<p>Congrats on the EA acceptance for your Son, Calreader! Is he planning on finishing the last two apps??</p>
<p>Thanks. He is absolutely finishing the last two apps - both are schools he is very interested in. It’s just all taking much, much longer than I expected. Longer than he expected too, I know. Good luck to your daughter and her 5+ applications!</p>
<p>camathmom- My S has already heard from 3, and will hear from 2 more this week but he is still obligated to finish those last two apps. I asked him yesterday to get them finished TODAY. His reply, “why the big rush?” arrgghhhh They will get done today, both at 1/1 deadlines.</p>
<p>Count us in among the “not yet done”. I think I’ve been quiet about it as of late because I’m tired of complaining. He has submitted two more in the past week and has two more to go. Plus some scholarship applications…one is due 1/1 and a couple are due 1/15. I know he is tired of working on them and I am tired of nagging. His goal is to have them all done before he returns to school on Monday, but I know he also has homework to do before then, too. It’s been a really slow process here. And this isn’t even my procrastinator. Only one EA that he’ll hear from by Feb., so we’re in for a long wait after these are done. Looking on the bright side, the longer it takes to get the applications in, the shorter the wait until April decisions!</p>
<p>Congrats to Novelisto and Calreader on the recent acceptances! </p>
<p>Nothing to report here. S has been done with his apps for awhile; he wanted to finish them all before he would hear from his EA school. He was enjoying his winter break, but now started looking into local summer internships. </p>
<p>10yo D has learned that she qualifies for CTY summer camp and is very excited to go there. I need to find a second job……</p>
<p>Congrats to Novelisto and Calreader on the good news.</p>
<p>We are done here, thanks to the ED acceptance, but I spoke to a neighbor yesterday whose son still has to finish his common ap essay and 5 supplements. I passed on the advice about not waiting until the last minute to submit the common ap applications.</p>
<p>For those of you whose kids are cutting things close, you might want to check the individual school websites to verify the deadlines. I noticed that BU has extended their deadline to January 3rd.</p>
<p>Well I took a few days off from complaining! :)</p>
<p>Things came to head yesterday when he finally pushed me over the edge. I meant everything I said-but I do regret the delivery of the message. </p>
<p>He got it though-and the last two apps were submitted last night. DONE!</p>
<p>He already has four acceptances but the schools he wants to go to will be a long wait. I did review with him “the list” and noted that he did not have a financial safety school he would be happy at-and I told him the reason for that was him. He understands this and we did have a nice chat this morning. He accepts what I told him is accurate-he doesn’t know why he made this so much harder than it needed to be but the bottom line is we are done with the apps and can’t really do much else until all the acceptances/rejections are in and the merit offers are received. </p>
<p>He has also been very laid back this week with a lot of hanging around home and playing with his little sister of all things-Wii, watching their favorite reality TV shows, playing with the dog, etc. He cleaned all the snow for us yesterday without even being asked. He definitely needed this break like I am sure so many kids did. </p>
<p>Now he can focus on his classwork and his social life. </p>
<p>I think we have escaped so far with our relationship intact-I hope.</p>
<p>It’s only Tuesday. 
There is almost a week left of the break. Way enough time for S to finish any apps he wants to get in. He has 4 acceptances, major merit- so he could be finished as far as I am concerned. But, he wants to make sure.
We are getting a little stir crazy here. Our town was entirely closed yesterday, so we were all in all day. I am tired of the dogs coming in all caked with snow and dripping all over my newly finished floors, ugh. I am following them around with towels. All we do is wash towels and dishes.<br>
Planning an outing today before older D heads back West. She is not taking her dog with her 
as she is planning on moving in a couple of weeks.
All in all a great holiday break.</p>
<p>I was vexed last week when I learned that S was planning to finish the last two applications when he returns from his trip, since they are due Jan. 15. He has drafts of both supplements, so why not just finish and send them? I thought the trip would be more enjoyable without those hanging over his head. But yet again, I practiced letting go - it seems like that lesson is constantly being offered at our house these days, maybe because we keep not learning it well enough the first time :-). I now think it will be fine to finish those supplements later, as long as it’s several days before the deadline.</p>
<p>D still has one app to finish…I have told her not to wait until the last minute but ::Sigh:: I really don’t want to have the conversation that we’ve had a million times since she was six. How long, O Lord, how long? I should have just recorded it for play-back at some point. </p>
<p>I will cut her a little slack as she is not feeling very well but the world will not share that compassion.</p>
<p>D was very insistent that she had to be done with the apps before xmas. Worked for me! She sat up a couple of nights till midnight or later, working on them and finished them up on the 23rd. Since then, she’s been relaxing!! Singing disney songs on the Wii, playing games on the computer, catching up on old House episodes - just enjoying herself now that the apps are done. Works for me!!</p>
<p>Have asked her to put in some work this week on the scholarship apps - she has three or four that are due mid-Jan. She says she will get around to them - I truly don’t feel up to nagging her about these right now.</p>
<p>She did say though that she is only one of two or three girls in her group at school who are done with apps. Several of her friends have to still finish the common app essay and several others have multiple supplements to go. She actually thanked me for pushing her to finish the first app back in October - said it helped her get a head-start on all this and that she is so happy to be done right now. Woo-hoo - this girl did listen :)</p>
<p>What strategies are you folks using(or planning to use!) to narrow down the list? She currently has no clear favorite in all her schools. She is in at her 3 EA schools, waiting for the RD decisions. I have been asking her to do a bit more extensive research on the schools, make a spreadsheet of pros/cons for each school so she has a better idea of her preferences.</p>
<p>arisamp, could we trade kids for awhile? Pretty please? </p>
<p>My kid, the social butterfly, has flown constantly this break. And now there is a new girlfriend on the scene who sadly is a junior so has no apps of her own to deal with, but instead would love to be with him constantly. FA is the deciding factor for us so I would like him to get at a minimum five more apps done plus there are two looming scholarship deadlines. He has an EA acceptance he is thrilled with, but we won’t know the FA till spring. I think having that in his pocket has removed the urgency for him. He has no idea how much work the other apps will be be. </p>
<p>So far as deciding among acceptances, with my oldest the FA packages narrowed down his choices quickly. He then visited the top three and picked based on campus feel, reputations about the traits of the schools, strength in his prospective major, and acceptance into a special program for freshmen at one of his schools.</p>
<p>Thank you all who chimed in that app stress is still alive and well at your homes. It was nice to feel that I am not alone! Misery loves company and all that.</p>
<p>…Yet another day of working on apps around her. Hoping that by the end of the day there will only be 3 more supplements for D to finalize — one of which is a biggie, and they are ALL due by January 1st. No stress here!!!</p>
<p>Except for this horrible situation, D is really not a procrastinator, so I’ve been thinking about why she couldn’t get going earlier. Although of course she was busy with ECs and keeping high grades, I think that is has something to do with either a fear of going to college or a fear of rejection. I think she suffered from a form of emotional paralysis. Anyone else see this with their kids?</p>
<p>I wondered about that, and we talked about it. But I think what was really going on at our house was just a big underestimate of how long it really takes to write good prose and say what you want to say. Writing is thinking, and it’s easy to forget that.</p>
<p>Not done in our house, either. D2 is a procrastinator (inherited from me), but deep down I know she’ll get it done, so I am vowing to say nothing for the next 48 hours. She submitted 4 of her 6, got into one of those EA, and just has to write a couple of supplements for #5, which is due by Jan. 1, although she wants to hit “submit” by the 30th to be safe. The final one isn’t due until February, and needs no supplements, so she’s just waiting for her first-semester grades in January to submit that one, since her grades this semester are her best ever.</p>
<p>It does take pressure off them in a good way when they get that first “You’re in!” but makes it hard to finish up the stragglers! Plus she still has a fair amount of homework to get to by Monday… she hasn’t even started that.</p>
<p>I am having an issue with the amount of time sitting on the sofa, watching bad reality TV, being on Facebook and not getting enough exercise. She has worked really hard this fall, though, so I know she’s entitled to some laziness. This spring will be intense…</p>
<p>Happy new year to you all!</p>
<p>Has anyone used the services of a paid consultant to help in filling out the financial aid packages? We’re applying to nine schools, and each has its own requirements. If you have used someone, please let me know who and if you would recommend them. I have asked our accounting firm, but thought there might be someone out there who specializes in this part of the process. Our situation is somewhat atypical, and I want to be sure we explain it properly.</p>
<p>Congratulations to everyone who is done with their applications - hopefully, we’ll be there shortly.</p>
<p>With my S I noticed that even when he had the applications done, he was reluctant to push the submit button. I think it’s fear of being evaluated by a stranger and making sure to put the best foot forward – kwim?</p>
<p>As far as narrowing down the list – S has one EA acceptance and is waiting for 8 more decisions in March-April. I hope some of them will be rejections (seriously). That will help with the decision. And depending on the list of the acceptances, I am sure he will visit some of them either for the first time or now as an accepted student. But right now, with only one acceptance we don’t have to choose anything yet. He is very happy with his EA school and in his mind he has made the decision already, but those RD decisions might throw him off the balance.</p>
<p>camathmom my S is a procrastinator but he usually has a good attitude-there was definitely more going on here than procrastination. He is so ready to go to college I don’t think it’s that, and he already knows by the schools he has selected there is going to be rejection so I don’t think it’s that-I really don’t know what it is and he can’t really explain it either other than to admit this morning he did bring a huge attitude into this process. When we talked about it before he voiced the feeling of being overwhelmed by the number of choices. He also was undecided on major and that I know bothered him. We also have financial constraints even though FAFSA and CSS tells us we can afford alot more than we know we can so he couldn’t just shop anywhere-I know that made it frustrating for him to find a school he liked but we couldn’t pursue it unless they offered merit aid.</p>
<p>Deciding factors are money-it’s that simple. He does have a favorite school and if they come back with first an acceptance and then a good merit aid award-and it would have to be really good-he’ll go there. It’s a great school and I think a great fit. If they don’t though he’ll have to go somewhere else and he’ll make it work-and he accepts that.</p>
<p>Good luck to all of those completing the apps. I will very likely be with the procrastinators group in five years when it is S’s turn 
Different kids, different strokes!</p>
<p>And definitely, definitely agree with the comment earlier on about writing not being easy and having to think! D thought the supplements would be a piece of cake after having written her common app essay and was shocked to find out the amount of work each one was. I think I’ve mentioned this before, but it was very frustrating for her to put in the thought, do the research, write a good answer to a supplemental question and then find out the supplement has a word/character limit! Good grief - she then had to spend time editing her answers, cutting out words/sentences that she had spent valuable time writing! So, do take a look at the supplement online and make a note of any limitations before you start. Note that in some cases, the app will allow you to upload files - the word/character limit is less important in these cases. In others, she couldn’t enter the text in the fields if it was above the word/character limit and those were very frustrating.</p>
<p>researching4emb - I do have an issue with the amount of time spent lazing around, on facebook etc - but I think these kids have all pushed themselves to the limit over the past few weeks and deserve a good break. D has been sleeping well the past week - something she desperately needed.</p>
<p>Four apps done and submitted, 2 to go. D has been in deep relaxation mode during break. She hates to be nagged, but summer job, scholarship and honor program apps need to be done too. I’m afraid to even mention writing xmas gift thank you notes.</p>