Parents of College Freshman who are now Sophomores... UpDate 7/28/09

[mamacatnv]

My son had the equivalent of $490 in foodbucks and only 10 meal swipes for this semester. He hates the food at the main dinning hall and has been eating at one of the cafe's. I keep telling him he needs to EAT - he is 6'4" and only weighs 148 pounds His problem is that it costs him at least 10 foodbucks every time he gets a meal at the cafe so he isn't eating as much as he should every day. I told him I would rather he eat more and I can always add to his foodbucks.

My DS is also 6'4" but 260#'s he always eats. Food is very important to him. His final decisions about schools factored in the quality of the food. He nixed Oregon State because the food was lousy (and it was, I was with him)

DS's problem is the accessibility of the main dining facility and it's hours that conflict with his class or work schedule where they only use meal swipes opposed to the asst. cafe's on campus that use foodbucks.
I had to add foodbucks earlier this week since DS had used his all up. He started with only about $190 in foodbucks but he did have an average of 14 swipes a week.

He has discovered that he can go by the main dining facility (huge food court with lots of made to order items) and he gets a to-go meal box - he makes several sandwiches etc. then he takes that box with him to work for dinner and then back to his stash at his dorm for a snack. He also eats at his girly friends house and our house about once a week. I am going to downgrade his plan for the spring which will give him twice as many foodbucks and 1/2 the swipes although I think at this rate he is going to have lots of swipes that will roll over. He has a fridge and a micro in his dorm and I loaded him up with supplies. I keep him replenished and he makes his own sandwiches and snack items along with breakfast foods.

I also make care package meals. I freeze them in ziplock bags and then I send them with him about once a week. He puts them in his fridge and micro's them when he wants home cooking. He has spaghetti, a pot roast meal and a big bag of homemade french toast that I sent with him on Saturday.

He's spoiled and so are we because he is close by.

I remember at orientation the housing/food director telling us "don't worry, your kids will have it all figured out and they will know the best way to utilize their plans, they will not starve."

 

[BriarfoxinWA]

I bought DS a mini-fridge and microwave too. Also go him a couple of glass bowls and some microwavable plates. He was worried about where to wash them out at... I said 'duh' go use the bathroom sink - just scape them off first. We did send him with a little top ramen and some canned chili. I was thinking about making up some care packages with cookies and snacks this weekend. The kid needs to gain some weight!

Oh and I'm sure he'll be home every weekend now. He has a new girl friend that is from our home town but goes to school at another college. They played soccer together from age 5 to about 9. They actually didn't hang out or socialize with the same people at all through high school but now they have 'discovered' each other

 

[mamacatnv]

I bought DS a mini-fridge and microwave too. Also go him a couple of glass bowls and some microwavable plates. He was worried about where to wash them out at... I said 'duh' go use the bathroom sink - just scape them off first. We did send him with a little top ramen and some canned chili. I was thinking about making up some care packages with cookies and snacks this weekend. The kid needs to gain some weight!

Oh and I'm sure he'll be home every weekend now. He has a new girl friend that is from our home town but goes to school at another college. They played soccer together from age 5 to about 9. They actually didn't hang out or socialize with the same people at all through high school but now they have 'discovered' each other

Yep, you will be seeing a lot of him in the weekends to come

Add a small sponge and a mini bottle of dish soap to the package and he is all set.
I also stock DS with Easy Mac, cans of Hungry Man soups, boxes of cereal, the micro brownies, PB&J, bread and deli meats. His floor mates are jealous!

 

[Green Tea]

I wasn't sure how I would like the way my son's college food plan was set, but it is turning out well, and I think it sounds better than what you all are describing. We paid a certain amount for the semester. Each item is deducted from the total, whether it is a steak, potato and pie in the dining hall, a sandwich and soda in the dining hall, a burger in the snack bar, or a pizza delivered to his room at night. He can get whatever he wants whenever he wants. It actually seems to make sense now. Anything left at the end of the semester though is lost.

 

[Amy]

did anyone else's kids have a Fall break recently? (or coming up soon?)

My DS's fall break starts next week, but he won't be coming home. HE'S GOING TO WDW WITH THE COLLEGE MARCHING BAND!! Lucky guy! And it's costing us parents........$65. Yep, only $65! Quite a change from high school band trips! But it's killing me that DH and I can't afford to go to WDW with him. Oh well; it's more important that we have $$ to keep paying those tuition bills and get ready to send DS16 off to college in 2 more years.

We saw DS18 over the weekend - we finally had a weekend with no high school band events, so we went to the college football game and got to see DS18 march with the college band for the first time. It's a much larger band than our high school, and boy did they sound good!

DS said he's having a blast. He's keeping up with the work so far, gets along great with his roommate, is making friends. Their homecoming is this weekend, and he got up the nerve to ask a girl to the dance - they're going as a big group, so it's not officially a "date", but DS is so shy that group dating is just fine for him right now, takes some of pressure off.

 

[Galahad]

DS's fall break starts today. He mentioned he might come home but I'm not expecting it. His campus is in our same city - across town. He's been home exactly twice. Once for 3 hours. Once for 15 minutes. He's in his own world now - and that's very cool actually (hope he comes home a bit though ).

 

[mamacatnv]

Okay, it has been a few weeks so I told Madge yesterday that I would resurrect this thread to check in

How is everyone's student doing?

How are all the parents doing?

My DS made it through mid terms with a couple A's, B's and a C - Typical underachiever that he is.

He has used up all his "foodBucks" but has a ton of meal swipes. I have replenished cash to his card and for the Spring will change his plan to more cash and less swipes. All his unused swipes will roll into Spring anyway.

We had breakfast in the student cafe on HomeComing morning. Lots and lots of groggy jammie clad teens wandering around. It was fun and the food was good.

DS does make it home a little more often, he came by last week to carve pumpkins with his sister and will bo trick or treating with her tomorrow night. His costume, he is wearing his Univ. gear and hanging a sign around his neck that says: Starving Student - Will study for candy

Still playing ultimate frisbee and loving it. An RA broke her nose earlier this week when she ran into one of the players shoulders but so far that has been the only injury.

DS has his first cold and has been sniffling and whining "I need kleenex, I need Nyquil" etc. I sent him to the drug store on his way to Girly's yesterday. Heck if he can drive himself to her house he can't be THAT sick

Me, I'm getting better every day. I miss him but I am also enjoying the quiet time with DD. I still don't like girly but there is nothing I can do, life goes on.

So, how is everyone?????

 

[donaldbuzz&minnie]

Oh, man. Your thread brought back so many memories. I dealt with my anxiety by making Disney planning look like an impromtu weekend trip. The piles of everything I gathered up....I think I peaked at embroidering the perfect throw pillows to match the designs on the sheets.

All I can say is the letting go is worth it when they come back with grandchildren!!! Worth it all!!!

 

[BriarfoxinWA]

My DS seems to have adapted very well. A little drama though... he has been coming home almost every weekend and has "fallen in love" with a girl he went to school with. Problem is that her college is 1 1/2 hours the other direction from our home town. Of course now he is either home every weekend or at her college

He just sent me a text that it looks like he is getting closer to getting an internship with a government agency that he'd like to work for when he gets out of school. Now hopefully he will get paid for it too

He does have an opportunity to work for AP during election night. His college tabulates results from 20 states and reports in. Should be an interesting experience for him.

 

[luvflorida]

Our daughter continues to do great. If anyone remembers, she's the one we worried and fretted over so much. We didn't even think she'd stay the first night in her dorm.

She continues to enjoy life at college. She's made a lot of friends, and we can see that she is so much more independent. Again, we are only half an hour away, and I'm positive that has helped her tremendously with the transition to college. I'm better about missing her, but then again, we see her at least twice a week, sometimes more.

She is doing great academically, but she has decided not to stay with her major. Originally, she wanted to major in dance, but (long story) when she auditioned a year ago, she totally blew the audition. She was so nervous and anxious that she didn't even complete the audition, so of course, she didn't get into the dance program. This past spring, she decided she wanted to major in music, so she completed all the necessary steps and was accepted into the music program.

Now, she has decided to reaudition for the dance program. Her audition is in December. We are hoping and praying that she has the confidence (there is no doubt about her ability) to succeed at the audition. Even then, it is a tough program to get into. So, crossing my fingers. This kid was born to dance!

We really overestimated on her meal plan. Her college has three meal plan options. We chose the one in the middle, $1,200. each semester. There are only seven weeks left in the semester, and she still has $850. left on her meal card. Thankfully, any amount left at the end of the year can be rolled over or refunded, minus a small fee.

There are a lot of shops and eating places directly off campus that the kids go to. Domino's Pizza, Johnny Rockets, Subway, Jack in the Box, and a ton of other delis, sandwich shops, and outdoor cafes are close to her dorm. She also eats a lot of peanut butter and jelly sandwiches in her room, or gets together with friends where they'll microwave a pizza or fix food in the dorm's kitchen. All that, plus she isn't really a big eater.

So overall, things are going so much better than we had expected!

 

[madge]

I think, overall, that my DS is doing well. TOO well, maybe ... the social life is, um, active. Grades are good (A's & B's) and he's got a job, so I really can't complain too much. LOL. He's not doing as well as I'd like with the money management. Once he's home for a couple of weeks at Christmas DH is going to have a talk with him about that.

He's been home twice since August 24. I don't expect he will be home before Thanksgiving. That means the pressure's on for Christmas card pictures!

 

[Green Tea]

Things are going well here too. Fantastic job in town, good grades, great friends. Some worry about coming home for Thanksgiving. He feels bad the plane ticket was so much and he''ll only be home for a few days. He thinks he'll be in airports more than here, but he's wrong!

He said 100% he picked the right school. That makes me happy.

 

[RitaE]

Mid-Term grades were super good like -- better than my grades good. I was so relieved because I really feared that I was making a $20k mistake in agreeing to send him off.

He wasn't thrilled with his first adviser and took the initiative to ask to be re-assigned. He met with the new adviser and she recommended a summer Intensive Language program at the University of Madrid. It looks so cool, I'm insanely jealous he'll get to do that. He says he is still interested in the Peace Corp post college.

He's been home about 3 times I think. He had an eye appointment up here and then had to come back for a contact lens re-check. It's funny when he comes home, he seems really disturbed by the things that have changed - like we bought a new microwave. How dare we do that without him here!!!

He seems so much calmer and less stressed when he's home. I'm really happy for him.

Parents weekend was last weekend. I had to stay here to take the other kids to their activities but DH went to see him. He reports that the Dorm room was "passable and likely free of most major diseases."

 

[Green Tea]

Too funny on the microwave! I mentioned I'd bought a new appliance and he was shocked! Yeah, son. I will wait until thanksgiving to buy the new washer. No problem.

He went to Madrid over the summer, btw. Not that program though. He loved the city, loved Spain. Said of any country, that would be the one where he could live.

 

[Galahad]

Saw DS last night on his campus. His fall break was a couple of weeks ago. He didn't come home even though he is in the same town. DW was out of town that week. I asked DS a couple of times if he was coming home and he just stayed on campus. Called me a few times though. Last night he said the campus was dead during fall break and it "hadn't occured to him" to come home.

 

[Mermaid02]

My dd is doing GREAT! Just got her mid term grades.... 3.6 GPA!! She tested out of algebra and pre calculus and right into Calculus I. NO idea where those math skills come from. My dh and I are so proud of her. She's made some great friends and I just couldn't be happier for her.

 

[ColoradoBuffaloMom]

My DD is doing great also. I am so happy for her. She has done really well on her first tests and papers and is confident that she can handle the academics of college. She told me yesterday that her second semester classes will be more difficult but she doesn't seem worried about that (yet).

Her school is about 40 minutes away from us so she has been coming home on Fridays and going back on Saturday afternoons but yesterday she told me she is not coming home this weekend since a bunch of girls want to go see the High School Musical 3 movie and then go to the football game tomorrow. To be honest, I'm glad she is staying at school this weekend since I think she will see that there is lots going on.

Glad to hear so many of our kids are doing well.

 

[DJR]

My DD seems to be doing quite well too. She loves the school and loves being in Boston. No grades yet, but she says she has gotten mostly A's on her tests and papers so far. She played soccer at school and even though the team didn't do very well and missed the Conference playoffs, she loved playing and made a lot of friends on the team and the field hockey team. She's enjoying not having to get up at 5:30 for practice now.

She had some major roommate drama that dissolved into tears at one point, but after all the suite mates met with the RA, her roommate decided to move out! Not sure what's going to happen now, but I suppose she'll get another one next semester.

 

[BriarfoxinWA]

Well DS called me last night. While he passed all of the background checks for the intership, the local field offices' supervisor doesn't want an intern. Not sure why We talked and while he is dissapointed his not giving up yet. He's going to call again in January after his winter break and keep trying

 

[justjulie]

Decisions, decisions and it's scaring the heck out of him!

My son's college applications are coming due. He has to decide whether (a) he's going to college or (b) going back for another year of high school. Have any of you been in this position? What if your child really doesn't know what they want to do - what advice do you give them?