<p>@onlyonemom - when d made her choice I just said - is this a verbal choice or a sweatshirt, sticker on the car choice? She bought something at every college we toured. Even after the sticker was on the car I was willing to change, the deadline is given for a reason. Sometimes they just need to own it for a few days and tell people and see how they feel. </p>
<p>Congratulations everyone!!! This group is so awesome, positve and supportive. I used to read the other threads, but stopped because they all devolve into personal fights pretty fast and not worth the time. I mostly read cc at night before sleeping and login during day time if I want to post something, I do not want any of that negativity right before sleep. </p>
<p>Is any one’s kids having a melt down with AP Lit? She absolutely hates AP Lit now and was going through “what was I thinkging?” mode. I need to remind her not to go for advanced English classes her freshman year. </p>
<p>@stacyneil - love your story my S’s former GF and still good friend must have been at the ASD at Mt Holyoke. - also from Maine -Great story !
@avondad - congratulations - I hope to be paying the deposit soon. @Eyemamom and @collegetime18…thank you ! Boys are hard to figure out…this time around he didn’t seem to care about food choices or amenities -it was about his “gut feel” - nothing else seemed to matter. Well except for research opportunities and there seem to be many options available to him at UVM. </p>
<p>Not just @onlyonemom but ALL of us need to remember, this is THE biggest decision these kids have ever made. We can know that they will be ok as long as they make the most of the opportunities afforded them at any school, but to a lot of them, the course of the rest of their lives is dependent on this single decision. </p>
<p>@staceyneil - I’m so happy for you and your DD! Sounds like she has really found her place!</p>
<p>@AvonHSDad - Congrats Captain on the decision! How fantastic to be done!</p>
<p>@GertrudeMcFuzz - Wow! Just when you think it’s all settled! I hope they tell her today and then you can move forward again, one way or another!</p>
<p>Still no closer to a decision here - maybe by this weekend? Easter guests will include one from each of the three schools on DD’s short list! Hoping she’ll have something to say as I’m sure that will be part of the discussion. Maybe more discussions with her cousin who is at Brown will solidify her choice. I don’t want her to feel pressured to make a decision but it would be nice to know - and be able to let the other schools know she won’t be attending!</p>
<p>@ onlyonemom Not speaking specifically to your story because I don’t know enough, but more generally, my thoughts are these:</p>
<p>I think the college choice is, for many students, (my own included) the first time they have been made to choose between two or more things they would like to do but can only do one. In this day and age, teachers, coaches and parents bend over backwards to accomodate the desires of a student to “do both”. This may be the first time they can’t and, even when choosing a school they love, they are often rejecting another school they love. Sometimes you just can’t have both and it can be a hard lesson the first time</p>
<p>I agree with the big choice thoughts. The most major decision most of them have ever had to make! And not really knowing how they will “fit” where they end up going. I think sometimes they have to sit with it for a few days and sleep on it, even when sometimes it seems like there is an obvious choice. @Quagmiro - the they can’t have both places thought rings true. And it’s even harder when they like certain things about one school and other things about another and then have to figure out which are more important. And the timing with all the AP exams coming up doesn’t help at all!</p>
<p>There is also the “omigod” factor of “What if I choose incorrectly?” or “What if I end up not loving my major and switch to something else?” Both of these feelings are valid, but it really isn’t the end of the world, even if the student has to leave the original choice. Most, if not all, credits will transfer and they will have learned something that DOESN’T work great for them and may make the perfect choice the second time. It isn’t a one-shot deal and it is hard not to think of it that way. I don’t want my kids thinking “Well, if I don’t love it, I’ll just leave.” I’d like them to make their choice work, but it really isn’t permanent. It isn’t as big of a deal as a divorce and I think a lot of people go into marriage with less thought than our kids are putting into choosing a college!</p>
<p>@staceyneil… your story made my week!! I sounds a lot like my DS12’s feelings about his college. He is just finishing up his first year and it has been everything and more than expected. Your D will have a amazing year ahead of her. It is so wonderful when our kids are just where they should be. It makes all this crazy process SO worth it. </p>
<p>@onlyonemom… big UGH!! What is that flip a coin story?? You flip a coin and if you picked heads for one college and tails for another, your reaction and emotions when the coin falls will be telling. If it lands on heads and heads was UVM, and he feels sorry that it wasn’t tails?? I think it is REALLY hard when there isn’t one that stands out a lot more than the other, or if it was your favorite choice all along. When faced with a decision about two schools that are both great… THAT is tough. My BFF’s D is deciding between SCAD and Pratt… she is agonizing… then she just found out( I know, super late), that she was accepted to Michigan… but she really doesn’t like super cold, or a big school, but everyone is telling her that is where she should go because of the big name. I am really happy I didn’t have to go through this part of the process this time, but there is still doubt and feeling somewhat like it is anti-climantic, but that could also be because of the gap year. Anyway, he will be fine wherever he goes, and all of this will be a distant memory as soon as he gets settled in on campus in August.</p>
<p>@Maryjay60 I am continually reminding myself of that. If for some reason his choice doesn’t work out there are always other options. </p>
<p>Anyone knowledgeable about financial aid issues? I REALLY need some advice :(</p>
<p>I asked this on the financial aid forum, but thought I’d ask you helpful friends, too. We are really tearing our hair out…</p>
<p>First let me say that we unfortunately can’t afford our very minimal EFC due to past and present medical issues. We had hoped there might be some help from grandparents, or an employment improvement, but it is not happening. D’s college is meets-full-need, and is a perfect fit for her. We are racking our brains to figure out how to come up with the last $7k per year so she can attend. Digging around in the basement for stuff to sell, etc… (She is already maxing out the federal loans and our situation does not allow us to take out a plus loan. We have no savings, no equity, and only 10k saved for retirement.)</p>
<p>(Yes, we have tried to get the FA office to refigure the EFC for the medical expenses but it’s not happening.)</p>
<p>We do own a boat. We bought it as a “yard wreck” shortly after a cancer diagnosis made me worry I might not be around long, and we fixed it up in order to live aboard for 2 years, a dream my husband and I had and were afraid we might not ever do if we waited. We built the equity in it with a whole lot of sweat and we hoped it might be our escape pod for retirement someday. We are realizing, now, that selling the boat may be the only way we can send our daughter to college. It was a tearful decision but we felt okay about it once made. However!!! then I realized that it might not be the answer, because won’t the income from selling it count on the FAFSA/CSS and therefore massively decrease the need-based grant she’s been awarded?</p>
<p>Is there any way to sell something like this - a car or boat or art or family heirloom antiques- and perhaps put the proceeds immediately into a 529 so that it won’t count as income and raise the EFC? Since it’s not counted as an asset to begin with, it seems really unfair that selling it would have that effect. but I am realizing that there isn’t much fair about the whole financial aid thing, anyway…</p>
<p>Thanks for any thoughts. 
</p>
<p>@staceyneil - I am not an expert by any means, but my first thought is, an asset is an asset, whether it is in liquid form or not, & should already be accounted for on the FA forms you filled out. Did you have to declare the value of the boat as an asset on the FAFSA or CSS? I remember that the CSS was pretty thorough. Definitely a question for the Mt. Holyoke FA office though - they can give you a definitive answer.</p>
<p>On second thought, I don’t think we had to put any info on our cars down & I think a boat would fall into the same category…hmmm, really not sure. Sorry, wish I could offer some useful advice!</p>
<p>Thanks, @GertrudeMcFuzz. No, the boat was not already listed as an asset. I had assumed it would need to be, but I specifically asked at a FA forum, as well as looked it up in multiple places on line. Cars and boats (and maybe other things I wasn’t paying attention to… maybe like art and stuff?) do not need to be declared as assets. Personally I think this is weird. For example what if someone has millions of dollars of fine art? Just another example of how this system isn’t terribly accurate or fair. We drive old cars we bought for <$1,000 and someone else could have >$100,000 luxury vehicles, but they are counted the same.</p>
<p>We have only been able to keep the boat because we put her “to work” renting her out occasionally in the summer and my husband is a boat mechanic so storage and maintenance were free. It was basically meant to be our retirement. But this is more important, so I hope it works out.</p>
<p>From 520plans.inginvestment.com: “Noncountable Assets: …certain assets are not used in the federal need analysis formula. These assets are retirement plan assets, your personal residence, life insurance, annuities, and personal property (e.g., cars, boats, etc.)”</p>
<p>Paid the deposit at Temple!!! Feeling so happy and proud.</p>
<p>D checked with the office & was told pretty unequivocally that she was not in the running for valedictorian, so that ended any chance for the Long Beach scholarship. Not a surprise, just one more hoop to jump through. After that, though, D was thoroughly tired of this whole process & ready to put it to rest. Time to move on to the fun stuff.</p>
<p>Congrats @GertrudeMcFuzz - How happy you all must be to have a final decision and to have made the deposit! I’m sure your D will have a fabulous experience there!</p>
<p>@GertrudeMcFuzz - Congrats on your D finding her port of call. It looks like your D will be on the other side of Philly from our D. It’s a great city and area. It’s also close to NYC and Washington on the train.</p>
<p>Congrats to all of the other decision makers. The ship is still full of parents and kids but there seem to be many less stressed out looking passengers and more relaxed folks on deck. I don’t know if its the decisions or the adult beverages that are available 24 hours per day.</p>
<p>Congrats to all the kids who know where they will be next fall.</p>
<p>It looks like D may be considering stepping off the cruise. I’ll have to keep an eye on the wall art – all the schools are there with venn diagrams, pro/con lists, bar charts, post-its, opinions, etc. The current favorite has a list of reasons to attend that ends with “gut.” Too bad the wall couldn’t be included in the apps, it says more about the kid than all the essays, scores and ec lists. </p>
<p>Finally…finally…finally…finished with all financial aid applications for my two kiddos for next year!! S2 (HS14) and D(Vandy15). That dreaded CSS profile for D. I am glad I do not make a ton of money and my taxes are pretty straightforward. Even so, it took me a few hours of free time! And now I have to submit all the tax forms and more to IDOC for D, but since she is a returning student, not until May 1. And here’s a funny thing - S2’s EFC is higher than D’s by about $1,000. He earned more last summer, maybe that is why.</p>
<p>@staceyneil I don’t want to be a downer, but is that $7000 you need to come up with just for this year or for the whole 4 years? Because if it is just for this year, will selling the boat cover the next 4 years of shortages or just this year’s shortage? And yes, the increased income could affect the expected contribution for next year. The other thing to consider- how much of the $7000 is actual room and board that has to be paid directly to the school up front and how much is the “miscellaneous” expenses? Are you having a grad party which will bring in some $$? How much can your child make this summer or have you thought about that already? Can you rent the boat out more often for more $$ which would increase your income some, but not as much as selling it and could bring in the additonal $$ needed. Have you considered expenses that will go away when your child is away at college? Auto-insurance, for example, can be greatly reduced if you note the child is away at college with no access to a car. My water bill went down significantly as did my grocery bill. Marching band fees, etc. that I paid before are gone. </p>
<p>Some schools did ask about cars on my CSS Profile. At the very end of the CSS, there were a bunch of very detailed questions and there was a note about which school required them. There was definitely one school that asked about cars. Our Profile schools were Brown, Northwestern and Michigan and I don’t remember which one wanted the car info- possibly Northwestern. </p>