Unpleasant surprises at college? What would you/your kid have looked into, in retrospect?

[Anonymous]

I can't look away from the parent boards at my kids' colleges, and yet reading them is not bringing out my most compassionate self. There's a lot of outrage about how hard it is to get in-state tuition, how hard classes are, how dumpy the dorms are, how mediocre the food is, etc. etc.

Did your kid have surprises like that, and did it affect what you looked at for any younger children?

[Anonymous]

No mine did not.

We went over everything we could.

Who cares if dorms are old. That's typical at college it's ok for Jonny or Susie to live in gross dorms we did.

In state tuition is a no-brainer apply to all the schools in your state. People are ridiculous with this. I know this board will not agree.

Classes of course some are hard it's college. That's parents being again ridiculous. Everyone gets a poor professor or crappy teacher it's called life and they need to learn how to navigate this.

My experience is most of those online forums are for parents not the students. Parents would be better off letting their kids figure out more of college.

I would say the most important part of the process ie before applying is making sure your student looks online at each college and check out the intended major classes that they will need to take, coursework will they want to do those. Is there a matriculation gpa requirement to get into their major after being accepted and being at college for two years? Can they change majors easily? Is community college credit accepted? What companies come to the school for their intended major to recruit? Internships availability?

Make sure your child knows about the health center, how to access, pay and sign the directive so you can get info if needed.

[Anonymous]

PP I tend to agree but some of these colleges are SO expensive and some of the dorms are SO crappy. That is not right, IMHO.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:No mine did not.

We went over everything we could.

Who cares if dorms are old. That's typical at college it's ok for Jonny or Susie to live in gross dorms we did.

In state tuition is a no-brainer apply to all the schools in your state. People are ridiculous with this. I know this board will not agree.

Classes of course some are hard it's college. That's parents being again ridiculous. Everyone gets a poor professor or crappy teacher it's called life and they need to learn how to navigate this.

My experience is most of those online forums are for parents not the students. Parents would be better off letting their kids figure out more of college.

I would say the most important part of the process ie before applying is making sure your student looks online at each college and check out the intended major classes that they will need to take, coursework will they want to do those. Is there a matriculation gpa requirement to get into their major after being accepted and being at college for two years? Can they change majors easily? Is community college credit accepted? What companies come to the school for their intended major to recruit? Internships availability?

Make sure your child knows about the health center, how to access, pay and sign the directive so you can get info if needed.

I used to help out for Days on the Lawn when I was a student at UVA (a day for admitted students to come take a look/participate in activities on grounds) and I remember being so mad when parents made rude comments about old dorms. They may have been a bit dumpy and did not have A/C and were nowhere near as nice as new dorms but we loved living there god damnit!

[Anonymous]

Hey, Old Dorms are great since the massive 2018 renovations. All the dorms have A/C now, parents of prospective students

[Anonymous]

Make sure that your kid has all their booster shots, understands HIPPA and FERPA, understands all area requirements, prerequisites, how to declare a major & minor, and also how to access health care promptly if necessary (telehealth can be an option)

[Anonymous]

Crappy dorms? This is why you take a tour of the school before applying. I think the parents are more bothered by ugly dorms than the kids. I don’t understand the outrage regarding the difficulty in getting in state tuition. Simple math here…out of state kids pay out of state prices.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Make sure that your kid has all their booster shots, understands HIPPA and FERPA, understands all area requirements, prerequisites, how to declare a major & minor, and also how to access health care promptly if necessary (telehealth can be an option)

I have no idea what HIPPA is. And it's vanishingly unlikely that your student will need to understand HIPAA while in college.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Make sure that your kid has all their booster shots, understands HIPPA and FERPA, understands all area requirements, prerequisites, how to declare a major & minor, and also how to access health care promptly if necessary (telehealth can be an option)

I have no idea what HIPPA is. And it's vanishingly unlikely that your student will need to understand HIPAA while in college.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Crappy dorms? This is why you take a tour of the school before applying. I think the parents are more bothered by ugly dorms than the kids. I don’t understand the outrage regarding the difficulty in getting in state tuition. Simple math here…out of state kids pay out of state prices.

+1 Also, there were a lot of complaints in the parent group for my kids' college about the lack of A/C during a heat wave. But, if they ended up in a crappy dorm they probably did their housing contract late or didn't really consider the options. The kids in LLCs all have nice dorms w/ A/C. DS did his contract early due to my nagging and chose the LLC for his major. He then told his two friends also going there to get moving on their contracts and also pick an LLC to be sure they got A/C. They are all happy with their housing.

I think the only surprise/frustration we had was that the expected orientation activities did not happen. Was told DS would be assigned an orientation group w/ a leader which could have been a nice way to get to know other students at the start and that never materialized, everything (he says) just was optional activities. Oh well, he's doing fine although seems to be slow to branch out from the HS friends.

The other thing I've gleaned from the parent page is that the health center does not seem able to cope with the massive number of kids getting sick (not covid).

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Make sure that your kid has all their booster shots, understands HIPPA and FERPA, understands all area requirements, prerequisites, how to declare a major & minor, and also how to access health care promptly if necessary (telehealth can be an option)

I have no idea what HIPPA is. And it's vanishingly unlikely that your student will need to understand HIPAA while in college.

It's actually pretty important and every parent should know this. You need to have your kid sign that you have authority over their health information otherwise you will not be able to access any information if they have a health emergency.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Hey, Old Dorms are great since the massive 2018 renovations. All the dorms have A/C now, parents of prospective students

OMG my twins live in the "old dorms" at UVA and they are AMAZING. Best location on grounds, completely redone, A/C, modern lounges and brand new shiny bathrooms.

Anyway, back to your regularly scheduled discussion...

[Anonymous]

The Health Center seem to be staffed by morons.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Make sure that your kid has all their booster shots, understands HIPPA and FERPA, understands all area requirements, prerequisites, how to declare a major & minor, and also how to access health care promptly if necessary (telehealth can be an option)

I have no idea what HIPPA is. And it's vanishingly unlikely that your student will need to understand HIPAA while in college.

NP here, but I think the point is you need to know if f your kid is 18 or older, you don’t have access to their medical info or care. You will need a medical POA for the state in which they’re living to make medical decisions should they be injured, sick, etc. Our friends’ son just had to have an emergency appendectomy while at school, and when they arrived at the hospital where was having surgery they couldn’t see him or get any information.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Make sure that your kid has all their booster shots, understands HIPPA and FERPA, understands all area requirements, prerequisites, how to declare a major & minor, and also how to access health care promptly if necessary (telehealth can be an option)

I have no idea what HIPPA is. And it's vanishingly unlikely that your student will need to understand HIPAA while in college.

NP here, but I think the point is you need to know if f your kid is 18 or older, you don’t have access to their medical info or care. You will need a medical POA for the state in which they’re living to make medical decisions should they be injured, sick, etc. Our friends’ son just had to have an emergency appendectomy while at school, and when they arrived at the hospital where was having surgery they couldn’t see him or get any information.

The point is, it is HIPAA, not HIPPA