Congrats and welcome to the club @CA1543! Have you visited? You may have reported a visit 1000 pages ago, but I am beginning to forget the schools we visited! What school at Pitt did your kid apply to?
Skin in the game
Yep, we had D14 take out a small loan her 2nd and 3rd year at college. We are covering all cost (tuition, rent, car, insurance, etc…), except her groceries and “other” cost (eating out, movies, concerts, etc.). All of the expenses she makes daily choices on. When it’s her money, she does a super job of budgeting. 
Nothing makes her happier than seeing us roll into town with a car full of groceries! It’s money in her pocket.
For 2017, she may end up with a summer engineering internship( [-O< ), in that case, she’ll not need the loan and she can use her earnings from summer to budget for the year.
We didn’t really want her to work a part time job (at least for the first year of college), as we wanted her to get involve in campus related extracurricular activities (volunteering, clubs/organizations, her women engineering sorority, etc.). Make friends, network, gain leadership experience and become “engaged” with campus.
However, the “right” part time job can be a huge boon.
EDIT: I should note that she did work the last two summers, as a waitress (and took a few classes)! She didn’t work during the fall or spring semesters.
@Davd_N What?? All apps in by Nov 1. Your school is nuts. You can’t even APPLY to University of California till Nov. 1st. There are schools there are rolling and you can apply in July. Around here we might do such a celebration at the end of Nov. for California State schools. Sorry… but MANY MANY schools have Jan 1th or Feb 1 Regular Decision deadlines. And if you apply ED somewhere… you can’t apply other places and have to wait and see if you are rejected first.
Yay @CA1543! <:-P
@mtrosemom We purposely are not traveling over Thanksgiving. Since I was able to predict that S17 would’t be likely to get his apps in before then. Two of his apps (5 schools) have deadlines Nov 30th… And getting my son do to anything early is like pulling teeth. Instead we are having family visit us. He can then not be too stressed out about spending that break working on them. (Plus it’s such a big headache to travel that weekend… easier to have retired grandparents who can travel on off peek times come to us.)
Congrats @CA1543 <:-P .
I wish my kid looked at Pitt. Seems to have a lot of things he might like.
Thanks for the congrats - good to know he can go somewhere – applied to Swanson School of engineering at UPitt.-- have not visited though he spent 2 day at CMU which I think is close by.
@Dave_N – wow – that’s “aggressive” - hope it does not lead to confusion or disappointment.
@vandyeyes – exciting! what’s in the UChicago package? We got a marketing book and a few mailers from them - not applying though.
I think the school’s point is that by now you should have everything started or in-progress, but they are consistent that they “require” everyone to be done by Nov. 1.
And yes, it is widely ignored. S '14 was at it until New Year’s eve 3 years ago.
@CA1543 CMU is just down the street. I believe you can take 1 class per ? at CMU if you are a Pitt student, and the class is not offered at Pitt.
@RightCoaster It’s not too late to apply
@RightCoaster – ok to apply now and was not all that difficult. I think they do have good programs in many areas.
@CA1543 …Congrats on the Pitt acceptance! The video is very cool. Hope your son visits before deciding!
I think he’d like certain aspects of Pitt and I think he’d get accepted. I think it might be too big for him, but he thinks he likes to be near the action and that campus is right downtown correct? I have not been to Pittsburgh in ages. He has never been. But I hear it’s a city on the rise. The problem is he loves Boston and being close to home. He has this fantasy over him and his friends all attending Boston area schools. I should have him look at it online and see what he thinks, it can’t hurt to have another match type school. He could get rejected by most of the Boston area schools and then we’d go onto plan B.
@CA1543 congrats on Pitt. <:-P
Both my parents went there (loooooong time ago!). I remember my dad telling me they used to chant RAY PITT RAY PITT RAY PITT until it sounded something not politically correct (I can’t imagine they still say that theses days!). :))
Just came across this thread of …1339 pages:) Anyone applied and got accepted in UCF (Orlando, FL)? If yes, have you heard anything regarding the merit based scholarships yet?
@greeny8 Not sure I wanna go there, but what is the RAY for? Is it like ‘Hurray’?
Welcome @educationfan. Not sure of your answer. Maybe @Gator88NE knows?
@educationfan …welcome! Are you a parent or a student?
@hadmeathello my guess it was from hurray.
Woo hoo! Just survived (I think!?!) the first submission of a college application by DD '17! What drama, what stress (what procrastination)!! I reiterated what I have been telling her for a while – that she should limit total applications to 10 – and for the first time, I think she agrees with the wisdom of that approach!
A parent.
@hadmeathello True re taking classes at CMU. In fact, if D attends, that is exactly what she’ll do to get in the number of Arabic classes she wants. The Pitt and CMU campuses touch and are at the edges quite confusing.