My D is in at Eckerd. She liked it (we visited last year), but seems like she probably won’t go there. Her little sister is totally decided to go there (class of 2024 HS! so probably will change her mind).
If you have any questions about Eckerd, feel free to PM me. Our 2 children graduated from there. We liked the area so much, we live most of the year in St. Pete Beach. BTW, Eckerd’s family weekend is in February!
@ECmotherx2. Oh thanks for the info. I will PM you. I suspect I will have more questions after a visit, but we probably won’t be able to get away to visit for a couple of months. DD is into theatre, and rehearsals get in the way of my travel plans, lol. She just got accepted to Loyola New Orleans, another school that is very attractive to her – it is going to be a tough decision.
@mstee Go with FL. As much fun as NOLA is, FL has the best beaches.
That’s one thing I’m wondering. My S is not really into beaches (although he was a good swimmer as a child, he lost interest) or water sports. Wondering how unusual that will be at Eckerd. He also has the option of New Orleans, though he has no interest in Mardi Gras-style partying. We still have a few more schools to hear from, and they are all over the country, so will be very interesting to see where he feels most comfortable.
@crowlady Was mainly picking the beaches for the parents. As a parent, I’m looking to see where I would enjoy visiting my child. 
In all seriousness, while your S is no longer into water activities…who knows??? He may get back into it if he goes to a school in FL where his peers like to paddle board or scuba.
My DD will be going to a school in a big Midwestern city so no water for me!
Hope your S gets more acceptances during the next few weeks.
@chicagosportsfn Ah yes, not by coincidence S’s entire list includes places we like to visit, unless he picks one of the locals (he is leaning against those).
Some of you are already there, but for those who aren’t, this thread is not very active because most of the celebratory action is over here: http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/class-20xx-community/1296016-parents-of-the-hs-class-of-2016.html Feel free to join us!
@crowlady, there are plenty of water sport activities at Eckerd, but also so many other activities, clubs and sports that your son would not feel out of place. Eckerd offers 3 accepted student weekends in the Spring. They do a great job in showing what is available at Eckerd and giving students and parents plenty of time to see if it is the right “fit”. I’m on the parent council and we do a panel with current students for parents. Everyone is very honest and open in their answers as we want the student and parents to be happy with the choice.
Accepted to UMich computer science!
DD wants to attend a school in a ‘location’ for undergrad or grad/professional school. 3 of her top 5 are either in-state or adjoining states (in fact, one in an adjoining state is actually the closest), but her two more distant schools are also in NOLA and Florida. Financial considerations will probably rule out NOLA (Tulane) and DD really isn’t the type to love a place like NOLA for more than a summer semester.
The Florida school, UCF, is one of her top choices as well as being her financial safety. We visited over and around the Thanksgiving holiday, awesome visit all around and loved the school, and her little brother keeps telling her she NEEDS to go there so he can visit her as often as possible. (-:
Son accepted into u of Michigan too. Son’s first choice is Ross business school. If that does!t work out, he will study computer too with a business minor.
My DS got into UMich (engineering), Perdue (engineering), and IU (Kelley), and FSU and USF (we live inFL). He is still waiting to hear from GA Tech, which is a top choice for him. He also applied to UVA, Cornell, Emory, Miami, and UT Austin. He is hoping to get accepted to GA Tech which is probably tied with Michigan. Not sure what his preference would be between the two. Good luck everyone!
@mom2ljr My vote would be UMich because they’ve got the coolest helmets in college football.
So nice to hear about students getting accepted to colleges that seem well suited for them.
My oldest is at a $65k/yr university. My next in line was just offered a $20k/yr merit based scholarship. This would obviously help the family. However, the school offering the free money is not her top choice. Don’t want to tell any of my children they have to go to a particular college but $80k is real money! I know other parents who told their children they could either go to school offering most money or take out loans to pay the equivalent at the school of their choice. Any thoughts appreciated. Thanks
@Jdjd3kids - any chance the older would contribute to the younger once s/he has a job after graduation? That’s one thing we’ve talked about with our oldest, if family resources get shifted for him. We talked about how if he took a loan, he’d be on the hook to someone else, with interest - bank of Mom and Dad, would be easier but more squishy, so we’d have to all be eyes wide open.
@Jdjd3kids really tough to impose a budget or other restriction at this point I think. Did you have those talks during application time? If it’s a matter of going into huge debt vs. disappointing your child then I think there’s a clear answer. Go for the merit. And for child #3, look at total COA, not just merit $.
Just back and coming up for air after 10 days away visiting family. I need a vacation to recover from vacation, but no - back to work on Monday. We arrived home to the 3rd (of 3) EA replies. S has been accepted at Seattle U, Santa Clara U, and Fordham. Three RD schools to go, with one app to finish - today. Aid from the 3 so far ranges (in no particular order) from a couple thousand per semester to a full ride (!!!).
The three RD schools are all more reach (or crapshoot) schools, and give less aid. Two of them give no merit aid, and we’ll qualify for very little otherwise. BUT - at the outset, our agreement was that any of these schools would be OK. He’s a deliberative kid - won’t walk away from a full ride without really good reason - but we’ll see how it goes.
D got in Carleton ED as an athlete! I am excited for her to experience the cold because she is a cali girl! Of course for her to make the best out of the great school and great sport team too!
@2manybooks – Congrats on having a number of great acceptances to choose from already. It’s a nice feeling isn’t it? And a full ride!
@kchendds – Congrats on the ED to Carleton, and hope she enjoys the snow. It does take some getting used to. I found it annoying, moving to MN from CA, and not being able to walk outside barefoot whenever I felt like it . . . Still do, actually. However, snow is pretty, once you get used to it.
DD has five nice choices now-- Willamette, Loyola New Orleans, Temple Japan, Gustavus, and Eckerd. I am very excited to visit the schools she hasn’t seen yet. And I think she is too. When the acceptance from Willamette came, I was really surprised, because I didn’t know she had applied. I felt dumb but happy.