The Swamp

Son of wlu and Mrs lax6 went to visit my nephew at u of VT and an tie in to check out Middlebury. My wife loved the school. My son thought it was too supportive of the kids. Basically the school does not let the kids struggle through it. Fascinating view from the kid.

My nephew is loving VT. He is not working that hard and doing great in the honors program. He is also deep into the historical fencing club and timber sports club. My nephew is a strange cat. Great kid but walks through the world in a different way. Really surprised he is not deep into Jam Bands.

"Timber Sports" sounds like a riot.

Pruitt IV wrote: ↑Tue Feb 13, 2024 4:43 pm "Timber Sports" sounds like a riot.

I don't trust him with a chainsaw but see him enjoying log rolling

rass wrote: ↑Mon Feb 12, 2024 3:48 pm

rass wrote: ↑Mon Nov 13, 2023 7:38 pm My wife took both kids and one of the oldest’s best friends to visit Fordham last week and all four of them fell in love with the campus. Bumped it up the list a bit.

Oldest had an official visit with NJIT yesterday and today. They weren’t really on her list at all, but their coach is friends with her HS coach and the NJIT coach really made her feel wanted. It was a lot nicer than I expected, and they have a very new and very nice athletic events center (the wall outside the basketball coaches office is plastered with photos from the 2014 victory over Michigan).

It’s a good school and they have what she wants academically and the coach arranged for her to have a meeting last night with a pre-med advisor that she says she got a lot out of. It’s D1 but an overall smaller XC/TF team than Rutgers, and she liked how close knit the NJIT team seemed to be.

Cons are how close to home it is, and that she’d probably join the team as by far (currently) the fastest mid-distance girl. And it’s urban, but it’s Newark.

So not at the top of her list but not off the list. Might be difficult for her if they give a ton of cash.

Or not. Seems they want give her a full ride and she really isn’t interested. Too small (area and enrollment). Too close to home. Too insular. No football team. I can’t argue with any of that. She only gets to do this once.

Debating whether she wants to use this to take one more try at prying more money from Fordham but she’s about ready to commit to Rutgers.

OK, I believe we're done.

That last post was exactly a month ago. She reached out to Rutgers that evening to confirm she still had a roster spot. Once she got confirmation of that she verbally (textually?) committed to them, but didn't get the actual commitment form to sign from the team until the end of last week (there was fretting over the delay but the coach texted her back to say it was on the way before we asked). In the meantime, we sent in a deposit to confirm her admission and she got the news that she got into the RU honors college and with that got a sizeable scholarship that should knock all-in cost down to something very close to four figures. And a sweet dorm room on the New Brunswick campus*.

She sent back the commitment form this week so we're official? She's already mapped out her courses for the next four years, is working on her social media announcement and I guess we're going to make sure she can get a signing ceremony at school. Missed my birthday last week so I had to buy myself a t-shirt or two from Homefield Apparel yesterday.

*she knows one other girl who is committed to the XC/track program and got into the honors college so feels like they're almost obligated to room together since their schedules should match up, this just happens to be the girl who my kid thought asked too many questions on the official visit they shared

Congrats, Rass!

That's awesome. Very cool.

Holy shit, that's great Rass.

Run kid run!

A_B wrote: ↑Tue Mar 12, 2024 5:17 pmRun kid run!

Her name isn't Lola, is it?

Congrass!

If only one of us was good at digging up old threads to see who predicted the first B1G Swamp kid

Congrats. Hope she enjoys the spring

Congrats. Harper, Bailey and (Kid Rass) is a pretty insane recruiting class.

Exciting news, wish my kid wasn't so down on Rutgers because he didn't get into the Business school. I think it'd be the best school for him, but we'll see. Has she looked into the athlete housing on Livingston campus? I hear it's incredible and way nicer than the other dorms. B-school is on Livingston, but other than that, mostly just the sports complexes, so not ideal for most majors. It does have a lot of food options, too.

Congrats Rass!

and..

wlu_lax6 wrote: ↑Tue Feb 13, 2024 3:59 pm Son of wlu and Mrs lax6 went to visit my nephew at u of VT...Really surprised he is not deep into Jam Bands.

If he stays at UVM long enough he will be.

I hope you hit up Burlington Brewing or Foam Brewing while you were up there.

Thanks guys. She's really happy and that's about all we could ask for.

The Sybian wrote: ↑Tue Mar 12, 2024 8:56 pm Exciting news, wish my kid wasn't so down on Rutgers because he didn't get into the Business school. I think it'd be the best school for him, but we'll see. Has she looked into the athlete housing on Livingston campus? I hear it's incredible and way nicer than the other dorms. B-school is on Livingston, but other than that, mostly just the sports complexes, so not ideal for most majors. It does have a lot of food options, too.

She stayed on Livington in the athlete housing during her official visit last fall. She agreed it was very nice, but was worried because not all athletes are guaranteed housing there and freshmen get bumped first. The honors college dorm is apparently new and full of amenities and in a nice spot on the old College Ave campus. She's excited to live there even if it means getting up earlier to make practice.

The track offices are currently in the arena, and they hold some practices at Livingston, so she'll be there a lot no matter what.

Call it New Jesey because I think my wife and kid just bought every R in the state during a trip to the RU bookstore (and the gear shop across the street) this morning.

rass wrote: ↑Sun Mar 24, 2024 1:21 pm Call it New Jesey because I think my wife and kid just bought every R in the state during a trip to the RU bookstore (and the gear shop across the street) this morning.

Then what’s she supposed to get y’all for Christmas?

rass wrote: ↑Sun Mar 24, 2024 1:21 pm Call it New Jesey because I think my wife and kid just bought every R in the state during a trip to the RU bookstore (and the gear shop across the street) this morning.

Then, I hope she likes it there.

A few years ago, my neighbor’s kid went to Washington State. They bought a TON of WSU swag. Then, their son hated it there. Left school after only one semester and transferred elsewhere.

rass wrote: ↑Tue Mar 12, 2024 4:06 pm

rass wrote: ↑Mon Feb 12, 2024 3:48 pm

rass wrote: ↑Mon Nov 13, 2023 7:38 pm My wife took both kids and one of the oldest’s best friends to visit Fordham last week and all four of them fell in love with the campus. Bumped it up the list a bit.

Oldest had an official visit with NJIT yesterday and today. They weren’t really on her list at all, but their coach is friends with her HS coach and the NJIT coach really made her feel wanted. It was a lot nicer than I expected, and they have a very new and very nice athletic events center (the wall outside the basketball coaches office is plastered with photos from the 2014 victory over Michigan).

It’s a good school and they have what she wants academically and the coach arranged for her to have a meeting last night with a pre-med advisor that she says she got a lot out of. It’s D1 but an overall smaller XC/TF team than Rutgers, and she liked how close knit the NJIT team seemed to be.

Cons are how close to home it is, and that she’d probably join the team as by far (currently) the fastest mid-distance girl. And it’s urban, but it’s Newark.

So not at the top of her list but not off the list. Might be difficult for her if they give a ton of cash.

Or not. Seems they want give her a full ride and she really isn’t interested. Too small (area and enrollment). Too close to home. Too insular. No football team. I can’t argue with any of that. She only gets to do this once.

Debating whether she wants to use this to take one more try at prying more money from Fordham but she’s about ready to commit to Rutgers.

OK, I believe we're done.

That last post was exactly a month ago. She reached out to Rutgers that evening to confirm she still had a roster spot. Once she got confirmation of that she verbally (textually?) committed to them, but didn't get the actual commitment form to sign from the team until the end of last week (there was fretting over the delay but the coach texted her back to say it was on the way before we asked). In the meantime, we sent in a deposit to confirm her admission and she got the news that she got into the RU honors college and with that got a sizeable scholarship that should knock all-in cost down to something very close to four figures. And a sweet dorm room on the New Brunswick campus*.

She sent back the commitment form this week so we're official? She's already mapped out her courses for the next four years, is working on her social media announcement and I guess we're going to make sure she can get a signing ceremony at school. Missed my birthday last week so I had to buy myself a t-shirt or two from Homefield Apparel yesterday.

*she knows one other girl who is committed to the XC/track program and got into the honors college so feels like they're almost obligated to room together since their schedules should match up, this just happens to be the girl who my kid thought asked too many questions on the official visit they shared

Since that post my kid and this other girl submitted their housing application as roommates. This week the girl texted to tell my daughter that she is decommitting from RU because she got into the Navel Academy. That prompted a minor freakout - she's worried that most of the other athletes will be living in much closer proximity to each other - but I think she's over it now.

Jeez, there's a whole academy for that now?

Sure do love naranjas

I can edit that and no one would know and would instead think you guys are bananas.

The Sybian wrote: ↑Tue Mar 12, 2024 8:56 pm wish my kid wasn't so down on Rutgers because he didn't get into the Business school. I think it'd be the best school for him, but we'll see.

And it's official!

That Akron@RU Swampup is getting bigger. Congrats man.

rass wrote: ↑Tue Apr 30, 2024 9:05 pm That Akron@RU Swampup is getting bigger. Congrats man.

After all those years of following your daughter in cross country races, he is following her to college.

Do they know each other? Maybe they could bond over both fathers belonging to a weird online friend group.

Syb..How did you get a picture from right after the fraternity formal before he got on campus?

sancarlos wrote: ↑Tue Apr 30, 2024 11:23 pm Do they know each other? Maybe they could bond over both fathers belonging to a weird online friend group.

Ha! They are aware of each other and been to parties at each other’s houses, but I don’t think they’ve ever spoken. My son isn’t the most socially adept kid, though he’s made huge strides the last year or two.

Hey Rass, how did you get Bob Odenkirk to make an appearance at your daughter's signing day?

The Sybian wrote: ↑Tue May 07, 2024 10:58 am Hey Rass, how did you get Bob Odenkirk to make an appearance at your daughter's signing day?

He (not BO) has been one of her coaches since middle school. HS head coach had a family emergency overnight and couldn't make the event, felt bad.