DD is a freshman at SMCM and is loving it. She loves being in class, in person, and is doing very well academically (even in Chemistry!). She has a close group of friends she hangs out with and that's really important for her. The isolation of senior year was very hard on her.

Anonymous wrote:We had a discussion going about a month or 6 weeks ago about this and I'd love to see how everyone is adjusting since it seemed pretty tough at the time.

How are folks doing? I know one athlete who wants to transfer desperately and does not want to do the sport anymore. Everyone else seems to be getting used to their schools and routines.

My DS loves his roommate and his classes and is doing great, but he identified a few weeks ago that he needed some more friends. He is very shy and self described socially awkward (I don't see it personally). He joined another club of interest to him last week and is actually going camping with the outing club this weekend, so I think he's getting to know more people. He just signed a lease for an apartment for next year and has gotten closer to his prospective roommates which is nice to see.

He has no regrets on the school he chose.

How about your kids?

May I ask which school? I have a shy DS who would do well with something like an outing club.

DS is a Virginia Tech and doing well. He thinks his first semester classes are pretty easy since some of it is repeat from HS (introductory programming class, calculus 2). Gets along fine with his roommate although they don't particularly hang out with each other. Making friends, seems to be finding his place and navigating the bureaucracy of a big school successfully.

Anonymous wrote:Mine kid is not much of a talker, but on his recent trip home, he wanted to leave campus as late as possible because he had some club thing going on, and he returned earlier than I expected because he had another thing going on. This is a kid who joined zero clubs in high school.

He's doing fine academically, which is not the case for a lot of the kids whose lawnmower parents post on the FB page. But he's not taking chemistry, which seems to be one of the biggest sources of woe. (As is traditional, I believe?)

Oh trust me, chemistry sucks lol it’s a weed out class at most schools and it’s not easy especially having taken HS chem at home.
Hoping my kid passes lol. She has A and B in her other courses but even her advisor remarked on what a difficult schedule she choose this semester. Unfortunately Chem is a two semester class so she’ll have it next semester too

Mine kid is not much of a talker, but on his recent trip home, he wanted to leave campus as late as possible because he had some club thing going on, and he returned earlier than I expected because he had another thing going on. This is a kid who joined zero clubs in high school.

He's doing fine academically, which is not the case for a lot of the kids whose lawnmower parents post on the FB page. But he's not taking chemistry, which seems to be one of the biggest sources of woe. (As is traditional, I believe?)

My first year is having a great experience at her SLAC. She’s playing a sport in the spring so having off season to start with limited practice and only one tournament has been a good transition and she is enjoying the balance of school/sport. She went to a private school and didn’t see much of a drop off in challenge over the pandemic so she’s feeling good about academics but I know some of her new friends who had gotten used to virtual classes are dealing with some culture shock.

All in all, it has been a good start!

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Socially, my DD is happy. At a "Top 20" school, from a W school in MCPS. Academically, she is feeling more challenge than expected. Two years of MCPS virtual instruction wasn't enough preparation for what she is experiencing. However, she says she is feeling more encouraged post-midterms.

My DD is feeling this too as s STEM major. Virtual Chemistry really did not prepare her for college chemistry and lab.

Same for my STEM kid.

DS loves his classes and has made good friends—he’s got a much better social life than he ever had in college. And he can’t get over how much free time he has, compared with the wall-to-wall schedule he had in high school. We haven’t seen any grades yet, but I think he’s doing fine.

Anonymous wrote:Socially, my DD is happy. At a "Top 20" school, from a W school in MCPS. Academically, she is feeling more challenge than expected. Two years of MCPS virtual instruction wasn't enough preparation for what she is experiencing. However, she says she is feeling more encouraged post-midterms.

My DD is feeling this too as s STEM major. Virtual Chemistry really did not prepare her for college chemistry and lab.

Socially, my DD is happy. At a "Top 20" school, from a W school in MCPS. Academically, she is feeling more challenge than expected. Two years of MCPS virtual instruction wasn't enough preparation for what she is experiencing. However, she says she is feeling more encouraged post-midterms.

Love this thread!

My freshman is loving it so far. He just got to experience the joys of waking up super early and constantly clicking to secure the Spring 2022 courses he wants at the "good" times. He's much more excited for his Spring courses since he got to pick them himself and arrange his schedule how he wanted. Freshmen at his school get a tiny bit of input on their course selection while attending one of the Admitted Freshmen days over the summer, but 99% of the selection has already been locked in prior to that.

We were a bit worried on how he'd do academically but he sent us a screenshot of his midterm grades and they were excellent. So far he's found a nice study and play balance.

He and his roommate get along very well, but his roommate is from a town near their college and goes home nearly every weekend because his gf is still in HS there. He says he likes having the room to himself most weekends but he also hates it because it's always the roommate pairs on their floor doing activities together and then him. He's making friends, though, so that's good. He was invited to go on a fishing trip next weekend with a few guys on his floor, so he's excited for that.

Each time we talk as of late, he's constantly going over the Thanksgiving menu and says he misses real food so much, ha!

DS loves colleges. He attends locally and is rooming with some friends. He did break up with his high school gf, who also attends the same school. I like that he is closeby and we've attended 2 tailgates already

Our freshman is thrilled and having the time of her life! She is so happy with her school, her classes, her activities, everything. She won't ever be besties with her roomie but they get along okay and that's all you really need. We really underestimated how cold it is in her area so I have been buying a ton of outerwear and also warmer regular clothing her way. I don't think I could imagine a better result for her and I am so happy that she is in a school that she loves.

We had a discussion going about a month or 6 weeks ago about this and I'd love to see how everyone is adjusting since it seemed pretty tough at the time.

How are folks doing? I know one athlete who wants to transfer desperately and does not want to do the sport anymore. Everyone else seems to be getting used to their schools and routines.

My DS loves his roommate and his classes and is doing great, but he identified a few weeks ago that he needed some more friends. He is very shy and self described socially awkward (I don't see it personally). He joined another club of interest to him last week and is actually going camping with the outing club this weekend, so I think he's getting to know more people. He just signed a lease for an apartment for next year and has gotten closer to his prospective roommates which is nice to see.

He has no regrets on the school he chose.

How about your kids?