Ok, I want to tap into your data bases.

We leave next week to go register CV Jr. for his classes.

Being new to all this any tips or words of advice are welcome for anything the parents of a college freshman might need to/should know about.

CV

cv.....My biggest piece of advice would be to ignore the comments of parents who are always negative, support your son, support his coaches, and let them coach!!

Good luck!!

Start saving up some money for that category called "spending money". It was good to be able to transfer money into his account from my computer. I just have his account number, not his balance.

Be flexible. There is always something unexpected.

One more thing, start at the beginning of his academic career and keep close tabs on classes. It was good to always know what he needed to fulfill his degree, and sometimes it happens that advisors aren't as sharp as they need to be. Keep that degree requirement sheet handy, and consult that every semester.

If you son is playing baseball there have the coach assist you to make sure your sons schedule fits the baseball needs

CV,
The best tip I can give is for you to understand that it will be a difficult time for both of you to learn to let go. In the beginning we didn't hear much from DK. He was really busy between classes, workout, field, study hall, trying to adjust to college life he had no time to call, or if he did he was too tired. There were times when he felt overwhelmed, when he called we listened. He was homesick. The other times he called unexpectedly was when he couldn't get money out of the ATM, or should he use the credit side or the debit side. Or should he use hot or cold for whites, does he seperate the laundry. We put him on a budget so we didn't get the call every week for more money.
By the time he came home for a month for Christmas, we were looking forward to him leaving. One, because I hated waiting up at night, two, because we knew when he got back the season would begin shortly.
We didn't know how we would survive without baseball, being so far away. However I can tell you for the past 4 months we have heard and seen more baseball than I can imagine. 5 nights a week watching gametracker and or listening to the radio or watching TV at the same time, traveling for games, the season has flown by! This semester brought more frequent calls with after game details, or no call when they lost and he didn't want to talk that night.
The second tip I can give you is that while your son is going to play baseball, first and foremost he is there for an education. It is one thing we always talked about first before baseball (not counting game nights). He knew what was expected of him from us and his coaches and his advisor. The advisors at Clemson are in contact with parents if there is a problem, and our 4.1 average student struggled in the beginning. But he had a great support system, coach received grade reports or missed classes every 3 weeks. He worked hard to get it all together. He took advantage of study hall and tutors. Second semester was a breeze, the classes harder but the adjustment was made, and they do work around the teams travel schedula and games.
If you have any questions, feel free to pm.

Gosh....freshman year seems like a liftime ago....altho it was only two years ago!

1. Make sure he knows how to do his own laundry

2. Make sure he realizes that even tho the girl he calls, using his cell phone, is living in the dorm NEXT to his....it COULD be a long distance call if she is from TEXAS! LOL. There could be ALOT of explaining to do that first cell phone bill away at college.

Good luck to CV jr as he heads off. If he was a good student so far, then that won't change. Just remind him why he is going there. Just ask him to take care of business.

As the season rolls around remind him to find his routine and SLOW the game down. There will be good times and tough times. The tough times make the good times special.

Good Luck.

I think back and look at the things that stand out in my mind are:
1. He did some things on his own that I didn’t think he could, like being somewhere at 6:00 AM.
2. He did some thing that I advised him against and we all survived.
3. All college students have unlimited financial backing and my son is the only one that “runs short” of cash.
4. All college students should make great chemist because of the experience they have of growing bacteria cultures in the kitchen and bathroom.
5. Text messaging can be very expensive if you don’t understand the billing concept and the teenage mindset.
6. Every friend that stops by the apartment brings a 6 pack and leaves the empties around the apartment.
7. Hanging-out is a buzzword that includes a lot of activities that are not openly discussed with parents.
8. Sleepovers are common practice at my son’s apartment.
9. Apartments are never locked and everything they own is in the apartment including computers, TVs, and lots of other electronics.
10. Vehicles are ALWAYS locked and have nothing but McDonald’s wrappers and empty water-bottles under the seats.
11. Parents are always welcome at the apartments but are expected to bring some food when they arrive.
12. The cords, boxes, cables, wires, remotes, games, DVDs that are connected to, or associated with the TV or ”game central” as I call it, just looks like a mess but is fully functional so don’t touch anything associated with that area.
13. Pictures of scantily clothed girls on the walls look just like scantily clad girls have always looked.
Fungo

Fungo- have you been hanging out at my son's dorm??
You know tooooo much!

CV:

CV,Jr. will do fine,, quite a young man, but I offer the following lessons from our experience with our #1:

1. Never ever let your wife see his room.
2. Don't ask how they use Fabreeze.
3. If you get evasive answers to academic questions, keep asking, and asking.
4.It will hurt when you leave campus, but that basketball you feel in your throat will leave. After 3-4 visits, I actually got to where I could leave without the lump....
5. The adjustment for them is huge. Huge.
6. Gived him the money management lectures, but slip him a few bucks when mom isn't looking too.
7. Playstation beats drinking as an activity, so don't assume that video game play is a bad thing, as long as the academics don't get shorted.
8. Listen closely (your law enforcement background should do well here) as sometimes what they aren't saying is more important than what they are saying.

Fungo has nailed the rest of it pretty well.

H-1

Remember he's mostly excited and a little scared....it will be harder on you.

Lessons in money management, laundry, cell phone usage, and (if he'll have a kitchen) food safety and cooking need to be stepped up over the summer. This not only helps prepare him, but gives you lots of opportunites to spend time with him and toke up on your conversations for the long Fall ahead.

Don't let him take anything too precious with him. Not only are they a bit cavalier with their possessions, but college seems to be fairly socialistic. My son returned with clothes I've never seen balancing out the missing stuff.

Suggest a heavier class load in Fall and a lighter one in Spring to accommodate the different levels of baseball time commitment.

Although Fungo is spot on with the security side, a car with only food wrappers and cans would be considered clean. There will also be fermenting laundry, enough paper to reforest Utah, the $2,000 a pop textbooks, and a wide assortment of baseball and workout equipment.

There will be times when he shows maturity, understanding, and responsibility that will take your breath away; there will be times when you could only hope he will aspire to be a space cadet. It's as if there is no age 18; sometimes they're 9, sometimes their 27....the 18 is only the average of the two extremes!

Fungo,
FUNNNNYYYYY! And oh so true!

quote:

One, because I hated waiting up at night,

TPM, I see that things are not that different. After all they are 19 and life is better after midnight. lol

Big,
I hear ya!

These are great, keep posting !

CV

It's amazing what they all have in common. My son came home for the summer and I thought he would need a dump truck to load the trash in out of his car! All of the above posts are true. I agree with Orlando, they are usually a little more scared than they will admit, and it is hard on them and us but you will get used to him being gone. It can be a little touchy when the rules at home have to complied with when they come home after living on their own. A lot of compromising is necessary. Fungo pretty well summed it all up though.
Mine had trouble adapting to the academic requirements coming from a rural high school, he wasn't as well prepared as he could have been although he made good grades in high school. Just remind him that he really needs to pay attention to his grades and keep up with his work. A GOOD alarm clock is essential. I like the idea of the new ones that hop around the room and you have to get up and find them to turn them off. Anyone know where to buy those???
He will do fine, will make mistakes and will also make great decisions. The hardest part is that we don't know what they are usually until after the fact.
One thing, when I went to the first fall game, I was amazed at how much older they all looked. And this was just 3-4 months after graduation. So be prepared for that... they are about grown whether we want them to be or not.

I'd like to know more about this alarm clock that "hops around the room" My older son has to set 3 to get up, then again he was the one I had to go yell at every morning of HS, the younger has just one clock, and gets himself up and ready without extra prompting.

One tip that worked out well for us was to buy white sheets and towels... that way he had full loads of whites to do and maybe even changed his sheets more than the oh gross, 1x a semester!

Get ISBN numbers for books you know he HAS to have and buy them from half.com or check ebay. (has saved me a BUNDLE) computer book 160 new, 113 used, ragged cover, but otherwise just fine 36 delivered from half.com, to beat all the bookstore bought it back from him for 40! Just make sure the Prof is going to use the book, and if you buy from the bookstore KEEP YOUR RECEIPT!

02, thanks for the book tips, they'll help immeasurably for my daughter soon. My son was lucky to get books in his deal, and those puppies are expensive!

You're brave with white sheets (although at least they can be boiled & bleached when they come home). Me, I keep my eyes open for sheets in the same shade as sweat-grime-clay....

One more thing, cv, see if you can find out his roommate's name and have them contact each other over the summer. If it is an apartment setup, it helps with who brings what for the kitchen. Even in a dorm situation, there's things like TV-video-DVD-game setup, is there a need for a shower curtain, or any other space-consideration, mutually-used items.

Orlando

Interesting that you bring up the roomie--- when my son arrived on campus Coach, the Head Coach not an Asst. had his roomie and the roomies parents waiting for us--we met---talked----had dinner together and then hit the local marts for the neccesities for the boys

I still recall it as a very nice touch on the part of the Head Coach

In fact the two roomies had been talking on the phone all summer as coach had made sure they were introduced over the phone early on

As a parent of a freshman to be - these are great!

We are very fortunate in the roomie department. My son's roomate lives about 45 minutes from us - so they are getting to know each other this summer. The kid's mom and I are able to talk frequently about "room stuff". Should help to make the transition much easier for both.

I've been shopping for a few small things. My daughter (15 years old) looked at me this past weekend and said "Mom, you have to wait to buy accessories for when I go to college", "Michael doesn't want this stuff". So I guess another idea is to take someone grounded in reality with you when you shop!