@britlass I have seen on CC that many kids are turning down UR to go elsewhere. Has she sent a note to UR with an update on her academic performance and confirming that she will go there if admitted?
Go to Stanford. Explore possibility of a semester at Columbia. Work in NYC during summers (best time to be here for students). NYC job community loves Stanford folk. Solved.
Have lurked here a long time. Enjoy reading everyone’s great news. Here is our son’s story:
ACT: 34
SAT: 1520
GPA: 4.6
9 AP classes in 4 years - 5’s on all tests
Extracurriculars: Choir (4ys) Theatre (4yrs) - with leads in all the musicals and plays since Sophomore year. Holds offices on the Theatre and Choir Boards, Student Council - 3 years; Executive Board (SC for whole school) senior year, NHS, Altar server at our parish
Liberal Arts Major (undecided) - but would like to be able to double major in vocal performance and something else. (Philosophy? Psychology? Theology?)
Applied and admitted to:
Notre Dame (EA) with $10,000 per year music scholarship
Villanova (RD) $15,000 Villanova Scholarship, Honors College
Fordham University (RD) Half-Tuition ($32K) - Deans Scholarship
Marquette (RD) Half-Tuition, Honors College
Catholic University (RD) Full-Tuition - Archdiocesan Scholarship
Attending: Notre Dame
Notre Dame is his first choice. It is the only school that offered him the ability to double major in vocal performance and another liberal art. While he had better offers from the other schools, Notre Dame still comes out on top for him. It checks all the boxes. Plus, it is a little over 2 hours away. We didn’t visit Marquette, even though it’s only 1 hour from us. He just wasn’t interested. Applied because he got a free waiver. Catholic U was a last minute application. He actually applied after the deadline. He was invited to interview for the Archdiocesan Scholarship which he did over Skype because we couldn’t get out there. He ended up getting it. It is an honor, but he does not want to go there. He applied because my husband and I were doing a lot of talking about the cost of ND. It is a lot of money. And we have saved enough for roughly 3 years. He will have to make up the rest.
My husband was recently diagnosed with cancer. Very rare tumor. Had major surgery in February and starts chemo next week (6 months) followed by radiation. I’m thankful that S will be close by. Even though the East coast schools gave him very generous offers, I think that he is meant to be at Notre Dame.
Congrats to all of you. It is such an exciting, yet bittersweet time. I’m enjoying each and every moment right along side of our son. Hope you are doing the same with your sons and daughters.
Would like to inform those going to Stanford that there is some courses in Stanford which allows you to study in NY for some time and get credits. It’s called “Stanford in NY”. Problem solved.
@Momx2boys How will your student make up a full year of costs (~$80-$85k by senior year)?
@business20211111 - I know of many close family friends who have sent their kids to UCB. They start with the knowledge that their kids will not be graduating in 4 years because of the number of classes offered compared to number of students. Cal can give your son a world class education because the kids that have stuck it out and graduated are doing very well and most have gone to graduate schools. The ones that are working now are doing well in their professional life. Hate to be in your shoes.
@Momx2boys How will your student make up a full year of costs (~$80-$85k by senior year)?
In actuality, his cost by 2021 will be approximately $55,000, as he received a music scholarship of $10,000 per year and has a guaranteed summer job for the next 4 years which makes minimum of $3,000. (This amount also takes into consideration tuition increases) He has $14,000 saved from working, which covers all of his expenses and books for 4 years.
We are prepared to let him use our HELO for what we can’t cover with his 529 fund - and will be required to pay this back once he graduates and starts working. If it means he lives at home in order to save on rent, then so be it.
He understands his responsibility and realizes that he could go elsewhere for a lot less. If you want something bad enough, you make it work.
@Momx2boys Sounds like a solid plan. Also, have you checked how many credits ND will give you for his APs? If he gets 9 X 3 credits he could probably graduate 1 or 2 semesters early.
londondad:
He is exploring that. We already know that his AP Euro Credit doesn’t transfer. Knowing my son, he’d rather take more classes instead of graduate early. 
We’ll have to wait and see!
“Knowing my son, he’d rather take more classes instead of graduate early.”
Not surprising! My kids are the same way - “What? Leave college early and get a real job? Why would I ever want to do that!” Also, if the APs can knock out of the core requirements, my kids will probably add another major or minor. I did find the AP Credit list on the ND website and I noticed that they omit credit for History but seem to give it for all the other core high school courses. I wonder why that is?
Londondad -
I asked this and they said that they feel history is so important, and want ND students to take their history classes to fulfill that requirement. I guess they don’t trust that the High School teachers have done as good a job as they can.
@carachel2 wow well congrats to you-so glad it worked out just they way you wanted. Best of luck to your D. And again thanks to all for your contributions to these threads. Once again I am so glad I found this blog 
@Jonsmom14 --thanks. It helps others out to list details.
It didn’t work out exactly the way we wanted…some big $$$ would’ve been better lol. But we will take this.
@Anxious56 Guessing your D is oos for NC state ?i believe only take like 15% oos. Did you want to post her stats ?
I am not much familiar with CC posting and looking for some advice. My son is accepted to Bowdoin, Vassar,
U Miami , UR and UCSD, UCD. U Miami offered him 25K/year merit, Foote honors program, lab course for integrated research in bio and chem and plenty of opportunities to do research at their medical school , shadowing etc as a premed.
Bowdoin is his other top choice( no scholarship but we can help pay and get out without debt) which will also prepare him well as premed. My son is struggling to make a choice between Bowdoin and U Miami. Any advise is greatly appreciated
@spiritedmind Miami and Bowdoin are very, very different schools. Obviously, Bowdoin as a LAC will have small classes and arts and sciences focus. UM, while a private school, is large for one (11k undergrads) and has more of a public university feel with a large number of students in preprofessional majors. It has a few strong programs but is not known as a strong arts and sciences school. If finances are not a major issue, Bowdoin would seem to be a much better option.
@spiritedmind If he 's pretty certain he’s going to med school I’d take Miami and save the money for Med School. Miami seems like a better choice all around.
Now that all results are in:
Decision: Accepted Pitt, USCali, UNC-CH, WashU, Columbia, Rice, Smith, BU, Fordham-LC, Penn, Princeton (deferred EA), UChicago, Drexel
Decision: Rejected MIT, Brown
Attending: Princeton
Objective:
SAT I (breakdown M/CR/W/Essay):
SAT I superscore (breakdown M/CR/W/Essay):
ACT (breakdown): 36C - 36E, 36R, 35M, 35S - 1 sitting
SAT II (subject, score): 800 Lit, 740 Math 2, 730 Bio
Unweighted GPA (out of 4.0):3.92
Weighted GPA: n/a
Rank (percentile if rank is unavailable): n/a
AP (place score in parentheses): School does not offer
IB (place score in parentheses): School does not offer
Senior Year Course Load: Standard + Calc 1 and 2 @ UPenn - Arabic @ Drexel
Major Awards (USAMO, Intel, etc.): none
Common Awards (AP Scholar, honor roll, NM things, etc.): NHRP, NMF, US Presidential Scholar nominee
Extracurriculars (name, grade levels, leadership, description): Drexel Student Fellows (Research and Presentation at Intl Conference) Journalism Club/Magazine Editor, Arabic Arts and Culture Club, Piano/Guitar
Job/Work Experience: Tutoring
Volunteer/Community Service: Election Ambassador
Summer Experience: Neuroscience Academy
Other
U.S. State/Territory or Country: Pennsylvania
School Type: Specialized Project-based curriculum
Ethnicity: Latina
Gender: F
Income Bracket Range: Middle-class
Hooks (URM, first generation, recruited athlete, development): URM
Reflection
Strengths: High Stats - Specialized curriculum*(project-based) differentiated her from the crowd.
Weaknesses: Lack of Community/Volunteer service other ECs
Update: she chose Williams 
What it came down to was fit. It’s where she sees herself for four years.
We’re done! My daughter is going to Pitt! I’m posting to help anyone in the future, since I found these posts helpful during our search:
D17 Stats
ACT: 35C (36M, 36R, 35E, 34S) - one sitting
SAT: 1490 - didn’t submit
SAT 2: 760 Math 2, can’t remember the other two! Chemistry and English, I think 740 and 720?
GPA: 95.5%UW
Rank: School doesn’t rank
National Merit Finalist (1490, 224 SI)
8 APs - scores ranging from 3 to 5
ECs: Normal-ish - ran cross-country (captain sr year), indoor and outdoor track (not a superstar runner, just enjoyed it); NHS; dance; Math League; works part-time job during school year, more in summer; other random clubs
Home state - NY
Income - >150,000
Race - Caucasian
Hooks - Female in engineering?
Major - Biomedical Engineering or Bioengineering (depending on what the school called it)
Accepted:
Pitt - Honors college, offered $15,000/yr merit, then replaced with Tuition Exchange scholarship (full-tuition)
Northeastern - offered $22,000/yr merit, then replaced with $30,000/yr for National Merit Finalist scholarship
WPI - offered $27,500/yr merit, then replaced with TE scholarship ($35,000)
Case Western - offered $29,500/yr merit
UDelaware - honors college, initially offered $13,000/yr merit, then replaced with TE scholarship (full-tuition)
UAlabama - honors college, NMF package (full tuition+) and engineering scholarship $2500/year
RIT - Tuition remission (full tuition)
Rejected: Brown, Princeton
It’s been a fun process! I tried to be helpful but not hovering. I didn’t want to create more stress than necessary and in the end, it’s her life. She has no regrets about where she applied/didn’t apply and is so excited about where she’s going (Pitt) AND we still have a great relationship. I can’t complain!
One tip for anyone who hasn’t started this process - if your hs school or an area school offers a course for writing college essays over the summer - take advantage of it! My daughter finished her common app essay plus had drafts for a couple others as a result of a four day course she took. It was so nice to start senior year off without that hanging over her head. Plus, she did it all without me needing to nag or prod her. Also - get a job at a university with Tuition Exchange benefits! It worked out great for us.