College Moving-In Week: the packing list.

Mod Squad Pete is five days away from moving into his dorm and — no surprises here — still working on his shopping list.

Bed, Bath & Beyond offers an online catalog…

He started early with a laptop purchase in June. We decided against purchasing the full dorm-room bedding set offered by his college (and I wrote about that here), but it took until yesterday for us to get to the store to buy sheets (and mattress pad, foam layer, duvet, duvet cover, etc.). Today he’s out with Mod Squad Dad picking up a refrigerator.

While I sought out lists and advice online (see What to Pack When Heading to College by Kelci Lynn Lucier, who also writes at College Parent Handbook), Pete said he had a mental list. I let that go until a week ago when we returned from family road trips and looked at the calendar.

Then Pete looked online for help and typed up a page full of items. He didn’t organize his list into categories, but Bed, Bath & Beyond offers this breakdown:

…or a simple check list.

• Sleep
• Organize
• Wash
• Eat
• Study
• Relax

Last night Pete started looking through his closet, thinking about what clothes to bring and what to leave. We’ve read college student advice against taking an entire wardrobe, so he’s leaning toward taking the variety he wants, but just enough for about three weeks or so, guessing at how often he’ll do laundry. Since it will still be warm here for a few more months, he doesn’t need sweaters or jackets or many jeans and chinos, for that matter. He’ll take a navy blazer and a tie, but no suit.

From Ms. Lucier, cited above:

Call me old-fashioned, but here’s the deal: Your student should be able to fit everything they need in your car. Yes, your car. (Exception: If your student is moving into an apartment and you need to furnish the place, you can break this rule.) Your student can get by with much less than they might think, and too many students bring too much stuff at the beginning of their first year in school.

Pete also has the advantage of parents living nearby. If he needs any particular item, one of us could drop it off.

[I won't go into detail here about the potential disadvantages of parents living nearby. Pete knows we will not be dropping by unannounced nor uninvited.]

Pete has coordinated large-ticket items with his roommate:  Pete’s bringing the fridge and microwave, his roommate is bringing the printer and a TV. They have not discussed color schemes — one more thing I think might be different when M.S. Julie starts packing in a couple of years. Yet, to turn the stereotype on its head, Pete has the greater need for a shoe organizer.

Oh, yes, this week is all about focusing on the details and putting off thinking about that bigger picture:  he’s leaving home.

Related articles

• 5 College Packing Considerations for Students and Parents
• What we learned at college orientation (and why we’re glad we went)
• First Year [Freshman] Orientation

What we learned at college orientation (and why we’re glad we went)

Fridge, microwave; who needs a dining hall?

A couple of weeks back, Mod Squad Dad and I joined Pete for his college orientation. This decision wasn’t an automatic “yes” — we live near UVa and are fairly familiar with the grounds. This is a busy summer with work, children’s activities, and other obligations, so we paused before taking a day and a half to take tours, listen to administrators, and eat at a dining hall.

We’re glad we went.

There’s plenty of advice available online for both students and parents about orientation.

Melissa Woodsen wrote a guest post for Countdown to College Coach, Making the most of college orientation:

…the BostonGlobe reports that most parents found the events to be more than worthwhile. With events ranging from “Meet the Dean” to model classes and seminars on “Letting Go,” parent orientations offer an in-depth understanding of today’s college experience that can’t be had from a distance.

From GreatCollegeAdvice.com, see Signing up and Preparing for your Orientation Program, by Cara Ray:

Once you arrive at your orientation, make sure the STUDENT is taking the lead.  This is your first step into finding your place on campus. The faculty and staff on campus expect that you will be making decisions, not your parents. Carving your own way starts right now!

Cappex College Insider offers a list of what to expect and tips on how to best take advantage, in What to Expect at College Orientation:

Expect: Logistical tasks such as getting your student ID card, creating a school email (if you haven’t already), and registering for classes.

Tip: If you have the option, try to attend an orientation session earlier in the summer. Since you’ll be registering for classes before the late summer orientation students, it is more likely that you’ll get the courses you really want. Register for the number of credit hours your school recommends for freshmen. You can always drop a course if you get to school and the course load is too heavy.

From the US News blog, Twice the Advice, 6 Tips for Parents at College Orientation

2. Learn what resources are available for parents: Many parents—especially when the first child is leaving for college—have to get used to letting their child do the communicating with the school. There are often legal reasons for this, but it’s good for the growing up process as well.

That doesn’t mean parents are without a voice, however. During orientation you should learn when and how you can communicate with the school. If you don’t hear that information, ask.

Here’s what we saw and learned:

1. Parents asked questions we may not yet have considered.

Room for books, laptop, and keyboard?

• Is using an illegal ID an honor code offense?
• Will a bike (laptop, dorm room, etc.) be safe from theft?
• What time should we arrive on Move-In Day?

2.  Parents asked questions we don’t really care about.

• How many washing machines in ___ dorm?
• How long will it take to get a triple room (assigned due to over-booking) de-tripled?

3.  Excellent administrators handled all questions professionally and thoroughly. This, in fact, was one of the most rewarding reasons for us to attend orientation:  the organization of the two-day event, the presentations and responses from administrators, the good humor and evident intelligence, the discussions of curriculum options and extra-curricular choices — all these reinforced our good feeling about Pete’s college choice.

4.  Administrators talked about what to expect and made specific requests of parents before our children go to college.

• Talk with them about time management. Their time in high school was highly structured. College will require a huge adjustment to working within non-structured schedules. Teach them how to use unstructured time.
• Discuss how to respond to problems. What steps have you taken? Have you talked to the RA? Have you talked to the Dean of Students?
• High school typically requires black & white answers. College requires more thought in grey areas, critical analysis, tough thinking. Anticipate some confusion and frustration while making that developmental change.
• Students will sign a roommate agreement form when they arrive, but many areas of possible discord can be talked through themselves, especially an agreed-upon policy on locking the door, overnight guests (and frequency), using each other’s things.
• Have your child sign up for text alerts. They need to opt-in.
• Make sure they thoroughly understand three terms:  effective consent, sexual misconduct, incapacitation.
• Have them repeat, “Don’t drink what you didn’t make or open yourself.”

Orientation coupons

5.  The dining hall food was fine. Sure, Pete will tire of it at some point, but the food choices were excellent. But perhaps Pete wishes we hadn’t tried it out? The coupon reads:

A reminder: parents eat free when they visit during the 2012/13 academic year (beginning 8/24/12) at our residential dining rooms. (Two parents per student meal swipe, per visit. We regret that other family members are not eligible for this promotion.)

Just kidding, Pete. Four weeks from today, big guy.

Related articles

• College Orientation Comes With a Hefty Price Tag
• How to Get Off to a Good Start with a College Roommate
• First Year [Freshman] Orientation

First Year [Freshman] Orientation

Welcome Class of 2016!

Sometime before the beginning of June Mod Squad Pete registered himself and both parents for summer orientation for first year students. At his college, the University of Virginia, one doesn’t say “Freshman Orientation” because one doesn’t ever say “freshman.”

[Expect a post on terms used and not-used at UVa.]

Pete registered for this week, traded a shift at his job, packed his bags, and was ready to go.

Actually, there was a bit more to it than that.

Instructions from UVa provided a deadline to upload a photo (with specific size, background, etc.) for his ID, requirements to familiarize himself with the Student Information System (which can be a real bear to deal with), and recommendations, such as to load up his course planner with possible selections in preparation for registration when visiting grounds. (One doesn’t say “campus” at UVa, either.)

Parents awaiting four hours of discussion panels.

Come orientation day, we showed up during the specified half-hour to find a very well-organized and cheerful team ready to process the five or six hundred students and their parents through the two days. “Students to the right; parents to the left.”

While many of us regrouped to drop off overnight gear at the dorm, the orientation team was clear:  many of the student activities were “parent-free zones.”

The student activities included:

• Placement exams, if needed, for Russian, Latin, and German
• Welcome and other speeches
• Small group orientation ice-breakers
• Scheduling workshop
• Student life panel discussion
• Activities at the fitness center
• Course registration

Parent activities included:

Pete’s new address: top floor, corner room.

• Welcome speech by the Orientation Director
• ‘Parents as Partners’ discussion by the Dean of Students
• Student Norms discussion (aka “Is Everybody Drinking?”) by the Student Health Center representative
• Move in Day and beyond panel by Housing & Student Life representatives

Additional tours, open houses, resource fairs, and information sessions were available to all. We looked at a room similar to the type in Pete’s dorm.

Indeed, in an experience reminiscent of multiple dorm room visits on college tours,  we waited outside the room while multiple parents chatted away inside, squeezed in to take a look, stepped outside again after a parent elbowed us aside so she could measure the inside of the armoire, and then stepped back in just so we could see the darn room.

End result: we’re oriented. Pete is sort of registered — out of six courses in his planner, he is registered for two, awaiting professor approval for two, and wait-listed for two. Not bad.

M.S. Dad and Pete check out the view.

For the parents, and I’ll speak for both of us until M.S. Dad decides to guest-post:  every day of this post-high school summer brings us one step closer to the very exciting next step of Pete’s life [College! Wow! Moving Out!] and one step closer to the dreary next step of our life [Where did Pete go?].

Orientation reinforced that for all of us. We are so very excited for him and, oh man, we will miss him so.

Typical for this blog, I’ve got a few links on preparing for orientation. I’ll save those for another day.

If you’re a student — enjoy every moment of moving on, even the scary bits. If you’re a parent — well, we’ll learn how to deal with this just as we’ve learned how to deal with all the other bits of parenting (even the scary bits), right?

Related articles

• Buying sheets from college. For college, yes, but from? (drstrangecollege.wordpress.com)
• Katie’s College Orientation (ricksregister.wordpress.com)

How long should college take? Doonesbury weighs in.

In case you missed it a week ago, Garry Trudeau takes his turn at quoting Mr. Jefferson, and asks the question never heard in these parts: “Who’s Thomas Jefferson?”

How many years do you think a degree should take? See the full strip here.

Of course, Doonesbury could be reflecting changes to student financial aid programs which became effective July 1st. See the Project on Student Debt website for their Consumer Guide to Changes in Federal Pell Grants and Student Loans for 2012-13.

Change to Pell Grant Eligibility

Pell Grants are need-based federal grants available to both full-time and part-time undergraduate students. They do not need to be repaid. For the 2012-13 award year, the maximum Pell Grant remains at $5,550.

• The maximum number of equivalent full-time semesters a student is eligible to receive a Pell Grant will drop from 18 to 12 semesters for all students, including those close to completion.

Meanwhile, some colleges don’t want students to finish too quickly. Here’s a UPI wirefeed titled, University sues over early graduation:

ESSEN, Germany, July 3 (UPI) — A German university is suing a student for lost income because he finished his bachelors and masters degrees in only 20 months.
The School of Economics and Management in Essen is asking the court to make former student Marcel Pohl, 22, pay an extra $3,772 after he obtained his degrees in only three semesters instead of the usual 11, The Local.de reported Tuesday.
“When I got the lawsuit, I thought it couldn’t be true,” Pohl told the Bild newspaper. “Performance is supposed to be worth something.”
Pohl said school officials agreed in advance he and two friends could take their 60 required exams despite divvying up the lecture hours between them and sharing notes afterward.
“We didn’t get any freebies, and we agreed [to] our plans in advance with the school,” Pohl said.
A university spokesman said officials do not want to comment before the case reaches court.

Hmm, sounds like he used his coursework well.

Related articles

• How Much Do You Owe? Doonesbury weighs in. (drstrangecollege.wordpress.com)

Power restored at Mr. Jefferson’s University… and elsewhere.

June 27th Charlottesville Daily Progress.

I’m ready to get back to our college journey, but first I’d like to tie up a few local loose ends…

1.  On Tuesday, June 26th, to high praise from the University of Virginia community, the Board of Visitors reversed their ill-thought acceptance of President Sullivan’s resignation and reinstated her. This came after more than two weeks of rallies, hundreds of FOIA’ed emails, and thousands of tweets, column inches, chatter, and online comments.

2.  On Friday, June 29th, the Governor of Virginia reappointed Helen Dragas to the UVa Board of Visitors. It was Ms. Dragas, in her role as Rector of the BoV,  who — through borderline-legal manipulations and extremely poor management — launched the UVa community into this upheaval.

3.  Mere hours later, Mother Nature unleashed a derecho (straight-line storm with very high winds) and Virginia experienced its worst non-hurricane damage, leaving more than a million households without power, most for multiple days, and some are still without nine days later.

Coincidence? Surely.

In case you’ve not read enough about the UVa story, here’s one more article worth paying attention to…

Jeff Selingo, an Editorial Director for the Chronicle of Higher Education, wrote Fixing College for the New York Times op-ed page. He outlines the source of the anxiety UVa and most colleges face today:

Students were not the only ones to go deeper into debt. So did schools, building lavish residence halls, recreational facilities and other amenities that contributed little to actual learning. The debt taken on by colleges has risen 88 percent since 2001, to $307 billion.

This heady period of growth occurred precisely when colleges had the financial flexibility to prepare for what was to come: fewer government dollars, a wave of financially needy students, a drop-off in the number of well-prepared high-school graduates who could afford to pay, and, of course, technological advances in teaching and learning. Instead, colleges continued to focus on their unsustainable model, assuming little would change.

Other information industries, from journalism to music to book publishing, enjoyed similar periods of success right before epic change enveloped them, seemingly overnight. We now know how those industries have been transformed by technology, resulting in the decline of the middleman — newspapers, record stores, bookstores and publishers.

Some of Mr. Selingo’s solutions will sound very familiar:  better use of technology and more online courses were at the heart of the Dragas-led complaints about President Sullivan. Other solutions take higher-ed to task for their own mismanagement:  shift the focus to academics from administration and reduce the number of wasted credits. If you’re at all interested in the challenges colleges face today, it’s a good start.

Finally, I’ll end this with a quote from President Sullivan, when she spoke to a crowd of supporters after the vote to restore her to office. This, from the Charlottesville Daily Progress: Historic day at UVa: Sullivan reinstated after two weeks of turmoil.

She also expressed relief.

“As we know, Mr. Jefferson provides a perspective for every occasion,” Sullivan said, drawing a laugh from the crowd. “And I’m reminded of his letter to James Warren after the election of 1800, in which he says, ‘It is pleasant for those who have just escaped threatened shipwreck to hail one another when landed in unexpected safety.’”

The crowd cheered.

Related articles

• University of Virginia Reinstates Ousted President (nytimes.com)
• The Troubles in Mr. Jefferson’s Academical Village (The Quick and the Ed)

College laundry habits

In case you missed it a few days back, xkcd reports on college laundry habits for the first semester.

See the full strip here. And don’t miss using your mouse to rollover the full strip to read what happens second semester.

[Hat/tip to Robyn S for sending it my way.]

Related articles

• How to Clean in College (angsays.wordpress.com)
• XKCD’s Take On Password Difficult (howtogeek.com)

On Teen Health: getting ready for college.

Somewhere on Mod Squad Pete’s list of tasks required by his college is the completion of a substantial physical health form. Needing a physical this summer is nothing new; our school division — actually the Virginia High School Sports League — requires annual physicals of any participating athletes.

Via UVA Teen Health Center. Click to enlarge.

This one is just a similar form on steroids.

An article in our local paper yesterday, written by Dyan A. Aretakis, a family nurse practitioner and project director for the University of Virginia Teen Health Center, explains more about what is needed: Vital Signs:  Preparing teens for college

Before you send your graduate off to college, it is important to submit a complete medical history so the institution has a record of all the important dates and details. A review of your family history (siblings, parents, grandparents, etc.) will impact specific screening tests that may be indicated as your child gets older. All colleges require documentation of immunizations or a waiver if you decline them.

Ms. Aretakis raises a number of good points in the article, including:

• commonly missing adolescent immunizations
• how to deal with prescriptions
• how to seek out medical services your college may not offer, and more.

The UVa Teen Health Center is hosting a conversation for local parents to teens heading off to college. Other colleges may do this as well; if not, see the article for questions to raise with medical professionals.

I realize I am not concerned (or less concerned) about some of these off-to-college questions in part because Pete is going about five or six miles down the road. We may not see him very often (that will be his call), but we’re certainly available in case of any illness or emergency.

Still, I’ll be stopping by Open Grounds tomorrow night to see what I should know.

Related articles

• National College Decision Day: Pete’s going to college. (drstrangecollege.wordpress.com)
• On Teen Health: using ‘good grade pills’ to get into college (drstrangecollege.wordpress.com)

Buying sheets from college. For college, yes, but from?

After Mod Squad Pete accepted the invitation to attend the University of Virginia in late April, we all — student and parents alike — began to receive regular correspondence from UVa. We all have tasks to take care of with deadlines attached.

University endorsed linens.

Some didn’t surprise me — both summer orientation registration and the housing application were due by June 1st. The catalog of linens, hampers, shower pak [sic] and more did.

The “Complete Campus Collection – 26-piece Value Pak“, also described as “#1 Student Choice” and “your best deal” could give Pete beautifully matched sheets, comforter, fleece throw, blanket, towels, hamper, underbed storage solution, and one bedside buddy (fabric organizer with pockets and a flap that slides between mattress and bed frame).

Really?

We will need to purchase extra-long twin bedding, but we won’t be buying the complete campus collection. For one reason, Pete received a great set of towels from an aunt and uncle for graduation. I’m not sure Pete cares much about a fully matched bedding set.

Then there was the computer catalog. Or the “UVA Class of 2016 Student Computers & Dorm Essentials” catalog. We have received three or four computer sales pitches now, with a letter from the University CIO highlighting all the benefits of buying via the Computing at Virginia or CAV program.

Really?

Ok, we do need to purchase a Mac PowerBook for Pete, but I’m not yet sold on the CAV service and UVA-installed software being worth the additional costs beyond what we could purchase directly from Apple, including AppleCare.

And those dorm essentials? Fans, refrigerators, microwaves, carpets and TVs? If Pete were attending a college hundreds of miles from home, purchasing a fan through the college and having it delivered to his dorm room might make sense. But I’m a bit too old-fashioned to consider a TV an essential for his dorm room.

Plus, Pete was able to watch three Star Wars movies on his iPod a year or so ago while I drove hundreds of miles on a college-visit-road-trip. He doesn’t need a television.

Bedside Buddy.

I’m interested in hearing what other parents of new college students have done. Please let me know in comments.

Here’s what we’ve done so far at our house:  Pete wrote a few UVa students he knows from high school and asked about their experiences. I wrote the parent of a 2012 grad and asked her advice. Based upon the responses we’ve received, we’ll keep shopping around.

I’m fairly certain the laptop and the bedside buddy weren’t included in the estimated Cost of Attendance.

Related articles

• National College Decision Day: Pete’s going to college. (drstrangecollege.wordpress.com)
• You’d Never Want To Graduate From this Amazing, Automated College Dorm Room [Video] (gizmodo.com)
• 3 Safety Essentials for College (dormsafety.wordpress.com)

Happy 1st Birthday, Dr. StrangeCollege!

A year ago today I launched this blog with Counting Down to College.

I’m sure Katie Couric would call with birthday wishes if only she weren’t busy giving a speech today. (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

After a full year of following Mod Squad Pete through writing essays, asking for recommendations, working through applications, and waiting for news, today we know where he will attend college. (As it turns out, today is also the day his college, the University of Virginia, is holding the 2012 Final Exercises with one very famous alum, Katie Couric, giving the commencement address.)

Next week Pete will graduate from high school; his work there is done. He has already shifted his focus mostly to summer, but also, in response to correspondence from UVa, to applying for housing, registering for summer orientation, scanning the course catalog, and tagging some courses for his SIS-based academic planner.

I’ll expand the focus of this blog to learning and writing about having an adult child in college. Since, as I’ve said all along: this is about our journey.

Next week M.S. Linc will become a rising 8th grader. A number of his 8th grade courses will show up on his HS transcript. The first week of June M.S. Julie becomes a rising 11th grader, with the added emphasis on college prep and academic rigor the junior year brings. Fortunately for both of them, they have about ten weeks of summer first.

Finally, I’ve updated the website and blog links in the right-hand column. These changes reflect connections I pay attention to as well as the new college student focus. (Hello, College Parent Central!) I’ve also added a few college-prep sites I think are helpful, that is, if I can ever get the Mod Squad to check them out:  DIY College Prep, SAT Dude, and Khan Academy (though I have seen Julie use Khan videos for test prep).

Thank you to the visitors, viewers, and subscribers who’ve come along for the ride. I truly appreciate your readership and your comments. I have learned so much by writing DrStrangeCollege; your response has made it even more fun for me. Thanks!

Related articles

• College decision month: Virtual visits? (drstrangecollege.wordpress.com)
• High school freshman: Getting ready for college (cbsnews.com)

Is College Worth It? Doonesbury weighs in.

In case you missed it in Sunday’s paper, Garry Trudeau reports on the studies indicating students are doing more socializing than learning at our colleges and universities.

See the full strip here.