S is arranging to visit on his own dime and own time. I don’t know that the school offered to set something up. Just hoping that is not a red flag of some sort. He did get an offer letter with clearly spelled out financial offers.
Most of them are in late Feb/March so I expect they already have been, if they had one.
I think D2’s decision is down to two schools, one on the east coast (where she lives now) and one on the west coast. I’m in the midwest. Both final possibilities are great universities and I knew rather early in the admissions process that she wouldn’t be returning here, but I’m still feeling a lot of pangs.
My west coast kid is heading to the heart of the Midwest. And I have pangs, too. 
My S will be 8 hours away by car and I too am surprised at how sad that makes me. A month ago I was so hopeful he’d get a PhD offer somewhere and now it feels selfish to be sad that it is so far away. It’s not like I would see him much more if he was 2 hours away. It’s just so hard to accept that he is going to be on his own (even if that is was my goal all along 
)
My California kid is heading to Pennsylvania. He has a short summer here at home, too. Graduates on June 18th and will be leaving for PA on June 27th. He’s excited for his future :).
Yup, regarding the short summer, mine has accepted a summer research position, too. I should see her for about two weeks at the end of the summer (she has agreed to let me help her move to grad school – that makes me unreasonably happy).
@MLM I’ll adopt your kid as I live in PA. Now I just have to find a CC parent to adopt my S
@MLM My California kid is headed to Pennsylvania also…for a two year research position while studying for GREs and completing grad school apps- never expected her to be gone 6 years!!
D2 has made her decision. Whew! Now the hard part starts! Thanks for the support here.
where did she decide to go?
and why does the “hard part” start now?
hard for you or her?
Its true she will have to work her butt off, but that’s the choice she made.
The hard part for her is actually being a grad student; the hard part for me will be having her 2,000 miles from home (Stanford) instead of 1,000 (NYC).
she will LOVE Stanford. And if she needs some support/ information about the area- groceries, shopping transportation, etc, etc. -have her contact me.
I’m 1 block from Stanford and have lived here all my life.
I’m waiting to hear where my grad student (a student that I worked with) decides to go. And I do understand about having kids far away. My oldest was 3000+ miles away for four years, and one year, I only saw him once in 11 months. He and his wife now live a 5 1/2 hour drive away, and I’m thrilled!
Congrats to your D2 @rosered55 ! My D is also headed to Stanford and she will be much further away from home, although in our case it’s gone from roughly 400 to 1000 miles. She was also considering East Coast schools so at least it is much closer than that. And with the later start she will be home longer this summer since she has an internship here :). Good luck to your D2!
That’s great about your older son @sbjdorlo! Hoping at least one of mine live that close or closer eventually.
My oldest also is a PhD candidate there.
The hard part for us isn’t just the ~4 years in the program on the opposite coast, but now an SO has entered the picture who never wants to live in the East. Many people do meet their spouses in college or grad school. So if they travel ~3000 miles to school, they may never be back. We could be the ones to move, but then, our youngest is now a grad student in NYC.
Given how long I’ve been a mom, I should be used to this, but still, the “Why am I going there to school? All my friends live here!” text message made me sad.
This is definitely true, but things can change. My son and his wife both went to school out of area (son 3000 miles away and D-I-L 1400 miles away). They considered jobs in Boston, Seattle, Detroit and Phoenix, and settled in Phoenix, but I think it’s not permanent because of the company she works for. I could also see her wanting to be closer to her family if they start a family. Dh and I just want to be near grand kids, so we are up for moving since he can (and should) retire anytime (he’s been a UPS driver, and his body is pretty beat up).