Thank you all for the congratulations! I believe that would be @ReminiscingDad, @Sophmore1, and @bookmom7 since I was last online.
@ReminiscingDad: Please check your PM inbox right now if youāre still here.
Congrats to those with good news today, including the Vassar admissions.
My S was accepted to his 10th and final school tonight - Bucknell. Itās been off the list since a few other acceptances came in but this makes him 10 for 10 - and he heard from 6 of them in the last week. We are very surprised, not because we didnāt think S was qualified but because, as we all know, there is a large aspect to the selection process that goes beyond grades and test scores. In fact, Iāve been telling S for at least 9 months that it is rare to get accepted to all schools and not to expect that. My S has his own unique abilities but he is not a leader as so many college claim to want and I figured that several might not see him as a good fit. Iām guessing that his personality came through in his essays and recommendations and his selection of proposed major helped too. While this is all better news than we could have imagined, my S seems overwhelmed and stressed about having to make more college visits and actually making a decision. Iāve told him weāll get it all done and it will work out, but I can see that did not make him feel better. It does not help that now heāll have to miss school for these visits and he is still being pummeled with a lot of homework. So while I am very happy that he has many wonderful choices, I am a bit sad that he is so stressed and does not seem excited about things. I want this to be a happy time for him. Maybe he just needs a little more time to absorb it all. At dinner tonight I mentioned that he should plan on having a decision by April 28th. I donāt want to be the last one on the S.S. Indecision. And who mentioned massages? I think I need one a week until May 1. . . . . And then in May, one of you can help me with a college avatar.
@readingclaygirl, he wants to major in some type of business. Cal is far better for his major when it comes to getting a job, but his friend said it is just as easy at UCLA, but you have to know what youāre doing.
Well done by your S @PAO2008!
@PAO2008 Congrats to your so, I hope he can relax a bit and realize that he has accomplished a lot and he should be proud. Iām sorry that it seems to have stressed him out.
Congrats @PAO2008 <:-P
Congratulations @PAO2008 !
Thanks for all the kind messages about my sonās acceptance to Vassar, itās a real contender for him, so he was very excited. That being said he is nowhere near making a decision, we may go down to the wire!
@PAO2008 10 for 10- congrats! Tough decisions- would it be possible to strike some off the list now so that DS is not so overwhelmed? Good Luck!
@PAO2008 congrats! Hope the re-visits provide some clarity.
Wow. Justā¦wow.
I would like to-- very respectfully-- suggest to those teachers that the Title One funds that go to schools in low income neighborhoods are very much offset by the lower tax base.
Having had kids at a Title One school-- one which, among other things, featured social studies books which still made reference to āYugoslaviaā-- I donāt entirely endorse their sentiment.
There are a lot more of those than one might think.
Congratulations to your son, @PAO2008 !
^^Yes, I agree there are a lot of kids who look fine but they do have a story.
@PAO2008 just when the stress should be ending it picks right back up again. Congratulations to you and your S.
Oh, believe me, I know the kids are there in truth. I say āthereā and I mean for you to hear āall around us.ā
And of course that means the parents are in the same boat as the kids, and when it is dire, people hide or go silent, or are made to feel invisible.
Teachers who have spoken that way learned to be more careful when my child was a student in the classroom, because it always came home to me, and that meant a face-to-face with the teacher, and concerned sessions with the principal. That teacher attitude, being viral in nature, is what prompted me to leave my local school system.
Besides, the teachers were, as one says, talking out of both sides of their mouths, as poorer schools were right next door, and as the district had not then mandated that funds at site-specific schools be shared across the board, the teachers were speaking to a need not so obviously seen in their own student population.
I have my doubts about the outreach that goes into finding the kids with the compelling story, beyond the line in the application for information on family finances. Its only a saving grace if the information about the scholarship application gets to those kids.
@Waiting2exhale ,whenever you post, I find myself nodding in agreement as I read. You remind me very much of the woman who founded Dās school (which is public, with her foundationās support). We have run into our share of teachers who saw certain children as āless thanā, and donāt even get me started about our districtās gifted program and āoutreachā. We are not in our home distract any longer either-we should have left sooner.
Sorry, I wrote a TMI comment and then regretted it and deleted it. 8-|
Thank you all for your kind words of support. I donāt want to say anything to many people because we do know that S is fortunate to have so many options. As a parent though, it is hard to see him stressed and not enjoying what should be a happy time. Heās had a challenging year and I donāt think it has been much fun. In my heart, I know he will really enjoy college once he makes a choice and actually gets there.
@bookmom7 We have things narrowed down to 4 schools with a possible 5th depending on S. Of the 4, 2 will involve long drives for admitted student day on back to back weekends (Iām okay with this) and another involves a flight (not booked yet). I am okay with that too. Fitting in the 5th school will make things very complicated. It is just that there is still a lot going on for my S with school - projects and papers - as well as his senior class trip and his spring sport. And of course, May will bring AP exams but Iām not really concerned with those. It is S who has all this on his plate and seems overwhelmed about the colleges. Iām truly hoping things will start to fall into place for him with these visits even though I sense heād rather not do them. Iāve made a chart that I plan to show him tomorrow night. He can fill it out over the month of April. I took some of the categories that several of you posted about here, so thanks for that.
@sseamom: I always think of you as the woman at the school district meeting who noticed that all night the Superintendent called on parents who flanked me to the left, right, and front, but would not call on me when I raised my hand. She sat behind me and to the left one seat.
She raised her hand and sharply inquired as to why the Superintendent insisted on ignoring me, calling attention to his habit to look right at me and then past me. She then ceded her time to me.
The Superintendent swallowed, mumbled, and then called on me. I was eternally grateful for the spirit of community in this stranger, parenting within the same district, doing what she thought was right.
@PAO2008 Wow! 10/10. I hear you with the homework and lack of time. Hopefully he can find some time to just enjoy the victory of all his hard work. He earned those acceptances.