Parents of Class of 2018 thread

[NAB]

Off to the Prom

 

[mnrose]

I am surprised your son is going to let his sister look smarter than him! Are they twins? I have 14 yr old twins. I think he should get his cords and sash and wear them with pride . Not that they need to match, but it really is something to be able to wear all those things.

Not that you'd notice. It was a LARGE class. I did notice that the number one smartest kid in their class, who was my son's nemesis (in a friendly way) in all math classes, also chose to forego all the honor's hoopla. And, that kid was a national merit scholar, not just a finalist. My daughter worked hard for her grades. My son basically showed up, and got A's. He's working WAY harder in college than he ever did in high school. We attended his orientation at the U of Minnesota this week (College of Science and Engineering) and the main message from the Dean of the college was "this 'ain't high school. Everyone who comes here is smart, and has an average GPA of 3.92 (unweighted). The average "first year" GPA in the college is 3.1." It can be very hard for this group of insanely talented kids to get their first B (or even C). My son has a great perspective on that already.

Also, they were listed in the program. My son's name had 4 stars next to it...the highest award they give. My daughter? Two. So, he was fine.

 

[mnrose]

My DS wore his stole, sash and cords. He refused to wear the medals. I thought it did seem a little much. Then at graduation all the other kids were wearing the medals so I kind of wish he had worn them. I guess it wasn't a huge deal. Some kids had a bright red cord for donating over a certain amount of blood! That was interesting.

What is up with rude people at graduation!? We had an announcement about no yelling, air horns, or cow bells etc... Some people just don't think the rules apply to them. We had a group in front of us who were obnoxious, and they must have known half the graduates. Or maybe they just liked yelling.

My son is on a plane to Spain right now. I'm so nervous. He's never traveled without us other than scout camping. It's his first time out of the country. (except for Canada) Of course he's not worried at all. I'm tracking the flight online.

Don't get me started on the airhorns. So f'n rude. I started following along with the names of people who had airhorns blowing when they had their name called. Invariably, it was people who had NO honors notations or awards. Hmmmmm. People right in front of us were blowing them. And puffing away on their e-cigs. Really? You can't be without that for the length of a grad ceremony? Ugh. You bet I'm judging. It's RUDE.

 

[clori]

My daughter's naviance etc was updated. They inputted all 4th quarter grades, yearly grades etc. Her official end of high school class rank is 17 out of 470 students. I'm very proud of her. We only knew top 10 at graduation and thought she was a bit lower so it was a happy surprise even if it doesn't mean anything.

DD also found out that she is receiving credit for 18 of her 19 dual enrollment classes and is starting with 59 credits. The only class she didn't get any credit for was corporate finance and even though she got an A in it she had already mentioned wanting to retake it. She is a second semester sophomore credit wise to start - two credits shy of being a junior. However she is still considered a freshman. Figuring out which classes she gets direct credit for and won't need to take is a work in progress that will hopefully make more sense after orientation. A few will just be free credits. For instance her school requires 1 foreign language class and her intermediate Spanish is getting credit as intermediate Spanish so a direct credit. Hopefully after orientation she will know more.

For the first semester only her school assigns classes. After the Spanish placement test she took online previously she was placed into elementary French 1. We haven't figured that one out though it gave us a good laugh. We aren't making any decisions yet as to how long she will take in school even though my pocketbook likes the idea of just 3 years. She may do a double major, it may make more sense to take longer to get more internships/coops, perhaps study abroad etc.

 

[NAB]

Our High school exams start tomorrow. Wed until next Monday , grad being Thursday.

We are having a hard time changing schools, we did all the right things. We accepted Conestoga and Mohawk was wait listed at the time of all except times. She wants to go to Mohawk since it is still on the Mc Master campus. Every time we get an email it still is Conestoga , have called 3 times already trying to straighten this out. How stressful. She can't do anything on her Mosaic to pick her classes either which we have been trying to do.

Still have to find her a place to stay while there...

It is going to be a long summer. She is getting her wisdom teeth out the following week, then she goes for that last part of her drivers license and then goes for her CPR course that is required for nursing before she starts. Oh and all her TB testing and blood work to see if all her needles are up to date. Fun , fun.

Sorry for the venting ...it must be the heat!

 

[mrsv98]

Well we survived college orientation! It was an exhausting, emotional, boring and informational 2 days...lol This child must be living right because she doesn't have a class before 11 am any day! She tested well but couldn't get the Spanish class she wanted (minor in Spanish), full and wait listed, so she needs to check every day to see if she can get in. Other than that she is pleased. A couple of times DD spontaneously said, "I made the right choice" and that made this mama's heart happy! She will also most likely get a job at the campus library. She spoke to them at the resource fair and they were thrilled to find out she has 100s of hours volunteering at our local library.

Now we start the dorm buying. DD will have a singe so one the plus side, she can decorate as she wishes, on the minus (for us) we have to buy everything! I am trying to stay upbeat and positive but it is hard watching my little girl get ready to fly...sigh...

 

[Mickeypooh99]

My son is home from Spain. He had a great time! I'm so glad he got to go. He will be taking his last scout trip in July. At least as a scout. He could potentially register as a leader for future trips.

Now we are in the process of figuring out some college details. We need to decide by June 30 if we want to sign up for the college health insurance it is $5,000, which is a lot. I'm just worried about how our current insurance will work out of state. I keep bugging my husband to find out at work. It's through his employer. I can't find anything online about it.

My son doesn't pick classes or know their housing and roommate assignments until orientation weekend which starts September 20. Then they start classes the following week!

 

[clori]

My son doesn't pick classes or know their housing and roommate assignments until orientation weekend which starts September 20. Then they start classes the following week!

The school starts late. Is it a semester system? My daughter goes late August before Labor Day and classes start Tuesday after Labor Day. She has her schedule already for the fall but won't know about housing/roommate probably until August sometime. She did the first orientation in June though there was a second one also in June and a 3rd in July. Only students living far are supposed to attend orientation right before school starts. I was surprised a student from California came to orientation since I'm on the east coast.

 

[clori]

Since dd has her fall schedule we were looking at required books. One of the books dd found a pdf of and emailed the professor. He said even with it being edition 10 not edition 11 it will work fine and no need to buy a book if she had access to a free pdf. None of the other classes have books posted. If it stays that way she may get off cheap this semester for books. However her laptop will not survive college nor be appreciated (it beeps when you turn it on etc) so we will be getting her a new laptop. The school gave her an ipad at orientation but they also say most students prefer to have a laptop in addition to the ipad.

 

[StephMK]

We went to DD's orientation and saw the campus for the first time in person. She loves it and we're thrilled that she will have her sis/BIL 30 minutes away. It is right in the city and close to the ocean, which is her ideal location.

She's happy with her classes and thanks clori for the reminder to start comparing book prices.

We drove some stuff out with us and will order anything else online. She and her roommate got to meet and she found out she will be part of a suite of 6. I got a dramatic text that life was over because she did not get her preferred dorm. Apparently, they will be in some far corner of campus but it's not that big so she will survive.

Hard to believe well be putting her on a plane in 1.5 months! I think it'll be really good for her to be independent and unable to escape to home.

 

[NAB]

Well High School life is done Graduation was on last Thursday. We are so proud of our daughter. She got 5 awards, including one from our Governor General for having the top Volunteer hours. This was a special award not always given at graduation. There were 3 students announced to come on stage before the walk across started she was one of them. Hers was for Community service. You only needed 40 hours over the four years and she had over 800 + , one was for 100 percentage average and one had to do with French immersion.

She also received honours , a Christian living award and 2 other to do with community service from other places.

We didn't rush her out of the school even though it was 2 1/2 hour ceremony . We took lots of pictures of her and her friends , knowing some we probably won't see again or for a long time. Most of the grads were holding on as long as they could and didn't want to leave.

We have already got her housing for Sept. She is going into nursing so we have a lot to do this summer to get her ready. Blood work , testing for TB X2 , CPR course. Not to mention she is getting her 4 wisdom teeth out this week and going for her last driving test to finish up her driver's license the next. I think this summer is going to fly by hopefully we have time for some vacation in there before she moves hours away.

 

[NAB]

The Principal said something I never even thought about .... this is the first graduating class of the Millennial group of kids.

 

[Vicki926]

9 weeks until move in day! My daughter signed up for drop and go..you get to go in the day before and drop all your stuff in the dorm, and then leave. You still come in on move in day, but all your stuff is already in the room and you don’t have to wait for elevators etc.
She and her roommate get along really well(didn’t know each other at all before meeting online through a Snapchat group for their school), she lives about 20 minutes away so they’ve gotten together a few times, Julia went to her graduation party yesterday. So different than me, I would never have gone to a party where I only knew one person. Lol I like that she’s not rooming with someone she went to high school with, yet isn’t a stranger because they’ve talked so much since meeting. This wasn’t a factor in choosing a roommate, but they’re both nursing majors which is nice.
We’ve been dorm shopping, so much fun. My daughter is only going about 30-40 minutes away, so I don’t feel a lot of stress to make sure she has everything she needs, she can come get anything she forgets.

Thanks for posting about textbooks, I’ll have her look into that now. Right now she’s making sure she has all her immunizations and stuff done. I couldn’t sleep the other night thinking if she had her meningococcal vaccine, turns out she did, and just needed her tb test.

 

[Kellydelly]

This month is going to be busy with orientation the weekend of the 21st and then wisdom teeth out a couple days later. I hope that goes well. Try outs for marching band are the last day of orientation.

My daughter knows what dorm she is in, after getting notification of her acceptance into the WISE (women in science and engineering) housing program at MI. She won't know who her roommate is until much closer to the end of August.

Are all of your kids getting the new meningitis vaccine? I was not planning to, she had the one a couple years ago that she was due for.

 

[Vicki926]

This month is going to be busy with orientation the weekend of the 21st and then wisdom teeth out a couple days later. I hope that goes well. Try outs for marching band are the last day of orientation.

My daughter knows what dorm she is in, after getting notification of her acceptance into the WISE (women in science and engineering) housing program at MI. She won't know who her roommate is until much closer to the end of August.

Are all of your kids getting the new meningitis vaccine? I was not planning to, she had the one a couple years ago that she was due for.

Technically, my daughter and her roommate haven’t been assigned to each other, but they requested, and they do honor requests. I want to say July 12th is the day they get notified, so soon it will be official.

My daughter just went to the dr Friday and he told her he doesn’t recommend the MenB vaccine. And he’s very pro vaccine. So she just has the regular one.

On another note, my kids are still going to their pediatrician, Julia asked when she had to stop going, but they take them until they’re done with college, so I told her she could switch now, and she refuses, said she’s staying until they kick her out. Lol

 

[Mickeypooh99]

I need to call our doctor about the Men B vaccine. I didn't go in with my son to his last check up, and he doesn't remember what she said of course. I'd like her opinion on it. He has to find a new primary care physician in California. Our insurance will work there, but he has to find someone in network.

I joined a Facebook group "parents of Stanford students 2022" Nice to see other parents with kids from all over. Some with older kids already there so that is helpful. We have 11 weeks to go until he moves to college. I'm trying not to think about it, but it's going by so fast already!

 

[Mickeypooh99]

The school starts late. Is it a semester system? My daughter goes late August before Labor Day and classes start Tuesday after Labor Day. She has her schedule already for the fall but won't know about housing/roommate probably until August sometime. She did the first orientation in June though there was a second one also in June and a 3rd in July. Only students living far are supposed to attend orientation right before school starts. I was surprised a student from California came to orientation since I'm on the east coast.

Its a quarter system. Fall, winter, spring and summer. Each is 3 months. So he will go fall, winter, spring and then come home for summer. He wouldn't be home until June 15. Then back to school mid September again. It's a weird schedule for college.

 

[mnrose]

I need to call our doctor about the Men B vaccine. I didn't go in with my son to his last check up, and he doesn't remember what she said of course. I'd like her opinion on it. He has to find a new primary care physician in California. Our insurance will work there, but he has to find someone in network.

I joined a Facebook group "parents of Stanford students 2022" Nice to see other parents with kids from all over. Some with older kids already there so that is helpful. We have 11 weeks to go until he moves to college. I'm trying not to think about it, but it's going by so fast already!

My kids both inquired about MenB and were told by their doctors (they have different physicians) that they DO NOT give Men B unless there's an outbreak. I found that odd. But, whatever. I trust them otherwise, so I'm going with.

 

[mom2rtk]

I need to call our doctor about the Men B vaccine. I didn't go in with my son to his last check up, and he doesn't remember what she said of course. I'd like her opinion on it. He has to find a new primary care physician in California. Our insurance will work there, but he has to find someone in network.

I joined a Facebook group "parents of Stanford students 2022" Nice to see other parents with kids from all over. Some with older kids already there so that is helpful. We have 11 weeks to go until he moves to college. I'm trying not to think about it, but it's going by so fast already!

Our local district is requiring Men B for the first time with this school year. So glad we'll have it out of the way before the college prep begins for us.

School only required one shot if the first was given over age 16, but doc still recommends 2. So we'll be back in a couple more weeks for the second one.

Its a quarter system. Fall, winter, spring and summer. Each is 3 months. So he will go fall, winter, spring and then come home for summer. He wouldn't be home until June 15. Then back to school mid September again. It's a weird schedule for college.

I had this schedule in college. I felt like I was the only person on that schedule. It was hard to catch up with friends on their breaks. Also was hard to find a summer job because the year ended so late. But it is what it is.

 

[NAB]

Well we got the wisdom teeth out last week, very bruised still and she looks like a chipmunk but they said that should go down in time. She had a rougher time compared to her brother.

Today she got her full G license so she is happy about that. We are deciding if we should give her my old car to take to school or not. I would get a new one ...looking into insurance eek. This girl is costing us a lot of money...lol

We have been shopping and picking up small things she will need for her apartment. Decided on apartment instead of rooming house with other students. Some were pretty scary. Residence was out for her since she will be registered at one College and all the classes are at a University campus 35 mintues away.

Still waiting on blood work for her nursing course and she attends CPR classes this weekend.

I feel like I'm always going somewhere with her. I know I'm going to miss her a lot when she finally goes so I'm not complaining. It is exciting to see her pick things out.