Jumping in…
Swag - We purchased a water-resistant windbreaker (needed one anyway!) at the bookstore on accepted student day, along magnets for the car. DD already has a shirt from a previous visit. I got a mug for Grandma. 
Parent groups - Haven’t looked for/discovered one yet. DD, on the other hand, is in several group-mes for incoming students. She found them via a fb page. She is also following a few new kids on instagram.
Swag/t-shirts/sweatshirts: We may be buying a LOT this weekend at the Discover UCLA Engineering event. We’ve been scouting t-shirts and sweatshirts online since before their official decisions came out.
D17 is pissing me off. She’s not wanting to go to the accepted student events at Cal Poly now because she really thinks they’re going to New York. Ive seen no commitment on the bf’s parents part to pay for nyu, just lots of nebulous talk, if we think it’s best we’ll try to figure it out. Trying to convince her to go up to CP Thursday.
As far as swag, right now I’m wearing S15’s college swag as he is not on my shit list.
@socalmom007 put your foot down! (Easy for me to say)
@STEM2017 love that shirt!
@carpoolingma I’m going to have to look for a waterproof wind jacket for my son. I hear London is rather rainy, and the kids take some field trips where I’m sure it will come in handy.
Promposals
Now girls who are going as friends with their girl friends are proposing as well. I think all of this is just for social media.
His twin sister doesn’t wan’t to go to the prom, turned down one boy but her friends are hounding her to go. I hope she sticks to her plan.
Any thoughts?
We have one leg OVER the fence and I can see the green, green grass on the other side. It looks lovely. Hopefully a deposit will be made within the week and then I will share.
Swag. My S loves swag and we have spoiled him. When I toured schools with D15 we would more often than not buy him something, and more recently on his college tours he usually picks up a t-shirt or pair of shorts. Nothing too expensive. He wears them all (sometimes with different schools together, which is kind of funny if they are rival schools).
FB groups- D15’s FB group for parents has been very helpful. She is 3,000 miles away so any connection to what is going on in her world is welcome. I also follow some school feeds on facebook and twitter, get text alerts from the school public safety department, and update/alerts from the LA Times. Don’t judge. She is in an urban and earthquake prone city.
One of S17’s colleges has a FB page for the parents of accepted students, which at first I thought was overkill but actually has turned out to be extremely informative. People have asked questions I hadn’t even considered and shared some important info. “Pro-parents” (parents of current students) and admissions folks are on the site as well which means that we get real answers.
My son has grudgingly agreed to set up a Facebook account for the sole purpose of finding a roommate. We’ll see if he follows through with that!
@jmek15 good luck on the big decision!
I can assure you that it is a very good feeling to be done with the worrying.
We’ve totally moved on from waitlists and have fully embraced son17’s decision. It’s quite refreshing, and I am looking forward to enjoying spring with him. My son also feels happier and more relaxed, and maybe more confident too.
How does one even find the FB pages for parents of accepted students? Just search within FB?
@STEM2017 – so glad to know that there is such a shirt as the VT/NY shirt…my very dear friend’s son is considering VT. The parents both grew up in NY and now live in VA near me. This will be a great gift idea if he commits to becoming a Hokie…oh boy!
SWAG - I cannot wait to buy swag but alas I must wait. S17 has not decided, but he did “drop” 2 schools. We are now down to 6. 1 is no chance financially but it is his favorite so he will not drop it officially. 1 is our local state school that he really does not want to go to so it is really between the other 4.
Until he is decided, the swag must wait.
If anyone is still looking, S got three emails today saying “It’s not too late to apply!”
Vaughn College
Arcadia College
KU
@twoforone99 I know promposals are a thing at my D’s school. Her older sister skipped junior prom and just went to the after-prom with friends. She did the prom as a senior, again with a group of friends.
D17 has gone to every homecoming, as well as her junior prom. The only time she went with a “date” – a friend – there was a “proposal” in the cafeteria with popcorn and candy. (???) It did not end well; she found out he wanted a different type of relationship. He told her during the dance. In front of many other people. She was not happy. She now officially hates public invitations of any sort.
If your D doesn’t want to go, she should stick to her guns! I have been surprised that my (normally not social) kids have gone and enjoyed themselves, but these events are not everyone’s cup of tea.
@CT1417 yeah, just search FB like. " WickedExpensive University Parents Group 2021".
Promgagement parties are next. Better start thinking about booking your local catering hall. I know a DJ.
Speaking of prom, yes or no to letting daughter go with a few friends by themselves down the shore for one night? I was in the no camp up until last week, but now I’m finding it a bit silly. This particular group is one I don’t worry about at all. (A different group, I might be concerned.)
Tried ordering some swag for D’s school from Amazon. Great price from china means you won’t recieve it. D bought some when we visited last month. So, she has a nice tee shirt and sweat shirt. I’m still stalking the mail man for the Amazon swag! :((
@twoforone99 re Promposals
My D16 wanted to go to prom - was not dating anyone and all of her friends were going with guys. One of S17’s good friends was going to take her as a friend (he has a gf that he has been dating since Freshman year) but he insisted that she give him the most outrageous (goofy/wierd) promposal. The three of the (D16; S17 and his friend) had all gone on the school trip to Germany/Austria during Spring Break so she got a goofy picture of the two boys and created an ugly poster asking him to take her to prom. He loved it. They had a blast at Prom too - with no pressure.
@RightCoaster Last week or so you had asked about getting into Colorado School of Mines as a possible consideration for your S19 I believe. Mines does have a page for parents of prospective Mines students on preparing your child for Mines that you may want to check out. http://www.mines.edu/PreparingforMines
Seniors at our school don’t go to the prom unless they are going with a junior. The seniors have their own party, but I don’t think they have to ask dates. They all just show up. I like that a lot better. No tuxedos or any of that. Just wear something nice and hang out with your grade one for a night.