@TwinMom2023 - As I was buying Halloween candy for all of the little kids in our neighborhood, I thought the same thing - next year our kids will be Halloween-ing on a college campus. I will miss S19, but I agree, this is a long road. 
(InfiniteWaves suddenly thinks about all the Halloween-ing that was done while bar hopping off-campus during her college years)
@-)
infinitewaves:
Checking may not help but mental telepathy helps!
I never remember Halloween being a special day in college. I remember that the main drinking holidays were: Cinco de Mayo, St. Patrickâs Day and anyoneâs 21st birthday. I still think the amount of Alabama Slammers, Long Island Iced tea, beer, Bacardi 151 and other junk that I drank in my 21st was some sort of record.
I loved Halloween on campus. The young children of the grad students living on campus (in grad school housing) would come to the dorms and trick-or-treat room-to-room. The problem was, we usually only had Heinekens, chips and salsa to give away.
Heinekens? You really were setting a bad example! Children deserve better beer than that!
D1 has several Halloween activities on campus this year. She is a bit stressed because aparantly, everyone wears a different costume to each event. I think this is hillarous since the school doesnât seem to be status or fasion conscious in any other way.
Regarding interviews, D2 has had several interviews with schools in this grade range- all in the northeast. None were required, but all were suggested. She had one interview where she really didnât connect with the interviewer, but the rest went well and really got her excited about the schools.
In Seattle maybe. In Wisconsin? Thatâs just a night out. When one is 16.
@JBSeattle where did you find out that Univ of San Diego wanted an interview? Was it because of her stats? D17 never had an interview - she applied and got in but her stats are higher than this thread (she had just shy of a 4.0). She got a nice scholarship as well. However, I think last year in 2018, the year after she applied, it for a little tougher to get in. But AFAIK, no one from her school had to interview-we are in MD. She did do a tour prior to applying and then after she got in, she went for Torero Day or something like that where she spent the day going to classes, etc. But she never talked to anyone in admissions. Just curious if that has changed as S19 is planning to apply. We actually just did the tour yesterday with S19 (Iâm sitting airport now waiting to fly back to crummy East Coast weather ? ) and it was never mentioned that interviews were required or even recommended.
It may have just been suggested 4kids4us.
Twoinanddone: It was Los Angeles. No Pabst Blue Ribbon nor Milwaukeeâs Best so not Wisconsin.
We never needed a reason to drink in college ? and I only remember one Halloween where we actually dressed up. Senior year my friends and I did the Wizard of Oz characters and we looked awesome. It is the one and only time I have ever actually enjoyed dressing up in costume (I hate it normally).
I do remember mountains of Meisterbrau cans at college parties (NYC) but for some reason my friends preferred Coors Light. Altho our freshman year we drank lots of wine coolers (bleh!).
D19 submitted 9 applications tonight. Feeling somewhat relieved and a little queasy :). She is applying to schools with freshman guarantee or direct admit physical therapy programs so it is either 3+3 or 4+3. The upside to these programs is that most will not require GRE and additional applications for graduate portion. The queasy comes from the knowledge that these programs only accept anywhere from 30 to 60 students. We had the talk and she knows she may have to do some RD apps depending on the outcomes of the first applications. I am guessing I have the potential to be an obssesive portal checker (OPC) so I may have to put some checks in place to keep myself in order ?Thanks for the laugh @InfiniteWaves
@JBSeattle similar budget here but10k seems a bit high with just work earnings. Our budget has always been based on UWâs total COA.
That we will cover in full. If the younger two want more than that they have to have skin in the game with work, and loans. If they do loans (fed max) we will match that. My S17 works but there is no way he could save 10k and have a penny left to spend on his own. Our deal is 3k saved over summer and then he covers all his expenses and spending money at school. Yes, he could save more than that over the summer but he pays for all his summer activities and most of his clothes out of whatâs left and then doesnât feel completely strapped. He was able to take less than the full federal max this year thanks to earning an extra merit scholarship but I suspect that may not be offered again next year. You never know though!
My general rule with both kids was unless the school had a chance, with merit only, to come in under 40k, it really couldnât be on the list.
eandesmom:
It really is the same approach. That 10k is really the max if she works 30 hours per week during the summer. I assume I am going to pay for other stuff and also hoping she is not at the absolute max. Thanks for the feedback though as it might be logistically easier your way. My budget is pretty close to all in at UW I think. I calculated that if she went to WWU that she would have $16k at the end which would be her $ and I know UW is a bit more than WWU.
I also have a fair chunk of my salary based on commission and might be closing a few deals here. It works like an annuity kind of so it would help going forward but further brutalize my EFC (although It is too high to afford and just gives minimal help for the priciest schools).
Oh and in school I was hoping she would do work/study as that would probably be more conducive to doing well vs. off campus job.
Whew! After a few tweaks to his essays, S19 hit the âSubmitâ button for his Common Apps Early Action to Colorado State and University of Colorado. He was so nervous - checked and double checked everything! Next batch of application deadlines coming up on Nov 15. Feel like weâre hitting some milestones. Good luck everyone!
Yay. @nukesmom
@nukesmom - congrats! S19 did the same over here yesterday and took advantage of the CO free app day.
S19 finished October with a bang. This month he sent in his final 4 college applications and submitted 7 scholarship applications. After he sent in the final one last night, he told me âOctober was awful - so glad thatâs over!â
He has two acceptances (UA and UCF) and he is waiting on Delaware (also rolling) otherwise he will now go into hunker down mode and have to wait till mid-January to early February for the rest.
Good luck to everyone and congratulations to all of those with acceptances already in hand!
@nukesmom - Yay! Such a great feeling!
@JBSeattle if your EFC is at COA she wonât be offered work study. Even if your EFC is under COA it may not happen.
They way they figure it is
COA - Merit - EFC = gap (aka need).
If you are gapped AND the school meets need, you might be offered grant aid or work study, any need after that as a subsidized student loan, then the rest as unsubsidized student federal loan and then also a parent loan for anything after that.
If you are gapped and they donât meet need they will offer any need part as a subsidized student loan, then the rest as unsubsidized student federal loan and then also a parent loan for anything after that.
Some schools calcuate this on on ful COA. Some on direct costs only. It is supposed to be full COA but Iâve seen it come in both ways.
We were gapped at several schools even after merit but no work study offered, just a mix of subsidized and unsubsidized loans.
We focus 100% on merit only as once we are down to only 1 kid in college there will be zero gapping no matter what the COA is lol.
I believe US is about 28K all in and Western is more in the 22 range. Iâd always told the kids the flaship was the budget.
Which gives my kids basically a 40k cap
28 base
5.5 federal loan
3 summer savings
1.2 school year earnings
=37,700. If we match the federal loan it gets it up to $43,200. But I put the kids cap at 40 as first year costs (travel, dorm set up etc) will get you over on the COA and then tuition and R&B rise each year. I tried to cap it at 36 in 2017 and at this stat range, even with nice merit, coming under 36 was really really hard! Only one school outside of WWU if memory serves.
CP SLO is in this range (upper 30âs), be aware that they will not offer any aid if she does get in and may offer a small OOS scholarship depending on the college. Also check the chatter on proposed OOS tuition hikes as there has been a lot of drama. We sent 3 kids from our HS in 2017 but none last year and I think thatâs part of it. Nothing has officially gone through yet ( I donât think).
I have told my kids if they picked the Western or UWB Bothell , thatâs $$ for grad school or a downpayment on a house but no takers yet!