<p>arisamp, we’re enjoying the first year of empty-nesterhood. ShawWife is doing a project on a much bigger scale than she had attempted in recent years. Later, we’re spending Mother’s Day weekend in Barcelona. </p>
<p>Nonetheless, I suspect that TheDad is on target. There will be plenty of other times to live through and perhaps supply guidance along the way. </p>
<p>We’ve already done a transfer. Now housing. ShawD doesn’t like dorm living or dorm food. She had arranged to get an apartment with another transfer student whom she liked. As a transfer into the school only a month ago, she didn’t know a lot of people to room with. I was a bit concerned that, because the girl was living at home in a town of much more modest means than our town, she might only be able to afford and apartment in a less safe neighborhood (I mentioned this to ShawD and said she might have to arrange to pay more and maybe take the bigger bedroom) or might need to live at home. The night before ShawD was required to put in a deposit for a dorm room, the girl’s mother told her she needed to live at home. So, ShawD called in tears. I was in the midst of running a meeting, and told her I’d call that night. By the time I could call her, she was looking at online ads for people who have apartments but need roommates.</p>
<p>mamom- good luck finding someone for your son. It is a difficult decision.</p>
<p>Am I the only one who is looking at the threads in the “List of Colleges” where my D1 applied to see the results coming in? I am so glad that I don’t have to worry about it this year! I didn’t discover CC until after D1 had made her decision. Part of me is so very glad, since it would have sent me over the edge last year.</p>
<p>D1 forwarded me an email that named her as a top freshman scholar. It is based upon the first 3 terms of grades, and only 22% of her class has this distinction. She can compete for the “Outstanding Freshman” award, which comes with a cash award, but she has to write the dreaded essay. She told me that she doesn’t want to write the essay. I reminded her that the cash award would pay for books for the year, or rent, or a number of things. I also told her that the majority of kids won’t even write the essay, so she has a great shot. In HS, she won several scholarships, since she was one of the few who took the time to apply (plus she was all round amazing ). By the end of the conversation, I may have convinced her to at least write the essay.</p>
<p>Good Morning, Feeling like a Zombie but have to say Hunger Games was great! Fun crowd of kids dressed up and it was a fun night. I actually stayed awake!</p>
<p>Made D get up and go to school today as did 5 of the 6 girls who went with us. I would have let her skip if I had my way but my husband was adamant that its one of life lessons, that even though you had a great time and no sleep you still have responsibilities! Ugh he is so virtuous at times!! But he is right I think…I’ll let you know when I wake up!</p>
<p>SHaw, So sorry for your d and her housing woes. It must be extremly hard being a transfer student and moving off campus. I wish her luck and hope she finds a good roommate and is still able to get involved in Campus Life and find her group of friends!</p>
<p>Well off to conquer the day! Mamom and Pepper, how did you like the movie?></p>
<p>“chatted” with kiddo1 via FB last night. I had tried calling and then tried contact via FB. Sometimes I think smoke signals are the next method. Seems kiddo1 's phone hasn’t been charged in a looong time. So it was in the charger.</p>
<p>Seems to be feeling better–PT everyday and we are praying the injury heals well. </p>
<p>Summer plans—hmm well kiddo1 mentioned potentially coming home and training for sport here and going to int’l events from here. Both $ and time away from home seem to be factors. Expected kiddo would do as in years past and train in another city/travel int’l and we’d only get 1 week before and after for a “visit” before going back to the U.<br>
If kiddo1 comes home and trains here–depending on the schedule - it may open time for a job this summer.
The hitch–kiddo1 is considering changing engineering fields/majors and also pursuing a masters…</p>
<p>So–the contacts DH has to help kiddo find an internship will be thinner in this newer field. DH had options to help kiddo with contacts in the original engineering fields…this one- not so much.</p>
<p>I had just suggested that kiddo1 consider doing a summer program for language–and to explore if there was room last minute for the class and overseas immersion part. We had lived in the country years ago and it would be a great way for kiddo1 to finish the language requirement…
Kiddo is concerned it is too much time away from training given the level of competition/varsity commitment for the U.
10 weeks of no training would put kiddo at a distinct disadvantage. </p>
<p>Kiddo2 has 2 weeks booked for summer. The rest of the plans for kiddo2 will fall into place in the next 2 weeks.
DH has plans for a week going in one direction.
I have plans for a week in a different direction.</p>
<p>EAO-- I think the lack of friends locally is probabaly similar for all… DH and I were just talking about how kiddo1s freinds are all at the U now…any highschool peeps are spread out, different Us, and frankly they didn’t get together much over the holidays. In kiddo1’s case, kiddo outgrew those highschool relationships. So your DD really just has the opportunity to start fresh.</p>
<p>EAO, thanks for the concern. Interestingly, the CC parent who organized a hospital shadowing day for ShawD and then suggested that ShawD apply to her current school, said that when ShawD starts nursing clinical work (thanks CC), she will bond with the other nursing students. ShawD is strong on the social skill front so I don’t think the social isolation will be a long-run problem. </p>
<p>What we are seeing is perhaps too much of a reliance on old relationships now that she is back in the same metropolitan area in which she grew up. Two nights ago, she had dinner at her aunt’s house. Last night, a friend who is a senior at her HS stopped by our house to pick up some summer clothes (shorts, sandals) and drove in to have dinner with ShawD. She might come home for the weekend as ShawSon and GF are here. But, she’s a resilient kid with good social skills who doesn’t really like dorms or academic-style classes (e.g., the freshman writing class or the class on the history of nursing) but loves people and practical classes (e.g., anatomy and physiology). ShawWife and I loved college – both the classes and the social relationships we built – so we’re sad that ShawD is not really enjoying either that much. But, I think it is OK. So far, she’s appears to be doing very well or really well in her classes, which is comforting. Next year, she’ll be out of the dorm, will make friends when she starts doing the non-classroom work, and will rely to some extent on prior relationships for a while.</p>
<p>One odd thing is that she isn’t drawing on a connection she started to cultivate. A couple of kids invited her to events at Harvard Hillel/AEPi and she met several guys there who have been texting her and inviting her to events. For reasons unclear to me, she isn’t picking up on that opportunity.</p>
<p>EAO, did you move after the last kid went to college? We’ve been contemplating buying another house in another city and downsizing this one – although ShawD’s return to the city (we are in the sub/exurbs) is causing us to delay.</p>
<p>I am surprised. Both of my DS’s closest friends are home this week, as is he on his spring break, and he hasn’t made an effort to connect. I had not thought he had outgrown them or made as close friends at school yet, but perhaps he is moving in that direction.</p>
<p>“FAFSA and Profile…anyone done with theirs for next year?”</p>
<p>Done over the weekend and hit submit on Monday, as I had one question to ask FAFSA and no customer service on the weekends. </p>
<p>So glad to not having it hanging over our heads even though deadline isn’t until May 1. </p>
<p>Been v busy working in my gardens for days now, among other things. Just couldn’t help myself since it’s been so beautiful out, but I’m absolutely knackered today. </p>
<p>Shaw - my D is also very social but had a rocky start in Boston. She didn’t love her major and found it more difficult to integrate socially than her friends at campus oriented schools. I never thought in a million years that the transition would be difficult for her - she is well traveled, social, and independent. But for some reason, Boston just overwhelmed her at first and she lost her confidence for a bit. It took some time for her to feel comfortable - she too does not love dorm life or dorm food. She likes her creature comforts. Her biggest complaint is that she is tired of being tired…dorm life as well as city life means that she is “on” 24/7. Having said that, this semester she is thriving. She changed her major, joined a sorority (something I didn’t think she would ever do - it just isn’t the kid I know), and joined several clubs on campus. As a result, she is meeting all kinds of people all over Boston. Now she loves it. She has finally embraced Boston as her “campus” - but to be honest, she needed to visit friends at other schools to see what she thought she was missing. Her conclusion - she is not missing a thing, but her friends are missing out ont he urban experience. Sometimes it just takes time.</p>
<p>gsmomma-Congrats! I wish I could (or knew how to) convince my S to write essays for scholarship applications. I have told him many times that any scholarship awarded will be his money to buy books or to spend since the scholarship will help us to reduce the tuition payment. He has had a great GPA last semester and I am so frustrated he does not try to apply while he would ask us for spending money.</p>
<p>Our taxes were filed and FAFSA completed. We owed tax. :(</p>
<p>Round 2 of the FAFSA and Profile corrections.
Somehow I just “see” it better on paper so it means working with my highlighter and red marking pen to mark up last years copy and to insert the new #s etc.
Pulling last years tax returns–why on earth they go back to last year when the U already has that I have no idea…
and then calling accountant to ask about aid issues etc.
I appreciate there are people who enjoy doing these sorts of things for a living because it is decidedly not my strong suit.</p>
<p>On the tax front, we overpaid so get a refund. Self employed makes it hard to guesstimate the quarters and so on… Prefer to get it as close as possible</p>
<p>gsmomma - congratulations on the great job D has done so far. Sympathies with the rising tuition - I expect most of us will hear similar news soon. Is there a ceiling to these costs?</p>
<p>Almost done with taxes - will need to attack the FAFSA next. D’s school was good enough to give us a small grant last year, despite out EFC being very high and I am hoping they will do the same again this year. Especially since our income did dip a bit </p>
<p>In other news, D went to the premiere of Hunger games last night and complained this morning that she was exhausted. Hmm… you think ?? She also has bad seasonal allergies and was really down this morning. But of course, she wouldn’t dream of skipping practice tonight ! Her friends are planning to take her out for dinner (early birthday celebration) - so more on tap for tonight before she heads out tomorrow for the weekend with the team. Ugh - this girl doesn’t do anything easy…</p>
<p>Hey Everyone…
Remember the discussion about whether or not our kids need to insure their stuff…
And you think well, what would get ruined and how…or what would get stolen etc…and where…</p>
<p>Fire sprinklers…I had thought about a fire/water damage and hadn;t thought about a kid trying to kill a bug and accidently setting it off. I did hear once about someone trying to hang something from a sprinkler head in the ceiling and not realizing it would pull open the system… :rolleyes:</p>
<p>I just made copies of our 1040’s and W2’s to send in to the school and realized that we also need to do the verification form, so worked on that. In the process I went in to automatically pull numbers from the IRS to the FAFSA (not sure why I didn’t do that from the beginning).</p>
<p>Just by clicking a couple of buttons to do the transfer, D’s eligibility for the PELL Grant went down from the full $5500 to $3400. Not sure why, our income went down by $15,000 (though her personal income did go up, but not by that much, the PELL grant was reduced by more than the increase in her income).</p>
<p>I am just frustrated, I thought we were low income last year and this year was worse, and now the PELL grant is down. I hope the school pulls through with some other institutional aid or something.</p>
<p>bajamm, that doesn’t sound right at all. Can you find the Pell eligibility rules and see if you can figure out what is going on, or if you think there’s an error somehow, call the school financial aid office. Maybe PM one of the financial aid experts on CC?</p>
<p>fog- We bought the NSSI insurance after reading about it on CC. I am glad we did. D splilled some water on her laptop, and they will pay to have it repaired. According to D, it was 'only a little water…" but, that is all it takes.</p>
<p>bajamm- I would call the FA office at the school to see if they can explain what happened. It doesn’t seem right.</p>
<p>We estimated FAFSA for both our returning son and our 12th grade daughter before 2/1, then updated with actual data after getting taxes back from accountant a couple weeks later. I also filed CSS profile for daughter - it was not required for son this year.</p>
<p>We owe Federal taxes… e-filed on 2/17 but planned to hold off paying until sometime in early April… I expected the IRS link through FAFSA to be available the first week in March based on our filing date. I checked every day for two weeks through mid-March and still nothing. I called both the IRS and FAFSA folk on a couple different occasions, but was on hold for up to 90 minutes, before eventually giving up. Has anyone else encountered this?</p>
<p>My son’s college told me not to worry about it - as long as I met all the IDOC requirements and eventually linked to IRS through FAFSA, when it did become available to me. DI hasn’t finalized her school choice yet… so I started to get concerned about FA obligations for her. I was chatting with the mother of one of her friends, who is in the same boat and equally frustrated. She read somewhere the IRS processes refunds OWED TO taxpayers first, then they process tax payments RECEIVED, and they eventually get to the other groups of returns… received but UNPAID (like mine), and then OVERDUE taxes, etc. She suggested that MAY be the order, in which, people’s account become available for linking.</p>
<p>So my husband and I went ahead and paid our Federal taxes mid-week. It’ll be interesting to see if the IRS link through FAFSA suddenly becomes available for both of my kiddos sometime in the next several days.</p>
<p>Tuition/room/board increase of 3.5% at DS’s school. Ugh. We’re hoping DS will choose to live off campus after next year. Very easy where he is and much more affordable. Right now he seems to enjoy the comfort and ease of the dorm although he does hate sharing the bathrooms.</p>
<p>We do not have DS insured at school but did ask him if they have fire drills/issues. His answer, “The fire alarms go off all the time, but it’s just kids smoking pot. The fire department doesn’t come anymore.” Umm…RA? Dean? Someone??</p>
<p>Good moring all. I was all set to file taxes a couple of weeks ago and reviewed accountant’s business return and K-1 and found that he wasn’t provided everything from our bookkeeper and numbers didn’t make sense. He had to redo the business return which in turn changed personal returns but the changes were in our favor. I will complete the filing today then I have to do simple returns for S and efile them from TurboTax. Next is FAFSA and the CSS IDOC forms but as a second year I think all I have to do is the FAFSA and the IRS link. Glad I caught the mistake as it would have raised our EFC and income and filing an amended return with FA involved could have been a real hassle. :(</p>
<p>When all that is done (in between NCAA basketball games), I need to cut the grass! :eek: We are usually still dealing with snow but this year I have to start cutting the grass already. Looks like a long spring and summer (not complaining - I like the warmer weather!) :)</p>
<p>AvonMom is doing well with her physical therapy and is looking forward to spring break vacation in two weeks with sun, fun, spa and lots of R & R. :)</p>
<p>For those with HS seniors, next week is the announcement week. Good luck to all who have been waiting since the beginning of the year. Then the SS Indecision will be sailing. I am not Captaining the ship this year. My rotation doesn’t come back up until 2014. :D</p>
<p>Regarding Pell grant differences. Is it possible the federal gov’t reduced the amount of Pell one can receive? I sort of, kind of, remember hearing something about Pell being cut but, tbh, I didn’t pay all that close attention. </p>
). By the end of the conversation, I may have convinced her to at least write the essay.</p>
</p>