Sadly, no USC package for my D today either. Since we live in SoCal, I’m assuming that means no scholarship for her. After she got a surprise EA acceptance to MIT, we were hoping she might qualify for an invitation for a scholarship interview. A great financial option close to home would have been really welcome. The whole process is confusing and frustrating - a couple kids from her school with lesser stats got the package, but they didn’t apply engineering. She is hoping that somehow engineering invites didn’t go out yet, but I know from cc that they have. I hate to have to tell her 
@carolinamom2boys Woops, my bad! In that case, please accept my late CONGRATS @readingclaygirl!!
Just wanted to send hugs to those who are waiting for the USC box. This whole thing really is stressful. I think that the hardest thing is worrying about how it affects them and knowing they are hurting or perhaps doubting themselves. Fingers crossed that they do get good news!
Joining the no USC box club. She has two colleges that are both academic and financial safeties. After that, I was happy to let her shoot for the stars. No regrets. 
Thanks @frenchtoastlover !
@motherof3kids I’m sorry about USC but congrats on MIT. This process is so random. I wish there was some way to do a matching process like they do for the advanced medical programs where you give a ranked list and schools give a ranked list and you get matched up. All of these really high achievers seem to get in somewhere but not necessarily the one that suits them best. I’ve been really puzzled why my son’s safety school hasn’t offered him any merit aid when he has gotten merit offers from significantly higher ranked schools that offer far less merit. I guess they don’t think he will go even with merit? Maybe USC feels like they don’t have to give as much merit aid to locals?
To all those waiting for USC boxes, I will keep my fingers crossed for you. I think it cruel to use snail mail in these situations. Yes the big envelope is nice but with social media these days, I think it causes more stress than necessary. To many people sharing information online. It really seems that the person who thought this up has never had a kid in the race.
@motherof3kids
I am so sorry to hear that. Hugs to you and ur daughter. Are there any other options closer to home?
My son only received one of his 5 notifications via email, everything has come snail mail. His acceptance into
The Honors College came via certified mail because it included an invitation to scholarship weekend. He was much more excited receiving something in the mail, even when he received his letter and package from the school that he received his acceptance via email .
Thanks everyone for your experiences with Accutain. I thought this would be the right place to ask. Nothing like a large group of parents with teens.
@momofsmartdancer we are already with a medication specialist because of ADHD. Our pediatrician gave up on trying to prescribe years ago. We see a developmental pediatrician at the local children’s hospital who is usually the last resort for hard to medicate kids. He has been following my son for two years now. The dermatologist is requiring us to get a written go ahead from him before they will prescribe. They won’t even take it from his regular pediatrician. It has to be the specialist! So I am with you there about getting an expert involved.
@LKnomad, I think the archaic process that USC uses to tell students whether or not they got a scholarship, or even worse, to send an acceptance with no information about the scholarship needs to be improved. Then on top of this, to make students wait a few days to tell them they didn’t qualify and they need to wait two more months to find out if they got in is really too much for kids. I get the feeling that it is like, “We’ll let you in but first let us see if someone better comes along.”
Regarding acne, my S has had sever outbreaks the last few years. His doctor has him on Zania cream and some antibiotics. The problem is, he goes through it so quickly he never completely knocks the acne out.
S seems not to care much about USC’s box. He applied to many schools, including USC, not because he was crazy about them but because of the possibility of Merit Aid. We are part of that group that is not poor enough to qualify for FA but not rich enough to be able to pay 60K+ a year in college.
After getting into Northeastern as University Scholar, which includes full tuition, S is happy as a clam For years, his dream college town has been Boston. Now he’s got his ticket!
I really hope that a box appears at the doorsteps of those for whom USC is an attractive, real option 
@mysonsdad Want to hear about Boston College? BC doesn’t even post decisions on the student’s portal. Up to this day, S’s acceptance is nowhere in the portal. Decisions arrive as a PDF attachment on an email – I’m kidding you not. Financial Aid information has to be sent via snail mail with the name of the student on every document. It is so, so all fashion!
Up to this day we have no idea how BC financial package would look like, but since S already has an option in Boston, we don’t care that much. We are 100% sure it won’t offer what NEU is offering, so we forget about it all the time.
I know very little about the CA school process, but congrats to those of you with good news and virtual ice cream or coffee for the kiddos who did not get the special package. D has gotten some preliminary admits through email but snail mail seems to be the way to go for the official acceptances and scholarships. D got an email today that honors decisions (and the scholarships that go with them) at one school are starting to go out next week - by snail mail of course. Sigh.
After H and I worked on the numbers last night, had a good talk with D this morning and as she has been all along, remains practical about her options. But even she is getting a bit impatient with the remaining letters we’re hoping to come our way.
Sorry, no experience with Accutane or anything else like it.
D and I went to the memorial of a lady who attended the church where I work. She was 90 and one of the nicest ladies you could ever hope to meet. She had everyone she ever met feel like a long lost friend-it was standing room only. Even as her health failed she sent me a birthday card in December, just weeks before she passed. I was lucky to have gotten to know her, and to D, she was one of many “honorary grandmothers”.
Ugh, @mysonsdad, I’m feeling sick for you and your boy. I was so hoping to read good news here today.
@kittymom1102 I hear Reed College also has a weird acceptance ritual. They do not post it on the portal, and do not give it by email. They send a copy of the Illiad through snail mail to those who have been accepted. So late this year my kid will be checking the mail box for a book to see if he has been accepted.
To @Mysonsdad @MidwestMomTo2 @kittymom1102 and those waiting on USC - I hope there is good news on the horizon. It is clear from your posts how stressful this process is.
Congrats to all those with good news these past few days.
@LKnomad - My S had very severe, very sudden onset acne when he was 11! No idea where it came from. We got him to a dermatologist who first tried topicals, then antibiotics plus topicals. None was very effective. We ended up putting him on Accutane when he was 12 1/2 as he was already getting scars. We knew it might not work as it supposedly works best on kids 16 and older. It actually was amazing. The first few weeks, we could see an improvement every 2 days. The only real side effect he had was dry lips and a little dry skin. After 5 months, his skin was clear. A few months later, he started getting some breakouts, but nowhere near as bad as before. Apparently, particularly for younger kids, there is a 30-40% “failure” rate. S has been on and off antibiotics and topicals since then but it has never been as severe as it was prior to Accutane. I think it was worth it. I would have considered a second round but H was against it as he worried about long term effects on S’s body. I feel a little badly that S started to get scars even under a dermatologist’s care and that we didn’t get it under control first. However, it seemed to make sense to try less invasive things for a year since S was so young. I know of a few other kids who have taken it and have not heard of any side effects besides dry skin. I do agree that there was a lot of paperwork and monitoring but better that than none at all. I hope it works out for your S.
@LKnomad Oh boy… I wish you and your S the best of lucks. You will need a lot of patience.
@PAO2008 you are describing my son. This is my 13 year old. It came out of nowhere and scars arec already forming. We have done the antibiotic and creams. I did not know about the failure rate and the age difference. Thanks for mentioning it. I will look these up.
For all those students (and parents) waiting for those tortuous decisions, this is not to make light of the situation but to reiterate that there is a random element to the process that none of us will fully understand, but that Forrest Gump apply stated “Mama always said life was like a box of chocolates. You never know what you’re gonna get.”
Just know…no one knows your kids more than you do, and what blood, sweat and tears they have put into their school career and the college application process…and my wish is that they will all land on their feet with such supportive family surrounding them.
Thanks to you all for continuing to put some “perspective” into this craziness. We are only waiting on one more decision, but expecting it to be one of those “random” decisions that may or may not go S16’s way. No matter what, reading this thread most days helps me maintain a little bit of sanity in a completely insane process!
How crazy has this process become that I am now quoting old movies…yikes!