Lisa - YES!!!!! Congrats to you and your son!!! Happy, happy times!!!

We have a TWE on our dining table now. Dd is asleep after our long look-and-see voyage. No-one wants to open it. It is from one of my "big 3"...fingers crossed y'all????

We are off to see 4 of dd's accepted-to colleges for real!! I don't promise a creekland-style report but, I promise to post things that seem interesting about each one. We are so excited to be able to tour them in real life at last. It will be interesting to compare real life to all the brochures and web info. We will await the financial aid packages and the decisions from the "final 3" before we make the decision. All the best to the acceptances so far!!!

We have reached the point where we are hoping that our "additional financial status information" will get dd more aid. We had an offer that required us to take out $36K a year.:glare: That would be fraudulent to the extreme. Unless this school eliminates that possibility altogether, dd will have to say "No". We will have 2 in college next year so even meeting their EFCs will be difficult. We still hope to hear something positive from the "need blind" schools.

:cheers2: - because it is St. Patrick's day.:D So proud of both of you.

I love that you made a video. We did a "signing day" festivity with my eldest - with a cake in school colors, etc. I love the pix from that tho' they make me tear up every time I see them in the photo album.

Regentrude; I told my dds, the purpose of high school was high school, enjoy whatever you want to enjoy....keep your activities that really interest you, etc. We were pretty relaxed about all the extra-Cs...my kids just liked dancing, so that is what they did. They spent many happy hours doing it too. They took the classes that they felt would explore those fundamentals that everyone says need to be explored in high school and early college. So, less stress, happier, fulfilled teens, at least I hope. My eldest dd was really happy to get to college and to be able to find her intellectual passion easily and she still dances up a storm. Youngest? We'll see. I know she'll know it when she sees it. She has applied to schools that appear to have the best programs in where her interests lie. No Ivys but some nice state and private schools that would allow her to shape her future.

"The Bourne FAFSA":lol:

In the best of all possible worlds (we're reading Voltaire these days) ALL schooling should allow students to build those foundations for passions.

On the "dependent verification forms" there are scary legal sections about inaccuracies and cover-ups. Makes me feel like financial aid apps could be fodder for a thriller/financial intrigue plot.:glare:

:cheers2: I've been done for a while with my 2 FAFSAs and 2CSS and 2 IDOCs. But I had a new wrinkle this year of having to get copies of tax transcripts??? Also an insidiously probing form about our household expenses that was more intrusive than the CSS (if that's conceivable).

And to think my dh and I were "foolish enough" to bust our tails and pay them off in 2 years??!!

Not in this household. Both dds need college to pursue their interests. And probably even grad school to boot. They are not computer folks or engineers or even business oriented. Sooooo, higher ed is the only way to go for my two.

Yeah!!! Decision at last. I'm glad you are both happy about the decision. Even a small loan could help her in the future....a touch of adult responsibility to contend with when she gets out. I hope she has a great college experience!

Creekland; So the decision has been made!!! I am v. excited for your ds. He sounds like a cool kid who will do well. We did 10 apps. My dd asks "Why?" daily but knows that since we could not visit, we just had to shoot for the moon. With us, it will come down to $$ and whether or not her academic goals are really achievable at the school. We are headed out next week-end to visit 4 that have taken her w/out knowing all the financial details. Fingers crossed that all of them will come through with something good in that department. Dd was tired of writing essays and submitting all the "stuff" too but, there is a wonderful lesson in here (somewhere?) about how perseverance is necessary to capture the dream. I told her that short of child birth, this may be as hard as it gets? Note to your ds, he doesn't get to do child birth, so he may never know? Congrats and :grouphug: to you and ds!!! PS - The temptation to lurk on cc and facebook is so overwhelming at times. I'm no longer allowed to, I go and bake something instead!!!! Either that or plot out more Math/Physics assignments!!!

I am looking forward to the basketball games too!!! :lurk5:

The Voyage of the Beagle by Charles Darwin along with In Patagonia by Bruce Chatwin Moneyball by Lewis....good for sports and math geeks alike combined with Freakonomics - good for a "new" take on social problems Biographies of anyone who has a similar passion to your child.

I seriously do not remember the food in college, I know it was terrible in the 70s and I needed at least one night of pizza a week. I know that I ate but, meals were social occasions for us. I remember eating for a long time each evening b/c breakfast and lunch were not always an option given my class schedule. We could only eat in our assigned dining hall. Off-campus food was expensive and far away. At each of our college visits, we ate on campus....turns out that most schools offer much better food than what we eat at home! What I loved best was that someone else did the cooking. Aaaah, college is indeed wasted on the young.

We are finding that the best aid is coming from private universities and colleges. My eldest goes to an elite NE private college that gave her a very good package for her 4 years. She got more from them than she would have from big state U. She'll have enough loans to establish a credit history but, nothing that can't be paid off within a few years at a decent job. She would not have done as well in the public universities. Younger dd is applying to a mix of schools. Thus far, the privates have shown us better financial aid packages. But, we are not done yet so, we don't know for sure who will "win" our student!

Grueling is not the word for all this. We have some pretty good news but, are now filling out forms requiring "supplemental financial information". We have high need and have to prove it by writing out all our expenses and income for the last year. But, whatever hoops we need to jump thru we will. We did 10 applications, we are waiting to hear from our final 3 most selective schools in April. I guess the by-word here is to just keep on plugging, a little everyday...It will soon be August, and they'll be gone:001_huh: We have avoided some dd mood swings by doing a bi-weekly status check up. It seems to help, even if there is nothing new. We have planned a visit trip for a few weeks from now. That has helped as well.

:iagree:This whole web-site boots me daily.

I taught college for a while long ago and it has helped to generate objectives here as well. We are only doing this for 2 yrs. Regentrude - I really do wish my dd was your dc's age!!!! Scope for the imagination and all that!

I wished I could have thanked MY English teacher as well, especially now while homeschooling. (We had 2 years of AP english which really was equivalent to 2 years of college english...we read like crazy). And my Math teacher, who made me work v. hard for my last 2 yrs. of high school. When I got to college, I was v. well prepared to do pretty well. I was never an all A student but, I got things done and enjoyed my classes. I worked out what I loved to do best and got enormous intellectual satisfaction from it. My eldest dd went to ps and was Nat'l Merit and all that. In Freshman year of college, she was stunned by how poorly educated she was compared to her classmates from those elite NE prep schools. She has pushed herself tho' and is doing well now as a jr. She is a philosophy major so, studying and working hard are kind of a given.... When all is said and done on this subject, homeschooling provides us with the opportunity to develop schooling like we think it should be. It is hard and frustrating, but ultimately a worthwhile goal.... I was raised in an "education first" social sphere, as was my dh. Being stubborn has always been my greatest asset, period.

I agree with above and ....How about a summer program in one of those areas. My nephew did a summer thing at Cornell between Sophomore and Jr year of high school in architecture. He also draws quite well and has done some animation but, his summer program sealed the deal on architecture as his career for him. He goes to RPI and is loving it. I'm not sure what part of the country you are from but, he looked into several summer programs in the NE before deciding. You might also take a look at college curricula in the subjects to see what the pre-requisites might be. If there are any schools or colleges of art close to you, your dd might be able to take evening or week-end classes there.

Thanks so much. I've heard great things about Furman but, a friend complained of "too many rich kids". That can be a factor in deciding on a college as well. Class distinctions can take their toll on kids who do not have enough money to "succeed" socially at some schools. We are being similarly challenged by some of dd's schools. We have received requests for more financial information from some that, at first blush, required the FAFSA alone. This request accompanied financial award letters (that implied massive parental loans). We are hoping that the awards are adjusted once we've given more info. Sooooo, future readers, don't put all your financial files away until.....