Parents of College Class of 2018 (A.K.A., "Is this the line to the poor house?")

[sk!mom]

Bought a Prom and grad dress last weekend - shoes too. Ordered grad announcements last night.

Had conversations this week with my sister and sister in law regarding how we can all possibly manage to attend all three senior's graduations. It looks like it will work out for us to travel to both of my nephew's ceremonies. They are the same weekend but one Friday night and the other Saturday afternoon. We can drive 5 hours on Friday for one and then on 4 more hours Saturday morning for the other. Then all the way home Sunday. DD will have to miss her Elementary Reunion Luncheon but she would rather make the graduations. We are planning a group grad trip to WDW for the 3 graduates and we spent today on the phone firming up plans.

This is getting real!

Anyone thinking Grad party yet?

 

[madge]

Anyone thinking Grad party yet?

I'd be happy with a graduation DATE. We're still waiting for that ... it won't be announced until after spring break. Sigh.

 

[bittybabygrower]

Get out! We knew our grad date last year!
Prom and grad dress bought Grad party date set, list started for food she and her roomies picked their orientation dates in June and we leave for Myrtle Beach at the end of June! Whew! Lol

 

[PrincessNancy96]

We knew our graduation date last year. However with that said it was moved back a week due to weather. Currently, we have to go 2 days and then wait 4 days till graduation. We had to scramble to adjust our vacation plans.

We are headed to WDW to celebrate as is family tradition with our graduates. We will be leaving just 8 hours after graduation is complete.

I think we are having a small grad party here at home the day graduation was originally scheduled for because my parents will be this direction. They got non-refundable flights for our original WDW dates so they will miss graduation. We will meet up with them when we arrive for 3 days.

We are scheduled to go down in April for orientation and register for fall classes. We are looking forward to it because DD and DS have been working on his schedule. He will be spending a lot of time with her for orientation (as well as many others) because she is an orientation leader/assistant.

My goal on Sunday is to make his grad party invites and have his photo name piece done and printed. I don't buy the name plates for the card inserts but instead make a photo to include.

I also sent one set of his dual credit college transcripts down to the University and I have one more set to transfer but I must wait until his current course is over in mid-may to send it out.

 

[madge]

It's been a long, cold winter. 9 snow days ... all have to be made up. Our last day of school was scheduled to be May 23, now we're up to sometime in June.

 

[sk!mom]

Get out! We knew our grad date last year! Prom and grad dress bought Grad party date set, list started for food she and her roomies picked their orientation dates in June and we leave for Myrtle Beach at the end of June! Whew! Lol

DD and her roommate signed up for the first orientation dates in June. They will hopefully hit it off. They plan to shop for their room while they are there. We will have a luncheon after DD's morning grad ceremony. Mostly family guests- 25 to 30 people. Food list is started here too.

Grad date is set the pervious year. We've had a cold winter for Texas but only 2 snow days and both were built in.

 

[elgerber]

Our grad date is set in the previous year too, luckily it did not change, even though the last day of school did.
It's the norm here to have open house style parties, could see as many as 75-100 people come through, my husband has 10 aunts/uncles and many many cousins and their kids. I am planning a taco bar like I did for my sons, it was a HUGE hit. However, I was stocking up on ground beef for that party at under $2 a pound. Now I'm lucky to find it under $4!
Prom dress was purchased a few weeks ago, tonight we take it in for alterations and hope they can shorten it enough for her to wear with her low heels. She cannot walk in high heels. My dd is 5 foot 9 and this dress is sooooooooooooo long. Who the heck do they think is going to wear it? Even if she could wear 4 inch heels it would still be way too long.
She registers in college in just under a month! OMG, I hadn't really realized it's that close. They get roommate/room assignments in May I think. They just offered their first ever roommate survey type thing to help match you up, but she wants to live in the Film production learning community, so her roommates will be limited to film students.
I am freaking out more and more every day, realizing in just over 5 months we will move her out. Between that and not having a job, I cry, A LOT!
And her final school musical opens a week from today, I will be a huge mess during the final show of that too.

LOL, well there you have my story in a nutshell, I might have rambled a bit. Sorry!

 

[madge]

thankfully, with a boy I don't have much to worry about with prom.

right now, we're focused on getting DS through this week. Some major lasts. Mock UN was Sun-Tues, home yesterday, Left this AM for state speech/debate competition, home Saturday, leaves Sunday for state Governor's Cup (academic team) competition. He has a college visit Monday.

Once we get through next Monday, then it's back to applying for scholarships (lots of local ones due in early April) and waiting for packages. Depending on where he chooses to go, he could start attending registration events as early as next weekend.

 

[PrincessKsMom]

We, too, won't know graduation date until after Spring break. And there could be more snow on the way next week. And Freshman orientation is a two-day, sleepover event, June 22-23. June 23 may be graduation day.

Prom dress was bought months ago. We'll have to take it in for alterations in April.

There is an Accepted Freshman day at the College on March 29. Unfortunately DD will not be able to attend because she has a color guard competition that day. The coach did mention possibly dropping out of that one, so that's what I'm hoping for.

She also received an application in the mail to take a 4 credit course over the summer FOR FREE that will cover one of her gen ed requirements. It's a six week online course. More information to be given at the Accepted Freshman day. Not sure if this is the type of course you do at your own pace or if it's an actual online, must attend each session type thing. That will be a problem. It runs July 1 - August 11 (I believe). If it's 2-3 days a week, at a set time, I'm not so sure I want DD to have to commit to that during her last summer at home with her friends before they all go their separate ways. Oh, and we don't have a laptop (she will get one for graduation), and my desktop does not have a camera. If the competition doesn't get cancelled, she'll have to call the school and get all the info she'll be missing out on.

And last night we got the financial aid package in the mail. NOW this is getting real, showing me what it will cost. I need to do some research and ask some questions because I know NOTHING about any of this loan stuff or the tuition payment plan stuff.

 

[elgerber]

thankfully, with a boy I don't have much to worry about with prom.

My son had no friends and was not social, so imagine my shock when he came to me (after we got home from opening night of the first ever school musical that my dd was in freshman year) and says I think I am going to go to Prom (which was 2 weeks away)! I almost fell out of bed!

 

[GaSleepingBeautyFan]

Bought a Prom and grad dress last weekend - shoes too. Ordered grad announcements last night.

Had conversations this week with my sister and sister in law regarding how we can all possibly manage to attend all three senior's graduations. It looks like it will work out for us to travel to both of my nephew's ceremonies. They are the same weekend but one Friday night and the other Saturday afternoon. We can drive 5 hours on Friday for one and then on 4 more hours Saturday morning for the other. Then all the way home Sunday. DD will have to miss her Elementary Reunion Luncheon but she would rather make the graduations. We are planning a group grad trip to WDW for the 3 graduates and we spent today on the phone firming up plans.

This is getting real!

Anyone thinking Grad party yet?

I doubt we'll do a graduation party. There's no family anywhere near us (they all live halfway across the country) and we leave for vacation the day after graduation.
Originally we were thinking of a party the day after graduation but then the graduation date changed due to make up days.
I asked my DS about it and he said he's fine with not having a party.

And my son talked with one of his friends who wanted to go to the college my son is going to but he couldn't get in because he didn't have 2 years of a foreign language. I think that's going to be an issue for that boy for just about any college. I can't believe the Guidance Counselor didn't stress info to that boy up front but maybe he didn't listen well.
I know my sons Guidance Counselor stressed that from 9th grade on.

 

[bittybabygrower]

That is awful they moved the dates We rent a venue so they can't move our date, so they told the seniors they don't have to go for makeup days.

 

[Bluestars]

She also received an application in the mail to take a 4 credit course over the summer FOR FREE that will cover one of her gen ed requirements. It's a six week online course.

I wish my son would have this opportunity!

We are not having a graduation party because all of our relatives live across the country. We will take my son out to eat after his graduation and later that night his school has a lock-in, so he is looking forward to that.

He goes to his new student conference at the beginning of June. In August he will go to Fish camp, which is something offered at Texas A&M where they get to go to some place (I think by a late) and learn the traditions of the school, meet other freshman, and attend fun activities. We are going on a cruise at the end of June.

He has to be on campus on August 20th for the Corps of Cadets.

I am not sure if he is going to prom. He doesn't have a girlfriend right now and may or may not ask a friend. He went last year, so he's been there and done that.

 

[scrapquitler]

We have had 8 snow days, and they all need to be made up. At the moment, the last day of school is June 30th. If we have more snow days they will come out of our Spring Break (which is the week of Good Friday).

The graduation date will be set by the BOE mid-April. It is usually the last day of school, but I've heard rumblings that because ours school year is 4 days longer than the state mandates, the BOE may eliminate the need to make up four of the days. That means that depending on what the BOE decides, the last day of school may be anywhere between June 25 and June 30.

We have project graduation lock in overnight immediately following graduation, so we can't have a graduation party on the night of graduation. In the end, we probably won't have a party, we'll just go out for dinner with the grandparents the last weekend in June.

Luckily for me (and my budget) my daughter is totally uninterested in going to the prom.

I think (but I'm not positive) that the university has orientation the weekend before classes start at the end of August.

 

[WDWJDS]

How exciting!

 

[PrincessNancy96]

Well, I was just checking dates... things are going to be crazy the last week of April... He has orientation/registration the 25th... prom is the 26th! I guess I didn't think that all the way through when we choose that date! So, we will have to hustle home when done at the University..luckily being a boy we don't have much to do for prom like we did with DD.

 

[Pembo]

I doubt we'll do a graduation party. There's no family anywhere near us (they all live halfway across the country) and we leave for vacation the day after graduation.
Originally we were thinking of a party the day after graduation but then the graduation date changed due to make up days.
I asked my DS about it and he said he's fine with not having a party.

And my son talked with one of his friends who wanted to go to the college my son is going to but he couldn't get in because he didn't have 2 years of a foreign language. I think that's going to be an issue for that boy for just about any college. I can't believe the Guidance Counselor didn't stress info to that boy up front but maybe he didn't listen well.
I know my sons Guidance Counselor stressed that from 9th grade on.

My son was accepted into 3 colleges and has no foreign language in high school.
Prom here is April 12th. Ds isn't sure if he is going or not. Graduation is Memorial Day Saturday. Ds isn't going to that.

 

[minniebeth]

I've been following this thread~ I have a freshman in college this year, so I was where you all are last year! It's been quite the journey and I wish all of you the best! Hang in there!

...and...I have a HS junior too, so I've gotten some great info here, as my kids are very different in what kind of college experience they want.
So, thank you, for sharing all of your experiences!

Also, for junior parents, if you haven't already seen it, there is a thread started for class of 2015~

http://www.disboards.com/showthread.php?t=3234074

 

[micheand]

Thank goodness we only have a junior prom! No prom dress to buy. We are taking our daughter to WDW over spring break as a grad present. We do have to get on the party, as we have tons of family. Ugh. I am dreading that. Our grad day is set, and at this point we don't have any snow days to make up, but that could change at any moment. Here I was feeling sad that we might have to make up days in the second week of June, so sorry to those who have to go until the end of June!

 

[IDoDis]

DD received her first major disappointment with the college process yesterday when she found out she wasn't accepted to the BA/MD program. She is wait-listed, but doesn't know where she is on the list. Those who were accepted have until May 1st to accept, then they move to the wait list.

Sooo, after some tears and consolation pizza, DD is recovering and moving on. She'll fill out her dorm application this weekend so she can start the process of finding a roommate. I didn't want her to do this until she heard back from the BA/MD program because the program provides student housing and we didn't want to get stuck in a dorm contract if by that slim chance DD was accepted to the BA/MD program. I told her that while this was a road to her destination of becoming a doctor (with a guaranteed seat in the school of medicine in 4 years), it's not the ONLY road. She will do her pre-med just like 99% of the other students.

We might have a party, but we don't have big families and they all don't live here, so it may just be some family members and some of her friends. If we don't do that, we'll go out for a nice dinner. Then we are going to NYC in early June for her graduation trip.

Sounds like everyone is busy with all of the upcoming plans! I'm sorry for those who have to stay in school longer due to the horrible winter weather. DD didn't have even one snow day this year as it was one of the driest, warmest winters on record. Her last day of school is May 9th and graduation is a week later.