<p>All other things being equal (and they never are), I’d suggest taking a hard look at the specific required courses offered. Do they resonate with the student? What are the breadth/graduation requirements? Language req’ts? How much academic freedom (or not) does the school offer wrt the desired major? Read up on the faculty (and their publications) in the (potential) intended major(s).</p>
<p>If co-op, also look at the specific details of the co-op program for the particular major. We did end up ruling out one school for DS1 when we realized that the CS/Game Design major he was interested had a different co-op pattern than the rest of the CS department, which would have put him “off stream” with many of his likely friends.</p>
<p>Stewing- trying not to…
Calm-trying to remain…</p>
<p>DS has still NOT hit the submit button. :eek: Has a minor tweak to his essay to complete. He is without a doubt a procrastinator.</p>
<p>Welcome aboard, smakl70! So both colleges don’t offer overnights, but do both schools offer admitted students days? When does he have to make a decision? If not until May, he has plenty of time to think about it, and consider any other options that may become available.</p>
<p>Thanks for the Welcome! One school is straight engineering and the other is Jesuit. He would prefer to never take another English class but the requirement at the Jesuit for engineering majors isn’t huge and he would do fine. The engineering school requires more of a how to write a lab and results class instead of English 101. </p>
<p>student4ever:) - I was ready to scream until last week. He finally got the final essays written and they were actually well written. Apparently writing the essays was less dreadful than doing the calculus homework at that moment.</p>
<p>Filled out d’14’s FAFSA last night with 2012 numbers. No surprises. Took under an hour and I kept getting interrupted. I’ve never done a CSS, and have heard they are awful. You have my sympathies.</p>
<p>Still working on the FAFSA based on guestimate of what 2013 numbers will be. Hoping to have it done this week but probably early next week.</p>
<p>I think DD’14 has the right attitude. She’s in the midst of mid-terms this week and heading off for the weekend with friends after she’s done with mid-terms and auditions for the school musical. I told her she needed to leave some time for packing as she’s leaving straight from school and she was listing what she needed to pack - snow clothes and comfy clothes. “I need some more sweatpants.” I said, “Ok, why don’t you buy some once you decide on the school you’re going to.” Her reply, “If I get into any Ivys can I get sweatpants from their even if I can’t afford to go?” (Said with big smile!) Sure - I’ll buy sweatpants! It’s a lot cheaper than 4 years there if we don’t see any aid!</p>
<p>FAFSA (close estimate) is done. Waiting for DS to get home tonight before submitting, since technically he needs to sign it. </p>
<p>For the Profile, does anyone know if the colleges’ priority dates correspond to the submit date or if you have to do it a few days earlier to allow for processing time? I’m less inclined to submit the Profile with estimates, since it can’t be easily updated when you get your real numbers. But we have Feb 1 deadlines, so it needs to be done soon.</p>
<p>SUCCESS!!! DS FINALLY FINISHED COMMON APP AND SUBMITTED TO ALL SCHOOLS!!</p>
<p>Can you tell I’m extremely excited!!! Then I read mathmomvt’s post re: Feb 1 Profile deadline and realized we have the same date for one of DS’s apps. :(</p>
<p>Well onto the FAFSA which shouldn’t be a problem, but getting that Profile done so early seems impossible as we might not even have all required tax info.</p>
<p>eyemamom: Isn’t it just wonderful that everyone knows better than your daughter/family? My son has classmates who just do not understand why he would consider any other place than our state university. Why can’t kids have different interests in different places? Besides, who’s pay the tab? I’ve had people say that they cannot understand why my son wants to head to the deep south for school. Well, he likes it! Warmer weather. Big schools. Big sports (especially football). Solid majors with lots of opportunities. Not everyone wants to return to this area following graduating. Some want to go other places. </p>
<p>At the same time, many southern schools have nice scholarship packages.</p>
<p>By the way, my son could care less what his classmates think. Whenever a guy asks, he shows him photos from his brother’s Facebook. Lots of pretty girls!</p>
<p>I’m not looking forward to April and the need to make a decision, but fortunately my D only applied to schools I’d be happy to see her attend. I keep reminding myself that the biggest cost is the four years of her life she is committing, worth far more than any scholarship package, and it really needs to be the right place for her, not the right place for me.</p>
<p>Getting ready to file FAFSA and CSS for 2 kids- DS11 and DS14 - ugh!
DS14 just won his first community scholarship for $1000. He will apply for about 10 or so.
He has been grumpy lately- his sleep habits were wrecked by winter break. He has all AP classes and golf team this term. My goal is to feed him , keep him healthy, and NAG ( Nurture And Guide) and manage his timelines for the next few months. I will be so relieved when it is all done but sad that it is all done. Sigh …</p>
<p>I love that acronym NAG D applied to all her schools except one and is in waiting mode. The robotics build season started and is keeping her busy. Are your kids doing robotics? How is the build season going so far?</p>
<p>We went through the same experience with S1, when he decided to go to Tulane when we still lived in NY State . No one had heard of it; only 2 or 3 kids of his entire class even went out of state, let alone the northeast. Meanwhile, my son got a great merit aid package, a wonderful education in a unique city, and was well placed there when he decided to try for Tulane Law. He loves his adopted city. Now several kids from our old hometown have gone to Tulane since then, some of very good merit and athletic scholarships. S2 is experiencing the same thing in central Texas - most of his classmates are going to Texas schools. He is, as far as I know, the only one applying to schools in California. As fine as Pomona is, most of his classmates and teachers have never heard of it. I just laugh. There’s a whole world outside of a small window!</p>
<p>I already completed CSS early (have had 7 years of practice with S1 and D) because of S2’s ED app; I’ve already updated it once, and it really isn’t that onerous. I usually like to submit FAFSA after getting taxes done, but will probably have to submit and update this year. Still haven’t received W2s, and our employers usually wait until very close to the end of the month. CSS is just time consuming, but if you have all the documents together ahead of time it isn’t that bad. The good news is that it does get easier each time you do it! lol
S2 has completed ALL of his essays to Oxy. Going to look at them one more time tomorrow before he submits them. Then it’s on to scholarship apps (he has 3-4 good ones that he stands a chance with) and a couple follow up emails to admissions counselors for him.
p.s. he didn’t talk about tattoos tonite; I am letting him get one, it is meaningful and well designed, and related to the health struggles that he, his older brother and his dad all endured this past year. It also won’t be visible when he has a shirt on, which passes my test.</p>
<p>Welcome aboard smakl70. Sounds like you will be sailing with us on the 2014 SS Indecision cruise. We embark on April 1st and return to port no later than April 30th although many passengers will get off along the way at their various ports of choice. :)</p>
<p>I really wish I had done more preparation for this Eagle Court of Honor over my Christmas break. I just wasn’t even thinking about some of the stuff that needed to be done. This thing wouldn’t even be happening if he hadn’t decided to share it with two other boys from his troup- at least the work load is cut by two thirds. But I really should have hunted down pictures and awards and things that are stashed somewhere in the basement before this week! We’re shopping after work tonight for the food and supplies and the next two nights after work, I’ll be cooking. It looks like we’ll have about 120 people there though!</p>
<p>2016BarnardMom, preparing for the Eagle Court of Honor is a stressful but happy time. DS did it with three other boys in the patrol so it was really special. You are right that a shared ceremony will cut down on the work. I also found that it cut down on the costs significantly. Congratulations to your DS!</p>
<p>One of my daughter’s best friends was admitted early action to a school on my daughter’s list. She didn’t do any early applications because her GPA the first half of this year is a full 15 points (unweighted) higher than last year’s GPA–last year was not a good year for a variety of reasons. So we needed schools to be able to consider her mid-year report. But this admission hit my girl hard. Now she’s worried that this will be the school she attends (it’s #2 on her list among the realistic choices) and this girl will want to be her roommate. I told her to blame me (tell her I want her to room with someone she doesn’t know yet) but she decided to pull back and not say anything to her fellow students for now. Easy to say since there will be nothing to say for a long time!</p>
<p>Definitely the cart before the horse, but I don’t think she’ll hear anywhere for at least another 6 weeks, nor anywhere she really wants to go until the end of March. </p>
<p>Ah, the roommate talk . . . most of d’s classmates are headed for the two big state schools (there’s a third, the old Normal teacher’s college, but it’s not as popular) and they are already talking roommates. Definitely cart before the horse. </p>
<p>Sometimes, I think these kids purposely look for things to worry about.</p>
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D applied to all her schools except one and is in waiting mode. The robotics build season started and is keeping her busy. Are your kids doing robotics? How is the build season going so far?</p>