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

[elgerber]

Oh my, so I bought this awesome scanner, to scan in documents, so I can empty the umpteen file drawers of paper I have. Today I was going through old school papers and found my son (the one this thread is not for) and wow, that was kinda depressing. I found all his old IEP info, for ADHD, then stuttering, then Aspergers, etc. Reading all their comments about not having friends, and him being a target for teasing, and all his numerous work struggles, I have no idea how we survived him being in school.

OK, sorry. back to the 2014 kids !

 

[VickiVM]

I'm completely willing to disclose more info. DD also wants to study something more specialized so the State Flagships were out as they do not offer it. She is in the top 8% of her class so all State schools would be an auto admit except for UT.
In a nutshell, DD hasn't had any rejections because she didn't apply for any place that was a reach.

After her initial research of programs, she was convinced that Baylor was the place for her. Baylor would not have been a sure thing and she would have needed major scholarship money so I insisted that we visit a couple of safety's- Texas Tech and University of North Texas. She hated Tech and it was a bad tour and visit. Then in a surprising twist, we visited UNT and she fell in love. Their programs and offerings for artisitic students blew us away. Thankfully for our budget, it became her top choice. With a 61% acceptance rate, it isn't a selective school. She has received one academic scholarship from the school and we're waiting to hear on others. She may well have some scholarship rejections because some of those are very competitive.

I've enjoyed this thread and I'm sorry if anyone feels like there has been bragging. Fingers crossed as we all continue down this path.

My son is now a sophomore @ UNT in the College of Music and LOVES it there. I don't think he'll be coming home this summer. And don't sell the 'acceptance' rate short. Alex still had to audition for the COM to get in and it's a vey large pool of auditioners. He has several friends pursuing degrees in the arts and it can be very demanding as any other major. I'm very glad he chose UNT and as an individual, he is thriving intellectually and emotionally with a very large circle of friends. Good luck to your daughter

 

[sk!mom]

My son is now a sophomore @ UNT in the College of Music and LOVES it there. I don't think he'll be coming home this summer. And don't sell the 'acceptance' rate short. Alex still had to audition for the COM to get in and it's a vey large pool of auditioners. He has several friends pursuing degrees in the arts and it can be very demanding as any other major. I'm very glad he chose UNT and as an individual, he is thriving intellectually and emotionally with a very large circle of friends. Good luck to your daughter

Glad to hear of another happy UNT student. I didn't mean to discount the acceptance rate but only to point out that while we have no rejections, we aren't applying to an Ivy.

DD had to be accepted into the Design program after her initial school acceptance as well and will need portfolio approval to continue in the program after the first two years.

Is he living in a dorm? My DD has chosen Bruce which is the dorm of a lot of Music majors.

 

[TLuvsD]

For those dealing with the FASFA...keep in mind they see three income streams to meet the contribution: past income (savings), current income (yours and students) and future income (this is where loans come in).

Not that the information makes the numbers any less shocking...

 

[scrapquitler]

When I was in college, my Dad used some kind of tuition/room and board payment service. He paid a fee to them and they paid the tution/room and board bills at the due dates and he made a payment X number of times during the year (I think it was maybe every other month?). Does this kind of thing still exist? If so, do any of you know the name of it? I'm sure that if Dad were still here he would remember the name of it, but Mom doesn't remember.

I'm just trying to think and plan ahead here...

Thanks.

 

[madge]

For those dealing with the FASFA...keep in mind they see three income streams to meet the contribution: past income (savings), current income (yours and students) and future income (this is where loans come in).

Not that the information makes the numbers any less shocking...

they could pull the numbers from Fantasyland and it would make more sense. LOLOL

 

[madge]

When I was in college, my Dad used some kind of tuition/room and board payment service. He paid a fee to them and they paid the tution/room and board bills at the due dates and he made a payment X number of times during the year (I think it was maybe every other month?). Does this kind of thing still exist? If so, do any of you know the name of it? I'm sure that if Dad were still here he would remember the name of it, but Mom doesn't remember.

I'm just trying to think and plan ahead here...

Thanks.

yes. the company contracted by my older son's college was called Tuition Management Systems. I'm sure other schools have similar arrangements.

 

[disneymom2one]

We're working on that right now. She made a connection at the scholarship day (really big for her that she was able to do that). We also clicked with the mom at the parent's seminar. They've had preliminary texts about being roommates but I think the student is also considering rooming with someone else - very hard for my Aspie to navigate but she's trying. The roommate thing is one of many things that keeps me up at night honestly.

 

[TLuvsD]

As the parent of a college sophomore, I'd advise that you do everything you can to counter the myth that your college roommate will be your lifelong best friend. Sometimes it happens, sometimes it doesn't. My D and her roommate are friends, but they aren't best friends. If you have that expectation going in, it's just another hurdle to making friends in other ways...

 

[disneymom2one]

As for the FAFSA, we filled it out. Our EFC is nowhere near what we can afford. We knew it would be that high but filled it out because the financial aid director at the college (spoke to parents at scholarship day) said to whether you would qualify or not.

And I hope everyone continues to share. I love hearing the stories! Our full disclosure - top 15% at an extremely large and extremely competitive high school where she does not fit in at all. She has a few activities but way less than most. She chose the small regional public university because of distance. After their scholarship day, she was awarded essentially a mid range scholarship. She also has the FL Bright Futures which isn't the deal it once was. The requirements are way up (less than 5% of FL high school seniors made the ACT cutoff) and the funding has not kept up with tuition increases. The current reimbursement per hour is about 1/2 the hourly tuition rate. Our plan is for her to 12 hours a semester during the fall and spring. During the summer, she can take 6 hours here for free because of her dad's status as a full time prof and they have to accept the hours. Hoping to do that for some of the gen. ed - she'll carry 12 hours over already. If she sticks to all of that, we're down to just room and board - doable but certainly not easy for us.

It sounds way simpler than I'm sure it will turn out to be but that's where we are for now.

 

[disneymom2one]

As the parent of a college sophomore, I'd advise that you do everything you can to counter the myth that your college roommate will be your lifelong best friend. Sometimes it happens, sometimes it doesn't. My D and her roommate are friends, but they aren't best friends. If you have that expectation going in, it's just another hurdle to making friends in other ways...

Definitely something to talk about with her. I'm not friends with any of my college roommates and either is her dad.

 

[madge]

As the parent of a college sophomore, I'd advise that you do everything you can to counter the myth that your college roommate will be your lifelong best friend. Sometimes it happens, sometimes it doesn't. My D and her roommate are friends, but they aren't best friends. If you have that expectation going in, it's just another hurdle to making friends in other ways...

It's probably because I have a son, but I don't think he has that expectation. LOL ... He spent a month at a summer program last year & he and his roommate did fine living together, but they'll not be lifelong BFF.

It definitely is hit or miss. 25 years later, I am still close with 2 of my 5 college roommates, I don't even remember the names of my 2 freshman year roommates (I think one was Melissa. She lived in Indiana. Went home every weekend.), and 1 I keep up with via social media, which is fun. And many more years than that, my mom & dad are still close friends with college roommates & sorority/fraternity house mates. You just never know.

 

[tajz90]

As for the FAFSA, we filled it out. Our EFC is nowhere near what we can afford. We knew it would be that high but filled it out because the financial aid director at the college (spoke to parents at scholarship day) said to whether you would qualify or not.
.

This is why we filled it out at first. We had hope and we were told to. After hearing laughter from the form, we just stopped. The scholarships he had was not dependent on FAFSA. Too much work for nothing. We will fill it out for our younger child when it's his turn.

 

[Gina]

. The purpose of this thread is to celebrate the good news, lift up those who need it, provide encouragement, and just be there for each other. We are not CC parents who are crying because our kid got a 35 instead of a 36 on the ACT. I don't think anyone here got a 35. No one here has a child getting into an Ivy or even close, really. We are just parents (who love all things Disney) who are all going through a similar process, be it good or bad. You can come here to celebrate or vent. Either way, all are welcome.

That is exactly what I was hoping for when I started this thread... thank you for putting it into words so perfectly. And thank you to all of you for making this thread exactly that sort of place. I have to laugh at a lot of the stuff at CC -- and when I have tried to post it has always been met with the haughtiest, snootiest replies. I now go to CC only for specific info. This is my family here.

And I am sorry, btw, that I have not been here more! DS and I just took our last cruise together for a good while... scrimped and saved and ate a whole lot of cereal for dinner for a whole year to be able to go, and it was worth every sacrifice. We made memories that nothing will ever be able to erase.

Right before we left we had one last Sea Aggie Preview at A&M down in Galveston, and it was the most helpful yet. DS was invited into the honors program, and that came with a small $1K scholarship. Every little bit helps!! What was so helpful this time was that this time, they had speakers who are current honors students. My son wasn't even going to go -- he had already spoken to the head of the honors program and pretty much decided he didn't want to do that, but hearing actual students talk about it gave him a completely different perspective. I'm so glad we went. We also found out that the school has enough funds from the Terry Foundation to offer 16 of the full-ride scholarships, which is way more than we thought. DS is one of 32 still in the running, and I wish I could hibernate until the winners are selected.

I got a good chuckle out of y'alls comments on the FAFSA... I think the chuckles I got out of my own FAFSA were for opposite reasons. Once I got the report back and saw how low our EFC is, I figured out how poor I really am, lol. Hopefully that will help with the need-based offerings, but doesn't help too much with incidentals! Just the parking pass is like $165! I have no idea if a full-ride would cover stuff like that or not.

Anyways, we also got to measure the model dorm room when we were at Preview, and I took a bunch of pictures to help me with storage ideas.

Speaking of dorm stuff, one helpful link I got from a post on CC was for DormCo! They have *tons* of great ideas for everything pertaining to a dorm room, and lots of neat products. And some really great values. Since my son is going to loft his bed all the way up, we found a very cool bedpost shelf on the site that will attach to any post and give him a small space for alarm clock, drink, etc.

Hope the site is helpful for you guys too! And please keep posting... the good, the bad, the everything in between. Crow, cry, laugh, vent, whatever you need to do. We're all here for the same reason -- support. Love you guys!


-gina-

 

[madge]

I hate the "we regret to inform you" letters. I hate them. Even when you know they're coming, they are still crappy.

that is all. carry on.

 

[tajz90]

Just the parking pass is like $165!

-gina-

That's a deal! My sons was $250 and was NOT paid for by his scholarship

 

[Pembo]

Oh my, so I bought this awesome scanner, to scan in documents, so I can empty the umpteen file drawers of paper I have. Today I was going through old school papers and found my son (the one this thread is not for) and wow, that was kinda depressing. I found all his old IEP info, for ADHD, then stuttering, then Aspergers, etc. Reading all their comments about not having friends, and him being a target for teasing, and all his numerous work struggles, I have no idea how we survived him being in school.

OK, sorry. back to the 2014 kids !

Cleaned out files last year and found all of my son's IEP's and info. He has ADHD and mild Aspergers. It is amazing how far he has come. It also felt good to shred it all!

 

[scrapquitler]

yes. the company contracted by my older son's college was called Tuition Management Systems. I'm sure other schools have similar arrangements.

Thank you. I mentioned this to my husband, and he thought that I must have been imagining it. I'm going to look at the specific school I need to know about and see if they offer this or something similar.

 

[TLuvsD]

Before you buy bed risers for the dorm, check with the college. Some only allow their risers to be used (liability issue). Our D raised her bed and created a little "cubby" spot under there. She could sit up, it gave her a private spot to study. I took an extra twin sheet (Target on clearance) to cover the mattress supports (binder clips work well to attach it). It gave it a nice neat appearance. She was able to get a bookcase under there for "extra" books (ie the full tote of books she took with her---yes one of her majors is English).
TJ Maxx, Marshalls, Bed, Bath and Beyond etc will have the twin-xl sheets starting in early summer. Bed, Bath and Beyond will let you "shop" locally and pick up at the store near campus. This can be a big help if you need to travel to move in. You can change your mind when you to pick up the items...they will have it all pulled together for you, but be prepared for lines, etc...it's just busy around colleges during move-in.
A "plug-man" or surge protector is very handy (actually used both).
Take tissues in the car. And plan something to do once you get home, especially if you have an only child...my house was a little too quiet....

 

[IDoDis]

Before you buy bed risers for the dorm, check with the college. Some only allow their risers to be used (liability issue). Our D raised her bed and created a little "cubby" spot under there. She could sit up, it gave her a private spot to study. I took an extra twin sheet (Target on clearance) to cover the mattress supports (binder clips work well to attach it). It gave it a nice neat appearance. She was able to get a bookcase under there for "extra" books (ie the full tote of books she took with her---yes one of her majors is English). TJ Maxx, Marshalls, Bed, Bath and Beyond etc will have the twin-xl sheets starting in early summer. Bed, Bath and Beyond will let you "shop" locally and pick up at the store near campus. This can be a big help if you need to travel to move in. You can change your mind when you to pick up the items...they will have it all pulled together for you, but be prepared for lines, etc...it's just busy around colleges during move-in. A "plug-man" or surge protector is very handy (actually used both). Take tissues in the car. And plan something to do once you get home, especially if you have an only child...my house was a little too quiet....

Save the BB&B coupons and take all of them in when you shop. Most stores will accept them even if they are expired. Just have the cashier ring up items separately. Our store here WILL NOT accept expired coupons, but a store in Colo. will, so we will shop three when we are in CO this summer. DD is itching to start shopping for stuff, but I told her to hold off until later when she meets her roommate so that they can coordinate.

This might sound like a dumb question... Is the FAFSA tied to state taxes in any way? DD didn't do her state taxes yet. She only gets $1.00 back, so this is low on her priority list. However, one of the schools (not the one she is going to) wants FAFSA completed by March 1st. It's all done and submitted, but then I got to wondering if DD should get here state forms filed by Friday. I am 99.9% sure that state taxes have nothing to do with the FAFSA since it's federal, but that .1% wants to sure.