<p>My mom was a rule follower and I was an out-of-the-box thinker who didn’t follow rules who travelled around Asia. When I dropped out of school and lived in China, I was only 19. She couldn’t skype, txt, call me. We wrote letters and I sent her cassette tape recordings of me riding my bike around the city. I didn’t have a camcorder, just a little camera. I found those letters while going through things and I was a very humorous at times, very testy at times young adult that must have kept her up at night and caused her so much worry. I’m sure I will be cursed with the same in my kids, I hope I have the grace and patience to see it as a process and let it be. My husband loaded my new iphone with George Winston “winter into spring” and it is hitting me hard. Such a glorious melancholy album. Taking my dad to dinner in a few minutes and we have to go somewhere different, our usual haunt is filled with too many memories of my mom. We used to go once a week. :(</p>
<p>Keith Jarrett - Koln Concert not George Winston - my mistake. If you have never listened to it, it is unbelievable.</p>
<p>Thinking of you, Amandakayak. I am sure you are a great comfort to your dad.</p>
<p>Amanda - I’m really feeling for you, thinking of Winter into Spring and finding those letters. When my dad died several years ago, we found all of his letters to his folks during WWII and it was wonderful to find that glimpse of him, but made us miss him more. Finding the letters you wrote to your mom must have been even more bittersweet - a look at who you were together many years ago. Hope you and your dad find some comfort at dinner.</p>
<p>Researching4 - I get the Tevye thing! My D has a LOT of news coming in late March/April and my hope is that we’ll have choices that would take something close to an octopus to work through!</p>
<p>Things that make you go hmmmm…</p>
<p>Just talked to my brother (who is close to getting his PhD so he is no dope). His S is graduating this year. I pointed him to CC last spring to no avail. When he told me his S was considering Penn State I mentioned they were a rolling school and he should get his S to submit his app asap. That app along with 2 or 3 others was submitted late Dec or early Jan. His S told him he was still waiting for stuff from his teacher. I told my brother, his S could get his stuff in before his teachers. Long story short, his S got into Penn State - Abington. My nephew lives in MA. Abington does not have housing. To top it off my brother says his S applied for admission to the Abington location. My nephew wants to major in engineering, and from what I can tell they do not offer engineering at that location. What the heck? Either my brother doesn’t know what he is talking about or my nephew messed up big time. I have to wonder if he applied to University Park but got deferred to Abington. They are going to visit Abington next month and to look at nearby housing.</p>
<p>My brother has an older girl who goes to an in state U. Not sure how involved he was in her college search and application process, but it doesn’t sound like he learned a heck of a lot from it.</p>
<p>mamom, From what I understand the Abington PSU campus is a suitcase school. Most of the satellite campuses are really for local-living kids or people on a budget that want their kids to go two years local and then out to main campus. I’ve heard that PSU Altoona is not so much a suitcase school, and it’s pretty large. They do make the transition to main campus after two years pretty streamlined if your grades are good so perhaps that’s what your nephew’s plan is. </p>
<p>My son was deferred to Main but accepted to Altoona. I asked a registration person at our local PSU campus about what the chances would be for our son to get into Main after being deferred there and she said not so good, but suggested that son talk to someone in admissions. Son was not interested and has crossed PSU off the list.</p>
<p>It’s Sunday. So who could possibly get amazing astonishing acceptance news on a Sunday? </p>
<p>:) 
S2!!! Told he’s admitted to Carnegie Mellon BFA Theatre. We’re so proud of him.</p>
<p>Returning you to your regularly scheduled Sunday programming.</p>
<p>Wow! That’s wonderful madbean!! Great way to start off the week!</p>
<hr>
<p>I think I just made a big mistake! I have kept a file for each college with their information and a spreadsheet with dates and passwords. I cleaned out the file the other day to through away some “promotional” and “prospective student” literature since some were getting full and I needed to file acceptance letters and deadline letters for deposits, open houses, etc. Now I can’t find DS’s acceptance to one of his schools! I think I tossed it by mistake since the other folder in the file is the one with the promotional stuff. </p>
<p>What do I do?!!???</p>
<p>Congrats Madbean!</p>
<p>mamom, I don’t know a lot about Penn State. It wasn’t on bluejr’s list because he didn’t like the possibility of the 2 years off campus before moving on to main campus. This is beside the obvious fact of OOS tuition. That being said, kathiep is correct that Altoona has a decent amount of OOS kids…I remember a lot of kids from my area going to Altoona when I graduated in the Dark Ages. The stats/competition to get onto main campus are more demanding then the satellite campuses. The overall cost is higher on main campus as well. When we spoke with PSU reps at a very large, well attended college fair, this 2+2 was really being pushed as ‘the norm’. Based on this interaction (where we actually talked quite a bit with this rep) I didn’t even think main campus was an option for first year students until I looked further online.</p>
<p>As parents we are darned if we do, darned if we don’t. If we know every intimate detail of the applications process we are the dreaded helicopter parent. The one who ends up missing something, as your brother did, is in the dark. Your brother needs to help your nephew figure out what his options are, but your nephew may very well have been ‘steered’ in this direction by PSU staff.</p>
<p>I hope it all gets resolved…and fast!</p>
<p>Oh, momofzach! 
I feel your pain. A couple of days ago I thought I’d lost a very important paper for bluejr. I searched…he looked in his room (which is typical teen disaster so that led to an altercation…). It was found eventually. A new centrally located filing system has been set up for everything. Gee, I thought there was one, but no one else seemed onboard…so a couple of things went elsewhere.</p>
<p>I really hope you will find this in a day or two. I promise you are not the first parent to have done this. I think it would totally be appropriate to contact the university and very nicely explain that it’s been misplaced, and ask if it is at all possible to generate another. My guess is they will.</p>
<p>Big cyber-hugs to you and zach!</p>
<p>So sorry, momofzach. No harm, though, as all the info will be online–so if you can find that login info, you’ll be fine. I also think they will re-send the acceptance letter if you want to save it for a memento.</p>
<p>Although those of us here who are slow to file and slower to throw things away are secretly thinking it’s okay to hoard every scrap of paper sent by New Mexico Institute of Mines or wherever.</p>
<p>Thanks for the encouraging words. I attempted to traverse the vast minefield of his bedroom and gave up lest I move something important to him and it disappear forever. Maybe when he gets home, he will tell me it is in the land of the lost (aka his room).</p>
<p>Madbean - Congrats to you and S2 on the Carnegie Mellon admittance! Great news!</p>
<p>momofzach - it’s no big deal. You don’t need the acceptance letter to prove you S’s acceptance. If the letter had Id/password information to the admitted students web site, there is always the ‘Forgot my Id/password’ link.</p>
<p>WooHoo to Madbean’s S!!! What a nice thing to happen out of the blue. </p>
<p>Talk about losing important stuff. One of S’s schools wants our 2009 tax returns and W2’s by Feb 15th. Not sent by the 15th, received by the 15th. H had the tax returns last to do profile in Oct. I used the info off profile info to do FAFSA last month when I couldn’t find the returns. So we had our accountant send us an electronic copy of the return but it did not include our W2’s. I went through the office (where H supposedly already looked) and found the W2’s. Monday I will sneak out of work to UPS and get them overnighted for receipt Tues. </p>
<p>I am done giving my brother advice. He doesn’t listen. It is unfortunate and I hope it ends up working out for my nephew. My brother spent little time advising or “hovering” before apps were submitted but now he is making time to visit a campus that may not even have the major his S wants.</p>
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<p>I was working on FAFSA/Profile couple weeks ago and all of a sudden I couldn’t find my folder with 2009 Taxes, W2s, Profile instructions/worksheets/numbers. I was going mad, I had it on the left side of my computer for the last 3 or 4 days and now it was gone. I looked everywhere I could possibly put it - no luck. Finally, I decided to look in S’s room. My folder was laying on his electronic piano. When I asked, why on Earth he took it to his room, he had no recollection of doing so.</p>
<p>Congrats to madbean and her son! Seems like just yesterday he was putting those portfolios together, and now look what he has! That is wonderful.</p>
<p>We’re certainly feeling a lot of overload around here - my best wishes to all of us in this boat! D was doing a summer job application and hit a wall with it, simply because she’s so drained from everything else. Spring can’t come too soon…</p>
<p>While we were in Chicago my husband did his usual ruthless clean-out of papers, and I came home petrified that he’d messed with my college collection. Fortunately I’d put it in a very different place before I left - otherwise who knows what he would have done? He means well, but he’s very quick to pick things up and toss it all as “junk mail.” It’s scary how college mailings include THE most important documents within their very drecky advertising.</p>
<p>Congrats to madbean’s son. A well-deserved reward!</p>
<p>congrats madbean!!!</p>