Congrats to your son @Almondjoy1 ! That’s a huge accomplishment. You must be very proud
Congrats @almondjoy1 great news!
@mugglemom while I don’t consider them bribes per se, my D has done most of her work at Starbucks or Panera on the weekends. I sit with her and read or play on my iPad while she writes. We order a bite to eat. Less distractions for her than working at home and she seems to like having me there. We tried the public library first, but the wifi was awful.
@Almondjoy1 Congrats!!!
@MuggleMom @grlscoutmom DD was in her room and hardly got out of her room for two days. I am not sure whether she wrote and edited all the time or just sat in front of computer doing SNS. She finished her CA essay and 3 supplementary essays for her EA schools.
Congratulations to your son @Almondjoy1. What a great accomplishment.
Maybe I should be doing more bribery with DS. My DH and I are not thrilled about him doing winter track which started today. His favorite and best season is cross country that finished two weeks ago. Anyway, last year we did not let him do winter track and he really wanted to do it again this year so we told him he needed to have a majority of his apps done by today. He has 6 finished and two more almost completed. The essays for those two need a little more editing by him. I thought he would have finished them this past weekend but as I wrote earlier, he seemed to be burning out a bit so we let it go. Then he has two he has not started. The problem is he has no time during the week - even without the sport, he regularly has 5+ hours night of homework. It is amazing how quickly the fall is going.
@grlscoutmom My girl likes to go to Panera or the library. I leave her there because she can work for hours. Amazingly there are less distractions then at home.
Wow @NYDad513 that is really impressive. My D will come out with 5 drafts, lots of ideas all for the same essay and need to explain it all to me to help her think through which is her best option.
My D has a favorite local coffee shop where she gets much more done without parents and dogs and annoying 12-year-old brothers to deal with. I was joking with her this afternoon about going and started singing the theme song to Cheers. She asked, “What’s that from?” Ugh, I feel so old…
anyone thinking of what to give/get the teachers an GC for LOR’s???
I think D knew that we won’t bribe anyway and she had to finish app. There are a lot of peer pressure in her school… she’s relatively insensitive those pressure, but still…
@drmom123, last year my S gave his recommenders a mug from his chosen school full of chocolate . It was tasteful, thoughtful and appreciated by all. D will probably do something similar.
@MuggleMom that’s a great idea. I had daughters the last two rounds…and they baked cookies…which was also appreciated…but I was thinking that baking cookies may not be exactly what my S had plans for…so, looking for great ideas…and that’s a good one! (and one he would probably feel comfortable with)
@drmom123 oh and I forgot to mention the hand written thank you note. That was probably the most important part. Home made goodies are always a great idea!
absolutely! illegible, but hand written! 
Got a request for another LOR today, now I am behind by something like 12. At least I know what I will be doing during Thanksgiving break.
On another note, S EA school has sent an email saying they have recieved all his information. I am thinking a few things: one, maybe they have made their decision, and two, is this a good sign? Because if it was an outright rejection, would they need to confirm all his info?
@Mysonsdad. I would not read into it. My guess if that once a file is complete it can move to the next phase. My guess is that you just received notice that the file is on its way to the “to read” pile.
@Mysonsdad Are you going to end up with 12+ Starbucks gift cards as tokens of appreciation? That’s what my son intends to give his teachers. He also nominated one for a teacher of the year competition but the teacher will never know that. Thanks to CC he asked his teachers to write LORs last spring.
S got a similar email from his big reach. It’s an ED school but he sent everything early but RD. The email was polite and courtly. This particular school sends a parent version too. None of his other schools send anything to me (nor should they have to.) I just think it was a courtesy to let us know they have everything. Look at the stress late SAT scores are causing students.
D also received an email today informing her that her EA application materials have been received.
Congrats, @almondjoy1!
Chocolate seems like a theme for recommendation writers: DD has given a box of chocolates from our local shop along with a hand-written note. @Mysonsdad, do you have any suggestions?
Congrats to your DS @almondjoy11! I have my fingers crossed for @carolinamom2boys DS as well.
Things are pretty quiet here on the college front. Trying to get home stuff done so we can enjoy our trip to an OOS college this weekend. We are going to visit a friend on the way back so that adds some extra fun to the trip.
Hi all… my daughter will graduate in June… all apps have been sent out and waiting for decisions to start coming in. Has anyone started getting acceptances? Not sure who is more tortured by this… her or me. First app went out in September. 95 GPA, 1970 SAT, lots of extracurricular and volunteer stuff.
I love getting the school mug and thank you note, with or without chocolate. I love chocolate but I write almost thirty letters a year and I still have to fit behind my desk. 