Lots of hugs to @Overtheedge D!! :x
@RenaissanceMom, that has been happening to me too, for a long time. The only way I can get to those posts is to go to Forum Home, click on “College Admissions and Search” in the blue box, and then go to the proper forum from there.
Can you believe that in a few weeks our kids will have finished their freshman year of college? On one hand, time has gone by so quickly. On the other, it feels like ages since the craziness of senior year and admissions.
I am enjoying this time with D. She rested for 3 days and is feeling much better. She said it’s wonderful just to sleep as much as she wants, have a fridge full of food in close proximity, and read for pleasure. And, after weeks of rain and cold, it’s finally warm and sunny so we can go for a walk on the beach! Of course that also means it’s time for me to do some work in the yard -lol.
Hope you all are enjoying time with your kids who are home on break this week! Many of DD’s friends are off this week but unfortunately she’s not off till next week! Luckily she’ll overlap with them this weekend so I don’t expect to see much of her. But we did bring her home quickly last Saturday so she could see this year’s play for the little kids she directed last year. They were so excited to see her! And we stopped briefly to say hi to her BFF before I took her back to school. She’d had a really awful week being sick with a fever and sore throat during mid-terms and tech week for a show she was in. Had to scramble to get accommodations for an exam and paper that weren’t going to happen especially as they thought she might have the flu and banned her from class while she had a fever. That was all added to a week when her best friend at school who has a serious medical condition was in and out of the hospital and they thought she was going to have to withdraw. Friend seems to be doing better and is back at school but what DD has been dealing with is nothing I ever thought she would have to deal with when I sent her off to college. It will be so good to have her home! And since none of her friends are off next week, we’re headed to Bermuda for a few days. I’ve never done anything like this before and I’m a bit disappointed that it doesn’t look like it will be as warm and sunny as I was hoping. But it will be some time away with DD so we’ll have fun!
Cakeisgreat: My sons loved their AP classes. The older son had AP/DE with two classes. The younger son had AP/DE with three classes. The biggest benefit was getting the gen ed requirements all but done before they stepped foot on campus. The older son decided between his freshman and sophomore years to take two community college classes in the summer … and online. Finished the gen ed that way. The younger one is thinking about the same for this summer if he is not interning for some company.They wanted to save their scholarships for their majors. The older son double majored and double minored. The younger one is thinking triple major and a minor. We’ll see.
Speaking of the younger son, he called to say that, given he has been hacking his brains out for weeks, he will take a medical redshirt this spring. I got tired of hearing that he felt so lousy that I e-mailed a friend who lives in the town where he goes to school and asked for doctor recommendations. She gave me a specialist for allergies, which he also has. We set up an appointment in early April when I am going to be in his town for my Easter break. That way, we establish a relationship with a local doctor, and hopefully, he can get my son on the right path to wellness.
Son also expressed how he is excited about coming home when school ends. He looks forward to my cooking, which is not fried, and doing some refereeing of youth soccer games. He also wants to learn how to cook more dishes since he will have access to a kitchen in his fraternity house in the fall. I’m glad, too. He can get the protein he needs for training and competing, rather than eating pasta, which is not always the best thing for an athlete.
@akmom124 - Have a great time in Bermuda! The weather can be a little iffy this early in the spring but it is a lovely island and time away with your DD is always nice.
DS left last Sunday after a nice few days home. UVA, VA Tech, and William & Mary were all off that week also so he saw many of his friends, and overlapped the last weekend with a few others (Georgia Tech, Princeton).
He called yesterday to talk about classes for next year. Hard to believe it is that time already! Didn’t we just ship them off? He will formally declare his major(s) this week. Since he is double majoring in engineering he doesn’t really have much flexibility in his class sequencing, but as @momreads pointed out AP classes are great for getting distribution requirements out of the way. In DS’s case he was also able to use AP credits for some math and science requirements. He could have still double majored without the AP credits but now he carries a normal load, instead of super-loading.
Spring practices for his sport are now twice a week, he is very busy with his fraternity, he is mentoring elementary school kids, and he is also going to host prospective students overnight this spring. I was surprised to hear that he gets paid to host overnight guests. Only $20 per student, but I guess $20 is $20!
D was home last week. We went to SF with a couple of D’s friends. Twice I was told that “my grand daughter” was beautiful :-* ! A french tourist said that I would look much better if I had dyed my hair to her companion (She did not know that D and I speak French fluently).
I just can’t believe that D’s first year will be over in 6 weeks. She is doing much better the 2nd semester, having found the right balance between school, community services and music. For the summer, she will be at Cal for an 8-week paid internship in one of their lab. She will be staying in one of her friend’s apartment during the week and come home for the weekend (I hope).
As we head into the crazy college decision week, I’m just very thankful that this is not last year! I’m figuring the boards will be crashing this week when the big decisions are released.
Lucky me gets to do it all over again this year! A week and a day until all the results are back, yikes.
Good luck mdcmom! I have to say that I much prefer watching from the sidelines.
I agree with you. S-11 is graduating this year and appying to law schools. This year has been as stressful for him (and us) as the undergraduate decision week of 4 years ago.
Good luck to you and your HS senior!
My oldest is looking for jobs (interview today for the #1 choice) and believe me, that’s no picnic either. I think it’s worse than picking a college because some of the easy decisions (like where to live) aren’t covered in a single decision. Her lease is up, and she’ll be moving home end of April until she passes boards and moves out. Then d’14 will be home late May. Yikes. Full house again. Not that we don’t have the space, but I’m getting used to the quiet.
Yeah, good luck @mdcmom and @AvonHSDad! I’m trying to reserve my energy for our next run at the brass ring next year. We’re waiting for SAT results for S16 and trying to help S14 look for jobs on his spring break. But he can’t seem to stay awake for more than three hours at a time (most of which are when we are at work or after we’ve gone to bed). I’m torn – he needs to learn how to apply for jobs (totally clueless and hasn’t done anything while at school) but he also clearly has long term sleep deprivation.
Yes, D14 needs to get on the summer job too. She thinks she has funding to do an extra summer class in Mandarin, but she will need summer earnings too…how much do we prod and how much do we let her take charge herself? It’s hard not to worry!
My one-and-only D14 just told me that she got a room in a suite for next year. With 3 boys! She did ask me if it was all right. As long as she has her own room, which she does. I think she might learn a lesson about housekeeping.
I agree…so glad it isn’t last year! What a year of angst and endings and wondering about the new beginnings. I’m pleased to be looking in the rear view mirror! Although, it will be a year ago on Thursday that my D got news she was accepted by her top choice. THAT was worth waiting for, but the waiting was horrible!
Just found out that DS isn’t planning on coming home for the summer. Bittersweet - he’s really gone now 
, but it will be so much better for him, he’ll love living off-campus in a sublet, working, maybe taking a class, and we’ll see him in August when we all go to his cousin’s wedding. It’ll have been 8 months between visits, but then we’ll see him again in November.
This is going to save us a lot on the plane tix for the wedding, though, so we can afford to spend more time not only with him, but with the whole extended family! And he is so happy, and doing so much more than he does here at home. Taking life by the horns. 
I won’t be able to help much with finding an apartment, moving, etc., but he thinks he can handle it. This has sure been a year of ups and downs, big changes… one day he’ll text me that he “thinks he should start looking for another job” (was late for the second time, because he didn’t realize that his phone wouldn’t adjust to the time change - we don’t have daylight savings time here), the next day everything is ok again and he’s excited about doing better in French (“I think I’m getting it, mom!”), and his spring break trip. Which was, apparently, a blast - he went with a good friend to CA, they went wilderness camping (my son, NOT the outdoorsy type!), froze their hoohas off in the mountains, and are still friends. Personally, I have a hard time believing that he was able to survive for 3 days without the internet. I just hope he keeps amazing me - and himself. this is what growing is all about.
D14 has the summer job wrapped up. She’ll be back at the pool, but this time as an assistant manager. Management experience can’t be a bad thing, right? I think she’s disappointed about not getting a summer research spot, but competition was steep and there is only so much funding. Oh well.
D14 is helping her younger friends through the admission decision process. She was hoping a good friend would join her next year, but so far, it’s the waitlist.
Housing is settled for last year, but summer is still a big question mark. She’s applied for several spots, even interviewed for some, but no decisions yet. Today she texted that she will start looking in our home town. Classes for next year are also a big question (as well as her major…)
Sooooo… my Twin Ds #1 & #2 came home last week for a short visit and got to see D#3 shine in her HS musical. D#3 and I will travel cross country next week to visit colleges and see Ds #1 and 2 in their college musical. How nice of the high school and university to plan their spring breaks and spring musicals around our schedules! (LOL).
Mlmama - “(as well as her major)” - we’ve got that too. I stay out of it bc I have learned that D#2 and I are oil and water. Love her to death but I do not know how to help her in big decisions. I get lectury and she gets defensive. Fortunately, DH has a knack for this and her 