<p>Love the tips on reading mail from the schools! We will not be getting any mail soon. Although the EA schools with Nov 1 and 15 deadlines have been submitted, the two RA are still on S’s laptop. So I am not scanning the mail til mid Dec at the earliest. Then I will be sitting on the front porch waiting patiently (haha) for S to come home. </p>
<p>Dropped S off at Bryant U. today for an honors overnight. He got an invite to it, had to read a book and be prepared for some kind of writing assingment/discussion Wed. After I dropped him off, he sent me a txt msg " I have a feeling this will be the awkwardest time of my life." He hates going outside his comfort zone. The boy currently attending Bryant he was matched up with is like him (ie-athletic, good looking, nice kid - OK a little prejudice here!) so he should be comfortable staying with him. I give him credit, he went on the overnight with no complaints. 10yo D OTOH would be planning all kinds of things if this was her opportunity. She would have a rolling suitcase filled with stuff. S mentioned as we walked to the admissions office that walking through the campus with a sleeping bag and pillow were probably the first part of the hazing ritual he was to undergo. He asked if he could just go without and sleep on the floor in his clothes. No!</p>
<p>Regarding Rice - Great School. Texas A&M. Couldn’t interest my S in either. Or Vandy. I would have loved to have him in Nashville. He is a New Englander and home body all the way. He is applying to 3 VA schools, which he really liked for the academics, “if only they didn’t look like they were in the south.” Where does this come from? But he did say that he would attend W&L if he got accepted, it was just too good a school to turn down, even with it being in VA. 10yo D will probably thmb her way across China when she is 18. S loves home. How did I raise such different kids?</p>
<p>You guys are so fun to share this journey with! Thanks for your congrats.</p>
<p>Calreader, we learned of Ripon when we first put together “The List.” My D had several key criteria: within 4-hr drive, small LAC, strong academics and decent-to-very-good music dept. I went through Princeton Review’s Best 370 and Fiske’s and compiled a list of all schools that hit those targets; Ripon was one of them. It stayed on the list after the first few “weeding out” passes, and was on the shorter list of schools we visited and she interviewed at.</p>
<p>Higgins, enjoy your visit! My D loved the warm, close-knit, friendly community that was immediately apparent on campus. We’re also impressed with their track record for getting kids into grad school, particularly in the sciences, but overall as well. Feel free to pm me if you have specific questions.</p>
<p>FLMathmom, glad to hear the trip to Rice went so well. I consistently hear what a great school it is.</p>
<p>RenaissanceMom, you get a prize for coming up with “Our Song” on this thread: Anticipation - perfect! Your virtual prize is a very mellow bottle of cabernet, which you should uncork some evening and enjoy while re-visiting Carly’s Greatest Hits. Those songs will really take you back! </p>
<p>Kajon, glad you had such a nice visit with S1. Sounds like he’s doing terrific!</p>
<p>Lawrence is another of the 6 schools songbird has applied to. The conservatory admissions are pretty competitive, especially for vocal sopranos, so that school is our “wild-card.” It all hinges on the audition, which will be on Jan 22.</p>
<p>Side note on how astute our kids can be…songbird told me I definitely could have gone ahead and opened the envelope, she wouldn’t have minded a bit. I said, “Well, I felt it was your news and I didn’t want to take that moment away from you.” Her reply: You probably feel that way because when you were a teenager, Grandma didn’t always respect your boundaries, so you would have resented her opening your mail and felt it was intrusive. But our relationship isn’t like that, and I don’t feel that way at all.</p>
<p>MSB, this is a beautiful testimony to your relationship!</p>
<p>Morning All–
A little bleary eyed from being up late over the last night or so…odds and ends etc</p>
<p>Funny one here—
Our student and I are Facebk friends–though I had said it’s ok to unfriend me if it seemed “weird”…Our kid has no prob with it–figures if others have an issue that an adult can see what they are doing/write–then They shouldn’t be doing/writing it…(ha ha) Kids got a point–though I am not one to tell any parent what their kid is up to…</p>
<p>So…
Our student has some Big college news–and decided to put it something on Fcebk and called to me from the other room–"Mom, I just put it on my status… please do NOT LIKE it right away–give it a day… hahahaha I so wanted to write LIKE LIKE LIKE in big caps !!!
So blessed to have such a great great kid!</p>
<p>fogfog - I am assuming that the big college news are good news. Congratulations to you and your kid!</p>
<p>I think my S would be ok with me opening his fat envelope before he does, I should ask him about that. We are not expecting anything for another 45 days or so. But I think I will prefer to wait for him to do that. We’ll see.</p>
<p>Mamom-Bryant in Smithfield, RI? If so your S is minutes from my house-very cool!</p>
<p>FLMath thanks for the link.</p>
<p>College visits yesterday in Boston-Northeastern and Harvard. He liked Northeastern as did we-very interested in the co-op program and I think he would get good Merit Aid. Harvard well he is in love! Heck, I would like to apply there too after that tour. :)</p>
<p>Well at least the visits served as inspiration for him to get moving on his apps-and now he knows his essay topic so that will get written.</p>
<p>I do accept his working style as someone posted though it is very tough living with procrastinators-he has a great working partner with his Dad-although now that he is ready to get working I wonder if he’ll try and rehire me?</p>
<p>Ds got his first accept (unbeknownst to him since he doesn’t have a clue about online tracking) today to his state/financial safety Rutgers. Unfortunately it is his school of last resort because we just hated the info session/tour. My niece is there now so we hv more than that to go on, and it is just his last choice. But it is a choice and that is good. Now I have to keep my mouth shut until some sort of mailing arrives. Took them only 2 wks to post decision so that is nice.</p>
<p>Congrats Amandakayak! I remember when S1 got his first acceptance letter – my husband and I danced around the kitchen…eyeroll from son. We were so excited that he was going somewhere! In the end, it was his least favorite, but we were happy at the time to know that he was in! Now if I could just get S2 to submit something…somewhere…</p>
<p>MOSB, that was beautiful! Congrats on that.</p>
<p>And AmandaK, congrats on the acceptance. Woohoo! </p>
<p>And now I have to ask, do you kayak? I bought one for myself for my 50th and now we have 4, one for each member of the family. We love it, its a great family activity but I am afraid we don’t go very often as we don’t live very near water and we are so busy.</p>
<p>My impression as a Northeasterner is that Houston has really become more cosmopolitan and diverse than most US cities because of the oil industry. Lots of non-US folk living there. Great art scene. I’ve heard good things about Rice but don’t know it. Based upon what I’ve read, I wouldn’t be reluctant to send my kids there (though neither will be going).</p>
<p>Vandy is a different story. Good faculty, but what I hear still suggests a really Southern style school from a social standpoint. Sororities with girls who spend hours getting incredibly dressed up (by NE standards) for school days (heels, designer clothes and purses) and frats are a big part of life. While sororities and frats aren’t inherently bad things (they seem to generally work OK at MIT and Penn and University of Rochester), my impression is that when they dominate the school social scene, it is detrimental to an intellectually-oriented culture. An acquaintance’s son attends Vandy – decent but not sensational student and not in any of ShawSon’s honors/AP classes – because he wanted a big school with a football program (doesn’t play football). Based upon my occasional visits, the city has not zoomed up the cosmopolitan-ness scale like Houston. [The music scene is pretty cosmopolitan, I hear]. My personal preference is for a school that puts academics and learning/intellectual inquiry front and center. I don’t get the sense from what I’ve read and heard that Vandy is that way, even though it gets good students. So, without a visit that convinced me otherwise, I’d be reluctant to send either kid there (no issue since neither expressed an interest). Your preferences about what makes a good school may be different and my inferences from reading/talking my not be correct, so my preferences should not be interpreted as a knock on your views.</p>
<p>mosb, amandakayak - congratulations on the acceptances. </p>
<p>I took the day off yesterday and boy, had a lot to catch up on today. Had to laugh about the different opinions on opening envelopes! D got accepted last week - I checked online. Asked her - she said she didn’t care that I checked. They said to expect the letter in a week - she was checking the mail each and every day!! This is the kid who can’t be bothered to bring in the mail otherwise! The letter finally did come on Monday and in her hurry, she did tear open the envelope (and the letter!!). Fortunately, she should be home earlier than me most days - so she can have the joy of opening the envelopes when they come in! And I don’t have to worry about the temptation!!</p>
<p>Rice is also a school on D’s list - currently not sure if it makes the final cut. She hasn’t been to visit it - so all opinions/visit information here is very useful. She is trying to meet with an alumni sometime this week for an interview.</p>
<p>Visited Clark U in Worcester, MA. A safety for D - felt a little too small. The campus can be walked corner to corner in less than 10 mins. But she liked the general vibe of the campus and so will probably apply - at least to have a safety school close to home.</p>
<p>MOSB, loved your story. your daughter sounds lovely. AmandaK, congrats. although it’s his safety, it’s still a relief to bag one acceptance early.</p>
<p>shawbridge, I have question for you. My S’s original criteria for schools was that the frat culture not be front and center b/c he is looking for an intellectual vibe; he’s an independent type w/ no interest in joining a frat. Not sure what you know of Dartmouth, but I was surprised that he liked it after visiting and learning that circa 60% of the student body is involved w/ the frat/sorority scene. I know what impressed him was the faculty/research/course depth in the sciences and the facilities and beauty of the location. So the query: how would you characterize Dartmouth?</p>
<p>LeftofPisa - yes, we have 4 kayaks, my baby is the 14 ft seakayak - the serious one, not the namby-pamby kid versions. Someday we will live near water, any water and I will be ready. For now, we take vacations where I can take off and enjoy the absolute quiet, in the lowcountry marshes in SC or the isolated lake areas in the adirondacks. There is something very magical about gliding along without making much of a sound or ripple, alot like my other pastime, figure skating but less risk.</p>
<p>Shaw - S won’t even consider the south. Not sure why he just won’t. We stayed in Nashville 2 years ago and I loved it. Haven’t been to Rice or Houston in many, many years. I guess the fact that he didn’t want a big geographical part of the country considered did help us narrow down the list! BTW- he wouldn’t consider CA either, he is afraid of earthquakes!</p>