<p>Just posted this inquiry on the Financial Aid forum – anybody have experience with a parent having his/her own student loan while child is also acquiring student loans? Seems like the FAFSA asked about multiple children in college at the same time, but not parents. I don’t know if it would make any difference fin-aid-wise with DS’ college; just thought I’d ask.</p>
<p>I thought we were going to be in for a long voyage on the SS Indecision, but that cruise is over! He is going to the LAC, the one that is a CTCL. As I had posted a few pages back, he did go to the practice last Friday with the college team for the non-LAC college; it went okay, but coach wouldn’t make any promises and said he could try and walk-on in the fall. DS doesn’t want to take a chance (he doesn’t love that school enough to do that) plus – and this is the main reason for his decision – he didn’t really like the other guys on that team. We met 7-8 guys from the LAC team back in the fall when we did our campus tour, and they were all super-nice young men. </p>
<p>He is going to call the LAC coach this afternoon and tell him “I’m coming!” And then we’ll start writing the checks for the deposits, dorm, etc. etc. etc. :eek:</p>
<p>Wow, I was away over the weekend and have missed so much! Congratulations to everyone who is getting off the boat and moving on with plans. D has narrowed 9 schools down to 6 and has planned visits to four of them (Stanford is too far/too much time away and her college counselor is discouraging her from another school). This morning I found six little folded up pieces of paper on the kitchen counter - trying to draw out of a hat? I think it will really come down to three, maybe two, but she will know once she has visited.</p>
<p>What a saga oregonianmom! It sounds like your D is winding up exactly where she needs to be. I have second-guessed myself in the opposite direction. D stripped all the reaches out of her list (to balance her auditioned schools). She did so well with the rest of her list that I wonder what would have happened if she had kept a few of those reaches. Who knows. But the school she is leaning towards is not the academically most challenging on her list anyway. She’s a kid who really did fall in love with her safety. DH and I are trying to restrain ourselves from doing the happy dance in front of her because its also the cheapest of her final three. It would be wrong to bribe her wouldn’t it? </p>
<p>She was at a big event this weekend where adults were asking where she was going to college. She started out answering with the two small LACs she is considering but got tired of the blank looks and started throwing in the big well known BFA for fun. But she seems pretty clear that its not a good fit for her. She did however enjoy the reactions. I told her she could bask in the glow of that admission for a few weeks longer, why not.</p>
<p>Glad to hear that kids are recovering from the rejections. We are seeing it in real life too. Its a heck of a lot more fun to start getting excited about where you are going than to mope about where you can’t.</p>
<p>D is also a kid who is squicked out by the idea of communal bathrooms. It will be a growth experience. </p>
<p>Congrats cgpm! Your son just made that coach really happy!</p>
<p>Thanks, EmmyBet, kinderny, and LeftOfPisa, and all the other great parents on this forum. I will post on the “drum roll” thread probably later tonight, after he talks to the coach. I’m ready to go get my bumper sticker and t-shirt!!</p>
<p>Congrats Cpgm. It sounds like your son made a good choice for the right reasons.</p>
<p>I agree with Emilybee that most people know very little about colleges. A lot of people in my area know more about the big sports powerhouses than top LACs and privates. I guess they don’t spend enough time on cc!</p>
<p>Called the FinAid office today and they tell me that we shall have the revised info at the end of the week. </p>
<p>Trying to arrange a draft of the invite/announcements and the web site is bogging down my laptop…I can’t get through arranging the orders text…urrrggg…Want to get that in this week. Had chosen it weeks and weeks ago…sigh…why did I procrastinate!</p>
<p>In laws called to say they are planning on coming to graduation and want recs for hotels…
I have no clue…sigh…guess I will send info on a few between us, the school etc…
May have more guests here than I thought–which means I have to consider the family luncheon/dinner afterwards too.</p>
<p>Need to get working on the grad gift…</p>
<p>Called and put deposit down on limo for prom–crossing fingers all the kids pony up the $$
These group things get confusing.</p>
<p>So glad for all the happy landings today. S is away on a school trip for 2 days and as much I love talking about all of this, I am enjoying some peaceful moments. For another 24 hours at least.</p>
<p>One of the schools my son applied to has bathrooms in each room. When I reminded him of that and said he’d have to clean it at least weekly he said “Why, when I take a shower the water cleans it?”. Anyone want a roommate?</p>
<p>Communal bathrooms - just to clarify - are we talking of one set of bathrooms/shower stalls per floor - restricted to only those who are on that floor? We heard about these at a reception yesterday - there was no reaction from D either way - so not sure if she’s even thinking about these kind of details yet!</p>
<p>Not much progress out here - we are very happily sailing on the SS Indecision. Attended one reception for school #3 yesterday - D seems to be warming up to the idea of this school - she will be visiting this weekend and then should know if it is going to stay on the list. If she likes it but doesn’t get the “this is THE school vibe”, we might be entering some choppy waters.</p>
<p>Fortunately, for her and for us, all three schools under consideration are going to be roughly the same cost. Minor differences. We’ve felt comfortable telling her to ignore the finances while making the decision. She heard from another girl at school whose parents are apparently not paying anything towards college and all the senior events (the story goes that the girl has to pay rent soon after graduation!) - and D is now starting to realize how much she’s taken for granted! </p>
<p>Have asked D to make a spreadsheet of the tangibles comparing the schools. But it’s so going to come down to the intangibles, right?? The feel, the fit, the gut-feeling…am not sure how she’s going to decide!</p>
<p>Got some solid info from D tonight about her grad party wishes, phew!</p>
<p>Grandparents are coming in for the weekend of 6/4-5 for the graduation on Sunday. She agrees it makes total sense just to go out to dinner with them Saturday night and let that be.</p>
<p>Her birthday is in the summer, and she says what she’d rather do is wait until then to have a big open house-type party for friends.</p>
<p>Yay! Now we know!!! I hate asking her for decisions lately … but I can’t keep my life on hold forever, either.</p>
<p>We got some very tangible information via her GC from her admissions rep from the school at which she is considering staying on the waitlist. It’ll take some work - a mini-app, including a statement from her, plus a summary of her accomplishments since January. According to the Common Data set, last year they took 30% of the WL kids, so it seems like a reasonable gamble, IF she wants to do it. I’m asking her to make that decision soon, and get it done. In the meantime, she’s focusing steadily on the acceptances in hand.</p>
<p>Do I think the WL is worth going for? Yes - the school offers her several things that the others don’t, and has an excellent program in her major. It is about the same cost as one of her other choices; the other two are much less expensive. So finances are not off the table psychologically, although we have told her we can handle the higher cost if that’s what she chooses.</p>
<p>Indecision is on a steady broad reach, heeling steeply - I hope we can come about soon, but it looks like several tacks before we can get to the mooring … can anyone tell I grew up in a sailing family? Emilybee, maybe?</p>
<p>It is so refreshing to come to this group and hear about several kids who have disembarked the SS Indecision. How wonderful!!! And I cannot wait to join you… but it won’t be too soon, I’m afraid. </p>
<p>The schools you have listed (Bates, Clark, NE, and I’m also forgetting many I’m sure) are all so special that I am happy your kids had such a good choice in their pile.</p>
<p>arisamp, I’m especially tuned to you and so happy your D is moving into the phase where she is re-visiting schools and considering all her options. </p>
<p>S2 would love to travel this summer, but is now working on applying for jobs. A little… late? Well, he’s been busy! lol. I’m hoping he’ll get something to keep him busy and allow him to add $$ to his bank account.</p>
<p>I Skyped with S1 in Florence and sent him some silly e-birthday greetings. Anyone have a fave site? I love jib jab–and that’s about how silly I can be after what seems like years trying to help get this college business wrapped up.</p>
<p>BK-I’m right there with you seasick! I had RD envy (being done early) and now have FD (final decision) envy. My DS has added one more to his “I want to visit” list. Sigh. It was that last acceptance that I thought he wasn’t interested in because he didn’t find out results when posted last Friday. Guess he was just burned out. So the problem is that one is the farthest away and will require a several day trip during spring break, which luckily is this month.</p>
<p>On the hall baths (communal) my DS has no problem with it, and after reading comments I realize it is the best option for him, since someone else cleans it!!! He shares a bath with his younger brother, and D2 always cleans the bath when he can stand it no longer, therefore D1 never has to clean the bath (and would probably wait until he could identify the science experiment growing on the tile before he thought of cleaning it) :(</p>
<p>So we will sail on toward the end of April and hopefully disembark before the last day of the month. Congrats to all who have decisions and kids who have moved on to the fun of picking dorms, buying sweatshirts and looking for roomies.</p>
<p>Wow, I thought I was being banal about food service yesterday … today we’ve moved onto bathrooms!</p>
<p>Today’s quickie comparison was looking at orientation dates and start dates (she already checked winter breaks because of the Disney trip, if you recall).</p>
<p>We already know about dorms … she deposited on the one she likes (specialized arts community) at the big state U; the LAC has kind of crappy but quirky college-type boxes; and the honors college at her BFA school has awesome suites. But I will now wonder about who would clean the bathroom there.</p>
<p>Somewhat funny story: When I visited D1 her second year of college I spent one night in the dorm with her. She slept on the floor and I used her bed. I’m lying there and suddenly I hear WHOOSH! through the concrete wall behind my head. A little later I hear WHOOSH! again. And later, again. </p>
<p>Yup, her bed backed up to the wall behind the toilets.</p>
<p>Happy Monday everyone! If the old adage about April showers has any truth to it, we are going to have a TON of flowers around here in May! Torrential rains and flash flooding here today but hey - at least it wasn’t snow!</p>
<p>bkcsmn - DD actually ranked the dorms with communal baths higher than those with suite-style rooms when she applied for housing. She’s heard enough stories from her older sister about rolling out of bed with 5 minutes to brush her teeth and run to class… didn’t want to deal with 3 other suite-mates all queueing up for the bathroom. And there is the matter of the daily cleaning of the communal bath.</p>
<p>fog - your list sounds pretty similar to mine. I have all of that plus some special stuff going on at church over Easter which is bringing family in from out of state. I literarally don’t have a weekend in sight that isn’t jam-packed with “stuff” to do. </p>
<p>Someone earlier mentioned that this process doesn’t end but just keeps evolving and those of us with older kids know that is definitely true. Scheduling, rooming assignments, outfitting the dorm room and then you move on to worrying about professors, grades (again!), social adjusting, the list goes on and on. About the time that they get that stuff figured out, they start thinking about the next step… grad school or a job and the fun REALLY begins.</p>
<p>Interesting tidbit: I was at a meeting today with a parent who has a relative that works for College Board. She said that The College Board made too much money this year because kids applied to more schools and ordered more scores. College Board is a non-profit (!), so it’s a problem. I suggested that they reduce their fees.</p>
<p>We are in waiting mode until April 16th…last accepted student day for schools on D’s list. Wishing you all fair winds and following seas as the SS Indecision continues her voyage. (Now is this a sailing vessel or motor powered? Inquiring minds want to know. )</p>
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