My D26’s friend that I mentioned earlier also got into NYU ED!
My kid was excited not only for him, but also about the fact that someone is going somewhere besides the local-ish SEC schools, which is the norm at her school.
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Thank you! 
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D26 thought her district band audition went okay yesterday – lyrical and scales were solid – but she’s actively bad at sight reading, so she didn’t score high enough to get in.
Ah, well. We had a little chat last night about how no one can be good at everything, and there are plenty of other areas in which she excels. We live in a competitive district for high school musicians. She’s not overly upset, but I know if her school posts on Insta something like “9 out of 10 students who auditioned for district band got in!” – then she’s going to be embarrassed. 
But, onward…she’s got three exams this week, AP Lit tomorrow, AP Calc BC on Wed and AP Bio on Thurs. And two days of theatre rehearsal, I think. And that’s it – semester’s over! (Although here’s hoping LOTS of studying between now and then.)
D22 flies home on Wed. First she’s got three grad school applications to submit tomorrow, a short interview with one grad program plus her Greek final on Tues.
S25 is home, done with his first semester (he did reasonably well, and I’m so relieved!) and enjoying his life, lol.
Oh! One of D26’s schools releases tomorrow at 6pm EST.
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So sorry the band audition didn’t go as hoped.
We also have a lot of moving parts the next few weeks. D has finals next week and unfortunately it is looking like 3 B grades for first semester - her worst semester ever with at least one RD college asking for mid year grades. Sigh. Too late to worry about it now. I guess the good news is that the Bs are high enough that finals really won’t matter (e.g., for AP Calc she could get a 5% on the final and still keep the B).
D should also get 5 early action decisions next week, mostly towards the end of the week. A few should be yeses, but at least 2 are competitive and might not go her way.
S22 gets home today! He is one class away from college graduation in May. I am looking forward to hanging with him (he and I have the most overlapping interests of all my kiddos)
And I am still (perpetually) slammed at work. I have spent all weekend frantically ordering holiday gifts and decorating, but need to get back to work now 
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Starting to feel like we’re settling down here before the holidays. D26 is taking two classes online and both had all their final assignments for the semester due this past Friday. Her regular classes semester end isn’t until mid Jan, so this week is just a quiz in one class. She has a big winter concert this afternoon and then will have a pretty easy week until school’s out. But now the regular decision apps BEGIN, lol! Per the usual, she’s not fussed. She’s planning a tea party for next weekend… 
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More great news in D26s circle. Learned that one of her closest friends got into Barnard ED! That makes two of her friends who will for sure be in NYC. The news of this friend’s admissions made me happier than expected. We are very close to the family.
Also have to admit that I have a tinge of something (not jealousy or envy, that is not the right word) that we won’t be done until late April to May 1 when these friends are one and done now. That said, it is 100% the right choice for D26 not to ED and she will have fantastic choices. I love that she resisted the temptation to chose a school prematurely. But, the not being done feels real in a different way with these friends ED admissions.
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Is anyone else getting their kid things for college for Christmas or Hanukkah?
S26 will need a laptop, and I am thinking some extra long sheets and towels might be good. Any other ideas?
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Re: laptop, depending on what kind you want to get, there might be discounts available after your student has committed. For sure Apple has discounts for students that we used for an iPad. I think it only applies to desktops, laptops and iPads. And computers are a qualified expense for 529s, so you can get reimbursed if student has a 529. think once every 3 years.
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I can’t quite think about this yet, lol. D26 uses a school-issued tablet for schoolwork, and she has an old laptop for gaming and any personal stuff she wants to do, so any laptop we buy her now would just sit there until next summer. So we’ll wait on that.
She has asked for two things – a new Pokemon game for the Switch 2, plus some YouTuber merch (a couple t-shirts and stickers). 
D22 wants the same Pokemon game, and S25 has a whole long list, lol – he wants Regal, STEAM and Chipotle gift cards, a boom mic and pole, plus a sound recorder and SD card. He wanted an online pass to watch the Sundance films, but those are already sold out. Oh and he wants to fly to SXSW in March during his spring break. (Yeah, we’re not funding that. 
)
I think we’ll wait until D26 commits to a school before buying dorm-specific stuff and (obvs) school-specific merch.
Yep. D19 took her admission letter to Apple & got a discount and a free pair of Beats headphones.
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Just the acceptance letter?
He has a bunch of those, but no decision.
Yes.
From the Apple website about student discounts:
Available to current and newly accepted college students and their parents, as well as faculty, staff, and homeschool teachers of all grade levels.
We are waiting until we know where C26 is going as there may be specific software requirements. Architecture students generally need windows not Mac so sadly we probably won’t get the Apple discount this time,but I’m sure there will be other options.
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We are also in the boat of having to wait for months to find where S26 will go. I took a peak in the 25 parent group and man I am not ready. There’s discussions of mattress toppers what to buy etc. I will def be the one shedding tears when/if S26 heads out. You can easily obsess over every detail and what to pack not pack.
Gonna punt on buying anything until we are in the summer.
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Don’t worry, I got you. I will share my master spreadsheet!
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Same for us. At least one school on D26’s list has a preferred computer choice where they actually want you to buy it from them. If you do so, you get 4 years of on campus support and they’ll loan you one if it breaks, etc.
Same. I feel like there’s time. Nothing Amazon can’t solve in 2 days, right?!
WANT! 
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For some stuff it’s easier for the student to just buy it when they get there (plenty of stuff at Target, IKEA, etc.)
When getting S23 ready for college, I actually spent the most time on making him a well stocked kit for basic illnesses and first aid. It came in handy.
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D19’s college actually arranged trips to target for the freshmen, I think the day after move in day.
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I also stocked a medical bag for S24 with everything under the sun - and it was by far the most useful thing he took to college.
For S26 we will do things a bit differently - less stuff is better on move in day. After a week he will have a much better idea of what he actually needs and wants.
For laptop - we will wait to see what is recommended by the college department. Buying through the college has definite perks and we will be using 529 funds.
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I also would love a copy.
I’d love to spread out the costs. Plus if I buy it now it counts as Christmas present. If I buy it in July, then I have to spend money on something else now.
I will check out his top schools and see whether they do that.
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