Parents of the HS Class of 2012 - Original

[maidenMom]

CPU - I saw a post a few pages back where you talked about being "famous" already at Harvard, but couldn't find the reason - other than you're clearly an amazing kid, what did you do?

[alynor]

@WhereTwo: Was your son able to visit all of those schools a first time? If not, I can share our visit experiences at Macalester and Carleton, if that would be helpful. I also have some anecdotal info about those two schools from recent grads.

[PinotNoir]

maidenMom - I took CPU's comment that she's famous at her high school for getting into Harvard.

[ohiobassmom]

mspearl - I travel internationally some and carry a Capital One credit card because it has no exchange fees for purchases made in foreign currency. My local bank debit card also only charges me $1.50 per withdrawal at a non-member bank, including overseas, but sometimes the bank I am at adds a fee. It's worth asking. I got a Paypal debit card that I thought I'd use but the fees were ridiculous, like 3% of every purchase or something. Also, if using a debit card to purchase things and the number or card is stolen, the money is out of your account until the bank puts it back whereas with a credit card you simply don't owe the $ while they straighten it out. Big difference to someone traveling with limited funds - I se the debit for withdrawals only and the credit card for purchases.

Travelers checks are something I still use without difficulty and AAA members get Amex TCs for free. Of course you can get those replaced within 24 hours if lost or stolen as long as you keep the serial numbers safe somewhere (like in an email or with mom).

S is doing an accepted student program and overnight at Capital, the conservatory/music major admit that made his cut. That's next week, we'll try to get in an overnight at his two other top choices before May 1.

[sbjdorlo]

Kleibo,

*Great* story!! Your son truly rocks, no pun intended. :-)

Are your kids getting phone calls from schools again? S got 5 calls yesterday, one from a school he never even applied to-weird. Two of the calls were from students at the colleges. Not sure what the one was yet; he's got to return the call today.

[rayrick]

Wheretwo, my D also has Carleton and Middlebury on her list. Just bought the plane tickets for her revisit of Carleton, but I don't know how we're going to swing Middlebury. Anyway, she loved Carleton the first time, so we'll see what she thinks the second time!

This revisit trip planning is driving me nuts. Trying to coordinate the various visit days with each other, school, etc (she's only allowed to miss a few days). It's been very challenging. She's got three good trips planned at arguably her three top choices, but I fear Bowdoin and Middlebury may get less attention than they deserve.

[lisabees]

Oh my! Wonderful advice for international travel. Any more to give? S will be heading to Qatar next week. I have been so consumed with college stuff, I hadn't put much thought into his trip.

Anything I should know about phones or adapters or a long flight? I have no experience...

SteveC - A while ago, you asked what instrument my H plays - his college major was jazz guitar performance. After years of writing music for radio and tv, he now owns a software company.

[vlines]

lisabees- you might want to see if you can find one of the cell phone chargers that is solar. Just in case he has trouble with electrical outlets. They sell them on Amazon.

[Northernwoods]

rayrick, we're struggling with revisits as well. It is complicated by the fact that we don't have complete aid information as of yet. H has done a great job of pulling together what we have into an understandable spreadsheet which should help S figure out what is affordable.

S may be heading to Carleton for an overnight as well. We will be heading to Northwestern this weekend and he'll visit CMU the following weekend. I'm hoping he'll take an overnight at Carleton for his representative LAC. His LAC's have been more generous than the larger private universities so they definitely deserve a second look.

[rayrick]

5boys: Random comment--way back when I was a young lad, I read a book called The High Adventure of Eric Ryback, about a guy's solo trek of the entire length of the PCT. It made a huge impression on me. I don't even know if it's still in print, but, if you don't have it already, it may be worth seeking out.

[maidenMom]

@PinotNoir - I see where I goofed - I read prior to sufficiently dosing on caffeine - thanks for fixing my brain

[CPUscientist3000]

maidenMom- sorry for the confusion, PinotNoir is right, that's what I meant.

[maidenMom]

big game today against our super rivals. Have beaten them every game we have played them in the past three years EXCEPT the State Final game (regular season we win, city championships we win, state final we choke). This is the regular season game for this year..........................nervous!!!!!!!

[erlanger]

Whereto. We were in your shoes when D1 looked at schools (too far for revisits). There’s a lot of ways to look at the selection process (such as size, location, opportunities for grad/jobs, financial, etc.) and I am sure you have weighed all of those. For us, however, it came down to something much more subtle that only you and your family can assess. Consider for a moment something that worked really well (or conversely, was a source of angst) in his high school experience and then try to assess which school will replicate that piece (or something to avoid). For example, for us, D was pretty lost in high school so we wanted a college that gave her strong advisory support and a better sense of community. By way of another example, we had a friend who went to a fine boarding school for high school so he needed to get away from the bubble to stretch a bit, and thus picked a more large, anonymous, urban environment. I think your choices include different environments. Once you hone in on some intangible quality that is important to have or not, you can eliminate and select what will likely work for him.

[kathieh1]

Rayrick and Northernwoods, good luck with those visits. D ruled out any revisits and really narrowed her preferences quickly.. giving up Northwestern, Carleton and Macalester immediately. I think she had a moment of second thought last night on NU, but then admitted she really had to draw the line somewhere. She just didn't have time to visit this month in any case.. but would have been nice.

I spoke to an alumni from St. O last night who called and was very enthusiastic about the alumni network. Such a great school. I woke up today thinking we're nuts to be considering letting that scholarship go. I'm sure it will hurt if we have to pay the very large tuition bills at Pomona. I wish I had some real basis for asking them to give her more FA, but really don't think we do. I think D needs to make a pro-con list for the schools and see if she can make the decision more logically.

DD is busy with school and going on a theater trip to Ashland next weekend to the Shakespeare festival with the theater class. I'm going to have to drive down on Friday and pick her up and bring her home so she can do the dress rehearsal for her dance concert on the 21st. Her grandmothers will be getting here around the 20th too, so things around here will get busy. Besides doing things for the dance concert, I'm in charge of coordinating the Grad Party - and that's making me feel a bit overwhelmed too. Senior year is a lot of work for everyone.

Good luck everyone with your planning. I eye that growing list and know it represents so much good news. Hope we'll be able to add to it soon and somewhat glad I won't be the one making our decision. Erlanger - your post had some really good advice too. Thanks for sharing those thoughts.