Parents of the HS Class of 2011 - We're awesome!

Parents of HS Class of 20xx
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<p>Well, my daughter is all moved in. There are a couple of days of getting-to-know you events and classes start on Wednesday.
We went up yesterday and got the bed raised, a little grocery shopping done, and attended the 2-hr family orientation. It was quite different from #1D’s orientation at her (much) smaller private 2 years ago, but worth it to hear from the housing/resident life director. </p>

<p>Met the RM and her parents. The room was definitely too crowded! It is hard to think of my girls as adults, but I force myself. They’re now doing things that they don’t have to tell me about (and I probably don’t what any knowledge of!) and they’re responsible for getting up and taking care of things every day. </p>

<p>I’ll start throwing little things into boxes to send them. </p>

<p>So, it’s just me, H, and the dog. Odd.</p>

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<p>And speaking of dogs - we’ve had pugs. They are not a short-term investment. One died in April, he was 19. The one that’s left is 17. We’ve pretty much decided that we won’t get another - at least not while we’re both working. We’ll see…the last pug-free era lasted about 18 months.</p>

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<p>“He will be with us for Yom Kippur (I’m not sure if he’ll also be fasting…this I will find out). Even if he ‘slacks’ now and again I would want to offer things in keeping with his faith and tradition during such a holy day.”</p>

<p>Oh, didn’t realize it would be over Yom Kippur. Typically a fairly substantial meal is served before sundown on the erev Yom kippur. Roast chicken or brisket for the main course. If he will be fasting, the next evening, after sundown, people generally serve light fare - bagels, cream cheese, kugel (noodle pudding) tuna salad, chopped liver (reform jews don’t care if we mix milk and meat so we can have both cream cheese and chopped liver.)</p>

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<p>BI: It’s very considerate of you to try to accomodate your son’s friend. It sounds like you need to find out if he plans to fast on Yom Kippur. If he is, Emily’s suggestions above would be best. </p>

<p>Thanks for bringing up care packages. I haven’t sent any and am feeling guilty. Both of my D’s watch their weight, so I don’t want to send them baked goods. I found a thread on the Parent Cafe with some sites that send fruit, so I’m going to send them fruit baskets for Rosh Hashanah.</p>

<p>Congrats to our latest launchers. I’m glad to hear that things went well.</p>

<p>FLMM: Glad that your arrived in Israel safely. Have a nice visit with your family. </p>

<p>On the puppy front: I don’t think that I could survive my empty nest without my 7 year old Maltese. She’s great company.</p>

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<p>Corgi mom here. We just love the little one. She has such a funny appearance (legs, ears, stub), that people like to “meet her.” We timed her arrival so that we will be able to travel, without her :(, once the tuitions are done.</p>

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<p>Hello everyone, I’m finally back!!! I spent a chunk of the summer away in Italy visiting my mom who lives in a small town up in the apennines w/ no internet service. Before leaving I spent a lot of time shopping for my S’s dorm, finishing up client work and doing 3x week physical therapy for an achilles heal problem. In the 3 weeks since i’ve been back, I’ve dropped off my S to college, took my first girls’ weekend away since having kids, gotten back to work and have begun tidying up my house very seriously. </p>

<p>Have lots to catch up w/ here. Gosh, you’ve been a chatty bunch – 210 pages!!! Have read the last 10 or so pages but will dedicate some time to reading back further. I’ll also describe my experiences w/ my son, the good and the bad, at a later time. </p>

<p>But right now, I need your help. In addition to doing all the stuff I just mentioned since my return, I’m volunteering as a “college counselor” for a lovely girl who is an URM. Remember we discussed doing this last spring. Well, I’ve gotten myself involved!</p>

<p>I’ve met with her twice. Although she’s a student at a very good public school in a town 30 minutes from mine, she hasn’t gotten very much advice at all and needs a lot of assistance. We’re trying to organize a list of colleges for her. I know I could and probably will start a thread in the college search or college admissions forums but I wanted to start here first because I want to make sure that you guys will offer your opinions, opinions that I really trust and value. </p>

<p>Here goes: She’s in the overrepresented state of NY at a very good public school. She’s one of only 5 underrepresented minorities in her school and the only one in her class year. She’s interested in studying international relations, international development and/or Latin American studies w/ the hope of one day working for a non-profit, humanitarian org. She’s incredibly poised and truly lovely, so I think she’ll interview well. Her estranged father is Hispanic and college educated, w/ degrees from very selective schools. Her mother is Black and never attended college. She lives w/ her mom who is a receptionist. </p>

<p>She took the ACT 3 times and scored a 28 twice and a 29. (Best individual scores: English 30, math 27, reading 32, science 28, writing 28.) Her GPA is a 3.576 with advanced courses in Spanish and science research. (She doesn’t speak Spanish at home.) Among her grades are 2 C+, and then grades ranging from Bs to A+s. She’s worked at McDonald’s since she was in the 8th grade throughout the school year and in the summer; has done social science research at Columbia University since the 10th grade and is one of the co-organizers of her school’s science symposium; and has visited Nicaragua w/ her church 4 times, all self-paid w her McDonald’s earnings. She would prefer a school w/ diversity bc she has felt out-of-place in her town (her mom decided to raise her in this town for the sake of the good education but she can barely afford to live there. they live in a 2 BR, modest home in a very low-key section of a town full of mcmansions. the daughter seems incredibly grateful to her mom and is so mature b/c she’s pretty much raised herself since her mom works from 8 - 6 daily and commutes 2 hrs a day). </p>

<p>She’s willing to consider schools anywhere in the northeast-mid Atlantic and midwest (and i’ve convinced her to apply to Emory but she’s not really interested in going south).</p>

<p>So do you guys have suggestions for her list? It’s really hard for me to figure out what’s in her range b/c I don’t know how her URM will factor into the equation. I know from my research that some of the best schools for international relations are Tufts, JHU, Brown, Georgetown, GW. Just don’t know what’s realistic for her. I’d like for her to apply ED/EA to get some additional advantage.</p>

<p>Finally, if anyone here is willing to read her essays when they’re done (she’s working on them this week), let me know here. I think my message box is almost full at the moment and i need to clean it out. For whatever it’s worth, I really like this kid. She’s clearly a hard worker, very grateful and seems determined but sweet-natured.</p>

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<p>RM, she will undoubtedly be getting offers in the mail for diversity weekends at a lot of excellent LACS. She should definitely consider going to the weekends (the schools will pay for her to go) and if she is accepted they will give her lots of money. These schools are making a big effort to become diversified and they are being successful because they are dedicating a lot of scholarship money to URMs.</p>

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<p>You all are amazing! I’ll find out if the RM plans on fasting and plan accordingly. My kids aren’t wild about liver but I love it and this might give me a lovely excuse to make it! I think I will also take the opportunity to reach out to his mom and find out the tradition in his home. This might give me a good guideline. Perhaps she would share some recipes. :slight_smile: I want him to feel welcomed and comfortable, but not feel like there was a lot of fuss or imposition (which it’s not…I love stuff like this!).</p>

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<p><to the=“” tune=“” of=“” “bicycle=”" built=“” for=“” two"=“”></to></p>

<p>I hate liver
Warm liver leaves me cold
I hate liver
I’ll never eat it when I grow old
It’s ewey and gooky like mustard
It’s not as good as custard
<the remainder=“” lost=“” to=“” the=“” sands=“” of=“” time=“” my=“” memory=“”>
:)</the></p>

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<p>BI, only chopped liver not liver steaks! And only if you don’t serve any dairy at the meal!</p>

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<p>First off, welcome back Ren mom. We’re looking forward to your stories.</p>

<p>I’m Jewish and the wife of a vet so I’ll contribute my two cents on those two topics. Can’t help with the URM questions. Re:YK visit, my comments are similar to emilybee’s about 8 posts up. Will he want to go to services? If so…Reform, Conservative,Orthodox? Most likely he will need a ticket which is generally at no cost for college students.</p>

<p>Dogs are wonderful company especially to us Free Birds. If you are considering adding one to your family, please consider adopting an older dog from a shelter. They are already trained and appreciate a loving home.</p>

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<p>Again, y’all are wonderful. I’m making a list to have Bluejr confirm with the RM and also to check with his mom about a few things. The RM may not have even thought of services here. It doesn’t have to be complicated, just some pre-planning to make it all go smoothly so he has what he needs and the boys can enjoy their visit. He’s really a great kid. It’s also a teachable moment to my kids…it takes very little to be inclusive to everyone in your life and to accommodate others…so very little. You learn a lot along the way and YOUR life is enriched.</p>

<p>I’m sure I’ll have a few more questions as it draws nearer. Thanks for your patience. :)</p>

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<p>RM, what about Tulane, Dickinson, Goucher or American U for your protege ?</p>

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<p>RM…so glad you are helping her.</p>

<p>[QuestBridge</a> Home](<a href=“http://www.questbridge.org/]QuestBridge”>http://www.questbridge.org/)</p>

<p>I think through this she’d get alot of help</p>

<p>check out the partner colleges</p>

<p><a href=“http://www.questbridge.org/partner-colleges/overview-listing[/url]”>http://www.questbridge.org/partner-colleges/overview-listing&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;

<p>Amherst College
Bowdoin College
Brown University
California Institute of Technology
Columbia University
Dartmouth College
Emory University
Grinnell College
Haverford College
Massachusetts Institute of Technology
Northwestern University
Oberlin College
Parsons The New School for Design
Pomona College
Princeton University
Rice University
Scripps College
Stanford University
Swarthmore College
Trinity College
University of Chicago
University of Notre Dame
University of Pennsylvania
University of Southern California
University of Virginia
Vassar College
Washington and Lee University
Wellesley College
Wesleyan University
Williams College
Yale University</p>

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<p>Ren Mom- Maybe not at the top of the list, but you can’t beat SUNYs for price. She would be competitive for SUNY Geneseo (which has an Int’l Relations major) with her ACT and grades. Not a safety, but a match I would think in case the others don’t turn out to be financial safeties. I think the diversity might be more of a problem but as it is the “cream of the SUNYs” it might have a more diverse student body as opposed to Oneonta or Oswego. I hear that SUNY Bingamton has a decent size international population so there is some diversity. (These are just backups as she is a NY resident.)</p>

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<p>One year, my neighbors were going to bring their (grown) vegan daughter with them to our house for Thanksgiving. Now in the Pie household, there is no Thanksgiving side dish that doesn’t involve butter, cream, cheese or all of the above. I was really stumped and was secretly glad when the D didn’t come home after all!</p>

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<p>^ I get your here Missy. I shouldn’t have spoken in such universal terms. When coming for a Thanksgiving Dinner you expect those types of things. When the hostess is cooking such a large meal, probably for many, many people it can be hard to accommodate dietary needs. In that situation the it would be a 'teachable moment for the vegans to offer to bring some vegan options. This goes both ways. I’m sure you would have made room on the table.</p>

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<p>It was actually an interesting exercise to think through the Thanksgiving standards…I think only the cranberry orange relish and the rolls had no animal products. I certainly could have kept some broccoli out of the broccoli cheese casserole, some corn out of the corn casserole, some squash out of the squash casserole. I probably could have done the stuffing with veg. broth. But it’s interesting to think that a vegan could sit down at a table utterly laden with food and have virtually nothing to eat. (I have personally gone gluten free since last Thanksgiving so this year should be interesting.)</p>

<p>I have a nut allergy so I am always the one who signs up to bring dessert to any pot luck, so I can make something I can eat.</p>

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<p>RM - I know she wants a school with diversity, but she should also look at Spelman, Howard or Hampton. She would have a good shot at scholarships as well as great mentoring programs.</p>

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<p>Hello all! I have been off the grid for a while getting back to work,recovering from a slight electric shock (dumb blonde moment) and gutting our flooded basement. But I have been reading all along. We have had a few video chats, weekly call and the occasional text. At this point,fears of college were evidently all mine and,thankfully,unfounded. I did scores points thanks to CC packing tips. Request has already been made for paper towel and plasticware replacements… I,too, have sent small care packages more for my benefit than his. </p>

<p>Dashing off again but keeping all my CC friends in my thoughts…</p>