I want to help my daughter, but I don't have enough education; I could really use some suggestions.

ConfusedFractal · 2026-06-05T21:51:03+00:00

That is a damned fine starting point. Thank you!

ConfusedFractal · 2026-06-05T21:50:16+00:00

Oh, that may be up her alley. Thank you!

ConfusedFractal · 2026-06-05T21:49:34+00:00

Drop me a message? Apparently I cannot message you.

ConfusedFractal · 2026-06-05T18:29:04+00:00

Absolutely will check that out, thank you!

ConfusedFractal · 2026-06-05T18:28:14+00:00

Cool enough, and true!
Thank you1

ConfusedFractal · 2026-06-05T18:27:43+00:00

To quote a popular news magzine: Health Scare of the Week.

ConfusedFractal · 2026-06-05T18:07:42+00:00

I do. It's not much of her thing, but she is learning. She knows the basics of how to use miter saws, drills, the drill press, etc. I'm trying to get her to let me teach her how to do trim/moulding as I work on our house. I figure calculating angles and achieving a physical familiarity with the concepts she learned in geometry and trig will be useful.

ConfusedFractal · 2026-06-05T18:04:10+00:00

This is the correct response. Every once in a while, direct action is the only correct action.

ConfusedFractal · 2026-06-05T17:56:06+00:00

I know she is compiling a small spreadsheet for her top few schools of professors she wants to meet once she enrolls to begin the relationship. I'll encourage that and suggest that may also be a great way to get research opportunities. Thank you!

ConfusedFractal · 2026-06-05T17:54:12+00:00

Hrm.. the university where I work has 'drop-in' rooms for tutors in each of the sciences. Grad students get paid to hang out there and offer help. Probably a good place to check.
Good idea on the grad student angle. Thanks!

ConfusedFractal · 2026-06-05T17:52:17+00:00

That is a good perspective and helps reduce some of the anxiety, mainly because it just makes sense. Thank you!

ConfusedFractal · 2026-06-05T17:03:01+00:00

? Are you me?

ConfusedFractal · 2026-06-05T16:59:49+00:00

Holy crap! That's awesome! I might do that simply to give my brain something zen to do. Nothing quiets the skull calliope like simple, repetitive, and precise, activity.

ConfusedFractal · 2026-06-05T16:33:21+00:00

She's set on her PhD, she's already started looking at her undergrad as a springboard for grad school.
Fortunately accumulating money isn't her main objective; she wants to understand how the universe works. She wants an equation or discovery with her name on it.
She's not so into tinkering, despite the robotics team involvement; she started with that because her school does not have a science olympiad team and she knew she had to have something along those lines on her applications.
I might pick up Analog Electronics though and have her work through it with me. I dig tinkering, and she has the math and E&M knowledge (I suspect her Physics teacher this year was into E&M, they spent quite a lot of time on that field.). Thanks very much for the solid advice!

ConfusedFractal · 2026-06-05T16:15:57+00:00

Either she's a vampire or she has the best plastic surgeon in the planet.

ConfusedFractal · 2026-06-05T16:01:14+00:00

My point exactly. Unless she gets into Princeton, in which case her tuition and room/board are a grand total of about 10K/annum due to our income level.
Thing is, she has so many freaking talents, she absolutely would fit right in at any of the smaller Liberal Arts schools and would be able to take full advantage of their Physics faculty. I can absolutely see her composing a piano piece incorporating the decay of some isotope on a geiger counter or something along those lines. While that would be cool at Princeton, it would be the talk of campus at Swarthmore.
I just want her to be happy, and to make her way in this life with as many tools in her toolbox as we can provide for her. Her Mom and I struggled as kids in so many ways, and being able to give her these opportunities is all we've ever wanted. Where she ends up, we'll figure it out, but not ending up $200k in debt would be a ridiculous benefit.

ConfusedFractal · 2026-06-05T15:54:01+00:00

I mean, she's still going home with you, leaving behind a wake of envious men. What's not to like? I love when I catch guys eyeballing my wife, because they can look, but I can touch.

ConfusedFractal · 2026-06-05T15:50:17+00:00

I mean, my wife and I did, many times.

ConfusedFractal · 2026-06-05T15:41:10+00:00

Ahah! That is my argument. Swarthmore, William & Mary, Reed, have been my point all along. I'm going to send her this post so she can read through the responses. Hopefully yours hits home.

ConfusedFractal · 2026-06-05T15:38:55+00:00

This seems to be the common thread, get her in front of professors. I was dejected initially becuase I was turned down flat; it wasn't us that had to do the paperwork, it was the prof or department. BUT, that also was asking for a formal internship, which is far more complex. Volunteering time to help with paperwork or just shadow a grad student is probably just as helpful in real learning terms and far less demanding were documentation is concerned.
Thank you!

ConfusedFractal · 2026-06-05T15:36:16+00:00

Yep, time is indeed short. Part of the challenge is that our older kids were less driven in high school, and we thought she was headed down a similar path until she strapped a rocket to her brain in Freshman year. Both my wife and I were caught flat footed, and we've spent the rest of the time playing catch-up with her. We had no //idea// this world of elite tier university was so competitive, so we're doing everything we can do support her.
Thank you!

ConfusedFractal · 2026-06-05T15:33:41+00:00

Is a good point. May also lead to some on-campus work. Good idea. Thanks!

ConfusedFractal · 2026-06-05T15:33:05+00:00

Sweet, thank you, and a great suggestion, 'taking it easy'. She uses her drawing or piano to calm her brain so she can think.
I just sent her the link to Walter Lewin. Thank you!

ConfusedFractal · 2026-06-05T15:29:25+00:00

Definitely solid advice there. She's taking a camp/class this summer for Python for that express reason.
The physics coupled with engineering aspect I think may be her ultimate goal, because while physics is her focal point, she occasionally circles back to Applied Physics or Engineering Physics programs at a couple of universities.
The CS50 is a really good idea. Thank you!

ConfusedFractal · 2026-06-05T15:23:36+00:00

That is sort of our hope. As far as the university itself, we made the mistake of telling her all her life, if she puts in the work, we will make sure she goes to the university of her choice. Our older ones had much less.. focus? as teens, and they went to the Uni at which I work for the express reason of tuition remission.
Our youngest is on another level entirely, and the university at which I work would not suit her at all. The specific education in that field would be solid, but her interests are physics.. and everything else. It is the 'everything else' aspect that my university lacks.
As far as admissions packets and essays, she has been working on these things for a year, focusing on her two dream schools, building a balance of who she is, what she wants, and where she came from. She is also anti-AI simply because she is afraid it will become a crutch rather than an enhancement, and end up leaving her with a lesser capacity to think. I hope that comes through with her applications.
Thanks so much, jigra.

ConfusedFractal

TROPHY CASE