This always fascinates me when I see this talk in various FB groups. This is not a thing here. Do people worry that it’s an ask for a gift? This has been a discussion in groups as well. How do you avoid that appearance?
That’s too bad. Ours is pretty high volume and I think they do excellent work.
The ones I got from Walgreens were also with photos on the front and back.
I have no complaints about the announcements I’ve gotten.
1 Like
I only send these to family members and close friends, the same group on my Xmas card list. I have always gotten them from friends and family and it’s never been an issue that I heard about. Around here usually only close family and godparents will give a gift for graduation, there is not expectation of anyone else giving a gift.
2 Likes
That makes sense but then you know what I mean about the people who send them to everyone and their brother!
In 2019 I got my Xmas cards from them and they turned out great. The issues started last yr and they still haven’t fixed the printers (maybe because of covid). It is annoying that you can still order online for those two stores and then they call you and cancel, so you waste your time.
I’ve used Pear tree for all 3 of my kids, and they turned out nice. There are a lot of cute graduation designs and they are front and back. I’m from Texas originally and people did them there, so I send them to out of town close friends and family. It’s an announcement rather than an invitation.
@srparent15 For me it’s a more selective list than the Christmas card list (I’m thinking you don’t send those, but you get my drift 
) Only family members, a few close neighbors, and some close family friends. I don’t want it to seem like a gift/money grab, so I only send to people who I know would be really happy to receive it.
4 Likes
Our school has announcements through a company with the school logo, name card, etc, more traditional ones with no picture. We ordered some and just sent to out of town family, so about a third of the Christmas card list.
1 Like
That’s offered through Josten’s at D21’s school. They aren’t very popular around here.
I took pix of S21 and posted them on IG and did a digital card and sent to my friends. I know his friends don’t care and my friends have always said from the beginning they chuck the pix in the recycle after they look at them. I’m totally not offended by that, btw, because I hate clutter and what am I going to do with everyone’s Xmas cards we get over the years? So as a core group, we all decided to go digital a few years ago. Less need for paper and clutter.
2 Likes
edited to add 2018 info
There is so much talk on this site about top, highly competitive schools. I just wanted to provide an example of what the top 10% kids in a solid, small-town high school have planned for next year.
Not everyone is fighting for spots in the top 20. Most are just looking for the right spot for them (academically, financially, socially). Great schools on this list and these kids will do great things.
class of 2021
1 still undecided
Providence College–2
Endicott College
Northeastern University
Syracuse
Notre Dame
Saint Lawrence University
US Naval Academy
Boston College–2
UMass Amherst–4
class of 2018
University of South Carolina–2
Mass College of Art & Design
Dartmouth
UMass Amherst–4
University of Rochester–2
Northeastern
UMass Lowell–2
Hofstra University
Penn State
Rensselaer Poly
University of Georgia
Wentworth Institute of Technology
11 Likes
Our top 10 students of class size 438, title 1, IB magnet in West Texas:
2-Princeton
1-Cornell
2-Texas Tech
5- UT Austin
2 Likes
That’s an impressive list. Are any within commuting distance? The second 5% of my HS class had some commuting to a regional university and the #8 person (of 440) went to JUCO where her dad worked. My nephew is around top 5% (of 200) near my small town and the question is whether he’ll go to a Top 70 state flagship with auto admission or stay local for JUCO or the regional university to “get the basics out of the way.”
1 Like
6 of the 18 schools are commuting distance representing 8 of the students.
And I agree, it’s an impressive list. It’s interesting to me how, with a few exceptions among these schools, many parents here on CC would consider their top student attending a school on this list an admissions season failure/frustration—simply reminds me how rarified the air is here sometimes.
Several top students here (just outside the 10%) are taking a JUCO path as well. Can be a great plan for motivated students.
7 Likes
Strangely, Sonoma State went ahead and admitted my son by referral from his app to Cal Poly. He has never communicated with them. Hm wonder if we need to say he’s not coming?
A lot of the students at my son’s school are electing to go to (or start UC/Cal State transfer programs at) community college (65%) or chose private Christian colleges and a few UCs close to home. My son is the only one going clear across the country and a handful are going to Texas. Overall I gathered that the results were pretty disappointing compared to prior years except for the top two students. His school is small and not well known with a lot of athletes. Not many take on the rigorous coursework path.
How are you folks finding out how many are going to what college?
GC shared the list of admits with parents so they can collect the total award $ for the class and confirm where to send the transcript (so nobody can double deposit and other reasons).
1 Like
My D’s HS publishes the college information in the graduation edition of the student magazine and they’ve have a “college t shirt” day in May that they plaster all over social media.
1 Like
It is available multiple ways: an unofficial Instagram page that posted each time a student committed to a college, some graduation material, and in the graduation video each kids name was listed along with their college when they walked up to receive the diploma.
ETA: They also had the college t-shirt / skirt decorating dress up day.
1 Like
AFAIK, there’s no such thing here for college choices. I’d find it interesting. We basically only know D21’s friends’ colleges.
1 Like
Cal Poly has some 2025 admission stats up First-Year Student Profile | Cal Poly
If I recall, college class of 2021 was a high-yield year for a lot of colleges where a number of them overenrolled, and CP accepted about the same number that year as this year.
1 Like