We have our first acceptance! Colorado School of Mines. 
Yay @Motiv8tedmom23 <:-P
@Motiv8tedmom23 āCONGRATS!!
Congrats @Motiv8tedmom23 <:-P
Yay, @Motiv8tedmom23 !!!
I too was surprised by the approval of recreational marijuana, but campus carry has been on my radar for a few years since the time older son applied. I told my son more than a year ago that UT-Austin will not be on his list b/c of the open carry law. (Regrettable as they have a very good CS program.) GT came close to being eliminated also, as I believe the House had approved something similar to Campus Carry but the governor (I think?) voted it down.
Read this in the paper the other day. Interesting that anyone who uses recreational marijuana will not be able to register a gun b/c of a federal law that prohibits anyone who uses marijuana from buying a gun. I realize that the law will not stop those who wish to do both.
http://www.wsj.com/articles/legal-marijuana-poses-a-problem-for-gun-buyers-1479154520
@Motiv8tedmom23 ā CONGRATS!
re: Overnights
S17 hasnāt done any overnights. However, I did have some exposure to some students this past weekend who were being hosted on campus. I felt bad for the kids because they were not happy and I am sure the overnight experience will impact their overall view. I think it depends on the child. My S17 would not do well at an overnight, sleeping on the floor between two kids in a small space.
Congratulations to all who have had good news to share today!
Iāve been on campus at UT twice in the past yearāI would only know there was open carry by reading about it in the news. Otherwise it seems to be a non-issue.
We have family who live in the area and they say the more serious problem is the homeless who panhandle at the campus perimeter. Iām sure this is a problem at Pitt and other urban campuses too?
I was within a half a mile of a big private Baptist college here in Texas today (their colors are green and gold) and pretty sure I witnessed a crack deal go down soā¦
UGH. Campus safety issues make my head swim. Iām not sure there is a perfect place but the awareness needs to be there for sure.
@carachel2 --agree 100% about campus safety and the need to be aware.
A student at my older sonās school was killed in a knifing attack the weekend school started this past August. I have watched the FB threads of this school for at least five years (as an alum and parent) and had never seen anything like that. It rattled the entire community, but also made me think of general campus safety, which as you pointed out, can be an issue in many urban areas. We toured Berkeley, U Chicago and Hopkins this past year and one could find issue with the surrounding areas of each of those schools.
Now, I lived (alone in a non-doorman building) during the worst of the NYC crack years, so any of this pales in comparison. Nonetheless, guns frighten me. Probably not rational.
Of course, growing up outside NYC, you could not pay people to apply to Columbia in the early 80s. Look at it now!
@CT1417 I think a healthy fear of guns is completely rational!
Congrats @Motiv8tedmom23 to the first of hopefully many!
@CT1417 Thatās interesting that you say you could not pay people to apply to Columbia in the early 80ās. I grew up in Manhattan, graduated high school in 1980 and started college that year. I only applied to two schools, Vassar and Barnard - got into Vassar Early Decision so never found out if I got into Barnard (those were the days huh? Today I probably would not have gotten into either!) Plenty of NYC kids from my private school would have been happy to go to Columbia/Barnard in those days as far as I knew but maybe those from outside of the City were more nervous about the area? Interesting to hear a different perspective!
Legal or not, marijuana is very very present at most college campuses as is, obviously, underage drinking. To think otherwise is to be incredibly naive. If that is a huge concern, the school list should be very very vetted, with substance free dorms etc. However, do your homework. Many ādryā placesā¦really are not. In general, I agree, drinking is a much bigger issue with much more inherent danger.
To have a first exposure to the existence of such things at a college overnight, personally, concerns me. Protecting our kids is one thing, sheltering them from the reality of a lot of the world really doesnāt do anyone any favors and honestly can contribute to binge behaviour once kids are at college.
I live in a state where pot is legal. I donāt like the fact that it is (AT ALL lol) , donāt get me wrong, but I am not naive enough to think the access to it has remotely changed for teens from when it wasnāt legal. I will absolutely take it over open carry or campus carry.
The amount of money spent by our government incarcerating folks selling or possessing pot, versus drugs that are truly a danger to society was not winning the war on drugs. It was misallocating resources. I donāt like pot but cocaine and heroin are far far far bigger issues. I am not surprised that more states are legalizing it. Itās a soft drug at best, no different than alcohol in many respects and far less addictive. Andā¦it will be a 20 billion dollar industry by 2020. States like that kind of money.
Frankly, if a kid is going to become a stoner and drop out of college or perform poorly they will do so whether it is legal or not. Same thing with drinking. Just my two (jaded) cents. Educate your kids on the ramifications of being caught in possession (or with someone that is caught) for any substance that they are not legally allowed to use. Be that state law, federal law or school/dorm rules or code of conduct. Teach them well, educate and empower and trust in them to do the right thing.
I canāt read the WSJ article, not sure how any agency could enforce a gun restriction on ādrugā users unless they do a drug test on every potential buyer. Kids do need to know that legal or not, employment anywhere is at will and it doesnāt matter if your state thinks it is legal, your employer does not have to allow it. Zero tolerance is an acceptable employment practice. Also remind kids how long it stays in your system and the DUI ramifications. They may not have smoked in weeks and still test positive and with todayās technology, anything positive is generally cause for arrest. To me both should be big deterrents but it will definitely depend on an individualās situation.
Personally I am far more worried about my kid getting involved in political protests on campus in this current climate and the potential ramifications of that.
Congrats @Motiv8tedmom23! Great school!
Lots of great points of views on recreational marijuana. I simply meant to say that, in my opinion, the legalization of it sends the wrong message. Recreational drug use, in whichever form it comes in, can become a serious problem. Little problems can become big problems. Definitely agree thereās more problems out there, and bigger problems too.
Weāre well aware every campus has drugs. Wasnāt considering placing S in a drug-free dorm or anything of the sorts.
No doubt he will make good choices. He is, after all, an Eagle Scout.
Seriously, as far as the gun issue, that does scare me. Totally relieved his top choices donāt have these gun carrying policies. Period. :-SS
Just a lurker here saying hi 
:-h
Congrats @Motiv8tedmom23 on CSM! Great school!
You all are making me think seriously about 2 of Dās choices of schools. One of them is high on the list, but is in a deep red state. I usually donāt try to over think this stuff, and know that most campuses are pretty free-spirited and open-minded. I didnāt really stop to consider how things are just compounding. When is it too much? Time to have a discussion with D I guess.
@CT1417 My brother went to Columbia in 1979. He flunked out in 1980. I remember visiting him as a high schooler, and vaguely remember some scary parts of Broadway where he bought his weed. As I recall he still had to pay. =))
Good Morning @showmetheMAC ! Sorry that youāre feeling that way about your choices now. I may put myself back on lurking duty! Not really sure what is safe and unsafe todayā¦ sending out positive thoughts for peace everywhere!
@BigPapiofthree wrote
Yeah, the whole āI wonāt bug you about college until Decemberā thing has really bitten us in the behind wrt UMD. We are back to checking the portals constantly because now we donāt trust the portals. 
So I called UMD and they said if the teacher sends them an email (and she gave the the address) saying it was her oversight that the LOR was late and not D17ās fault, theyād āmay keep her in considerationā. Sigh. So, D17 nicely went and asked the teacher after sending her an email about it, and the teacher said sheād sent the email.
We checked the portal the next day and you can see the LOR in there now, but the application is still showing as āincompleteā. We are about to tear our hair out over why. I want to just say the hell with it, but it UMD has moved WAY up Dās list lately, so Iām going to call and find out what weāre still missing.
@appleMAC RE: UA- not going to the capstone thing since she did the honors tour. If she gets into CBHP and gets invited to do that tour, sheāll do that one. @IABooks I did the tour with D all through the Honors office. I felt like they did a good job. Although if your kid is shooting for CBHP, ask to have that added in as well. We assumed they would (I swear my worst character flaw is assuming things because I would do them), but they didnāt.
Oh, hey, whoever recommended āA Hillbilly Elegyā, that book is awesome! Iāve been listening to the audiobook version (read by the author), and itās just so compelling. Iām alternately wincing and fascinated by it.
Overnights: I did one when I went to visit CMU. I stayed with the twin daughters of the woman my mother was trying to KeepUpWithTheJones. They were nice girls, but I really didnāt connect with them at all and I was bored and socially awkward on the visit. I still ended up going to that college. I didnāt make a lot of female friends, though, but Iām not sure I would have at any college since I used to be very shy, and it took me a while to make friends.
Iāll definitely recommend D17 go on them-sheās much more socially facile. If she had done an overnight with the girl she talked to at UA, I think she would have had a lot of fun (it wasnāt an option, itās just to say that the one girl they paired us up with looked like sheād be fun to hang out with to D17).
I worry about the stuff thatās statistically the most likely to harm them-alcohol, rape, and suicide. Add food allergy reaction for older D as well.
Speaking of stuff likely to harm you, Iāve been grousing about having to build canvases from scratch for a while-itās more expensive, itās really hard to do it right, and itās hugely time consuming. You have to go to Home Depot, buy the wood, buy the glue, buy the staples, buy the clamps to hold it all together, have a miter box and saw, buy the canvas (at another store) buy the gesso to prime it, ugh, the list goes on and on. So Iāve had several temper tantrums over the stupidity and difficulty of making these enormous canvases, and this last one I broke the staple gun (weāre not going to discuss how that happened).
The kids in my class know Iām super pissy about it, but we all know the way college works-the professor is empress of her domain, and whatever artistic conceit she fobs on us, we have to take. Our only real option is to drop the class (not an option for me since I need three of her classes to graduate). So we grumble quietly. Two days ago one of the girls was building a canvas in the studio with another classmate and one of the clamps sprang off and hit her in the face. It cut her lip completely open and she had to go to the emergency room and get stitches. Sheāll probably have a permanent scar.
She wasnāt going to tell the professor, and I said 'oh, no, honey, you have to tell her what happened!" So she did, and the professor, in front of the entire class, berated her. āNow I have to fill out a lot of paperwork for this.ā What THE HELL, lady. The kid is scarred for life and thatās your response? I have to say, my opinion of artists as some of the most selfish, self-absorbed people on the planet is not helped by this woman. ~X(
I just have to get through one more semesterā¦
@MotherOfDragons ā¦so glad you are liking the audio book! The grandma/Mamaw is alternately horrifying and hilarious and bittersweet. I love that the author has come to a place where he realizes just how much his grandparents saved him. I tried to get an idea of what the authors political leanings are and I have to say I think heās āDemo-publican.ā He places a huge emphasis on personal responsibility and not just talking about wanting a better life ā taking concrete action and putting in the work necessary is important also.
We are on our way to Pitt for a more detailed return visit. No overnight visit for D though. She finds the 1:1 meetings with admins and faculty to be awkward enoughā¦ Which brings me to the QOTD if I may propose one? Do you go with your kid to meetings with AOs, honors college staff etc? They are not specifically listed as interviews but they are not group info sessions.
That UMD portal and app seems to be giving a lot of people trouble. Ugh!
Your professor is making you make your own canvas?? Wow! That poor student had to get stitches and the prof was irritated at the paperwork!
@showmetheMAC ^:)^ #legend
** QOTD: ** I may be the only one with this issue but Iām looking for opinions. We were really impacted by the 2 year look-back for income on FAFSA. When should I start calling Financial Aid departments to tell them that FAFSA does not represent my current financial situation? Wait for acceptance? Start calling now, even before acceptance? Wait for FA package?
Do I even bother calling OOS public schools? I already know I wont get much need-based aid at those.
Anyone else dealing with this?