Overwhelmed

Parents Forum
1

<p>Do any of you parents ever feel overwhelmed by this process? My daughter is a junior and is now getting serious about where to apply, where and when to visit and so forth and MY head is spinning. Husband and I both work and we have two much younger kids, so just juggling schedules to make trips is a logistical nightmare. Then to top it off, two of her favorite schools are having open houses on the same day so we can't do both because of childcare issues and yet another top choice is having its open house on May 6. May 6!!!! Who schedules an open house on SAT day? Who? I demand to know what evil was in that person's heart. Arrrrrrrrgh!! </p>

<p>Vent over.</p>

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<p>Overwhelmed? Not exactly...</p>

<p>Exhausted, beaten, dissapointed, enraged, resigned, stunned...</p>

<p>But also pleased, proud, excited, amused, and intensely curious.</p>

<p>But not overwhelmed. After all, we haven't had to actually write the first semester tuition check yet...</p>

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<p>Thank you for helping me put this into perspective. The first tuition check . . .
Heaven help me.</p>

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<p>zoosermom~</p>

<p>I can definitely relate. When my oldest son went though this process, we still had (and HAVE) five younger children at home, some of them still quite young. The process WAS overwhelming, definitely. In some ways, I feel like we "lost a year" out of the other kids' lives....</p>

<p>We were simply not able (either logistically or financially) to arrange trips to visit most of the colleges in which he was interested. Yes, that would have been a fabulous thing for us to have been able to do, but we simply couldn't. Nevertheless, our son is now a very happy, well-adjusted, and successful freshman at Duke. </p>

<p>You may not be able to do everything that some others can with regard to your daugter's college app. process, but it can still be comprehensive and successful. Take a deep breath, do what you can, ask lots of questions of knowledgeable people, and then have your D give it her best shot. It WILL work out.</p>

<p>BTW, our April ACT date ALWAYS coincides with PROM!!!!!!!!!!!! And I have a daughter doing both this year, as my son did two years ago!!</p>

<p>~berurah</p>

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<p>It was fun at times and a nightmare at others. My S. hadn't decided whether to pursue theater, visual arts, dance, or combinations of the above three. As a result, he had dance auditions (some where he choreographed and performed a solo), monlogues and vocal auditions, AND porfolio reviews, --and--each college had different criteria. Could it have been any harder????
But he got through it and so did we. And he's really happy!!!! Is does end.</p>

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<p>Like many others, we were unable to visit several of the schools S was interested in, but he has applied anyway. We also visited several schools that he later decided he is NOT interested in. We only have one other child & she came along to see several of the schools as well. For us, college visits means an airplane flight, lots of money & lots of time.
He has so far gotten into one school & will likely get into at least one more. We are still waiting on the other 5 he applied to. We are looking forward to seeing him happily settled at his preferred school.
With S we have added issues that need to be discussed with the school, so that is more that we have to do (after he's accepted) before we even start talking about which school is best for him.</p>

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<p>Yep, thats how I felt this time last year. Son is child #4, the fourth in 4 years to go to college. So you'd think by now I'd really have the hang of this! He kept me in labor/delivery the longest so it is only fitting that this is going to take the longest as well. Between the 4 kiddos I think there was maybe one or two schools that more than one applied to but that was it. Sister last year is a D1 recruited athlete and her major was pretty specific so sis and little bro weren't really focused on any of the same schools.</p>

<p>I can honestly say that right about now I am pretty tired. Son is trying to schedule visits during some of the admit student days to figure this all out. I felt like I had given birth to another child by the time his appointments to the academies came in. That's a completely different application process, between the senators/representative interviews, medical exams, physical exams, pages and pages of applications and more interviews. By the time he got to Uni of Penn's app it didn't seem too bad. Right!</p>

<p>Youngest son is a sophomore so I have a breather. First time in 5 years. Of course, oldest is doing her grad/vet school stuff but that's another story.</p>

<p>I am too tired to be overwhelmed.</p>

<p>Kat</p>

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<p>You think it bad now, just wait until the fall! App season is absolutely deadly. Then you get a break. Then admissions start to come in and you need to plan prospy visits. Then you get another break. Then you start packing and deliver the goods (oops, the student.)</p>

<p>THEN, you return home and wish you had all the activity you did starting back in junior year. </p>

<p>So PLEASE, try to enjoy the process and savor what time you do have. It will all to soon be gone.</p>

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<p>I have to agree with this!! You ain't seen nothin' yet!</p>

<p>I found that if you take the big task (applying to college) and break it down into manageable pieces (testing, visiting, part 1 of application, essays, etc.), you might feel less overwhelmed.</p>

<p>As for visiting before applying, it's nice but can't always be pulled off. Can you send your kid by herself to any of these open houses? Sometimes going without parents is useful.</p>

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<p>Yes, perhaps your D can attend some open houses with classmates & carpool. It may save sanity & help with logistics of competing demands on your resources.</p>