Parents of the HS Class of 2016 (Part 1)

I too loved the Stitch Fix I had to look it up because I had never heard of it and after checking it out think it is an excellent idea. Will definitely have to check it out! @dyiu13 I too am thinking ahead to wardrobe, dorm and travel accessories to start picking up little by little. I tend to overdo it so I have to remember that dorm rooms can be really small so I am trying to keep things in perspective and find things that have dual uses. My D has already requested a Keurig for her room so she can make her favorite coffee and teas.

CONGRADS on the acceptances and scholarship offers!!! I am so glad folks are getting good news.

@dyiu13 I hope that it all comes together soon!

dyiu-I do hope it works out for you guys. I thrift shop even when I don’t have to-I am all about saving money! But I think I’d let my D take the lead on picking out ā€œgrown upā€ clothes. I can’t say I’ve seen anyone under 60 in a camel hair coat around here! I won’t be picking up much for next year until we know two things-where D is going and whether we’re driving her or flying. That would make a huge difference in what she’ll need and how she gets it.

As for graduation, it’s on a Saturday at dinner time in another city-her district has an agreement to hold all graduations in a this huge venue out of town-they rotate schools in and out of the main venue for the larger schools and event rooms for the small ones like ours. We have only a couple of people coming from out of town, but D knows so many people from so many places that I’m glad we’ll have unlimited tickets!

We’ll have the party the next day-a Sunday-and H will smoke some meat and we’ll just eat, drink and be merry. Lots of close family and extended family and people who love D. It should be great-in between my sobbing silently in the closet or something.

The nice thing about D16 finally growing up is that she now picks out the purchases of all her clothes and…well, everything. I’ve not been allowed to choose anything, even as a gift, for about two years now. So, that’s a relief in a way, but it does mean she needs to coordinate purposeful shopping with me (she refuses to learn to drive until next year -argh!). She’s definitely not a recreational shopper.

I probably have to suggest she start thinking about dorm stuff, etc. If push comes to shove, she’ll just have to head out with the girly dorm gear she had for boarding in middle school. I figure that possibility will be enough to inspire her to turn her attention toward some of the prep for transition from HS to college.

She already mentioned to me that she might need to find some new doctors when she leaves home. So, she seems to be thinking about the future to some degree.

@carolinamom2boys Funny, I was rooting for Clemson today simply because parents on here wanted them to win. Congratulations on an exciting game.

@dyiu13 : How large are you expecting her room to be in college? (big leather chair)

Congratulations @carolinamom2boys and @jupiter98 !!

We have a mid-week graduation and two kids with disparate friend groups, plus out of towners coming in for the last graduation of this generation of cousins. So we’re just having an open house that afternoon/evening, and hoping the house is big enough. Barbecue will undoubtedly be involved.

Graduation will probably be fairly low key . I doubt we will have any out of town guests. No living grandparents , my sister is unable to travel due to health issues. DH had 5 sisters from OOS , but DS 16’s cousin graduates several days before , so I doubt anyone will make it here. His godparents would’ve probably come, but their daughter graduates the following week. Plan to have a small party with friends here, then off to Disney soon after. His aunts live in Orlando , so we’ll probably get together with them while we’re there. 2 years ago , we went to my other god daughter’s graduation for a pig pickin. Great fun .

@Mysonsdad Thanks for rooting for Clemson. I’m sure that was the boost we needed to put us over the top. And yes , you are right. Several people on this thread are alumnae, have kids that attend there or kids who are waiting on their acceptance letters. Go Tigers!

@carolinamom2boys, it was such an exciting game, but I’m pretty such that I’m not the reason they won. Believe it or not, I picked Nebraska over Michigan State. My friend graduated from N and I told him Thursday N was due for a big win and MS was due for a loss.

As for graduation, both my S and I will be speaking at his graduation, and I will get to hand him his diploma, how many parents get to do that? I have 2 nieces graduating this year also. I am expecting about 15-20 people at the graduation, so we are expecting big parties. I am actually holding S graduation party the Saturday before he graduates.

@Mysonsdad That is so great that you get to hand your son his diploma. I’d be a blubbering buffoon. We find out at the end of first semester who valedictorian and is. It’s close, son lost likely will not get Val, but working hard towards Sal, so maybe a speech in his future too. Our Val’s speech last year was amazing and would be hard to follow . Our graduation is actually on a Friday which lends itself to a great weekend of parties.

Since Clemson is being mentioned, does anyone have any insight into any other financial aid possible there besides their standard OOS recruiting scholarships and their extremely competitive national scholars program? S16 was interested in Clemson and was going to apply, but two of his older siblings (both really strong students) applied in the past and were only offered the OOS recruiting scholarship. That scholarship is generous for sure, but still doesn’t bring remaining COA in line with what total COA at an instate U here would be (without any aid). That is still not close to affordable for us. S16 is seeing many financial opportunities at other colleges that make those schools much more affordable, and was disappointed when I had the ā€œrealityā€ discussion with him about Clemson a few weeks ago. Clemson is now reluctantly off his list.

Do any of you have any other insight into Clemson and scholarships/financial aid for OOS students? Am I accurate in my assessment that there appears to be nothing else for OOS except the ā€œstandardā€ recruiting scholarship?

@4kids2graduate They say on their website that every candidate is considered for other scholarships but isn’t specific . What does he want to major in? Maybe some departmental scholarship? Also Google Lyceum Scholarship .

Clemson is a great school, and we’d be happy if either applied, but it’s not in the cards. We’ve been up to homecoming several times, but neither of the kids has particularly bonded with the school-- though they both loved the tiger prints on the road when they were little!

Brief mombrag: last night was the last marching performance of the season-- straight superiors! Very bittersweet. As much as we’ve complained about itchy uniforms in the heat, and long practice hours, and staying after games to help clean up the stands…and smelling like hotdogs after stints working concessions…I’ll miss it, and S definitely will.

@carolinamom2boys Thanks. I did look up the Lyceum Scholarship - it sounds like a great program, but still only 2500/year so would not significantly fill the gap we would be looking at. S16 plans on majoring in electrical/computer engineering. I did not see anything on their website about departmental scholarships.

@Mysonsdad – A surgeon I work with often played baseball at Nebraska. One of his favorite jokes:

Q: What does the ā€˜N’ on the Nebraska football helmet stand for?

A: Knowledge

(works a bit better verbally than in writing)

No chair for her dorm room. She wants a reading chair for her bedroom at home. It can follow her when she gets an apartment. I expect her dorm room to include only the provided furniture.

D’s class is very small and they don’t have ā€œvalsā€ and ā€œsalsā€. The kids elect speakers-last year I think there were three. One read ā€œOh the Places You’ll Goā€ and talked about how the school had prepared him to go out into the world. He was a 1st gen graduate, first gen American, first in his family to go to college. Tears. Another speaker was also the first in her family to graduate-she was so broken up that she was leaving the school (started in 6th grade) that she couldn’t finish. Some of the kids and teachers are already suggesting D speak, we’ll know more as things get closer.

It’s a pretty low-key affair compared to larger schools that get famous guest speakers, but it’s very meaningful. D has no living grandparents, and my extended family lives across the country, but we have a close group of siblings, cousins, in-laws of in-laws and their friends, church friends, dance friends, former classmates, former church friends, and I don’t know who all. At last count D was inviting 60 people. I don’t even personally know 60 people!