RE: RANT: College students...GGrrrrr...

[AustinBoston]

 
So DD#1 s second semester at Union (waaaay down in Jackson, TN...tornadoville) was drawing to a close, and she had a few free days before her last final.  We encouraged & urged her to use those to pack up.  That way, when we arrived to pick her up, she wouldn t need seven hours to pack up & clean up before leaving.
 
 PJay and I stopped in the best restaurant we could find in Roanoke, VA to celebrate our 21st Anniversary. [8D] Note: There is only one cell company that serves I-81 through the Roanoke valley, and nobody has a roaming contract with them, so your cell phone won t work.  It takes about 4 hours to pass thru that area in I-81.
 
 So was she packed up?  Fat chance. [:@] She took her last final & then stayed up all night packing up.  When we got there, she was exhausted, and only half done.
 
 I don t get vacation pay, so when I took 2 days off to go pick her up AND blew off a holiday weekend, I let her know (without yelling) that I wasn t happy.  OTOH, rather than a long lecture (I wouldn t let PJay, either), I made it plain that we needed to pack her up and get it in the van.
 
 Well, stuff packed in a hurry takes up twice as much space as stuff packed carefully, so there wasn t enough room in the van.  PJay and I were both kicking ourselves for not pulling the third seat from the van, and for not bringin the car-top carrier.  We had both thought of it, but didn t do it.  So a quick trip to X-mart to get some packing stuff that would survive being on the roof for 1300 miles.  After about five hours, we were ready to leave.
 
 We considered renting a storage unit, then I asked what the odds were that her grades would allow her to return.  I didn t like the answer, so I was unwilling to risk having to drive 2600 miles (round trip) to pick up her stuff in storage, AND pay $120+ per month to store it.
 
 We enjoyed the drive back despite a fair bit of fog in PA.  Oh, and expect to shop around before finding a hotel room at 11 PM on a Sunday Night on Memorial Day weekend.
 
 Austin

[Popupnut]

 AustinBoston
Austion - all I can say is what my mom used to say to me - someday your children will have children and then you can reep the pleasure of witnessing the re-enactment of our misery......    My teenager has put me thru some paces - and I am sure that dear old Mom is up there rolling with laughter!!!!
 Hang in there - your not alone!

[birol]

 AustinBoston
My Mother always wished me to have children who are just like myself.
 
 My son is just like me, and so is my daughter, and they are only 10 and 14 [][][] I can t answer them sometimes, smart, too smart ..... and they know how to get away with things. I think I have only 10 or 12 more years  to go []
 
 
 AB, what do you mean by " her grades might not be good enough for her to go back"  I am a complete stranger to the education system here, if she fails a course or so does she get kicked out ? is that how colleges work ?

[Garrett]

 AustinBoston
Having been through this myself with a couple of kids there is one law of physics that applies to college students stuff.  It will double in volume as soon as the parents leave town.  It does not matter if you pick them up at the end of the year or a week after you drop them off.  no matter how much you left them with you will bring twice as much home.

[AustinBoston]

 birol

ORIGINAL:  birol
 AB, what do you mean by " her grades might not be good enough for her to go back"  I am a complete stranger to the education system here, if she fails a course or so does she get kicked out ? is that how colleges work ?
 

 That is exactly how college works...to a point.  If you have enough money, your kids will be able to stay there regardless of grades.  But you have to donate a lot of money (i.e. donate a new gymnasium or science center).  This big money approach may not work with a public college.
 
 It s not a matter of failing a course or two.  A student has to maintain a minimum GPA (Grade Point Average).  Usually, if a student falls below that, there will be a probation period where they will have a chance to catch up, and they can usually stay that way as long as they are making sufficient progress.  If they fall further behind, or fail to make adequate progress, then their space is made available to other students.  Right now in the US, most private colleges have all the students they need, so there are marginally capable applicants who are turned away.  If a student is not performing, they would rather give the seat to someone who will.
 
 It is not uncommon for a first semester Freshman to do horribly, then start performing better as they go along.  DD s grades this semester will be better than last, but since we don t have her final exam grades, it s not clear whether she has made sufficient progress.
 
 Austin

[jstaddwtr]

 AustinBoston
Our eldest DD is 14 so we really wince when we hear about your escapades.  But when we think about it, we are going through alot of the same stuff now.  Oh well!![] Can t put em back where we got em!!!!

[Turn Key]

 AustinBoston
AB,
 Your story sounds the same as the " adventure"  I went through at the end of our son s first year at Lubbock Christian Univ.  Got there and found him asleep with near nothing packed!!!  Needless to say, I was not pleased.
 To make a long story short, he got to listen to me for the whole, long drive back!  Must say to his credit, he did finish his degree, he s got a great job working in aircraft related chemistry and I never had to put up with THAT again!  Take heart!  Things do (May?) improve!

[AustinBoston]

 Turn Key

ORIGINAL:  Turn Key
 Take heart!  Things do (May?) improve!
 

 DD s two roomates were both upper classmen.  They had not even begun to pack.
 
 Austin

[Turn Key]

 AustinBoston

DD s two roomates were both upper classmen. They had not even begun to pack.

 Oh, well.  You can always rent a U-Haul Truck for the next trip.[&:]

[AustinBoston]

 Turn Key

ORIGINAL:  Turn Key
 

DD s two roomates were both upper classmen. They had not even begun to pack.

Oh, well.  You can always rent a U-Haul Truck for the next trip.[&:]
 

 We thought of trying to rent a U-Haul trailer.  But that thought occured at 6:15 PM.  The U-Haul place closed at 6:00 PM. []
 
 Austin

[Gatsmommy]

 AustinBoston
Just and idea, but next time it could be known that anything NOT packed when you get there goes to the local goodwil instead of in the car home. I had a friend who s parents did that.  She came home with almost nothing that year LOL
 
 

[AustinBoston]

 Gatsmommy

 

ORIGINAL:  Gatsmommy
 
 Just and idea, but next time it could be known that anything NOT packed when you get there goes to the local goodwil instead of in the car home. I had a friend who s parents did that.  She came home with almost nothing that year LOL
 

 She would pack her CD s and computer.  I would end up buing her all new clothes.  No thanks.
 
 Austin

[jaycocamprs]

 AustinBoston

ORIGINAL:  AustinBoston
 
 We thought of trying to rent a U-Haul trailer.  But that thought occured at 6:15 PM.  The U-Haul place closed at 6:00 PM. []
 
 Austin
 

 If that were something that you wanted to do. You would be much better of renting the trailer up there, than renting one down here for a one-way trip. U-haul s local rates aren t to bad, but they really stick it to you on the one-way rentals

[Gatsmommy]

 AustinBoston

I would end up buing her all new clothes. No thanks

 Then it wouldn t work. My friend had to get a job to buy anything that was left, but she was responsible for her own clothes and things from when she turned 16.
 
 

[mike4947]

 AustinBoston
George is so right about the U-haul. If you need one, plan at least a month in advance to order and a weeks rental where you live will just about equal a 2 day one way rental from any college town.
 I had a part time job with a friend s father hauling trailers back from one way s every May and taking them away every September. SU is a LARGE school and we d spend several weekends hauling trailers to either clear out his lot or fill it up.
 The counter was always packed with irate parents the week of school closing looking for trailers to haul home the " collected"  stuff from a year at school. SInce I lived about 3 miles from the school I just collected my pay and went ALL THE WAY HOME [] after classses.