<p>I got an e-mail from the head of the band groups at a college I was accepted to, promoting their presentation at an upcoming admitted student day. This would be a great opportunity if it weren’t for the fact that I’m a violinist and wouldn’t be able to play in any band groups.</p>
<p>Gotta love automated college emails.</p>
<p>Checking in on everyone. I can relate to moving past kid related activities. Not sure what I’ll do, just that there’s going to be a gaping hole. I’m not one for new adventures so I’m not exactally looking forward to it, but I’m not telling my kids that. I admire you O’mom for going back to school!! Now that I could do, I just don’t want to study anything useful this time. I want a self-indulgent do-over! 
I don’t see that happening with DHs MBA loan, two in college, w bluejrjr bringing up the rear in 2014. That’s a whole lot of tuition. I know you guys are feeling the pain too!</p>
<p>For the SAT2 Chem testers out there (or parents of…), bluejr took it last June and did pretty well, his AP prep was good SAT prep, and there was no way he could have scored as well before finishing the material. It is a tough exam I think is best taken right when you finish the class. If you wait until fall you’ve lost some of that material. Unlike math that builds on concepts, if you move from chem to physics you are getting no review the following year. I was happy he did well last spring and really felt he’d dodged a bullet on that one. I’m sure he could have done well later, but the prep/studying to get the same result would have been a pain. So, take heart… IMHO, that’s a tough one. </p>
<p>I believe the dreaded scholarship app will be ready tomorrow. I had a very polite conversation with bluejr about it, that it wasn’t his finest moment and I didn’t expect a repeat. I thought it went very well. Five minutes later I realized he was dead-out asleep in the chair. I am now doubting I had his full attention…okay, I’m doubting he’s going to remember anything. Sigh. I’m just going to go with it. He’d been at school for 12hrs (yes, twelve on Saturday) so sleep was in order.</p>
<p>Oh, one last thought. For anyone who has new(er)(ish) drivers, don’t forget to get them their own AAA cards. I totally forgot to add bluejr until the renewal came. Duh! It’s $38/yr to add them which I think is worth the peace of mind.</p>
<p>No moving past kids here. In fact, I was thinking how much harder it will be next year when my two driving kids leave home and I only have my non driver at home. One of the states we are maybe moving to would mean drivers license less than a year after older d left for college, otherwise it will be at least a year and almost a half. </p>
<p>But in terms of older d, we aren’t done at all. Three honors college applications with essays, one possible music audition, and finally college visits. Most importantly, d needs to have some time to think but that may finally come in later February. She has two tournaments before then, a killer 3 hour midterm, lots of computer programming to do, a paper to publish (she is the alternate chief editor, so alternate months), plus of course, the rest of school. Then the giant choral production she is doing in late March.</p>
<p>With two younger kids, not past kid stuff here for a long time.</p>
<p>D3 is only a second grader, so H and I don’t have to worry about an empty next for some time! </p>
<p>Late March/April does seem so far away but January is flying by; I’m trying to be patient and enjoy every minute with D2 while she (and we) waits. Since she thinks that West Point is where she wants to be, even if she receives rejections in the spring, hopefully the pain won’t be too deep.</p>
<p>Yesterday D2 was up at 6 a.m. to run an errand before a student council work day for the Winter Semi-Formal. She had to pick up some wood from Home Depot in the mini van we’ve allowed her to drive. On her way to the work-day site, she had to brake quickly, the wood plunged forward and broke the windshield. She was in tears at the time on the phone with me, worried about Dad’s reaction and not wanting to disappoint him. I assured her he wouldn’t be too worried about a windshield if she was OK. After a good work day and a few hours to put everything in perspective, she said that the experience would have made for a good college essay!</p>
<p>Oh, phbmom! So sorry to hear about your Ds accident. Kids are so scared when something like that happens. Am I okay, is the other person okay, are my parents going to ground me for life, are the police going to be involved, is that a bad thing??? So many conflicting emotions. What we really care about is if they are okay. I’m so glad she’s okay!!</p>
<p>Saintsaens - if it were close enough it might be worth the laugh to show up with violin in hand. Hey maybe they can add a violinist!</p>
<p>PHB- Glad your D is OK. Any accident can be nerve wacking for the driver however old. S has only had his license a few weeks. My expectation is he will get into an accident sometime before he starts college.</p>
<p>phbmom - Sorry to hear about your D’s mishap. Glad no one got hurt. She got a visual lesson in the benefit of wearing seatbelts. I believe everything happens for a reason and this accident may save someone’s life in the future when your D insists that her passengers wear seatbelts. The comprehensive part of some insurance policies cover full glass or full windshield (no deductible). If so, the repair may cost you nothing.</p>
<p>Son had a very difficult interview for GA Tech’s President’s Scholarship Program yesterday. He had 3 alumni grilling him, mainly on his ECs and leadership for 45 minutes. Since 90% of his EC time is spent on Math Club (he is President this year), math tutoring and math competitions, it was particularly tough. He is very uncomfortable speaking about his positive qualities. He calls it bragging. He came out of the interview disheartened. We just let him talk and get all his feelings out. Fortunately he doesn’t dwell on things he can’t change so he perked right up when we all went out to a great dinner at one of his favorite restaurants. Next week is the first math competition of the season. He is determined to do well so that is his current focus. Onward and upward.</p>
<p>Phbmom: I’m glad that the windshield was the only thing that got hurt in your daughter’s mishap.</p>
<p>FLmathmom: That sounds like a pretty unpleasant interview. It’s great that your son was able to let it go and move on. I hope his competition goes well next week.</p>
<p>phb - my feelings go out to you and your D. How frightening. And I also am kind of amused at her immediately imagining it as a college essay! I guess it takes a while for that instinct to wear off.</p>
<p>FL - it’s too bad that these situations where adults have to choose one kid, and understandably with some difficulty, turn into experiences like your S’s. I wish it didn’t get translated into some intense evaluation of their entire worth as a human being, but I guess there’s no getting around that. I’m so glad your S is able to put it into perspective. I’m amazed how well all of these kids get through this kind of judgment process. I’m not sure I could handle it so well.</p>
<p>I have a FAFSA corrections question that is driving me insane. After you make corrections to the FAFSA, do you receive a confirmation email from them? I made corrections on Monday and now want to add 4 schools to the FAFSA college list (which requires that I delete the first 10 colleges). Do I need to wait for this confirming email BEFORE adding these 4 schools? It is crazy how these simple questions can hold you up… and, I just want to be DONE with this process! Help – does anyone know?</p>
<p>About the Chem SAT II: The word on the street around here is that it is the hardest science by far. Definitely my D’s lowest score, yet she loves Chemistry and does well in her chem class in a very competitive high school. Unfortunately for subject test (as well as AP) scores, her school has cut back on AP classes, so the kids just don’t have classes that require that sort of fierce memorization. So, the kids wind up having to do a lot of prep on their own for many of the subjects tests, such as PUSH, Physics and Chem.</p>
<p>Omom
Good for you. I need to do something else now that I am unemployed for the second time. I have been checking into masters programs. I was looking at a MPH (M in Public Health) in hope that it would help me get a job with of the many insurance companies in this state or an interesting job in the public sector. I’ve worked many years in marketing and after my last layoff I’m not too excited about getting back into the wringer. Our non flagship state college masters programs are reasonably priced, but how useful they actually are, I don’t know. Being unemployed I am hesitating about the cost/time benefit.</p>
<p>phbmom - My ds’ first accident - he drove to sax lessons at his asst band director’s house (guy is like his mentor for about 5 yrs now, very charismatic and young band dude) Son goes into driveway and puts on the brakes, oh well actually it was the gas and he plowed through a little (3’) fence at the end of the driveway into his backyard. Car is fine (it’s a junk anyway) and he spent a number of hours doing community service at his house. In retrospect, it was a good way to get that first accident under his belt.<br>
ldinct - I was in marketing for 10 yrs and now off for 10 yrs. There are some post-mba certificate programs I was looking at but the cost is just, alot for someone without income, you know?</p>
<p>Thanks everyone for the support re: son’s tough interview. I really appreciate it. CAmathmom - I don’t know the answer to your FAFSA question. You might try calling or emailing them.</p>
<p>Idinct - Perhaps you could contact the HR dept at a few insurance companies and ask them. Or a good recruiter who will give you a straight answer. Perhaps your undergrad school has a service to help alumni. There may be some women’s networking groups in your area that would be worth a visit or some online groups like cc but for that industry.</p>
<p>phbmom - I’ll never forget the phone call from D1 after another driver pulled out of a convenience store and hit her as she drove past. She was so upset and I could barely understand her. Thankfully she was just around the corner so I could get there quickly. They worry about everything else while we worry mostly about them. Kind of an analogy for life as a parent.</p>
<p>I think D2 is off of the college admissions merry-go-round. Accepted at all 7 schools she applied to and she has decided on one that is a good fit, a good distance away (2 hours) and won’t cost us an arm and a leg. It’s a little hard to believe that we’re done with the process and moving on.</p>
<p>New poster here. Have been lurking for a while. Found this site a few months ago but haven’t posted yet until this thread showed up as a link from another site. We too are waiting until March 31/April 1 for the acceptance letters. Our S is the older of two and opted not to apply ED due to the uncertainty of financial aid. He ended up applyoing to 10 schools (too many in my book) including two ivy league schools. He has already recieved his acceptance to Ohio State’s honors college program as they are on a rolling admissions program but OSU is one of his two backup safety schools.</p>
<p>We are spending these weeks of waiting responding and applying for various scholarships. I prepare a weekly list of 3 or 4 possible scholarships and he then reports back twice in the next week as to the viability or completion of the applications. Fortunately he is an excellent student and has been selected by his school counselor and principal for a couple of regional and state programs that require school administration nominations. Those essays are keeping him busy now that first semester just finished last week.</p>
<p>I am also busy with the FAFSA and CSS process and have been yelling at my accountant to get my busness taxes done early this year. Fortunately we were able to plan ahead for this year and reduce income. The problem is it will come back next year. Younger D is just a HS freshman and won’t enter into the equation until S is a college senior.</p>
<p>Someone posted that it was a good idea to take the SAT Subject tests the same year as the AP exams. I support that idea as the subject matter is still fresh in their minds. This is particularly true with the sciences. S took the SAT Subject tests in Bio and Chem last year about a month or two after his AP’s and got good scores (5-740 Bio; 4-660 Chem). The chem SAT is by far the hardest according to him and his friends.</p>
<p>I look forward to monitoring and contributing to this thread.</p>
<p>A quickie about AAA. In our area it’s actually FREE to add new drivers on under the age of 19. That might be because we have the plus membership, I’m not sure. I stopped by the AAA store to look into something else for my Europe bound son and thought to ask about younger son. The AAA person put him on right then and gave me a temp card to give him. </p>
<p>Sorry to hear about the tough interview FLMathMom, I’m guessing that the Math kids (especially boys) are equally awkward with interviews. At least it’s over with!</p>
<p>Congrats proudmomof2 and D2 on all of the acceptances and a final choice that’s a good fit. Yeah!</p>
<p>FlMathMom: I hope the interview committee saw your son as an accomplished, humble young man.</p>
<p>Welcome AvonHSDad!! Congratulations on your son’s admit to Ohio State’s honors college and a successful scholarship season underway!! Sounds like you guys are really staying on top of things. It’s really nice that your son has been recognized by his school administrators like that. They work so hard. That kind of validation is especially nice during these long winter months. He sounds like a great kid.</p>
<p>kathiep - That’s interesting information about AAA. I wonder what the trade off would be to move to the plus membership, but not have to pay for kids under 19? I’m going to have to call on that one. Thanks for the tip!!</p>
<p>FlMMom - I’m going to agree with kathiep here on the interview. Ga Tech is drawing a student body that is highly accomplished, but is going to tend to be more right brain then left. It’s not a matter of if they ‘nailed’ the interview, but how well they communicated the information, if they were genuine. Nothing is more off-putting to me then a kid who is just too slick and has very little substance…very polished and well-spoken but not genuine. kwim? If a student doesn’t communicate substance, or is putting on an image they think the interviewers want, this is going to come across very poorly. Your son may not have done as bad as he thought. Our kids are always pretty harsh on themselves. Your son has some great qualities that show every indication of a student who will step up (and out of his dorm room) and be involved in the university community, with his peers academically, and helping others. We visited GaTech and it was made very clear these were the types of students they were looking for. Sending very positive thoughts your son’s way!!</p>
<p>Question about scholarship apps, I will also post on financial aid thread. S is filling out the ETS Scholarship application for something at H’s work. But I am thinking there must be others that accept this application that would be little work to apply for. Does anyone know? Of course there is a whole section on EC’s and leadership in EC’s which S doesn’t have, but what can you do.</p>