<p>[Nordstrom</a> Scholarship Program | Nordstrom](<a href=“http://shop.nordstrom.com/c/nordstrom-cares-scholarship]Nordstrom”>http://shop.nordstrom.com/c/nordstrom-cares-scholarship)
starting March 15 Nordstrom’s scholarship app will be available - $2500//year for 4 years. Only hitch…you must be a high school junior to apply. So if you have a younger child, get him/her started.</p>
<p>Tuesday’s countdown is:</p>
<p>MIT (March 14th) - 13 days to go. Less than two weeks!</p>
<p>March 31st schools - 30 days to go. We get to 4 weeks on Thursday…</p>
<p>Sorry for the late posting today. I was tied up workwise out in the field all morning dealing with all of our client flooding problems we suffered in our area. 2 inches of rain in 5 hours on top of a foot of snow and 50 degrees makes for a real mess and a lot of flooded buildings!</p>
<p>Nordstrom Scholarship: I looked at this one when I was searching for scholarships for S2 to apply for. One catch: you have to live/attend school in one of the participating geographic areas. We don’t. </p>
<p>Here’s the information for those who are interested.</p>
<p>Currently the scholarship program is offered in the following communities:</p>
<ul>
<li>Bay Area and Sacramento</li>
<li>Los Angeles County</li>
<li>San Diego County</li>
<li>Chicagoland (Cook and DuPage counties)</li>
<li>Metropolitan Atlanta</li>
<li>Northern and Central New Jersey</li>
<li>Greater Washington D.C. metropolitan area and Baltimore</li>
<li>Washington and Alaska</li>
</ul>
<p>“Have any of you tracked how much all this college stuff cost? Being a CPA, it’s in my genes.”</p>
<p>FIMathmom - Count yourself lucky! Those of us who are not CPAs also have to pay our CPAs to survive this process. Given our insanely complicated 2010 from a tax standpoint, my accountants have been intimately involved with the financial aid process for the last 2 months. I sent off my (hopefully) last set of ten express mail packages yesterday (contaning, among other things, our second amended CSS Profile and a hard copy of our third amended, and now final, FAFSA -can anyone top that?). I shudder to think of the bill that’s coming.</p>
<p>On the NMF college choice issue, I’m assuming that because only one of our colleges gives merit aid for NMF, there was no reason not to name that college as her first choice. Does anyone have a different view? By the way, you can print off another copy of the yellow postcard from the NM website - it is buried somewhere in the many-page PDF brochure on the site.</p>
<p>Re prom dates - a wonderful young man of our acquaintance took 5 dates to his school prom. A great time was had by all.</p>
<p>The sun is shining, and I’m finally free to go play with my horse!</p>
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<p>I think we’d be equally shocked by the bottom line
We took 3 trips to visit schools, all which included airfare, hotels etc (though it was a great “vacation” for kiddo and I to spend together)
We financed ACT,SAT and SAT2s, 10 AP tests, Common Ap and app fees, Profile,a few AP prep books, and an ACT and SAT prep book.</p>
<p>However–
no private counselors/consultants, no private essay coaches etc. :rolleyes:</p>
<p>Not sure I want to figure this and it’s probably way less than most of you:</p>
<p>1) Trip to MIT–airfare for 3, three nights in a Cambridge hotel, four days of meals (including Valentine’s Day), subway passes, museum entrance fees, souvenirs (including an MIT t-shirt that will only be worn if we get good news on March 15.) It was a great trip no matter what happens!</p>
<p>2) Trip to Purdue–airfare for 2 (mine was paid for by my office in Indy since I combined business with college visit), one night in hotel, car rental to drive to West Lafayette, lunch and dinner</p>
<p>3) Two trips to Mizzou (one regular admissions/one Honors College)–gas for two 360-mile round trips, football tickets (not sure how to calculate the stress of a loss to nubraska in a monsoon on national television while the campus was in a power outage), one pair of shoes (since DS only brought his waterproof boots with him on the trip that involved a football game), one night in hotel, dinner (lunch provided FREE on both visits–a nice Mizzou touch).</p>
<p>3 ACT tests (one with writing); 2 SAT tests, 1 SAT subject sitting (plus the overnight in the hotel when DS got food poisoning); three SAT prep books; 3 AP tests (school pays for IB!); application fees of $75, $50 and $45; so far six Priority Mail packages for scholarship applications and IDOC submission.</p>
<p>But wait…there’s more. That fee for the CSS Profile ($35?) and probably a random $60 for sending test scores after we got results.</p>
<p>My H and I wince sometimes at the application costs for this D. But we got off easy with D1 - one set of scores, one app fee. Trips to visit included seeing family, so we don’t really see it only as college cost.</p>
<p>D2 … don’t want to go there. People have spent more. And in the long run - we figure either 1) she’ll go to a lower-priced school or get merit money that will offset this pretty quickly or 2) she’ll go to a higher-priced school where a couple of thousand dollars now will recede quickly into memory.</p>
<p>At this point she probably only has a couple of possibly high-priced schools on her “likely” list. So we figure we’ll come out ahead, anyway. </p>
<p>D’s spirits rise more every day … she starts co-directing/choreographing a youth musical this afternoon, and she couldn’t be more excited. And I must correct myself: I wasn’t really “fired.” I’d say more like downsized. She let me down easy.</p>
<p>OWM: I think you deserve a refund for those football tickets.</p>
<p>Our visit expenses weren’t too bad because my daughter only considered schools between DC and Boston. We flew to Boston for a visit, and took the train to New York to see NYU . All other visits were done by car, including our Spring Break 1500 mile trip around the Northeast to see schools that ended up off the list. </p>
<p>We only had to pay 2 appliciation fees, thanks to fee waivers on in-state schools for Maryland Distinquished scholars and a refund from Northeastern after they offered a free application. Of course, all those savings will be dwarfed by next year’s tuition bill, but at least we saved on something!</p>
<p>Well, its been too long since the last round of adult beverages …and it’s just about 5 oclock somewhere in 2 US time zones…and so here’s to it being March 1…tick tock</p>
<p>Superglex, it’s wonderful that your good research and frugality paid off for you in your happy college decision.</p>
<p>Two other traits you might want to cultivate, particularly as a new poster on an established parents’ thread of regular posters and virtual friends, would be civility and manners.</p>
<p>^^^^Applause!</p>
<p>Snort! mosb you are too funny.</p>
<p>Research reveals said poster (college student) has quite the command of the English language and said posts are filled with ****. So one wonders, “Is said poster getting the education he is paying for at this school?”</p>
<p>Thank you MOSB. </p>
<p>Three of us here are so antsy. The other two (my two oldest kids) are starting new lives this year - one as a self sufficient adult hopefully and the other my upcoming new college student. The last remaining child and the two of us will be settling into our new surroundings come fall (though we are moving in late June).We were originally supposed to find out where we were moving last Tuesday. Then it was Thursday and now-who knows? SInce my h’s replacement is requested by June 15th, you would think they could get this done- moving arrangements take time. It will be particularly dicey for us if we are moving so fast overseas since household shipments take a long time. I just take deep breaths while I realize that deadlines for both summer programs and educational programs for my youngest keep on passing. At least it does look like we will get mid month pay too before any government shut down.</p>
<p>Yipee, S just got an email from a school he has been accepted to that he won the scholarship competition that hundreds of others also took. He tied for 1st place. 10K a year and he only has to maintain a 2.0. (of course I hope he maintains a higher GPA than that) That is in addition to other merit he was already awarded at that school. Yipee. </p>
<p>MM- Are you moving on base or do you have to find your own housing? Moving is always stressfull, but I expect you have had lots of practice.</p>
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<p>Sounds like she will have a lot of fun.</p>
<p>Our college-related costs for both DDs were relatively low, compared to a lot of posters here. Both girls stayed within a 3-hour car ride radius for all except one of D2s schools (and that one is so close to family that we just combined it with a trip to see them). She did take the ACT three times and kept doing a little better so I lost track of the costs related to sending results to all of her schools. She’s only been able to squeeze in 4 APs over the last two years so those are a little pricey but didn’t break the bank.</p>
<p>I’m with those who would like to drop a few pounds before the big day (whether it be in May or June). I really think I must have been doing some stress-related eating in my sleep or something since I’ve put on a few pounds.</p>
<p>Can someone please quell my panic attack and tell me how you know that you have to wrestle with the Profile and IDOC? I haven’t seen a reference to either in anything from any of the schools DD looked at so have been assuming I’m in the clear but I worry…</p>
<p>Been lurking for a week and haven’t had too much time to post. Congratulations to all the acceptances and scholarships awarded. Such a great group of kids we have all been blessed with!</p>
<p>I applauded those of you who have children who already know where they are going in the Fall. At our house, we are awaiting a couple of decisions and then it will be time to step back, say a prayer, offer guidance and let go!</p>
<p>Having an only means we just do this once. In Sept., that made me very sad. Right now…not so much…lol!</p>
<p>Congrats mamom!! That’s wonderful news!!!</p>
<p>Wow mamom, WONDERFUL news! Congratulations to your son!</p>
<p>Congratulations Mamom!!! That is something to scream about!
Thank you to Momofsongbird for that snappy retort. I saw that comment from a 20 yr old and wanted to say something…but then, I just said my usual curse “may you be blessed with colicky children” and felt better.</p>
<p>wow–I was gone for a little while and seem to have missed the kerfuffle^^ The offending post was removed? </p>
<p>Mamom–big congratulations. It’s such a blessing when our kids get recognized. :)</p>
<p>S2 is in a good mood. Some great news already, a few disappointments (mostly in way-out merit hopes), but so many admissions decisions and scholarship outcomes and special program results still to arrive so I am quietly re-thinking his choices (far vs near? cold vs. warm? BA vs BFA?) But S2? He told me to relax. He won’t worry, he said, until April 30.</p>
<p>Huh? !!! Men!</p>