High School Class of 2015

[spima3]

So nice to see all of the young adults adjusting and starting their new lives. DS was the first of all his friends to leave, he moved in on Aug 15th. We flew in, and the flights got delayed so it messed up my time there. We got his room together, went shopping for last minute things, then it was time for me to leave. We did get to have a quick dinner together, it was his 18th birthday. I was a little rushed trying to catch the last shuttle to the parking lot, but it was probably for the best; no time to get too emotional.

I was worried about him, 15 hours away, and knowing no one. We picked a room where no one would be rushing, and it turned out to be a good thing, as he and his roommates have been hanging out together.

I miss him terribly and won't see him again until winter break. However, he has said school is going well, and he seems to be happy. We agreed, (well I insisted & he is complying ) that he calls home on Sundays.

 

[Southernmiss]

So nice to see all of the young adults adjusting and starting their new lives. DS was the first of all his friends to leave, he moved in on Aug 15th. We flew in, and the flights got delayed so it messed up my time there. We got his room together, went shopping for last minute things, then it was time for me to leave. We did get to have a quick dinner together, it was his 18th birthday. I was a little rushed trying to catch the last shuttle to the parking lot, but it was probably for the best; no time to get too emotional.

I was worried about him, 15 hours away, and knowing no one. We picked a room where no one would be rushing, and it turned out to be a good thing, as he and his roommates have been hanging out together.

I miss him terribly and won't see him again until winter break. However, he has said school is going well, and he seems to be happy. We agreed, (well I insisted & he is complying ) that he calls home on Sundays.

Our son came home tonight for the long weekend!! Rode home the 5 hours with 3 other high school classmates.

Have only communicated by text for the last 3 weeks. So good to talk to him and hear all about his first 3 weeks.

So far so good. Dropped his honors writing class--he didn't really need it because of credit he got for a high school class and it wasn't a good match for him. Still has 14 hours of classes.

He's already gained 8 pounds lol! Has been eating on campus with friends. And our introverted kid really seems to be hanging out with friends and is staying ahead of his studies. So far so good!

Hope you all hear from your kids this weekend, too.

 

[jt'smom]

Oh gosh, I have to share this with you guys. My son has texted me on and off this week, just quick one liners, but today he Facetimed me. As soon as it came over my Ipad, my heart sank because I just knew it would be a "mom, something's wrong" kind of call. Boy was I wrong. He was dying to tell me that his roommate had been having a hard time coping and yesterday went to an army recruiting center and joined the army! After I fixed the hinge on my jaw, I asked if his parents knew and my son told me that they were on their way to the school right then. All I could think of was that here I had been sitting around worrying if my kid could figure out how to wash his clothes and was getting enough sleep, and these poor parents got a phone call that their kid went and joined the army out of the blue, one week into college! I don't know how that even works, but I know I'd be flabbergasted if I got that phone call.

 

[Mrs. Ciz]

Oh gosh, I have to share this with you guys. My son has texted me on and off this week, just quick one liners, but today he Facetimed me. As soon as it came over my Ipad, my heart sank because I just knew it would be a "mom, something's wrong" kind of call. Boy was I wrong. He was dying to tell me that his roommate had been having a hard time coping and yesterday went to an army recruiting center and joined the army! After I fixed the hinge on my jaw, I asked if his parents knew and my son told me that they were on their way to the school right then. All I could think of was that here I had been sitting around worrying if my kid could figure out how to wash his clothes and was getting enough sleep, and these poor parents got a phone call that their kid went and joined the army out of the blue, one week into college! I don't know how that even works, but I know I'd be flabbergasted if I got that phone call.

Holy Cow!!! I am so glad your son is doing well. I really hope his roommate talked it over with his parents before he joined up. One week is just too short a time to get used to college.

After a rough first week, my DS is settled in, enjoying his classes and having fun with his hall mates. He's not sure if he wants to come home over fall break now or stay at school! What a difference a couple of weeks makes.

 

[DawnM]

I haven't visited this thread in a LONG time. Our senior will be finishing this year, although it may be through a GED. He has Asperger's and some rather severe learning issues and we are just happy to see him FINISH!

In January he plans to start taking at least one community college class, possibly two. We need to go meet with the disabilities counselor to see what he qualifies for and what he can take.

We are very proud of him and know that he is doing the best that he can. That is all I ask of my kids.

 

[Mrs. Ciz]

I haven't visited this thread in a LONG time. Our senior will be finishing this year, although it may be through a GED. He has Asperger's and some rather severe learning issues and we are just happy to see him FINISH!

In January he plans to start taking at least one community college class, possibly two. We need to go meet with the disabilities counselor to see what he qualifies for and what he can take.

We are very proud of him and know that he is doing the best that he can. That is all I ask of my kids.

I am a big believer that we should plant each child where he/she can bloom best! Sounds like that is just what you are doing DawnM.

 

[KiminChicago]

Well, it has certainly been a while since I've been on this thread! We moved DS into his UIowa dorm on August 16th -- he was able to move in early since he was planning on taking an additional Honors Seminar before classes started. He was registered for 19 semester hours but has since dropped a couple of non-essential classes, leaving him with 17 semester hours. Still a pretty good load for his first semester. We met his roommate, the roommate's parents and the RA before we left. The RA seemed really nice, and DS says the RA has done a lot with the freshmen to introduce them to campus life. The RA also informed us that DS's floor is 80% girls ( with 6 girls temporarily sharing the lounge until housing opens up - yikes!). We left after helping unpack and making a couple of trips to Target and Walmart to pick up some last minute things. We also left him with a batch of homemade chocolate chip cookies. I thought I was being so original, but he said lots of people in his dorm had homemade cookies to share.

Things seem to be going well, but I got a text on Wednesday saying that he needs (his words) "more homemade cookies). So we're baking cookies today and we'll run them over to him tomorrow -- good thing it's a long weekend, lol! 3 hours each way, but I could tell when I was joking about taking the cookies to him, his response was to ask when we were planning on coming. With my DS, that is the equivalent of saying that he misses us and would like to see us too....

 

[DawnM]

Oh oops, I see this is the class of 2015. My son is actually the class of 2016. Sorry.

 

[Mrs. Ciz]

I have a room & board question about sophomore year for you all.

At DS's school they start signing leases for off campus housing for next year now. Most sophomores live off campus because there is very little on campus housing for upper classmen and what is available is not as convenient or walkable as the off campus options. Housing in his college town is VERY expensive! He just signed a lease for a two bedroom apartment in a nice, safe complex just outside campus. He will be living there with 3 other boys. The total rent per month is way higher than our monthly mortgage! If he wants to bring his car, it will cost and extra $1000 for parking at the complex and campus parking permit (he will have to pay this on his own).

So I am working on the budget for next year and am trying to figure out what meal plan he'll need. He is super skinny, and I know he won't feed himself properly on his own. Since he'll have a kitchen, I'm thinking he will eat breakfast at the apartment. I can get a plan that has:

-2 meals a day Monday - Friday, with $300 flex dollars for weekend meals ($2055 a semester)

-100 meal plan with $400 flex dollars (approx 1 meal a day) ($1325 a semester)

-I can also add extra blocks of 25 meals for $275.

So the big question is...how many meals will he need. How many meals do your non cooking kids eat in the dining halls each week?

 

[Southernmiss]

I have a room & board question about sophomore year for you all.

At DS's school they start signing leases for off campus housing for next year now. Most sophomores live off campus because there is very little on campus housing for upper classmen and what is available is not as convenient or walkable as the off campus options. Housing in his college town is VERY expensive! He just signed a lease for a two bedroom apartment in a nice, safe complex just outside campus. He will be living there with 3 other boys. The total rent per month is way higher than our monthly mortgage! If he wants to bring his car, it will cost and extra $1000 for parking at the complex and campus parking permit (he will have to pay this on his own).

So I am working on the budget for next year and am trying to figure out what meal plan he'll need. He is super skinny, and I know he won't feed himself properly on his own. Since he'll have a kitchen, I'm thinking he will eat breakfast at the apartment. I can get a plan that has:

-2 meals a day Monday - Friday, with $300 flex dollars for weekend meals ($2055 a semester)

-100 meal plan with $400 flex dollars (approx 1 meal a day) ($1325 a semester)

-I can also add extra blocks of 25 meals for $275.

So the big question is...how many meals will he need. How many meals do your non cooking kids eat in the dining halls each week?

Oldest ds, a senior, is living in an apartment with 2 other guys 5 miles from campus. Before now, he's lived in an apartment at the edge of campus so he could walk to get food on campus and didn't need groceries.

He's finding that between school, senior level coursework, and on campus activities(he's very involved in student government) and his off campus job that he doesn't have time to grocery shop.

He's taken care of choosing his own meal plans for the whole time he's been at college, but has mentioned that he underestimated how much he would eat on campus this year and how little he would grocery shop and he should adjust his meal plan options. I'm sure he eats out more than before.

Not sure this helps, but maybe it will give you and ds somethings to think about in making your decisions.

And by the way...
He's also mentioned an adjustment getting used to studying in his apartment instead of in 'his spot' in the school library this year. That was a surprise to him as he's had to discipline himself to not take a nap, talk to his roommates or mess around on the computer instead of studying. So he's had to work on pulling up a few grades.

 

[spima3]

I have a room & board question about sophomore year for you all.
At DS's school they start signing leases for off campus housing for next year now. Most sophomores live off campus because there is very little on campus housing for upper classmen and what is available is not as convenient or walkable as the off campus options. Housing in his college town is VERY expensive! He just signed a lease for a two bedroom apartment in a nice, safe complex just outside campus. He will be living there with 3 other boys. The total rent per month is way higher than our monthly mortgage! If he wants to bring his car, it will cost and extra $1000 for parking at the complex and campus parking permit (he will have to pay this on his own).
So I am working on the budget for next year and am trying to figure out what meal plan he'll need. He is super skinny, and I know he won't feed himself properly on his own. Since he'll have a kitchen, I'm thinking he will eat breakfast at the apartment. I can get a plan that has:

-2 meals a day Monday - Friday, with $300 flex dollars for weekend meals ($2055 a semester)

-100 meal plan with $400 flex dollars (approx 1 meal a day) ($1325 a semester)

-I can also add extra blocks of 25 meals for $275.

So the big question is...how many meals will he need. How many meals do your non cooking kids eat in the dining halls each week?

This is also something I am looking at for next year as well. Crazy how the off campus housing is so early! DS and 2 of his friends would like to stay on campus,but it will depend if there is upperclassman housing even available, so we are going to have to wait for off campus housing until Feb of second semester.

DS has unlimited meal plan for $3800 a year, and looking at the lesser $ plans they are not that much cheaper AND they have far less food So far, if he stays on campus, we are going to be spending just as much if not more for room & board, where I thought it might be a little cheaper, silly me.

 

[ADisneyQueen]

I have a room & board question about sophomore year for you all.

At DS's school they start signing leases for off campus housing for next year now. Most sophomores live off campus because there is very little on campus housing for upper classmen and what is available is not as convenient or walkable as the off campus options. Housing in his college town is VERY expensive! He just signed a lease for a two bedroom apartment in a nice, safe complex just outside campus. He will be living there with 3 other boys. The total rent per month is way higher than our monthly mortgage! If he wants to bring his car, it will cost and extra $1000 for parking at the complex and campus parking permit (he will have to pay this on his own).

So I am working on the budget for next year and am trying to figure out what meal plan he'll need. He is super skinny, and I know he won't feed himself properly on his own. Since he'll have a kitchen, I'm thinking he will eat breakfast at the apartment. I can get a plan that has:

-2 meals a day Monday - Friday, with $300 flex dollars for weekend meals ($2055 a semester)

-100 meal plan with $400 flex dollars (approx 1 meal a day) ($1325 a semester)

-I can also add extra blocks of 25 meals for $275.


So the big question is...how many meals will he need. How many meals do your non cooking kids eat in the dining halls each week?

My freshman daughter is also very skinny and tends to eat more frequent meals. This semester she has 180 meals in the dining hall and I think she will use almost all of them. It comes out to be about 11 or 12 a week. She has $600 flex dollars and at the rate she is going she will have $200 left at the end of the semester. We should have bought less. She has used a little bit of her own money to eat at some off campus restaurants. We encourage her to eat whenever she needs to b/c she is trying to gain weight but has a high metabolism.

 

[Mrs. Ciz]

This is also something I am looking at for next year as well. Crazy how the off campus housing is so early! DS and 2 of his friends would like to stay on campus,but it will depend if there is upperclassman housing even available, so we are going to have to wait for off campus housing until Feb of second semester.

DS has unlimited meal plan for $3800 a year, and looking at the lesser $ plans they are not that much cheaper AND they have far less food So far, if he stays on campus, we are going to be spending just as much if not more for room & board, where I thought it might be a little cheaper, silly me.

I thought the same thing...that we'd get a price break if he live off campus. No such luck! Because he had to sign a 12 month lease, it will cost about $1200 more than this year. That's not counting his electric bill or the parking expenses if he brings his car.

He also has an unlimited meal plan this year and is using the heck out of it.

Oldest ds, a senior, is living in an apartment with 2 other guys 5 miles from campus. Before now, he's lived in an apartment at the edge of campus so he could walk to get food on campus and didn't need groceries.

He's finding that between school, senior level coursework, and on campus activities(he's very involved in student government) and his off campus job that he doesn't have time to grocery shop.

He's taken care of choosing his own meal plans for the whole time he's been at college, but has mentioned that he underestimated how much he would eat on campus this year and how little he would grocery shop and he should adjust his meal plan options. I'm sure he eats out more than before.

Not sure this helps, but maybe it will give you and ds somethings to think about in making your decisions.

And by the way...
He's also mentioned an adjustment getting used to studying in his apartment instead of in 'his spot' in the school library this year. That was a surprise to him as he's had to discipline himself to not take a nap, talk to his roommates or mess around on the computer instead of studying. So he's had to work on pulling up a few grades.

This is exactly what I'm afraid of...that he won't get a meal plan with enough meals. He is too skinny already!

 

[Southernmiss]

I thought the same thing...that we'd get a price break if he live off campus. No such luck! Because he had to sign a 12 month lease, it will cost about $1200 more than this year. That's not counting his electric bill or the parking expenses if he brings his car.

He also has an unlimited meal plan this year and is using the heck out of it.



This is exactly what I'm afraid of...that he won't get a meal plan with enough meals. He is too skinny already!

I ununderstand. This son was in a lot of physical activities in high school and was also very thin. Because he was no longer in marching band, cross-country and soccer, he gained the freshman 40! Filled out nicely and now looks as he should.

 

[Mrs. Ciz]

I ununderstand. This son was in a lot of physical activities in high school and was also very thin. Because he was no longer in marching band, cross-country and soccer, he gained the freshman 40! Filled out nicely and now looks as he should.

I wish! DS got sick a couple of weeks ago. He had a fever and chest congestion that turned into a nasty ear infection. He had to go to the clinic for amoxicillin. During the whole ordeal he lost 5 pounds. So now he's 6'4", 155 pounds!

 

[Southernmiss]

Awww.

I wish! DS got sick a couple of weeks ago. He had a fever and chest congestion that turned into a nasty ear infection. He had to go to the clinic for amoxicillin. During the whole ordeal he lost 5 pounds. So now he's 6'4", 155 pounds!

Awww. Bless that boy. I can see why you want him to gain weight!

My ds went from 120 to 160 his freshman year. And grew an inch to about 5'10". I believe he's topped out now and settled into his weight of 155-160.

 

[Hrhpd]

How did everybody's first semester go? DS is home and reasonably happy with his grades. It was quite the adjustment from high school as he actually had to learn how to study. His high school is highly rated, but even though he had taken almost all AP classes, he wasn't as prepared for the rigors of college as the high school likes to believe they prepare students. He also had to adjust and realize that if you get a 65 on a test and it is 10 points above the class average, that 65 is actually a good thing. (He is in a major that puts the freshmen in weed out classes the first year.)

 

[NHdisneylover]

DD is home visiting over Christmas as well. So far, so good. She found classes much easier than she expected -- but then again she had been to school in a foreign country (where only a handful of tests determines the grade for a year), and then done online school with no one chasing after her to get things done, etc so she already had those study skills and and discipline and knew how to handle a few big assignments. She found the work load as less than she had in highschool (and she took 18 credits).

She seems to have a good set of friends, and is involved in far more than I can keep up with. Graces 7-12 were rough for her, so it is awesome to see it all going so well now that she is out where there are more options and more people to meet, etc.

 

[The Mystery Machine]

Things went well for my dd. She tried for straight A's but ended up with a B in math.

She is still trying to make friends there, I would say that is her struggle. She is more of an introvert. She is working on it though.

Overall she loves it there.

 

[Mickeyluver37]

DD is also reasonably happy with her grades. She barely got Dean's List, which is also the minimum GPA for her to stay in the honors college. She did get one C and it was up in the air if she was even going to pass that class, so she was relieved to not have to retake anything or have to rearrange her 2nd semester schedule. She did learn from that experience not only to start studying hard early on, but also how to pick your classes based on the professor teaching that section.

She's made a few close friends, which makes me so happy, because I worried about her more socially than academically. With AP classes, she's now officially a sophomore, which hopefully means she can do DCP next year and still be on track.