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<p>I wonder how many of these schools are ‘need sensitive’ and perceive these prospective students as more likely to be full pay students. May be cynical but…</p>
<p>ohmmom: You sound just like the rest of us. Welcome!</p>
<p>Thought I would check in here today as I heard the MD decisions were out. Congrats linymom and jaynebe on UMD acceptances! I am pretty certain we will be waiting for MD this time next year. </p>
<p>The college process is moving along slowly with D2 (junior). Visited a few schools so far and we haven’t had any WOW factor yet. She likes some, but they are either too large or too small. My DH has started calling her Goldilocks…and yes, she is blonde!</p>
<p>Need to plan the spring break trip and maybe she will find the one that’s “just right”. </p>
<p>Congrats to everyone else getting acceptances. So many new posters, it’s so great! I think this thread will still be going when Rockville’s S2 graduates!</p>
<p>linymom and jayne,</p>
<p>Congrats. Hope it all ends the way you want it to.</p>
<p>Welcome Ohmmom - you sound exactly like me at this point last year! You will find a wealth of knowledge on this thread.</p>
<p>Thanks Rockville mom! Yes, I do feel better about the fact that they have a strong Hillel at Lafayette and this may be a top choice for him. Also looking at Delaware which is a top choice also. Totally different kind of school with amazing Hillel! Anyone here have exeriences at Delaware?</p>
<p>Kid is overwhelmed, mom is “a bit” pushy. Hmmmm, sounds so familiar. Boy, are you on the right thread, Ohmmom!</p>
<p>Also got the U Maryland acceptance yesterday, but not really considering it (still, exciting to get an acceptance). The big day is Friday, I hope, waiting on Miami decision. Then, he will most likely choose between Miami and Tulane. Personally, I like Tulane (and the $$ they are offering!). Liny, if they really do release the Miami decisions in batches alphabetically, we are going to be last! We are Z!!</p>
<p>Hoping someone here has experience with this question–D would like to do a gap year in Israel. She as been accepted to many small, private LACs with merit scholarships, as well as one SUNY with no scholarship offer. We will not qualify for financial aid, but that does not mean that we can pay full freight at these small, private schools. If she requests to defer for a year, will she forfeit the merit money? One school says right on the letter that the scholarship money is only for the term for which she has been accepted (ie, Fall 2013) and that if she defers she will be reconsidered next year. The others do not address it at all. I’d hate to have her take the deferral, and then not have the scholarship money available. We have the SUNY as a financial safety just in case. I know each school is probably different and I will need to ask them directly when she narrows down her list, but I’m wondering if anyone here has been in the same situation and what their experience was.</p>
<p>Jozuko-We are waiting on Miami too (and also loving Tulane and $$). I am a “W” who married an “A!” Finally a benefit! (In 3 years of law school, I never got called on because every prof called on students in alphabetical order.)</p>
<p>Jozuko: I’ve been PMing with Illinoismom93. She has a true grip on decisions being released at Miami But don’t tell rightofway I said that. </p>
<p>DS said last night that he too prefers Tulane to Maryland. I’m just glad he’s letting us know where his head is (and DH asked, not me!)</p>
<p>Friday can’t come fast enough.</p>
<p>Eastcoast101, I think you need to phone both Admissions and FA at each college and then ask this question. If you get an answer you like, ask that person to mail you letter confirming that your daughter’s scholarship is secure. That way you have a document for next year to show them. </p>
<p>(btw, we are also in that weird financial donut hole of not qualifying for aid and not able to spend 200K on a degree. It’s so ironic that we aren’t poor enough to afford privates w/o merit aid.)</p>
<p>Congrats, Linymom. I have a good friend (a different LI NY mom) with a kid at UMDCP engineering, very happy there.</p>
<p>Congrats to all the other recent fat envelope recipients.</p>
<p>ohmmom - welcome! I think you’ll find this thread a very comfortable fit. And fun too!</p>
<p>Congratulations to everyone who received good news from Maryland yesterday.</p>
<p>My daughter did a gap year in Israel.
Out of the five schools she applied to, one did not offer merit aid at all, one would not defer merit aid, and three said they would defer it. </p>
<p>She was offered merit scholarships at two of the four schools that accepted her and we confirmed with both that the specific scholarship would be available to her if she deferred. She is now a freshman and has her four-year merit scholarship as offered to her in the spring of 2011.</p>
<p>Long story short, ask the schools.</p>
<p>Thank you, DeskPotato. I know I need to ask each school, I was just wondering if others had been in this situation and what their experience was. It’s good to know that at least some schools are willing to defer the scholarships.</p>
<p>Hurray for all the new acceptees! The 2013 kids are doing VERY well.
I have no horse in this race and am holding my breath, waiting on these Miami decisions. I hope that they send them out in a timely fashion…</p>
<p>re: Gap years and merit aid, you have to call each school directly. </p>
<p>re: Elon, its star is definitely on the rise.</p>
<p>The one school that said they wouldn’t defer the scholarship actually didn’t yank it completely; they just knocked it down to a three-year scholarship. (They didn’t give her one anyway so it was moot.)</p>
<p>I’m a mom from the 2012 thread and have lurked here often because I had a B student last year, but I’m not Jewish so didn’t know if it okay to be a part of this thread:). Anyway, my 2012 DS is on a gap year right now. He will join the class of 2017 at St Lawrence University this Fall. He was awarded a huge merit scholarship and they are definitely holding it for him. He just had to send in the deposit last May, and write a short letter stating what he was going to be doing on his gap year, and they were more than happy to grant him the year off. I think colleges really like kids who take gap years… there is huge evidence that gap year kids do really well in college and have MUCH lower drop out rates. My S is having the most amazing year and has grown in so many ways it is unbelievable. Now DS 14 wants to take one too. I would encourage any graduating Senior to consider it if they are in any way not as mature as you would like to see at this stage in the game.</p>
<p>Thanks for the welcomes. I’m so excited to have found this group. I’m not looking forward to D going away to school, but I am ready to be past this transitional, decision-making, uncertainty phase. I cheer for your posts of acceptances and it reminds me that in a year we will be there, too. </p>
<p>We’re in that group that expects little to no need-based aid but have limits on what we can afford. Substantial merit aid is a big issue for us. I feel like I always sound like that is THE most important thing. It isn’t, it’s just seems to be the most difficult of all of our criteria to manage and predict. My D has worked hard, her stats are very good so far, I think her EC’s are pretty good. I’m concerned that she doesn’t have a “hook.” Most of D’s ECs are not school related or athletic. Most have been at our synagogue or NFTY (some leadership, some community service, some music). She also has been taking private piano lessons for 11 years, private voice lessons for a couple of years, and plays the guitar. She is not going to be a music major, music is a hobby. She is pretty good, but probably not music major material. Does anyone have information on how these kinds of ECs are viewed by colleges compared to school-related ECs. She’s in NHS, MAT, French and Key Clubs but they aren’t very active chapters. She attends a public inner-city magnet school where kids live spread out over a very large geographic area so school organizations are not as active as they might be at other schools. I would appreciate any thoughts on this question (other than telling me what a college-obsessed helicopter mom I am ;))</p>