<p>MERRY CHRISTMAS & HAPPY HOLIDAYS!! Its been so nice to hear about everyone’s traditions!!!</p>
<p>I’ve been CRAZY busy the last week and it was a strange Christmas for me. It’s the first time EVER I’ve been without D13 & S16 for both Christmas Eve & Christmas Day as they are at their dad’s out of state. They’re excited because it may snow. :)</p>
<p>Christmas traditions here are pretty funny. Mom’s family is German (mostly) from the midwest and my dad’s is Cuban. So, Cubans celebrate Christmas Eve. Lech</p>
<p>deadlines - I agree you should ask her if there’s any way she thinks she can get it done. And, there’s no harm in apologizing that she doesn’t have it (you are sorry she doesn’t have it, whatever the reason) and saying that you thought you had provided it right away. If she says no, then explain the situation to another teacher. Also, if you have a contact, send an email to the college/scholarship/internship getting the letter and ask if there’s any flexibility on the LOR.</p>
<p>tootired - glad your D is feeling better. It’s no fun when the kids are sick.</p>
<p>Congrats, ConfusedMom - and feel better!</p>
<p>SteveMA - that’s wonderful news! Wish him luck!</p>
<p>Congrats Galaxy!</p>
<p>DDHM - feel better. And thanks for the reminder. We, too, did a minimal Christmas this year but are having loads of fun playing silly board games.</p>
<p>cari - most schools seem to be somewhat flexible about the school/teacher material.</p>
<p>Flurries here finally - enough to watch out the window but not sticking. Ah well, it’s something. :)</p>
<p>3rd Christmas celebration just ended…tired and glad to be in pajamas with dh and kids. S15 has been sick for 3 days - stinks to be sick during break and he is missing his tough training for swimming which he is not happy about! </p>
<p>Suppose to get 4-6 inches of snow tonight - hope it is just a little - </p>
<p>D13 handled college questions pretty well but she is glad they are over for now - now that the relatives have left! Everyone has an opinion! UGH!!! </p>
<p>I’m in the basement. Watching Ted as our Annual Inappropriate Christmas Movie. </p>
<p>The 'rents are here and we (I) am hoping for a damn blizzard tomorrow. Christmas was good, but I’m glad to be sliding into some stinky poo and hopefully some awesome rose smelling stuff later in March. </p>
<p>I have no idea what I just typed. I. Love. Bourbon. Merry Christmas.</p>
<p>Congrats to all the great news! I hope everyone who celebrates Christmas had a good one. I sure did! I got quite a bit of things that I know for sure I’m taking to college with me…including a new, purple HP laptop! (: I’m so excited! Just thought I’d share!</p>
<p>College news: I’ve decided that I’m going to attend either Emerson or Quinnipiac, so, I don’t see the point in applying to more schools. The only RD school I already applied to back in October was UConn. So, I’ll hear from them in March, and I will receive financial aid from my other schools around them, too. I’m happy. I just have to pay my dad back for the money he spent on sending 3 schools the CSS profile that I’m not applying to anymore, which I’m fine with.</p>
<p>This is great. I’m prepared to take on a lot of loans in the future, but my biggest project right now is to apply to as many scholarships as possible, even the smaller ones, because they all add up in the end.</p>
<p>Walker … You are the greatest. LOL!! Slide over and make room on the couch. I was going to bring some coquito & Captain Morgan, but I think the bourbon you’re drinking is much more effective. Tell me the brand and I’ll bring another bottle.</p>
<p>DDHM - sorry to hear about the health problems … You’re in my thoughts!</p>
<p>Annie - glad D’s fever is down. Hope she feels better soon!</p>
<p>Swizzle - you’re such a wise soul. Glad you have narrowed down your options & hope you can enjoy your senior year a bit!! Like you, my d got some college stuff for Christmas @ her dad’s (microwave, desk lamp, gift card for linens) & she doesn’t know it but I have some generic college goodies for her too! </p>
<p>Hope you are all having a wonderful day regardless of what your family celebrates. :)</p>
<p>DDHM—I hope you have a very HEALTHY year! Please, keep reminding us of what is really important. We so often lose sight of it. Our lives get so busy and complicated and distracting.
Swizzle, keep up with your great attitude. It will all work out.
To everyone who has joined, re-joined or came out of the lurkers corners, Welcome!
Congratulations to anyone I have forgotten.
I’ve been off a couple of days, so, getting back and reading everything has gotten me confused. I hope I am not missing anything or anyone’s story/announcement!
Here’s to family, friends, and all the support from CC’ers.</p>
<p>It’s been so nice to read about everyone’s good news on acceptances, etc. and everyone’s various holiday traditions. Congratulations to all with good news and lots of hope and good wishes to those dealing with deferrals, rejections and more serious struggles of whatever kind.</p>
<p>I always stress about Xmas (meals, getting right gifts for everyone, entertaining out of town relatives, etc.) and everything always ends up working out just fine. Fairly long day today as we had an early Xmas morning with folks having to fly out late afternoon to return home for work tomorrow (bummer they had to leave today but nice to have had previous 5 days with them).</p>
<p>DD13 got her first real concrete college news. We arrived home late Friday night to find a letter announcing that she is a finalist for an arts merit scholarship at one of her 8 colleges and that she is invited to campus to audition in January. Her question to me was “Does this mean that I’ve been accepted to the college…?” I said I didn’t know but that it certainly seems to bode well. I wouldn’t think they would make too many students finalists for a scholarship if they don’t think the student can hack it academically … but I guess we won’t know anything for sure until march. Sigh…</p>
<p>I am just very relieved to hear something positive. All D’s schools are RD (she couldn’t decide on a #1 and none of her choices offered EA). The good news is that she insists she doesn’t really have a favorite and will be thrilled to attend any of the schools on her list. I think she has a pretty good college list (some very high reaches but also several “targets” and I think at least two “likelies”) but I catch myself panicking from time to time. Sometimes I think she could miraculously end up accepted everywhere and sometimes I think the worst will happen and she will be rejected everywhere (even though her very experienced GC insists that her “safety” is truly a safety for her even with holistic admissions). </p>
<p>Another positive is that DD is now somewhat energized to finish up the rest of her supplemental essays (she wrote one Xmas eve and has one or two more to go I think) and organize sending her arts supplement to about 3 more schools (each college has different instructions/portals, etc. as to how to send this supplement…a lot to keep track of). I think she has 5 more apps to completely finalize.</p>
<p>The goal is to have all the buttons pushed and/or DVDs in the mail by 12/28 for Jan 1 deadlines.</p>
<p>There is one more due Jan 15 but D wants to drop. Says she doesn’t want to apply anymore (that one was my choice as an LAC that I think is a slightly less selective than some of her reaches and a bit less isolated than most on her list in case she changes her mind on location between now and March). Oh well.</p>
<p>Because I have time, I was going to get started on the kids’ FAFSA’s, since we have to do 2 of them this year. I can’t remember, can I put information in now, get the PIN’s, etc. and then add more later or is it like the Common App that they delete accounts when they update the system over the 1st? I looked on the website but couldn’t find anything.</p>
<p>@Steve… I believe you only have to do it once. I went to a college financial aid seminar and they said it didn’t matter how many kids you have (assuming same parents) that you do it once and copy the info over to the other kid. I haven’t looked at it yet so I cannot verify or deny.</p>
<p>I am back at work after a very, very busy and festive 4 days off. We hosted 10 people for breakfast yesterday and then 20 for dinner, so the house is a mess, so the good news is that hopefully it will be cleaned up while I am at work.</p>
<p>My boys (17 & 20) gave each other Star Wars Light Sabers for Christmas which was the highlight for them. </p>
<p>There was no college discussions what-so-ever the past few days, so I left DS a mini “to-do” list when I left for work. </p>
<p>I hope everyone enjoyed their holiday. </p>
<p>Steve: I don’t know the answer to your question. I remember the counselor telling us to celebrate New Years and then on January 1st to fill out the FAFSA, so I have always waited until after the 1st.</p>
<p>I forgot about the Fin Aid board when I posted that. They said over there that the 13-14 form isn’t available yet so I can’t do that anyway. I do know that you want to get your PIN’s NOW though. It often takes a couple days to get the email with the PIN confirmation on it. You need one for your child and for you. From past experience, use the same PIN’s for both and WRITE THEM DOWN somewhere and print the email and keep it in a folder that you won’t misplace–like taped to your laptop or something :D.</p>
<p>Morning all! Crazy weather the past day; hope all are safe & sound whether you were dealing with snow or tornados!</p>
<p>Steve: I <em>believe</em> you apply for the PIN before you start the FAFSA. I found my PIN from back in 2010 for D1, and now will have D2 apply for her PIN. On the list of things to do today. </p>
<p>I was a dummy & forgot to open a 2nd window before I powered through the thread, so I can’t remember what I wanted to say!</p>
<p>Swizzle: congrats on making some decisions. The only thing that gave me pause was your nonchalant phrase about taking on “lots of loans.” I don’t know what that means to you, but I am very debt adverse especially for undergrad. Please, please, please run some loan calculators before you commit to those loans. A student like you should be able to get through undergrad without having an albatross of loans waiting for you at the end. </p>
<p>Walker: hope you enjoyed your inappropriate movie Santa brought me Ted, but the girls refuse to watch it with DH & I. But we did watch The Campaign together. Which isn’t exactly rated G. </p>
<p>DDHM: sending lots of healing vibes your way!</p>
<p>Galaxy: congrats on those scholarships! You may be the first person I’ve ever heard of who got good $$$ from them. Besides the lottery scholarships, which I don’t think should count as those are for any school in TN.</p>
<p>So, FAFSA. I really don’t know that we’ll qualify for anything, but should I try it anyway? Somewhere I heard (and I’ve got no idea where) that if you think you are ever going to need it, you should apply at the beginning because you can’t later? Next year will be just D, but the following is S14, and before he finishes UG the youngest (S17) will be in school too. Thoughts? Is this something I should even begin to think about or ignore it (which would be my preference, based on a complete lack of understanding and basic suspicions about it not being worthwhile).
Meanwhile, early morning snow has changed to rain. My parents gave S14 a gorgeous Gibson Les Paul guitar, and he is in heaven. He got Beats headphones from “santa” so D is also delighted as the music is not rocking the walls. She is in a mood now because of the insane amounts of HW that she was given for break. Meanwhile the little one is busily playing new video games and relishing a collection of “lazy” clothes- moccasins, sweatshirts, and sweat pants. Oh, and the insanely priced Nike Elite socks, in an array of garish colors. D got an oil painting of the dunes and sea oats with the ocean behind them which is of the Outer Banks in NC. That’s her favorite place in the entire world. I think its the one place she truly relaxes. The painting is stunning; seems to just glow from within. That’s something she will treasure forever. Lucky kid. All of them seemed to have fantastic days yesterday, and I’m jealous that I’m at work and they are lounging about at home! Happy boxing day, everyone.</p>
<p>FAFSA…just spent time trying to retrieve my PIN (who remembers it from years ago?) and getting my son a pin. On 1/1/13 I will do a rough tax filing so I can do the FAFSA. I heard (and I don’t know if it’s true) that the later you wait to fill out the FAFSA, the less potential money you can receive. DS’s #1 school releases admissions results on 01/07…can I send FAFSA to them before they release the results? Today, DS has to do an essay for 5 potential scholarships in engineering at his #3 school…He doesn’t understand that $$ will help determine where he goes so he still needs to keep plugging away…</p>
<p>I put our PINS from the other kids in their accordion files with their loan papers and other school crap. I hope I can find it. I think I know what it is though. Signed up the twins for PIN’s.</p>
<p>89wahoo–yes, fill out the FAFSA. Everyone that fills out the FAFSA qualifies for federal student loans. Some scholarships need the FAFSA, private ones, but their income guidelines are MUCH higher than the federal guidelines but you can’t get those scholarships without the FAFSA. Some schools don’t allow you to apply later if you didn’t freshman year. Our plan is to take out any loans (federal) that the kids are given even if we don’t need them. We will bank those funds to use for med school or grad school since it’s a LOT less expensive to use those funds for that. If they don’t need them we will have them pay on the loans for a year or so to build credit and then use the funds to pay them off after a year or so. It’s CHEEP money to borrow and use that way.</p>
<p>I just entered numbers into Turbo Tax–I think I’ve recovered from my heart attack now–holy CRAP. The feds better fix this AMT/marriage tax/whatever tax thing, QUICKLY or we are looking at a swing of $25,000 from last year holy CRAP!!! We are NOT rich. We can pay our bills, put a little aside for savings, maybe take a small vacation each year but we certainly are not RICH.</p>
<p>Okay, stressing out again now that the holiday - no college talk - ban is over. Two of S’s schools have released the dates of their scholarship weekends. Of course, we don’t know that S will be chosen as a finalist for either, but I am the over planner and wanted to check to make sure I didn’t make any plans those weekends. (just in case ) Well, they are both the same weekend. What do we do if by some lucky chance he gets selected for both schools. </p>
<p>School 1 is his #1 favorite, non-HMFR school. At this school he has an okay chance of getting the award, but it will be a tight squeeze as A LOT of qualified people apply for this scholarship. This scholarship will make the difference of going in debt or not, but we could swing it if he doesn’t get it.</p>
<p>School 2 #3 on his list of non-HMFR schools. He is not blown away with this school, but he likes it. It has a great theater program and is closer to home. He is probably a bigger fish at this school and has a better chance to win this scholarship. He was told on his tour that he would be very competitive for the award. Without this scholarship, he has no chance of going to this school.</p>
<p>Either scholarship would be the equivalent of a free ride. I am assuming that if you can’t make it to the scholars weekends, then you are out of luck. I haven’t mentioned it to S and I doubt he will be selected for both scholarships, but too many years in scouting has me planning for the worse case scenario. Do we pick the school he wants most - or the one that has the higher possibility of being a free ride.</p>
<p>Galaxyfigment–they only have one weekend at both schools? That sure limits how many kids can make it. So far we have had at lest 2 weekends to pick from and 3 weekends at a couple schools. I’m a planner too but I think in this case you need to ride it out and wait for the invites. If he gets an invite to both, call each school and see what their policy is on this. Are they close enough that you can do both in one day??</p>
<p>SteveMA: Congress needs to pass an extension for the AMT tax or else lots of people will be negatively affected perhaps when they deal with “fiscal cliff”.</p>
Santa brought me Ted, but the girls refuse to watch it with DH & I. But we did watch The Campaign together. Which isn’t exactly rated G. </p>