Question:
Something completely off this topic, but for those of you who already have
students in college, what kinds of things might we get him for college that we
could give to him as Christmas presents now? Maybe there is a listing
somewhere of what college kids need that I could look at and go ahead and get
some of those things now. I'm thinking that it might be a good idea to get
some things now rather than trying to get all of them next summer right before
he leaves. Any suggestions?
It appears he will be applying to Stanford University, Washington University
in St. Louis, Case Western/Cleveland Institute of Music, Johns Hopkins/Peabody
Conservatory, Indiana University, Northwestern University, University of
Northern Colorado, and maybe Colorado College. What schools are your children
applying to?
Answer:
Thought I'd get a thread going so some of us who are parents could post and
share some ideas.
First off, this college application process is a lot more stressful than I
ever imagined it would be. Our problem is that my son has had his heart set
on Stanford for many years, and it's been rough trying to get him to
investigate and apply at other schools besides just Stanford.
There are many reasons why Stanford would be a great school for him. One thing
is that Stanford really doesn't care if you are undecided in your major and in
fact encourages exploring many different classes and areas before deciding the
end of the sophomore year. My son is very undecided. He knows that he will
continue with his music and his art, and also has interests in physics, math,
and other sciences...but then again, he mentions writing as something he
enjoys.
Also, since it is unlikely he will qualify for any need based scholarships, he
has the added task of applying for merit based scholarships. This involves
filling out even more applications and doing even more essays. He does well
with academic essays but not as well with personal essays, so these have been
a challenge for him (but good for him). What merit based scholarships are
your students applying for?
So far, since he was nominated as a RadioShack/Tandy Scholar, he applied for
that...then the Coca-Cola Scholarship. There is a great scholarship program
for students in Colorado called the Boettcher Scholarships which he is
applying for. We picked up the Tylenol Scholarship application (I think
that's due January 1 or something). We're sending off for information on some
others, but luckily their due dates are further down the road.
Something completely off this topic, but for those of you who already have
students in college, what kinds of things might we get him for college that we
could give to him as Christmas presents now? Maybe there is a listing
somewhere of what college kids need that I could look at and go ahead and get
some of those things now. I'm thinking that it might be a good idea to get
some things now rather than trying to get all of them next summer right before
he leaves. Any suggestions?
It appears he will be applying to Stanford University, Washington University
in St. Louis, Case Western/Cleveland Institute of Music, Johns Hopkins/Peabody
Conservatory, Indiana University, Northwestern University, University of
Northern Colorado, and maybe Colorado College. What schools are your children
applying to?
More stressful on who? The parents or the child. If on the child, you
might be able to reduce some of the stress by identifying what parts of
the process are causing the stress. If it the adults...relax, sounds as
if you have a gifted son who will do well wherever he attends.
Stanford is a top notch university. Let him go there. My son wanted to
attend Penn State. He had visited the campus years ago and fell in love
with the place. Coupled with their highly rated engineering schools,
proximity (3 1/2 hours) to home, sports and national recognition,
affordable price, the decision ended up being easy. Initially it was
not. We explored Case Western, Duke and Carnegie Mellon. Although each
is a fine university, and in SOME respects better than Penn State, it
did not change the fact MY SON WANTED TO GO TO PENN STATE.
He won't qualify for any "need" based monies, but HE HAS THE ADDED TASK
of applying for merit scholarships. This might be the origin of some of
the stress. It sounds like you are going to be able to cover his
expenses, but are giving him the TASK of getting more monies. This
might cause him some stress.
My son had his 1400 SAT, and 4.0 grades, and his top five class
rank....and we shall see how the merit scholarships fall from the
government and the school...and the others. If he is fortunate, so be
it. If not, we will cover or borrow for it.
I would love for my son to attend his dream school of Stanford. I think it
is an outstanding choice for him. We visited there last spring and he knew it
was the ideal place for him. However, my son will be one of 18,000 or 19,000
students who also want to attend there and Stanford usually only
accepts approximately 15% of those they receive applications from. It's not a
matter of me "letting him go there," it's a matter of Stanford deciding if
they will allow him to go there. I totally support my son in his choice.
