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5 hours ago, Damor said:

Thanks, y'all!

He will actually get in-state tuition because he's a member of a Native American tribe with historical ties to CO on my wife's side.  We had actually thought that only applied at CSU since it's the land grant university, but it's any CO state school.  Somehow we missed that for the first year his brother was in school at Western.  A niche situation to be sure, but worth pursuing if you think your kid could possibly be eligible.

He wants to go to medical school, so his options for a major are pretty wide open.  My guidance has been to be sure he picks a major he both enjoys and could find an alternate career pathway in if he decides not to go the med school route.  That would probably be biomed engineering (whatever that means) if he goes to Mines.  He wouldn't really be taking advantage of the things they're best at unfortunately, although I keep pointing out to him that he could get a minor in Space Mining.  Chicks would dig that.

I know multiple MDs that pursued engineering degrees at UT.  Two orthopedic surgeons, one a urologist.  Both think it's excellent preparation for a doctor as the practice of evidence-based and other aspects of medicine line up pretty well with engineering analysis and thought.

Chem E tends to line up best with the premed requirements, but probably the newer biomedical degrees also.  Guess it depends on the school.

It is, however, a pretty brutal way to do premed.

Also, it's my opinion that a kid that's not actually interested in some type of engineering probably isn't going to like it or do well, no matter how good their math/science aptitude.  By that I mean has some demonstrated curiosity as to how things work, how they're made, etc.

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chem E's are a bunch degenerates. type of people that just donated to a stripper's toy and food drive 

 

3 hours ago, TwiceHorn said:

I know multiple MDs that pursued engineering degrees at UT.  Two orthopedic surgeons, one a urologist.  Both think it's excellent preparation for a doctor as the practice of evidence-based and other aspects of medicine line up pretty well with engineering analysis and thought.

Chem E tends to line up best with the premed requirements, but probably the newer biomedical degrees also.  Guess it depends on the school.

It is, however, a pretty brutal way to do premed.

Also, it's my opinion that a kid that's not actually interested in some type of engineering probably isn't going to like it or do well, no matter how good their math/science aptitude.  By that I mean has some demonstrated curiosity as to how things work, how they're made, etc.

 

any advantage of going small school and dominating ?

mcneese / lamar / am kingsville / ut rgv, first three are old and established. rgv is booming, doing great work 

 

Edited by tx 3 putt

1 hour ago, tx 3 putt said:

 

any advantage of going small school and dominating ?

mcneese / lamar / am kingsville / ut rgv, first three are old and established. rgv is booming, doing great work 

 

Anecdote from a former colleague whose kid went to UT.  The kid said that, if he had to do it again, he'd have considered going to a slightly less prestigious university for undergrad, crushed the GPA, and spent more time preparing for the MCAT.  That said, he graduated w/ high honors from UT and went to UT Southwestern before specializing.

EDITED to add: IIRC the med schools are now taking the rigor of the undergrad university into account.  Something like Lamar (~400 nationally) or McNeese (unranked) might lack rigor for serious consideration to a top med school, regardless of GPA.

Edited by boilerhorn

4 minutes ago, boilerhorn said:

Anecdote from a former colleague whose kid went to UT.  The kid said that, if he had to do it again, he'd have considered going to a slightly less prestigious university for undergrad, crushed the GPA, and spent more time preparing for the MCAT.  That said, he graduated w/ high honors from UT and went to UT Southwestern before specializing.

Yeah, I think GPA and MCAT are neck and neck for number one considerations.

Rigor of undergrad program and institution are lower priority but not irrelevant.

8 hours ago, TwiceHorn said:

Also, it's my opinion that a kid that's not actually interested in some type of engineering probably isn't going to like it or do well, no matter how good their math/science aptitude.  By that I mean has some demonstrated curiosity as to how things work, how they're made, etc.

It's only one data point, but I was set to take a national merit scholarship to study finance at a B1G school.  Fall semester my senior year of HS, my dad (an engineering prof) said to me "you know, you're really good at math and you love music and hifi -- have you considered studying acoustics?"

It had never occurred to me.  I ended up studying mech eng undergrad and then acoustics at UT for grad school (via the mech eng department).  I am so fucking glad I didn't study finance.

Great points and discussion, thanks all.

I'm not super in touch with current med school admissions, but agree that what I have generally heard is that it's better to crush your major with eye popping numbers at Reputable State than to "show you can handle a challenge" with a more middling performance in a brutal major at Gunner U .  For all the bullshit about "holistic evaluation," it's still the numbers that get you in the door.

I am involved in the residency process, and aside from idle curiosity, IDGAF where you did undergrad or what your GPA was.  I'll use your major to stereotype your personality.  It's then all about your med school and if you can get some comparative data out of them these days, and at least for now your non P/F USMLE.  For better or worse, medicine is still about playing the long game.

The points about trying to do engineering without the mindset are very helpful, because the best guidance I want to give him as he decides is for him to find a path that is right for him and leads to fulfillment and contentment in the end (see @jimmyjazz above).  If that's in medicine then great (I have my own reservations, cynicism, and concerns beyond the scope of this thread) and I'll be behind him 100%, but having an off-ramp or branch point to find his way is also important, as I've seen too many cases of  "medicine or bust" that end unhappily.

Didn't mean to let that take a negative turn, though, because right now he sees a wide open superhighway in front of him, and I'm excited to give the best guidance I can as he makes his way.  Because as much as we'll miss him, he ain't moving back in.

6 hours ago, jimmyjazz said:

It's only one data point, but I was set to take a national merit scholarship to study finance at a B1G school.  Fall semester my senior year of HS, my dad (an engineering prof) said to me "you know, you're really good at math and you love music and hifi -- have you considered studying acoustics?"

It had never occurred to me.  I ended up studying mech eng undergrad and then acoustics at UT for grad school (via the mech eng department).  I am so fucking glad I didn't study finance.

I think at one point you challenged me on that notion and it's just like  . . . my opinion, man.  But yeah, I thought your interest in audio reproduction and acoustics was that thing for you.

12 hours ago, boilerhorn said:

Anecdote from a former colleague whose kid went to UT.  The kid said that, if he had to do it again, he'd have considered going to a slightly less prestigious university for undergrad, crushed the GPA, and spent more time preparing for the MCAT.  That said, he graduated w/ high honors from UT and went to UT Southwestern before specializing.

EDITED to add: IIRC the med schools are now taking the rigor of the undergrad university into account.  Something like Lamar (~400 nationally) or McNeese (unranked) might lack rigor for serious consideration to a top med school, regardless of GPA.

My kid is currently killing it at ou in BioChem GPA wise and is currently drilling for the MCAT. 

11 hours ago, TwiceHorn said:

I think at one point you challenged me on that notion and it's just like  . . . my opinion, man.  But yeah, I thought your interest in audio reproduction and acoustics was that thing for you.

Oh, I definitely think your path is more common than  mine, especially with the proliferation of STEM curricula in high school.

The best parts of JJ's story are: 1) his dad supporting JJ choosing his own path while also maintaining 2) we might be nerds, but we're nerds with dignity. 

1 hour ago, Iceman said:

The best parts of JJ's story are: 1) his dad supporting JJ choosing his own path while also maintaining 2) we might be nerds, but we're nerds with dignity. 

The second proposition is debatable.

2 hours ago, jimmyjazz said:

Oh, I definitely think your path is more common than  mine, especially with the proliferation of STEM curricula in high school.

I didn't have a specific interest in any one thing, but had always been taking things apart, was pretty interested in cars and engines and trains and ships and all kinds of machines.

By the end of undergrad, my curiosity had mostly been satisfied and advanced topics like acoustics were starting to elude my intuition and become purely creatures of math, so I couldn't generate much interest in a graduate degree.  And I was also beginning to question how I would use this accumulated knowledge to synthesize designs rather than understand how and why things worked.  That anxiety was probably overwrought, but it did mesh nicely with doing patents.

For most of the health care majors there is a saying: if you think it's hard getting in, try getting out. You gotta find the right balance. Don't go for an easy major that boosts your stats but doesn't prepare you for the day in day out of the program and don't go for a hard major that prepares you for learning medicine but doesn't get you in the door because your stats are trash. My wife rounds with a geriatric medicine physician who was an accountant. Dude is really smart, very evidence based and has no interest in anecdotal stories when treating patients. My family doc is very thorough and was a music major at Tulane. 

2 hours ago, HRSchenker said:

For most of the health care majors there is a saying: if you think it's hard getting in, try getting out. You gotta find the right balance. Don't go for an easy major that boosts your stats but doesn't prepare you for the day in day out of the program and don't go for a hard major that prepares you for learning medicine but doesn't get you in the door because your stats are trash. My wife rounds with a geriatric medicine physician who was an accountant. Dude is really smart, very evidence based and has no interest in anecdotal stories when treating patients. My family doc is very thorough and was a music major at Tulane. 

To your point about selecting an undergraduate program that prepares you for the rigors of med school, a music degree (particularly the non-education tracks) is significantly more difficult and requires substantially more time and effort than an accounting degree (or any other business degree).  It's not even close.

My daughter got a yes from San Diego State and a no from Tennessee this week. Waiting on Clemson and South Carolina and a couple others still but SDSU will be hard to talk her out of. We still haven’t visited Fayetteville yet either. 

Mine got a yes from Colorado State and some money to help try to sway us. Still waiting on CU and Colorado College. I'd imagine she'll get into the former and not the latter and the former won't offer any money. Got a no from Trinity which we pretty much expected. All the locals are covered so she has some good options. 

  • 2 weeks later...

Took my younger daughter to visit Kansas a few weeks ago. She fell in love with KU. All ready admitted and they gave her their top out of state merit which really helps. She has a sister at UT that is a 4th generation Longhorn on both sides of the family. Still waiting to hear from UT but is talking that KU might be #1 for her. Speech Pathology is her major and KU has a top 5 program. Lawrence was a really great small town. Anyone have kids or feedback on Kansas? Everyone that is have spoken with that went to KU or knows someone that went their has nothing but positive things to say about the school.

Have a very good friend in St Louis whose daughter just finished 1st Semester at KU. She is Social Welfare major and loves it. Dad says it's a big school with a small town feel

We got our first letter back, in at Oregon and in the business school as a freshman, acceptance letter called him a “high achiever”… waiting on 5 CA schools, CU and UW. UT@Austin is probably a no way kid.

Oregon is one that is intriguing but I'm not sure about the distance and cost. If you don't mind me asking, are they giving anything to help sway him to accept?

1 hour ago, mdmost said:

Oregon is one that is intriguing but I'm not sure about the distance and cost. If you don't mind me asking, are they giving anything to help sway him to accept?

We found out just before the Christmas break and more schools still outstanding, we are going to explore fin aid early January. Happy to report back. Our kids want out of Texas, I don’t blame them, heck we may follow them.

2 hours ago, mdmost said:

Oregon is one that is intriguing but I'm not sure about the distance and cost. If you don't mind me asking, are they giving anything to help sway him to accept?

1 hour ago, scramblyn said:

We found out just before the Christmas break and more schools still outstanding, we are going to explore fin aid early January. Happy to report back. Our kids want out of Texas, I don’t blame them, heck we may follow them.

Just checked the regular mail, $12,500 per year, $50,000 total offer. First time around not sure what to do next. We will bask in the glory of this scholly offer, plus AP credits, plus 529 balances = Oregon paid for in full, no debt required!

Their info also says we get a five year tuition rate lock so tuition increases won’t apply. This is in the general info so it’s not an offer.

The general info also encourages additional scholarship application and offers.

Edited by scramblyn

3 hours ago, scramblyn said:

We got our first letter back, in at Oregon and in the business school as a freshman, acceptance letter called him a “high achiever”… waiting on 5 CA schools, CU and UW. UT@Austin is probably a no way kid.

we're in almost the exact same boat except didn't apply to any CA schools. Also need to do more digging on additional UO schollies/offers. Was also recently was accepted to Tenn business school as well. UW and UT are probably a longshot, we're assuming. The earliest ones we heard back on with acceptance were all of his backups (Ark, Aub, etc.) Was deferred @ Clemson for some reason? Maybe tougher than we thought but I would have guessed they're in the same tier as Arkie/Tenn, just under UGA. 🤷‍♂️

On 12/28/2025 at 5:18 PM, ballrific said:

we're in almost the exact same boat except didn't apply to any CA schools. Also need to do more digging on additional UO schollies/offers. Was also recently was accepted to Tenn business school as well. UW and UT are probably a longshot, we're assuming. The earliest ones we heard back on with acceptance were all of his backups (Ark, Aub, etc.) Was deferred @ Clemson for some reason? Maybe tougher than we thought but I would have guessed they're in the same tier as Arkie/Tenn, just under UGA. 🤷‍♂️

Ark and TN aren’t in the same ballpark for admittance rates especially for Ark border states. Ark and Mizzou bend over backwards to pull kids from out of state. My youngest is deferred as in-state kid at TN and has $20k a year plus in scholarships from Ark/Mizzou with a not so great ACT. It’s kind of wild because both campuses and towns blow Knoxville out of the water and Knox has a severe campus housing shortage on top of that. Clemson is going to be tougher than TN but quite a bit easier than UGA for out of state kids. UGA’s honors college is extremely difficult to get into as an OOS kid.

Youngest accepted and started looking for a roommate at Mizzou then Samford came in with a great offer so now she’s having second thoughts. Christian college, really nice campus, in the middle of the SEC schools where her friends are going, etc have her rethinking everything. It really gets under the skin of my oldest that her younger sister who has f-ed around all of high school is getting $20k a year plus scholarships offers and she is at UGA full price.

On 12/27/2025 at 8:21 AM, Chicken fried bacon said:

Took my younger daughter to visit Kansas a few weeks ago. She fell in love with KU. All ready admitted and they gave her their top out of state merit which really helps. She has a sister at UT that is a 4th generation Longhorn on both sides of the family. Still waiting to hear from UT but is talking that KU might be #1 for her. Speech Pathology is her major and KU has a top 5 program. Lawrence was a really great small town. Anyone have kids or feedback on Kansas? Everyone that is have spoken with that went to KU or knows someone that went their has nothing but positive things to say about the school.

Not my kid, per se, but our best friends' daughter is a freshman there this year. She also got the merit scholarship which essentially gives her in-state tuition. She loves it. Joined a sorority right away and loves her classes.

On 12/28/2025 at 4:56 PM, scramblyn said:

Just checked the regular mail, $12,500 per year, $50,000 total offer. First time around not sure what to do next. We will bask in the glory of this scholly offer, plus AP credits, plus 529 balances = Oregon paid for in full, no debt required!

Their info also says we get a five year tuition rate lock so tuition increases won’t apply. This is in the general info so it’s not an offer.

The general info also encourages additional scholarship application and offers.

Sweet! Congrats to your son!!! My daughter got about the same amount -- the Summit Scholarship. It's still not a cheap nonresident bill, but the scholarship has helped a ton. And her grades were high enough after the first year that she got a second scholarship, much smaller, but every bit helps. Also, Oregon offers a lot of employment opportunities on campus and is flexible around student schedules, in case your kid wants to make some money to help with the other incidental college expenses.

@mdmost asked about distance. If your kid goes to school far away, one of the "hidden" costs can be transportation to and from home, and a lot of schools are located a good ways away from a major airport. Be sure to research that, since it's not an insignificant factor in terms of time and money. Eugene has a pretty good regional airport. Southwest does not have a direct flight from Austin to Eugene, but there's usually at least one or two decent one-stop flights per day, and the airfare and travel times are not crazy. There are also direct flights into Portland, and you can take the train to Eugene. It's maybe a 2.5 hour train ride.

There's also the emotional component to distance -- is your kid going to be okay so far away from home, especially if he or she doesn't know anybody at the particular college? I've known a kid or two who went off to school half the country away and ended up transferring to UT or aggy after the first year. It can be a factor. Fortunately, my daughter had a few classmates from McCallum High go to Oregon, and she ended up bonding with a great group of friends from all over very quickly (one lives in Wimberly -- a lot of Texas kids go to Oregon), so the social adjustment wasn't an issue.

One other issue for Oregon -- the weather. Yeah, it's gray for most of 4 months or so in the Fall/Winter time period, and being that much further north it gets darker much earlier during that time. It can be tough for a Texas kid used to an abundance of sunshine. But the rain in the Eugene area isn't terrible -- not a lot of heavy downpour like you can get in the Portland area. It's more of a constant drizzle. Students never carry umbrellas, so invest in a nice waterproof jacket. If you can gut through the rainy season, the April-September period is absolutely gorgeous. And even during the rainy season, there are several days here and there of bright blue skies (though still in the 40s or 50s). Overall the weather hasn't been a negative for my daughter. But my stepdaughter has already given a huge "NOPE" to Oregon because of the rain factor.

Travel for us ended up being a more significant cost than I had really thought about going into having a college kid. When I went to college, I went and came home at Christmas and summer. My parents never stepped foot on campus. With my oldest, we have two parents weekends a year and both end up being on busy school event weekends so finding a place to stay is not cheap on top of traveling back and forth. The first year she was also not great at planning ahead on coming home. We would get a call on a Mon/Tues wanting to come home that weekend, so we paid last minute airfare a few times over the course of the year. This year has been a lot better with her planning when she wanted to come home and being more settled I think. She bounced between SEC schools during her first year football season on the weekends, this year she was pretty much on campus the entire fall semester other than a couple of away games.

The other thing we have found with both kids is that there are generally pretty good travel/transportation options from campus to a major airport. There are decent shuttle services tailored to the college kids that run from both cities to the major airports 1.5 hours away that are pretty cheap.

40 minutes ago, South Austin said:

Yeah, it's gray for most of 4 months or so in the Fall/Winter time period, and being that much further north it gets darker much earlier during that time.

The getting dark early in the winter months is understated. My MIL’s health is declining so my wife and I have been doing a lot of travel up to the Portland area where her parents live over the past few months. It’s dark at 4:30. It sucks.

My nephew from Florida came up to the Twin Cities a few weeks ago with his dad to visit a couple schools and visit his sister at Carleton. On the way back from Northfield, he noticed how dark it was relative to the time. He didn't say as much, but I believe he noped-out at that exact moment.

2 hours ago, South Austin said:

Sweet! Congrats to your son!!! My daughter got about the same amount -- the Summit Scholarship. It's still not a cheap nonresident bill, but the scholarship has helped a ton. And her grades were high enough after the first year that she got a second scholarship, much smaller, but every bit helps. Also, Oregon offers a lot of employment opportunities on campus and is flexible around student schedules, in case your kid wants to make some money to help with the other incidental college expenses.

@mdmost asked about distance. If your kid goes to school far away, one of the "hidden" costs can be transportation to and from home, and a lot of schools are located a good ways away from a major airport. Be sure to research that, since it's not an insignificant factor in terms of time and money. Eugene has a pretty good regional airport. Southwest does not have a direct flight from Austin to Eugene, but there's usually at least one or two decent one-stop flights per day, and the airfare and travel times are not crazy. There are also direct flights into Portland, and you can take the train to Eugene. It's maybe a 2.5 hour train ride.

There's also the emotional component to distance -- is your kid going to be okay so far away from home, especially if he or she doesn't know anybody at the particular college? I've known a kid or two who went off to school half the country away and ended up transferring to UT or aggy after the first year. It can be a factor. Fortunately, my daughter had a few classmates from McCallum High go to Oregon, and she ended up bonding with a great group of friends from all over very quickly (one lives in Wimberly -- a lot of Texas kids go to Oregon), so the social adjustment wasn't an issue.

One other issue for Oregon -- the weather. Yeah, it's gray for most of 4 months or so in the Fall/Winter time period, and being that much further north it gets darker much earlier during that time. It can be tough for a Texas kid used to an abundance of sunshine. But the rain in the Eugene area isn't terrible -- not a lot of heavy downpour like you can get in the Portland area. It's more of a constant drizzle. Students never carry umbrellas, so invest in a nice waterproof jacket. If you can gut through the rainy season, the April-September period is absolutely gorgeous. And even during the rainy season, there are several days here and there of bright blue skies (though still in the 40s or 50s). Overall the weather hasn't been a negative for my daughter. But my stepdaughter has already given a huge "NOPE" to Oregon because of the rain factor.

One of my kids is at UW and he kind of shakes this off (the weather) as a factor, but I sometimes wonder. We visited at Thanksgiving at it was dark by 4:15pm. It was unsettling to me.

yep, no umbrella for him either, but indeed it is a good 4 months of grey and wet.

that being said, UW is a beautiful campus & has great academics. He seems to really like it there.

Edited by yoladu

22 minutes ago, yoladu said:

One of my kids is at UW and he kind of shakes this off (the weather) as a factor, but I sometimes wonder. We visited at Thanksgiving at it was dark by 4:15pm. It was unsettling to me.

I'm starting to wonder as well. I think the Eugene area had less rain and more sun than usual during my daughter's freshman year, and now this year the gray skies in the rainy season are more constant. She commented while home on winter break that she's gotten a little tired of this year's batch of rain. She still loves being at Oregon, but it seems like the weather is a bit more of a negative this year.

We also had a conversation a few days ago about grad school and other plans after college, and she said she's thinking she might want to eventually live in Austin again. This was surprising to hear, given that she didn't apply to a single school in Texas, and my gay, liberal daughter had for some time expressed doubts about whether she would ever come back to Texas given the state's political climate (#nocloakroom). So maybe she's realizing the Pacific Northwest weather is not for her long term. And/or maybe she realizes how much she loves Austin (where she's lived her whole life), notwithstanding the greater state politics (again, #nocloakroom).

On 12/27/2025 at 8:21 AM, Chicken fried bacon said:

Took my younger daughter to visit Kansas a few weeks ago. She fell in love with KU. All ready admitted and they gave her their top out of state merit which really helps. She has a sister at UT that is a 4th generation Longhorn on both sides of the family. Still waiting to hear from UT but is talking that KU might be #1 for her. Speech Pathology is her major and KU has a top 5 program. Lawrence was a really great small town. Anyone have kids or feedback on Kansas? Everyone that is have spoken with that went to KU or knows someone that went their has nothing but positive things to say about the school.

Worked at K State for a short while and went to KU a few times. Always liked it and the town. Close enough to KC to have easy access to big-city stuff, but typical college town in a nice enough region right on the edge of the Flint Hills, which I always found beautiful. Kansas politics aren't as goofy as they could be so I think the university system there hasn't been as messed up as other states. As a faculty member elsewhere who's got a senior daughter in the process of choosing, I'd say that if your daughter loves it, the program is among the best (so many rankings out there -- how legit are those you've seen for the speech pathology program?), and the aid makes it affordable, give it your blessing.

There's too much that can change in a semester, a year, a couple of years, both with young people and the educational environment at large right now. If they start out happy with their choice, the odds are at least in their favor.

Last visited last summer and had a great Hungarian goulash with local ingredients at Free State Brewing on Massachusetts Street. Noticed lots of new upscale stuff in the area of the state streets that's the center of off-campus student life, but it also felt a little seedier in spots than I remember.

Another faculty friend's daughter (who's a good friend of my daughter) went to KU but transferred to Minnesota after a semester and I don't know why. My daughter never reveals much so I'll ask the mom what her daughter didn't like about it. Will report back if I hear anything of use. But KU is a pretty darn good school and I'd be more than OK with my own daughter going there if that's how it worked out.

1 hour ago, yoladu said:

One of my kids is at UW and he kind of shakes this off (the weather) as a factor, but I sometimes wonder.

1 hour ago, South Austin said:

I'm starting to wonder as well. ... She still loves being at Oregon, but it seems like the weather is a bit more of a negative this year.

... my gay, liberal daughter had for some time expressed doubts about whether she would ever come back to Texas given the state's political climate (#nocloakroom). So maybe she's realizing the Pacific Northwest weather is not for her long term. And/or maybe she realizes how much she loves Austin (where she's lived her whole life), notwithstanding the greater state politics (again, #nocloakroom).

That's the good thing about finishing up a school, whether it's after a semester or a couple of degrees. They can always move on, and that's what I tell my daughter. If you don't like it, transfer. Get the best offers you can; pick where you think you'll thrive and be happy and not go into debt.

I'm looking out the window at some of the worst kind of gray, freezing, icy, bitter weather a guy could hate, but am not ready to trade everything off. Too many factors like weather and politics shape things in ways we may not expect. If your head, heart and gut are all telling you a place should work out, or is a good one to finally leave, then you're probably right.

3 hours ago, TexasHooch said:

My nephew from Florida came up to the Twin Cities a few weeks ago with his dad to visit a couple schools and visit his sister at Carleton. On the way back from Northfield, he noticed how dark it was relative to the time. He didn't say as much, but I believe he noped-out at that exact moment.

Flip side is you can play ultimate Frisbee late into the night without lights in the summer. My son, born in Texas, loves it at Minnesota and graduates in May. My take is that if we get fewer Floridians crowding the cross-country ski trails in our few hours of daylight, I'm happy for them to be happy elsewhere.

Edited by Hayduke

2 hours ago, South Austin said:

I'm starting to wonder as well. I think the Eugene area had less rain and more sun than usual during my daughter's freshman year, and now this year the gray skies in the rainy season are more constant. She commented while home on winter break that she's gotten a little tired of this year's batch of rain. She still loves being at Oregon, but it seems like the weather is a bit more of a negative this year.

We also had a conversation a few days ago about grad school and other plans after college, and she said she's thinking she might want to eventually live in Austin again. This was surprising to hear, given that she didn't apply to a single school in Texas, and my gay, liberal daughter had for some time expressed doubts about whether she would ever come back to Texas given the state's political climate (#nocloakroom). So maybe she's realizing the Pacific Northwest weather is not for her long term. And/or maybe she realizes how much she loves Austin (where she's lived her whole life), notwithstanding the greater state politics (again, #nocloakroom).

I think mine will make it a few years at least - he wants PNW, CO or CA for the mountains, the outdoors, the ocean, etc. he's stoked about taking his tacoma out there and doing tacoma things in the outdoors without sweating his balls off. he loves the foggy and wintery days in Austin, but it's a change of pace here, and it's every day there.

Reporting back after two years. My kid is a Longhorn at heart, but she is very happy at A&M. She was initially disappointed getting CAP'd, but Texas didn't offer what she wanted to do as a career anyway (veterinary medicine). That helped smoothed things over back in Spring 2023. I asked her to go live her own dream - that she didn't need to go to Texas for me - and she has never looked back. She turned down some great schools to stay in state, but it really has been a great fit and as long as I continue to own Thanksgiving weekend, all is well. Not getting into UT Austin isn't the end of the world.

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