@mstomper, I love the image of mstomperJr. making a jello mold! @crowlady, your comment made me realize we have hosted just about every year of DD16’s life too. Last night, DD16 helped me prepare salmon (for our nonturkey eaters), cranberries, sweet potatoes, green beans, and squash. This morning, I will tell her she needs to prepare a jello mold. Did I mention we will four meats on our buffet?! Turkey, turkey roll, ham (for the meat-eater who doesn’t eat turkey), salmon (for the vegetarians who aren’t technically vegetarian). Gah! 
Happy Thanksgiving to everyone! (Loved the poem 
)
We’re driving half an hour to my sister’s, and I made the stuffing, cranberry sauce, pumpkin cakes, and some chicken for non-Turkey eaters. My DH is a vegetarian so I do the stuffing outside of the actual turkey (which is being cooked miles away in any case 
). I also made some chocolate pies, but those are not coming with us because they will have been eaten.
The cranberry sauce is lime-jalapeno, if anyone is interested! It turns out interesting with the heat and zing.
Happy Thanksgiving!
I’ve been thinking more and more about what next Thanksgiving will be like. D might be close enough to come home, but there is a very good possibility she’ll be across the country … :((
UC apps were submitted yesterday afternoon. That was a relief! D has 3 more RD apps to complete in the next month. She’ll most likely complete those over winter break as finals are coming up.
@lonetreegrad your child reminds me of mine. Doing very well with apps and even scholarships, but not a lot of excitement showing yet.
When will we start an acceptance page, or have I missed it? Seems like class of 15 was well underway by now.
@Booajo Yes, she never shows any excitement, even for scholarships!! She hates working on these apps. Why do so many schools make you work on scholarship apps and Honors college apps in addition to their admission apps? I think it is crazy. It is bad enough they have to write essays for their initial applications, then why more essays for scholarships and Honors colleges!! So 12 college applications can turn into 30-36 applications!! [-(
@Booajo I think it would be great to start the acceptances list. My S16 doesn’t have any yet, though, so I feel a bit strange starting it.
We also have a household of picky eaters, my S14 only eats mashed potatoes, rolls, and dessert. S16 (vegetarian) adds jellied cranberry sauce to that.
My d is actually excited about scholarships, even ones that are almost complete lotteries. She applied for the imove scholarship. I’m sure that thousands and thousand of kids applied for the whopping $800 scholarship but she thinks that she wrote a good enough easy that she has a shot at. I am not holding my breath! At least they announce the winners next week so we can move on.
There is an acceptance list on the High School Life Forum but it seems like there is always one on here too.
I can’t believe EA results will come out in a week or two. DD applied to two super reaches and one low match. Of course supper reach results coming out first.
YES! DS has completed his UC applications!!! We are now down 5. Only about 7 more to go :((
I realized yesterday that S16’s two choices could meet in a bowl game. S18 and I said he should just pick the winner.
Seriously, he’s been thinking about what my wife told him about the number of distractions in a big city and is leaning more toward the smaller college town than he was previously.
We live in a large city and it’s only distracting if you let it be. I’m partial to a city more for the convenience of travel options and health care (my older D once had to take the bus to urgent care because the only taxi was busy in her tiny college town). D is looking mostly at colleges in mid-size cities, but one is in the smallest town ever. I’ll honestly worry for her health should something happen-it’s about 20 minutes from the nearest real town and 30 from a city.
Two of the last 4 applications done this morning. One is for a very large, highly rated test-optional school and the other a super safety that is another for which she qualifies for full tuition (but it is first-come, first-served). However, it is so affordable that even without the award we could manage.
Just bought basketball tickets for a home game at one of DS’s top 2 schools. This will give him a 2nd visit to that campus to ask all of his questions (financial aid, study abroad, etc). He may stay overnight with a student and sit in on a class also. The most valuable part of the visit may be experiencing January weather there. He is hoping for snow. I am okay with snow on the ground but do not wish to navigate a major storm while we are there.
About choosing a small city/town over a big city just to avoid big city distractions (I realize there are other reasons to make this choice): I agree with @sseamom. Campus life is so encompassing that most students end up feeling sorry that they didn’t take more opportunities to explore their city. This was true for DH and me, and is true for DS13. I also like having big city amenities (health care, restaurants, airport access, etc.) available. @sseamom, sounds like your older D needs to install Uber or Lyft so she’ll have options next time.
Congrats to everyone finishing the UC app.
Wishing you the perfect snow experience, @Cheeringsection: snow on the grass and gardens but not on the roads.
EastGrad-older D is well out of college and I don’t think they had Uber back then. But younger D (the 2016 kid) has a friend at Tiny Town College and she says she is “good friends with an Uber driver” for that exact reason. For experiences outside of school, the college does offer a shuttle into the “big city”, so they’re that,
@Cheeringsection S and I are doing the same thing. S EA school is in town this weekend to play against a college close to our home so we are going to see them. We figure might as well be a part of the school until EA comes out. The bad thing is S EA school is playing his 2nd choice this week and 2nd choice needs a win to advance to the college playoffs.
Just dropped off D to have lunch with her cousin and grandmother. I come home and in the mailbox are two big envelopes. One is from a university where she has already been admitted, but I know this one has her merit award info inside. The second is from a very selective EA school. It seems a little early to receive notification. If it isn’t an acceptance, then in what cruel, cruel world would admissions send out something that could potentially give a student or parent a heart attack when they see it? D isn’t looking at her phone since she is with her grandmother. I am dying. :-SS
We live within walking distance of the DC line. I think the money is a big factor as well, since the guaranteed scholarship from the small town school would bring the total cost down to well under the $ in his 529. That would make a summer/semester abroad affordable, which was his first reaction when we showed him how much he had.
Update. The very selective EA school sent a freakin’ poster! ~X( The other was an official acceptance with a very generous merit award and honors invitation. 
That’s really annoying! @Undercovermom1 But congratulations on the acceptance!