<p>I think we all need a break from college things…school things. We’ve been playing board games, playing our new Wii games, sleeping late, shoveling snow, making snowmen. It’s been nice and lazy. I should be bugging ds about Cornell app and I should be doing Profile…but it seems to easy to just “say no” today. Haven’t seen my one dd out of bed yet today, so maybe I will go ck her pulse. :)</p>
<p>Joining in to say S is also officially done with apps–but that is because he jettisoned one university that wasn’t a likely merit provider and not a great fit–although a great school overall. BTW, his GC warns students <em>not</em> to drop any schools from their list over winter break due to fatigue and crankiness (heh) because most teens will tend to drop their not-loved safeties when they run out of steam. All that good planning to make a balanced list can go out the window with last minute drops. But S2 figures this particular school is not anyone’s safety so off it went. Relief! </p>
<p>Like arisamp (whom I believe is secretly my east coast twin), S2 is finished submitting applications (sorry I keep repeating that–but it feels so good!) but of course he still has 4 special supplements/scholarship packages to complete. So not done yet. And then he’s got about 4 portfolio review/interviews coming up as well. This will never end. I’m convinced. :)</p>
<p>And, arisamp–I thought our kids each had the same 2 ea admits. Did your D sneak out and get a third? Congratulations!!</p>
<p>Calreader–I loved your line: writing is thinking. Amen!! Now S2 must write a 5 page (not kidding) essay for one of his college special program apps. And this boy is tired of thinking!! LOL.</p>
<p>I’m thinking of the Monty Python skit with Dr. Gumby: “My brain hurts!” “It will have to come out.” “Only bits of it!”</p>
<p>It seems the general mood this week is rest and relaxation! They really do need it and so do we (at least I know I do.). I read about the kids on this thread and I am so impressed with how hard they work and how focused they are. My S , like many kids here, is usually so good that when he gets out of line even slightly it’s cause for general alarm around here. If I was held to the standards we expect from him around here I would be shown the door.</p>
<p>He has left the house for the first time since Christmas to meet a friend for dinner and then to practice at the church event he got roped into again this year-it was supposed to be a one shot deal but this is practice 3 of 4 for his narration with the event actually taking place Sunday. He just couldn’t say no-believe me he wanted to-but he did it.</p>
<p>I can’t believe this is the kid I was ready to disown yesterday.</p>
<p>Ah madbean - yes, D did sneak out for a third 
Actually, it was one I insisted on - Clark U - close to home. Although I believe it is not under serious consideration, I wanted something closer to home as a fallback option!</p>
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<p>Interestingly enough, D worked her list the opposite way. Finished off all her safeties first - and then attacked the others. So, if any of the last ones did drop off, it would have been her reaches. Fortunately, she didn’t have to drop any - she actually added another reach at H’s request at the very end.</p>
<p>Pepper - I’ve had several occasions when I’ve wanted to disown my kids - can relate. They are charming one day and incredibly frustrating the next!! However, this process hasn’t been too bad for D and me (H has been working out of town for the past few months and I think that has really helped in this case).</p>
<p>I think H working out of town would not have been a bad thing-the process did hit a speed bump when he got more involved.</p>
<p>My S also worked on safeties first and then reaches-except the super-reach which he got done by 12/1. We are fortunate that he is a good writer. The supplemental questions he answered yesterday in one shot-with me proofreading once and they were done. That is not a usual situation but that is his strong point.</p>
<p>He also finally decided what he wants to major in and sent in the last two apps with the major declared. He got a pretty sketchy SAT Subject test score in it (Chemistry) but I do believe that is only because he just got started in Chem last year-he is a bit late to the game but he genuinely loves it. He has been blessed with three incredible teachers in high school and this Chem teacher who had him for 1 and now 2 is just tremendous-she even told him not to take the SAT in it because he wasn’t ready but by the end of the year would be. He was a year behind his classmates in doubling up on the sciences due to band. I guess though you figure things out when you figure them out. He is a definite late bloomer for this-I would have bet my life on it if you asked me two years ago he would never take a science class in college let alone want to major in it. Good thing I didn’t make that bet. :)</p>
<p>So I have a son who wants to be a writing Chemist-think of the creative possibilities!</p>
<p>My S finished his final 2 apps a few days ago. The whole aura of the house changed after that. He still has loads of stuff to do, but nothing with that level of stress. Each day we try to balance fun time and work time so everyone is happy.</p>
<p>3257 - Do your schools require more than the FAFSA & the CSS Profile? They really are not that hard, just time consuming once you get your taxes done. There are web sites that explain everything in detail. They both reference to lines on your tax return.</p>
<p>Not hard for CPA’s. :)</p>
<p>We used a paid consultant for our first. I doubt we will use one for our second. Our first only applied to FAFSA schools. In our case it was worth it atypical situation and we really did not understand how the system worked. The primary benefits were that it forced us to get our financial information put together early most was gathered up in October and the firm helped us with the letters that we had to write to explain our situation to the schools where we requested financial assistance. The place we used was a local accounting firm that had developed a niche business in college planning and we heard about them through the high school. The cost was a few hundred dollars for the work.</p>
<p>Having said all that however, I will also admit that we could have gotten all of the same information from either the financial aid departments at the colleges or the call in support at FAFSA for free. We in fact did confirm all the key pieces with FAFSA before we filed.</p>
<p>S got one more acceptance with some merit today, a big safety. It is pretty far down on the list and the merit money offered wasn’t enough to move it up. Another school will report results online Wednesday @ 3pm. That school is in the top three. So far S is 4 for 4, but I am sure a rejection is lurking somewhere down the line. And to be honest a lot of his schools are safety/matches so he should see a lot of acceptances. </p>
<p>S worked on the final apps today and is pretty close to hitting submit. He actually asked us if he should do the optional essay, duh of course. He is another one who writes beautifully so why would you not take advantage of an opportunity to show it off? </p>
<p>He got a Kindle for xmas and has been reading late, late, late into the night. In hindsight, it might not have been a good gift for him at this point in time.</p>
<p>We do not qualify for FA although some of S’s schools require the FAFSA and Profile for merit. Our forms are straight ahead so we can work them out ourselves. I can see hiring someone for a few hundred dollars if it might save you thousands though.</p>
<p>So…</p>
<p>I got a letter - in a big envelope - from University of the Pacific. I have been accepted, Early Action! And it came with a $6500/year merit scholarship! :)</p>
<p>Though I checked the yearly tuition for that school after receiving the letter of admission, and the cost is just way too high.</p>
<p>Pepper03 : Wonderful to hear about your S’s late blooming interest in Chemistry. Don’t let the late start get to him. Kids do fine once they lock their passion onto a subject. BTW, there are a great series of basic Chemistry videos from MIT. This particular series is from Donald Sadoway a legendary MIT Chemist/Material scientist. While the course is on solid state chemistry, the first 10 lectures are a classic. Even Bill Gates has listened to these lectures and has publicly said that Sadoway is amongst the best. Here is the link to his lectures
[MIT</a> OpenCourseWare | Materials Science and Engineering | 3.091 Introduction to Solid State Chemistry, Fall 2004 | Home](<a href=“http://ocw.mit.edu/courses/materials-science-and-engineering/3-091-introduction-to-solid-state-chemistry-fall-2004/]MIT”>Introduction to Solid State Chemistry | Materials Science and Engineering | MIT OpenCourseWare)</p>
<p>Thanks dadmm85. He is excited about this-he only wishes he had been exposed to the subject a year earlier to have a better resume for college apps. I actually think it is OK though to discover something at any age that you love-I find new interests all the time at my advanced age. :)</p>
<p>mamom I hear you on the writing-why would they even ask if that is their strong point??</p>
<p>Will congrats on that acceptance-even though the cost is not what you can handle right now it’s still nice to hear you are wanted!</p>
<p>I was teasing FlMathMom about the forms because as CPA’s things that to us are just tedious and boring but doable can send others over the edge. I know many people who are very able to do their own taxes especially with the software out there but who just can’t deal with it. We will be finalizing and submitting the CSS today because some schools require it as noted for merit aid. It has been boring and time-consuming and many times I’ve had to slog through the instructions for clarification-and we have a pretty easy situation. </p>
<p>I would only caution to make sure people know what they are doing. Do not hire your accountant because they do your taxes-we were always getting people wanting us to help but refused since it wasn’t our area of expertise.</p>
<p>Go Will!! Nice to see a merit award too!! (Wish we had some of that here.) Today is detail work on the gingerbread house which is mainly constructed. Took a little speed bump around otherwise holiday hosting. Pepper - gosh I wish that chem love was in my son, beyond the dismal satii score, he WAS thinking biochemengineering until he took ap chem…maybe it is the teacher, but I doubt it. My dd is such a science person, doubling up early (only soph) and can’t wait for all the advanced chem she can get next yr. Does anyone else have this sitch: college housing deposit deadline 3 months before May 1 admissions dedadline? In micro mini print, at the end, after many “this constitutes a binding contract,” it says if you do not accept admittance, it may be refunded with written notice…AND I do mean fine print (the part most kids and a lot of adults might not read - like the car loan fine print). When one kid posted a question (who didn’t see this fine print) on the cc college’s forum, a snarky response was “Be this a lesson to you to read all the fine print, whether this is a job contract, an apartment lease, a loan.” ((Really? Are kids expected to be on the look out for “gotcha” print from a COLLEGE? Guess so!)) This is one college, that we haven’t visited (farthest away) and was just an option, perhaps if finaid was something… Now I’m thinking “no.”</p>
<p>More fun detail stuff to work through. ):</p>
<p>I have gotten the info on housing deposits but haven’t wanted to deal with that yet.</p>
<p>Thanks, everyone, for your input. I agree that it is worth paying for. We recently became self-employed, and it is not inherently obvious to me how best to answer some of the questions or how to use the explanation sections to our advantage. vmac183, could you share the name of the firm you mentioned that you used in case I cannot come up with someone here?</p>
<p>All applications are now in, with some amazing essays. One tends to forget just how special one’s own child is, and it sounds like many of us are getting reminded of that!</p>
<p>vmac183, I just heard from our accounting firm that they do not really have anyone with a specialty in financial aid, so it would be great to get the name, if you feel comfortable doing that.</p>
<p>Congrats Will! Perhaps they will also give you some FA. </p>
<p>S got his first deferral today. ;-( So he is currently 4 yes, one deferred. Wasn’t his first choice, but it was near the top of the list.</p>
<p>So sorry mamom. With so many acceptances, it kind of stops you short. But deferrals can become accepts in April. </p>
<p>With S1, he didn’t apply to any schools EA or ED. We expected to hear at the end of March and were totally perplexed (and happy) when he got a very early big envelope at the end of January. It was from his top choice school, as it happened, and it threw us for a wonderful wonderful loop, but kind of cast all those other waiting for results applications in a sort of limbo. LOL. He was a candidate for merit aid–and we needed to get all results for final decisions, but it was odd. </p>
<p>Of course, I found college confidential around that time and learned all there is to learn about the notifications that go out early, roll out, etc. But who knew?</p>
<p>With S2, it’s a different world. Here it is before the end of the year and he’s already heard from his 2 EA schools with one more that notifies 2/1. Like some of our kids, his earlier responding schools were not reaches, so we’ll get a better idea of how he fares with the most competitive schools on his list later in the game. </p>
<p>Lots of work going on in my house today–with so many art porfolios needing assembly and different # of pieces for each (!) with different pieces selected for different majors at different schools. And one in PDF format, one in PowerPoint format, several needing to be printed, labeled differently, compiled in different kinds of binders. ETC!! Luckily, my H is home this week and helping with the trip to get color copies made, the right sort of binders and envelopes bought, and the least administratively competent one in the house (me) is left to read cc. Yay.</p>