<p>wow, gamom, how exciting and terrifying all in one 
Excellent deal on the textbooks, though! My S doesn’t have his list yet, but I think his will be closer to momofzach’s $600 estimate!</p>
<p>$200 on textbooks is terrific. My D’s books (Calculus, Physics, and Spanish) added up to a little over $400.</p>
<p>we lucked out on books…so far less than 100 dollars…but we don’t find out her French books until she arrives at school…</p>
<p>My D’s textbooks all new would have been close to $900. Two different ones were just under $250 each new. I found one of those $250 ones in very good to excellent condition used for $70 on half.com… don’t know yet how much we will end up spending but it won’t be the $900!</p>
<p>We don’t get S’s booklist for another week or so. Under $200 is a great deal. I have to find out when we can start shipping stuff to S’s school. I would prefer to have them amiled directly to the school rather than home and then have to lug them out there. Slowly selling his books from sr year HS on Amazon and half.com so that helps offset the cost of this years books. </p>
<p>A little over 3 weeks til move in day. :(</p>
<p>Morning All. No book list here because kiddo wont have a class list picked out til early Sept. after “shopping period”.
I recall my own first trip to the book store for my books–didn’t know enough to not buy all new. Yikes.
Our kiddo’s hs had an online bookstore and I often shoped for deals elsewhere…not unusal to spend close to $400 for books when a chemistry book or history book ran $120 etc…
IDK how kiddo will handle books–maybe partly by online.
I have read that some are by professors as e-books and the U’s printer prepres the packets. Still pricey.</p>
<p>Had the craziest dream last night that I couldn’t find MY schedule and didn’t now where MY classes were—haha Guess that’s because last night we went online looking for kiddo2’s schedule online and its not up yet. I recall always worrying that I would forget my locker combination and not be able to open it…Ah highschool memories…My HS has been on my brain since we have a FB page for our upcoming reunion…
Expensive day back-to-school shopping for kiddo 2…shoes, athletic bag, supplies, etc etc</p>
<p>Shawbridge, I enjoyed your post immensely! My son will need an assistant (and possibly more like a team) “Mom, I need you to remind me to put an extra shirt in the car for after work today”, “Mom I need you to find (insert obscure item here) for (insert event he’s planning here)”. I seem to be the ‘gofer’ member of the team. Dad is the logistics specialist (but smartly he only uses him sparingly- Dad doesn’t suffer unnecessary assignments). Grandma is all things writing and grammar (integral member of Team College Application). Brother is key member of Team Social and transportation specialist as are friends. One thing I will say that helps is he’s always very appreciative when I do things for him, which is probably why I continue to help him out. Also, he’s only around for another couple of weeks and I’m going to miss my boondoggle adventures to thrift stores looking for things like a moonshine jug (don’t ask) or a styrofoam head (also don’t ask)…</p>
<p>Heaven help him when he starts out on the lower rungs of the employment ladder, I think this need to assemble a team and delegate will be a driving force in his upward mobility!</p>
<p>Great buy on the books!! It is highly recommend that Bluejr not buy books until he goes to class. That seems odd to me. I’m afraid we’re in the higher neighborhood. At least one book is brand new. Urrgghh. Why? The prof didn’t write it. Maybe it’s his friend?</p>
<p>**I have taken the first and last move-in dates for this countdown from the list on this thread. We are getting closeer to our first move-in. Just over a week to go for UGA.</p>
<p>First new student move-in is the University of Georgia on August 9th. Move-in day in 9 days. Just over a week to go! :eek:</p>
<p>Last new student move-in is the University of Southern Oregon on September 22nd<br>
Move-in day in 53 days.**</p>
<p>If there are earlier or later move-in dates, please post them so that I can pick them up and adjust the countdown postings. The link to the Move-in Date Thread is <a href=“http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/parents-forum/1141579-hs-class-2011-college-class-2015-move-dates-5.html[/url]”>http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/parents-forum/1141579-hs-class-2011-college-class-2015-move-dates-5.html</a></p>
<p>yalemom15, sounds like ShawSon (and me, though I don’t need grammar and spelling), but ShawSon dictates papers to people, has a cousin who helps with organizational stuff and everything and was an integral part of Team College App back in the dark ages, and ShawWife and me. He used to rely on others for rides, but now has a car. On the other hand, he is the clear leader of most groups he’s a part of. He’s managing exceedingly well academically. He is very proactive about preparing for meetings.</p>
<p>My current assistant is mediocre and it is really painful for me. Sweet, loyal young woman but doesn’t anticipate problems or really think things through (though typically is good at completing tasks and recognizes that this isn’t enough but doesn’t know what to do).</p>
<p>Time to take a quick break and reflect back on the past year. Can you believe the changes from just a year ago? These are particularly true for those families whose oldest is a rising college freshman. For those of you with older kids, some of the items on the list may not have as much meaning but you went through them one or more years ago.</p>
<p>[ul][<em>]Back then our kids were rising HS seniors.
[</em>]We were still visiting and touring college campuses.
[<em>]The college application list was still being formulated and massaged.
[</em>]The 2011 Common Application was just being released (on August 1st).
[<em>]Roommate selections and dorm assignments were nowhere on the radar.
[</em>]The SS Indecision was still a future trip with embarkation 8 months away.
[<em>]Dorm shopping was for other parents.
[</em>]SAT and AP tests were being scheduled for the fall.
[<em>]High School football season was just a few weeks from the season opening game.
[</em>]Our biggest immediate school expense was the HS activities fee or the pay-to-play fee for sports.
[<em>]FAFSA and CCS were parts of some foreign language.
[</em>]Essays and letters of recommendation were mostly futuristic and of no immediate concern.
[<em>]Thoughts of moving out and being part of the empty nest syndrome didn’t exist.
[</em>]Younger siblings planning bedroom swaps and shared bathroom takeovers were just daydreams in their minds.[/ul]</p>
<p>I am sure there are many more. Feel free to add to the list. :)</p>
<p>AvonHSDad~A year ago I was shopping for S1 first year in college while reading the common App for S2----->This year I am shopping for two kids going to college and preparing for an Empty nest…Life is good :D</p>
<p>Survivor '10 & '11</p>
<p>:cool:</p>
<p>Just had the requisite pre-three week melt down. Don’t think I feel better but Bluejr got a good chuckle. As I cried like a baby explaining sheets, towels, and little details were important because I wasn’t going to be there to help him. He wisely pointed out “don’t you trust me to get what I need? If you’ve forgotten anything don’t you think I can go buy it?!”. “No, perhaps you’ll sit there.” sniffle-sob. “well then I guess whatever it is isn’t important.”. I do trust him…it’s just very, very hard. He reminded me he’s not picky about anything but clothes, so all this spinning wheels over thread count is just me trying to control something when I’m not there. Smart kid. He also pointed out he’s just thrilled to be going to college…the rest is just stuff that really doesn’t matter and isn’t going to make an impact…three vs four towels isn’t going to change his experience. I spend lots of emotional energy worrying he’ll have what he needs and that every purchase is the best for the money. </p>
<p>Someone please tell me this emotion will waiver within a few weeks of move in. It’s exhausting!</p>
<p>@ 2education - How did your older son handle books first year? Did he wait to go to class or buy early? We’re hearing wait but are hesitant. I can understand more if your kid is in the college, but with seas he has calc2 & intro Engr that won’t change (ie he can’t drop these for another option).</p>
<p>BI: My daughter doesn’t understand why I am anxious about dorm shopping either. She wants to wait and spend the last 2 weeks before we leave shopping and getting things organzied. I have to accept that she likes to live in the moment and I like to plan everything out. I think that as moms we feel that this is our last chance to prepare our kids before we send them out into the world. </p>
<p>I think it’s fine to go ahead and order books for classes that you know he can’t drop. My D1 usually waits until after the first week or two to buy books for classes where she might want to shop around.</p>
<p>2ed: Congrats on surviving. I can’t imagine doing this 2 years in a row. </p>
<p>Avon, thanks for reminding us of how far we’ve come in the past year. I was at the pool yesterday with some moms of risings seniors, and it felt much better to be at this stage.</p>
<p>Amazon.com: The iConnected Parent: Staying Close to Your Kids in College (and Beyond) While Letting Them Grow Up (9781439148297): Barbara K. Hofer, Abigail Sullivan Moore: Books</p>
<p>:)</p>
<p>Thanks for the suggestions about insurance. We never considered this for D1. Fortunately, she is very careful and hasn’t had any serious issues. The chances that D2 will get through college without damaging or losing a major electronic device are slim and none. (She has managed to drop a cellphone in a hot tub, and lose another one in the snow while sledding). I think we’re going to go with NSSI.</p>
<p>BI- I’m right there with you. I’m teying to make sure my ds has what he needs because I know he will do without rather than go get it. So no sheets? He’d use his sleeping bag. No laundry soap-he’d probably wash in just water! He’d say its better than nothing. He doesn’t like to spend his money even when its really MY money that I gave him. Guess that will change quickly, though.</p>
<p>Sent from my DROID2 GLOBAL using CC App</p>
<p>So far under $100 for books…but one class doesn’t have any texts posted yet. <em>crosses fingers</em></p>
<p>MathMomVT</p>
<p>I was on the Walmart website and they do post the energy tags etc from each model. as you click on the fridge, it opens several pics. One is the Energy tags.
Hope you can find what you need.</p>
<p>fogfog, I dreamed that I was going to college and had been assigned to a <em>quintuple</em> dorm room with four roommates who had classes at night so were all sleeping when I entered the room–and they were not happy that I woke them up. I think it was CC discussion about being assigned to a triple that prompted that one.</p>
<p>Between work dreams and off-to-college dreams I’m not getting a lot of “me” sleep!</p>