Welcome @Momeila! Besides this thread, feel free to join in the HS Class of 2016 thread for Parents! You can find it under class of 20xx community.
EDIT: Sorry, noticed someone pointed it out to you in the other acceptances thread!
@frenchtoastlover Thanks!
Added my DD’s acceptances to UC Santa Barbara, UC Irvine, and UC Berkeley! We are so very proud of her.
Waited until all of the acceptances came in - accepted at 11 of the 12 schools and waitlisted at the other one. So proud of my DD - she’s amazing and I’m glad to see that everyone recognizes that. She got into two out of three of her reach schools - Smith and Bryn Mawr (waitlisted at Barnard). But as excited as we are about that accomplishment, it will still come down to money for her to attend. Bryn Mawr aid was a joke. No word yet on Smith. We have been realistic with her throughout this entire process about how much we’re able to contribute, so we’ll sit with her while she grieves. I wanted her to shoot for the stars, and she’ll learn through this process.
The good thing is her B & C choices - Agnes Scott College and Knox College are both great schools and she will do amazingly well at either of them.
I’m really proud of my D. she has great stats and is my 3rd child to apply for college. She has been waitlisted at most of her schools. the same schools my other children were accepted at with similar stats and this D is a great writer. She not getting rejected, just waitlisted. Has something changed this year?
After checking CC every day with my morning tea for the last year and a half, I believe this will be my last post :). DS finally made a decision this afternoon (and I know it’s official since he announced it on Facebook! Lol!) after many months of worry and nail biting. He applied to 11 schools and was offered admission to 8 and wait listed at 1 with 2 schools still outstanding. He was ready at this point to move forward and we’re so proud of him. This has been a remarkable year; I knew it would be emotional but not in the ways it turned out to be. In the end he chose a school quite different from what we expected. In his words, he didn’t want to “go to college in a bubble.” He’s ready to spread his wings and I couldn’t be happier for him.
Congrats, @FcsmomRN! Isn’t it a great feeling? I’m not there yet with S16 but I remember how good the decision felt with S14.
@stringtriomom I"m sorry to hear about all the waitlists. It seems that most schools this year got record number of applicants (the # applications/student must be way up). I hope this means more people will make it off waitlists than usual as yields might be correspondingly lower.
My son had decided that he’s mediocre by “good” schools’ standards because he’s been wait listed at Stanford, Claremont McKenna, U of Chicago, and Amherst, even though he’s been rejected NO where and accepted at Berkeley, UCSD, UCSC, USC, and Occidental with a healthy merit scholarship. Two questions: Does he have any chance at his remaining schools, Harvard, Yale, Princeton, Brown, Vassar? Also, I am figuring that his diversity status is his fatal flaw…white, upper middle income, parents have masters degrees, and Californian. I’m happy to give “his” spot to less fortunate or nonwhite kids, truly – he’ll be just fine with Berkeley, for heavens sake. But what do you think about my theory? If I can convince him if it, he may feel better.
@NanciB Absolutely. Unless the school says the do not look at ethnicity, then it comes into play of course. This shouldn’t take much convincing. It’s not just white boys, though. It could be any over-represented ethnicity or sex. Depends on the school. This is just my opinion. Ymmv.
@NanciB , you should also acknowledge that being male will help him at many of those schools (especially Vassar).
Oh that’s nice to hear! And, like I said, I’m not complaining about it, if it is true.
Another proud parent here. Hard to believe this process is ending. I read CC everyday.
We’ve been at it for a year and half. I remember my D’s first college visit in November 2014. We drove up to Boston to visit a few schools and after the trip she decided that a school in a northeast urban environment was not for her. She applied to 11 schools and was admitted to 9 - Univ. of Miami, Syracuse-Whitman, VT-Pamplin, Maryland-CP, Penn State-UP, Florida State, Colorado-Leeds, Indiana (my oldest D attends) and Michigan State. She was rejected from Wisconsin-Madison and based on Naviance her high school in NJ has a terrible track record with the school. She was wait-listed at another school where her numbers were in the top 75%. She laughed it off.
A few days ago, she decided to pass on her dream school and will be attending Penn State-UP in the fall. I admit I am conflicted with her decision, however, promised my wife that I will keep my mouth shut. It’s her life to lead, not mine. She decided to attend Penn State because during our multiple visits to campus, she feels very much at home and has the strongest network of friends (current students and students that will attend) out of the schools she applied to. She loves it there.
I’m super concerned about the crazy class sizes. For example, Mgmt. 301 (Into. to Management) has 600 seats per section and it doesn’t appear to have smaller breakout sessions, along with a number of other into. business classes. She will have to really work hard at getting personalized attention whether from the professors, TAs or learning support staff. I wish her the best of success and will guide and support her as she transitions from looking at schools to entering as a freshman.
@NJIUdad Congrats to your D and to you for making it through the process. My H is a Penn State grad and we know lots of kids who have thrived there although I agree with you that having gone to a smaller school myself, the size seems overwhelming to me. But most kids really have a great experience. Make sure you visit the creamery. The Death By Chocolate ice cream is truly the best ice cream ever. If you live within driving distance, they’ll pack however much you want in dry ice so you can stock up. Please don’t ask me how I know this. LOL
@PAO2008 Thanks for the kind words and giving me hope that her selection is the right school. I also attended a large state school although I did not take classes even close to the size that I see at Penn State. When I think of 600 students in one very large auditorium, I think that’s 50% greater than my entire D’s 2016 HS graduation class. Yikes!
Long process for our family, but not quite over yet. What an incredible learning experience. The help in these forums has proved invaluable. We came up with a plan, stuck to it and it seems to have paid off well.
Daughter has been accepted to Grinnell, Kenyon, Macalester, Dickinson, Denison, Lafayette, Oberlin, Union, Clark, Ursinus and SUNY Geneseo.
All with significant merit aid, except for Kenyon, which offered nothing.
What a great choice for her to have!
At the moment, it looks likely she’ll be attending Grinnell. We are heading out for the accepted students program 4/10-4/11 and are hopeful she’ll have a great visit. Seems like an ideal fit in every way (other than the travel).
Still waiting on Brown, but without any merit aid coming from them, she’s not going there.
If anyone is interested in following along, here’s my long discussion thread.
http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/college-search-selection/1800576-help-find-a-college-part-2.html
I’m thankful to everyone who participated there and in the part 1 thread as well.
@lexluthor5 Brown doesn’t give merit aid, only need-based financial aid.
@frenchtoastlover If I was unclear, that’s what I meant.
@lexluthor5 Ahh, ok. No worries and best of luck to your D in deciding where to go. She has some great choices!!!
@frenchtoastlover I see how it was confusing. I should have noted she only really applied there to see if she could get in. Without any aid, is not feasible.
Thanks, yes she’s got a great set of schools to choose from.
Well, I think we’re down to a final four of contenders for my S of which he so far as only visited one since three of the schools were late additions to his list after his ED application didn’t pan out.
The upcoming accepted candidates days are going to be critical in helping him make a final decision.