We are in GA in public school. Senior dues are $80 (activities, monthly snacks, t-shirt, who knows what else), $70 yearbook, $65 cap and gown, $150 for the most minimum senior portrait package. Prom probably also around $150 a couple. I find it amazing at how different the schools’ fees are from everyone on this thread. My son is also very ready to be out! Now the question is where will he go…
NY Suburb PS. We have yearly dues of $20 per yr, yrbk cost of $100, did not get a class ring (does anyone do this anymore?), Prom $100 per ticket (no limos - they all go together in a bus - you cannot attend unless you go this way), Prom weekend God only knows what that will cost, Cap & Gown included with dues along with class t-shirt.
My son did get his HS ring and wears it everyday . Most kids in his school do get their rings.
Our son went to two proms last year, and will have at least one this year. At the Men’s Wearhouse the cost of two tuxedo rentals equalled the cost of buying one. So, he owns a tuxedo. It’s hilarious – he wears it whenever there’s the slightest chance it’s appropriate, and gets a lot of laughs/comments.
Mine would totally do that, @AsleepAtTheWheel . We must never tell him it’s possible.
Are those of your kids that plan to skip graduation really disaffected with their schools, or do not have many friends there? I’ve truly never known a student to deliberately skip that milestone, even the “too cool for school” tough guys back in my day.
Even if I couldn’t wait to leave the place, I’d want to be there for my friends and have my family see me walk. The only reason I can see not going at all would be if it was such a miserable experience that I had no positive feelings about it to look back on, like having been bullied or worse. Surely there is SOMETHING most students want to celebrate? There are always a few kids at D’s school who talk it up all year how they can’t wait to get the heck out and move on, but they’re often the ones who get the biggest cheers as they cross the stage.
@petrichor11 They have them in separates at JCPs.
We are class ring and letter jacket positive. LOL
Graduation is not a ‘thing’ for me, sseamom. I skipped mine. Just wasn’t interested. Many of my peers were completely confused at how I could do that.
Feels like everything is done for the parents now that I am a parent. Skipped the parent dinner because I did not understand why we would gather, actually march in, be presented gifts by the faculty and staff, and then have a catered meal. We’d done the dinners for all the years the kids had been in school, and what’s with the feting the parents? No thank you.
We have senior dues but I can’t recall what they are that includes the cost of a yearbook and cap and gown. Our school has a senior prom but what is bigger than the prom is the Post Prom party sponsored by our PTO. It is offsite, at a local athletic facility and is free to all seniors and their prom dates. However, you do not need to go to the prom to go to Post Prom. It is open to any senior. The kids are “locked in” from midnight to 6:00am following the prom. There are a ton of activities from swimming to dancing. There are door prizes (a few big like a TV) and others smaller, like a sweatshirt but every senior wins something. Parents contribute food and drink. The PTO has a committee for this that each year starts at the end of junior year. I think it is a great way to celebrate the students as a class. The prom and post prom party are about 4 weeks prior to graduation.
I agree with sseamom about graduation. It is huge milestone for every kid and really is a line in the sand between childhood and adulthood regardless of a student’s post high school plans.
CAMidwestMom–That’s interesting about Loyola not receiving scores. My DD applied EA at three schools, including LMU, and they are the only school that reports that they haven’t received her scores. CB shows all scores sent the same day. I wonder if the problem is on LMU’s end?
@sseamom, Our son doesn’t care much for school in general, but doesn’t have anything against his school. He also has plenty of friends. I know I’m in the minority among parents, but it just isn’t that big a deal to me. Actually moving him to college will be.
D (class of 2011) went to a public school and had to pay senior dues. S (class of 2016) goes to a private school and I haven’t heard anything about senior dues thus far. They did send out a yearbook ad form though. This private school does graduation rings - they get them on the last day of junior year and this is a big tradition at the school and costs big bucks !! He paid for it using funds he had received as gifts!
@outwhere I just got off the phone with them. She said it will take about a week for them to be matched up. Interestingly, I had his transcript from our local U sent for his 1818 classes (LMU is the only school that has asked for those) and those were logged in within two days. I am still really irritated that the College Board showed them sent and then changed the status. If I had even thought it would be ‘taken back,’ I would’ve kept checking. Oh well, I think it will be ok in the end. LMU is one of his top choices, if not the top choice, which makes it a lot more stressful that this is the one missing.
@CAMidwestMom – Thanks for sharing that as I’ll wait a few days to see if the status changes on mypaw before I call. This is one of my dd’s top picks as well. Hoping for decent merit aid if she gets accepted. Good luck to your son.
Good luck to your daughter as well! Curious, where are you from? He is definitely hoping for merit aid as well. Did your daughter apply to any of the other Loyolas? My son applied to Chicago and Baltimore. We have never visited Baltimore, but as it’s in a big city and he liked the other schools, we decided to throw that in. A friend’s daughter goes there and has been really happy. @outwhere PS: Should probably add, we are in the St. Louis area.
Thanks, @lvmjac1, sounds like we are in the same boat. DD has 3 early apps in – one is lottery, one is oos match and we think she’ll get in but she doesn’t really want to go there, and the last is oos where she is unlikely to get in. She had her interview for lottery school and it went well, but I know that means nothing, and while she has a shot, it’s highly unlikely. So it seems to me that so far she has 0 applications done for a school where she has a good chance to get in and actually would be happy to go to. {sigh} Oh, well. I’m hoping another 2 or 3 get done this coming weekend…
@CAMidwestMom – We live in CA. My DD originally wanted to leave CA, but several college tours last winter convinced her that she just loves the weather too much. LMU has a great service philosophy that she appreciates but she’s applying to some UCs in case the merit aid isn’t enough to cover the cost difference. She also has some other privates in CA that she has or will be applying.
Did she look at Santa Clara? He really liked that one too. Hard to ignore the weather factor. We toured three NYC colleges last March. Blech! Calif in October was as close to perfection as you can get I think. @outwhere
@CAMidwestMom – Yes. Also USF. She liked both but just didn’t feel that strong as LMU and she also liked Chapman (I think she likes the size–not too big but also not tiny).