I was hoping some of the schools had offered to fly him in for visits. I guess not?
I don’t think they’ve called yet to ask about that possibility. My nephew should do the calling, right? Instead of his mom calling?
I think it would be better coming from your nephew. Sometimes, it is offered in the acceptance package but since it hasn’t been, it doesn’t hurt to ask. Either a call or email to his admission’s rep or the admissions director. I had the impression he is lower income? Maybe that it is wrong.
He is lower income and has received full financial aid with minimal loans at all the schools to which he’s been accepted. I will tell him he should call on Monday. Thanks!
Please keep us updated on his impressions as he visits. Such wonderful choices!! Good on you for your assistance.
Given his financial constraints and full FA, I would hope at least some of the colleges would be amenable to helping him with transportation costs for visits. Good luck!
Final update:
Accepted: Drury and UMKC (safeties), F&M, Holy Cross, Boston College and Occidental
Waitlisted: Washington & Lee, Lehigh, Bates, Connecticut College
Rejected: Bucknell, Colgate, USC, Hamilton
He is going to aggressively pursue Lehigh and Washington & Lee in the hope of coming off the waitlist. He needs financial aid, though, and from what I’ve read, wait lists tend to favor the affluent as they aren’t need blind. I’ve told him he needs to pick one of his four acceptances and not to count on coming off any waitliats.
Thanks everyone for your good wishes for him and for your advice. I’ve learned so much from this process!
@Emsmom1 Do you have any personal preferences for your nephew amongst his acceptances?
Congrats, again!
I think if he wants to major in Econ, he should probably go to BC (he applied for Econ there) and if he decides he wants to go the engineering route, he should go to Franklin & Marshall (they have a 3+2 program or he could major in something like physics and then apply to grad school in engineering - they tout a 100% acceptance rate to grad school in engineering in recent years). His mom wants him to go to Holy Cross and my nephew is tempted to “pursue his passion of surfing” at Oxy. I am trying to get through to him that he shouldn’t choose a school based on proximity to the beach (it’s not even that close)! I think he’d be miserable at Oxy as he’s center-right politically and Oxy is quite liberal. My main goal right now is to get Oxy off his list and get him to choose which major he wants to pursue.
Still working on trying to get funding for admitted student days. BC said no.
Yeah, I would imagine with LA traffic, it would easily be an hour or more to the surf and longer on public transportation.
Holy Cross or BC sound like a better fit for him. HC also has a 3-2 engineering program with Columbia.
So, none of the schools had funding for my nephew to visit, but I got aunts and grandparents involved (and paid for one ticket myself). He is visiting BC today and Holy Cross tomorrow and Franklin and Marshall this coming Friday. I’ll let you know how it goes! I’m so excited for him to get to see the schools before making a decision.
Can’t wait to hear about the visits. Kudos to you for making this happen for your nephew!
You’re a great aunt!
Thanks for the kind words! My nephew just got back from his final college visit. Last weekend he visited Boston College and College of the Holy Cross. This weekend he visited Franklin & Marshall. He liked all of them, but really connected with people at F&M. At Boston College he spent two nights with my friend’s son who is a freshman and who showed my nephew around the school. He did not get to do the admitted students’ day because it was the same day as Holy Cross and his mom really wanted him to see Holy Cross. He liked Holy Cross a lot but it was too late for him to sign up to spend the night with a student and go to classes the next day (he procrastinated about calling to arrange this; lesson learned, I hope!). So, while he did attend the Open House, he did not get to visit classes or stay on campus at Holy Cross. At F&M he contacted his admissions counselor who kindly arranged for him to stay two nights with a freshman on campus and attend A Closer Look (the admitted students’ day). He said he had a great time and really liked the school.
So, now it’s up to him! Each has its pros and cons and I’ve advised him to make a list for each school. May 1st is approaching quickly!
3 great choices! Glad he liked them all