Look at Edible Arrangements if your child likes chocolate dipped fruit or Sherry’s Berries for chocolate dipped fruit, cookies, brownie pops, covered pretzels, etc.
I didn’t end up ordering the cupcakes with in a jar, and after reading the Yelp reviews I’m glad I didn’t.
Ah, ok. Was hoping to hear that they were really good. I guess I’ll keep looking for ideas. 
Harry and David’s chocolate decadence cake $19.99. Cupcakes $29.99 Food gifts usually always excellent ratings but additional cost for shipping. Not sure of price range you are looking for
Update: package arrived today. I made a basket for both D and her roommate, and the plastic eggs should they want to spread the wealth, and they loved it 
Thanks for all the suggestions!
Anyone else doing a little lurking on the Class of 2020 lists? It’s kind of surreal to be so far beyond all that anxiety!
So my son’s college send a letter - or it looks like they did - the college name and insignia on the envelope. And right under the return address, it says “IMPORTANT FINAL EXAM INFORMATION!”.
Lo and behold, it’s a solicitation for buying “a basket of goodies,” again with the “your poor child will be left out if he or she doesn’t get one!”.
I send my kid custom stuff, what he wants, and he is very happy, and shares with friends who get those crappy baskets…
Yes, a tiny bit of lurking, but feel oddly disconnected from it all now. I have helped a couple of seniors with their process based on a lot of what I learned from this website last year and through my own daughter’s process, and it has been fun to follow their results. I have to admit much easier emotionally when it is someone else’s kid though.
I did try to warn their parents about doing this BEFORE applications, but…they are both waiting as their parents are still working with schools to get their residency status sorted out–as it gets rather gray when you live overseas for a long time. Hopefully that will get sorted out so they can make their final decisions soon. The cost difference even after merit is substantial.
I’m following 2020 because I have one along with a 2017. No rest for the weary!
All the how to pay for it, don’t have enough money for it threads are heart breaking.
^ no kidding. Like clockwork every April (late March). Sigh. I wish people came to CC sooner.
I saw a woman last night whom I’ve known very casually for several years. She had complained to me before about how her oldest son pays OOS tuition at U. Michigan. Her middle son, HS '17, is looking at UCB and UCLA for college. I had to break it to her that California colleges do not give much scholarship money to OOS students. They have plenty of deserving students of their own! My S’s friend applied to many OOS publics and was admitted to the best, but had no way to pay, so is going to Ginormous State U. Somehow the word doesn’t get out.
I have a sophomore daughter who took a practice ACT administered at the school but given by a local test prep company. They have an info session when you go to pick up the scores. The woman there was very knowledgeable about the test, but then this exchange happened:
Student: I received a 30 composite. Could I get a scholarship anywhere with that?
Instructor: If you can raise that to a 32, you can get a full scholarship at just about any college.
0_0
Last year I used to follow the high school class of 2014 thread because it was a glimpse into our futures. This year I ventured into the high school class of 2016 thread just to see a bit of our past. They strike me as a much more intense bunch than we are! I’m very happy to have that year in the past and to know that it’s all worked out well for our group of kids. Even though this year has had its share of adjustments, it’s been so much less stressful and filled with lots of happy firsts. It feels like looking forward rather than backwards at a series of lasts, and the best part is shedding the stress of college applications and decisions.
I realized today that my daughter only has five more weeks and freshman year will be over. These four years of college are going to fly by.
I tried to tell a young man who wanted to do some kind of engineering to apply to schools where he might get merit. But he was talking about Cornell, GT and Carnegie Mellon. His family has money but I am not sure they are willing to pay full price. He won’t qualify for need based aid.
He said he would only go to his state school if he got into the honors college. I think he will probably go there if the parents will face $60k versus $30k.
In a classic example of the “it doesn’t matter where you go to undergrad” philosophy, I went to this talk by a test pilot for Bombardier (formerly for the Air Force.) He did his undergrad in Physics in this really small school that isn’t known for anything. He graduated in the early 2000s, and there were only 2 physics majors in the whole department. He went to Georgia Tech for his masters, then joined the Air Force (even though he had a 90k per year job offered to him by General Electric). He got into fighter and test pilot training and did that for awhile before leaving the Air Force and working as a civilian test pilot for Bombardier. Pretty cool guy - he talked with us about the planes he’d flown and some of the tests he’d done.
@albert69 … I’ve heard all those Air Force pilots are awesome individuals. 
Not that I’m biased or anything… :^o
@mommdc my ds ('11) didn’t end up at UMich because Pitt was affordable and OOS UMich would have landed him w probs $80k in loans. He graduated
last April BS ChE and I bring it up every one in awhile - “aren’t you glad you didn’t have to have student loans right now??”. You really can’t get 16-18 yr olds to think about being 22 with debt.
So true, @amandakayak! Parents really have to go in with their eyes open and be honest with their kids. It’s a learning process for everyone, but If I was in the market for a new car, I would know my budget before I walked onto a sales lot. Why test drive a Mercedes when you have a CRV budget?
We limited apps to only schools that offer merit aid (and the state flagship). DD15 really wanted to apply to one ivy, probably to see if she could get in, but when told she would have to pay the application fee herself she decided it wasn’t worthwhile, lol.
It’s impossible to predict how much merit a school will offer - they were all over the board! By some chance of fate & luck DD15 landed a half tuition scholarship at her dream school. Even with that, it’s a huge struggle to do this without loans, but we are trying!! She is trying as well, by getting good grades in hopes of additional scholarships for continuing students.
DS17 isn’t quite getting the message that just being able to get into a good school isn’t enough - where he goes will depend on merit aid. He does well, but doesn’t put that little bit of extra effort in. Might be a bumpy road for him!