<p>Calmom Sheesh, I didn't realize you had both d & s applying! I guess that puts your stress level on about the same level as mine. Andison has TWO safeties and one is EA. Should find out about one around ground hog day so I may stay underground and poke my head out about then and then go back to sleep for another five weeks depending on whether there's a shadow or not.</p>
<p>He's had the benefit of hearing the school reports from all his buddies over the holidays. Puts a perspective on things.</p>
<p>My family tells me I am difficult to be around lately. My stress level is high. Application process was somewhat predictable since D did not apply to real reach schools. That part of process was time consuming. Now this part of waiting game and financial forms is totally different. First of all, I am not competent in tax filing so all this FAFSA preparation was a lot of frustration for me. Now the most important fact is that financial award letters are not predictable, and schools can request whatever papers they want, and until my D receives and compare all letters no decision will be made....
No, I am not looking forward for next few months...
or maybe I am just vitamin deprived in the middle of winter ;)</p>
<p>Linda, the FAFSA (and Profile, if necessary) stuff is very tedious but fairly straight forward for the bulk of the questions. It's probably most easily dealt with by whomever in your household takes primary responsibility for the taxes...even if it's gathering all the paperwork for an accountant to do.</p>
<p>Andi, my son doesn't live at home any more, so his college app process has been remarkably un-stressful for me. I'm delighted when he chooses to let me in on the process.... but its his college app, not mine. I don't see how his FAFSA can get done without us working cooperatively on it: I have only a vague idea of what he earns, and he has only a vague idea of what I earn. But I just checked on line and found that none of his schools require the FAFSA before March, so he can wait until all his W2's come in before starting that. In the meantime he says he is enrolling in the local cc for the spring semester, to try to get a head start and also pick up some extra credit on the cheap. </p>
<p>My daughter will also be finding out about one of her colleges in early February, which should help alleviate some of the stress on her end - her problem is that she really does want to go out of state to college, but for the most part all the private schools she applied to are reaches or iffy-matches (I'm sure you understand that concept - we think they are matches but aren't ready to bank on it). She threw in an extra safety/match at the end, but I personally don't think that the college is a such a good fit. </p>
<p>But as noted, MOM will be perfectly happy if daughter ends up attending UC Santa Cruz, even if daughter feels disappointed. </p>
<p>One of the big stress points with me is starting to worry about the long-term prospects on the money -- I don't have a lot of leeway for belt tightening, as I already live very frugally -- and not much room in my budget to carry more debt. So I'll feel better once I've got a better grasp of what it is all going to cost to educate my daughter.</p>
<p>Calmom a friend from CA and her D made a happy compromise - not pre-planned for them--- but in your case it could be food for thought. The D went to a large CA state school, wasn't too happy there, applied as a transfer to Sarah Lawrence and was accepted for sophomore year with a very generous fin aid package.</p>
<p>Andi......Really, be sure to let us know how things progress for Andison!!</p>
<p>My S's last app was due yesterday (yea!), but DH and I are busy getting things ready to fill out the FAFSA and Profile, so things still seem a bit frantic. </p>
<p>We are in CA.....S is not guaranteed admission to a UC but there is an excellent chance that he will be accepted to one of the 9 campuses. Also, he applied and was accepted to our local CSU school.......so I know he will end up somewhere. That helps a lot.</p>
<p>I feel that if one does his best, things tend to happen as they should. It will be good for me, and this household, to not think about college for a few months. As soon as S finished his last app., he said, "I'm going fishing!"....I know he is ready to move on.</p>