<p>Snow day. D. is working on her history day project. In fact I think for the past 4 years, there would be no way she could have participated in history day without snow days. This year is the same way. History day is not required for her class. But she’s been doing it since 6th grade. All the snow days went to those movies, except for a few ski trips. </p>
<p>@STEM, thank you. D. loves to read and write. That’s her strong hand. She is also reasonably good at math but not at sciences. (I wish she was a stem kid!)</p>
<p>CT1417 - thank you for the book recommendation and good to see you!</p>
<p>You guys will laugh but I am so glad that D checked the box allowing schools access to her address. She received 13 (!) brochures/letters yesterday and she is reading all of them. She is FINALLY starting to think about college and what she needs to work on. YAY!</p>
<p>D2 had a bundle of college mailings yesterday too! </p>
<p>Yeah for snow days! Favorite memories are snow days and everyone is stuck at home. Doesn’t happen much here in GA- but 2 years ago we were iced in for about a week. D1 was a hs senior- so much fun stolen family time that week.</p>
<p>11 college mailings today, 3 yesterday, 6 on Saturday, 9 on Friday. I notice that most of the reply cards don’t go back directly to the schools themselves–they go to POBs in Akron Ohio or Washington DC. There must be 2 major marketing agencies running the majority of these mailings?</p>
<p>Some are interesting schools but just too far away (Tulane, U of Denver, St Olaf) or in places that D says are too cold (SUNY Potsdam, St Lawrence U) One is from Washington and Lee which gets crossed off the list only because H hates Robert E Lee.</p>
<p>I told D that if possible we really would prefer schools 5 hours away or less, which is fine with her and still gives us loads of choices since we’re in the Northeast. But now I’m looking at an envelope from William and Mary, which we loved when we walked around on a visit to Williamsburg 6 years ago, and wondering if 7 hours is doable. OTOH that 7 hours doesn’t include traffic on I-95…</p>
<p>One envelope was from Colorado School of Mines which I looked up just out of curiosity–my grandfather was supposed to go there 75 years ago and I don’t remember why it didn’t work out. I had no idea that it’s now ranked in the top 100.</p>
<p>And suzy100, yay along with you, one advantage of all of the mailings is that they’re getting D to talk to us about colleges.</p>
<p>Ah, snow days! I loved them as a kid and again as a mom. We don’t live in snow country any longer but they were the best (maybe the only good) part of winter. Herandhismom, great use of a snow day!</p>
<p>Suzy, I understand. I’m feeling kind of wistful about the college mail even though I know the bulk of it isn’t useful. It’s still probably in D’s best interests that she not be bombarded with mail at this early point but selfishly, I am curious.</p>
<p>Oh great. D came home today telling me tentatively that her friends are all receiving college mail “because they did so well on the PSATs.” She was crushed that she hadn’t received anything and had completely forgotten that she hadn’t checked the box allowing CB to release her scores. She was so clearly relieved at this that it made me sad. I explained to her how meaningless this all was and that the mail flooded you whether your scores were excellent or not so excellent and how it was all a marketing campaign. She’d convinced herself that she’d done poorly-that everyone else had scored in the near vicinity of 240. :(</p>
<p>3girls–and then you can also remind her how completely useless the 10th grade scores are while encouraging her to study for next year’s exam.</p>
<p>I have now hit the point where I am finding the college mail annoying as I do not think it means a thing. I am unbothered by the emails but finally realized that every email is followed several days later by actual mail.</p>
<p>Jumping in to this thread (apparently late), but at least not as late as I did for the '13 thread!</p>
<p>Have 2 D’s '13 and '15 (both homeschooled throughout). Older D all settled into her decision to go to R I T for Film/Animation next year. Just getting the wheels turning for younger D. For her, choosing a major is going to be a very interesting process. She has a couple ideas, but no real clear direction at this point. I realize that’s not unusual, but knowing her history, I’m worried this will be her tune for a long while… maybe even into her freshman year. ;)</p>
<p>Looking forward to getting to know the gang here.</p>
<p>We got bombed with college mail yesterday-and my daughter scored well below 240. :)</p>
<p>I know it isn’t easy but this time around I am going to try very hard to not take this so personally-because in the end what I am trying to do is help her find the best school for her at a price we can all agree on-and the ultimate goal is to help her get started in the world so she can live a happy and meaningful life.</p>
<p>I look back at my posts in the 2011/2015 thread and see how I was completely taken in by all of the emotions of this period of our lives. I am pretty rational and make good decisions but boy did they sell me on this-if he didn’t get into his “dream school” what would we do-how had I failed him and on and on. </p>
<p>I am older and wiser now! I also have a son who is extremely happy where he is-a school he didn’t even want to apply to-and I cannot imagine him doing any better anywhere else-and yet I think he would do well just about anywhere because it really is more about the person they bring with them to school than it is about where that school is-or what the name is of that school-or the ranking, or anything else.</p>
<p>I have no idea if she will have the “stats” he had-in fact I doubt that she will-but I do know one thing-I will not allow her to define herself by an SAT score, a class ranking, or a school acceptance. I will encourage her to do her best and to reach as high as she chooses-knowing that in the end happiness is really an inside job and if she continues to grow and mature the way she is right now she will be OK with whatever school she ends up attending-I have a lot of faith in that because I am seeing in with my son.</p>
<p>The kids on this thread sound a lot like my daughter-so I like their chances as well. I need to make sure I try and keep as much emotion out of this as possible so she can feel what she needs to and do what she needs to-while being there to cheer her successes and pick her up after her “failures”!</p>
<p>It’s going to get really intense around here the next few years. I am grateful there were parents on my old thread who would put their virtual arms around me and tell me it would be OK-they had already been there and it would all work out. :)</p>
<p>Pepper- me too! I was so anxious with D1. The process was miserable. Older and wiser with d2… and like your d, my d2 will probably not have the stats of her big sis. What is it with first borns! I commented to D1 that most of the students in her program are first born children. Only 2 or 3 out of 17 that have an older sib.</p>
<p>D2 is thinking about attending our state flagship. She doesn’t like change, so following where her sister is gives her a level of comfort. She knows the campus, town, etc
However, I am not so sure it is the right fit for her. The doors at this large state school will not open for her like they have for D1. I think she could benefit form being at a smaller school where she is in the top group of kids. Trying hard to “let her be” . If she applies ED, I am confident she will get in, then she is done. This would be so stress free!</p>
<p>Crepes, d1 was offered Johnson scholarship at W and L. I loved the campus- she on the other hand did not enjoy it when she was there overnight for the interviews. Turned down the $210 k offer.</p>
<p>Great post pepper! It made me realize that I’m starting to get emotionally over-invested in this whole college search/prep enterprise. I need to be more aware that there are many places where D can thrive and be happy!</p>
<p>Sally22, $210K scholarship offer at W and L? Wow! That makes me wonder whether it’s worth finding a way to get H to change his mind about Robert E. Lee. It looks like things worked out well for your D1 in any case, if she ended up at your state flagship.</p>
<p>I went to W&L and loved it, but no school is for everyone. The Johnson Scholarship is an amazing program. I cannot imagine turning it down, but your child probably had other, equally great, opportunities. Alas, my daughter thus far has little to no interest in W&L.</p>
<p>Welcome W2BeHome! When you have one who is so directed from the start, it’s funny to look at the second and realize that the growing up process is going to be entirely different. The first was so clear in what she wanted that I was a bit thrown when D2 was in high school.</p>
<p>Pepper, add me to the list of those who love your post. That part about not allowing your child to be defined by a rank or a score or a school acceptance rang out for me. Absolutely! </p>
<p>I’m so grateful to have found all of you. I have to admit that I shied away from cc the first time (2007/2011) because it struck me as such an intense place and I feared it would only fuel my heightened emotions. I was actually truly worried back then that D1 would not find peers if she wasn’t able to attend her dream school. Well, she didn’t get into the dream school and she was thrown. Instead of following her heart, she allowed herself to be swayed by the opinions of her friends and chose the highest prestige college on her list. She discovered that she was allergic to the elitism she encountered and that there were peers in unlikely places, completely outside of her college. I wish I’d been a lot more gentle in expressing my opinons–she might have considered them and made a different choice. Now that she is out working, she says that she is loving what she does and is having the college experience she never had. What I learned from this is the importance of keeping my own emotions out of this, acting as a cheerleader and supporter, and helping the kid to focus on what she wants without being too overbearing or shrill. I learned my lesson with D2 and the process was really smooth, even enjoyable at times (ha). She is graduating from a small, wonderful school where she has had a great experience. </p>
<p>In many ways, I feel like I’m going through this with D3 for the very first time. She’s much younger than the older two and we live in a different state now besides. She’s also more intense and brittle than the other two and has a much greater tendency to buy into the notion that grades=value. And, she’s my baby so in my head, she’s not nearly old enough to leave the nest…at least on the days she isn’t driving me insane. </p>
<p>Sally22, wow! That scholarship is incredibly competitive and the process is very demanding. Good for your d1! How tempting to think of your D2 being done so early and having such a smooth experience.</p>
<p>Yes I’m so thankful to CC and all of you. Honestly I’m very ignorant of college admission process and am extremely nervous about the next two years.</p>
<p>Me too herandhisMom, but these posts from the wise ones who are on this thread and who have been through this already are definitely helping me to keep some perspective. I just hope to be able to KEEP keeping perspective. :)</p>
<p>It will be fine! It will be a very interesting experience and I wish I had found CC earlier-I found this place when I was looking for info on the NMSF cutoff so that would be in his Junior year I think-I have met some great people who I am happy to call my friends in real life even! </p>
<p>This can be a great place-especially a thread like this which specializes in our kids! I try and remember always that most of this is someone’s opinion-which doesn’t mean it isn’t important-but there are so many ways to skin a cat right? One of my favorite sayings is “What works for me may kill you”! I may suggest something that makes you roll your eyes-that’s OK! If we can respect where each person is coming from and take what we need from them and leave what doesn’t work for us and give back something that may help then we will all be richer for it! I so believe that being able to go on the thread for my son’s class saved my sanity and my relationship with him! I hope to be calmer this time around like others were for me-no promises though.</p>
<p>Oh, I think we have a good group here! I’ve been through it with 2 kids already, and followed the 2010 and 2012 parents’ threads. I can honestly say, I’ve seen stories of students going off to their dream schools or something they’re “settling” for, and it doesn’t always predict how happy and successful a kid ends up - some hit the ground running and shine, and others take a while to find their happiness (or transfer), no matter how excited they were about their college to start with.</p>