@LKnomad: I’d like that interviewer to be assigned to my daughter in this round of the college admissions process! For every school she’s applying to. Alas, I know this cannot be done. Sounds like that interviewer was just the right person for your son to sit with. Hope it all works out well.
@AsleepAtTheWheel : Does your son find the mattress topper keeps him too warm at all? That has been the only reason I did not ultimately buy one for my son, besides his general lack of concern about all things household. I did lots of research last year, though, and was ready to purchase one when things went a bit wonky with BBB’s buy-now, ship-later program. Some unfortunate error delivered all of my son’s things before he arrived, and they never made it to him. Took a week to resend. I was livid at that point.
Not a good news update for students in CA who were trying for Direct-Medical-Scholar program at UCSD. https://ucsdms.■■■■■■■■■■■■■/ Now CA doesn’t have any direct medical scholar program. (Thanks @GoldenRock)
Wow, that’s going to be a real blow to lots of families. I think their stated reasons are sound and understandable, though. Wonder what impact this will have on applications at the undergraduate level.
@palm715. I recommend Cabela’s as another source for boots and coats. I bought a 3 in 1 coat there several years back. I could wear the inner layer separately as a fleece, the outer layer as a raincoat or both together .
Waiting-I have a memory foam topper that is 4" thick and in the warmer weather it DOES make me a bit too warm, but I can’t sleep without it, so I aim the fan directly at my face and sleep commando. I don’t know if it would work for very warm climates. My D has a much less expensive “egg crate” topper and finds that it doesn’t make her overheat but is equally comfortable (she’s been known to take over my bed when I travel). The "egg crate structure would allow for more cool airflow, I’d think.
@Cheeringsection, @fretfulmother and others, when DS13 graduated, he received a 20% BBBeyond coupon in the mail for an entire order. All the parents from the 13 List reported the same and a few told the rest of the list when to look for it in your mailbox. We could have used the shop ahead and pick up at your location option, but DS wasn’t interested. But we did visit BB&B when he arrived and used the coupon on the entire purchase–rugs, garbage can, etc. That is, after we checked out the Target and bought the less expensive items there first.
@lvmjac1: DD16 received a stapler for her birthday, since that is something that always pops up on the “what should DC take to college” lists…she did get a few other things too! Apparently staplers are hard to find in dorms! She has also been collecting Apple gift cards for quite a while in hopes that she will be able to buy a new computer before she starts.
And @AsleepAtTheWheel, I noticed that difference between S13’s room and some of the girls’ rooms. Looking forward to this process with a D this time! <:-P
We have at least three staplers, because every fall we can’t find the one(s) we have when D does her first paper. I’m going to assume she’ll tale the newest one with her, as it’s pink and matches the pink 3-hole punch she bought last summer for a project.
When we moved her older sister into college, she was still slowly sorting out her stuff, while the boys in the room across the hall had their 40" TV and game system set up and were sitting on the couch playing a game. They’d already lofted the beds-clearly they had their priorities in order.
I took D out to a ginormous parking lot to get behind the wheel for the first time today. She did a great job-caught on very quickly. At this time next week, she’ll be getting ready for her first class.
When my DD went to college, we did pre-order a lot of things with BB&B. It was great. You don’t even pay until you pick it up at the other end. The box was waiting and when we got there, we went through it and then made a final decision. Then, of course, we bought a few more things an went next door to Target. LOL. But BB&B really made it convenient. I still collect the coupons and when my DD recently moved to Madison, WI, I sent a bunch with her.
As for Amazon Prime, I’m a HUGE fan, I joined when it first became available. Even though I had it for years before DD went away to college, it was very helpful with her being so far away, knowing I could ship things to her in two days. Of course, she still had to go get the packages. I also recommend the Amazon Visa card, you earn points on Amazon and other purchases that translate into money off your bill.
@waitingtoexhale – Although a lot of the memory foam stuff gets warm if you lay in one spot S14 has not complained about it. He does like a very cold room when he’s asleep at night, so if he were warm I’d hear about it.
The BBY thing is a ‘pick up’, not a delivery. So did the store not have his stuff there for him to pick up? The BBB campus shopping program got rave reviews across the board from everyone on the Class of 2014 thread. If you have a 20% off the whole order coupon that works best, but they’ll let you use however many 20% a single item coupons that you bring in (again, even if they’re outdated).
GC said that most accepted ED kids are “athletes”…so the competition for a non athlete to get into a school ED…??? “is tighter”??? anyone else hear this? Is it true?
My kids laugh at me because I am fixated on having all the proper desk accessories and supplies (stapler, hole punch, push pin, paper clips, etc. When I am at work, if I do not have my “finger” (a rubber cover of your finger which makes going through pages much quicker) I feel like I am lost for the day. LOL. I have even been spoiled by an electric stapler…now its somewhat awkward to have to manually operate a stapler. Therefore, its one of my pet peeves to have their desks stocked with these things that I find necessities. I do not think they feel the same and can most likely deal fine without them…I am projecting I guess.
Regarding your D’s driving lesson @sseamom, so glad her first lesson was a positive one (as was my D’s first). Funny story of one of the first driving lessons that I took my S on quite a few years ago. We were in the train station parking lot on a Sunday (very empty) and he was practicing navigating through the twists turns and trying his hand at parking and backing out of a parking space. He did fine in all EXCEPT his first time backing out of a parking spot, he’s going in reverse but looking forward…HE NEVER LOOKED BACK! I was like “Whooooooooooo”, “You cannot go backwards and continue to look forwards???” It was so shocking at the time but we laugh hysterically at that incident all these years later. He never did that again and passed driver’s ed and got his license on his first try and is a really good driver. He was one of those kids who showed no natural inkling or ability initially. My D on the other hand just about got in and drove excellently automatically. Of course she needed some tips and tweaking on judging the dimensions of the car, parking, keeping the car centered in the lane and the like but it was all tweaking on an already existing ability. My S, not so much…I guess he needed his driver’s ed class to teach him the things that most of us seem to get just by being a passenger for many years before. Give him an academic situation and he will do fine…ask him to initially go with his natural ability in things of that nature…well…it may not be pretty at times…LOL.
@ drmom123 A couple years ago my co-worker’s D was a recruited athlete. My co-worker knew nothing about the whole college application process, or about the athletic piece. I remember googling the ED/recruited athlete information to help educate the mom, and my recollection is that athletes are accepted at a higher rate ED than other non recruited…but not “most kids accepted ED are athletes”. Remember, at highly selective schools the recruited athletes still have to meet the school’s academic “bar” to even be considered.
A couple of links I found by a quick search that mention rates being different for recruited athletes (some of the info is a bit discouraging):
If you have a girl (like mine), do not try and buy dorm bedding (sheets, comforter) very far in advance. What she thought she liked, radically changed. Summer before college is ok. We got inexpensive xl sheet sets from Target.
I did buy towels on sale, extra plush mattress pad and 1"foam topper (together they are enough to make bed comfortable).
Some dorm rooms are carpeted (no area rug needed). My D picked out shower curtain and bath rug together with roommate and they ordered it with Amazon prime. Students can get their own Amazon student account once they get their student edu email. I think it’s free for 6 months.
My D rented one textbook from Amazon, the others she bought at book store, depending on best deal.
Gift Cards are great gift ideas, Starbucks, Panera Bread, Amazon
If you have a child like mine she wanted to pick out desk lamp, flashdrive, mouse, other accessories.
Another good thing to have is an external hard drive and portable power bank (to recharge phone if needed).
@drmom123 What I heard is… For example, ivy schools recruit athletes generally 15% of total students body. It is around 200 each year and the most of the athletes are supposed to apply early. Legacies are mostly considered at early decision/action process. And tiny bit number of highly talented students will get likely letter at early decision/action. So ED/EA acceptance rate does not represents the acceptance rate for the most un-hooked students. Still better because students are distributed thin due to ED/REA limitation.
Ok I signed up for BBB. I’ve never actually shopped there, and in truth I keep thinking of the Simpsons’ parody gun store “Blood Bath and Beyond”… But I think it will be good to have as a resource! Thank you for all the guidance.
Am I in the tiny minority having planned to do what my parents did and send mostly the old household towels etc.?