Senior Year for D-man

D-man is a senior this year.  I can hardly believe it.  Really.  It went fast.

He is such a nice, sweet guy.  He has a sweet girlfriend.

He really, really is a nice guy.  I saw more of his nice/sweet side while we were on vacation than I do on a typical day around here though. (but, let's be honest, he could probably say the same thing about me too)

We are busy at home.  We are all going our own way, managing our own To Do lists and people get cranky.

He has had a few favorite colleges picked out for a while now.  He has applied at 2 of them, so far, and heard back from one.  The University of Alabama has accepted and offered 2/3 of his out of state tuition - which comes out to like $17,500 or something ridiculous like that!  Translation:  It is an expensive school.

He is very close to having a 4.0 GPA for his high school years.  Want to know why he doesn't actually have one?

Freshman year - homeschool - French class - with his mother as his teacher.

Yup, me.  I am the reason that he doesn't have a 4.0 GPA.  Because of "me" he only has 3.97 or something like that....because I gave him an 89.  But, I will say it was definitely a fair grade.  He wasn't trying that hard and he didn't care.  I kept warning him, but, I think he was really thinking that I wouldn't actually give him a B....but I did....and now, just like everyone warned him....it has come back to haunt him.

Okay, "haunt" might be too big of a word, but you know what I mean.  He blames me for his lack of a 4.0.

 I blame him.

We shall see if it causes any problems, I guess.

D-man is a really smart guy, but both Rainman and I have been sensing that he doesn't really get how much college is going to cost....even if he gets the Hope or Zell Miller tuition scholarships for Georgia residents.  Tuition is the cheapest part of heading off to college.  And, none of us want him to have to take out many...if any....student loans....that will be with him for years and years after he graduates.

I have tried talking to him about money and his plans.  He proclaims that he is working and saving and everything will be fine.  But, then he buys some more Twenty One Pilots merchandise or goes out to eat again.....and Rainman and I wonder.

So, I thought I would put it in black and white for him.  I made a spreadsheet with his colleges of choice and put in all the data that I could find about true cost of attendance, I factored in expected or offered scholarships and came up with the dollar amount left to cover....and then divided that into 9 months to show him how much money he was going to need to come up with every month.

For every school, if he doesn't get any more scholarship options, it boiled down to him needing close to $2,000 a month.  Crazy money.

He wasn't phased at all and said something about it being less than he had thought.

So, my little spreadsheet idea may have backfired.  I am trying to do that parenting thing where you try to suggest and guide, but then stand back and hope that things go well for them when they really pick their path.  Ugg....it is hard.

On a totally fun note,  D-man thinks he wants to be a pharmacist and when he took his ACT and SAT this last year marked that somewhere on there, so he is being sent college stuff almost everyday.

This one was my favorite!

They sent an actual pill bottle filled with information through the mail....just like this, no envelope or anything..  Oh and check this out!

Can you read those "warnings"?  LOL

I almost want him to go to this school just because this was so clever.  Really.

Except that it is really far away from us.....so, nevermind.