My child is also getting tired of school. Weekly pep talks are the norm here with the reminder that the colleges will rescind acceptances if you don’t keep up the good work. AP Bio is the worst. Also has AP calculus AB and AP Lit. I am glad DC dropped one EC that took up a lot of time but replaced it with something else that was less time consuming but showed leadership which I think enhanced the college applications.
Hey everyone!!! My poor DD is over it as well. And I can see it in her face every day she comes home from school. We’ve started hard core shopping for her dorm room which has gotten her spirits up. She’s got 4 AP‘s and 2 honors classes. It’s so bad, she’s even over her dance class lol.
I am happy to report that DD has committed to Howard University. We paid the enrollment and housing fee last week. Hubby and I are excited that she has chosen to take her talents to Howard University over UChicago and Northeastern University. It has been a long road. I’m thankful that we started the process early. If we hadn’t, i don’t know what the outcome would have been. This thread has been a blessing and a breath of fresh air!!!
Now instead of trying to figure out what colleges to apply for, I have to figure out how to make DD’s dorm room look “bohemian chic” LOL.
@MomOfThree80. That’s great news.!! You all must be relieved to have finally made a decision. I am looking forward to that day.
How did your DD decide on Howard? She had some other great options. None of them, I am sure would have given her the experience and support she will have at Howard.
Where are you shopping? My child saw some comforter sets at Urban Outfitters prices at around $150.00 . I am not ready to pull the trigger yet. Still have to order the graduation pictures and pay for the whole prom event and attire.
I am looking forward to March when all the decisions and weigh all the options.
@holychild - Girl, you told the truth right there! I began sharing my resources with a (believe it or not) church member because I wanted to share the wealth. I pulled my daughter out of the public school system because I saw that she was not being challenged. I balloted for a well known charter school with a great long standing reputation. Once my daughter was admitted I told this person about it. She in turn balloted the following year and her daughter was admitted. I also shared some community enrichment resources and took this kid on vacation with us. Later found out that she began bullying my daughter and was actually competing with my daughter in every area and the jealousy was showing. Turned out that the apple did not fall far from the tree when I heard her (the parent) make some comments about my daughter during an awards ceremony because my daughter was getting ‘too many’ awards. Yup, I stopped sharing things with her because I could not have my daughter associating with this girl outside of school as well as in. When the mother would see me she would ask questions about what my child is doing for the summer etc. So she and her child could show up (which has happened twice) no thanks. I learned to be much wiser.
@MomOfThree80 - I am so happy for you and DD that you have made your decision and get to move on to the next stage. Don’t leave us 
@holychild Thank you! You know, it was a few different factors that helped her decision. I think the main one was the stress culture at the other institutions. DD has been in that type of environment (coupled with being the only minority) since elementary school. For me, I’m ready for her to be in a supportive environment with brilliant students that look like her. This might sound crazy, but I’m excited that she will get to be around young ladies that she can share her hair struggles with, do the wobble, and grow on a journey to adulthood. We too, like @ChangeTheGame are hoping for the Karsh STEM scholarship.
That is so funny you mention Urban Outfitters. We ordered a duvet last week that was $162. This duvet keeps selling out, and this is a presale. We won’t get it until April. We’ve found a lot at Ross, Target, and TJMaxx. I think we’re going to go to the container store for storage items. I purchased a retro white mini fridge last year as well. I told DD if she keeps shopping at Urban Outfitters and Anthropologie, that her prom dress budget is going to continue to go down. So the compromise is that I’m making the prom dress…yay me LOL.
@Sarrip I’m not leaving you all:) I love this thread! It’s not totally over for us. We’re still doing some last minute outside scholarships. Our EFC was pretty high, so all colleges are expecting for us to pay that in cost with the difference given in scholarships. If we had an EFC of 0, she’d have a full ride I’m sure. Plus I want to hear from you all still!
Same here. D20 was accepted to her ED choice December 12, and her energy started fading a month later. The only thing that seems to keep her going is the threat of the offer being rescinded. February school vacation is next week so I’m hoping the break will give her a chance to recharge.
@MomofThree80 Congratulations on the Howard commitment! I am patiently waiting for my son to make a commitment, but have a feeling that it will be sometime in April before he makes his final decision.
@Sarrip Wow, I am glad that I have never had to deal with a situation like that. The church member part really gets me because my household loves our church family so much. I tend to only share my own thoughts and resources only when someone asks (normally because of my kid’s successes) or by starting a thread on CC.
@ProfSD Yeah, we are all working to help our kids keep that energy up just a little bit longer. It is almost over:)
@Sarrip Wow, I am glad that I have never had to deal with a situation like that. The church member part really gets me because my household loves our church family so much. I tend to only share my own thoughts and resources only when someone asks (normally because of my kid’s successes) or by starting a thread on CC.
@ChangeTheGame - I too have an amazing church but as we know the church is full of imperfect people. The thing is, that had her daughter not been admitted to the school I never would have seen this side of them because the appearance at church was totally the opposite.
I never watch the news due to the nature of my job. It’s my way of escaping and keeping a clear divide, but this popped up on my newsfeed today, not sure if anyone saw it.
You definitely speak the truth, and I am at the front of the imperfect people line at my church, but I am working on it:)
My son just visited Morehouse today for Admitted Students Day and they did a tremendous job showing what makes Morehouse a special place for Black men. We won’t find out the FA package at Morehouse for a couple of weeks, but if it is anything close to what he received from Howard, it is going to be a hard decision for my son.
@MomOfThree80 Congratulations to DD on committing to Howard. I love this thread and all of the encourage. My DS got his financial aid letters from St. Louis University and DePaul. SLU had a nice package. DePaul was in his top three, but after he received zero need based aid (outside of loans), it was off the table. They did give him a merit scholarship at admission, but no need aid at all. Such the life. He is chipping down his list.
@havingfunyet - The scary part for me is the need based aid. From what I have heard, for those schools that do give need based aid, it’s not consistent, it is always more plentiful the first year and then for the following year it appears that they are not as generous which means that you have to figure out a way to make it work. One of DD20’s schools only offered her $7,000 per year merit but $30,000 in need based aid. Considering our EFC it didn’t make sense to me so it’s a “no” for that school. I would hate to think that schools bait families to get them to commit and know that they will find a way whether via loans, home equity or whatever to make sure that they are able to remain. This is the reason I feel more comfortable with consistent merit. We have other schools that are offering $20,000 - full tuition for all 4 years but little to no need based aid. I’m more comfortable with these schools. I’m saying a prayer for all of us because our children are just as deserving as anyone else.
DS is getting a bit of senioritis , thank goodness he does not have a hard courseload this semester. The way his school curriculum is designed, last semester of senior year is easiest. He still needs to apply for some small scholarships to try to cover cost of books, but he is dragging.
We are in end of year mode now, planning for prom, planning for the grad party/cookout. I tried looking at stuff for dorms but he wasnt really interested.
@MamaBear2001 So I’m full on dorm shopping now. Hubby says “why do girls need so much stuff? When I moved into my dorm I had 2 things. A tv and my PlayStation”. LOL. We’re having a graduation back home on the 4th of July.
@havingfunyet my DD applies to DePaul as well. Did you all visit the campus? We didn’t get around to it.
@ChangeTheGame I was wondering how everything went at Morehouse. Also do they have accepted students day twice? Or did they already notify regular decision acceptances?
@momofthree80 DePaul was my son’s top choice before he visited Tulane for Preview TU. He visited DePaul during the Summer with my hubby and his younger brother (DS22). Then Howard came through and DePaul kept slipping a littler further. Once the FA came in, it was a wrap…
Morehouse went well enough that I don’t know if my son would choose Howard or Morehouse if the costs were equal.
My son saw young black men articulate their goals/dreams while looking “the part” (Lots of students dressed up as Business majors are in suits on Fridays). The Morehouse President talked about his 20+ years teaching at Harvard Business School and how the #1 producer of Black men during his tenure at the school came from Morehouse (He noted the same thing for Harvard Law). One speaker also noted that Morehouse is among the top baccalaureate origin institutions for black male doctorate recipients in science and engineering (my son’s goal), life sciences, physical sciences, social sciences, education, and the humanities, but I believe it was the students who had the biggest impact on my son.
The regular decision notifications should have started going out this past weekend (2/15) and go on through April 1st for Morehouse. I am not sure if Morehouse has a second Admitted Student Day or not. We will find out by the end of February how the Morehouse FA package looks and my son has been notified that he is being considered for a scholarship.
Going for Family weekend at DD20’s school this Friday. She’s always been a dancer but she auditioned and got a leading part in a musical “Into the Woods” which will be running for 3 nights. She has been complaining about having a sore throat probably because of all of the rehearsals and not being a regular singer. You send your child to boarding school and then you find out that she can sing. They never cease to surprise us. What are you guys up to this last week before ‘MARCH’.
Hey @Sarrip Dorm shopping is happening. We’ve had Amazon Prime shipments everyday for the past few weeks. And my dining room is now a storage space.
We are also waiting to see if DD is a semifinalist for the Karsh STEM Scholars Program at Howard University. We should be hearing thus week.
My DD too is a dancer. Competitive danced for 9 years! Where does the time go. DD’s last dance performance will be in April at the high school, and I’m already feeling anxious about the senior dance because I’m going to ball my eyes out!!!
@MomOfThree80 - I’m saying a prayer for her. I am looking forward to your post later this week.
I think I am going to shed a few tears myself (maybe more than a few) at this musical. I have watched her perform since she was 3 but it was always dancing or a church play but never singing. I was hesitant to allow her to go to college preparatory school because she was so quiet, shy, is our youngest and has never really been away from us or her siblings for very long. She was offered a full 4 year scholarship and also knowing that in our district the high school students are only 1% proficient in math and 12% proficient in reading, I wanted to give her better. I have regretted her being away because I miss her so much but what she came away with, was worth the sacrifice. She is a different person, she has grown so much in her confidence. Our babies are going to college…I just can’t believe it!!