Wishing you all the best and good health!!
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Thread closed at the OP’s request.
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Reopened at OP’s request.
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Before I post any updates here (when/if I get them), I’d like to reiterate something. Yes, you can have an opinion. You can say you disagree. But I would ask that you be kind, as non-judgemental as possible (we’re all human, a little judging is okay!) and understand that this is a complex and nuanced situation and the college process isn’t easy by any means. I use tone indicators for a reason. You can choose to use or not use them, that’s up to you. /honestly, half-chiding and half-reminding
I came here in search of support and advice- such of that that is kind. So let’s keep it that way, please. I’m simply an 18 year old already fighting a lot. Trust me- a rare disease with no cure is something I wouldn’t wish on my worst and most mortal enemy. I may go blind by the time I’m in my mid-20s… without any cure yet. /admittedly
Anyways, I’m super excited to give my updates when they come. Until then, I’ll be working hard and playing (or riding at the barn) hard. /half-playful, half-seriously
Stay safe everyone, and I’ll leave you with a little quote: “What do you makes a difference, and you have to decide what kind of difference you want to make.” That quote is by Jane Goodall. /almost sentimental
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Good luck to you. It looks like you have some nice options. I hope you will be able to stay close to home and have the family support more readily available. So important for someone with disabilities who will be off on their own for their first time.
Oh, edited to add that you might want to remove your website, which identifies you. It’s nice to have anonymity on this site.
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Whoops! My bad- I’ll take that down. It is now taken down. I put that in by habit, but I’d forgotten about the anon rule here on the forum. /sheepsish
And thanks. /warmly
It is possible, if not likely, Northeastern is aware of this thread and has identified the student, as many admissions offices monitor this website. You will occasionally see admissions officers chiming in.
Even without that ID, I agree they will look on this request with a critical eye. My guess is she is not the only applicant requesting a transfer to the more desirable Boston campus, and I would assume they would require further documented support by a physician.
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Is that true? I have seen it on the UVA thread, but not elsewhere (although I haven’t been on CC for very long, so wouldn’t necessarily be aware of it). I’m just curious about this.
I think many do. UVA clearly does as Dean J responds. When one of my kids was applying, the IT people at UVA were reading it because they were responding to all the portal astrology in real time😂.
I would assume someone at Georgia Tech is reading it because every admission cycle they seem to close off portal astrology hacks that are mentioned here. I’ve heard through the grapevine that a couple of other schools keep tabs on it as well but not naming names because I have no proof! My guess is many offices have people that check it periodically, as it is the largest compilation of college info out there.
Edited to add - just checked the UF thread and an admission rep responds over there as well. My guess is many more where admissions officers don’t respond.
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Oh geez. I have been reading this thread and not commenting. But I have to chime in. My kid has health issues - a tiny fraction of what I imagine OP’s to be. But I do work in a med school, have relatives with rare diseases, and understand something about it.
You really can’t understand unless you’re in their shoes. Things can change and every person’s situation is unique. My own kid – again with a fraction of the health issues of OP – doesn’t want to be far from a medical school when he goes to college. The only schools he’s considering that aren’t near med schools (but are only like ~1hr away) are close to us, which mitigates it.
When he’s been going to his normal pediatrician and his pediatric specialists this year, we’ve been breathing a huge sigh of relief. They say they’ll take care of him through college if he wants them to. It is unbelievably difficult to coordinate care and to find new docs, especially for just a few years. We will just have to try to schedule stuff when we can while he’s in college. He doesn’t have emergencies that often, but there’s been enough to make us leery.
OP wants to be in Boston near her specialists. Does that mean she can’t go elsewhere for school? Not necessarily. But you don’t know that she can get the care she needs in just any city. It might surprise you to know which rare diseases are best treated in certain places. It won’t always be what you expect. Maybe there’s not an expert in San Francisco, but there is one in Salt Lake City or Omaha. You don’t know this person’s situation. One of my family members with an ultra-rare condition has recently exhausted the insight they can receive in the bay area and their Stanford specialists have had to get second, third, and fourth opinions elsewhere. They have officially gotten opinions from the top specialists in the nation (and probably world) by now.
As a professor, I ALWAYS give my students the benefit of the doubt when they ask me for something. Do some unscrupulous people get away with crap because they’re trying to cheat the system? Yes. But that will always happen, no matter what kind of means testing you put into place. I would much rather let some shenanigans slide than to deny a student a reasonable allowance to a hardship that they face. I err on the side of grace and I have never regretted it.
I’m giving OP the benefit of the doubt for a number of reasons. She is clearly a great student and will do cool things. I’m sure she’ll get into some excellent programs and I hope she comes back and tells us all about her progress.
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This. Also, as adults, we are all allowed to change our minds, or to rethink something once it becomes real or more information has been made available. We might interview for a job or put an offer in on a house and then realize it’s not actually for us after all once more is known. There are lots of parents here who realize they can’t pay for a school after their kid gets in or who can pay for it but realize it’s not the wisest choice once they really look at the numbers and other options available. Why not allow students the grace to rethinking their decisions too?
It’s also a very different thing to think about finding new medical specialists for 4 years vs just 1 year. Maybe this student and her parents believe it would be worth the work to navigate a new location if she will be there for 4 years, but maybe just for 1 year it doesn’t make sense to deal with waiting lists for certain specialists, out of network insurance issues, etc. only to have to reestablish those things the following year back at home. Maybe the student’s parents have reservations and aren’t supportive of the applications away from home. It’s also perfectly fine if the student and her family applied elsewhere and now realize that moving across the country isn’t in her best interest. Situations change. We don’t have all of the information.
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…gulps well, shi——shoot. Uh. I didn’t know admissions officers were on here… /nervously
Not that I have anything to hide. But still. /honestly
I can easily imagine a situation where my kid ends up applying to an assortment of schools all over, and then we realize that it’s probably best if our kid doesn’t go far away. I would totally understand if my kid wanted to see how those apps played out (or if my kid wanted to pull all apps because it could be hard to see acceptances that weren’t the best places to go at this point in time). I would be so incredibly saddened and feeling a bit like a Parent Bear if people just kept nagging at my kid as to why different decisions hadn’t been made.
I think that people’s concerns about the Northeastern/Boston situation have been made. I don’t think that there’s anything new that people are going to be sharing about that hasn’t already been shared already.
All I will ask is that people ask how they would feel if OP was their kid. I don’t think they’d be very happy with some of the repeated hammering on the thread.
/Sincere and saddened
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Thank you @ColdWombat for so articulately explaining even a bit of what the OP’s situation could be. Bravo.
/extremely grateful
But also
/extremely irritated
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You absolutely have nothing to worry about. Some people seem to like to get teenagers worried/off balance/anxious and it would only be speculation on my part as to why they feel compelled to do this. It’s not just this thread, there’s similar posts on some boarding school threads.
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Thank you for expressing what I just… don’t have the energy to say. It genuinely makes me tear up seeing people hammer the same point that’s been elaborated. And honestly, yeah, y’all need to think about if I was your kid- would you be saying the same thing? Probably not.
/mumbled, sadly, and appreciative to @AustenNut
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Thank you. Thank you so much for this response. /tiredly and very appreciative
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Oooookay, everyone coughs pulls out a large microphone buckle up, because right now? tiny bit annoyed. tiniest bit. I’m saying that nicely. /calmly
If you want to harp on the NEU issues, we can take it to DMs- (this is in a non-fighting way) but I have more than just NEU to think about. Yes, my decisions are mine and they were based off of talking to my parents and other trusted people in my life. I understand people have concerns about ethics, and morality, and other things. /acknowledging everyone’s points of view, calmly, composed
But let me sit down for a moment and tell you something. Honestly? As long as I end up where I’m meant to be- that’s what matters. That’s what matters most, and I would love to be near home. At the ABSOLUTE worst, I’ll go to UMass Amherst, be in their Honors College, and be happy there with an absolutely affordable tuition! -and it’s near enough (2 1/2 hours from home) where I can still get medical care.
That doesn’t mean I won’t look for closer options, hence why I asked for the transfer to NEU. Now, enough said about that. /firmly, calmly, trying to express my point
…Guys, college is one of the normal things I’ve gotten to do as a rare disease patient. I’m just grateful to be attending. Please understand I’m just excited to go, and harping on one subject does none of us any good. I understand everyone’s ethical and moral concerns, but I am of good and solid intention, with more than sufficient evidence to back my case. Now please, if you will- let’s change the subject. When I do hear back from NEU, I will ask that we can maturely handle a discussion around it. We’re all adults (or almost adults) here, and I expect that kind of behavior from everyone. /honestly, open, calm
And, I want this thread to be open without any excessive banter. I’d like to build a community here that I know i can come back to and give back to when I’m in college and applying for medical school. I’m sure you’d like that too. /this is my vision of staying on here (when I can)
Thank you for reading this far. I have no malice or anger at anyone, and I just want us all to be as amicable, respectful, and kind as possible. /softly, honest
Now, with that… I’m going to go study. I’ll check back soon, y’all <3 /warmly
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