Ok, I’m a big IKEA fan, but what are these “blue bags” you speak of?
It’s the Frakta bag. It has a zip top. I think I got 5, but then ended up double-bagging them (in case the zipper broke en route), so wish I had gotten more. But it worked, so can’t complain. When we went in-store they had other colors, so we got white.
https://www.ikea.com/us/en/p/frakta-storage-bag-for-cart-blue-90149148/
DS has narrowed 10 EA acceptances down to 3, and is waiting for 1 more response on 3/1 that’s a contender. I think the admitted students days have been super helpful, but at the same time I can see that he’s ready to be done with making any and all decisions. I think we would all so much rather think about dorm rooms and going to ikea! Thanks for the idea—way more fun than angsting over merit aid, honors programs, and weighing options, etc.
Thanks! I’m glad I’m not alone!
Went to an admitted student day at UMN Friday…when it was like 35 below windchills…so that was pleasant. They still seem really disorganized to me when it comes to visits. Our escort didn’t show up and it took them forever to find a replacement so we were late for our meeting with the prof, then admissions seemed to think the department was doing the department tour and the department knew nothing about it so we ended up getting about a 10 minute tour before he had to get to class, but DS enjoyed his talk with the professor. We went ahead and ate in a regular dining hall on our own for lunch instead of one of the many restaurants they listed in the handout because DS had heard rumors the food was awful. Turns out it’s just fine and there were tons of options, so glad we did that.
By the time the afternoon tour came around after the admitted student day presentation (that we could have also skipped) we were sick of walking in the cold and left early. We couldn’t figure out where the tour was leaving from anyhow as they kind of just left us high and dry.
Frakta bags are awesome. I don’t understand the need to double-bag them unless you are using them as luggage, which I know people to have done. You can buy them on Amazon for those like us who don’t like Ikea or those who don’t have one. nearby.
D20 was researching YouTube videos tonight trying to decide whether to choose the Honors dorm or a newly-built dorm. Both have their benefits. She’s also doing some research into questions to ask a college of nursing representative who is coming into town this week from her selected school.
She must be missing gymnastics already, too, because she reviewed the requirements to join the cheerleading team at her college, and sent an email to the cheerleading coach with links to several of her gymnastics videos, as well as ‘resume’. She’s not sure she has enough of the requirements, since she’s never cheered before, but is interested in being a ‘flyer’. She asked for an ‘early read’ LOL. I’m guessing she won’t have enough experience, but I’m glad she’s trying. If she gets a positive response she’ll have a lot to get done before the application deadline.
Yes, that’s what I meant. We packed bedding, towels and other soft stuff in the Frakta bags, double-bagged them and then checked it as luggage. In case the zipper broke during handling, I didn’t want the contents all over the runway. ?
@momzilla2D Totally makes sense then.
My D20 was deciding between her 3 EA acceptances (after getting those, she declined to apply anywhere else RD).
Visited school A last week. It was a good visit and she said “It was fine and I could see myself here, but am I supposed to feel like it’s the one?” Told her I wasn’t sure - that at this point, maybe it would just be enough to know if one of the three definitely wasn’t a good fit.
Visited school B this past weekend. Lo and behold, she felt that it was the one, hands down. No interest in visiting school C. Interestingly enough, it wasn’t a perfect visit, by any stretch. The weather was unbearably frigid, the first group of students she was grouped with at the evening reception were very, very intense and obviously highly motivated (thought that might turn my D off), and the host student she got paired with for the overnight was a complete dud (she’s a junior and is alone in a double room because her roommate moved out - same thing happened to her for fresh and soph years… 
). Nevertheless, something about the environment just clicked for D20.
So, we bought the sweatshirt and deposited 
She had two generous FA offers at the other schools, so in the interest of freeing up those funds to award to someone else sooner rather than later, I notified the AOs of her plans. It felt a little weird to cut them loose, for about a minute, but now she (and we) are ALL IN on her choice. She’s headed to Simmons University in Boston!
Son got 4 EA offers and is still waiting for decisions from 14 more schools. Just realized the college apps (app fees, SAT tests and score report etc.) already costed me close to 2K, not counting school visits!!
We are stuck in a lull over here. D has a number of EA acceptances, but the wait between them and RD decisions seems interminable, and then it seems like there will be so little time to decide once all decisions are in hand. I honestly wish she’d have done EA to all of her schools, but that wasn’t possible with some of the auditions needed. The waiting is the worst, though.
So trying not to knee jerk into pressuring D20 about an unanticipatedly generous aid offer from a school she is not sure is a good fit… still the words debt-free keep circling around in my head. However, she is a self-sacrificing person and I don’t want her making a choice based solely on trying to make things easier for me. She is waiting to hear back about scholarships from other schools (those are her top two schools).
I am just going to keep taking deep breaths over here and remind myself she has time to wait and think things over. It all works out, right?
@2015vintagemars I am refusing to add up all I have spent on her applying and the associated costs. It makes me sick to think of how expensive this whole process has been.
@MBNC1755 - We have the same dilemma going on. Third choice school gave a huge offer and it’s really hard for me to ignore that we could practically cash flow that school. There are valid reasons it’s the third choice school, but at what point does the cost savings overrule that? Ugh.
@cshell2 It is so hard! The big issue is they don’t offer her major (not even close) but it is a wonderful school and while D20 seems pretty set on her course so many students change their major every day! She applied assuming at best she would get a waitlist. She is my oldest and we seriously underestimated her results. While we are both super grateful for her results it is making this so much harder…
And we are in the same boat. We could cash flow this school. No loans. At all. Not even federal… And it is a strong, wonderful school that is well regarded- just doesn’t offer her major.
It is a fine line to walk between savings and what they want. I don’t want her to regret her school choice but debt is also something many people later regret… Anyone have a crystal ball they could lend me?
@MBNC1755 - Same here! They don’t offer his preferred major. He wants Aerospace engineering. They have several other engineering majors and he’d probably choose chemical or mechanical, or even engineering physics, but still AE is what he REALLY wants.
Meanwhile I’m thinking a year in and he decides against engineering entirely!
@MBNC1755 I feel you on this one!
My D20 just turned down a school that not only could we completely cash flow it, there would be money left over in the college fund her grandparents have designated for her. She is opting to attend one that will require her to take on about $5k per year in federal loans to attend. She thought long and hard about walking away from a completely debt-free education, but in the end, I think she made the right choice. I would not feel ok about it if we were talking about a vast amount of debt, though.
Same here. We can afford all of his top three options, but the one would leave a lot of breathing room in case there was a 5th year or he decided to go to graduate school, and really, who wants to pay more than they have to?
@DeeCee36 I agree. I think the federal loan is my limit for her but we will have to wait.
Right now we do not have aid info for all of her accepted schools and for her top choices she is a finalist for a full-ride but she is up against some really amazing kids so… I just don’t know. As her mom, I know what she would give to those schools- the amount of time and energy she would invest and the sort of ambassador she would be but it is hard to know if they see all of that. There is one school she just really fits at. She is very into helping to lift people, it could be damaging to put her at a school where it is cut-throat.
I have heard the amazing-offer school can be very competitive… she is not the type to thrive where people will do anything to get ahead. She has very strong values and standards that she holds herself to (often too high IMO but she’s young and will not listen).
In the mix is I have to be very careful how I say things- she wants more than anything to make sure I am not giving up too much for her. She is a good kid with an amazing heart so I am lucky but it’s tricky to make sure she isn’t putting herself last while staying practical.
My dd also turned down a school that is literally 1/3 the cost of all her other options. But the truth is it really isn’t the right school for her and will not get her what she wants and needs from college. Her dad and I totally support this decision, but oh it’s hard not to wish the bargain option was the right one!!