<p>Ugghh…where is our mailman/person…whoever! Not that we will get anything, but there is always hope…lol.</p>
<p>Congrats above me!</p>
<p>Congrats on all the positive news of the weekend. Apps sent, acceptances received and dollar signs dancing. Woot, woot! You guys have me thinking about whether or not my S’s 5 EA schools received all the required info. Two have told us they have. We have heard nothing from the other three. I think I will take your advice and have my S contact them today when he gets home from school.</p>
<p>My husband and I had an interesting discussion with our S on Saturday. His 4,000 word Extended Essay required for his IB diploma (that was supposed to BE DONE over the summer) is dragging on and on and he uses it as an excuse for not doing other things. He also has a Fin Aid app to do that is not getting done as quickly as it should. </p>
<p>Reluctantly we allowed him to go out with his friends Fri night and Sat AM he didn’t get up until 10:30. By the time we had lunch on Sat, nothing had been started. Hubby and I had a chat with him about priorities, finding time to do things and getting the pressure monkeys off his back. We explained that if had done school or college work on Friday (instead of hanging out at the mall) or if he had gotten up at 8AM instead of after 10AM, he would have found 7 more hours to get stuff done. The FA app and probably the two remaining CAs could have been finished then he would not have that pressure on him. Yes he still would have work to do every weekend such as homework and scholarship apps, but the level of pressure involved with that stuff would be minimal.</p>
<p>Lo and behold, DS stayed in Sat night, got up at 7AM on Sunday, finished the FA app, finally finished the first draft of his EE (I wish it was totally done already) and did a bunch of other stuff we had asked him to do. The reason - he had something to do with his friends in the afternoon. We let him go because he learned the lesson of making the time to do the work that needed to be done. Let’s just hope he remembers it.</p>
<p>My diet officially started today - 5 small meals a day plus tons of water totaling <1400 calories. I scheduled out the whole week. Hubby & I went food shopping to get all the healthy food. I don’t think I’ve lost any weight yet but I’m sure peeing a lot!</p>
<p>holliesue: what great news!!! and before Thanksgiving…congrats and mazel tov to you and your daughter!!</p>
<p>Haven’t been on this board for awhile. Senior year has been crazy. D’s HS competition cheer career is now over, it ended Friday. Football team is still going in playoffs so that’s a good thing. We could not have handled ending 2 things in one week.
On the college front, we have 2 more acceptances in hand. 1 is an in-state safety which I am hoping comes with lots of merit money but no word on that part yet.</p>
<p>Congrats to all with acceptances in hand! And a special woo hoo for the merit scholarships!
LOVE THAT!</p>
<p>Olderwisermom: We are flooded with propaganda here, both snail mail and email. Today a rather official-looking envelope arrived from the University of Chicago, which he has expressed no interest in. S2 tossed it directly in the trash. I asked, “Aren’t you even going to open it? Maybe they offered you a full ride!” He: “Nope. They all just want to tell me how wonderful they are. My list is done. Everything goes straight to the trash from now on.” Okay! Are these schools really picking up enough interest at this stage of the game to warrant the money they’re spending to send this stuff out? I understand the emails are free, but the snail mail?</p>
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<p>Wow, that’s very different from here. The school cheer comp season doesn’t start here until December, with nationals in February. The all -star season started last week. It must be hard to have the cheer competition season running concurrently with football.</p>
<p>Congratulations everyone – I love hearing all your good news!! It’s such fun. </p>
<p>Shawbridge – how neat, your daughter will have 2 wonderful experiences intertwined: college and living in another country.</p>
<p>FlMathMom, I’m closely following your diet storyline as I think I’ve got about the same amount to lose. You are going to be my inspiration.</p>
<p>And finally, it’s unbelievable how many various snafus our contingent has experienced. It certainly reveals the extent to which things in this process can get screwed up.</p>
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<p>That is why waiting until the last minute is such a bad idea. I really feel for the ED applicants who truly only apply to one school, then find out in December that they need to apply to other schools.</p>
<p>My worry precisely, missypie, as DS refuses to work on any other apps pending his ED decision. Common app done, of course, but none of the supplements to the 8 other schools - and all complex/different, etc. Am hoping that he will revisit this decision once he gets some rest over Thanksgiving. Otherwise, his winter break will not be a break at all!</p>
<p>Mamom, what you want, ideally, is a vessel with a spout…like a teapot. This allows you to direct the steam to just the sealed rim of the envelope (rather than risking soaking the entire envelope and contents. You hold just the sealed portion directly over the steaming spout while continually checking for “loosening.” Once you feel a little give, you may be able to gently coax the thing open.</p>
<p>Now the hard part is done. Next, read the contents, utter appropriate exclamations of joy or woe, and then quickly re-dry the “sealing flap” of the envelope (a hairdryer can help with this).</p>
<p>Now, as amandak said, a quick swipe with a glue stick, and you’re back in business.</p>
<p>If the envelope looks at all tampered with, you might mutter over dinner, “Hmm, did we get some rain today? My magazine came out of the mailbox a little damp.” (Of course you can’t use this more than once…or they’ll be on to you.)</p>
<p>Good luck! Let us know!!! :)</p>
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<p>I can totally understand the reasoning, but it’s much scarier since things are on-line. We pay for virus protection and keep it updated, but notwithstanding that, our computer got a virus that totally ruined it. Fortunately it was over the summer; we picked out a new computer and paid the Geek Squad to transfer the info from our old to our new. Just an invonvenience that left us without for a few days. BUT, what if that had happened right before an important app deadline?</p>
<p>Ohiomom, my D has the same reaction as your son to the continuing onslaught of snail and email.</p>
<p>She pitches it, saying, “We used a very good, thorough process, starting over a year ago. We built a long list, did research, visits, interviews, pared the list down to the top 6…and I feel I have an excellent assortment of great schools to choose from. Now is not the time to start re-building the list.”</p>
<p>And I agree with her completely. So all this stuff hits the recycle bin. We don’t even look at it.</p>
<p>momofsongbird - Welcome! I’m glad someone has come over to the dark side, it was so lonely over here!! 
And in case the teapot doesn’t work, the iron on steam setting is quite nice too. You know our mailman smokes these great big cigars, eats his lunch while delivering…I’m lucky my mail doesn’t come covered in deli mustard so a little wetness? That’s nothin.</p>
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<p>My very favorite ads are the schools whose names scroll on the Common App website. I guess they think that the applicant will just add a few schools on impulse, since they already take the Common App.</p>
<p>D called her ED school today (Swarthmore) and they said they do indeed have all of her admissions materials! Hooray! I mailed the financial aid stuff today, which is due sometime “late November.” She tried to call her EA school (Chapman) and their admissions office did not answer the phone. Haven’t heard any more about that.</p>
<p>OWM- Yes, D gets all kinds of unsolicited mail, email and phone calls from schools that she hasn’t ever expressed any interest in and wouldn’t even consider going to. A few schools pester her with emails nearly every day. “How come we haven’t heard from you?” “We’re disappointed we haven’t received an application from you.” “We’re extending our deadline for you.” etc.</p>
<p>MOSB- Your description obviously has quite a bit of thought (and practice?). It had me laughing as I made tortellini tonight and the steam rose…I wish I had something to practice on. I prefer the time tested technique of e’snooping… ;)</p>
<p>missypie, for quick 'n dirty backup, have your D just email herself copies of her essays. </p>
<p>Lots of good news, and good news with merit money is even better! </p>
<p>D1 has next week off. She’s going to use it to finish up any other supplements and essays and fiddly bits so apps are ready to go on Dec 15 if she hears “no” from her ED school. Making things even more fun, it looks like she’ll need to have her wisdom teeth extracted. She still needs to consult with the dental surgeon, but her dentist is saying she should have it done ASAP. We initially figured that winter break would be a good time, but I’m thinking that would be a very bad idea if it comes on top of bad ED news.</p>
<p>Oooh, oral surgery on top of possible ED rejection. Yeah, that would hurt. Or maybe the pain meds would take her mind off it (kidding). There’s never an ideal time to have your wisdom teeth out, IMO! Hopefully it will not be a difficult case.</p>
<p>My D is getting her other apps ready in case her ED doesn’t work out, too. She’s not very motivated, though. Most of the essays are done, except for some short answers and a “Why X school?” essay yet to write. It’s hard to write a compelling essay for why you want to go to a school that is not your first choice. I have confidence that she’ll get it done, though, and do a good job. Just have to keep the duct tape firmly in place so I don’t nag too much!</p>
<p>Oregonianmom, I’m experiencing the same thing w/ my son. He now has 5 apps out, including his ED, and there are plenty more on his list but his motivation is ebbing. To be fair, he’s studying about 5 hours a night and throughout the weekend. He’s taking one course – Advanced Comp Sci, a ton of work – over the mandatory load and he’s auditing a Spanish V seminar for which he does all the reading but none of the assessments. He’s on complete overload. His dean and we tried to talk him out of this schedule b/c we knew he’d be up to his eyeballs in college essays, but he wouldn’t listen. My husband told him he has always had ‘big eyes.’ Ain’t it the truth.
I. can’t. wait. until these apps are done!!!</p>
<p>@missypie…too many kids here cheer all-star so there is no way HS comp cheer could run concurrently with all-star season. I have one D who does all-star so I went from HS comp season straight into all-star season. Is the Nationals in Feb you were referring to the big Cheersport comp in Atlanta?</p>