. 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-