<p>“overanxiousmother: Duke 7:50 PM CST 4/30 (although she is trying to sneak in JHU bet without paying)”–(BTW, how do you get those cute grey boxes around the “blip” you’re replying to???)</p>
<p>Caught! GUilty as charged. Red-faced and sheepish, but a deadbeat I’m not…I shall pay all those e-dollars (or collect 'em) when we know.</p>
<p>So, I’m hedging my bets: Bet One: Duke at 7:50 p.m. CST 4/30
Bet Two: JHU at 7:50 p.m., CST, 4/30…</p>
<p>And I’m a high-roller: I’ll bet one thousand e-dollars (as my dad would say, I’d rather owe it to you than cheat you out of it)…grin!</p>
<p>As a longtime lurker, I have followed your son’s journey through the college app process and congratulate him on his successes. Keep in the forefront of your mind that he can’t make a bad choice-that being said, we all want the best choice for our kids. We are just finishing up this process with S2 and I would like to share with you a little of our thought process-maybe it can help.</p>
<p>I think the undergrad experience should nourish the whole child as they journey into adulthood-academic, social and emotional. Grad school then further nourishes the academic side. The scholarships at JHU and Penn seem to bring some grad school components into the undergrad experience. The academic opportunities will be wonderful but the demands on his time and responsibilities will also increase-there’s always a tradeoff. Some kids love and want this deep academic focus early on while others want to enjoy the journey getting there. The trick is to figure out where your son fits in. </p>
<p>My S2 is your basic BWRK with good grades and high scores, a love of learning, full of spirit with a love of sports and many interests outside the classroom(music, fishing, golf). His primary academic focus will be biochem with an eye toward med school-a long tough road. In selecting a school, we felt it was very important for him to have an outside escape from the stress and challenges of the vigorous academic path he has chosen. Happy kids make better students. This kid needed a school with strong premed academics AND lots of school spirit and opportunities to pursue his outside interests-he chose UMiami. We felt that UMiami had the right combination to complement his personality and enhance his undergrad experience therefore allowing for the most growth. What does your son’s personality need to thrive and flourish?</p>
<p>Having gone through this twice, at this point the key is to simplify the decision. He sound like the type of kid who will create his own opportunites wherever he goes. Don’t compare the schools to each other, but rather to your son’s idea of a pefect fit. Which school provides the academics, location, size and campus life that would best nourish this great 18 year old kid from a small town in Kansas? Go with your gut.</p>
<p>Before you decide, go back and read your posts from the night the Duke decision came in-it’s thrilling.</p>
<p>Best wishes and just think, only 5 more times!</p>
<p>yes, yes, yes, YES!!! This is just a beautiful, beautiful post full of much wisdom! I SO thank you for sharing both this opinion and your experiences with your S2. I think he has made a <em>perfect</em> decision with UMiami! My son was also accepted there with a nice scholarship, and it will be difficult to give that up, particularly since we have been very impressed with their treatment of our S as a prospective student. </p>
<p>It has been a difficult thing to encourage my son to “go with his gut”. He is such a dang analytical person, but in the past few days, I’ve been sharing my thought processes out loud with him, and I think he’s beginning to see how it feels to think from a more holistic standpoint. Going with the gut does not come naturally to him.</p>
<p>I so appreciate this input. Thanks so very much for taking the time to express these wonderful thoughts! I am going to print this out and show it to my son! :)</p>
<p>OveranxiousMom [love that name!], I learned how from someone else’s explanation.</p>
<p>You highlight and copy whatever it is you want to quote.
Then, in the quick reply or advanced reply box, you paste your copied text. </p>
<p>At the beginning of your copied text, type {quote} and at the end of your text, type {/quote}. </p>
<p>EXCEPT: use the square bracket key instead of the curly brackets. If I’d used square ones above, you wouldn’t be able to see the brackets. Be sure to include the forward slash to indicate the close of the quote box or it won’t work.</p>
<p>Good luck. You won’t forget how helpful I’ve been if you win the pot, right? ;)</p>
<p>Okay, it works just like the quote thing, using the square brackets around color=red (or blue or whatever) and size=+1 (or 2 or whatever) instead of the words quote and /quote. If you want to combine two values like color and size, you just put the opening sets of brackets right together at the beginning, and the closing ones together at the end. </p>
<p>{color=red}{size=+1} whatever you want to say {/color}{/size}</p>
<p>Only use square brackets again instead of the curly ones.
Does that make sense? </p>
<p>Hoping this helps. Maybe making multicolored messages will take your mind off things a bit… .</p>
<p>Lhasa, it’s nice to be missed!! And I have to say, you have brightened my spirits considerably! This color stuff suits me wonderfully! I always write my checks in my special lavendar pen–I am VERY picky about my pens! <em>lol</em></p>
<p>LOL. The kids who read the parents’ forum are getting a sneak preview of what it’s really like to be an adult. “Pay no attention to the man behind the curtain!”, (Wizard of Oz).</p>
<p>I think we all deserve this playful lull, post-results, mid-decisions, and pre-nest emptyings. Could it be hysteria? Personally I am content playing with the three different types of brackets on my keyboard (), , and {}. Please, no one disillusion me by telling me that I should be selective in my choice, because they all mean something different. I will hold off on colors and fonts until after graduation, something to which I can look forward!</p>
And I have to say, you have brightened my spirits considerably! This color stuff suits me wonderfully! I always write my checks in my special lavendar pen–I am VERY picky about my pens! <em>lol</em></p>