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<p>Do we have your word on that??</p>
<p>When I think of the ship sailing during that period Iām thinking more of Gilliganās Island :-)</p>
<p>I want to second AvonHSdadās post #4160 - we went through this with our DDā12. A key piece of advice is to start writing (personally, i would wait until after exams and APs). Each student has to look at his or her summer schedule and build in the time. I would counsel aganst waiting until the fall. School gets busy, holidays can get very stressed.</p>
<p>Re the 500 word essay (that will be enforced at 650) - just write the essays and worry about editing them down later - it can be done.</p>
<p>I canāt believe August 1 is getting so close :0</p>
<p>āSome students have a background or story that is so central to their identity that they believe their application would be incomplete without it. If this sounds like you, then please share your story.ā</p>
<p>Like this Common App essay prompt for my son. Looking forward to sharing it with him, too. He transferred from a small high school to a much larger one, one with strict academic standards, between his freshman and sophomore years. Because of state athletic eligibility rules, he could not compete for our academic and athletic teams for a year. So, there is a hole on his resume. This prompt can address what he did during that year. </p>
<p>Meanwhile, he is starting to feel a bit better ā thanks to the well-wishing. Has medications. Finally ate his first full meal in nearly a week. ā¦ Come on spring break!</p>
<p>DS attended an alumni panel back in December when all the college kids were home for winter break, and he said the most useful thing he learned, and that each panelist stressed, was to start writing the essays early and have them done over the summer.</p>
<p>I had been telling him this, but the advice became more valuable when it came from his friends apparently! Oh weāll, so long as it sunk in.</p>
<p>As I brought in the mail today I thought Iād throw out a tidbit for you all.</p>
<p>Save all of those coupons you are getting from bed, bath and beyond. Youāll thank me summer of 2014 when youāre shopping for dorm stuff. They take expired coupons. Get friends and family on the mailing list too.</p>
<p>eyemamom, good tip. I didnāt know they take expired coupons.</p>
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<p>Thanks for fabulous pre-boarding itinerary, Capt. Avon! The wild Junior Year Rideā¢ shows no hope of slowing down as we roll into senior year. </p>
<p>And the cruise prep is just beginning for Spyguy who received his acceptance letter yesterday to attend high school in the big city. Yea Class of 2017!</p>
<p>Dramamine, anyone?</p>
<p>Can you drink with dramamine, because Iām thinking I will need some alcohol. Soon. Who is the cruise director on this trip? Please let the bartender know I prefer margaritas and/or mojitos.</p>
<p>hahahah
Hi All</p>
<p>Captain thanks for the reminderā¦</p>
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<p>We are leaving for round 2 of the college visits next weekend and the visit with the GC was better than expected ā¦ though if only K2 really understood whats at stakeā¦</p>
<p>then againādid any of us realize ??? </p>
<p>I know I didnāt until fall of Sr yr when I found out that my Bf who made As studying and I made Bs not studyingā¦she was in the top 10% and I was notā¦ I didnāt even know they rankedā¦ etcā¦</p>
<p>Voting for mojitos here --or vodka martinis. :)</p>
<p>So in a week+ we get the SAT scoresā¦ tick tockā¦</p>
<p>When I took all those BB&B coupons in while shopping for BarnardGirlās dorm room stuff, they said that pretty soon they wonāt be taking expired ones anymore. I hope that doesnāt come to fruition!</p>
<p>S14 turned 17 today. Wow.</p>
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<p>Yes - as far as the ship is concerned. The tough part is keeping the kids in line and somewhat close to their schedules and deadlines!</p>
<p>All drinks on our ship will be virtual doubles !! :D</p>
<p>Happy birthday, Barnardās S!</p>
<p>We made it to the beach! A few days of r&r before the touring begins. We did a drive thru of South Alabama University in Mobile and they had a HUGE new engineering building. Does anyone know anything about that school?</p>
<p>We took S2 back to school from āspring breakā yesterday driving in snow. He spent the week sleeping, eating, working out, and doing schoolwork. He did look better/more well rested then when I retrieved him, at least to these mothers eyes. We will drive down to have Easter brunch with him at a nice Inn near his school. He doesnāt have time to come home for the weekend & frankly itās easier for the four of us to make the drive there once then for me to make it twice for him to come for the weekend. I will have just returned from the college tour with S3 and driving wonāt be high on the agenda. I gave S2 the choice and did a silent cheer when he asked if weād come to him. Itās rather large to call an Inn (I guess they just keep the original name) and the menu is an extensive buffet. My boys are very excitedā¦and I donāt have to cook. Win-win! ;)</p>
<p>We leave Friday for the college tour. One school dropped, one pair shoes good for walking ordered (okay, I couldnāt resist the gold sperrys on sale @ nordies), and one passenger added so the itinerary condensed to minimize missed days from work. Bluedad decided to come along as I havenāt been feeling well and heās being a bit mother henish. He may defeat the purpose as Iād build in a slower pace and now weāre shaving a day. Oh well, he missed most of S2s tours only doing two eāschool open houses, so it will be nice for him to be there. </p>
<p>At first glance I remember thinking the new CA essay questions were pretty lousy for my S3, although Iām not telling him that. They did take out ātopic of your choiceā which was what S2 used. I loved his essay. Iām sure S3 will find something, there are just a few off the bat that simply donāt apply and make his choices narrower. </p>
<p>Thanks for the update Captain. Iām wondering why I quit drinking anything but water a year ago? Oh yeah, that weight loss & overall health thing. Now I canāt even handle half a glass of wine (I take a few sips of DHs now & again). Makes me a very inexpensive date, lol! I supposed the drinks on board are virtual so I might try my luck. Just let me know if I start slurring my words. :o</p>
<p>OT, has anyone tried dried mangos? Iām totally addicted to them! I put craisens on my salads and they were next to them and Iām in love! Iāve got to find a less expensive source though and am hoping Costco or BJs might have them. </p>
<p>I hear the tick-tock too fog! Only ten more days for those waiting for SAT results. Too bad thereās no secret code like the ACTs. Sure would be nice to have them on the college trip. Oh well, nbd. S3 is trying to decide which subject tests to take so I can register him. He only truly needs one more, and preferably not a humanity (he has a nice WH from last year). Bio make sense. With everything else going on he may just leave it at that an focus on prepping for one instead of dividing efforts. Even if he scored well on USH heād need something else to diversify subject matter (ie Bio).</p>
<p>BlueIguana, your Sperries sound like they will be the perfect walking shoes for your tours! And not bad driving shoes, either. Feel better. BTW, you can get fabulous Phillipine Dried Mangos at Costco. Highly addictive. Nice to have in the car for long trips. </p>
<p>Big news hereāDDās mock trial team took State Saturday! Iām still high from the experience. They were amazing and itās her schoolās first time sending a team to Nationals. The bad news is that Nationals begins the day of the AP English test. Does anyone have any experience as to whether the College Board can make accommodations? Both AP English tests (for both juniors and seniors) falls on May 10.</p>
<p>Blueiguana, I love mangos - dried or regular. The only thing is, I have to resist not eating too much of dried mangos as it has more concentrated sugar level. I had bought them at Costco and Asian grocery stores.</p>
<p>I have the gold Sperryāsā¦got them last yearā¦LOVE them. My S is into his 2nd week of spring break. We are on our annual family ski trip to Park City. He is enjoying spending time with S12, and loving relaxing with no demands other than a script he is reading for his acting class, and a book for his English class. We went on a few college tours last week. We live in San Diego, so we just drove up to LA and stayed at my brothers house. We then toured UCSB, LMU, and USCās theater school. Sadly, he had NO clarity other than he LOVED USCās theater school, but didnāt really like the school as a wholeā¦ I HATED the schoolā¦I had visited USC many times for football games, but had never ever toured the school. It is somethingā¦ that is for sure. He also kind of liked UCSBā¦ and I was very impressed with it as well. Beautiful, laid-back, friendly, active campus vibe. Didnāt feel anywhere near as big as UCLA, CAL,or UCSD. Definitely a more cohesive and intimate campus. And OMG, it is right on the beachā¦ I was blown away by it and I am a SD native. The people on our tour from the east coast were walking around with their mouths hanging open. </p>
<p>On another note I am SOO happy this is my last one through this processā¦ I have never been so exhausted in my life chasing after my energetic, enthusiastic S, who always wants to see EVERYTHING he can when he is visiting. I had to but flip-flops at USC and put my boots in the bag, because my feet hurt so bad.LOL!!</p>
<p>My DS has a very good friend who is a freshman at UCSB and he is loving it there. He has an ocean view from his dorm room!</p>
<p>Happy Belated birthday to Barnard son ā 17 seemed more like a wakeup call than 16. Itās just so close to 18 ;)</p>
<p>Trader Joes has delicious dried mango. They carry a few different kinds. We like the unsulfured and unsweetened. I will be making a trip there this week to stock up for our week of spring break college tours.</p>
<p>Congrats go2mom! Another CC parent is also celebrating her DDās school win. Itās going to be a showdown of CC kids at Nationals.</p>
<p>UCSB is really beautiful campus and the proximity of the beach is amazing. Iād move in tomorrow. Spygirl is getting mail from USC, but she has no interest. I suggested we add USC to our February tour, (a big gesture from a lifelong Bruin fan) but she didnāt like the size of the campus.</p>
<p>Fingers crossed for good weather next week!</p>