<p>emilybee, you brought a smile to my face this morning: </p>
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<p>Kenyon is so beautiful, and the campus, the people there, seemed awfully nice. I think my daughter is leaning toward Brandeis, though. Right now she is trying to figure out which campuses to visit.</p>
<p>Off campus!!!</p>
<p>Skidmore is also nice and Saratoga is lovely. Academically not as strong as Kenyon or Brandeis, imo, but it is known for it’s theater/dance programs and it attracts very artsy kids.</p>
<p>D got accepted to 10 of 12 schools she applied to. Has narrowed down her selection to Christopher Newport Univ and Emerson College. Waiting on final aid award from Emerson (tentative looks real good, but it’s never enough unless it’s the entire amount…smile). Expecting to receive aid from CNU any day now. Congrats to everyone!</p>
<p>Emilybee – thanks for clarifying. I kinda figured that was what you meant :)</p>
<p>She has not visited Skidmore – wondering whether she should. Hmmmm . . .</p>
<p>@bankofdad. Love your screen name! My DH would totall adopt it if he was ever comfortable posting on the web. S. also got rejected from Harvard, and waitlisted in Columbia. He put himself on the list but from CC posts I know that the likelyhood of moving from waitlist is almost nil. He did get accepted at the University of Pittsburgh with a full tuition so he will think about it. He also got 30K from BU and needs another 20K to even consider going to Boston. The problem with Pitt is that it is in PA, and he desperately wants to leave. We are seriously looking at gap year, IMHO he needs a little more maturity to survive out there.</p>
<p>We are lucky we have to decide between colleges-Yes-but this is daunting-my son wants engineering-2200 SAT’s 34 ACTs etc etc we thought he would get into one of the ivies but it didn’t happen we feel like he applied to the wrong schools-its not a great place to be. Yet we have to pick a school and it is not a favorite nor is one exactly the right fit-so where do we go from here? Its RPI; Rochester; or Maryland. All gave him merit; obviously Maryland is cheapest. My son is seriously considering Rochester-they have the smallest engineering program of all-They have a optic engineering program that is great but my son wanted (hes changing his mind based on which school he want to go to) mech engineering. Help</p>
<p>I can only speak to RPI- which is local to me and to which my D applied (and got waitlisted). I work with a lot of engineers who went to RPI. It is a grind. A wonderful education but nose to the grindstone much of the time. The downside is if your student decides that they want to do something other than engineering or science. It is a Polytechnic so there is not a lot else there for you (unlike other technical schools like MIT that actually have humanities). RPI does have a decent business program and art design too. Troy is not a great, fun place to live, but much of it is not awful either. There are enough adjacent areas for students to go if they want interesting or diverting activities. There is easy access to nature based activities if you have access to a car. Good luck.</p>
<p>DS2 Rejected by Stanford and 2 Ivies. (Completely expected…great stats, no “hooks”, sort of glad we didn’t have to deal with an acceptance because he would have wanted to go, but we are just well enough off not to qualify for any aid, but not well enough off to be comfortable paying that much money for undergraduate degree.)</p>
<p>Waitlisted at Rice</p>
<p>Accepted at U-Md, UVA, College of William and Mary, Villanova, Vanderbilt, Wake Forest and UNC-Chapel Hill OOS. </p>
<p>UNC was always his top choice. (It just felt right, from the moment he saw it. Not too big, not too small, many excellent majors available, reasonable cost for OOS…) Went back for a second visit at accepted students day, loved it even more. Will be attending UNC in the fall.</p>
<p>Congratulations to all the students who are starting college this fall.
After a lot of deliberation, my son has decided to attend Rollins College. I hope its a right decision.
God bless all!!</p>
<p>Congrats to all! In the home stretch now. S trying to decide between Wake Forest and Colgate. I don’t think a bad decision is possible. Only surprise was a wait-list at BC. Every thing we saw said he’d get in there. I guess at some point the lottery factor comes into play. Just picked up a copy of Crazy U at the Colgate bookstore. Now that it’s almost over I just want to laugh about it.</p>
<p>Son accepted to MIT, Caltech, Duke, Cornell, Rose-Hulman, Stevens, Carnegie Mellon, Harvey Mudd, Colorado School of Mines, Olin and a couple more that I can’t believe I’m forgetting. Some full rides offered on merit. Narrowed it down to MIT, Caltech and Carnegie Mellon. Loved MIT’s course offerings and Boston town. Loved Carnegie Mellon’s community and student support. Had visited both. Finally visited Caltech just to be thorough and found that the academic challenge, community, small size, access to professors and research, great weather, and house system suited him best as a combination over the other schools. Got full rides based on need to MIT and Caltech and Carnegie Mellon sounded ready to match that but son decided before they could to go to Caltech. </p>
<p>Since he’s focused on MIT for so long and would have an easier time at Carnegie Mellon or Olin and had tons of support at Duke, I find myself wanting to ask him if he’s really sure, but he’s made up his mind and it was the choice I actually favored after our visit. It will be brutal academically, but he’s up for that and able, so here we go!</p>
<p>My poor son cannot make up his mind. His first choice was Olin but he got knocked out in the candidate’s round. Then came the waitlist from Harvey Mudd. But, finally he has two acceptances Williams and Rice that he is considering. Williams is now about 3k less than Rice and we would also have to fly him to houston from Mass.</p>
<p>He wants to study math and who knows what else. </p>
<p>It is painful to watch him just sit and think about it for hours. He keeps flip flopping.</p>
<p>Part of me wants him at Williams because it is an hour away and his little 6-year-old sister could at least see him a bit more…Honestly it felt a bit “cold” at Williams during previews and I wonder if it is a good fit socially. I know they have an entry program for the first year but not sure how that plays out over four years. As the mother of a shy and somewhat socially awkward kid, I loved the sort of family-like atmosphere that Rice offers through the house system that I think would be wonderful for my somewhat shy son. In some ways, it felt like the same kids we saw at Olin (another place my son just fit).</p>
<p>If anybody has advice for how I can help him with this decision, please share. It is two days away because he has to leave for a band trip. If anybody has information as to which school opens more doors to top math phd programs, that would be helpful. I am thinking both but don’t really know.</p>
<p>I am glad this will end soon.</p>
<p>Honestly shelldemeo, I have no idea. You might try here <a href=“http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/parents-forum/491386-high-school-class-2011-college-class-2015-a.html[/url]”>http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/parents-forum/491386-high-school-class-2011-college-class-2015-a.html</a>
There are a lot of smart people on the thread that are dealing or have dealt with similar situations.</p>
<p>Shelldemeo, I can feel your pain. I too would love to have my son close to home and easy to visit with now and again. Of course, the financial aspect is a consideration. However, the financial aspect may not be the biggest because it’s really only $20K over four years and that’s not a huge problem for a single adult with a good job to pay for. Not that it’s nothing, but considering that it’s less than 10% of the cost of college, it puts it into perspective. Also, he may apply for and get additional scholarships. </p>
<p>As for fit, I know what you mean about Olin fit. My son LOVED the Olin community. But, for his overall goals, it was less suited than another school. It’s very individual because the Olin academics are fantastic. </p>
<p>I personally would recommend that he go with the fit that is best for him as it’s really critical for him to feel he’s where he belongs.</p>
<p>As a mom, I would say that the caveat is that it’s so far away that if he needs some level of checking on and visiting to stay on track in a college environment, you wont’ be able to do it easily. I know a doctor whose son went to Rice, and the doc felt he wasn’t ready to go away from home. The kid got hooked on some serious drugs and caused himself brain damage. Now, that’s a rarity, really, but it is true that many college environments are pretty loosely monitored. That is one reason my son picked his school rather than another that competes with it. The one he rejected, though more famous and almost as highly regarded, had so much partying and so little supervision and support that it was just not going to be a great choice. We both felt that the one he picked had the right balance for him. Honestly, I thought there was more partying than was good, but there was far less than at his second choice, which had been his first choice for nine years. </p>
<p>We feel he will do well to go to the second choice as a graduate student when he’s blasted or trudged or crawled through the rigor of the first one and won’t have to deal with undergraduate dorms and adjusting to campus life. He would have loved the academics, but not the lifestyle.</p>
<p>I agree though that Rice is probably a good community to be in for most students admitted to it. It does build a tight community for the student. Another good thing is that it’s sunny a lot and that can help when studying gets intense. </p>
<p>Honestly, I don’t know much about Williams so consider that when reading this.</p>
<p>@Shelldemeo: Williams was one of my D’s final choices as well, although for geo/astrophysics. She met with several professors during the admitted students visit and they were all enthusiastic and helpful with offers of research, etc. Williams faculty are amazingly connected in the wider academic community, so there would be no problems with grad school. A friend of my H’s, who teaches there, says that the professors (who live in that small community all year round!) rely on attracting and working with interesting students to keep their own work exciting. Of course, math is a bigger program than D’s, but i imagine it is similar in tone.</p>
<p>However, D also found the social part a little lacking (and will not be attending Williams). Is your son an athlete? That seems to make a big difference at Williams. I’m afraid I don’t know much about Rice.</p>
<p>Both of your S’s sound great, so I would advise he choose the one that makes him happy.</p>
<p>S just chose University of Delaware honors program over Lafayette, Syracuse, Skidmore, and Allegheny. Go Blue Hens!</p>
<p>My wife & I had a little get together @ ex-wife’s house last night…</p>
<p>D had narrowed it down between Kenyon & Swarthmore. After “processing” through the concerns over costs, etc., and every adult having a chance to speak, we parents then got to hear which school D felt most passionate about. (D’s brother was in living room, doing his homework & quietly cheering his sister on / Ygst D went next door to play with a neighbor girl, because she didn’t want to be “around the ruckus from the adults” leading to the final decison. lol</p>
<p>The result is that D will be matriculating into Swarthmore in the fall! Relieved D had arrived at this conclusion on her own, and that we adults were able to honor HER decision…and that our entire goofy “functioning” family is on the same page with D, as we move forward…!</p>
<p>Williams has a well-regarded math program (one of their strongest?), so it is an excellent choice for a math major. Also, if your son liked Olin, then he maybe he likes your weather and the idea of staying close to home?</p>
<p>Parent2015: that is why my son did choose Williams. They do have what appears to be an amazing math department. Thank God this process if over and now…on to paying for it!</p>
<p>@Shelldemeo: Congratualtions to your son! He will get a great education in a wonderful environment, and your money will be well spent!</p>