<p>Oregonianmom: D1 is a U of O Honors College student. She’ll be a junior this year. Her Beaver dad raised her in orange and black. Now he didn’t have a problem with her being a Duck because U of O was the place for her major, journalism, and it’s hard to beat in-state tuition. And trust me, she said she’d never go there even mid-way through her senior year of high school. It took her about a day to proudly wear yellow and green, and she can hardly wait for Sept. 4 and the first football game of the year! Her professors have been accessible and helpful. The number of students is not overwhelming. If anything, my daughter says the size of the school is an advantage.</p>
<p>Getting into U of O is relatively easy. I wouldn’t say that about getting into the Honors College.</p>
<p>D2 will choose Oregon State as her safety because of her interest in engineering. She’d go there. But there are so many more appealing options to her right now.</p>
<p>Wisdom teeth don’t remind me. S was supposed to have them out this summer, but we ran out of time. Plus he had so many other minor health issues this year - knee surgery, implant stuff, I just couldn’t take any more of the trips to the surgeon, rehab, orthoo, prostodontist, etc., I need a break. I’m thinking it should be the holiday break so we can get the bill to hit this years’ insurance, since he hasn’t used much of dental. Next year is implant surgery so that will use it all and then some. I’m sure he won’t want to do it over the holiday though. His school makes them complete all apps by December 5th, so I don’t think he will be me in the middle of that.
S can’t get into the honors college in our state, so he is looking at other flagships where he can and some interesting privates.</p>
<p>My D wants a recipe book too! I am sure mine will not be a work of art but I am pleased that she likes me cooking enough to try and replicate it.</p>
<p>Blue, I hope your son is feeling better. His “happy place” gave me a smile.</p>
<p>Blueiguana - hope S feels great today. S had his out last summer. He was out of it for about a day then sore for about a week. </p>
<p>Idinct- book that surgery now for the holidays, so many doctors take that time off. You are getting your monies worth out of health and dental insurance. Not that anyone wants to use it, but thankfully it is available. We have been lucky that S’s PT is on the train line so S can usually get himself there and back.</p>
<p>H started helping S with the common app last night, almost done except for essays. </p>
<p>S’s class list was posted online today. He was assigned three of his favorite teachers and two of them are writing his college recs. yeah! S is in a happy place right now. I just hope the other teachers are good also.</p>
<p>BlueIguana–I still remember having my wisdom teeth out–Ice is great. Have you also been giving your S Arnica (health food store–supplement) It really helps with swelling/brusing. If not–dont worry–however if he has any other injuries/bruises or surgeries–its worth taking. REally reduces the swelling/bruising. O.M is right–Ice, Ice and more Ice.</p>
<p>Kiddo1 likes the schedule…and talked with GC about where things are in apps process. Has plenty to do for essays. Has one interview coming up so will be prepping for that–its an important one and kiddo hasn’t any experience with interviews. Hopefully kiddo will do plenty of research on school and will have thought through the WHY xyz school etc well.
Dont want kiddo to sound rehearsed and at same time dont want nerves to ruin the day.</p>
<p>We STILL don’t have son’s schedule! Not that he’s being singled out, but they haven’t mailed them yet. The rumor is that they hold off on giving them out so the kids (and parents) have less time to complain. Son’s in a small HS so there are many classes that are held just once a day and if you request a lot of them, there’s a good chance you won’t get everything. </p>
<p>We changed dentists recently and our new dentist told us that not only does Son not need braces, but he can keep his wisdom teeth for now too! My older son just got his wisdom teeth out last winter over break and had no problems - lot’s of ice. Lucky me, I never got wisdom teeth!</p>
<p>Momofsongbird - Thank you for the stuffed tomato recipe! It looks GREAT! (Telling you here so as not to clog up your inbox)</p>
<p>D opened in her last summer play last night, the unusual one. A very intimate production, a serious musical adaptation of Anne Frank called “Yours, Anne.” D is Margot, and did very well. There was a fascinating talkback, including the author/lyricist and a Holocaust theater scholar. They’re going to reprise this play in October at the University, as part of the Jewish Heritage lecture series. </p>
<p>D is very happy, has loved the experience and the people she’s worked with, but says she’ll be relieved to be funny again in her next show.</p>
<p>An interesting tidbit is that our Japanese student, whom I wouldn’t call at all intellectual, is very familiar with Anne Frank and knew the story already. A testament to the universality of the book and its worldwide appreciation.</p>
<p>Oregonianmom - Your D will probably have her choice of many fine schools. But, just in case she really needs a safety that she will love to attend and you can afford. you don’t mention if money is an issue but it should be considered at thsi point in time. I have a neice who is attending her “dream” school and taking out too many loans, imo, because she didn’t like her safety (with a full ride) and never planned on attending it unless she got rejected everywhere else. </p>
<p>Has she visited SOU? It might be worth an overnight visit.</p>
<p>Baby boy blue thanks you for your well wishes. He has been keeping frozen navy beans on his cheeks. They are not as cold as ice, but can be put directly on the skin. With six bags we can swap them out often. Rolled up hand towels keep them in place. The recliner has been great.
Idinct- I totally understand running out of time! He was working full time until mid August. Since then trying to get summer AP assignments done. I was so afraid if we didn’t get it done soon all that orthodontia would be for nothing! We were lucky his surgeon fit us in & school doesn’t start until after Labor Day.</p>
<p>Greetings all. Feeling very happy the D has her application list effectively done is making some headway on the essays. Still lots to do before school starts Sep 7 in addition to some class pre-work and her fall sport. Senior pics were this morning :)</p>
<p>D’s wisdom teeth came out earlier this summer. No dry sockets, happily, just a couple of days on the couch with ice. </p>
<p>In case anyone else cares, NMSF info is being mailed to schools this week. There is a thread in Financial Aid & Scholarships started that will track the cutoffs as people self report. (Financiall Aid & Scholarships > National Merit Scholarships
cut-off scores/semi-finalist announcements) </p>
<p>D will have to wait until school starts to find out, but I hope those of you already in session get good news!</p>
<p>So even though D1 hasn’t really decided where she wants to go, she has decided to start applying. All this started when one college called her up and urged her to apply for free with no essay or recommendation needed. She asked me about it, I looked up the school and yes, it is a middle range LAC which will cost us nothing (GI bill and yellow ribbon). So she is applying there. It is a priority application so we should know in a few weeks. SHe then got emails from a few more colleges offering priority free applications with no essay. We weeded some out (no Yellow ribbon or too little YR), one for location, and now we have three more to do. Only one of the initial four were any she originally thought about.</p>
<p>Actually, I am not sure why these schools are so interested in her. I know that she is a fantastic student but the vagaries of the testing (twice delayed test, proctor problem, serious medication issue) all have kept her from scoring anything beyond solid scores. Her GPA is great, she has tons of credits since she likes to work hard, and she has solid ECs with great recommendations and has won a few good awards. But none of those things do they know except her GPA. </p>
<p>One school even offered to pay her half of her transportation costs to visit. She is not poor nor a minority so I am perplexed. When my son was applying six years ago and he did have very high test scores, no one was offering him anything like this.</p>
<p>I find it interesting that my daughter is willing to consider colleges that she would never otherwise consider if they send her an email saying she doesn’t have to pay to apply and doesn’t have to write another essay!</p>
<p>Schokolade - it isn’t motivation for my S, but it is for me, so he will be applying to at least a couple of schools he might not otherwise apply. What can it hurt if they have the program he is intersted in?</p>
<p>Mnmomof2, thanks for the heads-up on the NMSF info being mailed. I’m told D exceeds traditional cutoff in our state by a comfortable margin, but I’m paranoid about missing that notification letter and therefore not following up with the next steps. Appreciate knowing those letters are in the mail. :)</p>
<p>mamom–I agree that it won’t hurt, and it is effective marketing to my daughter, so she will be applying to a few extra schools. We are hoping she will receive some merit aid (which is harder to predict than need-based aid), so it is actually good for the colleges and for us.</p>
<p>Next week is our college road trip. Looking at Alfred, Ohio Wesleyan, Wooster, Hiram. ( following Tuesday looking at Elizabethtown). Hoping after this trip between these visits and our previous ones, that my D can put together a final list. Also hoping that I don’t murder her this week because she is giving me alot of resistance to sitting in on classes, meeting profs, eating on campus etc. She seems to think she can figure out in 5 minutes if she likes the school. oy! It is going to be a long week. Also my dh is insisting on coming and he has done zero reading up on the schools . So I know he is going to ask alot of those obvious questions that I always find do irritating! I will post my impressions of each school on the visit reports.</p>
<p>holliesue - You’ll be fine! I know that stress. I know it sounds crazy, but if she’s been on a few visits, I’d let her decide quickly what her gut reaction is to some schools. My D hasn’t cared at all about the food - she figures food is food and certainly wouldn’t turn a great school down just because the food isn’t the best - or the dorms (ditto). We’ve gotten to the point where a quick look around the campus and a closer exam of her most important departments is pretty much enough. </p>
<p>It sounds really risky, but her gut has been excellent. And I’ve gotten so that I can predict in 5 minutes what her response will be, too. </p>
<p>My H came on visits late in the game as well - I made it very clear to him that he needed to keep his mouth shut, maybe ask one question if he really thought he couldn’t look it up on their website, and absolutely NOT give an opinion about the school until after we’d gotten her impression. He was so glad he followed my advice! It would have been WWIII if he’d said what he was thinking at what turned out to be her favorite school.</p>
I will post my impressions of each school on the visit reports.</p>