I’d quibble with you on a few details (e.g., even though my kids benefit from testing well, I question the actual utility of SAT/ACT testing), but on the whole, much yes!
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We will likely be there as well. S25 has Boulder as his number one choice and conveniently, their admitted student day is the day before DU’s. Hoping to re-visit both. We visited both schools last March and lucked out with a 70 degree day at Boulder, so you never know. A few days later it was 50 and raining at DU.
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Yep to all of this- and a much lower limit to how many schools you can apply to. Although I’m not sure how that would fly in the US. I think the common app actually messed things up in this regard.
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My daughter said something similar recently! In fact she has a friend whose family is very hands off (he’s one of, I think, 7 kids in his family), and she is taking him out to celebrate a recent college acceptance here shortly — “just like we do.” 
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I agree with all of these suggestions .
I would also add that schools MUST have set their tuition for the upcoming year no later than the application deadline for students. I noted recently that the College of Charleston and U of SC both set their tuition rates for the fall in June/July of the same year, meaning applicants had to decide without truly knowing what their final bill would be. What kind of bait and switch is that?!
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Has he heard back from Boulder yet?
I would do these and also limit the number of applications each student can submit. I would also have colleges release their essays for the fall earlier in the summer and limit schools for o no more than 2 additional essays.
For 8 schools my son wrote 24 essays.
TWENTY FOUR. Very few of which told you anything about HIM. “What’s the greatest crisis facing the world today” 
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I would limit them to 1. I would also not allow supplemental essays for honors/scholarships. We totally didn’t expect all of the add on essays after the initial application.
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Nope. They say 2/1, but last year it was late January. Fingers are crossed tightly!
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I totally get it. Add being divorced since D25 was 3 years old and a hellish decade of evil stepmom (no truly, he finally divorced her thank goodness). Ex and the evil stepmom pushed the kids into the middle of a really emotional and dramatic court motion that lasted a couple of years (ex tried to get full custody, kids had to go through multiple evaluations-end result was he lost some custody time himself while I gained more time and more money). I was painted as the crappy controlling mom who didn’t want them to be with their dad and the kids are still slowly working through those emotional mind games.
All 3 kids will call me or their stepdad for all their needs. D25 admitted she didn’t even really have a relationship with her dad until she was 12 (because he worked all the time and evil stepmom was aggressively in charge in the home). I did get some compliments though that S23 likes that our house is “vibey” (in decor and such) and he thanked me for helping him with talking through his class selection.
It sucks often times being the default parent that the kids unleash all emotions on but my kids come home to our house on breaks. To this day they need to ask their dad permission to even pick up something at his place (not in a heads up Im stopping by way but a genuine “can I come over?” way).
The ultimate compliment so far though was when S23 was talking about his gf’s brother (also a hs senior). S23 said “I’m so glad you didn’t raise me like him.” Sounds like gf brother is not a nice person (and he doesn’t barely any food-his gf is limited as well but she is a work in progress). I’m calling that a win.
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I foresee maybe 4 visits with 1 being a repeat. Lucky that 3 of the final ones are a 6 hr drive.
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I had sworn we were only doing two more and we’re already thinking at least 3 probably more like 5 
all but one are plane rides.
S25 doesn’t really remember his initial visits and was invited to a full scholarship opportunity that he feels like he should definitely attend. Good thing this semester doesn’t matter too much.
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We still have sooooo many more decisions to come. Five in January (EA) and another 10 or so through RD. I told S25 that we would narrow it down to three accepted student days based on a combo of merit/financial aid and where they fall on his preliminary ranking of where he can picture himself. I’m worried that will mean all three visits happen in April, but if he has to miss a bunch of school, that’s a good month for it to happen.
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That’s a lot of decisions! I think we have 6 left?
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Same here. Trying to narrow to 3 visits based on similar criteria. I was hoping not all in April, but will see. The 2 March RD decisions are the killer on this front.
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You guys…S25 has been secretly trying to hatch quail eggs in an incubator in our office as a Christmas surprise. And attempting to build a coop with his friend. He ordered the eggs from Etsy. It’s not going well. Husband trying to resurrect the eggs and if anyone can work a Christmas miracle, he’s the guy, but…I’m dead.
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2 surgeries in 6 days. Great way to spend the holiday!
Kidney donation incision sites look great. But it flared his umbilical hernia he’s had for 2 years and it became an incarcerated hernia.
Good news is he’s off work anyways so no more loss of income. And now its fixed. His kidney function labs are heading in the right direction (creat 1.6 post nephrectomy and now 1.3).
Fun times.
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Oh my gosh! This sounds like the making of a great college essay. I’d admit him on the spot.
I’m honestly gonna miss all you guys and your fun stories when this is all over.
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Oh my!! Sending lots of healing vibes your way. 
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I know, right?! It cracks me up that we think this way but there it is. (This kid has always had a soft spot in his heart for animals.)
This is how I know you’re in health care (guessing these terms don’t mean what I think they do, but they don’t sound pleasant. Although…liberating a hernia doesn’t sound like a good thing to do either…)
ETA i want to validate how rough it is to be dealing with this sort of thing while you’re also supposed to be (in theory) making merry…really hoping for smoother sailing ahead for you all.
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