<p>Just did the estimated financial aid eligibility and it turned out as expected…very minimal…so as we have told D all along…if she chooses to go to a SUNY college we will be able to help her more with travel abroad experiences, transportation, grad school. If she goes private and even qualifies for max scholarships at the schools she seems to like, there will definitely be big limits on what else we are able to provide for her. D has expressed strong desire to be an RA once she is a sophomore (of course no guarantee she would get the job) and to work on campus.If she goes private, she definitely will have to do so.</p>
<p>holliesue, One of the things about privates that I’ve found out from personal experience is that some of the perks that you may have to pay for at public’s are included. For instance, both of my older kids did study abroad’s where their only expense was their plane ticket, or in my daughter’s case part of the plane ticket, and incidental souvenirs. When there is an update like Windows 7, there is no charge. Laundry was free. Cable and internet in the dorms were free. (Guess I shouldn’t say “free” but “included”) Housing is often possible for all four years and the last two are often apartment style. At my son’s school he had his own room for Sophomore and Junior year in a very nice suite. You can bet that my youngest son will be applying to both of their schools.</p>
<p>Is it time to start common application essay?</p>
<p>1jupiter-d is done with hers! I am amazed as it was done so early and with minimal nagging! Haha!!</p>
<p>Kiddo has been pretty good the last 2 days. Got several hours in yesterday and is working again today on those essays.</p>
<p>Going well generally. I have suggested that kiddo have a teacher or the GC look at them–which was already in kiddo’s plans. </p>
<p>Kiddo feels pretty calm about this process–I think in part because the school list is long enough (probably no more than 8 or so)–and that kiddo feels there is happiness to be found at any of the choices- from reach to safety.</p>
<p>Other than that–the weekend has included fun foods and some time on the PS3 for a break.</p>
<p>[Has</a> college sendoff always been so tough? - Health - Kids and parenting - msnbc.com](<a href=“http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/38993260/ns/health-kids_and_parenting/?ocid=MSNToolbar130]Has”>http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/38993260/ns/health-kids_and_parenting/?ocid=MSNToolbar130)</p>
<p>I can’t imagine an involved multi-day college sendoff. For us, it was just take the kid to the airport, see him through security for as far as I could see, and go cry in the car. Kinda like ripping the bandaid off fast and quick.</p>
<p>fogfog - That is quite an article. I came to university in America from England, and I just flew by myself, took a taxi from the airport to the college, didn’t know anyone, etc. I won’t be doing that with my own children though :)</p>
<p>I can’t imagine a multi-day send off but logistically if you have a full days drive to campus, it’s just not possible to move the kid in, turn around and drive home. </p>
<p>We could not move my daughter in (long story) so put her on a plane and sent her off on her own. It was not the easiest thing for her or for us and we will not do that again. Our oldest son did a pre-college outdoor orientation so he actually went down before us and then we joined him with the bulk of his stuff. It was much harder (on me) to send off our daughter because I didn’t get to see her dorm or meet her roommates or their parents. The above article is a bit overboard, but I prefer that to the throw them on the plane method.</p>
<p>I’ve had a couple of close girlfriends/neighbors send off their kids this fall and both of them told me it wasn’t as hard/bad as they thought it might be. It helped that their kids were elated; both were going off to their first choice school. </p>
<p>I have a quick question. My S did an internship in a university lab this summer. The head of lab would like to write him a confidential recommendation which she’ll send directly to the colleges. She’s requesting that he send her the list and the form. What form is she referring to? I looked at the Common App site and the only form that I saw that might apply is the one for teachers. I didn’t see one for an extracurricular recommendation. Do you think she’s referring to the teacher rec form?</p>
<p>Another article pointed out what a problem the parents are becoming–I think its quite embarassing to have adults behaving like that–</p>
<p>My parents drove me to the college (it was a long way from home) We spent the nioght before move in at a motel. The next am, we got a parking pass, moved the trunk, suitcases and fridge etc into the room. Shortly after that my parents left for vacation…</p>
<p>I have not clue where to get my ID etc…and lets face it–the campus looks different when its your first day of college!
Still I would not want my parents hanging out for days -let alone going to events meant for the students!</p>
<p>If there are any pre-orientation trips, hiking, service-vol things–we are going to encourage kiddo to do them so kiddo will have met people. </p>
<p>++
kiddo is back at it with the essays-- </p>
<p>R.M. ^
If there isn’t a specific form–perhaps just give the person pre addressed/stamped envelopes for each of the schools …??
I’d be sure to ask the person to include your students full legal name, address, etc etc so it can be correlated with the app</p>
<p>I went 1000 miles away for the first time on a plane … and I had mono, to boot … it was a pain dealing with suitcases and things arriving (or not arriving) UPS, but it was what it was. We’ve managed to drive D1 1000 miles several times, often just one of us (while the other stayed home with D2, who usually had school). Usually the drop-offs are quick - you get the stuff in the room, and that’s that. The first year there was a nice matriculation ceremony and definitely an “OK, parents, you’re done” message, very polite and to the point. For us, my folks live near D1’s school so we end up visiting family while we’re out there. If D2 goes east, the same thing will happen.</p>
<p>I do like having gotten a look at where she’s living for the year, for a frame of reference, but really that’s just out of curiosity on my part. </p>
<p>No action yet on apps this weekend … much more of a “last ditch summer vacation” atmosphere, although she promises to work on them. Maybe today. What I want is a schedule and chart; I don’t think she’s quite gotten the timeline in her head of what she has to do. Once that happens, she can run with it. If she wants to push her deadlines, that’s her business. </p>
<p>I also don’t think she understands how much sit-down work each app will be. Her list is at about 12, with quite a few supplements. I will be much happier when we’re over this organizational hump, so I’m pushing that.</p>
<p>Things will be in shifts - a couple of months now of a lot of work on essays and paperwork, getting the rolling and EA apps in, taking one more ACT, and then a break pretty much through Nov and Dec (hopefully hearing from a few of those schools). Auditions and regular apps in Jan and Feb, then March and April again for hearing back. We’re already planning to loop through some of the schools’ area spring break for re-visits and seeing family (we can show the Boston/NY/New England area to Japanese D, too).</p>
<p>Sometimes it’s hard to imagine that we’ll also be having all of the usual ups and downs with the academic year, concert year, theater year, etc., too! What a time!</p>
<p>RMom - I’m the first one to ask for directions so I would ask the technical folks at Common App or the AdComs at the schools. Also some schools specifically say do not add any more info than asked so you might want to check that too.</p>
<p>@momofsongbird,</p>
<p>Thank you so much for your great suggestion about moving the college app process forward. D is also “only” applying to 6 schools, but each has its own supplement in addition to the common application. We are hoping for merit $ at each of them; fortunately most don’t require a separate application for scholarships although some do for the larger ones. I printed out your suggestions and showed it to D, who rolled her eyes but said she understood. She made a lot of progress on the Common App yesterday, and will spend today finalizing her resume/activity list before tackling her first essay draft. We will devote next Sunday to reviewing initial essay drafts and finalizing a spreadsheet.
Staying on top of everything is gong to be a challenge. She received an email from the GC last week informing her of her NM semifinalist status and advising her of a mandatory meeting in the GC’s office to go over the finalist application, run through the process, etc. Unfortunately, she hadn’t been checking her emails and only opened it yesterday, after the meeting date. She’ll reschedule with him, but I told her she needs to check her email every day, since college-related activities are accelerating.</p>
<p>fogfog, my recollection is that I drove to college by myself (I didn’t have much in the way of possessions but I did have my own car, an 11 year old Citroen) and am told that I didn’t call home until the phone was installed in our room 6 weeks later. </p>
<p>ShawD went off to school today as they don’t believe Labor Day is a holiday. Last night, she emailed 3 teachers asking if they would be willing to meet to consider writing her recommendation. Two responded enthusiastically before 8:30 AM but she’s still waiting for her math teacher, whom she adored. He’s a very tough grader and she did very well in his classes. She now finishes her days with 3 1/2 hours of modern dance before dinner and homework. She’ll have to do a little grammar prep because she’s taking the ACTs on Saturday and grammar was her only weak area.</p>
<p>@renaissancemom: there is no specific form for extracurricular recommendations. She could simply write a letter and explain that she is doing so because she felt your son is so exemplary or whatever, not because he in any way asked her, and then send it directly to the admissions offices at the schools to which he is applying. True, some schools specifically state that they do not want extra material to read, but she initiated the effort, not him.</p>
<p>Have you read your student’s essays/drafts?</p>
<p>Is his/her “voice” coming through?</p>
<p>Shawbridge^^
Wow that is a story–Imagine now not calling home for 6 weeks!
When our student has travelled…we have asked for a text or call between transitions–
like…“At the gate for flt”, “found my ground-shuttle, ttyl” so we kind of know where our student is in route.</p>
<p>When I would drive back and forth to college myself–sometimes I would do the trip in one day–it was between 12-14 hrs depending on traffic , speed etc…and my folks would ask me to call when I get there so they knew I arrived ok.</p>
<p>When my spouse was a teen, dear spouse ad a couple of friends took a road trip to go camping/hiking–they went 4 states away–alone, at the age of 16. I have not clue what my inlaws were thinking!</p>
<p>fogfog, it seems hard to believe now. We obviously had no cell phones. I was only an hour or so away from home but I must have wanted to get away. I do know that I was very nervous about being there – two of my three roommates were HS valedictorians and I was afraid that I wasn’t up to things academically. So, in the first 6 weeks, I did 12 weeks of homework in freshman physics, calculus, statistics, and did the reading/writing for the required freshman literature course. (There probably was one more course, possibly metaphysics). I worked incredibly hard during this period. By the end of six weeks, I was getting A’s on every weekly quiz and problem set and and an A- or A on the first lit paper, so I developed some confidence that I could succeed at the school (and indeed was getting better grades than my roommates, which made one of the valedictorians mad at me). At that point, I surfaced for air and, by then, the phone company had installed the room phone (remember those), so I called home. Up until that point, I probably had met every expectation my parents had for me [was a good student, gotten into Ivies, developed skill/expertise in the the religious practice that they wanted for their kids, had summer jobs as a programmer in HS, no bad incidents in HS, …]. So, not calling home probably was the first thing that didn’t meet their expectations.</p>
<p>^ Well Shaw–I dont think it didnt meet expectations to call–especially since unless you had a room phone–
Was there was the hall phone (did your hall have one)–do you remember when the dorms only had one phone on the hall?
I know we had a room phone–and a PIN to dial and bill the calls. My parents gave me my dad’s calling card # to make calls instead.</p>
<p>You sound like you were super responsible–and got off to a great start. </p>
<p>Hope we can say that about our students 15 mos from now :rolleyes:</p>
<p>Very excited as D is just about done with the common app and supplements and will most likely be completed before school starts on Friday!!! Yay!!! I am shocked! Just drove down with her to tour Elizabethtown College. We stopped inHershey and pigged out on chocolate.</p>