Well, my oldest boy starts at LSU on Monday. I took the week off to go with him to orientation/placement tests/scheduling, and the all important funding. We moved him into his dorm on Thursday, and by Thursday night he already had homework due on Monday for Chemistry. Came as quite a shock to him... "but classes haven't even started yet!" Get used to it kid...

A lot quieter around the house now. The other two are already trying to establish their new dominance in the house. Kind of amusing given the 7 year difference in age.

More later...

Wow, big times.

Mine starts first grade next week, so I can't relate, yet. I do remember the excitement and anxiety of my own trip off to college.

Thanks for sharing, and good luck to both of you!

I wouldn't be surprised if they made up some sort of fake assignment for the students as part of the orientation week. Gotcha! There can be all sorts of silly things that can happen during that week.

I know I had to write a mathematics test during orientation, prior to to the actual term starting which ended up being fake. LOL

My daughter is off to the University of Ottawa on Sunday. My wallet feels strangely light all of a sudden...

It will be interesting to see how this affects my son. They are actually quite close, but he is now 'home alone'.

We are about a year behind you (Scott and Fred). Our oldest is a senior in high school right now. Still not sure where she wants to go, but we did do some college visits. The good thing is that she is in enough activities and gets great grades and high ACT scores that she can go just about anywhere. The bad thing is that she knows this and wants to go "just about anywhere"... That is expensive.

Even with financial aid and scholarships, she might as well just buy a decent house for the amount of money that some of these schools want. I certainly can't afford an extra $15,000 a year let alone $40,000 for the "cheapest" place that she "wants" to go to...

I hear you. Us high taxing socialist Canadians still subsidize higher education to a greater degree than you folks do. Some of the most in demand programs from good universities do charge premiums, but, in general, post secondary education is still affordable in Canada.

I hope it stays that way, not just for my sake, but because I believe that we need to have a highly educated work force to maintain the levels of wealth we have risen to.

Germany is a great example of how this can work. They maintain a very healthy manufacturing base despite having high (read uncompetitive in some people's minds)wages. They do this by having a highly trained and educated workforce so they can compete in high value added manufacturing.

1st and 7th grade boys here, so will be awhile. Hoping for acedemic or sport scholarships and then starting for the St Louis Cardinals so daddy can retire.

Pffft. Mine already graduated!

He's an undoggraduate.

Hopefully that fossil LaRussa isn't still the skipper.

LaRussa really messed with Rasmus head. Talking about the mental demons with St. Louis. We saved him just in time. Who did you guys get in return from the 3 way deal? We already DFA'd the trade fodder (Miller) that was part of obtaining him.

We didn't start his college fund early enough or heavily enough. His account will last, maybe, one year

When my wife went to college, she spent the first two years in the dorms, but when her sister started at the same school, their parents bought a house near the college because it was cheaper!

My kid was smart enough for an academic scholarship from LA and another one from the company I work for. The state program only covers base tuition, but the other can be used where needed, but the check was made out to LSU. Even at that, just under half the total cost was covered. The rest comes out of our pocket...

Mark, that made me LOL!

That's not nice, Sean. I have a degree from the same school--No Monkey Business.

I think we all took some classes there, at least?

My oldest, 23 did her undergrad at Troy U and just started her second yr of Law school.

my youngest, 20 just started her Jr year at Troy U in their nursing program.

They are killing us, but it will all be worth it when they graduate.

I have no children.
I think I'll buy more audio gear.




{Run's away ducking}

Ducking kidless (non-)mother-duckers.

Number One graduated UNC and is now a teacher - good one too. Number Two is at App State. I thought I would be sad when we dropped off Number Two for her freshman year. I was sad for a couple of days - but then it started to feel kinda like being on vacation.

Taking our one and only tomorrow. Mom and Dad are dreading it. We are very close and it will be difficult for all of us. However, I am excited for her to start this part of her life. She is a Pre-Med major and luckily she got a scholarship(Lilly Endowmet)that pays for all 4 years of undergraduate, so we do not have to worry about the $37,000 per year price tag.

Congrats on the windfall. I can't imagine trying to pay for serious schooling.

Wow, she must have gotten some seriously good grades!!

Based on what I've seen locally, she was probably in the top 4 or the top of her class. Both of the graduation ceremonies we went to, it seemed like a winner-takes-all deal. The rest of the scholarships were (small) fractions of full ride. My kid had a 4.3 GPA and only qualified for the state's tuition program and a scholarship from the company I work for. Both of which will continue to be merit based; he has to maintain a 3.0 to keep the funding.

Of note is his biology class, which has 900 students! He's already figured out that he needs to get an aisle seat by the door if he want to make his next class on time. The first day of class it took him 12 minutes to get out of the lecture hall.

Holy cow. One really has to want an education.

Very good student, but also a veryy well rounded kid. In Indiana, Eli Lilly (Indiana based business) gives a full tuition scholarship to any 4 year school. However, the school has to be in Indiana. They give out about 50 scholarships statewide each year.

My daughter is a very good student, but also very involved in extracurricular activities plus very involved in the community. These factors as well as an essay helped her secure the scholarship.

We are very fortunate she received such an honor. Also very, very proud of her.

We dropped her off at school yesterday and I have been pretty miserable since. She is our only child and it is very difficult, because we genuinely love being around each other. I know, pretty unusual for a teenager, but very true.

I was pretty bad the first 2 weeks. After that, it began to feel a little like being on vacation. No activities to cover, no places I "had" to be....