Ok, I know that it's not like a university acceptance letter but Isaac has been accepted into our local community college.  He has the chance as a junior in high school to attend our local community college and earn both high school and college credits at the same time.  He needed to pass the entrance exam which he did.  In this way he can work on completing his core classes that he'll take at the university but at the community college instead.  What is great is that with the exceptions of fees and books, his classes are paid for.  This is a huge advantage for us.  However what I see as advantageous is the fact that he will be introduced to the college atmosphere while still living at home.  In this way we can help him monitor his time and help with developing study habits here rather than sending him off and have him figure it out with out guidance.  I know that I did that and was fairly capable and John did that too.  I do think though that there is an advantage to having someone help make decisions that isn't part of that college culture.  I've talked to so many students and adults that did the Running Start (that's the program name) and really enjoyed it.  They love the flexibility of the schedules, the atmosphere, and the teachers.  I am really hoping that Isaac enjoys it.  He took a look at the school calendar for next year and decided that he wants a ski pass since he basically would have the month of December off.  He has a friend who has a cabin near the ski slope and they figured that they could go there on the week days and ski all week.  Why not.  We are putting the stipulation that he would have to cover all those costs plus get good grades to do that otherwise he would have to return to the high school for classes.