<p>The following email will share our revelation that you can NEVER have too much information...I thought it was a bit different than many stories out here and it might help someone....</p>
<p>Hi! As many of you know my son's college search has not been an easy one. He is not only one of those quirky bright kids who doesn't follow the mainstream, but he also had a specific passion that he had been pursuing for the past 2 years. Most colleges doing something in the field were large research universities. We were more interested in finding a smaller school where he would have more personal attention. We were very interested in merit money possibilities and he only applied to 1 school (the dream..Harvard) where it was not possible. To make a very long story short, after extensive research, visiting 7 schools, emailing countless profs, reading CC everyday (of course!), we came up with the following list in order of preference:</p>
<p>He got into all except Harvard. He got no merit offers anywhere (he had a great app...with almost all perfect test scores, fantastic recs, etc..) except he was invited to the honor's scholars weekend at WASHU this past weekend. </p>
<p>A prof there is doing some really interesting work in my S's interest area and I had emailed him 1 1/2 years ago asking for advice. My S started emailing him about 1 month ago trying to further refine what he wanted. My S met this prof this weekend and the rest is history. :-) It went incredibly well! It appears he has found a mentor AND a lab to work in! It ended up that the info he gleaned from the weekend showed him that WASHU turns out to very probably be the BEST choice of all. It took the special access of this special weekend to know it though. I kind of find this to be astonishing after all of the work we did. We asked my S what we could have done differently and he thinks nothing. </p>
<p>So, we are waiting for our Monday phone call from WASHU to give us the merit offer (crossed fingers). It appears that he will have qualified for something just by being asked to attend. More importantly, my S came home energized and so excited about the great people he had met and the opportunities in his future at WASHU. I am so thankful it all worked out this way. It has been very stressful for us all...I thought the waiting was endless, but it in fact ends TODAY!!!! HURRAY!!!!</p>
<p>Needless to say, thanks to all of you for your advice and your support. We just all want the best situation for our kids, but it isn't always real easy to find. You are a very special group of people. </p>
<p>Congratulations. This is so great for your son. Hope the merit money follows. My nephew was in a similar situation. It made all the difference in the world having a mentor at his school. I do believe that is the biggest "hook" in admissions, merit money, and opportunities.</p>
<p>Hurray for you & your son! My son is putting getting a mentor right near the top of the list of factors he's considering with his choices...in fact, one very good school has been ruled out because they didn't offer a mentor...the other 3 have offered one...so that mentor element can certainly be very important!</p>
<p>Fingers crossed that a nice merit offer comes today...in the meantime, enjoy your celebrations!</p>
<p>This is another case of "when-the-decision-is-made-it's-REALLY-made." I've seen that so many times that something will trigger a decision, and then that decision seems SO RIGHT. All of the ambivalence about the other schools is (<em>POOF</em>) gone. And that's the way it should be.</p>
<p>The reason I love your story so much is that it hits home with so many of us. It seemed that we were destined to have done over a year's worth of research into schools - visits, websites, viewbooks, rankings, etc - and still be no closer to something that really clicked. And I don't mean just "feel," but also financially, academically, and on and on. Suddenly, EVERYTHING clicked together and the sheer ELATION that Old Pop here felt was so high I thought my 3-day-old smile would NEVER end.</p>
<p>How exciting! Hope that aid offer comes through for you.</p>
<p>I am looking forward to the decision-making being over. My son will be leaving Wednesday night on a tour of the three remaining schools on his list. (the ones that admitted him AND will be at least close to affordable) I am praying that a similar thing will happen to him--he will visit one of the three, love the the campus, get along wonderfully well with the trumpet instructor, and just feel at home--and come home with the decision made. I have my own personal hope for which school he chooses, but I have kept quiet, because I know he must be the one to decide. And the deciding is almost as hard as waiting for those envelopes in the mailbox.</p>
<p>Congratulations! That's incredibly amazing and I'm so glad to hear that everything is clicking into place! Its great to hear stories like this, especially amidst all the "This school V. That school" type threads.</p>
<p>I'm also looking for my decision making being over. Its sort of funny for me because so far everything has appeared to be "clicking into place". Reed was a school on a whim that I swore I'd never get accepted to, one I applied to because of a dream. Now I'm in, my dad is finally supporting my decision, and we have a decent aid package. Now all I need is the visit to just assure myself I fit there and BANG. It'll be history.</p>
<p>digmedia-
< I've seen that so many times that something will trigger a decision, and then that decision seems SO RIGHT. All of the ambivalence about the other schools is (<em>POOF</em>) gone.></p>
<p>It is a great feeling. I want so much for him to feel it is all right. </p>
<p>< It seemed that we were destined to have done over a year's worth of research into schools - visits, websites, viewbooks, rankings, etc - and still be no closer to something that really clicked. And I don't mean just "feel," but also financially, academically, and on and on. Suddenly, EVERYTHING clicked together and the sheer ELATION that Old Pop here felt was so high I thought my 3-day-old smile would NEVER end.></p>
<p>I know...even your post here made tears well up. Thanks for understanding. I am soo happy that your son found his situation at OU. Talk about ideal! Old Ohio isn't so bad either...it isn't Colorado by any stretch, but nice people live in the midwest!</p>
<p>I just got home from the doctor as I have been experiencing a case of dizzyness for about 6 days...wonder what is the cause?? Stress. She said my upper back is in total knots. I said...hmmmm wonder why? On to the theraputic massage..OUCH!</p>
<p>It's funny, in our case I was hoping for WASHU all along and never commented (it probably would have been the kiss of death!). Hope your S picks yours as well!</p>
<p>It sounds like it's meant to be, eh? My S has a very good friend who goes there and absolutely LOVES it! Best of luck. It is a different school and I am glad you are visiting first before you make your decision. You need to know if you do feel good about the fit. Great school!</p>
<p>kdos, Whitney, Congratulations to both of you on finding your way to the right place. It's funny, but hearing how well it worked out for you guys makes me less disturbed about the distress we suffered on the way.</p>