I don’t know if someone answered this but IIRC if you copy and paste from a google doc it reformats and it works best if you insert in single space.
Make sure to check the PDF preview to make sure it looks like you want it to.
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Based on a sample of 2 (lol) admissions officer interviews are much better. They ask better questions with follow up questions.
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We have successfully dropped off my older child at school…. I didn’t take any pictures of his place this year because he’s living in the fraternity house and it’s filthy. He swears this week is “clean the house week”. Crossing fingers that they really do a good job.
I also didn’t take one of his room - he didn’t want our help at all. He needs to put together the platform for his bed, put the mattress on and find his sheets (he stored a lot of stuff over the summer, including his mattress, bedding and shelves), build his shelving unit/dresser, put everything away etc. none of the furniture is where is will go, and right now it’s really hard to imagine it looking anything like a room because so much is off kilter.
Sigh. I love having a picture, because then I can imagine it better when I’m missing him. But despite that, drop off went the best this year (his junior year) for me. He’s so happy to be back, and be with his friends, and excited to start school.
I hope all our class of 25 kids find places like that. Places they are eager and excited to return to, where they find their people and place, and get to try new things and find comfort in new routine.
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Im not even going to S23’s drop off this year. I am going to wait until parents weekend. My ex (his dad) is in charge this time. I need a mental break from the kiddo.
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We don’t do parents weekend. Partly because it’s kind of lame at this school and a really long drive for us, partly because it’s just a bad weekend and the kids are too busy. S22 goes to a school with seven week terms, so although they are only doing three classes, they move fast. His freshman year I asked if he wanted me to come and he said no - he wanted to use that weekend to get ahead on some work. And knowing he’d be home soon for fall break, that felt like the right choice. He didn’t have time to really spend with us over parents weekend, and it wouldn’t have been particularly rewarding to me.
So all that to say - for other parents in the future - don’t feel bad if you are too far away to visit for parents weekend, or if you decide not to go for some reason you won’t be alone. Every kid and family is different and for some, visiting on parents weekend is important and for others, not so much. (PSA because I felt so guilty and worried my kid would be the only one without a parent - he wasn’t. So I want other people to know that it’s ok!)
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+1 on this. We didn’t go to any of D19’s parent weekends, and it sounded like most of the parents who did were local. I went with her to the admitted student weekend, as well as freshman move-in - both had some separate programming for parents which I assume is normal. We thought it better to spend the money flying her home for her breaks then spending a weekend there that frankly didn’t seem to add much value.
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Ugh. I now understand why parents hire essay tutors. S25 has spent two weeks with me nagging trying to complete one simple essay. He has 3 that need to be done asap and has nothing. I am at my wits end. He just sits and stares at his screen. I didn’t realize how awful his HS was at teaching kids to write.
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I feel your pain. Two suggestions for you:
- There are probably still essay-writing bootcamps out there that you could sign S25 up for.
- If your kiddo is uninspired or at a loss for writing topics, there are a bunch of useful prompts on the college essay guy website. When my son was writing his summer essay, I sat down with him and basically got him to tell me a story, which I jotted down (using his words) in bullet points. Then I asked a lot of “so what” and “what else” questions. And yeah, the whole thing was like pulling teeth. I don’t recommend this process.
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Brainstorming and jotting down lots of different ideas and why really seemed to help my daughter. No one idea seemed to have enough material for an essay but they all had an element of projecting something that had shaped her or impacted who she was. Eventually she found some common threads that she was able to weave together for one comprehensive essay. Starting small really helped her get going and wasn’t as overwhelming as trying to write a full essay on a single topic all at once.
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D25 and I toured West Chester U Wells School of Music last week and she really liked it! It’s pretty empty and getting some summer work done but that didn’t matter to her. The tour guide was a really nice transfer percussion student and he was very happy with his choice to go there. Housing is a big issue. He lives in a 2 bedroom apartment off campus with 3 roommates for $2,000/mo split 4 ways. Freshman are guaranteed housing and they are working on adding more buildings.
We didn’t tour the entire campus, he said main campus was a 3 minute walk and the dining hall 10 minutes which was good enough for D. The only shuttles are to go to the stadium and a healthcare building. The music building is newerish for college buildings 20-30 years old but new enough that it’s been able to update for modern technology. She liked the practice rooms and the performance spaces. It’s out of state price isn’t much more expensive than in state costs for a public NJ uni. WCU moved up to the 3rd place rank.
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Went homecoming dress shopping this weekend. I was totally fine until she was done trying stuff on. It then hit me that this was the last time. We do still have prom shopping later but that wasn’t a tradition as it will be one and done for that.
Now I have to figure out what boys where to homecoming for my S28…
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We’ve already been crying over all these “lasts”. Everything from band camp traditions to the final schedule release has had an emotional impact. The cap and gown pictures and the senior portraits had so many parents a mess! I don’t know how we’ll handle prom dress shopping since that’s even later in the year 
My child has not even started his personal statement yet and I’m not worried! First application due 11/1 but more than half are not due until 2025. And if I recall — the AP English teacher gives them some time to work on their essays during class this fall.
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Same here. I really hope my son has a good AP Lit teacher this year (last year’s was horrible) because I’m hoping they help with all the nagging and editing! Half of my son’s apps are due 11/1 and the others are rolling so I’d like him to get them in sooner rather than later.
First day of senior year here. I’m going to be a mess all year since C25 is my baby.
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My D25 just finished her personal statement, but only has a draft of one of the supplementals. Her AP Lit teacher will cover essays in the first unit so she may refine some of the wording. But at least it’s 99% complete. School doesn’t begin until after Labor Day, so the plan is to complete supplementals for the two top choices by then. First application is due Nov. 1. I think I’m more worried about the FAFSA than her application!
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Hi- I’m more worried about the FAFSA too but mostly because it is my first and everyone has always said how horrible it is to go through and now with all the noise I am hearing about some major issues with it for the '24 kids I am really scared!
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Unless there is something like a noncooperative divorced parent at issue, the FAFSA is dead easy, as long as the USDoEd runs the software better than last year’s dumpster fire.
The CSS, though…C25 is applying to a couple CSS schools, and so this’ll be our first year filling it out since C17’s college abandoned it a couple years into her attendance—that thing is a horror and a half.
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The CSS? Uh oh… What is that? I’m thinking that not all schools use this?