Gwen in VA Posted January 29, 2008 Share Posted January 29, 2008 Ds has heard from some schools and has been invited to a scholars weekend (hurrah!), but somehow April 1, when we will have all acceptances and financial aid offers in hand, seems a LONG way off. Time does pass, and I know that God knows exactly where ds will be going and how the financial end will work out, but this is a lONG process..... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ereks mom Posted January 29, 2008 Share Posted January 29, 2008 I'm not enjoying the waiting either. ER has been accepted at both of his college choices, and we visited College #1 last week. Dh & I completed our FAFSA (and found out that our EFC is higher than anticipated, which is scary!) and visited with the Financial Aid office at said college. They weren't very reassuring. Turns out that most of their aid is need-based rather than merit-based, so I'm not especially optimistic, given our EFC situation. And -- wouldn't you know it -- this college is ER's first choice. :confused: We will visit College #2 this week; ER will stay on campus as a pseudo-student (a word I just coined, LOL!) Thursday & Friday. Dh & I will visit the Financial Aid office as we are wont to do. ;) This college awards more merit aid than the other, and this weekend is a scholars weekend -- ER will have an interview with the scholarship committee Saturday at 1:00 P.M. They award 5 full-ride scholarships per year and a few full-tuition scholarships as well; based on his academics, ER was asked to apply, and was granted an interview. ER is very torn at this point. He really loves College #1 already, but fears not getting enough financial aid. He is trying to be open-minded about College #2, but he is actually afraid that they will offer him a full-ride scholarship: he doesn't want to be faced with the prospect of turning down a full-ride scholarship to College #2 in favor of College #1, where there are no financial guarantees. My head tells me to advise him to "go where the money is", but my heart tells me to tell him to follow his heart. He plans to go into ministry (music evangelism), and I know that "God who calls is faithful" (my paraphrase of 1 Thessalonians 5:24). Gwen, I will be praying for you, and for other mothers of seniors. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ms. Riding Hood Posted January 29, 2008 Share Posted January 29, 2008 Ugh, not there yet, but I don't look forward to it. I am not good at waiting. Hang in there! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ms. Riding Hood Posted January 29, 2008 Share Posted January 29, 2008 I really want to know how this all turns out for you because this is a scenario I dread. I expect ds to be the the same situation next year and the "head vs. heart" thing is already haunting me. My mom said, "This is when you might wish that you weren't both the parent and the counselor." :( Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Katia Posted January 29, 2008 Share Posted January 29, 2008 This is all moving waaayyy to fast for me (I'm not ready to lose my baby yet!), so I am glad for the slowness. It gives me time to process each event as it occurs and to get used to each new idea/opportunity and to think it through. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ereks mom Posted January 29, 2008 Share Posted January 29, 2008 ...the decision-making process. I'm ready to get all that out of the way so I can really enjoy these last months with ER at home. Right now, we're so preoccupied with deciding about a college & getting all the paperwork in that we can't yet relax and enjoy, and maybe even look forward to The Big Day when ER goes off to college. Now, I seriously doubt that I'll EVER look forward to it, exactly -- to be truthful, I dread it -- but I think I might be able to manage to share in his excitement about the future unfolding before him. ;) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jan in MO Posted January 29, 2008 Share Posted January 29, 2008 My dd had all 3 of her acceptances and partial financial aid offers (merit ones) in hand before January 1. She and I were stunned the other day when we heard the April 1 date for all of that the other day. I guess the field that she chose does offer that one advantage --- the schools want to line up their candidates very early. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cynde Posted January 29, 2008 Share Posted January 29, 2008 Ds applied to six colleges. He heard "accepted" from one to which he applied early action but no finacial package yet. We don't expect to hear from the rest (regular decision) until April. Since there's nothing we can do about it, we decided not to sweat it and are immensely enjoying not having to think about it. We've done our part, now it's up the the colleges. We'll just have to wait till the packages come in and then we'll crunch the figures and see what works. Smiles to everyone that is waiting :) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ereks mom Posted January 29, 2008 Share Posted January 29, 2008 I really want to know how this all turns out for you ...( I figure we're all in this together, so I'll be sure to let you know so you can rejoice with me. Or cry with me. I'm sure I'll be doing both of those at different times throughout this journey! :) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gwen in VA Posted January 29, 2008 Author Share Posted January 29, 2008 "Head vs. heart". Doesn't that sum it up well! It is so cool when the head and the heart both point to the same school, but it doesn't always happen that way..... We heard from another school yesterday. It gave him really pathetic merit aid and wasn't his first choice, so it's gone -- the list is now down to 5. This sounds like "And Then there Were None", doesn't it? As a feeble encouragment, my dd is totally happy at her "head" school. Her "heart" school didn't give enough merit aid, but she is having such a great freshman year that I can't imagine how a different college could have improved things. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DollyM Posted January 29, 2008 Share Posted January 29, 2008 Then to complicate things the head-heart thing is rearing mightily here, too. And, in our case there's a bit of disparity between what DH and I think is important vs what DD thinks is important. She's had some terrific scholar weekends ... one V-E-R-Y productive (financially) and we really really hope to know for sure by early March. She's been accepted to them all, but it's the "whole package" that is still in the "not fully known yet" category. I'm trying hard to be patient, and SILENT. LOL. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paz Posted January 29, 2008 Share Posted January 29, 2008 Somehow the acceptance letter from his first choice university got lost in the mail. His friend had already heard so we debated for a week and a half if we were going to call admissions to see what was going on. I finally called to hear that he was admitted. LOL! He still wouldn't know if it was up to him. He does go to visit with some friends in a few weeks so hopefully he will still want to go there because if not, he isn't really interested in the other schools he's applied to. I did learn a lot in this whole process. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sharon in MD Posted January 29, 2008 Share Posted January 29, 2008 Ugh, not there yet, but I don't look forward to it. I am not good at waiting. Hang in there! I have been following all this knowing it will be us next year. I'm already sweating the decisions to come and how to guide/counsel ds without pushing him toward "my" choices.....It is so hard to get a feel for what is best. I keep reminding myself that there are several good choices out there for him and God will help him, and us, to sort it all out. I know I'm going to have a really hard time waiting it out next year....I go nuts waiting for the summer program replies each spring. And those are just deadline March, hear mid May....this will be much worse! And I know I'll be waiting at the same time to hear if I can get re-employed so that we can hope to dig out of the college debt eventually!:eek: I'm praying for y'all! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sylvia in CA Posted January 29, 2008 Share Posted January 29, 2008 We've heard from three colleges and was accepted. We are waiting on the public colleges which will probably in mid March. DD still plans to apply to one more!! I must confess it's a very difficult for year for us -- dd busy with applications and essays and I'm trying to stay sane and not get too crazy about all the deadlines! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ereks mom Posted January 30, 2008 Share Posted January 30, 2008 I'm trying hard to be patient, and SILENT. Oh, I so know what you're going through. I want this to be ER's decision, but the mom in me wants me to make the decision! At first, I told ER that the whole college decision rested on who could "show me the money". But then I realized that I didn't want ER to be limited by that. I believe he should go where God is leading him. I believe that a decision about ministry & responding to God's calling should never, ever boil down to dollars & cents. God has no "bottom line". "The cattle on a thousand hills" belong to Him (Psalm 50:10). In the life of our family, God's direction has never been to go "where the money is", so I don't know why I should expect this instance to be different! :D So I retracted my initial pronouncement and advised ER to listen to God with his whole heart, and to seek Godly counsel. And I continue to pray... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sharon in MD Posted January 30, 2008 Share Posted January 30, 2008 At first, I told ER that the whole college decision rested on who could "show me the money". In the life of our family, God's direction has never been to go "where the money is", so I don't know why I should expect this instance to be different! :D So I retracted my initial pronouncement and advised ER to listen to God with his whole heart, and to seek Godly counsel. And I continue to pray... Boy, I can just hear myself....I've said the "show me the money" thing too. :o Thanks so much for posting this. I needed this reminder too. I feel like dh and I have never lived by only the bottom line....so why make college that way... Of course the money matters, but so do a lot of other things....SO glad you posted... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Barb_ Posted January 30, 2008 Share Posted January 30, 2008 "Head vs. heart". Doesn't that sum it up well! It is so cool when the head and the heart both point to the same school, but it doesn't always happen that way..... We heard from another school yesterday. It gave him really pathetic merit aid and wasn't his first choice, so it's gone -- the list is now down to 5. This sounds like "And Then there Were None", doesn't it? As a feeble encouragment, my dd is totally happy at her "head" school. Her "heart" school didn't give enough merit aid, but she is having such a great freshman year that I can't imagine how a different college could have improved things. Gwen, this is so encouraging. My daughter's heart is still back in PA. She has always seen herself at a small Eastern school with old buildings and lots of green trees to sit under, but since we moved to AZ, she had to let go of that dream. Neither of us wants her to move a country away when she has so many siblings still at home. She is eligible for a full ride (books, room and board and a stipend included) at ASU's Barrett Honors College, so she settled on that and never looked back. She didn't even apply anywhere else. Her thought was, ASU is a perfectly good school, it's an hour away, they are thrilled to get NM Scholars, and it's free. The fact that she applied *nowhere* else gave me heart failure, but she's a very head-oriented logical girl, so this is the right decision for her. I'll be so, so happy when this year is over. Barb Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Liz CA Posted January 30, 2008 Share Posted January 30, 2008 ER is very torn at this point. He really loves College #1 already, but fears not getting enough financial aid. He is trying to be open-minded about College #2, but he is actually afraid that they will offer him a full-ride scholarship: he doesn't want to be faced with the prospect of turning down a full-ride scholarship to College #2 in favor of College #1, where there are no financial guarantees. . I am hoping ds will opt for community college nearby and then choose after he has his GE done. He seems rather young to me -well, we have one year left (now 11th grade)- and I am hoping he will take the time to discover what direction he wants to go. For a long time he was sure he wanted to go into science but now he is not sure. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ereks mom Posted January 30, 2008 Share Posted January 30, 2008 ER plans to go into ministry, more specifically youth/young adult music evangelism. Until he was about 14 or 15, he, like Liz CA's ds, wanted a career in science (robotics engineering). He still loves science, but doesn't feel that it is his life's calling. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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