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

[Bluestars]

College clothing and items make good gifts to add to a birthday present. I bought my son several Texas A&M items for Christmas like a hoody, a tank shirt, a backpack, and a few other things. He LOVED all of it.

 

[sk!mom]

That necklace is beautiful. For others looking for jewelry have you looked into Origami Owl?

DD got 2 Origami Owls for Christmas- a locket and a necklace with word tags (not sure what they call them). She hated the locket (too many moms wear them so it looked old to her). She loved the tags but the chain broke the first time she wore it so I now doubt the quality. It could have been returned to a store but since it's a home sales business the return period of 30 days had expired.

 

[scrapquitler]

How much is the deposit for the full tuition school? Can you back out of you change your mind? If you can, I would go ahead and do that, so you have time to go through the numbers when they are all in.

Finally got my final tax forms today to finish my tax returns. So now I can do the FAFSA. Not a lot of point to it, since it's going to say we made too much. And now I am unemployed, but with some severance, which is probably just too much trouble to bother trying to appeal anything with the financial aid office.

THe deposit for the full tuition offer is $200 for the enrollment, and $250 for the honors program housing. (or maybe it's the other way around). The form doesn't say that you can't back out if you change your mind, but I would call to double check that first, anyway.

 

[scrapquitler]

As for graduation gifts: we probably won't be getting her much of anything. She does want to go to New York and see a Broadway show, so we will probably do a trip with her, but that's likely to be about all. We most likely won't be having a big party, either.

We will be upgrading her to a smart phone between now and when she leaves for school, and we will be buying her a new laptop, as hers is about 5 years old and was a really inexensive one (which she bought herself). Between those two things and outfitting a dorm room, I think that will be enough.

 

[Pembo]

DS got his acceptance letter to Belmont today, just the college not the music program. That comes in a separate letter. Since he has already decided he doesn't want to go there, he was not excited. But I am - it means somebody wants him. lol

We decided that the 18th bday gift is none too exciting. We got him the cd's he wanted along with some gift cards to various places he goes.

 

[JeannieNM]

Conratulatons on the Belmont acceptence even if ds doesn't want to go there

Dd's 18 was in Nov. We got her a professional make up lesson. A whole array of make up and new excellent quality brushes. Then we bought a small make up vanity which fit in her bathroom and will fit nicely in a small apartment when the time comes. Grandma and aunt got her a lovely age appropriate tennis bracelet.

For Christmas DH had earrings made for her and concert tickets, hotel room and airfare. It's a 3 night concert.

For graduation a different aunt is getting her a gold watch which is tradition in her family and some luggage.
No idea what we will get her.
Ok we're off to the airport in a few minutes for the last 3 auditions.
Have a good week everyone.

 

[Bluestars]

DS got his acceptance letter to Belmont today, just the college not the music program. That comes in a separate letter. Since he has already decided he doesn't want to go there, he was not excited. But I am - it means somebody wants him. lol

Congratulations on the acceptance. It still feels good, even if he doesn't want to go there. My son applied to Hawaii Pacific as a backup of a backup and got accepted with a considerable scholarship within two weeks. He figured that worse case scenario he will attend college in paradise. He's going to Texas A&M, but if I were him, ah….Hawaii.

 

[Bluestars]

Conratulatons on the Belmont acceptence even if ds doesn't want to go there

Dd's 18 was in Nov. We got her a professional make up lesson. A whole array of make up and new excellent quality brushes. Then we bought a small make up vanity which fit in her bathroom and will fit nicely in a small apartment when the time comes. Grandma and aunt got her a lovely age appropriate tennis bracelet.

For Christmas DH had earrings made for her and concert tickets, hotel room and airfare. It's a 3 night concert.

For graduation a different aunt is getting her a gold watch which is tradition in her family and some luggage.
No idea what we will get her.
Ok we're off to the airport in a few minutes for the last 3 auditions.
Have a good week everyone.

Those sounds like great gifts. I'll bet she loved them.

Good luck to your daughter on her auditions and to you for hanging in there. You both need to do something fun and relaxing once all of this is over with.

 

[IDoDis]

Ds turns 18 in 3 days! I have no idea what to get him! Any ideas of 18 yo BOY gifts for bday or graduation? Already have the laptop and a new ipod.

When all else fails, money always works! Girls are so much easier to buy gifts for. My DS will be 15 at the end of the month and we have no idea what to get him.

DS got his acceptance letter to Belmont today, just the college not the music program. That comes in a separate letter. Since he has already decided he doesn't want to go there, he was not excited. But I am - it means somebody wants him. lol

We decided that the 18th bday gift is none too exciting. We got him the cd's he wanted along with some gift cards to various places he goes.

Congrats even though he he's going to pass on it. It's nice to be wanted!

Conratulatons on the Belmont acceptence even if ds doesn't want to go there

Dd's 18 was in Nov. We got her a professional make up lesson. A whole array of make up and new excellent quality brushes. Then we bought a small make up vanity which fit in her bathroom and will fit nicely in a small apartment when the time comes. Grandma and aunt got her a lovely age appropriate tennis bracelet.

For Christmas DH had earrings made for her and concert tickets, hotel room and airfare. It's a 3 night concert.

For graduation a different aunt is getting her a gold watch which is tradition in her family and some luggage.
No idea what we will get her.
Ok we're off to the airport in a few minutes for the last 3 auditions.
Have a good week everyone.

Sounds like some great gifts will be heading her way! Tell her to break a leg! Have a wonderful time!

DD received a 2nd scholarship offer from our state school today -- Full tuition, fees, and a stipend per semester that would pay for more than half of the dorm cost. This is more than the previous scholarship offer she received from the school in December. Even though this scholarship gives her more money to put towards housing than the presidential scholarship she got last week from our local university, she's still very certain she is not going to the state school. Ah, well!

Tomorrow is her last annual high school academic awards night. So many bittersweet "lasts" coming up.

 

[elgerber]

I have a really stupid FAFSA question. I know my DD applies for the PIN, and enters all her info. When I apply for my PIN, do I use my SS number and information? You would think I would know this.

There is HUGE drama at DD's school right now, with a boy in her class. It involves Twitter, a 2 month suspension and rumors about a teacher. What a nightmare it's turned into. It's making national news now. It's just a dreadful situation all around.

 

[IDoDis]

I have a really stupid FAFSA question. I know my DD applies for the PIN, and enters all her info. When I apply for my PIN, do I use my SS number and information? You would think I would know this.

There is HUGE drama at DD's school right now, with a boy in her class. It involves Twitter, a 2 month suspension and rumors about a teacher. What a nightmare it's turned into. It's making national news now. It's just a dreadful situation all around.

Yes, you use your ssn and info when getting your own FAFSA pin.

I googled the drama you mentioned. Ugh, what a mess. I keep telling my kids that whatever they put on the internet cannot be taken back and is out there FOREVER! I could see my DS saying the same thing in a joking, sarcastic way. I'm going to show this story to him. Our district superintendent got suspended earlier this year for tweets that said "moo moo, oink oink" in reference to our Secretary of Education. The superintendent an older man and had just started tweeting like 2 weeks before this happened. He learned his lesson late in life!

 

[elgerber]

DD received a 2nd scholarship offer from our state school today -- Full tuition, fees, and a stipend per semester that would pay for more than half of the dorm cost. This is more than the previous scholarship offer she received from the school in December. Even though this scholarship gives her more money to put towards housing than the presidential scholarship she got last week from our local university, she's still very certain she is not going to the state school. Ah, well!

Tomorrow is her last annual high school academic awards night. So many bittersweet "lasts" coming up.

Wow so early for the academic awards, ours isn't until May. Congrats on her offer, that sounds awesome! Maybe she'll look again and reconsider.

Yes, you use your ssn and info when getting your own FAFSA pin.

I googled the drama you mentioned. Ugh, what a mess. I keep telling my kids that whatever they put on the internet cannot be taken back and is out there FOREVER! I could see my DS saying the same thing in a joking, sarcastic way. I'm going to show this story to him. Our district superintendent got suspended earlier this year for tweets that said "moo moo, oink oink" in reference to our Secretary of Education. The superintendent an older man and had just started tweeting like 2 weeks before this happened. He learned his lesson late in life!

Thank you!
Yes, it's just awful. The teacher is now being harassed at school, they are talking criminal, possibly felony, charges, it's unreal. I feel for the teacher, she had no part in it, and is taking the brunt of it. I'm also very tired of hearing he is a 3 sport athlete etc. If he was a no name art student or loner, would anyone care? That's the part that makes me so crazy!

 

[bittybabygrower]

According to FASFA we can pay $29,000 out of pocket a year...if I could pay that I wouldn't be filling this thing out! Maybe if I move into a box and use my dogs as sled dogs instead of owning a car and eat ramen everyday lol Good lord what a joke! Housing agreement done, deposit in We have a welcome reception coming in March and then we are going to campus for 2 days for an admission reception and to meet with the financial people. It is going so fast! As for social media, we had 3 athletes get their offers pulled due to postings on their sites. Sad...30 seconds of not Thinking can change your whole life

For grad gift we are getting her a new Pandora bracelet with the college mascot and beads in the school colors There is a jeweler in the town that sells the beads

 

[elgerber]

We just got the letter, that my daughter was awarded an Honors Apprentice Scholarship! It's the highest scholarship one can get at her cheap state school, it replaces the automatic $2000 a year she had gotten. It's 20k over 4 years, if she keeps up her GPA. Not a full ride by any means, but tuition runs about $7k. so it sure helps. Now to wait for the results of the $2000 film studies talent scholarship.

 

[powellrj]

DD found out yesterday she is a valadectorian! She has had a great senior year, but is ready for it to be over!

 

[elgerber]

DD found out yesterday she is a valadectorian! She has had a great senior year, but is ready for it to be over!

How exciting!!!! Congratulations to her! I don't even know what qualifies a valedictorian around here. Just checked it out, we have one valedictorian, based on the highest GPA, good to know LOL.

 

[Pembo]

Congrats powell! That is early to find out valedictorian! My niece found out at graduation! She knew it was her or another girl and they both gave a speech. It was very exciting that day though.

 

[Bluestars]

We just got the letter, that my daughter was awarded an Honors Apprentice Scholarship! It's the highest scholarship one can get at her cheap state school, it replaces the automatic $2000 a year she had gotten. It's 20k over 4 years, if she keeps up her GPA. Not a full ride by any means, but tuition runs about $7k. so it sure helps. Now to wait for the results of the $2000 film studies talent scholarship.

Congratulations! Every bit helps.

 

[Bluestars]

DD found out yesterday she is a valadectorian! She has had a great senior year, but is ready for it to be over!

That is fantastic. Congratulations. She must have worked very hard for that honor.

 

[Bluestars]

W
Yes, it's just awful. The teacher is now being harassed at school, they are talking criminal, possibly felony, charges, it's unreal. I feel for the teacher, she had no part in it, and is taking the brunt of it. I'm also very tired of hearing he is a 3 sport athlete etc. If he was a no name art student or loner, would anyone care? That's the part that makes me so crazy!

I googled it too. It's a shame that the teacher is being harassed when she is the victim.