<p>Historymom, we are all basking in your glory!
You are an inspiration to those of us who are B+ parents.</p>
<p>Thanks Karen et al...:) I'll be here till Thursday.</p>
<p>You go, Historymom!! But where will you be going on Thursday? Did I miss something?</p>
<p>That's when the acts change, LIMOM! I'll be doing a mime routine, honed by weeks of silencing myself when I wanted to nag. I figure the glares of death I regularly receive have prepared me well for the way people look at mimes.</p>
<p>GO, HISTORYMOM, GO! :D</p>
<p>Nice to read of other's stories! D was finishing ED app this week and swore had all of the supp questions done and characters counted. Kept delaying inserting them in the form until finally on Thurs night. Realized that the character count was off by 2 ( how I don't know) and totally missed a question. Luckily she buckled down instead of melting down and hit send on Friday!
I'm not alone. Thanks!</p>
<p>Phew!! Have been following this thread but curbing posting until I could FINALLY report ED app was in (and today confirm supplement package had been delivered to college and see on common app site that teacher's eval had finally been submitted). I feel like I've been holding my breath for a month....or doing some vicarious labor and delivery experience. Here's to all my fellow parents and those who are still in process. We will get through it and they will get into college...I remind myself of all the phases where I didn't think we would ever get through: sleeping through the night, potty training, learning to read, learning the multiplication tables,.......so I try to remember that if we got through all those, this is just one more stage...</p>
<p>Re character count - when my daughter had several apps in the mom of a girl who graduated hs last year said to me to be careful on essays whether they're looking for 250 characters or 250 words...that freaked me out because I didn't remember any asking for "___characters" essays!!!! I THINK all of hers have defined length in terms of word count!</p>
<p>And then my daughter brought up that there is some accepted (by who?) way of counting words that doesn't include one or two-letter words....</p>
<p>DRB;</p>
<p>Fresno State also has good ag programs/animal science programs.</p>
<p>haven't posted in a bit...but had to jump in upon reading historymom's post---love it! (too funny about the glue guns)
soccer, mmaah and muffy I can relate to the character count and missing things...my d can be impatient and wanted to submit before a good final review. final essay was completed on Thursday night and I insisted she take a break and come back to it before hitting send. glad she did, in her rewriting essay she had left out a sentence of vital importance...she fixed it, and we had one of those moments where your college app d acknowledges that mom actually knows something about these things= priceless!</p>
<p>completed all her apps on Friday and she feels so relieved and excited. Got an acceptance from one school and realizes, its really happening. I have an '08 son-- who we visited family weekend at wash and lee in virginia couple weeks ago so she has seen her brother go thru the stages of getting ready to go off to college and now being there. yes, they will all go to college... and our families will be morphed and shifted as they go.... </p>
<p>at dinner last night my youngest, electric guitar playing 7th grade s started figuring out which room he'd make his music/game room. I took pause and later had a teary moment realizing life again will be changed. but the excitement of launching our kids is a blessing, even if it is bittersweet...</p>
<p>good luck to all '09'ers and their parents...here's to priceless moments...pre college and after...</p>
<p>Historymom, I really hope one of your girls goes to school in Portland, because I think I need to have coffee with you!</p>
<p>Mmah--congrats--getting that first app in is the best feeling.</p>
<p>I wish I were better at commenting on everyone's milestones, but I forget names after I push "submit reply" and then just give up. Suffice that to say that while I can glue gun with the best of them, perimenopausal brain is my achilles heel. (Ok, that is the most messed up mixed-metaphor I've ever written--thank goodness I'M not writing any college essays.....)</p>
<p>At any rate, keep plugging away parents....soon all the "sends" will be pushed, and we'll just be chasing down random pieces of missing applications before the wait begins....</p>
<p>sjth--here's to perimenopausal brains everywhere...oh and my glue gun experiences pretty much always include my burning my fingers...(and that was before perimenopause)</p>
<p>may we pass the glue gun torch to our seniors in hopes they will surpass our glue gunning abilities...</p>
<p>Thanks, Harriet. I'm sure you'll make a great mime, after biting your tongue for so long. Good luck to you too. And of course to everyone else on this thread.</p>
<p>Love all these stories. I wonder if any of you are experiencing something like this. My DS is our only and several of my friends and colleagues who know how important he is in our lives, have made comments to me along the lines of "are you ready for him to leave," or "what will you do once he's gone" (never mind that I work full time!). While I know we'll miss him terribly, I also know that leaving is what he wants so that'll ease the pain, plus in many ways it'll be a relief! Like "Tag--you're it, dear, go for it!" My DH and I were laughing the other day when I said I feel like I've been hatching an egg for 18 years and my legs are tired!!</p>
<p>I was with a group of moms this week whose kids have gotten into really good schools so I can't entirely disregard the advice...they said to keep checking app status of each school every day on line to show interest "because the schools keep track of that..." AND that I (I, not my kid) should call the admissions office daily to see if a decision had been made "because the schools keep track of that". Unfortunately I can't do any of this since D has not decided to share her password with me and I think she would flip out if I told her I needed her password so I could log onto her account forty times a day to show interest...</p>
<p>I'd think admissions would go crazy getting a call every day!</p>
<p>Mom in Virginia, I have heard the same things like, "What will I do with my son not here?" I also work full-time. And we have another son, who is in the seventh grade and quite active in band and athletics. I know that the amount of laundry will decrease come next fall. Come to think of it, so will the food bill.</p>
<p>Muffy333, Admissions would go a little nuts if we all called every day! As for getting the password, my son said that he will give me his for one of his EA schools the day the decision is to be announced. He won't be home until very late that night, so he said that he will have me check to see if he gained admission. Then, he said that he will call to find out the verdict. Until that day, we do little chatting about that particular school. He has others that he will apply to.</p>
<p>Maybe the schools keep track of who calls every day to make sure the student isn't admitted. ("Helicopter parent: trouble ahead; do not admit.")</p>
<p>I refuse to make contact with admissions office. I keep telling D if she thinks she is going to make on the other side of the country without us, she has to start taking care of these things herself. However, when she freaks out because she doesn't understand how to word the problem, I will check her emails before she sends them to the admissions office to see that they are clearly worded and contain the proper identifying info so that she doesn't annoy them. So far, she has only had to contact two schools for clarification.</p>
<p>momin va: I will be launching my second (and last) this fall and too am of the "aren't they supposed to be leaving"? school who feels slightly odd when people say "aren't you devastated thinking about her going away to school?" I WILL miss many things and be insatiably curious about what she is doing and how it is going but I really do feel we will all be fine. She was gone a month this summer and it went by fast. If she announced she wanted to stay home and go to the CC I could embrace that too, if it is what she wanted, but I would still be ready to move to a different level of supervision/independence. It feels like what they need at this stage. Maybe I will surprise myself in the fall and not feel this way then, but for now I am just in the relieved to have completed this phase of Application Mania.</p>
<p>muffy--I agree that calling the admissions office daily is goofy and would at least become a source of adcom amusement and talk that would not be complimentary to the student. Having worked in the admissions office myself as a student I can tell you that they are so busy they are not counting website hits or calls as a measure of "demonstrated interest" that is in any meaningful equation. Sounds to me like these ladies were hoping to feel their calls has somehow been instrumental in getting in; what is true is that we are not applying or the ones admitted or in any way in charge of it--and that can be hard to take in. This is for and about the kids--who are, if we've done our work right, able to apply and qualify on their own. A friend of mine says "Our job is to NOT be needed". And I think that's true. Of course it is a gradual not-needing but really I want them to be able to survive and thrive without me (of course I want to be around to observe that happening and not left out entirely.)</p>
<p>I have found it hard to get out of their way and not keep putting in my "suggestions" in the process. Letting them do it "their way" is definitely hard work. Which is part of why I guess I feel ready to let them go off out of the nest.</p>
<p>I would agree with zetesis---admissions counselors don't really want to hear from parents checking up on status of acceptances...they are busy making decisions. my '08 son got into several excellent colleges and neither he nor I ever called to check. I never had his password and I didn't open his acceptances from the mailbox--waited til he got home. I really felt and respected this was his experience and I was here to help or talk when he needed to. sometimes they really try not to think about it as it is hard for them to deal with the grayness of possibly ending up at one of several schools. </p>
<p>mominvirginia--I felt that way when my son was preparing to leave in september...I was so happy for him, and a little concerned about all the initial adjustment for him mostly. I will say with my daughter preparing just one year later it feels like a double whammy...this time will be harder as our family will feel less balanced, a new phase. I too work full time and have a busy life---I think its okay to admit there are perks like less laundry and simply feeling the loss too when it comes upon you...</p>