Gmail account specifically for colleges!
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They just used their personal email. But, they opted out of the CB student search service so they usually only received emails from mailing lists they joined (UChicago always found its way in though). The amount of e-mail and snail mail was never overwhelming.
If your student is planning to sign up for the student search service, then opening a dedicated email account is an excellent idea.
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I would do a dedicated email. The volume of email was a lot.
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My son didnāt bother with a dedicated email, he just used his regular gmail account. He gets some college related spam but itās not crazy and heās able to filter it out pretty easily.
I do think it would have been better to use a new dedicated account, though.
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YES- @coastal2024 have them opt out of the College Board emails, otherwise they get so much noise and mail from random colleges that has no relevance to their own search, and the schools they do need to pay attention to can get lost in that noise. For schools your kid is interested in, if they track ādemonstrated interestā (which you can determine by checking the collegeās ācommon data setā) - your kid should open those emails and click through the links in them to the collegeās website.
Also, your kid will want/need to respond in a timely fashion to admissions officers, or with staff in the admissions office who are arranging tours and the like. Itās important to stay on top of this sort of paperwork!
If your kiddo checked the box to get the CB emails when they did their testing, I believe they can log into their CB account and opt out after the fact. But easiest to just not get on those lists in the first place.
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He is not- he has his list of definite schools. Unfortunately he used his iCloud for the search early on and now has like 4000 emails to sort through so I feel like he needs one only for the ones he is applying to.
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Not just applications. To express interest.
My daughter signed up for 109 which is too many but we unsubscribed as sue eliminated.
You can express interest to the schools that want that, some will send fee waivers, some will send extra money, targeted info.
Itās easier to have all your college in one place vs sifting through with personal.
Itās a choice of course but both my kids this helped on large part bcuz I was often opening the emails which frankly is too much for a kid.
But the schools want u to open.
Also u can skate with your kid. If u used regular email theyāre unlikely to share.
But itās all personal preference abd if a kid is applying to just one or two schools, likely unnecessary.
My daughter used her hs nickname first name
So this isnāt her but like Lionjen24@gmail.com. Something she could remember.
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S24 created a Gmail just for college applications.
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Even better idea which I just read about last year - too late to be of use - is to set up a different gmail for every college applied to.
This makes it really easy.
Thereās actually a simpler solution. Gmail allows you to add a ā+tagā to your email address and lets you set filters on those addresses.
For example, if your gmail address is āmycollegeemail@gmail.comā
You can sign up at (say) Rutgers with the address āmycollegeemail+Rutgers@gmail.comā and at Yale with āmycollegeemail+Yale@gmail.comā.
You then set filters via settings to send emails from each of these addresses to a different folder. But itās all in one Gmail account - you wonāt need to deal with dozens of different accounts.
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Just my opinion but seems a bit overkill. I donāt think colleges are grading an email address. Itās just needs to be a place thatās all collehe so itās organized and you donāt get sidetracked by personal stuff.
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D23 placed in her #1 choice dorm, so sheās been over the moon for about a week. I am so happy it is solid surface flooring, easy to clean - less chance of allergens trapped in old carpet.
Need to pick up Swiffer set for her, she is still deciding on whether she wants a rug and her roommate is equally indecisive about that choice. Iām kind of hoping no rug as I donāt want to worry about getting stick vacuum for a 5x7 rug.
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I agree! Best advice I ever got. Itās soooo much easier when all the college emails are in one and only one place. We did kidsname23@gmail.com ect. I especially needed the year in my 2025 athleteās email.
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What are you all sending your kids for rain gear?
We donāt spend much time outside, so donāt have anything other than a basic light jacket for spring/fall and heavier coat for winter. But on campus S23 will have to be walking outside from his (far away 
) dorm to class and between classes. It doesnāt rain a ton here in MA but enough that I think heāll need something to at a minimum protect his laptop, and might like to keep himself from getting wet too.
Are you sending your kid ā
rain protection specifically for the backpack maybe like this from REI?
an umbrella?
a fall/spring rain coat? if so, what kind?
waterproof shoes (not winter boots)?
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D19 braved the rainy season in the mid-Atlantic with an umbrella, weatherproof Vans, and a Torrentshell (which can be layered over fleece for extra warmth). S23 will get similar gear.
I didnāt know about backpack covers but theyāre clever. I wonder if the backpack can be accessed without completly removing the cover though. If not, I donāt see S23 using it.
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Many backpacks are water resistant. Perhaps a laptop sleeve for extra protection. My kid would not use a backpack cover.
Umbrella, waterproof shoes, and packing a ziplock bag with an extra pair of joggers if they get wet.
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Our kid at Mississippi State, where drenching thunderstorms are common, has a backpack cover, a serious raincoat, an umbrella, and waterproof boots.
The one going to North Texas, where thereās a decent amount of rain but it isnāt nearly as frequent or usually (during the academic year) as intense, will be going with an umbrella and a raincoat.
The one who recently graduated from Muhlenberg, where rain during the academic year is more likely to be a drizzle than anything, had an umbrella but may never have used it. She did have good snow boots, though.
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Yes my son created an email to use for the Common App and this was the email he gave for any college-related info. Pretty much eliminated any spam. He shared this with me so I could check periodically (students are NOT good about checking email.) Our deal was I wouldnāt open and read them (unless he wanted me to) but I would alert him to any that seemed important and he needed to check once a week.
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In all his years of school, my kid has never once worn a jacket, or even a hoodie. Now granted, we live in Southern California. Last year we had a ton of rain and he still refused an umbrella or hoodie. Iām curious to see what happens at college. He did want two Cal hoodies, which I was shocked by, and Iām hoping heāll wear them when itās rainy or cold. Iām not planning anything beyond that unless he asks.
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In the pacific northwest, itās not ācoolā to use an umbrella. The cool people have nice gore-tex (or equivalent) raincoats from fancy outdoor brands.
Most other places, umbrellas are widely used. When I worked in Florida, I used anything and everything: raincoat, umbrella, extra shoes, extra change of clothesā¦
My kid likes umbrellas and that will be his only rain gear for college (Syracuse). Heāll probably just use a hoodie unless itās raining heavily. Heāll bring back a down parka and leather boots at Thanksgiving break.
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