@ninakatarina - that’s hard. S19 is still on the Vandy waitlist, so that’s hanging over our heads too. He really likes Hobart and we are excited about it, but I don’t quite feel entirely free to emotionally commit yet either. Looking forward to the day when I feel I can!
As usual I am so far behind on posting here! Congratulations to everyone on their final picks! Good luck to those whose kids are really waiting until the last minute! Have fin at all of the proms/skip days/ final plays…
@Trixy34 So glad your son picked Hobart, from what you have said it seems like a good fit for him. When we visited we all fell in love with it, beautiful campus and they had a really great presentation. I kind of wanted to tell the people at St. Lawrence to go sit in on one of Hobart’s information sessions so they could up their game!
Yesterday was swag day at D’s school. I volunteered at a Senior Citizenship donut party so I wore my Tulane shirt as well. 
D’s best friend is also going to Tulane and I volunteered with her mom. We thought we would be sad because it is the last thing we could volunteer for with this class but it was so busy handing out donuts to over 700 kids that we did not have time to get sad!
The countdown is really on now - besides having to run back in to school here and there for exams D only has FIVE days of school left!!! 
I’m behind too. Congrats to all those who recently made decisions!
I bought S19 a couple of JMU t-shirts, but I doubt he would wear them outside of the house. He might feel the same even if he had chosen the bigger name school - I really have no idea. I don’t think he’s really disappointed - just not particularly excited. I think the school is a great fit and makes sense for him, but I get it. Most of his friends (including those with lower grades/scores) are going to a higher ranked in-state option (that would not make sense for his major) or somewhere more “exotic.”
Studying for AP tests didn’t happen last year and definitely does not seem to be on the agenda for this year. I think S19 is being a bit over confident after getting a 4 and 5 last year. He actually liked AP Psych and Physics and that is not the case with the 3 exams he’s taking this year. I hope he can pull it together and get some 4s. His major does not come with room for a minor, but he might be able to do it if he can get credit for Gov and Calc.
He has a couple of projects due during the 2nd AP exam week but most actual work seems to be done. I think he can take half days on his exam days if he wants to, so this is likely the last full week of all-day school.
@momtogkc - thanks for the vote of confidence! I did not attend the HWS accepted students program. My ex husband went with him, so it was tough for me to compare St. Lawrence w/Hobart. When i took S to Hobart for his tour/interview it was snowy and cold and we had our dog with us since we were heading on to visit my parents. I couldn’t find a sitter or kennel in Geneva, so I had to stay with her and I only saw the campus from the car. (I don’t know what I was thinking originally envisioning walking around campus with a geriatric dog in January. I guess I’ve been close to or south of the Mason-Dixon for too many years to remember what real winter is like! Lol!)
I thought our accepted student experience at St. Lawrence was fine. We really liked it. If it were my decision, I probably would have chosen St. Lawrence, but I ski (S doesn’t - he sails), and I was really drawn to their opportunities in political science. Spring break in Argentina for Torture, Truth and Memory class? Sign me up! S is probably more econ, entrepreneurship, math/sciencey oriented, etc. Plus, we all want him to explore architecture a bit since it runs in the family and we feel there might be an untapped talent/interest there. It just so happens that HWS has one of the top undergrad architecture programs in the country. S was also really drawn to doing research at HWS’s Finger Lakes Institute. That is a fun surprise. He has never really shown much interest in environmental conservation. I will say, though, HWS did a better job of presenting what the academics would be like and allowing for interaction with the faculty. But the salad at St. Lawrence and the eggs benedict at the hotel could not be beat!
@Trixy34 congratulations on Hobart! I loved Hobart when I visited with S19 in January. It was my favorite choice for S19 but he ultimately decided on a different school that he felt was a better fit. If I had any swag, I’d send it to you but the book store wasn’t even open when we were there. We ran into a similar issue - S19 needed swag a couple months ago for a school photo. I realized despite the fact he’d been to his chosen campus twice, neither time were we able to go to the bookstore. I ended up buying from their online store and paid extra for quick shipping. Looks like Hobart is also transitioning over to the BN-run college bookstore later this month, but you can still order online from the current bookstore if you want to get your son something.
@momtogkc I just went out to dinner two nights ago with my oldest friend from childhood. She has two girls at Tulane and just got back from spending Easter down there with them. They both love it - both are engineering majors. Older daughter is a junior and she has had amazing summer internships.
This week is full of milestones for S19. Tonight is the last time he will play his arch rival school in sports. Tomorrow is his last home game as well as senior night. Friday night is the prom. Next Friday is his last day of class. April seemed to fly by-I can’t believe tomorrow is May!
Decision made! D will be a Spider. Cap and gown came home today…time is starting to slip away!
I don’t think we really have a tradition at our school of wearing the school swag on May 1 (only 2/3 of the class goes to four-year colleges, for one thing, and of those who do, most will stay in the county), but I do want D to enjoy wearing some gear so I ordered some and whaaaat – it looks like it’s getting here today so I guess we’ll turn tomorrow into a May 1 swag day after all. Knowing D, it will be slightly chilly tomorrow and her t-shirt will be covered all day with a jacket anyway. Should’ve gotten her a hoodie! She too remained on a waitlist (she decided that weeks ago – which surprised me) so we’re at t-shirt commitment level, not quite full hoodie level. 
I am actively hoping she does not get off that waitlist because I have mentally moved on and am definitely tired of decision drama.
Senior Ditch Day was last Friday and D went to school because she missed four full days of school to attend Admitted Student Days and it took her over a week to get everything made up. The last thing she wanted was to fall behind again. Sounds like about half the seniors were out that day, which is actually more in attendance than I thought there’d be. I’m proud of her – she’s working as hard as ever in her classes despite our school having no rankings and not having a perfect GPA to try to preserve. She’s had straight As through two trimesters this year so I think it’s a point of pride. It’s been a good year both academically and socially.
Our Senior Assassins was in the fall and that was a funny era of seeing kids around town wearing floaties as part of the game.
It’s been fun to see what schools all the kids are choosing to attend. I’d be curious to do some sort of survey to see what factors end up being most important. Money is definitely a biggie, even among families who live in multi-million dollar homes. One of D’s best friends is making a choice that is raising our eyebrows (seems like a poor fit) because of a large scholarship – but this girl lives in an opulent home so we’re a bit surprised (official explanation is she’s saving for med school, which is commendable, but this family doesn’t look like one that would need to conserve resources at all). Prestige is nonsurprisingly a factor – our friend’s son got into a tippy-top and although they made a show of having him visit and needing to “choose”, he obviously chose the HYPSM school. And location seems to end up being important for a lot of kids.
Finally, any neat ideas for something to include as part of a graduation party? (In other words, Pinteresty people, I need your help). We’re inviting 20-ish people the weekend after graduation for an afternoon party in our backyard, focused more on family friends and relatives than on her peers. I’d like to include a few special aspects to make it more than just another summertime barbecue dinner party, but I’m lacking in creativity on this…
@bettzke1 Congratulations on your daughter’s decision! We visited URichmond. It’s a beautiful campus and a great location. D19 considered applying, which surprised me because she is deathly afraid of spiders. But they didn’t have her major, so it came off the list.
There was some sort of haphazard senior ditch day at my kids’ school a couple of months ago but neither my d nor her friends ditched. They had quizzes and tests and as they said “just aren’t the type”.
There’s an administration allowed one in June. The kids have a senior breakfast thing with parents and then can go home after. That one she will do since the teacher’s have it planned that the kids aren’t there.
I agree that’s its fun to hear where d’s classmates are going. Especially since she’s known where she was going for so many months!
@momzilla2D Thanks! I’m hoping things work out the way they look like they will! D10 didn’t want to even look at URichmond because of her aversion to spiders, so I’m happy that D19 gave it a shot!
@4kids4us - yep, got the swag in my shopping cart. But there was no way it was going to get here by tomorrow.
@bettzke1 - Yay! Congratulations!
@bettzke1 I really want D21 to look at Richmond! Did you guys have other schools on the list that were similar? Did your D have a hard time choosing or was it the obvious choice? Congratulations!
@homerdog Congrats on making it through the process and going with Bowdoin! Richmond is definitely worth a look. In the end, it was between Case Western and Richmond, which are not very similar…but interviews with Richmond professors who took lots of time with her and charmed her (and the theatre facilities, and facilities in general) made the difference. All in all, it looks to be a solid LAC with university resources and access to a nice city.
Congrats @bettzke1 on the decision! I really liked Richmond for both my kids and they liked it too. We got one last mailing from them today trying to get my son to commit. It’s been a little sad to let go of these schools that I liked so much. I hope your daughter loves it there!
Congrats to others on all the good news. It’s hard to keep up. I’m sad that all this is moving so quickly. S19 already had prom over a month ago, and we have our first grad party to attend this weekend. This week is senior week, and the end of season tennis banquet is next week. I’m not ready for this!!!
Congratulations to all decisions!! I actually thought DD would wait until 11:59 tonight, but surprised us yesterday evening by declaring, “I’m going to University of Texas - Dallas!” Yep, I think it was the lack of jock worship that sealed the deal for her. That, and her NM corporate scholarship will stack for a full ride!!
OK, granted seniors are wearing more and more college swag as it is, but I don’t love senior swag day. Seems like a way to single out kids who are taking different paths.
Seniors skip day, thought, I think is a grand idea and whole-heartedly support it.
@momtogkc 5 days??? We have 5 weeks here in NorCal.
5 weeks to go here as well. 5.5 actually.
I’m glad we don’t do senior swag or publish schools and scholarships at graduation. They do a map in the school newspaper at the end of the year which selfishly I love to see but it’s also hard on kids too.
@momcatof4 Congratulations on your daughter’s decision! Sounds like a wise choice.