<p>Sending prayers out for 1Dilecon’s son and hearty congrats to Momreads on the full tuition scholarship. Congrats also to AKMom124’s D on the new acceptances and scholarships. What a nice surprise to come back to after being away!</p>
<p>Hard to believe that 2014 will soon be here. Spent the day shopping for graduation outfit for K2. Glad to have that checked off the list of things to do. The fall semester seemed to flow very nicely, I have a funny feeling that the spring semester is going to fly by quickly. My weekend task was to create a spread sheet of dates for possible scholarship interviews and admitted student days so that we could stay on top of the dates given K2’s spring sport. Some dates have been posted, others I have tried to glean from old CC posts. Would be so much easier if all acceptances were in hand now instead of 4/1.</p>
<p>I agree - and I hope the same applies to your guy. Seriously, the worst thing for my guy was the time he couldn’t drive. In the grand stage of life, that’s not so bad, but for a teen… It’s over now and he’s driving just like his peers.</p>
<p>May things go well for you (and him, of course) as this gets figured out.</p>
<p>The boy’s Eagle paperwork made it through for 2013 so we very hurriedly joined NESA and he applied for scholarships through them. <em>fingers crossed</em> Last minute- due tomorrow! Very minor essays. I told him the membership to NESA is my Eagle gift to him. It’s a five year membership. </p>
<p>He has another essay that must get finished today. One more app due the 9th and one due the 15th. I’m strongly encouraging he get those done before he goes back to school. He also has homework(!) to do.</p>
<p>I do believe he has decided to drop one of his schools from the list. He finished the other supplement due on the 1st. If he drops the one due on the 9th, then there’s just one more- the 15th. But he does agree that should be done before school starts up again.</p>
<p>And just like that, we have a decision. Dd1 wants to accept tuition exchange. The school has been her number one choice since she heard about their participation in an annual international math modeling competition. She had a brief flirtation with another school, but told me to send in a deposit. </p>
<p>Will be following all the other journeys with interest! I’ll be waiting for you on the dock May first.</p>
<p>Oh my - the supplemental essay for Pomona is finally done, 2 days ahead of time. It turned out well, and he will submit his app there tomorrow. It’s a reach, and a lottery, and if he got in it might be an interesting time in our household, but phew! It’s done!</p>
<p>Next hurdle will be the 5 question supplemental to Occidental, due Jan 15. Honestly, why a school would have that many questions on an application is beyond me. It seems cruel.</p>
<p>Gosh! Everyone’s families have a lot going on! I hope the health issues get resolved. There are some great acceptances with merit money- how wonderful! DS 14 had decided not to finish the app to his ultra reach school (Stanford.) His dad is disappointed that he isn’t following through- all he has left is two supplemental essays of 250 words. I am disappointed as well, but I understand that it is ultimately his journey. It was never his “dream school” but we have encouraged him to put himself out there and reach. He has applied to 8 fine schools and put a lot of effort into those apps, so we need to get over it and be proud of how he did follow through on those. Now I am managing the community scholarship process- he passed paper screening for one and has an interview in a week, sent another one off, and has several more to apply for. We also must turn our attention to FAFSA and CSS- we have done these for three years already for DS 11. Oh joy! Now we get to do it for BOTH kids. DS 11 will be a college senior, so at least we only have to do double for one year. It will probably be the only year we get decent aid to boot! Enjoy the new year everyone!</p>
<p>Moonmaid… congrat’s on the Pomona app!! I have a good feeling about it. We live close to the school, and my S went to check out Pitzer, but fell in love with Pomona… too bad it was just too much of a reach for him. GREAT school though, in every way. I had to laugh at your OXY supplement thoughts. OXY was on my S’s list. We visited last year and he REALLY liked it. It is SO beautiful and just a very happy, friendly vibe to it. I happened to look on the CA at their supplement… GEEZ!!! I seriously can’t believe it… I think my S would have eventually scratched it off his list if it came down to him actually applying… thank god it didn’t… I wish your S luck:))</p>
<p>Moonmaid, I agree that for a writing-averse kid a five question supplemental is cruel (unless it is like U Maryland: a bunch of tweet-sized responses plus two 300-worders). </p>
<p>Then there is the roller coaster of having to get into the “this is the perfect school for me” mindset then having to totally switch gears for the next supplement. </p>
<p>Of course, all this stress pales next to real health crises. I really can’t complain. I wouldn’t be surprised, though, if high school stress sometimes tips the balance for at-risk kids. I know someone who has been struggling most of this year with a difficult-to-diagnose illness. Rough. Thinking of all of you and trying to count our own blessings.</p>
<p>My S is finally done with CA submissions! 11 in all - he has one deferral to RD and an acceptance to UVM w/ presidential scholarship. UVM was a last minute add but S is very happy with the acceptance. It will be interesting to see how it all turns out…good luck everyone and Happy New Year!</p>
<p>The last day of 2013… and 2014 will bring such big changes (empty nest for us)! It’s kind of an interesting thing to ponder with both pros and cons.</p>
<p>Meanwhile, a reminder to anyone living in PA that our gas tax goes up 10cents tomorrow… our “to do” list includes filling up.</p>
<p>Ordinarylives - welcome to the “finished with decision” club!</p>
<p>May submissions and waiting go well for everyone outside the club!</p>
<p>I still need to nag about scholarship apps… and homework due Thurs… I’m not going to miss that part when the empty nest comes. I’ll be praying he’s keeping up at college instead!</p>
<p>Creekland, we are like you – big changes as we, too, become empty nesters in 2014. My oldest son says that we’ll get bored, so we need a puppy. No, we don’t! After spending all these years picking up after two boys (and their dad), I’m not interested in a puppy. I need some quiet time.</p>
<p>Oh, and thanks for the warning about PA gas prices. Husband works there part of the year. It will be a sticker shock for him driving around.</p>
<p>Son '14 made a college decision. He plans to finish the supplement, which is just 200 or so words, for one school interested in his ability to run, but dropped another from his list. He admitted that he was quite humbled with two, full tuition offers and another near full offer. This is my “little emotion” kid. He never thought he could be contending for big merit money for school. Now he needs to focus on additional scholarships (fees are not cheap at any school, and neither are books) and continuing to improve his distance running times. His older brother thought he made a wise decision regarding college apps – the kid has a lot on his plate, so one fewer app will not kill him. He needs to worry about a huge AP English paper due next week. That’s his last major thing to do for the semester, he said. He should be exempt from finals, which is good as he and his dad have a college trip to three southern schools planned. After that trip, he’ll probably come a little closer to making a decision on where he will be in the fall.</p>
<p>Meanwhile, the older son is anxiously awaiting his LSAT score so he can apply to schools. He has about seven on his list.</p>
<p>Happy new year’s eve, everyone! DS hit submit on his last app a couple of days ago so now we wait. Thankfully it is stress free with two acceptances already, both with good merit money. </p>
<p>However, I am still shepherding my younger child through her application process to the same magnet school that her brother attends. This school is quite competitive, with an admission rate of about 15% and its process mimics the college one. Four years ago when DS was applying I said that it was good practice for college and I was right. We shall find out in a couple of weeks if DD made it to the semifinal stage after the entrance exam, at which point she will have to approach teachers for LORs, craft essays, complete an activity sheet, etc.</p>
<p>Momreads, in anticipation of the empty nest, we adopted a cat. Be careful about saying what won’t happen! (Honestly, although I’m more of a dog person, I, too, just don’t think I’d want the work that goes with a puppy.)</p>
<p>DD hit submit on her last app to Princeton last night! Mega reach but she loved it when we toured last June. I arranged for all her test scores to get where they needed to go the day before so she’s all set to just wait. Only needs to contact one alum interviewer for one school and then wait to be contacted for alum interviews for three others.</p>
<p>Re adopting pets, a month after DS11 left for school we lost our 12 year old dog. I didn’t even last a week in a mostly empty house before I was looking for a new companion. We now have a two year old labradoodle who is a lovable bundle of energy. DD calls him her little brother and DS comes home to see him (more than us)! DD thinks we should adopt another puppy after she leaves but he’s enough! I’m just not sure what he’ll do when we have an empty nest next year. He stands at the door looking out the side windows waiting for them to come home every day and is so excited to see them! I’ve started agility training him so we’ll have something to keep us both busy next year.</p>
<p>Happy New Year to all! We’re going out tonight to DD’s friend’s house. The kids all gather in the basement and the parents are all upstairs and it’s a wonderful time! I love the kids and the parents all get along so it really is a great time for all involved. We see them when they emerge for dinner and at midnight!</p>