<p>Love the discussion on thank-you’s to teachers/GC’s. I’m a strong believer in handwritten notes; I think they mean so much to the recipient. Both of my children, on the other hand, would rather walk on nails than sit down and write one. I am insisting that D write them and deliver them, with a small gift, to both of the teachers who wrote her recommendation letters, as well as all the generous donors who contributed on her behalf to the charity which runs the Latin America service project she is doing this summer. I honestly don’t understand why this is such a painful thing, especially when broken down in small doses (and accompanied by milk and cookies or whatever else is requested along those lines). </p>
<p>Congrats to kathiep and camathmom - nice acceptance/likely.
Mosb - so sorry that your D is ill. That would be difficult in any case but must be especially frustrating being SO close to wrapping up the arduous audition process. I like your tape idea - even offering to send it should really drive home your interest in your D’s interest in pursuing music there (and the talent that she will bring them!).</p>
<p>My daughter received a large envelope in the mail today, from a school she applied to. I couldn’t imagine them sending a large, thick envelope unless she was accepted.
So…she opens it up and it is a…</p>
<p>viewbook???</p>
<p>There was no letter at all, just 4 booklets describing how wonderful the school is, and why she should consider applying. I think they got their mailing lists mixed up. This looks like something that should go to high school juniors. It definitely shouldn’t go to seniors who have already applied and are waiting for big envelopes!</p>
<p>^ A viewbook! Thats crazy. Wonder if its to “sell her” before the accpetance arrives.</p>
<p>We have seen emails come through–schools asking for kiddo to apply with a “super” preferred type of application…and offering “big $” to attend,<br>
uh,
way too late in the game now… </p>
<p>Back in the fall, our kiddo sent thank you notes to the three teachers who wrote the recs.
We do know from the GC that two were stronger and that those were the ones sent.
I know kiddo personally thanked the GC …alswo sent thanjk you to an interviewer as well.</p>
<p>In Dec. kiddo met an alum, a friend of kiddo’s grandfather, who come over during the holiday to meet kiddo etc…and share stories of what it was like to go to the U etc back in the day. Kiddo sent that man a thank you as well.</p>
<p>As for gifts etc for the GC, we haven’t done that and I am not sure that we will. </p>
<p>I have discussed a grad party for kiddo and also made a suggestion about a group party since kiddos group would all be going to eachother’s events. A few years back kiddo went to a party hosted by 3 or 4 girls. PRetty smart on the part of the parents.</p>
<p>Of gift exchanges, I think some of the girls in the group may and probably not the guys.</p>
<p>The University of Chicago’s website has posted that regular decisions will be emailed to RD applicants on Friday, MARCH 18th. That is only 2 days to go, not 3 days as I posted this morning.</p>
<p>Their posting is below;
"On Friday you will receive an email with instructions on how to view your admissions decision via your UChicago Account. We will also mail admitted students their acceptance packets on this day. Waitlisted and Denied students will not receive notification by mail.</p>
<p>Please be reminded we cannot give decisions by phone, email, or any other means of communication except for the letter in your College Admissions account or in the mail.</p>
<p>What we can do in the meantime is invite you to test your patience by perusing some of UChicago’s infamous fight songs: …"</p>
<p>Thank you, all, for the reminder to get D to write thank-you notes, and for me to pick up gift cards.</p>
<p>One of my sisters is an elementary school teacher, and she loves her Starbucks gift cards!</p>
<p>And thank you for the grad gift ideas. I love the fleece blanket idea and will steal that. Besides my D2, we have 4 nieces/nephews graduating and heading for college, plus my D’s cohort of close friends, a couple of whom have been her friend since kindergarten. They all love comfy blankets-- it’s a great idea.</p>
<p>Good luck to those waiting on Chicago! Out here in California it’s UC-announcing season, so that’s where all the joy and misery is directed (I think Santa Cruz announced yesterday and Santa Barbara is coming up shortly). UCLA appears to have been really brutal this year, but it sounds like Santa Cruz was more accepting.</p>
<p>Olderwiser: Our D’s school does exactly that - there is one GC designated for all of the “Great Books” students, who tend to be the ones that apply to the OOS, very competitive colleges. She knows what the schools require and guides the students from the time they arrive at high school with specific recommendations for honors and AP courses and will relentlessly hound them until they are firmly positioned in ECs and community service projects.</p>
<p>Thanks, AvonDad! I had heard rumors, but this is now official. I will go quietly scream in the yard, and will avoid any mention of this at home - I think the plan here is simply waiting for the snail mail on all decisions. I will certainly not pass on the wonderful fight songs in the link you sent. In my original state of law practice, as law grads but not yet lawyers, we propitiated the Bar God by abject humility until the bar results came in (for example, making plans to to flee to Canada if the news was bad, and never getting the diploma framed or hanging anything on an office wall). I’m assuming that abject humility is the order of the day for college acceptances, also - I will assume the worst, make no plans, and certainly not buy the t-shirt or learn the fight songs! </p>
<p>I am so glad we have one acceptance, and eight more possible acceptances after Chicago announces. Why does Swarthmore have to trickle out acceptance letters through the weeks before DDay?</p>
<p>Thank you again and again for the many kind welcomes!! I’m feeling the love!</p>
<p>Congratulations to the acceptances and likely letters, and a group hug to all the fellow parents who are guiding and supporting their kids through any not-so-good news. I’ve always thought of myself as a pretty strong person, but when I saw tears rolling down my baby’s face (okay, she’s my oldest but she will always be my baby girl!) over a rejection, my heart broke into a thousand pieces.</p>
<p>MOSB - I hope your D feels better soon!</p>
<p>My rant for the day… One of my kid’s prospective schools is spending the week making random acceptance phone calls to some of the thousands of students that they plan to admit. They hope to call a lot, but not necessarily all. Apparently, they have 500 or so people making the calls. The official decision email will be sent on Friday night or Saturday. This is a lovely school and I understand that phone calls are a nice way to connect to the accepted students but doing it over 5 days is just prolonging the agony. These kids all seem to apply to the same schools in our part of the state. Last week, one of the other popular campus released their decisions and tens of thousands were denied. It was brutal. I’m reading the boards and these same kids are still devastated, and now they have to go through a week of wondering, “will this school call me today…” I wish they would just send out the emails first and then make the calls, so the kids would all know one way or another. Maybe I’m being too sensitive about it. It has just been such a long road, and I’m a little loopy about the whole thing now that we are nearing the end of the process.</p>
<p>Thanks to ALL you wonderful people regarding the illness. Sb spent the whole day in bed, sleeping/reading.</p>
<p>Novelisto, I hit her with the zinc and C first thing this am! Momdoc, thanks for the incubation info. I don’t think this is mono. I read that an early sign can be sore/swollen glands, and she doesn’t have that.</p>
<p>Those of you who suggested exhaustion/weakened immune system are probably right on the money. She takes pretty good care of herself (especially for a teen!), but she’s been sprinting for a very long stretch.</p>
<p>We emailed the school with a bunch of potential reschedule dates, and also emphasized the 3 things that are most important to her on this visit…peeling away 2-3 other nice-to-haves that she feels are not essential…along with huge gratitude for their flexibility and every indication of how serious she is about this school.</p>
<p>Also took your advice about the recording. Told them we’d be glad to send it on ahead (and why), but simply asked if that would be helpful.</p>
<p>Thanks for helping me think through this zig-zag day!</p>
<p>Novelisto, My problem is too few kids, too many good schools! Since this is my third (and last) time through this process I already knew of a bunch of schools that I thought would work and son was willing to apply to just about all of them. My daughter applied, and was accepted, to Elon 8 years ago and she came very close to attending. My older son loved Champlain College in Vermont and so does my youngest. Me, I like them all! It’s going to be hard to see some of them fall off the list.</p>
<p>kathiep- I know what you mean about it being hard to see some come off the list. I spent so much time/energy researching some of the schools, fell in love with them, and then when we visited D didn’t like them. Now that it is in essence down between 2 schools, one of which I just love and the other I like a lot, I will be sad in a way for which ever one she doesn’t choose!!!</p>
<p>I’m guessing you are talking about UCSD? Yes, I agree, I can’t really figure out what they hope to accomplish with the phone calls. It is particularly hard for the kids because they were expecting the decisions to be posted last Saturday. (Last year, UCSD released decisions the day after UCLA, and UCLA posted decisions this past Friday.) My D also applied to UCSD and has not received a phone call.</p>
<p>Ughhh, my daughter called a bit ago and her car was broken into. The driver’s window was smashed, her wallet was taken, along with a Longchamp tote bag that she uses for school, iPod, iPad, graphing calculator and who knows what else. I just got off the phone, canceling her debit card, a credit card and my American Express card that she had to get gas at Costco. I am mostly worried about identity theft, her social security cars was in her wallet. My son had his wallet stolen four years ago and he is still dealing with the consequences. While I am grateful it wasn’t an accident and nobody was hurt, it is a hassle that I could do without right now.</p>
<p>Fishymom - Be sure to call the three credit bureaus for dd (transunion, experion and equifax) and put a fraud alert on her name (if she has a credit file yet). That will give you some protection.</p>
<p>Hi Fishy…So sorry to hear this.
Oh No. Hugs to DD. Good idea to call and post an alert as advised.</p>
<p>For All</p>
<p>Several years ago we had luggage stolen also with passports etc…
A secret service agent at Treasury who we spoke with advised us to use an alert service with AmEx. You enroll everything and they handle the notification with one call.</p>
<p>I may look into this for our student…hadn’t thought about it until Fishymom posted…
We have used it for covering our credit cards etc…Come to think of it–I should update the file…</p>
<p>aww fishymom, what a headache! Here’s to hoping that the mop-up operation goes smoothly and quickly, and that they catch the lousy low-life and give him/her/it what-for.</p>
<p>We also had a spot of bad luck–D1 was in a car accident. No one was hurt, the big important thing. The car is gone, so that is its own punishment. It was entirely her fault so our insurance rates will go up, but we will just amortize that cost over 17.5 years. She’s been a relatively trouble-free kid all in all, she learned an important lesson, and it’ll make her a better driver in the end. She did get back behind the wheel of my car. Road to recovery!</p>
<p>The spouse had been arguing in favor of getting rid of the car. I said that D2, who will start driving in about a year :eek: would be able to use it. So the spouse won that round, I suppose. ;)</p>
<p>325etc., we got one of those letters too. I agree that it sounds cautionary, but it also sounds like something that would be useful to all parents, not just parents of students who are denied. That’s my story, anyway :-).</p>