We’ll be driving 8-9 hours tomorrow, the longer leg of a 14-15 hour trip, and we’ve identified a Japanese restaurant/steakhouse with good reviews that’s near our overnight stop and will be open for dinner (we called and checked).
We’re fans of Chinese cuisine but it felt like that would be a cliche on Christmas Day; normally we’re home or with family. Either it’ll be a good meal or if not, hopefully will be “our glitch for this mission.”
Best holiday wishes to all!
S has 4 more essays to go and then he is done with college apps. It’s good to know that by this time next week all the SAT, college app, etc. stress is behind us. Next he will work on some scholarship applications.
@petrichor11 I love the idea of a tee shirt quilt also but it can be hung up if your S doesn’t want to use it. My S’s first roommate had one and it came out very nice I have to say.
Super Congrats to all receiving great news in the interim while we were having our fish feast and we finished the wrapping and we continued with the cookie baking.
We are Italian, Irish, Hungary & German but we love Italian food the most so we will have stuffed shells for dinner on Christmas Day…we used to have Grandma’s homemade manicotti on Christmas Day but since Grandma cannot do as she used to we have moved on stuffed shells which are much less labor intensive.
Thankfully, D only has one scholarship application to write over this holiday break and then its all the waiting.
We hope where ever you are and whatever you celebrate that everyone cherish being with the ones that make them happy…time flies by each year faster and faster…lets enjoy this moment in time because when we blink it will be over and things will be different!
Congratulations to your DS @carolinamom2boys ! So happy to hear he has achieved his goal!!
I’m up early out here on the West Coast. Merry Christmas everyone.
And being that I’m sitting here waiting for everyone else to wake up, does the order of colleges matter on the CSS profile like it did on the FAFSA?
Very early @Mysonsdad ! Still trying to get everyone up here on the east coast.
Hope everyone has a peaceful and stress free day. Merry Christmas!
Good morning and Merry Christmas! I am also wondering about CSS profile. Since there’s fee for each school, do we apply before or after admitted to the college? I will have plenty of time to myself today so I am thinking of filing it but may wait to hit the submit button unless it is beneficial to submit prior to acceptanace. Thanks!
@Sunbeams according to the parents thread from last year, money is often allocated in the order in which the financial aid requirements are complete, so early in may mean more money. I would definitely get it in sooner rather than later. I’m all over hubby to work on it.
Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays to everyone. @lvmjac1 Italian sausage lasagna for us today.
Well, that’s some Christmas present for the D16: an overnight email telling her she’s been admitted to the 13th school of her 13 college apps. Woot! Now, comes the crushingly difficult process of her/us choosing which of the top favorites to attend. Each would be so great educationally and likely of equal out-of-pocket cost (still not easy for us because given their locations they’d all require room and board).
The twist is that one of the top three options (honestly: her top choice) requires an answer/commitment by mid-Feburary in order to secure a full-tuition grant. But, we haven’t even been able to visit any of the favored schools that are out of the region (this is when it hurts to not have money to travel). So, she doesn’t have that in-person info to use for a decision. (Maybe we could do a long weekend trip to one of the cities where two of the top-contender schools are located?) And, it seems the other schools won’t announce if she’s been given a full-tuition grant until sometime in April.
Is a bird in the hand worth more than two in the bush?
Congrats to your daughter @dyiu13 . Some hard decisions coming.
Congrats!!! @dyiu13 <:-P best of luck to your daughter making that decision
@dyiu13, a full ride to her top choice…commit. What a great Christmas for you and your D.
@dyiu13, Congratulations to your Daughter!
Maybe you can share the joy/burden of that decision. Those that have not yet declared the offered scholarships could be a part of your process. Let them know the dilemma, and that you are thinking that a bird in the hand is worth two (or more) in the bush, and let them know your February decision deadline. They deserve to be given a chance, I would think.
Also, some schools have funds to help pay travel expenses for a student to visit. It may be worth an inquiry.
All student loans except for Stafford loans (5500 and slight increases each year) are in fact cosigned by the parents which means the parent is guaranteeing the loan.
Pell grant is 5,525 based on FAFSA for someone with a low income. The work study is another 1500.
So it looks like FAFSA based aid + loan + work cap out at $12,525. Rest of it has to be from a school funded financial aid or a school supported loan process when someone wants to attend an expensive private school.
Unless a school is known for giving free financial aid (money the student does not have to repay), the standard advice or common wisdom from CC is not to borrow extensively (like 40-50k per year) to attend any school.
@Mysonsdad Full tuition , not full ride per @dyiu13 's post.
@carolinamom2boys, I would still commit, simply because it is the top choice and good aid.
@dyiu13 Super Congrats to your D’s surprise Christmas present. I would definitely find a way to visit (at least 2 or the three as you said) because no matter what its extremely hard to commit to a school you have never seen in person. Both my S14 and my D16 had schools that they loved immensely and then…they visited the campus and it was a complete 180 turnaround. In some instances you have to go out on a limb (travel and financial) to reap the really big and important rewards. Not all kids are like mine, some can adjust and go with the flow easier than others…it all depends on your D. Good luck to your D in making her decisions!
@texaspg I think you misunderstood my question. I know we won’t qualify for FA what I’d like to know is if my daughter might be able to take out $5K unsubsidized student loan if we file FAFSA or will they say she can not take out a student loan because her parents income/assets are too high?
@3scoutsmom Yes, I believe you can. We didn’t qualify for anything, but you can get the loans - and my daughter did. I do not think you can get those without the FAFSA.