Wow is that thing nice! Love the touch screen! Wanted DD to have it so she could get used to it before her class started. It was way more money than I thought I'd spend but I wanted something that will last a long time.

Our bills were also released today. Feeling a little Here we go. NOW it's real. Online looking for books now.

Most of our dorm shopping is done so that's a relief. Just down to the medicines/toiletries.

Her move in day/freshman retreat is August 26. She'll be back on campus the evening of the 28th and the official move in day for all other freshman is August 29. I will miss her so much. But I've told her I won't see her until the second weekend in October for parents' weekend. I think it's best for both of us. She needs time to adjust and learn how to manage her time and I need time to adjust to not having her around. It's a growing experience for both of us.

 

[sk!mom]

Noticed the change in the thread title- I like it but it raises the question, What are everyone's expectations for the time it will take our college freshman to finish?

DD's college has a push on to encourage students to finish in four. Including a plan to let us lock in tuition cost now for the next four years.

We are going in with the expectation that DD will finish in 4 but I have made that comment to a couple of real life friends and they do not expect that. Am I unrealistic?

 

[mom2rtk]

Noticed the change in the thread title- I like it but it raises the question, What are everyone's expectations for the time it will take our college freshman to finish?

DD's college has a push on to encourage students to finish in four. Including a plan to let us lock in tuition cost now for the next four years.

We are going in with the expectation that DD will finish in 4 but I have made that comment to a couple of real life friends and they do not expect that. Am I unrealistic?

I think a lot of that will depend on whether your student knows what they want to major in and plans accordingly. My nephew took 4 1/2 years to finish just because the specific upper level class he needed wasn't offered the semester he needed it.

My older son is finishing a 150 hour accounting degree this coming year in 4 years (he's doing online summer school now) because he had free tuition for 4 years. Anything over that is on his own dime, to the tune of $32K a year. It has been a challenge because he didn't decide his major until about 2 years in.

Lots of my younger son's classmates are taking summer courses online to allow them flexibility as they move forward.