Young Adults

USC is already renowned for its Thornton School of Music. Now it's getting an undergrad program devoted exclusively to the business end of the music business, thanks to a $70 million gift from Jimmy Iovine and Dr. Dre. (Iovine spoke at last weekend's commencement, by the way.)

The new four-year USC Jimmy Iovine and Andre Young Academy for Arts, Technology and the Business of Innovation, which kicks off in late 2014, brings technology and creativity together with business, marketing and entrepreneurship. Interesting, no?

This is prime graduation speech time and I'm hopeful that this year's crop of celebrity university commencement speakers will be as articulate, funny and wise as last year's, which included Oprah Winfrey, author Neil Gaiman, Game of Thrones' Peter Dinklage, Glee's Jane Lynch and Mythbusters' Adam Savage.

But to tide us over while we wait for this year's best addresses, here's one by the late David Foster Wallace, delivered at Kenyon College in 2005, and augmented with a really wonderful video since then. I know, I know, it's eight years old, but it's so very wonderful, so inspirational and so apt for 20somethings and for everyone else too. That link takes you to Upworthy, where the video and speech are embedded under the headline: "The The Earth-Shatteringly Amazing Speech That'll Change The Way You Think About Adulthood." Enjoy!

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One might think that May or June is much, much too late to be thinking about college apps for fall, but some 210 U.S. universities still have spaces available for incoming freshmen or transfer students, according to the latest survey by the National Association of College Admissions Counseling or NACAC, the same people who do the big college fairs.

So if your kid miscalculated the odds of admission and is staring, tearfully, at a raft of rejections, or he's the prince of procrastination and somehow missed the big deadlines, there's still hope. Check out this sampling of some really wonderful public and private schools with availability, as well as the big searchable-by-state database.

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Foreign languages are a requirement in college, as well as in high school. Turns out one of the most popular of those languages now is American Sign Language. ASL, which was offered at only a few universities in the 1990s, has moved up to fourth place, according to a recent Modern Language Association Survey, and No. 3 - German - better start looking over its shoulder because those numbers are continuing to surge. Interesting, no?

Congrats are certainly in order when your college kid graduates, but before you get too excited about the lull between that last - final! finished! - tuition check and the onset of student loan payments, here's what your wallet can expect for graduation:

Cap and gown rentals, sure. Graduation announcements? OK.

But your kid may be facing a whole list of unexpected expenses ranging from photo fees and library fines to exit bills and graduation tickets -- for himself, as well as you. Surprised? And that's before you start computing the cost of commemorative tassels, diploma covers and ... OK, the rubber duckies are darling and inexpensive. The $100 exit fee and the $10 per head ticket to attend graduation, not so darling.

Graduation is looming and soon all those noisy, boisterous, messy, lovable high school seniors will be gone. If you're feeling any twinges over the impending separation, you're not alone. The empty nest blues come and go. Sometimes it's a plunge into deep blue, sometimes just a pale robin's egg hue. You will survive and thrive in that empty nest - really! But transitions can be hard and we are entering roller coaster emotion season. So I loved this comment by a reader on how to cope:

"My last child is due to graduate and leave for college soon. Keeping busy with work. Check. Keeping busy with volunteer commitments. Check. Better than par relationship with spouse. Check. Strong ties with friends. Check. Out of control - and without warning - crying fits. Not in check. Figured it out today; just let the emotions roll and hand out a flyer that explains you are a 'soon to be empty nester'. It gives a Free Pass for crying and you get the endorphins 'in check' at the same time. "

A flyer! That's awesome. Funny and adorable and helpful. Read more empty nest tips from readers here and then click the "share your best tips" box and share your tips too.

How does it happen? Your college kid's possessions fit in your car when you moved him in. How is it possible for the gear to have tripled in volume? Or quadrupled? If you're in that boat - or rather, that overstuffed SUV - don't despair. Or head for the dumpster.

Here are three summer storage options to explore for families with too much dorm stuff to drag home, including several new (or newish) services that will not only store the stuff, they'll pack it too. A bit spendy, but desperate times ...

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In a text-centric world, it's not at all strange that you end up texting things to your kid like, "Check your email. I just sent you something." They rarely check email, unless it's from their phone - and even then, right? So it may have completely escaped your freshman-to-be's attention that he or she has a new email account, set up by the university on the day he or she was accepted. And if you're kinda wondering when the information on dorms, meal plans and housing contracts is going to show up, oh heavens, text your kid right now and tell him to check that email.

The housing stuff is there along with all sorts of other important, time-sensitive information. But the most time-sensitive of all is that housing contract, which, at most campuses, is DUE TODAY. If your child is still fretting over wait lists, do the housing contract anyway. That deposit is usually refundable. (You'll find more post-wait list details on what's refundable and what's not here, if you need it.)

Missing the housing contract deadline by a day may not be a big deal on campuses that guarantee freshman housing or that require that first-years live on campus. But it can be a huge thing at schools where housing is impacted - the euphemism of choice for "you snooze, you lose, we don't have enough housing for everyone." Miss the deadline and your kid could land on a waiting list or wind up with no dorm spot at all. It's important. So text your kid: Check your campus email. Now.

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This is graduation season and the perfect time to plan a celebration for your new graduate, whether he's getting that diploma from high school, college or - woo hoo! - med school. So why not throw that new doctor or RN an epic graduation party, complete with scrubs, stethoscopes and cocktails? Corpse Reviver #2, anyone?

You'll find plenty of ideas, including surgical cookies, eye chart decor - yep, you can change the letters on that thing, check out the photo - and a DIY photo booth that's just what the doctor ordered. Big fun for a great occasion.

Related posts:

• Graduation ceremony bingo
• Gifts for new nurses
• Graduation thank you notes your 18-year-old will want to write
• The best five graduation speeches of 2012

It's not your imagination. It's getting harder to get into the most competitive universities in the United States - not into every university, mind you, but into the ones with the most ridiculous acceptance rates, rates which just got even more ridiculous.

Stanford tops the list, with an admit rate of 5.69%. Yes, that decimal point is in the right place. Harvard accepted 5.79%. And if your child has his dreams pinned on Juilliard, he'd better have a back-up plan - several of them, actually. You'll find the entire list of top 10 most selective universities here, along with some reassuring news.

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