Thanks everyone, too much to respond to but in a nutshell, 1st, I really appreciate all the responses and thoughts, it all helps!
ex H knows he’s out of the will & that is mom is helping us, she tells him a lot, she thinks he’s a big loser and doesn’t hide anything from him.
Thanks about the delay 1 yr, I thought ti might not be allowed that she go to school anywhere else but had to ask.
About tranferring, if she can only afford a less competitive school then will will try to save $ and transfer her to a better quality school. Transferring is becoming much less of an option that previously thought due to freshmen getting the best FA offers for sure. So I am less likely to put her in a MAry Washington or Roanoke. She is a great student and deserves to go to the best school we can REASONABLY afford. After looking at Roanoke I would not want her there for 4 yrs. There is NOTHING to do in Salem, it’s a tiny school, 1700 kids. Her HS is 4000. They have an internship sem in DC which is great but what about the other years? The student panel spoke about doing work at schools and businesses, a lot seemed to want to be teachers but if you want to major in a combination of art history and french studies, there is literally no place for her to do that in Salem. The opportunites at this school pale in comparison to those in larger cities, or at more compeitiive schools.
And about her major, I have quickly said in previous emails that she wants to study Napolean, etc and you guys have said how common it is, etc, well she is really putting together her own major & not as many schools as you might think allow her to do that. Someone also said you can’t go off listed courses, well that is exactly what the schools are telling her to do. She has contacted the history and French depts and the tell her to look at the courses offered, they are all posted and they let her know the degree to which she can build her own major,. NONE of the smaller, less competitive schools have more than a couple of courses.
I have found that some of the less $ schools offer her merit aid but not as much need aid so I wonder if some of it will balance out. Private schools offer her more need (the ones we’ve heard from ) but less merit so it ends up a closer decision that we thought.
I think her back ups as College of Charleston & Roanoke College she should pick C of C, surprisingly. There is sooo much history (meaning places offering internships) she can easily walk to from the school, and unending amount of things to do and historical places to volunteer or just peak her interest in her free time, it would keep her mind engaged unlike Salem, VA. Now for ME, I love being in the mountains and w/ very little people so I would LOVE that school but she is not me, so not trying to bash the area as my fantasy is to retire somewhere like that. If she had to spend 4 yrs at a school she wasn’t thrilled about C of C is academically better and has many more opportunities and interesting classes in what she wants to do than Roanoke.