<p>Thanks BI and kathie. You both brought tears to my eyes. I really feel as if you know my son. One of his other comments was exactly what BI said - He sets the bar very high for himself so maybe he didn’t do as poorly as he thought. I laughed at the thought of him appearing slick. He is too honest to even put ‘spin’ on a story.</p>
<p>Welcome AvonHSDad. Congrats proudmom for wrapping up the process so early and so well.</p>
<p>Thanks for the welcome messages.</p>
<p>Our AAA for the HS kids is also a free add-on membership. I don’t recall if its through age 17 or 18 but its worth checking with your AAA if you are a member. My card doesn’t say “Plus” so it appears its included with regular memberships in our area (northern Ohio).</p>
<p>FLMathMom: The girl from our high school who got our flagship’s highest scholarship last year thought for sure she had “blown” the interview. She also thought she had “blown” the interview for the local Cotillion for Achievement scholarship. She won then both. So have faith!</p>
<p>We don’t have AAA but do get roadside assist through our auto insurance for a very reasonable rate. We have used it several times and I am happy with response times.</p>
<p>FlMathMom - Your S is probably not able to look at the interview with an unbiased eye. I’ll bet he did great. </p>
<p>Welcome Avon!</p>
<p>Congrats, proudmom - I can’t imagine being done! We’re entering the biggest rollercoaster ride yet in 2 weeks with auditions … might get some answers along the way, but D’s top choices won’t tell us until April, so that’s that. </p>
<p>Welcome, Avon. Great to have your perspective! Good luck to your S.</p>
<p>Had a bunch of girls here for rehearsal and a sleepover last night. I feel asleep to beautiful singing coming through the heater vents. Isn’t that lovely? </p>
<p>At one point they were talking about colleges. Our HS is pretty relaxed compared to most of the schools described here - mostly it was comparing state schools, and local privates (both of which include some tough admits). But the kids are passionate about what they want, and working very hard, hoping for happy answers. Interesting hearing the juniors responding to the seniors’ comments. Kids can be rough on each other (even without meaning to) but they also can be very supportive.</p>
<p>Welcome Avon! Congralulations on your son’s success so far.</p>
<p>Proudmom: Congratulations on your daughter’s acceptances. It sounds like she made a good choice. It’s a bit of a let-down to be “done,” but I think that your daughter will be able to really enjoy the rest of her senior year.</p>
<p>Someone had asked about how to report the value of a prepaid tuition plan on the fafsa and I found the information on their website. The value to be reported for a prepaid tuition plan on the fafsa is the “refund amount” of the plan, not the value if used. Hope this helps!</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>That would probably be hilarious. Unfortunately it was very cold on the visit day, and violins are very weather sensitive.</p>
<p>Hi, Fishy. That was me asking about the pre-paid tuition plan. Yesterday I got our taxes and the FAFSA done, although I will need to file FAFSA corrections a little later. The EFC came out at what seemed to be a reasonable amount, in my opinion. So now, I guess we’ll see what DS’ two favorite schools come up with in FA.</p>
<p>@proudmom: that is fantastic news. Congratulations to your D.
@FLMathMom: Kids really don’t have the perspective to know if they truly “bombed” an interview. I’ve met so many kids who report that they felt an interview went poorly…that seems to be the consensus, not the exception.</p>
<p>proudmom - congratulations on being done. I was just commenting this morning how weird this whole waiting phase is. Feels like we ought to be doing something - but there’s nothing to do, but wait till late March :(</p>
<p>FlMathMom - sorry that your S felt the interview went poorly. Is he typically a good judge of things like this or is he too hard on himself? My D is on the other end of the scale - so far, she has told me all her interviews were good. She had one with an alumni interviewer this past weekend - apparently the interviewer was a Jets fan and told D this. D pretended to walk out of the interview offended (she’s a big patriots fan!) - and she said that broke the ice and they had a nice chat after. No other details - so who knows how that interview actually went ???</p>
<p>Request for folks - D tells me that we can take out an ad in the yearbook - looking at an old yearbook, most parent ads are typically pictures of the child + a message to the child. Anyone have any special inspirational quotes or messages to new graduates? I’d like to include something like that along with some pictures of her - it’s going to take forever to dig up the pictures I’d like to add!</p>
<p>I have fallen far behind!</p>
<p>Congrats to oregonionmom and calmom on acceptances and $$! And congrats proudmom on being DONE!</p>
<p>OWM, I hope your mom continues to heal.</p>
<p>rom828, that first acceptance is an awesome feeling. Enjoy!</p>
<p>oregonianmom- that’s reat that you are pursuing your own education. My primary activity outside of work is Girl Scouts and that is still kid-oriented. I won’t have an empty nest for 4 more years but I like the idea of beginning now to explore what I want to do in that next chapter.</p>
<p>So sorry to hear of all the accidents and near misses. My D is not driving, a combination of her reluctance and busy schedules. Its a PITB to be the chauffeur but in all this ice its one less thing to worry about. Getting her license will be a big project for this spring.</p>
<p>FLMathmom, I bet your son did better than he thinks. Its so easy to be critical of ourselves. He clearly is committed and has a to offer the college. They are lucky to get him!</p>
<p>H spent the MLK holiday weekend pulling together the FAFSA and profile. I have left all of that to him and only feel a little bit guilty about it.</p>
<p>The semester is finished here and we are breathing a collective sigh of relief. D is nursing her broken heart but seems resilient (BF broke up with her last week). And looking forward to this last full but less stress-full semester. She has to complete an Honors application and a few other bits and pieces. So I still get to nag! But mostly I am looking forward to upcoming audition trips. It will be busy but serious mother-daughter bonding time. And it will keep my mind off of waiting for decisions and her mind off of the her heartbreak. So its all good.</p>
<p>arisamp - google quotes and you’ll find a few good websites with quotes, my personal favorite is the Dr. Seuss Oh the Places You’ll Go [Oh</a>! The Places You’ll Go by Dr. Seuss](<a href=“http://www.teamhope.com/seuss.htm]Oh”>http://www.teamhope.com/seuss.htm)
leftofpisa - I’d like to intro my s to your d, he needs a date for prom and everyone and everything is pairing up in this town.
It’s so quiet in here today, where did everyone go?</p>
<p>Well I am joining the ranks of parents here whose students have gotten letters from schools and they must sit and wait for their kids to come home. This one is REALLY puzzling me!! Urrgghh. I have opened most mail but this one I’ll leave for him…</p>
<p>Perhaps a false alarm, but I’m feeling the angst of not opening an envelope nonetheless.</p>
<p>amanda - I love the Dr Seuss “Oh, the Places you’ll go”. The principal read this out loud to all the kids at the kindergarten graduation. It is definitely on the list that I am considering, although I am guessing D will roll her eyes if she finds out :)</p>
<p>blue - are you sure you don’t want to try the steaming techniques described earlier in this thread ?? :)</p>
<p>I feel as if I’ve fallen so far behind these past few days. Still struggling with my parents’ health issues, but I spent some time finishing up taxes, FAFSA, Profile, and two school-specific financial aid online forms. Phew! I know that I’ll probably end up having to revise everything before it’s all over, but it felt good to submit something. </p>
<p>Congrats to all who have gotten word of admissions or $$$! I love hearing the good news.</p>
<p>FLMathMom: It’s so easy to be hard on yourself after a tough interview. It’s difficult for a humble guy to self-promote, but I’m sure he had a lot to offer and that that came shining through, despite what he thinks!</p>
<p>I have a S available for winter formal or prom – breakup with first GF took place last week. He didn’t say much about it and I tried not to pry. I asked him if he was okay with it and he said yes. I hope that’s true. You know how it is…when they hurt, we hurt.</p>
<p>^^No, I’d surely burn myself!! I just texted Bluejr to make sure he was coming straight home from school though. 
I told him there was a letter from University X. “a ltr fm ux srsly?” “yes :)” “on my way now!” “drive slowly…if you are home in less than 20min I’ll know you were driving too fast” “quit txtng me so I can strt the car!”.</p>
<p>Don’t you love text language? The funny thing is, we totally get it! :)</p>
<p>My son got two letters from Colleges today, both safeties, but one was the thin envelope! Fortunately, this college also had one addressed to my husband and I. I thought (quickly, before I ripped it open) that it might be explaining why they were not going to admit my boy. But, no, they just sent us a CC of the acceptance letter they wrote to him and explained that more info would be coming shortly. (shew!) The second big envelope says CONGRATULATIONS! on the front so that’s a no brainer. </p>
<p>Well blueiguana??</p>
<p>The letter was as I thought given the return department on the envelope…you never know. It was an invitation to apply for Honors. Applying to Honors as an entering freshman is by invitation only. Not a notification of admit (which he anticipated hearing in about a month anyway), but a strong indicator. Bluejr is quite pleased, however when he looked at the application with more essays he was less than enthused. </p>
<p>He just wants to be done with paperwork and build the robot!! He’s attending a professional conference in his major after exams. I don’t blame him for being ‘over’ paperwork! Poor kid is asleep in the chair again. I think I’ll let him sleep a while…</p>
<p>kathiep - That’s pretty darn thoughtful of the school to send the parents a letter as well! Love that idea!! Congratulations on the two additional admits. Choices are exciting, no matter where they fall on the list!</p>