My daughter exactly. the opposite accepted at Berkeley, UCSD but waitlisted at UCLA. Full merit at USC. Waitlisted or rejected at Ivies. Very Competitive High School, high SAT. The process is just very random.
Hi everyone - not sure if this is the right place to post this (and sorry if this is the wrong place) but here I go: my son (1450 SAT, 3.9 GPA at a top school in the state, athletics, extracurriculars, you name it) also didn’t make it into any of his top 10 choices. We’re just gutted and the craziest thing is that our college counselor said that this is supposed to build character and resiliance, and that my son will come to appreciate this situation in the future. While that may be true (I certainly hope so), it really hurts to hear that kind of message - that despite doing everything right, it didn’t work out and there’s no additional options out there besides soldiering on with the safety school neither of us thought was going to be in play. I know the counselor’s message is meant to be encouraging, but it just feels cold at this point…
@mpeteresearch did he get waitlisted at least? If so, I can offer some hope that young people will most likely be offered spots off the waitlist. I am truly sorry that you are having to experience this time of reflection and celebration in a way that leaves you gutted and your son gutted. Overall the college process is a gamble with no real predictability in my opinion.
@trippfolsom thank you for this - I really appreciate the support (and being part of a supportive community like this definitely helps, especially since I was surprised at the lack of empathy that came from the inside of the process). He’s waitlisted at 2 places so those are still a possiblity. We’ll be crossing our fingers for sure
@mpeteresearch Sorry to hear that. What were his top 10 choices? Unless they were all T20 schools I’m surprised. Might seem like it now but maybe a blessing if the safety is near home with all that’s going on.
My S is still undecided. He was accepted to Milwaukee School of Engineering (nice scholarship), University of Wisconsin- Madison (College if Letters and Science), and University of Minnesota- Twin Cities (College of Science and Engineering). He was rejected at Colorado School of Mines.
Cost is essentially the same at all 3 schools, and he has narrowed it down to Wisconsin and Minnesota. He’s looking at either engineering or physics at Minnesota, or the BS-AMEP (Applied Mathematics, Engineering, and Physics) degree at Wisconsin. We were hoping to go back to Madison to talk to someone about the AMEP degree because it’s unique, but now he’s just trying to email. My gut tells me he’s going to be a Badger, but we’ll see!
Daughter- From IL -
Accepted:
University of Tampa - $15K
U of Illinois - Minimal $$
Berkeley - only federal pell $$
UCSD - $26K scholarship
USC - early acceptanced and invited to the scholarship event - received a quarter tuition but she is a National merit finalist so can get 1/2 tuition if she selects USC as her 1st choice - $28K plus another $2K plus 28K need based - net around $24K
NYU - $52K Need based scholarship
University of South Florida- Can get full ride because of NMF - never visited - told her to apply here since it would be a full ride and my parents live near Tampa
Waitlisted: Yale and Wash U St. Louis
Denied: University of Chicago
This is my first child in college and she’s struggling between USC and NYU. Net cost in total loans between $19K-$24K each year however its all based on 2018 and my ex didn’t work that entire year and he completes the fafsa and we both complete the CSS so I am trying to understand how much of her need based grant from USC can change in upcoming years, and how much of her $52K need based scholarship from NYU can change in future years -anyone have any recommendations on where I should post my Financial aid quesitons? NYU told me over the phone that is the base and it typically will not change even after I explained the situation however the website states differently about signficant changes in income. The ex went from no income in 2018 to %52K in 19’ to $75K in 20’ HELP !
Accepted (In order of COA, low to high, after merit): University of Alabama, Ohio State, Miami University, University of South Carolina, Rhodes, Indiana University, Denison, Furman, Drexel, Tulane, Kenyon, Bucknell. No waitlists, no rejections.
@2suns02 Congratulations!! It looks like you carefully decided where to apply, with no waitlists or rejections! Have you decided?
What do you plan to study? I am a freshman at Bucknell. Feel free to ask any questions, Congrats on all your acceptances. You are some great choices.
Indeed, @momof3co, he was some cautious about where he applied. His private school does not rank or weigh GPA’s, and does not offer much in the way of honors/AP classes. It was somewhat difficult to gauge his chances.
@2suns02 Well nicely done (by both of you, I’m sure)! I haven’t seen anyone else on here with only acceptances! My D had a 25% rejection rate, which was hard even with the acceptances. I wish we had been more thoughtful earlier on.
Hi. Not sure if this is the right place to post this, but my daughter is down to 2 choices which are University of Richmond and Rochester Institute of Technology. She applied for a computer science major in all schools and she is definite that she wants to pursue a science degree. As we live in Asia, we haven’t been able to visit any of the schools, but she has done the virtual tours and has been attending all possible webinars. She loves the idea of UR as a smaller, more intimate institution, but remains uncertain on her decision because she keeps wondering if she will receive a better education in a Tech school than in a Liberal Arts College. Does anyone have any similar experience they can share or offer any advise?
I’m not sure if I did a whole rundown before, so I’m gonna do it again.
My D is homeschooled, 4.0 uw (very few “mommy grade” classes- 4 over four years), but a 1090 SAT and 22 ACT. She has six DE classes with a 4.0. She is an intended dance major (double major with education), but has only been dancing since sophomore year.
No academic rejections
Dance rejections:
Point park
Shenandoah
Dominican U of CA
Sacred Heart (don’t have a dance major but not accepted into their full dance company)
Adelphi
George Mason
Waitlisted:
LMU
Accepted/ academic scholarship per year:
Dean college: $33,000
Springfield College: $30,000
Rutgers Mason Gross: $4,000
Stockton: $8000
Goucher: $33,000
Radford (in state): $4,000
Old Dominion (in state): $4,000
College of Charleston: $2,000
U of Wyoming: $4,000
U of Roehampton London: $5,000
Attending:
Goucher College, deferred to start in 2021
Decision wasn’t based on scholarships because she will be using the GI bill and would have no out of pocket cost at any of the schools anyway. She fell in love with Goucher’s campus and warm feel, and likes the things easily accessible in Towson. They also did the absolute best job of feeding her (she has celiac so it’s a serious consideration). She also likes their 4+1 master in teaching program and that is her intended path. Her second runner up was Dean, but she never got to visit and couldn’t bump something she loved for something that was a question mark. Their dance program is better on paper though and she wishes she could have truly compared. Her third choice was Wyoming, which was absolutely perfect in every way- except location. She just couldn’t get past the distance, isolation, and long harsh winters. Roehampton would have been a serious contender if they offered gap years (all the other schools would).
@milgymfam Congrats to your daughter! I know how challenging the process for dancers is as I have a freshman BFA dancer at SUNY Purchase. It sounds like your daughter had great options to pick from and she’s happy with her choice ? Going through this process with my son this year was so different! Just had to apply academically and wait for the decisions. Now if I can just get him to decide between his final two…
@jasper Hi Jasper! You seem very knowledgable about colleges and a strong advocate for Bucknell. That is great! I am currently deciding between Bucknell and Villanova. My parents are pushing me hard towards Nova but after your comments I have decided to reconsider Bucknell. Please share any additional thoughts You’ve been great thus far and I look forward to your response.
@redrose3131 - I can only speak about Bucknell. Both are great schools. You can’t go wrong at either place. I am really happy at Bucknell and I have close friends that luv Nova. Good luck.
Hi everyone, I got admitted into a bunch of schools and I have absolutely no idea how to choose. Essentially, a bunch of factors worked out in my favor that made the schools almost have the same advantages. Any advice on the schools mentioned here would be extremely appreciated, especially their industry connections and career prospecting. I want to major in Computer science.
Here are my schools in no particular order:
University of Pittsburgh
Ohio State University
University of Michigan (but this one costs ALOT)
University of Maryland at College Park (didn’t get into CS, but internal transfer is noncompetitive)
My S acceptance list with big merit and FA awards: Wooster, Knox, Coe, Lewis & Clark, and Lawrence
Still waiting on Whitman and St Lawrence decisions. His interests: environmental studies/science, creative writing, UF and Greek life
He’s thinking about Duke Nicholas School of the Environment (Whitman & SLU have 3-2 w/Duke) and Iowa’s Writer’s Workshop for grad school (Knox, Coe & Lawrence have gotten students in).
His top picks: SLU, Whitman, Wooster
Mine: SLU, Wooster, Whitman
I almost lost him five yrs ago. He was hospitalized for six months. I want him to thrive but also be protected and looked after to some extent. I’m also worried about schools that lack political diversity, encourage extremism on either side or are intolerant of middle of the road independents and place activism over education. Any input, information, suggestions are so welcome. I don’t know these schools at all and am worried not being able to visit. Are any of these better choices for him?