Foo - decapitation pending

My H.S. senior has been accepted into WVU's engineering school. Now all of a sudden he thinks Morgantown is "too big".... I am sure this has something to do with his GF wanting to attend another state school 20 miles down the road.

Am I better off just chopping his non-functioning head off (thus saving myself alot of college cost), or convincing the GF that she, too, should just go to WVU?

Tell him that that is what bikes and cars are for.

Just tell him, that without WVU, he won't be able to afford her!

Be the adult here - make him toe the important line..........

well, you're both in line with my thoughts - already told him that stuff. We're even willing to get him a car that will actually go places (instead of his current ever-building, ever-repairing 95 eclipse). and, when push comes to shove, he'll go where i've paid for him to go. Might just chop his head off beforehand, though.

He doesn't really know exactly what he wants to do. The latest incarnation is architect. Fine. Get your engineering degree & go for the architectural degree. Don't take pre-engineering at at the B school, take structural engineering at the A school. (smack his head)

Tell him that college is full of girls, and yes of course the current GF is the one, but he won't know for sure until he has exposed himself (so to speak) to the approximately 20K cute coeds at the big school.

save yourself the trouble. off with his head.

I would discuss this with him over some jello shots and if you still find yourself at an impass, then play him in quarters, winner take all.

My H.S. senior has been accepted into WVU's engineering school. Now all of a sudden he thinks Morgantown is "too big".... I am sure this has something to do with his GF wanting to attend another state school 20 miles down the road.

Am I better off just chopping his non-functioning head off (thus saving myself alot of college cost), or convincing the GF that she, too, should just go to WVU?

looks like you need to get some common sense into him. i was born in a city of 14 mil & morgantown was the first place i resided when i immigrated to the U.S. 20 miles to fairmont is too far? wow, gimme a break here...

"I am sure this has something to do with ... wanting to attend another state school 20 miles down the road."

I think he's about two orders of magnitude off. 2000 miles might be far enough away from helicopter mom. maybe.

Be the adult here - make him toe the important line..........

I don't know.... if the kid is not where he wants to be, there is not as much of an incentive to perform. I've found this out with my two sons, both good and bad. One thing I told my youngest when he insisted on his school of choice was that we were paying more for him to go to school there and he'd better perform to the higher level of investment we were making. One semester in- so far so good. The older son, whom we tried to impose our will on, is still "finding himself". The older one was the one with better grades in HS.

Neither one was choosing his school based on chasing a skirt though, so that's another consideration. If he goes where she does and then she breaks it off, he's liable to bomb badly.

I think you need to get a commitment out of him no matter where he ends up with something like, if he fails out he goes into the military. Make the choice his.

"I am sure this has something to do with ... wanting to attend another state school 20 miles down the road."

I think he's about two orders of magnitude off. 2000 miles might be far enough away from helicopter mom. maybe.

?? what am I missing here?

Here's the thing: He's been all about WVU engineering for the last 3 years. Then, one month ago, it's the school the GF is going to, which is making me think his thought process is off kilter. Doohickie - his older brother did the national guard thing - joined about 3 weeks BEFORE Iran. He spent time in the sandbox, and is back, happily attending school for as long as he can!

So... the military option would be real!

Oh that's it, WVU is 'too big' and 'overwhelming'. That's typical in major universities in bustling urban states like WV.

Just cut his head off. Then stuff it and Fedex it to his girlfriend. In WV, that might be legal, and if it's not, they may take a 'who can blame her' attitude anyway.

You are a caustic soccer mom. I like that.

Is the GF hawt? How long she's been his GF?

I agree it's the GF. Either he wants to be near the GF or wants to make sure the GF doesn't get near anybody else.

Statistics predict they'll break up shortly after starting college, he will change to WVU and the OP will pay for it all.

what would jerry west do?

The personalities of architects and engineers are somewhat incompatible, just look at U of Cincinnati. It's sort of like Shimano and Campy, you get converts, but most stay one way. That said, send him to the state school and let him realize that at 20 minutes away he can still visit 2x per day. Goodness, the walk across campus is probably longer than that.

Whoa whoa whoa.

Disabuse that lad of his interest in becoming an architect. We found out the hard way with our daughter a few years back. Architects are in overabundance already, and on average, earn squat compared to engineers. Because of this, the architecture programs serve the purpose not only of education, but effectively are a five year hazing program. There's this innocent-sounding course called "studio" which shows up as being 4 or 5 credits on the schedule - yet requires 30+ hours per week to remain competitive. Remember, they want only a small fraction of the students to succeed, since work is already scarce.

The other problem is that architecture requires a very high concentration of specialized classes, and if you decide after two years that you need to pursue something else, you'll be lucky if a semester's worth of the credits transfer to be applicable for the new major.

If he insists, do not help him out by taking loans. You will regret it.

tell him 20 miles is nothing and he'll be able to more easily date other women without her being on the same campus! :-)

shows up as being 4 or 5 credits on the schedule - yet requires 30+ hours per week to remain competitive.
I'm not sure where you went, but I always had at least one of those per quarter in engineering. On the other hand, the whole being employed with good pay thing seems to have made it worthwhile.

I'm not sure where you went, but I always had at least one of those per quarter in engineering. On the other hand, the whole being employed with good pay thing seems to have made it worthwhile.

Was daughter. School was Temple U. We're still dealing with the aftermath of the nightmare.

My stance is that any decent architect has an engineering degree, so instead of spending 4 years taking "pre-archtitecture", he can spend 4 years obtaining an engineering degree - the "pre-arch." would qualify him to go on to grad school, but he wouldn't be a qualified engineer. BS in engineering - @ $60,000 entry, pre-archtitect BS - @ $35,000 entry level. Masters in engineering - up to $100K, bonafide architects make about $67K - IF they can find work AS an architect. Given that fact that he is a high maintenance kid, WVU is the only serious option! The Army Corps of Engineers in WV is actively looking for people - interns included - and they have some sort of tie-in with WVU. Also, there's Division I cycling.....

I'm also trying to convince the GF that she belongs at WVU, too - she wants to become a veternarian, and taking a 2 year Vet-Tech course is useless for that - she needs a BS!

And anyway - WVU only has about 20,000 students. It's not like it's a big school, or like Morgantown is a real city... walk 10 minutes out of town & your in the country!!

You are a caustic soccer mom. I like that.


some troll called me that a few years back........ I WILL admit to being a MTB mom, though.

Stick to your guns, apclassic9. You are right as rain. :thumb: Civil engineering will open far more doors (and much better ones at that) than will Architecture.

Assuming civil is the choice. In my case it was mechanical engineering or architecture.

Girls are like toffee. There chewy. Just explain that to him. He'll understand.

My H.S. senior has been accepted into WVU's engineering school. Now all of a sudden he thinks Morgantown is "too big".... I am sure this has something to do with his GF wanting to attend another state school 20 miles down the road.

Am I better off just chopping his non-functioning head off (thus saving myself alot of college cost), or convincing the GF that she, too, should just go to WVU?

Tell him he's far LESS likely to flunk out with his GF 20 miles away, and compared to a major metropolitan area, a 20 mile drive through the hollers is NOTHING.

Besides, chances are he'll find another girl about 2 weeks after he gets to WVU anyway.

Of course, if you're paying for it, you can simply tell him "Um, son, if you want me to pay for this, its WVU or nada." That usually works.

And WVU is a FINE school!

Girls are like toffee. There chewy. Just explain that to him. He'll understand.

They're also, at his age, like buses. Another one is always coming around the corner.

At my age, I'm lucky to get a damn bus pass.

;)

As a civil engineer, I can say that there is more money in Mechanical Engineering. Structural is liability-heavy, too.
Either one has many options, tho. I studied environmental for the most part, but I work in traffic.