<p>so some of you may know the story, my son dropped out of johnson and wales, the frustration I went through, the frustration he went through. anyway, now he will be going to a state school in the fall, thank god, and my daughter also to a state school, has been accepted at 4. I’m just so burnt out with this entire process. she has changed her majors 3 times now, so we still haven’t even sent in the money yet to secure a place, (which I will do tonight, believe me, and she will go). I have been trying so hard not to repeat the scenario I had with my son with her, that I have just let her make up her own mind about where to go, and guess what, no decision yet. so my bet will be that there will be no dorms left for her. I still have not gotten financial aid award letters from 2 of the schools she applied to , which is truly what I have been waiting for. my son, gets awarded $4000 for the year at his school… now wait, my daughter has received aid in the amounts of 13000 and 15000, but my son only gets 4000? from the same state school systems? when his previous school he got 15000 in federal aid? (I’m not even counting aid from the school itself). so I call and get no answers. I am fried. totally fried. and I still haven’t signed my 4 year old up for kindergarten yet because I just started a new job and don’t have any days off to do it!!! It’s just too much work. I don’t know how you all do it, get your kids into ivy league schools, spend so much time researching and visiting schools. where ever my daughter goes it will probably be blind because I can’t get off work to go visit. and the one that so far gave us the best aid package is close to ohio, and we are in northeast PA, so I am talking about a 5-6 hour drive at least? I’m just frustrated, worn out from the whole johnson and wales experience, and ready to just tell them to go to community college for 2 years so I can decompress. ugh! thanks for listening and letting me vent. it shouldn’t be this hard!!! it wasn’t this hard when I went to good ole east stroudsburg university in the poconos!!!</p>
<p>amith~</p>
<p>{{{{{{BIG HUGS}}}}}} to you…I know how overwhelmed you must feel. After all that you’ve been through with your son and now trying to juggle this thing for TWO. And there’s always the feeling that things should have been settled for your son, so this is really EXTRA work…</p>
<p>And then to have the little one too…I DO know how hard that is. My youngest was 6-7 when I was going through my oldest son’s process. In some ways, I really felt like a lost a year out of my younger kids’ lives <em>sigh</em> because I was so mentally and emotionally tied up with the college stuff. Thankfully, the process for my D next year will be much more simple and nonstressful as she wants to stay local.</p>
<p>As far as visits…I just want you to know that we were not able to visit any of my son’s schools with the exception of KU. We had neither the time, the well-running vehicle, or the money. I know that many on this site make tons of visits (and we certainly would have if we could have), but it doesn’t always work out that way, so you are not alone.</p>
<p>I so hope that everything gets straightened out for you soon…my thoughts and good wishes will be with you and yours.</p>
<p>~berurah</p>
<p>i am not in the same boat as you, but i could not stand to see you out in the middle of the current & not want to show some solidarity!</p>
<p>i dont know your story, but it is quite clear that you love your kids dearly & you’ve gone way past giving it your best shot! i’m sending you many hugs! i remind myself even now that kids develop/grow at different rates. (my S never crawled, people warned me he would have trouble reading… got an 800 on his verbal…) the system is set up for the hump of the curve & when your kid doesn’t quite fit in it can be so frustrating… sometimes we forget that it is perfectly okay for kids to leave hs & go to work… many approach college later a lot wiser & slightly better off financially! it’s just so hard for us bcuz we can so see that they should be going to college… maybe some kids just need to find that out for themselves (i.e. the hard way). While it kills the parents, it helps the kid! IMHO. IT WILL WORK OUT!</p>
<p>p.s. i suspect by the time your 4 yr old is ready for college, she’ll have an older brother & sister on her case!</p>
<p>Amith…you are trying your hardest…and in the long run hopefully your kids will see that.</p>
<p>thanks for the support, I have sent in money to hold spots, still waiting for one financial aid letter, but I think I will just sit back and let things fall where they may. and my son’s daycare teacher sent home a letter yesterday saying he pinched another kid in the butt, so is he really ready for kindergarten? I’m just gonna bury that head in the sand for right now…berurah, thanks, I’m glad to hear I am not the only one that can’t afford plane tickets to visit 10 colleges all over the country, let alone wondering where the money for tuition is coming from, (why is part of financial aid an assumption that parents can take out a parent plus loan? I went to college, I paid my student loans, my parents didn’t take out plus loans, they couldn’t afford it either, it should never be an assumption on the part of the school, how rude). anyway, thanks again.</p>
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'cause Kindergarteners would NEVER do something so outlandish, right!!??!! <em>lol</em> ;)</p>
<p>That said, four is young for K-garten…will he be five before it starts? There is a cutoff here…</p>
<p>~berurah</p>