By the way, @LKnomad and @petrichor11, we were with you back in 2014 when my son’s one ED application was rejected. It was quite a stressful December/January getting in all the other applications, so I vowed S16 would do as much EA as possible. We also learned to keep April free for travel. Of course S14 crystalized on his choice fairly quickly and S16 may have a harder time. Always something to keep us jumping.
@lifegarding We are in Maryland, too, and though many students from our high school hope to go out of state, quite a few of them end up at UMCP (usually they do well, sometimes they stay with their HS friends, usually not). I’m not sure S16 will get in (he’s in the opposite situation from yours – scores are fine but grades much lower), or if he should go if he does. It will be nice to have the option.
Congrats on the scholarship @sseamom! I’ve enjoyed following your D’s journey.
@MidwestMomTo2 - That sounds great! When we went to Israel in 2005, we planned to do just what you describe, but both ends in Heathrow. On the way there, we slept in the airport but I don’t know if I knew about, or if there was such a thing ten years ago, as the pod hotel (?) - we just slept on the cots in the international terminal with our then seven- and three-year-olds. We did a tour the next day on double-decker buses and then got the flight to Israel.
On the way back, we arrived at LHR and went down to the Tube to get tickets into the city. It was about 8:45am and they told us, you can save twenty pounds if you wait until after official rush hour at 9am, and I said sure. Went back down at 9:01 and they said “everything is closed due to an electrical disturbance”…also, no buses, no cabs, no way out of the airport. I was so mad at the time to be stuck in the airport!
And…It was, you may have guessed by now, 7/7/05, but no one knew yet about the bombing (!!). So we were stuck in Heathrow, eventually learned what was going on, and had a crummy day but a much better day, to say the least, than if I’d not been too cheap to spend the 20 pounds!!! What a near miss that was, that we weren’t in the Tube.
My dream vacation would be to take a Baltic capitals cruise attached somehow to an Israel trip. At this rate of student-based money-outflow, that won’t happen for a long time!
@fretfulmother wow, that was ambitious with kids that young. We did one trip to Ireland with kids that age but direct flights! I too am glad you avoided the tube that day. We had some concerns about safety and the Israel trip – and to be frank, there were several that happened nearby, just before or just after we visited places – but we came away unscathed and happy to have done it.
@Mysonsdad , no worries-there are other very similar programs, as well as forgiveness programs for those who are already teaching (my niece is a teacher, so I had the advantage of knowing about some of this). TEACH stands for “The Teacher Education Assistance for College and Higher Education” and unless you drop out of college or stop teaching in a designated school before they are paid off, the grants never need to be repaid, and you can get a new one each year you’re in college.
I hope you didn’t think I was being snippy. I’m sure there are many programs I haven’t heard of yet.
@MidwestMomTo2 - I’m glad you are back safe and sound! Usually I feel pretty safe in Israel because of all the soldiers on duty, but who really knows in today’s world! I feel a lot less ambitious now than I was when a decade younger.
S got a big scholarship to a small school in NY. It was a school that he initially was drawn to one, because of the location and two, because of the possibility of getting this type of merit award. However, now he is leaning more towards the west coast. The NY school letter says 'while you have until May 1 to decide if you will accept your Dean's Scholarship, we would appreciate knowing your decision as soon as possible.' He certainly has not made his decision, so we're not ready to withdraw. Would you send a thank you email and state that you are still deciding or just let it go for now. This is a smaller school, one where the President walks around a lot personally knows many of the kids. I guess I am thinking in this situation, a personal thank you and the courtesy of letting them know he is still deciding might be warranted. Am I overthinking or just overdoing it?
I just did the FAFSA. The only reason I did it was for the possibility of getting a student loan? Do you still need to send it to the schools when technically you aren't eligible for anything other than a loan? Or, can you wait until you decide and just file it with the one school?
@CAMidwestMom I recommend sending an email to the school thanking them and acknowledging the scholarship. I would note in the email that you are still deciding and will let them know as soon as you can (if it takes until 1 May, then so be it since that’s the absolute latest deadline you were given).
Wow, should have taken my own advice and stayed on this thread today! Some mean-spirited people out there! Maybe they’re all suffering from hangovers?!
@MidwestMomTo2 Sounds like a wonderful trip. I went to Israel with my mom 10 years ago. She asked me to go with her for her 75th birthday. I couldn’t say no to that. Seeing that she has a several health issues now, I’m glad we did that trip together. It was a tour group that she picked out and it was all wonderful. My kids have each been there on youth summer trips. They each spent a week in eastern Europe and then 4 weeks in Israel. My DS went the summer of 2014 when the war was going on. He had a great time but the itinerary for the last two weeks was changed quite a bit so he never got to Tel Aviv or a few other places that my DD got to. I’d love to go back someday with my DH. London is also on my list.
@AsleepAtTheWheel I’m surprised to hear about the difficulty with getting into classes at Emory. My DD went to WashU, a similar sized school. The few times DD was waitlisted, she went to the professor and asked to be added and it was never an issue. The professors seemed to welcome students who really wanted to be in a particular class. This sounded pretty common at WashU. Also, it seemed common for kids to register for more classes then they intended to take, attend all the first week, then drop one or two, which also opened up space. That being said, I have heard lots of stories of problems with getting into classes at larger state universities - including our flagship, where DS did not apply. For those situations, having priority registration from being in the honors college is a definite plus.
I’m joining the virtual cookie party for those of us waiting for many March decisions! DH is working on CSS and FAFSA today - I’m doing mounds of laundry that I ignored all week and trying not to miss DD, who flew back to the mid west today. Not sure if she’ll be back before DS’s graduation in June. Six months is too long to go without seeing my kid (insert pouting and stamping of feet).
One more thought on travel. If your kids are planning to study abroad while in college, plan to visit! My DD did an excellent program in Copenhagen called the Danish Institute for Study Abroad (DIS). We visited her in Copenhagen and went to Amsterdam as well. It was wonderful. My cousin’s’ daughter was in the same program at the same time. There are many options within DIS so she and my DD were not in the same classes or living environment but they visited each other from time to time. We visited the cousin as well while we were there. Of course, it is harder to feel comfortable with my DS studying abroad with all the violence that seems to be everywhere now.
Well, we’ve decided to spend a couple days in Branson, MO during the kids’ spring break in late March.
I’ve never been there before and I’ve heard only good things about it.
The plus is that DD will be going to school next fall about 4 hours from Branson so in case she wants to talk to one of the academic advisors or department administrators, then we can swing by on our way home.
I don’t know what’s up with people on other threads today either. Maybe they’re all slogging through the FAFSA? It made me cranky too, but no need to take that out on people here. Our EFC came in lower than I’d expected, but that’s because I didn’t realize until today that, unlike CSS Profile, the noncustodial parent isn’t included on that. Since we’re making no decisions around here until sometime in April (unless all 3 RD apps are rejects, in which case he’s done) - yeah. Cookies. I’ll provide Bailey’s, too. It goes well with coffee!
I’m in denial about having to go back to work tomorrow. I have to have some less-than-fun conversations with a manager and a few other people. It’ll be OK - just not fun. Dragging out today as long as I can.
@2manybooks Also in denial about going back to work. :(( I’m an external consultant so I only take time off when I really have to or when there is a company shutdown or holiday. I haven’t had this much time off since last year and I’m sad about having to go back!
Count me in on being in denial about going back to work tomorrow. I have not had a vacation since last January. We took lots of long weekends this year to look at schools and visit family but no real vacation. I told DH - never again. I need the mental break from work at least one week a year.
@carlson2 Nowhere near as much time. I decided to do it today and was surprised when it was done. There’s very little detail. Having said that, the EFC part tends to be annoying as heck, so bear that in mind.
@carlson2 - It depends. FAFSA took me less time than CSS Profile, but as I’ve not filed my 2015 taxes yet (ha) - it just means I get to go back in and modify stuff later. Mine is an educated guess at best. I sold my house in 2014 and had some other transactions that won’t appear in 2015, so stuff could change a bit.
What’s not likely to change - our EFC showing that he’s not likely to get much, if any, need-based aid. Pretty much expected that, although as my 2015 AGI is less than 2014, that might shift just a bit. We’ll see when I do FAFSA round #2 in February!
