<p>A favorite safety - we need a new acronymn for that! Congrats akmom124 on all your daughter is accomplishing!</p>
<p>eyemamom - My heart goes out to you and your daughter. What a terribly difficult thing to be going through. Praying for your peace and comfort during this time of difficult decisions.</p>
<p>akmom124 - so glad to hear your daughter was able to reconnect with the interviewer and set up another meeting.</p>
<p>Congratulations to all with wonderful incoming news on scholarships, National Merit Finalists, honors college acceptance, etc!</p>
<p>way to go everyone!! @eyemamom - so sorry about your cat. 
</p>
<p>Son has two schools left to hear from…April 1 is such a loooong time from now. Of the schools he has been accepted to, he is trying to decide between two - James Madison and Christopher Newport. They are quite different from each other and there are aspects he likes about both. He was deferred from the honors program at JMU, and accepted to the honors and leadership programs at CNU (which comes with reduced core curriculum, a small scholarship, and travel stipend). As of now, he intends to continue his education after attaining his 4-year degree. Any thoughts or things to consider about these schools?</p>
<p>Congratulations to all with all of this amazing news!! Keep it coming and spread the good luck charm. </p>
<p>eyemamom, losing a pet is never easy. Dealing with the pain now surrounded by the family is better than when she is on her own in college. </p>
<p>Thanks for the thoughts on the cat, I’m sitting here watching her now debating how much longer. And we told d last night, and of course there are tears.</p>
<p>spritle - d ended up choosing Auburn, but she was accepted into both of the other schools. I like both, I don’t think there can be a wrong decision. If my opinion counts for anything, I feel like the education is more personalized at Christopher Newport, but I have a feeling with it being a dry campus, there isn’t much going on there on the weekends. I feel like James Madison has more school spirit, but less available off campus. Plus CNU requires 3 years on campus, and I think the dorms are a bit on the dumpy side - many with no a/c at JMU. </p>
<p>@eyemamom We had to face this same decision just before Christmas. It is always hard, no matter how things go. Hang in there.</p>
<p>@chrysanthMum Here here for a successful real life for our kids! </p>
<p>eyemamom - So sorry about the sad news about your cat. We had that decision to make about our prior dog when DS 11 was just beginning his freshman year and our cat a few years before. We weren’t even sure the dog would make it through the summer but he did and DS knew when he left for school that he probably wouldn’t see him again. It’s very sad and hard to go through - even harder to watch your kids go through it. Sending soothing thoughts your was!</p>
<p>I am so sorry to hear about your cat, eyemamom. We have a beloved feline too.</p>
<p>eyemamom, hugs to you and your daughter. We’ve been there and I still cry almost 2 years later. I agree with others that it’s so much better to happen now, with loving family to cry with. </p>
<p>Next topic of conversation - random roommate or pick someone from that survey site? Where d is attending housing is first come first serve. D was signed up the very first day back in October. In fact she applied so early because we knew the story with housing. When I called the housing office yesterday, the woman essentially assured us d would get her first choice housing location. However, if you pick your roommate you go by the last date of deposit. D is essentially first in line right now. </p>
<p>Do you think there is any difference in choosing someone from these survey sites or going totally random? </p>
<p>Spritle - As you said, JMU and Christopher Newport are very different schools. I have friends with kids at each of the schools, and they all seem to be very happy. Haven’t been on a tour, but Christopher Newport has a beautiful campus and I’ve heard some of the nicest dorms in VA. I never knew it was a dry campus. JMU is very popular with many of the students from our high school, and does seem to have great school spirit. Have you visited both? As eyemamom said, I don’t think there can be a wrong decision. Have you considered an overnight visit at each (not sure if they offer them), just to get a better feel for where he’s more comfortable? If they have “Accepted Students Day” at each school, that might help too.</p>
<p>D14 received a big envelope from Grinnell College yesterday. She was not expecting to hear anything this month, and was pleasantly surprised. They offered her a decent scholarship, but I don’t think it’s enough to convince her to move to the land of corn. She liked everything about Grinnell except the location.</p>
<p>Back to the waiting game…</p>
<p>We’ve got plane tickets for Thursday night for a long weekend of New England college visits. Just in time to leave the projected 10" of snow to head to the 18" region. Out of the frying pan and into the fire? </p>
<p>I also just got an invite to write a parent recommendation. I keep thinking we can relax but the deadlines just keep coming.</p>
<p>No national merit finalist notification here in VT yet. Since he did not get a rejection, and has no reason to assume he would be rejected, I assume that the notification will arrive here soon, but I’ll feel better when it’s in our hands!</p>
<p>@MathMomVT, yes, that piece of paper does matter. You are right though - the rejection went out a few weeks ago. So if your DS did not get one then he should get his NM finalist letter any day now. Also, you can always call the NM Corporation to confirm his status if you don’t want to wait for the letter. </p>
<p>Congrats to all the NM Finalists! </p>
<p>Trying to stay positive here- I’ll be thankful this last grad school class is so demanding because it keeps me from obsessing over college decisions until shortly before they will be released :)</p>
<p>I feel like it is the calm before the storm- although I have to get some tax forms faxed this week.</p>
<p>@eyemamom I was worried about when to make that decision for my beloved alaskan malamute a few years back. The reality is… you’ll just know when it is time. Trust your gut. You’ll know. It’s so tough to lose a pet. They are so much a part of our families. </p>
<p>Thank you Mr. Weatherman. D was originally scheduled to attend an advanced HOBY program in Alabama this coming weekend, leaving Thursday morning and returning on Monday the 17th. An unannounced senior class program was then scheduled for Thursday and Friday so she reluctantly had to cancel HOBY. Since she was a state HOBY rep and a past WLC attendee, they were kind and gave her a full program refund. That left me with a non-refundable Delta flight that was worth about the cost of the change fee. To my surprise I received an email early this moring advising us that her flight to Birmingham via Atlanta on Thursday had been cancelled. They wanted to rebook her on Friday afternoon. After 40 minutes on hold I got an agent, explained that Friday wouldn’t work and was able to get a full refund. Thank you Mr. Weatherman! My apologies for all of you in the south and east coast who are in the way of the coming ice and snow.</p>
<p>Have many of you noticed the “push” that the accepted schools are now making? Once of D’s safety schools that she will not be attending is really pushing for the deposit and housing selection form. Her second safety is now pushing their accepted students weekend which just happens to require an enrollment depost! (refundable to May 1st according to the fine print) Rather an interesting way to gain a few enrollment commitments. I guess they are trying to lock these kids in before the late March decisions are released and the kids change their minds for one of their RD schools.</p>
<p>We are heading to Roanoke College this weekend (weather looks good on Sunday…they day we drive there), for their Scholarship Competition program. She has already got a nice merit package from them and I’m hoping that she can earn another nice sum. Anyway, we’ve already submitted our enrollment deposit and she’s really looking forward to attending. Wish us well for the Monday competion! </p>