as a 1991 graduate, we were advised to apply to THREE colleges, a long-shot, an average, and a back-up.

I seem to remember this same advice in 1985. I applied to 3ish...don't really remember. I got in where I wanted and only lasted about 3 months. Ah well.

Yay for job offer, meara!!

Unfortunately K-Bug is in this boat, but her #1 school is private and pricey.

Suzi- I don't know how much different it is now, but I went to a private school that was very pricey but not particularly known, at the time, for being really top-knotch academically. It was really looking to improve the reputation for being a party school, and I ended up with an almost full tuition merit scholarship. I got a really great education with no college loans. The downside was that it was not a name university, so even with a 3.8, it doesn't have cachet outside of my area AND I did not like the school until I found the theatre crowd because it was a lot of partiers (Not that theatre people weren't partiers, but we were partiers who got drunk and sang Grease, not who got drunk and ran down the halls whacking people with lacrosse sticks.)

Yay for job offer!

With us, we knew that we were among zillions of kids from the NYC suburbs all applying to the same schools. I don't know of anyone my year who applied to fewer than five. Even with schools where we were solidly within the range for GPA and SAT scores and everything, we knew that there were way more people in that range applying than they could actually accept, and that it was largely a crapshoot. We were told to only apply to schools that we'd be willing to attend, and to have at least one safety (oddly, I didn't get into my safety school, but did get into one that I'd been unsure of), but beyond that, just to make sure that we spent enough time with each individual application.

Congrats meara! Best of luck for getting just what you want.

I love Emily Koltnow's book Congratulations, You've Been Fired for its excellent list of things to negotiate for going into (or out of) a job...and ways to frame the negotiation.

The three times I applied to schools, I applied to only one each time. Granted, two were relatively small schools (UOP and Loyola in MD) and the American U program was pretty specialized.

My undergrad school was about an hour away from my parents. Far enough away that they came to school exactly once, when I asked for help moving. It was perfect.

The basic advice we have been given is to ignore prices, for now - have her apply to schools with the programs she wants, fill out her FAFSA, and see what financial offers she gets.

This isn't how we planned for things to go, but life loves to throw curve balls.

ION - my coworker's car got towed due to outstanding parking tickets. She is pissed cause it was her ex who accumulated the tickets but releived it wasn't stolen. Gotta drive her around to get stuff paid and get the car back.

This is the company in Seattle--the one in San Fran lamely decided they didn't think I had enough experience.

Well, the relocation package is pretty standard, and not much to be negotiated there. The only problem is the TIMING--if only this had happened last week, I could've worked out the 30 days notice and all that jazz much much easier, and the moving in to an apartment there, and GAH.

The benefits--does anyone actually manage to negotiate benefits? I mean, vacation days, that sort of thing? It's usually a pretty standard "this is what we do, you get X days" thing, no?

It's really just the salary. Well, and possibly the start date. Didn't actually discuss that part.

Congrats on the job offer, meara!

When I graduated in 1989, we were told to apply to 3 to 5--one safety school, one reach, and one to three in between. I applied to five, and looking back, it's SO obvious I had no clue what I wanted. All I knew for sure was I wanted out of state, but east of the Mississippi, and at least 5000 undergrads, because my graduating class had ~120 students, most of whom I'd started first grade with 12 years before, and I wanted to go somewhere where there would always be new people to meet. I did apply to one state school as a safety (Auburn) but was accepted or waitlisted everywhere I applied.

I was the only kid in my class on the competitive admissions rollercoaster. The other kids at the top of the academic track did Alabama or Auburn, or UAB if they were pre-med or nursing. A few others went to smaller state schools, but probably less than half my class went to college.

The benefits--does anyone actually manage to negotiate benefits? I mean, vacation days, that sort of thing? It's usually a pretty standard "this is what we do, you get X days" thing, no?

I think that if they have a graduated program (e.g., you get 2 weeks the first year, 3 weeks the next) etc., you can sometimes say you want credit for coming in with experience.

You can definitely negotiate one time expenses like the moving package.

I don't remember how many colleges to which I applied. Four? Six? Got me.