<p>Ive been suffering with GS’s head cold. I so rarely get one (maybe the 2nd in 5 years) that I don’t know proper behavior. I have turned the corner today. It was 75 and actually hot in the sun so took the dog and H for a long walk. GF called and discussed her S’s school options and I find myself struggling to be happy that they will pay 130-160,000 for his education. He is well deserving and has received $ and some opportunities. Still–as many of us here finish off the kid it is shocking how much this has cost. I figure with travel and all D no doubt landed about 150,000. Probably more if I counted every little thing. S is coming in at around $120,000. Maybe it is just because we are so close to retiring that it makes me shake my head. This family does well but they have saved the equivalent of 1 kids school and they have two. OK–thanks for listening and I will be positive for their walk.
Happy Holiday. love the grad dress story! Hoping to work on getting the veggie beds ready tomorrow.</p>
<p>Just dawned on me…S1 is on the home stretch! Easter vacation makes it all so real; graduation in exactly 7 weeks. He has already accepted a job offer. I just can’t believe it is all happening! And of course I have no idea what to wear to the ceremony (outdoor, could be really hot or really cold so hard to shop in advance), or where to have a celebratory late lunch (15 people coming, ages 8 to 85), how to shuttle everyone around, etc etc. But, whatever. OMG he’s graduating!!</p>
<p>Up early to make Easter dinner. The house is quiet and it is about 30 degrees. Brrr…</p>
<p>D2 was notified of her Latin honors for graduation already based on her midterm grades. She is happy. We had a long discussion about career choices in her field and she is certain she will end up where she wants to be as not many like what she has chosen. Had a great dinner with her and BF last night. As I am up by myself this morning I am thankful for the time to look back on her journey. Also thankful for the help so many of you here on this thread have given. Enjoy the day! :)</p>
<p>Congrats, NM, to you and your D.</p>
<p>Shoes to walk in for graduation. There is always a lot of walking around. And, it will probably be hot. </p>
<p>Whoever said it, men do have it easier from a clothes standpoint. I have a polo shirt in ShawSon’s school color. I’ll be wearing that. Maybe a blazer over it, but I’ll have to carry that because of the heat. But, no one will remember or notice what I’m wearing except maybe for the shirt.</p>
<p>ShawD came back for the weekend as her friends went home for Easter/Passover. Lovely to see her. She has to complete the application for her Nurse Practitioner program. She was told that there was a grade cutoff of B+ but that she was provisionally admitted when she was admitted to nursing as long as her average exceeded that cutoff. I think she has all As except for one A- so she’s clearly above the cutoff. But, when I suggested that the application was just a formality, she became anxious. She said, “It’s still an application and I don’t like that you assume I’ve gotten in when I haven’t.” This is a girl who does not like to be disappointed.</p>
<p>Page 3…I think NOT! </p>
<p>Happy Easter to those that celebrate. D2 returned to school even though they have no classes tomorrow. She works instead. </p>
<p>Ready for the week ahead!</p>
<p>Today is D’s birthday! No fooling! Spoke with her yesterday, she is slowly recovering from her trip. I knew jet lag would be a concern and when I spoke to her a week ago she was coming down with a cold. Found out yesterday that she also came down with food poisoning after her flight. There were two other students from the conference on the same flight and they also had food poisoning.</p>
<p>I’m tired from all the services and festivities. Attended the youth group’s sunrise service, then our service at 10 am, then drove to in-laws. Yesterday we had warm, beautiful weather but today is cold again. At least they changed the forecast - originally they were calling for snow today!</p>
<p>Happy April to everyone!</p>
<p>^not ready for the week ahead but here it is! This whole “not having a 4 day weekend” at Easter thing is getting old…I didn’t even manage 3 days off, unless you count leaving Friday at 4:30 pm a “half day.” Back in Canada, Easter weekend used to be my fav holiday!</p>
<p>A major accident shut down the highway home after I took Cason back to Ann Arbor and had dinner out, so that added 2 hours to my trip and my sense of having been robbed downtime ;)</p>
<p>Happy Birthday to c_q D! Hope she feels better.</p>
<p>Congrats to NM D on the honors.</p>
<p>Moving slowly this AM.</p>
<p>Rant ahead
Ok I think you may remember the backstory of the in-laws…
Well, we hosted Easter dinner - for their benefit. H and I are not religious.
A half hour after the suggested arrival time, the called tosay they would be another hour.
It ended up being another 1.5 hours. So they were 2 hours late for a fairly eleaborate dinner for them.
The reason? They were on the phone with friends from their former neighborhod!!</p>
<p>woody, that is completely inexcusable. We have not done anything to celebrate Easter other than to see it as a holiday week-end to go somewhere, so its pretty relaxing. S2 headed back to campus on Friday and we went to Virginia Beach for the week-end. We had a room right on the boardwalk overlooking the ocean and we got in some good hiking at First Landing State Park. S1 went to Bali with his girlfriend over the holidays and had a great time, including renting a scooter. </p>
<p>Oregon, your comments on college costs had me looking up what we paid. S1 was $83,000 and S2 will be $64,000 all-in. Both were at state schools, paying in-state tuition. S2 got some scholarships; S1 was full pay. Optional summer activities added $10,000 to $12,000 in cost for each (included in those numbers). The room and board cost was literally double the net tuition cost each semester at S2’s school and was about the same as tuition at S1’s college. Having them live at home and commute to the local four-year college would have resulted in a similar if not better educational outcome for S2, in my view. S1 got some utils by attending a school with a better name recognition than our local college, but he could have done his first two years at community college and then used the articulation agreement to transfer into his college for the last two years, dramatically reducing the total cost. </p>
<p>While learning also takes place outside of the classroom at a residential college, I dont think either of our kids learned anything by going away to college that they wouldnt have learned eventually without that experience. Maybe that is not the case for those who have kids who are more academically inclined or were more involved in ECs in college than either of my two. But for many students, choosing the value priced college option is as good as buying the low cost car instead of the luxury brand. Both should get the student to his destination, just with a different ride experience along the way.</p>
<p>D2 worked this morning and wants to meet me this afternoon at Trader Joe’s to get groceries. Both of us need to stock our pantries! TJ’s is closer to her school so I don’t get there very often. Should be fun. Her classes start tomorrow. Still hard to believe she is almost done with her undergrad classes. </p>
<p>I will have to go back and check finances for the cost of the girls’ college education. Might be depressing!</p>
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<p>What I always think adds insult to injury with those type of excuses is that the person is so inconsiderate that they can’t even make up a better sounding lie!</p>
<p>Congrats to NMD on graduation honors!</p>
<p>Easter was nice - meal turned out great and family was appreciative - until our beloved Lady Bears lost in a basketball game that was very hard to watch. Older D missed it because she was flying back to school but younger D joined me in my agony.</p>
<p>Older D’s last quarter classes start today. (What kind of Catholic school is that, to not give Easter Monday off?) </p>
<p>My inlaws are coming to visit for the week. I’ve been too busy and frazzled to even dread it. I made myself not spend last night cleaning up since H thought everything looked perfectly fine. I guess as long as they don’t trip over the Easter baskets on the floor and break a hip, it will be fine.</p>
<p>MIL has lost a lot of short term memory and tells the same story over and over again. And it’s not like it’s the story she told last week. It’s the story she told 5 minutes ago. So what is kinder…to keep listening or say, “yeah, you told me about that?” Opinions, please.</p>
<p>How about: “Can you hold that thought while I fix us a nice scotch?” ;)</p>
<p>MP - my MIL is the same way. Drives both me and H insane. We don’t see her that much so when we do I just try to bite my tongue. I’ve actually made a game of it to see if she tells it exactly the same way 
I know --terrible DIL that I am!</p>
<p>For Easter I did baskets with candy and money for both kids. We had a couple that we are real good friends in for brunch and their S was home from college so he tagged along as well. It was fun and since we started early (9:30) I was done and picked up by 1 which allowed me to lay around all afternoon and fight this darn cold I picked up. On the mend now but still a lingering cough. I need it to be warm and to get out in the sun for it ot go away – been here before!</p>
<p>I don’t even want to THINK about what we have spent on college costs. S did have a scholarship to undergrad but there was still a fair amount to pay. His grad school (Cornell) was expensive. D is full pay at Bates. On a good note it’s all paid for so we are DONE (unless D decides to go back for grad school because she can’t find a job)!</p>
<p>mp–ditto about the drink.</p>
<p>TA–I hope you do not mean room and board on top of the $83 and$64? The problem this family is running into, as did my D with med school, is that the Oregon schools are too expensive and so even with scholarship and grant monies the private schools comes in lower. Even adding transportation and such. This means that our state is losing some of their best students. If the choice is a super large school or a name school that is medium or small it becomes a tough decision. It does not help that our State U’s are know for their extra semester to graduate.
At least for D, she completely embrace the experience and thrived and has connections now all over the country. I wish with S we had insisted on a semester or two at our local and then evaluated. Due to S’s marital status he has a wonderful situation for his tuition now and it is a lovely school so at least that fell into place.</p>
<p>RM–did not see your post. D nearly transferred to Bates–she really liked it! She ended up at Middlebury full pay but that was awhile ago. I should see what their tuition is now–I might feel better!</p>
<p>Just to commiserate about the head cold situation. I have been really flat out with mine for nearly a week. Just keep getting new symptoms. Trying to decide if I can have an evening session tonight (I don’t think I am contagious any more) as my voice is so low and sexy.</p>
<p>We’ve got two full-pay but had saved for it and will have a fair bit left over. I understand TheAnalyst’s point but think that for both kids and especially ShawSon, the on-campus high pay choice has/will pay off. The contacts he has from his elitish school will be valuable. Even more so is the opportunity for the startup that got created in part because he was on campus and not at home. For ShawD, she could study the same things at a less costly school. Her automatic admission to her NP program is unusual, but absent that, she could have done what she is doing at a lesser cost.</p>
<p>She is having a great time academically and loves the hand-on part of nursing more than she thought she would. Socially, though, she would like to get introduced to tall, extremely handsome Jewish guys who actually value Judaism and interestingly, she’d prefer to go out with someone who has graduated from college. She says, “all college boys want to do is party every weekend and lots of them are not interested in serious relationships. Guys who have graduated can party when they want to but don’t do it all the time. And, they are more interested in a real relationship.” Interesting. In many ways, she wants to skip some of the college experience and be more adult.</p>
<p>Oregon, those numbers included everything, including room and board. My comment about room and board was based on my surprise about how much it added to the cost. S2’s tuition was half the cost of S1’s tuition, but his total cost was closer than I would have predicted because room and board costs were essentially the same at both schools and that is such a significant driver to total cost of attendance. </p>
<p>Some students will take full advantage of the residential college option, but those are often the more academically gifted students who can also get merit scholarships. That type of student should be able to find an affordable price point somewhere on the selectively curve, but I agree with your point Oregon that they may be giving up their ideal fit in the process. The college years have been my least favorite time period for either of our two boys, so Im just glad its almost over.</p>
<p>Younger D has been doing private ACT tutoring for a month or so. She took a practice test on Saturday and her score was low…a point or so below where I feared it would be. I think we can get it up high enough to get a bit of a tuition break from the school we visited. Then, if she can’t get it up more, the college search may be extremely easy…she likes the school, so we could be one and done. (I don’t think there’s much hope of getting merit at other OOS schools.)</p>
<p>Shaw I wish D2 would hang wth Shaw D more, she is very frustrated with college boy thing. Shaw D has the right attiude.
My MIL repeats the same thing all the time. We just listen as if was the first time. She knows it and gets upset . So we dont want to add to her embarrassment. although it is excrutiatingly frustrating.</p>