A Day to Remember

[davidkevin]

In August 1996, Ryan looked through the open door of the three-year-old preschool room at Stix Early Childhood Center, saw the wooden kitchen and telephone booth his size, saw a roomful of more children his age than he had ever seen before, cubbys, crayons, storybooks, and two of the most gentle and loving teachers I've ever seen. He walked in

Comments

[serendipity]

Hearty congratulations! Where is he going to school? Today is my daughter's first day of senior year in high school. She has been stressing about college choices since the end of her junior year. I'm not sure her choices so far are the best, but we're going to give those applications all we've got. And I know what you mean about being good in heart from the beginning - we're among the luckiest of parents in that regard!

[davidkevin]

The local community college, as an inexpensive start, with transfer to a four-year institution later.

I'm sure your daughter will make a good decision. If it helps any, Princeton gives full scholarships after you've used all your non-loan resources. No student loans, ever, at Princeton. If her application is accepted, she's in without financial aid worries.

And before the economic crash, Harvard was giving full tuition, fees, room & board to any student accepted whose parents had an income of less than $80,000/year. I don't know if that's still true or not, but it's worth checking.

Yes, we have both been extraordinarily favored. And to think, someone who didn't know me but believed the spewings of the Despicable Duo called me a bad parent -- in the same post in which she mentioned having to post bail for her kid for the second time!

Life is such an irony, isn't it?

[serendipity]

My daughter has serious doubts about where she'll get in because her math score brought her SATs down, and she thinks her high GPA at a mediocre high school won't help her get into top Ivy League schools, let alone the next tier. Among her "dream" schools are George Washington U., NYU, and William & Mary, but they're awfully selective, expensive and far away from her beloved Bay Area. I can't recall which UC campus appeals to her (and offers the International Relations major) but know it's neither Berkeley nor Santa Cruz (she thinks it's too much like summer camp). I'm hoping she'll apply to Scripps in the Claremont Colleges, but don't know whether she will. Maybe College of the Redlands, maybe Reed (in Portland), and maybe even my alma mater (UW-Madison). I can't remember the others so far.

And, yes, life is definitely an irony, always, at every turn.

[davidkevin]

The Claremont Colleges got a number one rating as the most enjoyable overall to attend in the most recent national survey of students. They couldn't say enough good about them to the surveyors, as they ran out of superlatives.

NYU is extremely expensive so far as I know. It's also the analog to the fictional "Hudson University" depicted in the Law and Order franchise programs. (Whenever the detectives go to Hudson U., the Washington Square Park arch is always in the background. Washington Square Park is also where Magneto was playing chess at the end of the third X-Men movie.)

I'm surprised that UC-Berkeley doesn't have an International Relations major. UC-Santa Cruz has one of the most beautiful and liberal campuses I've ever seen. As a total stranger, I sat in on a friend's anthropology class, and the professor never said a word about it. And walking through the campus redwood forest at dusk is like being in the opening scenes of E. T. -- The Extra-Terrestrial. Santa Cruz has an amazing variety of course offerings.

[serendipity]

Quickly - before I catch a plane for a very belated visit to my home town of St. Paul, MN. Thanks for your college review! My daughter has her own ideas about these colleges. I don't think I meant to imply that Berkeley doesn't have an International Relations major - just that some UCs don't. She has friends at the various UCs too - including Santa Cruz, which is the closest to where we live. I have friends who went there many years ago and I'd love it but my daughter doesn't think she'd like it at all, so whatever. My brother went to Claremont and has lived there ever since so we know all about the Claremont Colleges. We also know how outrageously expensive NYU is. Madison is cold but not as cold as the Twin Cities, where I grew up! And she took the SATs twice, improved the 2nd time, but decided against taking it a 3rd time. She's going to take the ACT soon. :)

[davidkevin]

Sorry. I didn't meant to be obnoxious and pedantically provide you with what you already knew even better than I.

It sounds like you have the search well in hand. My best wisher for her success!

[serendipity]

Oh, no, I didn't think you were being obnoxious or pedantic at all. I appreciate your interest and can always glean wisdom from another concerned parent. What's most challenging to me at the moment is that teenagers' brains are still lacking in the full development of judgment, and I definitely question the basis of some of her choices in colleges! I think she finally has her list done, but she changed it up so many times it made my head spin.