It's too bad you don't live in the Midwest! Or maybe it is better that you don't! lol! I'd clear out all your stuff.

"with a current GPA of 2.8, we need to focus on smaller schools that look at the "whole student" and not just GPA's and SAT scores." I truly do not mean to sound dismissive, but the truth is that in today's competitive college admissions arena, your son's likelihiood for acceptance into Hampshire is probably not high. I say this from the perspective of someone who works in higher ed (private research university) and who is nearing the college admission finish line with my second child. Here are the Princeton Review statistics for Hampshire: Admissions Selectivity Rating: 89 SAT: Reading Middle 50%: 610 - 710 Math Middle 50%: 540 - 660 Writing Middle 50%: 590 - 700 ACT: Middle 50%: 26 - 29 Average HS GPA: 3.45 There is also a breakdown of the percentage standings for GPA and your son is in the bottom 15%. I do believe it is far more hurtful to try to hope that non-numerical factors are going to outweigh seriously skewed quantitative aspects. A GPA that is lower than a B average will need to be counterbalanced by absolutely stellar SAT or ACT scores. Has your son taken the SAT yet? If so, is he near or at the top of the Hampshire ranges? If the answer is no I would advise not to get too hopeful. And for all those who are tempted to respond with their stories of getting in X years ago, the admission picture today is NOT what it was a generation ago, or even 10-15 years ago. The economy is helping dampen some of the insanity but only the demographics of the echo boomers (children of the huge cohort of boomers) is going to ease the crunch. Within the *next* decade the number of college applicants will decline and the scene will shift. But for your son, and my daughter, it won't be in time to do anything for them. Good luck. Please do start looking at non-selective schools. There are plenty out there and it will probably make the experience a much more positive one if you and your son are both realistic in your expectations. Ann

All liquor sales in NH are state controlled. They have very low prices, and that's how a tax free state raises revenue. Beer and wine are excluded, but hard liquor is available only in at "the Commission". Cops at construction sites? dunno. Beats hangin' out at the doughnut shop? :) Bars. Depends on what town you're in, kiddo. Where were you visiting? I can think of several in one resort community, but NH also has a reputation for being very tough on OUI. No one has gutters because we frequently have a lot of snow. It melts, refreezes and the gutter frequently are torn from the house; "ice dams" occur when the melt refreezes and the begins to melt again... the water behind the "dam" invariably finds its way down through the walls and ruins ceilings and walls. Messy, expensive, and a general pain in the a--. The inclement weather is also one of the big reason you see so many farmhouses attached to "bahns". No need to shovel snow to get to the animals! and plenty of "cold" areas to store perishables without having them freeze. Obviously, you're from "away"... where?

About 15 years ago, we did a tour of New England (Vermont, New Hampshire, Connecticut, and Maine). We mapped our tour to covered bridges. It was foggy and rainy for 1/3 of the time, but after cold fronts came through, we had cool, clear days for some of the best leaf looking and photographing. I rated New Hampshire as having the best color that year. We did get to the eastern edge of Maine and witnessed the tide created reversing falls. On the way home, we stopped at Watkin's Glen in New York. There were some gorgeous trees in the Glen. This was one of the best fall color trips we have ever made.