<p>We have various sizes of duffles, including rolling, from Eddie Bauer, and we’ve been happy with them. I think they have a lifetime guarantee. </p>
<p>Ditto, but from LLBean</p>
<p>It has been a while since I have posted here and wanted to let everyone know the decisions. I have 2 daughters, one senior by age and one senior by grade skip. Both daughters are Honors, D1 being more of an A than D2, but both in the low 3 GPAs. Both were accepted at Mills College and University of Baltimore (an in-state for us) and D1 was also accepted at Emerson and St. John’s; D2 was also accepted at UNC Wilmington. </p>
<p>The girls really liked Mills and went there for a visit (frequent flyer miles made it a $10 round-trip ticket!) This trip across the country was invaluable as D1 learned she didn’t want to be that far away from home. Even with Mills offering an amazing Merit, Need Base and a Science Summer Program to her, she still in the end did not want to go the West Coast. D2 loved Mills as well.</p>
<p>However, as University of Baltimore is an in-state school, Mills really could not match what they had to offer in the way of scholarships and grants. UB also is offering the Final semester tuition free with the incoming freshman for this year’s class. Additionally, UB does not have dorms, but partners with Varsity Apartments. The girls are going to share a four bedroom four bath apartment with two other students they already know from their high school and they are very excited about living on their “own.” This option of Varsity Dorms is great for Jewish or any other food specialty or picky students as they get to cook their own food. It also allows for them to learn how to live on their own while still having some supervision like an RA. Finally, UB students can take classes for free at any of the other Baltimore colleges (UMBC, MICA, Goucher, Towson and so on) and there is free transportation.</p>
<p>As for Mills, I would encourage any A/B females to take a look at Mills as they do have the partnership with Berkeley which has a Hillel and the girls said that Mills is very diverse and they felt welcomed and comfortable there. There is also a free shuttle to Berkeley. Mills has the applicant’s submit a school essay as part of the application program which is nice as well as. As for D2, if there had not been a financial issue, I strongly believe she would have gone to Mills… even without her sister!</p>
<p>Glad it worked out. I actually have heard very little about the University of Baltimore, so thanks for bringing it to our collective attention.</p>
<p>Justamom, thanks for posting. Now we know more about two more colleges. Those apartments- to have a single room and bathroom is wonderful. That just doesn’t happen in standard dorms. Best wishes to your girls.</p>
<p>One other plug for UB, they have very few classes on Friday! Most students take their classes Monday through Thursday. This is also an advantage for Jewish students who are trying to get to services or other places by sundown on Friday. Or for students who need to work, they know they will be off Friday, Saturday and Sunday and can schedule those days to work and not work during the week. And with UB being right next to Baltimore Penn Station and a Bolt Bus location, it really has its advantages.</p>
<p>Haven’t been on here in as while. @expatCanuck, congratulations. Lovely school. ShawD and I visited on a day in which it was absolutely pouring and it never made the top of the list for her. She ended up going to Queens and then transferring back to the US. </p>
<p>@momentscaught, no offense. I’m a dad who handles all the college stuff, finances, learning disabilities, travel, academics and luggage (I am a mega-frequent flyer – ex: two trips to Europe this month plus one trip in the US). My wife does tons of stuff and makes sure life works on a day-to-day basis. But, negotiating with schools about learning disabilities, college selection, applications, academic advice generally plus logistics of getting to and fro are all part of my territory in the Shawbridge household.</p>
<p>What luggage to take depends upon how much your son is going to bring. If a lot, I’d say large rolling duffel that would be checked and then another large non-rolling duffel that can fold flat (or maybe two non-rolling duffels) when it is empty. For coming home for vacations, I’d get a carry-on rolling cart. You can get good carry-ons from Costco including their own Kirkland brand. Take a look at ebags for the rolling duffels (although I think we have High Sierra that we purchased at Costco). We have a MountainSmith XL Travel Trunk, which is a soft rectangular duffel.</p>
<p>Our oldest – who doesn’t fit this thread as he was a straight A student and hasn’t evinced any interest in Judaism since his Bar Mitzvah – is heading out to California for grad school. He’s anxious about moving so far from home – he went to college 1.5 hours from home. Although he has lots of friends in grad school at Yale, he decided that the best program for him was in California (it is arguably the best program in the world and that is what all of his advisors told him). Once he decided, he tried to join his new school’s Birthright program over the summer as a way of meeting people, but it was already closed by the time he thought of it. He’s actually been deferred twice already and is now 24. He’s the kind of kid Birthright was designed for, but I suspect he’ll never go. Alas.</p>
<p>congrats shawbridge. After they a taste of the CA weather, who knows if they will return?</p>
<p>My son same age when went on Birthright. He went after first year of grad school. He had filled out the paperwork, and went to the office early the morning you could register. Timing made the difference. His favorite part of trip was an extension of 5 days, when the kids from his college stayed in Israel and got to tour start-ups.</p>
<p>bookworm, my son is currently running a startup and is turning over the reigns to a more experienced manager to go to get an MBA and a degree in Data Science. I’m sure he would love to spend a few days at Israeli startups. Was that an organized program?</p>
<p>He went to a small LAC that didn’t have an organized Birthright trip. So he applied online (on the first day for applications both times) and was deferred twice.</p>
<p>shawbridge, yes, it was an extension of Birthright. The Boston kids came from Harvard, MIT, Wellesley, U Mass, and ??? Some of the MIT extended their stay with their adviser and did those visits.</p>
<p>I like hearing about your son’s progress thru college and then the start-up. He sounds amazing. It is terrific that he has a father that is business savvy and can help offer directions.</p>
<p>Birthright update:</p>
<p>S2 leaves tomorrow! Here’s a few odds and ends:</p>
<p>We were able to attend a parent meeting at out local JCC. Birthright holds these all over the country - they explain the program, go over logistics and answer questions. They also do a bit of a sales pitch on additional opportunities to visit Israel.</p>
<p>Different travel groups recommend different phones. You order it a few weeks before the trip and pick it up at the aurport. S2 opted not to do so. He’ll text when wifi is available. Phone charger should work - but with special adapter to plug into Israeli electrical outlets - he borrowed from a friend who went last year.</p>
<p>I did contact health insurance carrier to verify coverage abroad. They emailed us a document which he has with him. Notified his credit card company as well. Some recommend a credit card that does not charge international transaction fees, but I don’t anticipate him charging enough to need that. Taking cash and ATM card - verified it works abroad. </p>
<p>He has two color copies of his passport with him, besides the original, and I scanned it as well.</p>
<p>Packed plenty of suntan lotion - which is expensive in Israel and shampoo - which is not complimentary in the places they will be staying.</p>
<p>They need to bring $70-$80 cash for tips - for tour guide and bus driver.</p>
<p>I’ll post when he returns with any “lessons learned” and to let you know how it went.</p>
<p>^ I hope he has an amazing time!!!</p>
<p>Congratulations to all the college graduates and to all the high school seniors on their admissions!!!</p>
<p>RockvilleMom–I’m so excited for your son! He’ll have an amazing experience. The young man who lives across the street from us just graduated from CES/JDS and he just returned 2 days ago from their 3-month class trip to Israel. It was life changing!</p>
<p>Thanks for sharing all your helpful tips. Please give updates on your son’s experiences?! </p>
<p>RVM, I hope your S has a wonderful trip. It sounds like you’ve got all the bases covered. </p>
<p>I’d love to post an update on S2’s Birthright trip - but I have not heard from him since yesterday afternoon at JFK. I can see his flight landed in Israel 8 hours ago, but I have not rcvd a text from him as was promised. Unhappy momma here.</p>
<p>RVM thanks for the update of the birthright info. I know your S will have an amazing time. I don’t recall getting much communication from my guys when they were in Israel although S2 was on a NFTY trip so I had photos posted online to fall back on… I do remember that it is a constantly on the go schedule so don’t be too disappointed about not hearing much if you don’t. BTW my S2 was in your part of the country last week for the Cornerstone retreat for counselor training for Jewish camps around the country. I wondered if any of your kids were there. It was held at a camp in Maryland, he doesn’t remember which one but he said it was beautiful and a great time. He will be working with two Israeli counselors this summer and is really looking forward to it.</p>
<p>RVM, I hope you have heard from him by now, but if not (other than it’s aggravating) he is probably having a great time. He is in a group, so no doubt the students are all together and know where each one is at. I assume you have contact info for the group leaders in case you want to get ahold of him. I’m not sure my kids contacted me much either.
It’s hard to have them so far away, but the trip is amazing. Now if you can get him to tell you about it when he gets home :)</p>
<p>Heard from him today - finally. Wi-fi seems to be spotty where they are right now - just something to be aware of. Trip is going great - sounds like he is having an amazing time.</p>
<p>Shawbridge… thanks for the info and again I meant no offense by posting to Mom’s. I know that in every household things are handled differently and it was narrow minded of me to assume all were like mine. Thanks to all else who chimed in and ebags is a great resourse by the way! </p>