We are proud new members of the Big Mac club! 
D was finally notified of her Fordham scholarship after her EA acceptance . She got a Dean’s Scholarship for 1/2 tuition - 34K per year and only needs a 3.0 to maintain. It’s a safety school, but she likes it and we are thrilled with the scholarship.
I’m a bit confused -
First college wants a decision by March 1st but you will not know if he’s accepted into a particular program? Assuming he is, it sounds like a no-brainer – cheaper, has Honors College, great study abroad, less distracting and less difficult (but will it still be challenging??) program with better grades…
Can you push for a decision on the particular program to be made before March 1st?
@HiToWaMom Holy crap, a hat trick of stereotypes in one sitting! @-) I like @MotherOfDragons take on the situation - OWN IT - “we’re going to run this mother”
@payn4ward Look in the mirror!! :))
D had an issue in Photographic Arts - mostly boys and unfortunately, they were very crude towards her (inappropriate s-xual comments), but she told them off and had to tell her GC, and things settled down.
QOTD: D has never been on social media really. She was never a “group” text-er. She ignores group messaging but will respond if it’s one on one. She never opened a FB account. She does have Instagram where she occasionally posts photos she takes and Snapchat is what she uses (for the past two years) to communicate with all her friends. But honestly, she’s not glued to her phone. I guess I’m lucky. Well, come to think of it, I do notice her taking quite a few selfies throughout the night. When I ask her why, she says it’s to post her mood on snapchat.
Wow, jealous of those with May graduation! Ours is not until the end of June.
@nocturne21 Congrats on the Fordham scholarship!! That’s really great! <:-P
QOTD: D is on Facebook, but she is only friends with people she actually knows. She refuses to join any Facebook college groups, but will join if they have separate apps. I’m not sure why, but I guess it’s a privacy thing. She enjoys keeping up with the news and will often ask me if a particular source is legitimate. Usually they are, so I guess she isn’t following too many fake news links.
D is another one graduating May 20.
We were talking about some of her options today and she said “I can’t wait to go to college!”
Late May graduation for D and school does not offer AP courses so no dead time.
@nocturne21 Congrats on Fordham, that is super!
@momocarly That sounds like quite the dilemma. It sounds frustrating to not have all of information in front of you so you can’t do a fair comparison and will have to rely on some guesswork. Given the costs of vet school, I would be tempted to go with the March 1 school so you might be able to help your son later. Does he have a strong preference?
Hopefully you will get the missing info on the first school by March 1! And congrats on the scholarship!
Hello all, DS got into UIUC CS. Totally unexpected for his test score (32). Still waiting on in-state first choice… UT Austin!!!
@ACT2017 – still waiting on UT also! :((
Almost every senior leaves school for a four week internship after his last AP exam. They all return on the last day of finals for presentations, and graduate a day later. Program is almost identical to the one @CA1543 described. Students, or their parents, need to secure positions.
Students finish their internship early enough to participate in team sports after school.
D graduates June 4, a few days before her 18th birthday. Not exactly sure what she does for the last month or so, but I’m kind of glad it’s not an internship. I would have liked that last year, though. 
Congratulations @nocturne21 on Fordham. Please tell me $34K is not half tuition! Wouldn’t that mean COA of about $80K+? Yeesh, say it ain’t so…I still have a D20 to worry about!
My daughters’ school usually has graduation the Tuesday before 15 May, but this year there was some schedule weirdness around winter break that pushed everything back a bit, so graduation is shockingly late—22 May.
@hairypottery No, the COA isn’t quite that bad, but still crazy high at just north of 70k with books and fees. I guess this scholarship is not quite half full ride (if that’s what we call it - almost sounds oxymoronic LOL) as it is half of tuition and room & board.
that reminds me, I need to order her cap and gown…
Congrats @nocturne21 --it’s always good to feel the love from a school!
I still need to order the senior pictures - did the sitting months ago. No cap and gown order info yet here. 3rd quarter is really last academic quarter - through AP period in May. There is starting to be a glow from the light at the end of the tunnel.
@carachel2 - I believe UT is going to release final wave of admission decisions on Feb 17th. All the best!!
@ACT2017 thanks! At this point it’s a “just for funsies” application since she has already accepted an offer from another school. But we are super curious to see how it all plays out.
Well, the stress level in our house took a significant turn for the better yesterday. My ds has received two acceptances and is waiting on four more. One of his yes schools is a full tuition NMF school and he has also received an honors merit scholarship there so it is more than affordable but it is very far from home and he seems to be getting less enthused about that distance. The other school is our state flagship but so many kids from his school go there that he has been very negative about how incredible of a school it is. Yesterday, he was selected for their scholars program and that seemed to really improve his mood as it relates to that school. Phew. We are breathing easier. Now we wait for the last four - three of which we should have clarity on by middle of march because he cannot attend those without progressing in their big merit scholarships.
This is the longest roller coaster of our lives.
I hope everyone has an incredible weekend and can relax, refresh and unplug some.
@MotherOfDragons I think we ordered the cap and gown when she was measured for it? Hmm, now I’m wondering, I can’t remember!
@CA1543 we already have the senior pics in hand - gave them out at xmas. Saving the ones with cap and gown to give out at graduation.
@carachel2 Did I miss that?! Did she accept offer from Pitt?
Cap and gown ordered in December, pics selected and should be ready mid-month and S17 is eager to begin college. It’s coming so fast. I’m excited for him but it’s going to be a huge adjustment for me and H.
@nocturne21 Congrats! Nice scholarship!
@hairypottery I have to tell you asking one of the schools their COA for 2017-2018, high on S17’s list, was a bit of a reality check that we will be undoubtedly be facing COAs in the low $80s by the 4th year. For us, we’re one and done. For those with more children to follow…ouch!
@Fishnlines29 --yes, we let her commit to Pitt! It was her first choice all along, the merit scholarship there makes it affordable/in budget for us so there ya go! She has her interview for the Pitt Chancellor’s scholarship in one week so we are trying to keep chill and not retreat to a corner biting our fingernails lol. If she gets it, or even if they bump her scholarship amount it will just be icing on the cake.
I am the one having a hard time letting her withdraw her acceptances from other schools. I’m a huge safety net person. She still has a dorm and tuition deposit in at Alabama because I keep thinking of the “what if’s” and want her to still have an option in April!! But I know we need to just move on.
Darn mid-career layoffs (H, an engineer was laid off from major defense career a few years ago, happily employed now, but the memory is still there!)—just remembering how it was a few years ago has made me very very cautious.