Congrats @Mysonsdad
Congrats @Mysonsdad <:-P
Congratulations @Mysonsdad !
A passport is also useful as proof of U S citizenship when our DC get a job. I think the passport card works for this purpose as well. There is an active secondary market for US passports so make sure it is kept in a safe place-most likely not a dorm room.
WooHoo @Mysonsdad! Great news, congrats!
@Midwest67 so sorry about the dream school sticker shock but very glad the UK scholarship is such a great option! You are a great example of following through on good application strategy. Just imagine if your DD had not applied as broadly. You might have been stuck with that unpleasant surprise.
We also had a school that was in the running until the very end but ultimately was just not a good financial decision. It was squarely within budget when we first visited summer after sophomore year but OOS tuition grew more quickly than the OOS merit scholarships. We have also heard that the gap between IS and OOS is expected to get larger each year so what is a stretch to afford now could easily become painful by graduation and if my DS could not co-op due to illness or some other unexpected situation, that pain could become extreme. Thankfully, DS decided on his own that he liked VU better so I did not have to make that decision. It can serve a a reminder though to run those NPCs and build that estimate of COA over the full time your DC plans to attend, before committing.
@me29034, great idea about the girls meeting up.
My D got to meet her roommate last summer, when we were in the area, and they had a great time.
There are several FB pages for Pitt 2020, one is the official one, itās not public.
@Midwest67, very thorough finacial analysis, good to know ahead of time!
Passport, we applied at a local courthouse and we got them in about 2-3 weeks, but that was in spring, summer might take a bit longer.
My S16 shared with us tonight that he has made his decision. Out of the three schools that were in the running as of last week, he thinks only one survives a process of elimination. His decision is based mostly on academics (the finances are not bad, either). He doesnāt sound too excited about the choice, as the location wasnāt what he was hoping for. Iām encouraging him to do more research into the possibilities for housing and research with faculty. Iām hoping this will build his enthusiasm. He says it isnāt a bad fit, he just wishes it were a better fit.
He doesnāt see a reason to rush to put in the deposit. Heās going to a programming competition at our local flagship on Saturday (the one that gave him a spring admit) and heās meeting with a professor in his field of interest at the campus that gave him the big scholarship on Monday. Iām hoping these experiences will help him feel more confident in his decision.
@carolinamom2boys we just ordered passports for our kids, and renewed ours, on March 13ā¦and our kidsā passports arrived in the mail today :). We didnāt pay any extra for expediting the request since our trip isnāt until late June, but they still arrived very quickly. Iām not sure if we were lucky or if itās typical for them to come in less than a month. I donāt think I would have ordered it if we didnāt have a trip coming up, though, because it was pretty expensive.
Now that our S16 has turned 18, I had him try to navigate his first doctorās appointment with me just sitting on the sidelines. It took all of 2 minutes for him to need my help :). I hadnāt realized that when he goes for appointments, they will ask him which parent the insurance plan is for, and then the parentās birth date. Then of course he didnāt know the name of his pediatrician who had ordered the routine lab work. So, even if they are old enough that we canāt see their health records without their permission, it helps to prep them on these insurance questions.
On a happier note, he on his own tonight completed the honors application and essay for the school he just committed to this weekend, and completed his housing contract and roommate request with a friend heās met through the schoolās FB page. This from a kid who had to be dragged along to complete any part of his college applications :).
As was mentioned above, a passport is very handy to have in case your DS gets a job and needs to complete an I9 form. Other forms of documentation will work, but a passport is the only single form that will. I think it is just a good thing to have as a young adult, and it will be valid for 10 years.
Congrats @Mysonsdad
Did the D16ās grad announcements @ vista print. On line, ordered Sunday evening and here on Wednesday (with the cheap shipping) I have a code for 20% off if anyone is interested.
Our S16 just turned 18 yesterday, and we need to get his passport renewed soon. His grandparents are taking him to England in July. Weāre kind of relieved that he decided he doesnāt need a driverās license, because it would have more than doubled our insurance costs now that heās 18. He went to an admitted students event in DC on Tuesday, and lots of people who didnāt register showed up. Fortunately there was enough food for everyone.
Congratulations @Mysonsdad !
@crowlady Congratulations on the decision being made! I hope your S is able to get more excited about his choice as time goes on. Hope to hear what his final choice is when you are ready to share!
On the topic of location not being what you wanted - When D first started looking for schools last spring we had just had a horrible winter up here in MA and she badly wanted to go south. She wasnāt interested in even looking at any school north of DC. I added Pitt to the end of our junior spring break college tour because it fit all the other criteria she wanted but she wasnāt thrilled about it, and it even snowed a little on the day we visited. But it grew on her. It was originally the only northern school she was going to apply to until Fordham offered her a free app. She was laughing last night about how we put all that effort into finding a school in the south and she ended up picking a school that has weather that isnāt too much different from home. We did check and on average Pittsburghās monthly temp is 5 degrees warmer than here, and average snow totals are less, so it will get a little bit better, but not what she was originally hoping for.
@me29034 - we had nearly the same experience. My DD desperately wanted to go warm. She applied to several southern schools and received very nice merit offers. Close to home, she applied to Temple and Pitt. After all of the angst, she chose Pitt. We too giggled about now needing to pack up the winter clothes.
Hi @me29034 and @PhilaSkiMom ! Future Pitt parent here too! :-h
Iād definitely get a passport. Just a note on timing, a renewal usually goes faster than a first time passport. It might be as fast as 3 weeks but it could take much longer. My mom applied for one 10 weeks prior to her trip to England and it did not arrive on time. In the end her congressman got involved and she did a special expedite and had to drive to Chicago to pick up her passport just before getting on the plane. Not simple or cheap.