Finally!

Sweet Pea finally officially heard from the last college. This has truly been a strange experience. This is the school she applied early decision to but it's the last one that she heard from. She sent in her application in early October and we thought, mistakenly, that since she applied early decision that she'd hear back pretty quickly. She got some mail from them, including information to set up an account on their portal and an email account. We'd check it but the only status was that they'd received her application. Nothing. She emailed the ski team coach to get more information from him since after talking with a student athlete at the school it sounded like as a snowboarder she'd be able to practice with them and keep competing through USASA. She got an email back from him and emailed with more questions. Then nothing.

I messaged a friend I know who has a freshman daughter at the school and asked when they heard she got in and how they found out. She said it was mid-December and they got a letter in the mail. OK, at least we can rest easy for a bit and know that we're looking for mail, not an email or a phone call. So about two weeks ago she got another email from the ski coach "Congratulations! I heard you were accepted..." Huh, news to us. And still nothing from teh school. On Sunday I told her to check her portal again and see if anything was updated there and if she didn't hear anything over Christmas break to email them and ask in January when offices were open again. Yes, on the portal it looks like she's been accepted. Weird.

FINALLY in yesterday's mail was the official acceptance letter. I haven't had a chance to read it yet (we got home late from celebrating Christmas as my mom's house) but she was accepted, was offered merit scholarships (like the other schools), and was admitted into the Honor's Program. Very exciting! Now the tough part, figuring out which school will be the best fit for her future goals.

Getting Acceptances

Well, the acceptances are starting to roll in. Shortly after we got back from our trip to New England, Sweet Pea got an email from Green Mountain College letting her know she got in. The funniest part of this is that she never completed her application. A few weeks later, she got an email from Johnson State and they just needed her recommendation and would get her an answer in a week or so. This was right before Thanksgiving so it did take longer than a week but she also got in there. She got a phone call from them telling her she was accepted and she just got the official letter in the mail yesterday. Also in yesterday's mail was this envelope...

Yep, she got into Plymouth State University as well. She's excited because it's her first choice, but it also makes it more real for her and that's making her nervous.

The funny, ironic thing is that she still hasn't heard from the University of Maine yet and she applied there early decision. Hopefully she'll hear from them soon. Then the real stress will begin, which school to choose. I think probably any of them would be good, all have given her some good scholarship money, it's just going to be a matter of what's most important to her. So for all you out there worrying, yes, you can homeschool and get into the college of your choice.

Waiting is Hard!

All the college applications are in and have been for a while. All the schools she applied to have rolling admission so we thought we'd hear sooner but as of now have only heard from one college. She got into Green Mountain College in Vermont. After our visit there it fell to the bottom of the list, but it's good to know she's been accepted somewhere. I'll admit it, it validates all the hard work we've done over the years and I feel like I got the stamp of approval even though it really has nothing to do with me. We're still waiting to hear from the other three schools. Hopefully we'll hear from UMF in the next couple of weeks; I have an online friend whose daughter goes there and she said her daughter applied early decision (as did Whitney) and heard in early December. She should be hearing from Johnson State soon as well; she got an email from them saying they had everything except her recommendation and once they had that she'd hear in about a week. No word from Plymouth State at all. Waiting is hard.

Colleges in Review, Part 2

After visiting UMF and Plymouth, we went to hang out with my sister-in-law for a few days and visit a couple of colleges in Vermont. We had a bunch of fun with my 3 year old nephew but on the agenda was Green Mountain College and Johnson State College.

First up was Green Mountain College. It was in a really, really small town in a flat valley near New York. You could actually see NY from the campus, it was just past the farm and on the other side of the river. The town (Poultney) had three churches, a couple of cafe-type places, a grocery store and hardware store and not much else. It was about 20 minutes from Rutland which is a much larger town. You drive through this really small town, down Main Street, and the campus is in front of you on the edge of town. We went in and there was a welcome sign for Whitney. We took the tour and there were some pretty interesting things about the campus. For one, most of the buildings have classrooms on the main floor and dorm rooms on the second and third (if there's a third floor). The basements hold different things - in one building there's a bike shop where you can work on your bike or have someone help you with it, in another there's a dance/yoga studio.  The library was really nice and I liked their tutor system. There's a farm on the edge of campus where they grow food (produce, pigs, and chickens for eggs) that's used in the dining hall. The tour guide said that a lot of the food was locally sourced, which would be easy in that area. Whitney also spent some time talking with the guy in the Green MAP office, the outdoor club. They have skis to rent/borrow and lead all sorts of adventures hiking, skiing, etc. Sounds like it was really active and a great opportunity for Whitney to do stuff and get into leadership there. The down side to the college is the Vermont-y vibe we both were getting and Whitney didn't like that much.

When we were done the tour, she met with the director of admissions for about 10 minutes then I went up to talk with them. They had a good conversation, Whitney talked about her outdoor experience both with the family and working. When I went up we talked a bit about the school and also finances. Overall we left with a good impression but felt it wasn't the school for her.

The next day we went up to Johnson State College. We drove through lots of small towns to get there including Stowe, passed Ben & Jerry's but didn't stop. The college is again in a small town but this time there was no bigger town nearby. We did find an area outside of town/next town over that had a couple of fast food places, big grocery store, drug store, etc. Johnson is bigger than Poultney but to get to the college you go into town, turn right over the river then go up the hill and the college is pretty much the only thing up there. Again we did the tour and saw the campus. It's nice, a newer college; nothing seemed much older than the 1980s. Whitney went in thinking she wasn't going to like the school and ended up liking it enough to keep it on the list as #3. The built up part of the campus is small but they own a lot of land, enough that they have their own terrain park. Too bad Whitney isn't interested in riding the rails.

After we finished the tour, an assistant director of admissions happened to walk in behind us. We had a nice chat with her, got some more information about the college, and I asked some questions about Whitney applying as a homeschooler which really seemed like no big deal to them. Whitney had planned to wait to apply until after we got home to see if she liked the college enough to apply, which she's done.

So that was our grand tour of colleges, the Open House at UMF, a drive/walk through again at Plymouth, and tours at Green Mountain and Johnson State. Now the waiting game begins, all her applications are in, she took notes right after each visit, she's reranked the schools, and now we see where she gets in before the real angst starts and she has to make a decision.

Colleges in Review, Part 1

We're back from our trip to New England visiting colleges and it seems just in time. There was a big Nor'easter on Sunday and they got snow, at least in Maine. We had a good trip and visiting the colleges definitely helped provide some clarity.

First up was University of Maine at Farmington. We got to the hotel late Friday night but it was pretty easy to find. In the morning we went into Farmington and found where we needed to go on campus. The open house started in Merrill Hall and included a welcome from the Director of Admissions, the President of the college, and a student. The president is a hoot! From everything we saw and heard about her, she's well liked by the students and very involved in campus life. After we finished there we went to one of the other buildings to meet with some of the professors from the business program. Whitney is interested in ORBA - Outdoor Recreation Business Administration. There were only three students there including Whitney, one was also interested in ORBA, the other was looking at business psychology. Since it was a small group it made for some pretty good discussion and we learned a lot. There was quite a bit of discussion about the required internship and we found out that with some coordination with the director of Camp Highroad she'd be able to do her internship there if she wanted. They'd have to have her do more than camp counselor or leading groups on the ropes course but it could be done. Whitney had a better feel for the program and the requirements when we finished talking with them. We stayed to hear what the social science professors had to say during the next session, which was interesting.

We had lunch in the dining hall, actually brunch since it was a Saturday. They had a sandwich bar, salad bar, looked liked an area for soups, and a buffet line set up with hot breakfast stuff and more lunch/dinner type food. The food was good and the dining hall was nice. We happened to sit at a table with a man who works at the college and had a really good conversation with him, mostly about what Whitney was interested in and how much snow they get in Farmington. After lunch we took a tour of the campus. We weren't with the best group (most of the kids were younger high school students) but the campus is nice. When we finished the tour, we made a quick stop at the bookstore then walked around the town some before meeting my aunt and uncle for an early dinner. The town is small, the campus is small, but it sounds like it's a pretty active campus if you like getting out and going - hiking, on the river, skiing/snowboarding, anything outside. There really isn't too much in town but there is a small movie theater, a few stores and cafes, enough for a small town.

We also had a chance to talk with the student that spoke in the morning. She's on the basketball team and was the point of contact for any prospective students that weren't able to make it to the sports discussion in the morning. The athletic director and a few of the coaches were only available in the morning because they had to be at a soccer game in the afternoon so Whitney didn't have a chance to talk to them. It sounds like the ski/snowboard team is pretty active and they'd welcome Whitney onto it to work out and train. It also sounds like they'd be willing to work with her so she'd be able to keep competing.

We stayed overnight in Farmington then drove over to Plymouth State University in New Hampshire. As we crossed the river and went around the traffic circle, Whitney commented that she forgot how pretty it is there. I'd agree that Plymouth probably has the prettiest campus of the ones she's looked at but UMF was nice as well. We parked and walked around campus and around the town a bit since it was Sunday and she'd already taken a tour there. We stopped in an artists co-op and bought a couple of things. Since this was the first non-snowy time that we'd been to Plymouth, it was nice to walk around and see the campus and town as well as some of the surrounding area.

Verdict so far -

UMF - Nice campus, probably the best program (it integrates outdoor learning well with the business), sounds like it offers her the best chance to keep competing in snowboarding while studying

Plymouth - prettiest campus, good program in outdoor education where she could get a minor in business

Both schools are within an hour of several good ski areas where she can snowboard and also work. Both have ski/snowboard teams or clubs as well as an outdoor club for her to get involved with to do things other than snowboarding.

College Visits

This fall has been flying by! We've been busy with college applications, school, work, and life in general. I'm glad that for the most part the application stuff is finished. Now it's time to hit up a few colleges so informed decisions can be made once the acceptance letters come in.

First up on the schedule is the open house at the University of Maine, Farmington. From what we've seen online, the town is small and the school is very small. Sounds like almost the perfect place for Sweet Pea. The open house includes lunch on campus, campus tours, meetings with faculty, and I'm not sure what else. It should give her a good feel for the campus and the goings on there.

Next up will be another visit to Plymouth State University. We were there in February and took a tour then, which included lunch in the dining hall. Since we're going to be up there way again we wanted to stop here again to refresh memories and make sure it was still #1 on the list. We won't be meeting with anyone but walking around campus and getting a better look at the town will be nice. We've been there twice in the winter, once over Christmas break when it was brutally cold and windy then again in February which wasn't so bad. It'll be nice to check it out in the fall when we can walk around town, see where some of the other buildings are that we didn't get to before, and get a better look at the local area.

The last two schools are in Vermont, Green Mountain College and Johnson State College. Both offer the major she's looking for, both are near ski areas and in small towns. They seem to be what she's looking for, I guess we'll find out when we get there.

I'm excited about the trip, it's a great time of year to be heading to New England. We'll have some free time to spend in the mountains and driving around will be amazing with the leaves at their peak or just past. Hopefully when we get back she'll be able to say these colleges are still on the list, but this one dropped off. If nothing else, she'll have a better idea of what they all look like and offer so she can make a better decision. Now we just wait on the acceptance letters.

Food Fun!

Probably one of the best classes going on this year is Food Science. Both girls are working on it and we've been eating pretty well while they're learning about cooking and baking. Sweet Pea is working through Alton Brown's I'm Just Here for the Food and Rosie Jane is doing his I'm Just Here for More Food. We loved "Good Eats" when it was on the air and these books are like an extension of the show. They describe the how's of cooking/baking and the why's of doing certain things. When the girls finish the book they are working on, they'll switch which means cooking and baking all year!

Here's a few samples of what they've been cooking.

These kabobs weren't from the cookbook, but the resting method's in there.

ricotta clouds

my chef, hard at work

Dutch baby bunnies (oh, so good!)

saltines

roasted tomatoes

the roasted tomatoes made into soup with the saltine stars

More good things will be coming!