<p>kerrbo, First off congratulations for having more then one acceptance in hand so early!! That’s rough about the merit aid, but there are a few options. One is to take any merit offers from other colleges and let the first choice college know that she would really prefer to go there and see if they can find some money to fill the gap. Another is to visit the other schools again and find ways to make them more appealing. My son also did worse on this last SAT in two of the three sections and I was really hoping that the small bump that he needed would help with merit offers. Oh, well. It is what it is.</p>
<p>Kathiep - Never thought about letting the top choice know about the other aid - thanks!</p>
<p>Not sure it will work though…<em>the</em> school is a top 100 and the one that gave her OOS waiver + some merit is a tier 2, but I guess it can’t hurt to ask.</p>
<p>She’s practical and knows that finances will have to be figured into the choice and she is OK with a couple other schools. Of course, the one that is cheapest right now is about 2 hours past her comfort level (really wants to be within 4 hrs of home)…but a lot can change in next 4 months or so.</p>
<p>Kerrbo, in addiiton to kathiep’s excellent advice, re the “2 hour past” issue, if you and she adds up all the trips, that will still just amount to about 30 hours over the course of a year, which is not much for a full year at the right school–and if the $ gap is wide enough, you could pay her for the extra travel at an attractive rate.</p>
<p>Best of luck</p>
<p>Congrats on acceptances! And application completion!</p>
<p>We are inches away from submitting a bunch of apps. D put some more time in on the CA essay this a.m., needs probably one more work session on it, and in it goes. That means she’ll have 6 schools to submit in the next few days. At that point, I’ll kick back and let the rest happen however she decides (with her last 3 schools, that have Dec and Jan deadlines). Phew! </p>
<p>It’s funny how different all of the kids are - all very different people. D found out Friday once and for all that she needs to be more than 2 hours away. She liked the school that was a 4.5 hour drive (I think it’s pretty ideal, honestly). She thinks she’ll be good with 1000 miles, the flights and all that … I did it, her sister did it, so we know the deal, but there’s a part of me that’s not really looking forward to it if it happens. I have been clear with my kids that they can’t “have it all” - being in some exciting new faraway place means no “quickie” visits home (I don’t even promise Thanksgiving), and hassling with (moving, storing, etc.) their belongings is a major burden. But there are advantages, too. I guess we’ll figure that out eventually.</p>
<p>Cost … can’t even quite think about that … we’ll deal when we have acceptances in hand. Good luck to those of you with that decision already on your plate.</p>
<p>first deferral…sigh. Not surprised but still deflated.</p>
<p>I feel for you ddd … we’ll all be there one way or another. Good luck with the rest.</p>
<p>ddd, hang in there! Better times are ahead! And, given how many good schools are out there and the ease of the common app, you can always throw in another application.</p>
<p>kerrbo, I feel your anxiety. Od1 is in a similar situation. She’s got acceptances, but we wait on money. She’s just shy of the ACT needed for competition for the highest merit awards at choice one, but she won’t be retaking the test. She’s eligible for tuition exchange (I work at another LAC in the exchange group), but we’ve got to wait until February, and we have NO IDEA how exchange decisions are made. Often, it’s first come, first served, so we applied really early (think mid-Sept), but if it’s best students, we have no idea what the competition looks like. </p>
<p>In the meantime, we’re doing some of the things kathyiep suggested - taking od1 back to her #3 school on scholarship competition day, hoping she’ll like it better. Saving a letter on automatic merit from her #2 school. Maybe #1 would match? Anyway, it’s such a long process and the waiting is excruciating. Our financial safety is my employer. She’d get a fine education, but both she and I think it might be best for her to get out of Dodge.</p>
<p>Ordinary, that seems like a very good plan.</p>
<p>As an aside, what have you thought of the comments posted about whichevr LAC is your employer? When my corporate employer was written about, I always thought the comments were either far too glowing or far too negative</p>
<p>yabeyabe, nobody here makes comments about my employer as everyone seems to be pretty heavily into national LACs or schools in other regions! We’ve got a regional USNews ranking, but we’re not a national school, don’t try to be (although altheles come from far and wide). I’d imagine, though, the comments might be disparaging. The instituion has a mission that it lives by and it’s not “accept only the very best.”</p>
<p>When my son and I met with his GC in September and showed her his list of colleges, she didn’t know the smaller ones OOS but was interested in hearing about them. It’s amazing how many small and even medium sized colleges there are out there that most people don’t know about outside of their area. On this forum three of the colleges local to me get the most talk - Lehigh, Lafayette and Muhlenberg but the other three in the same consortium - Cedar Crest, DeSales and Moravian have excellent local reputations.</p>
<p>I actually think the theater program at DeSales is the best of all the schools and their Physicians Assistant program has both a 100% certification rate and a 100% job placement rate, but does anyone ever mention DeSales? Sometimes I think it’s all about Publicity.</p>
<p>Ordinary and Kathiep, I think many of the kids attending flagships just to be on ESPN would ($ permitting) be much better off at non-national LACs where more individual attention and smaller classes would benefit them.</p>
<p>Kathiep, I have only noticed DeSales mentioned less than a handful of times in years. LOL, you might have the person who mentioned the school on cc!! I have seen Moravian mentioned several times, as we have had at least one cc poster that I can think of who had a child matriculate there. I don’t recall Cedar Crest being discussed, but perhaps it has been talked about on cc. </p>
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<p>I agree. I wonder how often schools like Hiram, Juniata, Hope, Hendrix, Ursinus, etc. would come up on cc, if they were not CTCL schools. There are other good schools that are not on the CTCL list. Many are hidden gems for the right student. My son attends one of those hidden gems.</p>
<p>It was Zoosermom’s daughter that started out at Moravian. She liked the college but it didn’t make sense for her to continue since she wanted to teach in NY state. </p>
<p>I agree about the CTCL schools becoming popular just because of the book. I’ve visited a few of them but think that in general they are no more quirky or different then other small schools like Roanoke, Queens, Arcadia, Goucher, Hartwick etc.</p>
<p>kathiep-I agree with your CTCL assessment. I took the lesson of the book and tried to find other schools to also look at that were in the same vein.</p>
<p>Kathiep, I agree with you too. BTW, Goucher, I believe, is a CTCL school. I understand what you are saying though. I don’t see Roanoke, Queens, Hartwick, Arcadia, Drew, and many others, as much different than the CTCL school list.</p>
<p>I agree - I usually recommend Pope’s other book more, since it has more diverse lists for more diverse kids, with much of the same helpful philosophy.</p>
<p>I agree completely re the CTCL schools. And the book is no so old that it has lost much of its original calue.</p>
<p>Geez you guys, it took me forEVER to figure out CTCL. Eventually I just gave up & googled it. Colleges That Change Lives(!) <em>nodding</em> NOW I get it . . . 
I’m not familiar w/this list. Is it suggested reading?</p>
<p>Just wanted to log congrats to those earlier posters w/recent acceptances @ West Chester, York, & D’s 1st choice top 100. Despite the angst of the 2nd-wave wait for $$ now that the acceptances have arrived, all will work out. I’m also sending vibes of support & solidarity @ ddd928. I’m sure our deferrals too (or worse) will come.</p>
<p>Emmybet, what’s Post’s “other book?”</p>
<p>I do recommend reading anything Loren Pope wrote. It’s all very useful. He wrote not only “Colleges That Change Lives” (which has become a consortium, a college fair tour, a website, and more), but also “Looking Beyond the Ivy League” in 1995, which lists many more colleges and gives his comprehensive take on the college search and application process.</p>
<p>Also we did go to a CTCL fair last fall, and we learned a lot. I think it was really, really helpful for the 3.X student, because Pope’s philosophy definitely addresses the needs of the kids who need to look more carefully and thoroughly at colleges, truly “beyond the Ivy League.” And the speakers there said very clearly that they are NOT the only good little schools in the country, and encouraged everyone to look everywhere and take that perspective with them to any school.</p>
<p>Pope was very much about breadth of exploration and attention from professors, and also he knew that people can “bloom” at any time, if they are in the right environment. He tended to favor small schools, but he had plenty to say about anywhere that could provide the right fit.</p>
<p>Mail … my D got 2 pieces EACH from 3 schools she doesn’t want to go to today! Two of them send her mail pretty much daily, even though she’s told them emphatically that she is not applying. At least they don’t call her any more …</p>