All of the results are in for D (well, sort of, given waitlists!). West coast, public school, urban girl, focused on test optional and CTCLs schools because she had no intention of retaking tests and the schools felt right to her. With 1830ish SATs (MRW) and 28 ACT (submitted if had to), a 3.7 UW with IB diploma (so 4.3ish W?), excellent essays and a single, solid, interesting EC her results were:
Accepted:
Beloit 23K Merit
Clark 20K Merit
Lewis and Clark 17K Merit
Mount Holyoke 13K FA
Muhlenberg 15K Merit
Western WA 2K Merit
Whitman 10K Merit
Waitlisted:
Kenyon (guessing they were being nice–she had a great interview and is a writer, but had to submit test scores)
Skidmore (didn’t show any love and was never 100% in to them so ok)
Smith (will be pursuing this one, didn’t have a chance to visit, but will now and will show much love.)
Rejected:
Grinnell (bullet dodged–too much corn and not enough art!)
Wesleyan (this one hurt a bit given the test optional status and she would have been great there…)
We’re doing a tour in April (she hasn’t seen four of her accepted schools). Beloit would be a bargain for us and have shown her love, and I’m not sure Holyoke loves her like they should, but we will make what she wants work out of current income. (Gulp–but we have been living that way for quite a while now.)
I really want to express appreciation for this community. I have learned so much here. That is why I am willing to post D’s stats and FA/Merit. I should point out that we are in that $125K-$175K income zone (now that I am employed FT) where merit can make a big difference.
All results in. Frankly astonished by the financial aid packages, especially for some ‘need aware’ colleges. I was really worried having read how others felt applications were being declined because they asked for aid.
To provide some context: SAT 1950. GPA: 3.67 (UW). Private school, no ranking.
Acceptances: UCLA, UCSD, UCSB, UC Berkeley, Pomona, Hampshire, USC, Barnard, Smith, MHC, Michigan, NYU.
Full aid (all need based): Barnard, Pomona and Michigan
Full aid (with merit aid included): Smith and Hampshire
Terrible aid (mostly loans): NYU and USC
MHC gave full aid (with some merit) but had a much higher EFC.
UCs: wasn’t expecting much aid given OOS status
@PNWedwonk, I appreciate your last post. As the parent of a sophomore, it’s very helpful to me to see the kinds of merit awards given out to kids with particular stats. It really helps people plan for the future in terms of where they might even bother to apply. We have one at Skidmore with no merit (as Skidmore really doesn’t offer any except to a handful of music/math/science kids) and it is a bit of a strain financially. I can sympathize with you in that arena.
My DD was accepted into the University of Oklahoma Honors College and its Medical Humanities Scholars Program, an 8-year BA/MD program! Even before we knew the positive result of the BA/MD Program interview, we bought her 2 University of Oklahoma “crimson and cream” t-shirts with varying designs to go with the t-shirt she got from OU’s National Merit Scholars Program staff. Our DD is OU Bound! “Boomer Sooner!”
My daughter ( 3.9something u/w, 3.43 w GPA, 31 ACT, all the typical APs and honors classes, ECs - very active/section leader in band, JROTC officer, soccer.)
Accepted to Roanoke college w/ decent merit aid and an additional generous award from their scholars day competition, Guilford college with “eh” merit aid, CNU (Christopher Newport) and was selected as 1 of 25 presidential scholars there and her scholarships netted full tuition, Mount Holyoke with a 15K leadership award, and Smith. She was denied at William & Mary. Waiting on Cornell and anticipating a big fat no. Her #1 choice is and has been Smith, so she’s thrilled with that acceptance and I expect to be submitting the deposit tomorrow evening- ironically it’s the only school she got no merit aid from, but the Smith College Grant is very generous for her and we are satisfied with it.
I have to say this is our first experience with college stuff, and it went both a lot smoother than expected but also was so much more involved than I ever imagined. I’m pretty happy with how it all has worked out, and I am super proud of my daughter and how her hard work has paid off.
This is some journey. Our S was a crowd to 9 out of 10 schools, most with honors. He is proud, as are we. The last school was Cornell. He did not get accepted. He is thrilled to have chosen SUNY Binghamton . He is in their new Freahman Research Immersion Ptogram. It is hard to believe that we are done! Congrats to you parents, and all of your students.
LAC Options: Lewis and Clark, Oberlin, Smith, Mount Holyoke, St. Olaf and not LACs but Tufts, Univ of WA - interests science, old time/alt music/choir/orchestra, the outdoors, food allergies. Any thoughts on these campuses for someone like my daughter? L & C alum and went to grad school at Tufts but don’t know the undergrad scene at Tufts too well.
Have you looked at the food service web sites for each school. We have done this for a number of schools and found mostly very detailed high quality information. One school though basically said every dessert option was not safe for anyone with any allergy—yikes! That would be no fun for an entire year. If my child was going there I would probably ask that they find a way to include some of the prepackaged allergy safe dessert items because it is also by far the most expensive dining plan we saw.
Hello. My daughter was admitted to Brandeis, Smith, Northeastern, Lafayette, WPI, Bryn Mawr, Mt. Holyoke, Franklin and Marshall, Muhlenburg, Connecticut College and UMass Amherst. How should she decide where to go? I am somewhat familiar with Brandeis, Smith,Northeastern, Mt. Holyoke and Umass but completely ignorant about Lafayette, Franklin and Marshall and Muhlenburg. Her admission to Northeastern is only to the program in which you spend the first semester of freshman year abroad, which does not appeal to her as she would prefer to get settled on a campus. She thinks if she is going to choose a women only college Smith and Bryn Mawr are better than Mt. Holyoke. So she is mainly thinking of Lafayette, Brandeis, Smith, Bryn Mawr, or WPI. She is somewhat inclined to choose a coed college over one that is all women. She is good at STEM but also at everything else so her interests are not well defined. I would appreciate any comments regarding the flavor, character, or feel of the different schools, academic quality, student life, etc. I want her to be happy and healthy and with other bright well-rounded kids. I don’t want her to be at a school with a lot of heavy drinking or drugs or sexual assault. She enjoys playing a sport but at a club or intramural level. Thanks in advance!
Those are some great options your daughter has!! With broader interests she might not have as much flexibility at WPI (though if she were sure she wanted to focus on a tech major I would encourage it!). A friend of my S14’s goes to Brandeis and seems to be very happy – she’s a scholar athlete. Don’t have any thing to offer on the others. If she has a list of possible majors you could compare the departments.
Wow…what a long, strange trip this has been!! I am glad it is finally over!! I have learned so much about the process and can say that it is HORRIBLE. I have a short reprieve until my son starts his college search
My D was accepted to Boston U, Brandeis, U Pitt, Syracuse, and Washington & Lee University. She received merit scholarships from all but W&L won her over with their campus, reputation, and their fantastic financial package. She committed herself to be a General!
I wish you all the best as you find the right fit for you and your child. Here’s hoping that the process is simpler for the next kid!
Congrats to your D on her selection and ultimate choice of W&L. It’s a nice campus and the Shenandoah Valley is a beautiful location - especially in the fall.
I’ve mostly been active on the Music Major board but thought I’d pass along my D’s acceptances
Berklee College of Music
College of St. Rose
UMass Lowell
Univ of Colorado Denver
University of the Arts
University of Memphis
Loyola University New Orleans
The New School
She chose the University of Memphis where she received a full-tuition Music Performance Scholarship and will be pursuing a BM in Commercial Music Performance.
So happy for her and job well done managing applications and auditions.
What a trip this has been. Gut wrenching is an excellent way to describe the journey. First time parent of a senior and I must say how thankful I am for this site. I have learned so much and know that I will encourage my HS sophomore to do things a bit differently. Son applied to 9 schools for Mechanical Engineering accepted at Umass Amherst-12K merit,
Lafayette 0 merit, Lehigh 0 merit, Northeastern 0 merit, Purdue 0 merit, Virginia Tech 0 merit, Villanova - wait listed, denied at Cornell and CMU. Son is pretty happy with his acceptances. Mom and Dad kind of bummed out that we will be paying full sticker price for his school. Thought maybe he would decide on an OOS Public school which would still cost less than any of the privates. The competition in his major at the larger schools is fierce. The scale is leaning toward Lehigh at this point. We have been saving for years for college. Congrats to all of you parents for making it through this process. Happy Decision making to all of you.
@Asil65 My son is the other person on the list with an acceptance to Lehigh. As a Lehigh alum (not in engineering), I can tell you that Lehigh is a wonderful school, with lots of school spirit, great professors who are very approachable and has an excellent reputation for engineering. Feel free to PM me if you want to talk Lehigh. We had a great day at the admitted students event on Saturday, despite the snow. My S has not made a decision yet, but Lehigh is in the top three. We have also been saving for years for college and feel your pain. But I will say that Lehigh has a very active, loyal alumni base which is really helpful for new alums when job hunting. It’s been awhile (ahem) since I graduated, but I can’t think of any engineers I knew who did not leave with a job in hand.
Thank you PAO2008. All of the alumni I have spoken to have had only positive things to say about the school. " Best 4 years of their life ". Visiting Lafayette and Lehigh this weekend for our last accepted student visits then it is decision time. My son has not wanted to buy a T shirt yet at any of the schools we have visited. My H and I told each other we will know it is the right school when he asks to buy a T shirt. Will let you know if we come home with one.
