Congratulations and condolences to everyone who posted. Its so hard to keep up.
Our spring break starts April 18 so we still have a long way to go. My D graduates on June 5 but my younger son doesn’t get out of school until June 21 this year. Its not even close to being over here.
This article in todays NYTimes might be a little late for us… but there are some good tidbits… http://well.blogs.nytimes.com/2016/03/17/advice-college-admissions-officers-give-their-own-kids/?action=click&pgtype=Homepage&version=Moth-Visible&moduleDetail=inside-nyt-region-4&module=inside-nyt-region®ion=inside-nyt-region&WT.nav=inside-nyt-region&_r=0
We start in August which makes for interesting football Friday nights when its 85 degrees . We have 180 days, build 5 snow days into the calendar, have a week for spring break. They schedule off every Friday in May for extra snow days. We only used 4 this winter which is very unusual. The last day of school is the Thursday before Memorial Day. Last year they had to make up a slew and went until June 4th, except for the Seniors.
DD has all of next week off for Spring break. Just gotta get through today and tomorrow! School began 8/13 and graduation is 6/4. DS has his Spring break a week later than DD. Different school district and a real bummer!
We are getting a spring break for the first time in several years. It starts this Monday-Friday! D16 last day/graduation day is May 13th. She has 31/2 weeks left as she is going to be in activities and gone from school for a couple of weeks. This is so…sad 
.
D has spring break next week (they were supposed to have some add’l days off including today that got eaten up by ‘snow’ days)-- I think we may have one of the earliest graduations-- 2 months from today! (edit… nvmnd-- @Sophmore1 – you get the early prize!)
Spring break starts tomorrow…today is the last day of the 3rd quarter - only one more left!!! We are going to Palm Beach for a few days and then I have to do another college road trip for my other D17 next week. Oh fun!
@oneundecided, some helpful tips in the article. Keeping them in mind for my other kids.
Spring break starts Monday for S. He started school on 8/11 and graduates on 5/15. I feel we are in the home stretch!!
My D was praying for many snow days this year since seniors wouldn’t have to make them up. But, alas, there were none. 
Wow! Mid May graduations! That is early!
Boy do some of you start and end early! We started the week before Labor Day and graduation is on June 11. Spring break is the first week of April, but we have no winter break, just a couple of days off in February.
Congrats on UCI @indsfolax! Right now, that might be my D’s top choice if she doesn’t get into either of the schools she hasn’t heard from yet.
DD has a half day tomorrow and then Spring Break all of next week. She started on August 10 and graduates on June 1. I’m pretty sure there are 180 instructional days. I’m really excited this year because for the first time since he started college, DS12 has the same spring break as DD and will be home Saturday!
Chalk me up as another SCU wistful parent, but with the Mac acceptance, I think SCU (which offered essentially no merit) has fallen off the list. That leaves Mac and Fordham, with two others yet to report. S will make the best decision for himself, and SCU’s probably only best for having him nearby. I do love the place, though, but I guess I’m not the one going to college,
I’m just ready for the last two to come in, and then see what April brings. We’ll have at least two trips to make, though. As I sit jetlagged in a hotel nine time zones from home, i’m grateful for the frequent flyer miles that will get us there. S has spring break coming up, starting on Good Friday - which is… in a week?
We started school right after Labor Day. Spring Break next week. Graduation now on June 10th (pending any additional snow days).
@Sean67208 - When my H ran the NPC for all the schools, the numbers for most schools were very conservative in terms of aid. RPI’s estimated merit award was so high that I didn’t believe it was right. Turns out, S was WL, so I don’t know if it would have been correct or not. The other schools have come in over their estimates of aid. I still don’t think he would have gotten the amount that RPI calculated had he gotten in.
I also don’t think declining offers makes any differences at this stage of the game on the wait list or other acceptances. It’s a numbers game; the schools expect to get a certain number of rejections. They won’t know how close they are to their estimates (and if they need more students) until after the deadline of May 1.
I’m another proud Northeastern parent of an engineering student finishing her 4th year. If anyone has any questions, I’d be glad to help.
Wow… so much happening on this thread - I cannot keep up! Fingers crossed for all of you on the “final 14 day home stretch”. In two weeks EVERYONE will be able to stop focusing on pending decisions (from colleges) and start focusing on pending decisions (from our DC).
S16 started a conversation last night for the first time about some pros and cons of his top 4 choices (still waiting to hear from one of those). He has resisted any conversation until now. It was brief…but I think his mindset is beginning to transition from the “waiting to hear” mentality to the “having to make a decision soon” mentality.
S also mentioned last night that he can see himself easily at any of those 4 schools, and the hard part for him is that he envisions a life (classes, friends, ECs, etc.) at each of the schools…and feels like when he makes his final decision, he is giving up those “other lives” he has envisioned in his mind at the schools he does not select.
Anyone else have a kid that looks at things this way?
Regarding WL - I wonder if schools are increasing their WL numbers partially due to the fact that this is the first year they cannot see what other schools students listed on the FAFSA? Maybe without that information they cannot predict as well and therefore want more kids on the WL?
Also, for some schools my understanding is that if you contact them after being waitlisted and make it very clear that they are your number 1 choice…this may possibly help. It certainly cannot hurt.
"S also mentioned last night that he can see himself easily at any of those 4 schools, and the hard part for him is that he envisions a life (classes, friends, ECs, etc.) at each of the schools…and feels like when he makes his final decision, he is giving up those “other lives” he has envisioned in his mind at the schools he does not select.
Anyone else have a kid that looks at things this way?"
I suspect my S thinks this way. I know I do. There were so many schools we visited that I wish I could attend, myself! I don’t know how these kids can make up their minds. I was, in retrospect, lucky to only be given one choice, other than living at home and attending school locally, when I was their age.
Heck, I didn’t just envision my kid at the schools we visited I mentally planned out everything we would do in the area when we visited for parents weekend. I was so in love with D15’s 2nd choice school (It was my 1st choice) and so certain she would get in that I was crushed when she was waitlisted. Now I am so so glad she is where she is but it took some mental adjusting and letting go of my dreams too.
It is or will be nice to transition from the waiting for school acceptances and/or FA packages to waiting for our DC to be the ones making their own decision on where they want to go and which school is lucky enough to get them. We have gone into only talking about details mode the last month or so, especially since D16’s list is down to her top four choices and she is in the midst of her next to last accepted student visit. I think she has a pros and cons list for each school in her mind, as do I and DW, but at some point we might put those things down on paper for the schools that remain on her list after these visits and one last merit award notification that should come this week. Our mantra at this point is that she can’t make a bad decision because they are all great schools and will be affordable if they make it on the true ‘final’ list.
Congrats to all with great news!