@4MyKidz I’m not creative (plus I have all girls), but Pinterest has a ton of prom puns and ideas.
@4MyKidz A stuffed bear with a sign that says " I couldn’t bear to go to prom with anyone but you."
Cute! @carolinamom2boys
Here a lot of kids usually just make a poster with a cute saying on it. DD was asked sophomore year with a post it note that had a pun on it from the musical they were both in. Her junior year she asked a church camp friend who isn’t local so she sent him a Boomerang video with a ping pong paddle that said his name on one side and Prom? on the other (he’s the perpetual ping pong winner at camp). Just something little that maybe works in something they like. Or a snack and a note works too.
I agree it used to be a lot simpler, but I think it’s kind of nice to put in some effort (without going overboard) and it may actually help with the nerves if you have a prop and a plan 
I wish I was relaxed as you guys are. Prom is even stressing me and D isn’t even going with a date. The dress, hair, makeup, pictures. I wish she would pick a school already. She’s just staring at acceptances and doesn’t really care. She said any of the 3 are fine. Stressed.
@Trillian9955 Meditation/Yoga seriously helps ?. I was really stressed with my oldest. She graduated from college last year. Every kid is different. My son is very laid back and is also a Type 1 diabetic. So we’ve dealt with some serious health scares, and the stress of day to day management is enough to be honest. My youngest, D20; just told me that she plans to go to our local community college with friends she’s known since prek, and will transfer to Sam Houston St for their forensics/ criminal justice program. Sounded absolutely refreshing to me & her dad!
My D19’s high school culture is intensely not into elaborate promposals. In fact, most people go to prom single—there are 28 in the graduating class, so dating within the school is kind of weird.
My D23 will be going to a larger (graduate >500 each year school, though, and elaborate promposals are a thing. I am not thrilled—I’m with @4MyKidz, and don’t get the allure.
Too bad about Midd, @homerdog, I was hoping he’d get in - I would have liked to have another Chicagolander with my D there. Their loss, I think.
@RightCoaster Interesting about Midd - my kid didn’t get in through standard application process, so I do not know much about standard admissions there. I do know that California and Illinois are very well represented, but that does not mean that connections weren’t important in their acceptance, just that connections may be a bit wider. The number from Illinois kinda surprised me, since nobody here seems to know where Middlebury even is…
@momtogkc Congratulations on the acceptance and decision - I’ve heard only great things about Tulane (it’s a very popular college choice among kids from my D’s HS)!
@EganAg Congratulations on the acceptances!! Way to go!
Congratulations to anybody else I missed!
To all WLs and rejections - my commiserations. As I wrote about homerdog’s S, it’s their loss. I think that if we built up a couple of classes from the kids of the people here, they would be amazing cohorts. Of course, there wouldn’t be enough to go around for all colleges, so there would just be a few lucky ones…
My D just got her prom dress today. Because she does not believe in spending any more money on clothes than absolutely necessary, she bought her dress on eBay. It’s pretty cheap, it’s well made, and it looks amazing in her - a lot more elegant than it did on the model. No date at the moment - she’s not sure whether she’ll simply ask somebody she had a crush on, go with a friend, go with a group of friends, or go alone. She really doesn’t care at the moment (though she has a date on Monday, and we’ll see where that goes).
Congrats on all the acceptances/decisions! Sympathy on the WLs/rejections. Feeling luckier than ever about D19’s super-smooth process (applied only to her top choice, got in EA with the most merit they offer).
D19 is regretting a bit not being at a high school that does an American-style prom. Her international school here in Switzerland does two Bals de Neige (Snow Balls), one for the equivalent of eighth through 10th grades, one for 10th through 12th grades (yes, 10th-graders get to choose either, for some reason). D19 went to the older-kids one last night with some friends, but they left almost immediately—few people there, even though they were fashionably late, and the music was terrible. They had planned to go eat at Five Guys after and just went a little early. My vegetarian D usually gets the veggie sandwich there but opted to just have a milkshake for dinner. She said that part was fun, anyway. Tell your kids with proms to savor them!
Anyone out there considering NC State? I am curious if/when one can get a tour that includes lab facilities for Bio, chem , etc. There does not seem to be a clear option to meet with a professor or sit in on a class but maybe I am overlooking it.
Congratulations to all the acceptances!!! So excited for everyone getting close and making final choices. One more week then it’s all over but student choices and WL options. Whew, so ready to move on from the waiting.
@elena13 I’m sorry about the WL, S19 is falling in that zone as well. Also WL from Carleton. It was one of his favs. Congratulations on Colgate! Having schools that love you should help take that sting away.
@KCHWriter congratulations on 2 fantastic choices. Good luck this week!
@momzilla2D sorry about the decisions that didn’t go her way but sounds like you both have a good attitude.
After the initial sting, S19 and I have also put things in perspective. There’s no point in worrying about what ifs. S19 decided early on his choice will be based on best package of opportunities, cost, etc. Two decisions left to hear but only one that might be a possible, not holding my breath on the other.
@jellybean5 congrats on a decision and getting to move forward! Shopping is more fun and less stressful after all the college pap
@4MyKidz I’m not sure when they got so BIG but it certainly puts more pressure on the asker! Good luck to him!
@Vineyarder lol, sounds like a perfect dinner. Maybe she’ll attend s college formal that will give her that type of experience.
@Cheeringsection we toured last summer and looked through a few empty labs. They were working with a guy on prosthetics in one and they stopped and talked to the group. Very impressive.
It feels like life is on hold until the last decisions come in!
Just catching up after lots of March Madness basketball. Good news is that UVA got the monkey off its back by winning on Friday. Not as good news is that S19 was waitlisted during the game. We are both disappointed. H and I are giving him some time to digest the news and decide what he wants to do. He has heard from all schools and is in at 5 (WL at 2). Family discussion coming this week to narrow his choices. Revisits will make the next few weeks pretty busy.
@firstwavemom Ugh. Sorry about the UVA watilist. How many schools do you think you’ll visit next month? We are finding that the admitted student days that S19 will most likely want to go to are all shoved into the first two weeks of April. He’s booked to go to one for 4/11-12. We are waiting on decisions this week to decide on where else to go but two of the options are 4/5-6! Thinking those flights will be expensive since we can’t decide until Thursday when the last decision comes in.
I’ve posted about this in the past and looked for advice but I’m still not sure about visiting on just a regular day. He’s already been to the schools he wants to probably re-visit, done the tours, sat in class. I find the admitted student days to have so much more info for both S19 and for us as parents. I think going to admitted days for some schools and not others gives an advantage to the schools where we go to the admitted days because there’s just so much more excitement, he gets to meet fellow prospectives, and there are so many more meaningful breakouts. I wish he had these last two decisions in already so we could get a move on this.
I think there are pros and cons to accepted students days vs a regular day visit. There will definitely be more parent programming at an accepted students day, but the razzle dazzle of the day may not be a true representation of the school. It may be more of a hard sell than what a normal day really looks like. But on the pro side, you’ll probably get access to more departments/school resources at an official day. You’ll get to meet more potential future classmates, but on a regular day, more actual students
@homerdog It stinks/stings for sure. I think he will narrow the list to 3. Since we have visited all of the schools already, we are looking to have our son shadow another student so he gets a real feel for the schools and that option is available at 2 of the schools–one a drive away and the other would require a flight. We have a kid from our HS at another contender (a flight away) and may try to just arrange an informal shadow day there. If he wants to broaden the visits, our state flagship is 20 minutes away, so very easy to get to.
I’ve been to 3 admitted days: they were great for information but I felt like it was just us walking around with our kid and talking to the student guides and listening to panels. Only one school had professors available in each department and you could choose to go where you wanted. There was not much interaction with other prospective students. But, at smaller LACs you may find breakout sessions and it will probably be more intimate. Good luck. I have been following you all year and hope your son can narrow down his great choices! Btw, I love your username. My husband’s childhood dog was Homer.
How does one meet more students on a regular visit day? That would just be a tour and info session. No student panel etc.
For us, it seems like admitted student days might be best because he’s already been to these schools for a regular visits (at least to Davidson and Bowdoin which are the two so far he wants to revisit). Doing that again might not move the needle towards a decision. If we end up having to do a regular visit day, I’m going to have to look into what else that can offer him that day - meeting with professors, lunch with a student, etc. - something more than what he’s already done.
@homerdog We’ve opted for just a regular day visit, rather than the big admitted student events. Since all the schools on the short list require flights, the scheduling just didn’t work out for the bigger events. At Ohio State, they had admitted student tours every day, so though not as much fanfare as the big events, it was more geared to admitted students, and we got to do a more thorough tour of the residence halls. At Clemson, we’re going next Monday for a regular info session and tour, and then have scheduled time with an advisor from her major. The third on the short list is UMaryland, but we don’t have a decision there yet, and did a regular visit before applying so probably won’t revisit. Since we didn’t do the big event at any school, they are all (theoretically) on equal footing. Though I am a little concerned about recency bias.
@homerdog because at accepted students day, there is so much going on, that a lot of regular students steer clear, especially if it is a weekend.
I did not go to any accepted students day because I saved money for the move-in days. I attended 2 move-in days. They were very informative and I had a good time.
The accepted day at my kid’s school is just before Passover, which we plan to spend at my parents’, so she’s decided not to deal with the craziness of flying out East, and then flying out West the same day she gets back. It’s also a lot of days missed from her dance rehearsals.