Anonymous wrote:Georgetown Happy, but expensive! They seem to go out to $$ clubs a lot

Duke Happy but classes not hard. Not challenged. Engineering. Maybe things are just ramping up?

Yale super happy

Harvard super unhappy (This is always Harvard's vibe freshman year, kids like it second year IMO)

Penn - Wharton not as hard as I thought it would be

Brown - kids dont go to class. Weird social clubs - nyc kids all in one, etc

UVA - happy and only so-so. It's a big school, some still finding footing

W&M - "what I expected"

I heard these exact things about Brown as well. Classes almost a joke. Social pressure.

Always heard Wharton classes were easy, it's getting into the clubs that's a blood sport.

I noticed when mine came home and reconvened with high school friends that there was a clear line between those in fraternities and those not in fraternities when it came to their enjoyment of college. The fraternity men were all in on college and mostly talked about the fun they were having, the parties they'd attended, and the girls they were getting. The GDI's didn't have much to say about college and seemed to be longing for the good old days of high school. I know it's a small sample size, but I thought it was worth sharing.

Georgetown Happy, but expensive! They seem to go out to $$ clubs a lot

Duke Happy but classes not hard. Not challenged. Engineering. Maybe things are just ramping up?

Yale super happy

Harvard super unhappy (This is always Harvard's vibe freshman year, kids like it second year IMO)

Penn - Wharton not as hard as I thought it would be

Brown - kids dont go to class. Weird social clubs - nyc kids all in one, etc

UVA - happy and only so-so. It's a big school, some still finding footing

W&M - "what I expected"

We hosted a "friendsgiving" on Wednesday so I have lots of info!

Michigan (x2): Lots of fun, still finding their people. Work is not overwhelming.
Cornell (x2): Super happy, great social life, classes are hard but manageable.
BC: Happy but not thrilled, classes very good/interesting, harder than expected.
MIT: Very, very hard (duh)
Chicago: More fun/social than expected, great friends, very hard, need to adjust to the quarter pace.
U Maryland: Not happy, transferring
Penn: Extremely happy, amazing classes, VERY hard (note: kid is in some kind of super accelerated engineering program)
Tufts: Happy, I didn't get details
Georgetown: Happy, didn't get details.

This is pointless. What makes one kid happy will make another miserable.

Happy freshmen at Pitzer, Columbia, Georgetown and Bates-

Bit of struggling at Emory and Rice though I think some of this due to being far away from boyfriend in one case and lack of past experience being away from home in both. Tip for those with kids in earlier high school years, send them away to camp/on a NOLS or outward bound type thing. Much better to have spent 3-4 weeks away from home, in new environment/making new friends before starting college if at all possible

Unhappy kids: Middlebury athlete, Vanderbilt engineering

Happy kids: Swarthmore athlete, Amherst (girl, non-athlete), BU and UConn.

All friends seem happy except for UVA and Northeastern who are still trying to find friends and activities.

Parent of sophomore here... give it some time. Some of the kids who were in love at this time last year have now transferred or wanted to. Others didn't like it at first but are happy now.

Princeton kid having a fantastic time

Friends at UCLA have been upbeat and things sound neutral-to-positive. A bit big, but joining clubs was helpful for connecting with people.
Several friends at Wellesley. One or two sound a bit stressed, or like they're creating some distance from HS friends; others seem happy.
Report from Cornell was more positive than I expected, which I was happy to hear.
Two at W&M; both absolutely love it.
Report from St. John's (Santa Fe campus) was very positive (was very much a "fit" for that student).

I've mostly been surprised by how few HS friends I've heard about. I expected them to have more reports from friends and how they're doing, but even with my "how's ____ doing at _____?" questions, the sense I'm getting is that friends have only loosely reported back, and most are really leaning in to their new schools.

Here are my kid's friends. I was with them all at a dinner at my house.

BC: x 4 kids, all made a point of saying that they really like their fellow classmates but say there is "very little to do" socially and they are bored. Most (3 of 4) are thinking of transferring.
Michigan: love the game day culture but boy, they are drinking A LOT. Feels like everyone they know drinks a ton every Saturday. Have found it difficult to make friends beyond the superficial. Confident that this will improve.
Northwestern: very unhappy socially. I'm not sure why. Vocal about wanting to transfer.
Cornell: found their pack, STEM kid working very hard for grades in the 50s and 60s.
UVA: x 3 kids, happiest of the bunch and I'm not just saying this to annoy the DCUM posters. UVA also comes up as the most frequent destination of "where I want to transfer to" (see NU kid above and BC kids).

Penn kid happy!
Uva , 3, all happy
UKentucky hates it
W&M looking to transfer(wants another shot at ivy)
Other W&M loves it

From friends kids
Rutgers and VCU: looking to transfer
Colorado State: so happy
Colorado: overwhelmed but happy
Chapel Hill: likes classes but doesn’t feel like they have found their place but still happy to work on that part
UVA: very happy
Boston University: like school and has made friends but doesn’t think they like cold weather

Spin off a previous post - that was bumped up - on what parents overhear from freshman Kids & friends (from high school) this week about the trail’s & tribulations of freshman year.

Have heard a lot this week about who’s thriving, who’s still searching for ppl and who’s already looking to transfer.

Anyone else want to dish? I’ll share but don’t want to go first (given how that other poster was treated for the reported eavesdropping).

I’m particularly interested in those kids who are having a fabulous first semester. Any clue as to why/what’s made it so successful?