Anonymous wrote:Is it really true that college kids must do internships?? What about the days of waiting tables, or regular old summer jobs? Is the internship requirement this a DCUM/elite thing or will my run-of-the-mill (but wonderful) kif need to do these things too?

Yes, building a professional resume with competitive internships and school-year jobs and campus involvement is required to get a selective ($$$ and/or high status) full-time job offer before graduation. A 21 or 22 y/o senior with no job experience outside of waiting tables or summer life guarding is going to look super weird, sketchy and wouldn't get any call-backs for any competitive positions. They can still land a job, of course -- anyone can get a job offer.

Anonymous wrote:Is this still true?

Yes. And I cringe whenever parents and the kids themselves act like (rich) college kids "work" so hard and "really deserve a break." Here's an all-expenses paid trip to Hawaii / Ibiza / Mykonos / Anguilla darling, you work so hard as a sociology-majoring sorority girl at UVA.

Anonymous wrote:Is it really true that college kids must do internships?? What about the days of waiting tables, or regular old summer jobs? Is the internship requirement this a DCUM/elite thing or will my run-of-the-mill (but wonderful) kif need to do these things too?

Are you serious? Of course it’s important. I’m only being slightly sarcastic.

Is it really true that college kids must do internships?? What about the days of waiting tables, or regular old summer jobs? Is the internship requirement this a DCUM/elite thing or will my run-of-the-mill (but wonderful) kif need to do these things too?

It was for me. Worked hard, played hard. I had a challenging but non tech major that suited me so I have been working now for decades in my field.

But my big SEC school was a great big party. One great time after another.

Anonymous wrote:I enjoyed my college time but it was very different. Now have a freshman, and it's stressful: pick a major, keep up with classes, find an apartment for next year, avoid the drunks in your dorm throwing up and fight to find your people within the first 6 months. There is just a lot of pressure for these kids (and yes, I say "kids" and not "adults" b/c living in a dorm in not adulting.)
It's a positive experience and he's happy to be there and it's going fine.
But time of your life? Eh.

Do you mean different than when you were in college? How so? I remember all of the craziness (esp of freshman year) and I agree that it’s a lot but when you are young and energetic and excited to build a new life and meet people you have the energy for it. I had a wonderful time in college but it was one of many, many other great periods of my life.

College was fine, but getting married and traveling the world with my husband was way better, and having our kids has been the absolute time of my life.

I enjoyed my college time but it was very different. Now have a freshman, and it's stressful: pick a major, keep up with classes, find an apartment for next year, avoid the drunks in your dorm throwing up and fight to find your people within the first 6 months. There is just a lot of pressure for these kids (and yes, I say "kids" and not "adults" b/c living in a dorm in not adulting.)
It's a positive experience and he's happy to be there and it's going fine.
But time of your life? Eh.

Interestingly, I just came back from a trip to Buenos Aires where my 25 years old is currently residing. He graduated in 2018 with a degree in CS. He got a 150k/year job and worked for three years until November 2021. He stayed with me and my wife and saved his money. By the time he left for Argentina, he had almost 300k in the bank with me chipping in another 100k. He is taking two years off from work to explore South America. With the economy in the dumpster in Argentina, he is living like a king there with the power of the US dollars. He is dating countless beautiful women in Buenos Aires and has a lot of fun.

No way! So fun and I had a great time but I was immature and kind of a mess in retrospect.

I’m 33 now and having a great time with work, kids and DH. I would consider pursuing another advanced degree for fun but you couldn’t pay me to relive undergrad. Once was wonderful and also quite enough!

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Not any more. Kids' summers are filled with new requirements that many parents didn't have to deal with - research and internship. So, no, not true at this point.

I know plenty of college aged kids whose summer jobs are the same sorts of things I did - camp counselor, wait staff/restaurant hostess, retail, etc. Also the ones who tout their internships often seem to be remote, cush ones (or stay at college to “do research” for a professor which usually sounds like a calm and fun summer with other students around). Of course there are students doing serious work, too, but plenty have “regular” temporary jobs.

Yes, I was talking about top performing kids.

I would be so interested in real life to meet the posters on this forum who seem to have no issue regularly insulting kids.

They don’t come across like they think they do. They sound pathetic and sad.

Guess I'm another oddball who loved my college years. I went to a low-income high school with unmotivated kids. When I arrived at my HYSP college, it was heaven to be around smart people who were funny and fun. People got my jokes and thought my curiosity and ambition was normal. I didn't have much spending money, but I mainly spent time with other kids there on scholarship and the ones with money would gladly drive us to get tacos or Chinese food. We didn't have any real responsibilities other than showing up to class or for our work study job. You could meet someone and just keep talking and hanging out for hours on end. When everybody in your little world is living together under these circumstances, you form friendships that aren't really possibly in normal life situations. I was also very active in campus activities like student government, social justice advocacy, cultural performance, and journalism. Those are definitely things that don't exist in the real world for people at that stage of life. Over 30 years later, my closest friends are the people I met during college. They live all over the country but we still do vacations together every few years.

I sure hope that the students at my school aren't focused on summer internships. Back then, it wasn't a big deal. I worked in the summer mainly to explore things I was interested in, like social science research. The challenge was to find someone with a pot of grant money to pay me for those efforts since I needed to make enough to cover my family's financial contribution out of those earnings. I worked hard in my classes, but because I wanted to. I didn't feel pressured that way that some people here did. Maybe that is because at a top elite school, you know you'll be fine when it comes to finding a job or getting into a good grad school.

My only regret from those years was not realizing how gorgeous and skinny I was. Oh, and at no other point in life have there been so many available smart and attractive young men all in one place.

I think if I did college now it would be great. I’m so much happier and confident. I had low self esteem, undiagnosed with ADHD, and was overly preoccupied with grades. I wish I had enjoyed it more.

Anonymous wrote:Is this still true?

Hopefully it was never true for most people. That would be pretty sad.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Is this still true?

No for me right now is the best time.

100% tele work. I wake up when I wake up.
The work is pretty easy with well over 6 figure salay with ton of benefits.

I can't believe this is happening.
In fact I thank Covid.

Why hello are you my husband?