This is something neither of us ever heard of before, but she’s told it’s something to be proud of, so I’m proud. Ha! Two months till she comes home!
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What is this for? Some EC?
A very big deal. Gets to have her very own “Blues” blazer and become a member of Vincent’s Club. Well done for her!
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@milgymfam that’s fantastic! Congratulations to your D!
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Wow! What a terrific honor. 
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I’m always happy when this thread becomes active again, as it’s so interesting to read what everyone is up to. We are visiting S19’s school this week for the first time since parents’ weekend his freshman year. It just hasn’t been possible to travel in and out of Japan because of the Covid rules, and even though it feels kind of silly flying all this way when he’ll be home with us next month, we figured if we didn’t come now, the next opportunity would probably be graduation next year and that would be too sad! It’s been fun watching him run in a couple of track meets, meeting some of his friends and getting a sense of what his life has been like these past couple of years. And who knew, but central Ohio is absolutely gorgeous at this time of year, with cherries blooming everywhere in every shade of pink and lavender.
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That’s great you are getting to visit! Enjoy!
DD had her last day of “real” class yesterday- she finishes this summer with internship- so no more on campus classes. Graduation is in one week!
Been reflecting on her journey- I actually went back to look at some of my Part 1 thread posts during her junior year- what a struggle it was. But everything has gone so well through college. Great friends, great experience.
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Yikes–graduation in one week! Congrats to DD and you!
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Same for us. Walking graduation next weekend, but needs one more coop for diploma. First 10 weeks of a job counts. The kicker-so far no offers 
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Congrats to yours
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Last FAFSA. It’s weird - didn’t they have their Senior Prom last Spring?
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I’m wonderning whether to do the FAFSA for my kid’s senior year. My kid gets merit aid, does not qualify for need based aid, and the college doesn’t require the FAFSA for merit aid. When he was originally doing his college applications, I filled out the FAFSA just in case because I wasn’t sure where he’d end up and whether it would be needed for merit aid. It turned out that the fact that we had filed the FAFSA qualified him to get some Covid related grants (HEERF) even though he didn’t qualify for need based aid. So we continued to file the FAFSA. Now it’s time to file for senior year. Are there any pros or cons I should think about in deciding whether to fill it out again? My inclination is not to file it.
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My thought is you never know and it doesn’t hurt to file it. I have filed it every year even though we’ve never gotten anything from it (for HEERF funds generally she got the same amount as kids who didn’t file it due to our EFC- maybe the first one her FAFSA filing got her a little more). And I filed for 2022-2023 year before we knew she was graduating early.
BUT, she is taking 12 credits this summer and I was asking for her auto merit to be applied since she wouldn’t be using her full 8 semesters of it- it’s usually applied fall & spring. To do that, DD had to fill out a fin aid app and when I look online to check status, under requirements it says FAFSA 22-23 received. So maybe it’s a good thing I filed it due to this odd situation even though she just gets merit?
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depends on how many hours it will take versus the chance to get HEERF in the next year . Personally I would skip it, as FAFSA was a time consuming monster for me, and so happy I never have to fill it out again.
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While my kid is on a merit-based scholarship, they still need us to submit FAFSA in order to process it, so check whether that is a requirement for you kid.
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Big congrats to those graduating early! I can’t believe S will be doing that this time next year. He made it through his 10-day solo trip through Egypt and had a great experience despite my worries. S spent the past couple of days traveling back to Barcelona via Rome and Madrid and is in Barcelona for one more night. Got his negative covid test and his headed home tomorrow. Hooray!
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We ran into this ‘FAFSA or not’ for my daughter’s senior year, and turns out you have to have one filed for work study. She was trying to get some work study in the theater dept, so we filled one out.
I also cannot believe our 19s are heading into their senior year. We are already looking at hotels for graduation, and planning to go back to family weekend in the fall too, since it is the last one!!!
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Catching up on a month or so of news. Great to hear everyone’s news - especially congrats to Milgyfam on the D’s blue, that’s fantastic!
D19 will be graduating a year late, unlike many of your kids. However, I’m fine with it, because she seems really happy there now - she’s figured out her niche, her living situation and friend situation has been great, she’s doing well in her courses, and the anxiety seems under control 
She’ll be coming home for about a week and a half at the end of her semester then spending most the rest the vacation back in NY and working.
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@SJ2727 , my daughter is slated to graduate in 2024, too. When she switched colleges, I feel she did the right thing her first year in the new school by taking interesting courses outside her planned major. It helped her confirm her desire to study Classics, and she declared her major last summer. Also, it helped her decide that she didn’t want to pursue the second major or minor in Biological Anthropology. Still, she enjoyed her Anthro courses along with Linguistics, Slavic Studies, Scandinavian Studies, Gender, Religion, etc.
We have told our daughter that completing her BA is not a race, but she does feel pressure to graduate “on time” with her friends. The reality is that her friends are graduating various years and terms.
We have encouraged her to look into study abroad even if it means graduating in fall 2024. We are fortunate that we can afford for her to graduate a little later; not everyone can do this. I certainly couldn’t when I was in college.
I’m just thrilled she’s happy, doing well in her coursework, learning interesting things and new skills, and thinking critically. And she just started a job in the most beautiful library on campus.
I am glad your daughter is doing well! Happiness, health, and growth are what matter.
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Our big weekend is done! Friday we headed down to DD with trailer in tow. Worked on loading up her stuff, and went to a cookout her friend arranged. Before going to bed, we went to the bar and watched her and BF do their country swing dance thing! So fun! Back to packing up Saturday morning, then over to BF’s to finish there.
Graduation was 1:00 Saturday. We were pleasantly surprised to see DD’s name in the program, along with the marking for Summa Cum Laude. (The website said summer grads wouldn’t be listed in the program since they aren’t completely done with class. She didn’t get to wear the cord but that’s fine.)
Went home Saturday evening and to church Sunday morning. Then headed out to move DD and BF into internship apartment. The apartment is great, they are just two miles from older DD and they are all going to have a blast this summer. I’m really glad we weren’t just leaving her alone in a strange city. It was much less sad for her to leave college because the most important person was going with her!
Saturday she leaves for Ireland and then she’ll be back to start internship at the end of the month.
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