<p>To elaborate a little more about the Gettysburg portion, my daughter had an excellent visit there as well. She told me that when she was talking with a professor, a student came in for help, so she got to see a little of that interaction. She thought the food was good. She enjoyed the class. </p>
<p>My youngest daughter wandered around a little bit by herself, and came back and announced that Gettysburg was a bigger party school. When I asked how she reached that conclusion, she said ‘the plastic cups and empty bottles all over the place’. OK, well, I guess that’s a reasonable conclusion then.</p>
<p>So both places D had a great experience. At Dickinson my youngest daughter asked the student guide what he didn’t like about Dickinson, and he was very honest. My D didn’t ask that at Gettysburg. I’d have been interested to hear the answer to that…</p>
<p>jude, Center for Talented Youth. [Home</a> Page](<a href=“http://www.cty.jhu.edu%5DHome”>http://www.cty.jhu.edu) It’s a program for gifted kids. There are several in various places around the country; CTY is the one for my area. (Duke has TIP, UDenver or Colorado – don’t remember which – has one.) Kids can go to “nerd camp” on college campuses in the summer through these various programs. CTY is my son’s reason for living.</p>
<p>That “Home Page” up there is a link to the CTY site.</p>
<p>I forgot to mention that CTY is also the reason the college fund doesn’t have as much in it as it should, the reason I can’t afford to replace all my hole-y socks, the reason we don’t go on vacation, is a major force behind my aggressive coupon-clipping… you get the picture.</p>
<p>ah, ok. I’ve seen it referenced several times and wasn’t sure what it was. Now I get it. So your son did a summer program at Dickinson? How did it go?</p>
<p>Yes, he has one session at Dickinson. It was an interesting time, certainly! He enjoyed the class a great deal, enough to overcome the difficulties that were had with certain dormmates. It seemed that every single kid on his hall had one or more issues (including mine) that contributed to difficulties. The RA <em>really</em> earned his money that session. The poor guy!! I don’t recall whether I actually sent the RA cookies the following session, but I definitely thought about it!!</p>
<p>Hi jude<em>36 - Your D will make the right decision. For the longest time, H and I were concerned that our son did not want to go to any of the schools that took him (he was still licking his ED deferral/rejection wounds). This morning, he asked if he could order a Colby sweatshirt and some car decals (of course, the inside ones since they are cheaper). I never heard of CTY either until CC. jude</em>36’s D and my S were fortunate enough this past summer to get in at a really great and competitive summer program. Of course, jude_36 and I didn’t know it back then until we “met” on CC. Small world indeed, but unfortunately, our children’s paths did not cross :(.</p>
<p>owlice - I have a long list of baking to do today for an office celebration - chocolate cake, lemon squares and orange cake with cream cheese frosting. I love baking (and am told I do a really good job) but don’t usually eat what I bake (but I’ll eat anybody else’s goodies).</p>
<p>I read recently that Linens’ N Things is struggling to stay out of bankruptcy. I really like that store. By the way, there’s lots of printable retail store coupons online - try wow-coupons website. Every now and then LNT has 20% off entire purchase. I use printed coupons all the time.</p>
<p>MythMom - thanks for the advice on fridges and microwaves, and - yep- they are allowed. They are even on the list of “wht to bring”</p>
<p>KitKat/Mountains – I KNOW what snow tires are, I was just being snarky and rubbing it in that it is the end of APRIL and it’s snowing in some places. I am spoiled rotten where we live. It gets cold here but I hibernate… my son doesn’t know what WINTER really is, but I have a feeling he’ll be asking me to send him some actual pants and coats aroud Oct or so!</p>
<p>Towels & Sheets – yes, navy blue seems to weather the wash – but I notice when I wash them, the “lint” shows up more on the darker things… but then again, everyone is saying their boys never wash anything anyway, right!!!</p>
<p>Good luck to all still deciding…only 5 days left til May 1…</p>
<p>When traveling south this past week, it was amazing (as it always is this time of year) how much greener it is in CT than in NH. It’s raining here today, so I think those last few piles of snow will be gone… and yes, I still need to have the snow tires taken off the cars too!</p>
<p>Of course, we stepped out of the car in PA and I immediately started sneezing…</p>
<p>jude: I would really be interested in your side by side comparison of Gettysburg and Dickinson since I do occasionally do college counseling for my students and these two schools come up.</p>
<p>And here’s another vote for blue towels, sheets, etc. Though I must say my guy actually did wash things more than I thought he would judging by his at home performance. </p>
<p>They do lose all their good habits the minute they walk in the front door.</p>
<p>I think as every one makes his/her decision and we still want to meet we’ll need to change the name of the thread to owlice’s bakery. Why not? Sinner’s Alley is a round the clock bar. Our own little cafe seems lovely.</p>
<p>After sneaking in and enjoying all the yummy treats daily (thanks) I need to stop lurking and thank mountains - that coupon site is amazing. In addition to the groceries and LNT it looks like we may be able to celebrate once in a while and eat out at some great local restaurants at more than 50% off!</p>
<p>You’re welcome, gcnorth, and also welcome to our perpetual vigil lounge. That coupon site has been around for so long but is mid-way down on the list when you google (wow, that’s now a verb; I really regret not buying their stock during the IPO at under $100) “coupons.” </p>
<p>I am teasing my buddy U-1 about the snow tires of course.</p>
<p>Seriously, though, when it comes time for your guy to prepare for school, he will need to make sure he has the right winter gear. Please feel free to ask what he might need. #1 son is at UM - its pretty cold up there - even coming from Ohio he needed to make some accomodations. He had spent 3 years in high school wearing a completely impermeable letter jacket - waterproof, windproof and destroy-prrof- which of course is totally not acceptable at college. His first pass at winter wear ended up not being warm enough. And this from a kid from the midwest who snow skis. First year he had to seriously layer. Second year we made some accomodations. There is a reason North Face is so popular. And lets just say #1 son found out very quickly that birk clogs are fine for walking to/from the car at high school - but not so good for the slush and muck at college during winter.</p>
<p>kitkat, I love my clogs, but yes, they aren’t too winter weather friendly. We’ve been really happy with REI coats. Thanks for the coupon site, mountains. I’ve got it bookmarked. mythmom and university1, we had to buy some long sheets last summer, and got some navy jersey knit ones. Sounds like we picked the right color. My son loved how soft they are. The coral and black combo of bethie’s son sounds striking, but I’ve never seen black sheets around here. I’m thinking of getting an LL Bean comforter with a cover for the dorm bed. I read on the bedding thread it is nice to have the removable cover which can be washed easily. Oh what fun to look forward to! My son doesn’t care about the aesthetics, so is quite happy to have me work on this part. Jude, thanks for sharing info on the schools. Dickinson has always appealed to me, although S ended up not applying there. Your youngest is a sharp-eyed kid. gcnorth, glad you stopped by! Uh, owlice, there’s some batter on your chin.</p>
<p>My son got back from his last visit very late last night, slept in, got up, showered, and is working on homework. Why couldn’t I be the parent from which he inherited such self-control? He says he thinks he’s made up his mind, but since there is still some time he will hold off on replying just to have time to reflect and make sure he’s sure. Sounds good to me. :)</p>