@dadof4kids , Your list says a lot to me about what you are looking for. Well done!
As for the outcome, you know I want you and @Calliemomofgirls at George. You’ll have a local friend!
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Yeah, but I want them at Millbrook!! 
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@gardenstategal @cinnamon1212 Boy I hope this becomes an issue. I’m a bit worried about apps being up across the board and this being a bad year to apply. I know for the selective colleges it is shaping up to be a brutal year. I could see BS becoming the same thing.
I can make a great argument for either. George seems the most universally loved place on CC, and several people have given me their very good reasons. Meanwhile, Millbrook checks most of the boxes, and a great reputation that seems to really fit her desires too.
If she is still struggling to decide in April, Millbrook should start flooding her email with pics of kids feeding lemurs, that could easily sway her!
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@dadof4kids These are the criteria we used for DD, also. And I agree with your last statement (as I, on occasion, briefly wonder if we had enough schools on the list). I think you, I and @Calliemomofgirls have crossover even though my DD does not play VB. It will be interesting come M10 where we all land and if we are united come A10. Also, I think you have a K21 (did I remember that right?), so I’ll be interested to see where they land as my DS is applying to college now, too.
Kudos to making it this far into the process and Good Luck this Spring for both of your kids!
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buuzn03, what was the final school list for your DD? Super curious to see if we have any overlap.
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Scrolling through a lot of this, but not all. Even tho your D leans liberal, I would encourage that you investigate military coed high schools. This may be largely impactful with getting her out of “slacker” mode and help her mature and find her inner strength and serve as a motivator. She may just need help stepping out of her siblings’ shadows. Just a thought…
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Ok, apps all in, but prepping and worrying not over.
Note to future completely inexperienced dads reading this (or myself next year if need be):
Bunch up the interviews. Maybe this is just my kid, but when she was having one every few days she really hit her stride. The first couple were choppy. Then we had a couple later additions at the end, and they were also choppy. She kind of struggled to get into that mode of thinking. Once she was there, I thought she did well. This actually is a note from her. After we were done she told me that if we have to do it again she would rather do them everyday than have them so spread out.
Here is the current plan (I’m an overplanner):
If good news, dance around my living room making embarassing noises and then get on here to get advice of how to make choices with limited time and limited info, especially since I’m not optimistic about visits. I’ll worry more about this later if I need to, I can handle good problems.
If no good news, figure out the best way to move forward. I don’t think she needs to (or should) decide if she is going to reapply right away. That can be decided when we all have clearer heads than we will M10, or probably for the next few days or maybe weeks after, if it is not good news. As far as the LPS goes, they annoy me but I know what she needs to do to get set up for the college search if she stays here. If she decides she wants to reapply, or at least may, then I we need to do a better job of getting her set up for that. I probably need to do a bit of a post mortem and figure out what went wrong. I may see if a couple of you would look at her final package, and there were a couple of interviewers that may be willing to give some advice, not sure but I would probably ask.
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@dadof4kids , I love the planner in you, but I will eat dirt if you don’t have options on M10. I really believe that you’ve gone about this in a way that is true to your D, and that’s almost always a recipe for success. Start practicing your embarrassing sounds!
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Congrats @dadof4kids and to your daughter (and to @Calliemomofgirls and her DD as well). That’s a lot of work but you had a well-thought approach, and I’m sure it will go well for you all. I am keeping my fingers crossed that you choose Mercersburg, personally; it is the epitome of the “kinder gentler BS”.
But re: your question as to how to decide… even in this time of virtual visits, PLEASE do the Revisit Days for accepted families. Mercersburg did ours virtually last April and they were very succesful, even though we were all still very much Zoom novices at that point. This year I think they will be even better, with opportunities to connect with current parents (moi!), students, and faculty. We are happy to help you try and get an authentic feel for our schools. We all want you to find the best fit. Hang in there…M10 will be here before you know it!
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Thanks for the votes of confidence. I’m going to be a wreck until M10. I feel like on a lot of things I’m a pretty fair judge of my kids. But I really have no context for what she needs to be successful in the application process, which is part of my nervousness. I guess I know some of what is expected, but what makes a typical “yes” kid vs. a typical “no” kid is what I don’t know.
Even if I did, I think she isn’t typical. I wouldn’t be surprised if there are zero kids from our state total at all 14 schools she applied to. At least 2 interviewers said they had never interviewed anyone from our state. (I’m hoping a few want to be able to add a +1 to their state count for 4 years). She’s not an athletic recruit, and she’s solid academically but not a top academic recruit either. She is one of those well rounded kids, which I wouldn’t worry about at all except we need substantial FA and well rounded kids are probably fairly easy to find in the full pay pool. So ultimately I think she has a big positive (geographic diversity, both for shading in the map but also just bringing a different background and perspective) and a big negative (FA need). The rest is probably neutral, a solid but not outstanding kid overall. We will see how that plays out.
I am encouraged about this whole endeavor by the number of parents, both on this thread and in pm’s, that have give some version of “pick me” when mentioning their kid’s school. I assume that means that your kid had/is having a a great experience.
@hellomaisy any revisit days, in person visits or virtual, will be the #1 priority in our house for 30 days. This is a huge decision, and while I really do think that she could be happy at any of them, there are a lot of differences and I want her to be able to make the best choice. We kind of threw “rank” and prestiege out the window a while ago, at least to the extent that if you made her list you passed, and that criteria is pass/fail. So it won’t really help in the decision making process. It will all come down to what her experience will be at the different schools.
If visits are all virtual, we will probably look at the calendar and see which schools have compatible schedules. It may be possible to keep more on the list than we would be able to in a normal year, which is a double edged sword. If we can go places in person, she may have to narrow it down to 2 or 3 pretty quickly. I did tell her that I reserve the right to have one dad pick on the list, although honestly I don’t know who that would be right now. I won’t make the final pick, but I may pick a finalist. She has one school she probably likes the least, and I do worry that Taft may not be what she is looking for based on what I hear on CC, although from her interview it still sounded like a good fit and she likes them. But overall if we have the (unlikely) fortune to have say 8-10 choices it is going to be a mess to figure out. I’ll probably be here trying to get that list pared down to 3-4 as quickly as possible so she can drill down on the last few and figure it out.
I need to do something else and not obsess for the next 32 days. Not optimistic about that!
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@dadof4kids - my guess is that coming from an unknown state is a huge plus. If your daughter passes the “seriously? Does she really know what she is doing?” test, AOs will be fascinated by her and what got her to apply when it is so outside of the box of her home community. They love kids who are open to new experiences. She checks that box with a lightening strike.
And that she applied to the lesser known schools for all the right reasons, some of them will be drooling over the kid who can do what she has done.
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I agree with this! DD had the same experience - her first interview was eh and her last (several weeks out from the others) was eh.
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@hellomaisy what if @dadof4kids @Calliemomofgirls and my DD all went to MB next year?!? That would be AWESOME SAUCE!
I agree with you, though, that Dad and Callie’s kids both had a well-thought out approach and will have great news on M10.
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Just putting it on the record that I want all of you to end up at Millbrook! If you do, and COVID allows, you are all invited to my farm
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At a minimum I am grabbing a couple bottles of your vodka (stupid state liquor distrubution laws)!
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+1 on the interviews as shared by @dadof4kids and @buuzn03.
+1000 on @buuzn03 and @dadof4kids and my kiddo all being together because that would make me super happy.
+1000 on visiting @cinnamon1212 on her farm! Didn’t end up applying to Millbrook, but Berkshire and Emma aren’t far away. (compared to California).
Also: once covid is much improved, I am visiting everyone and hugging everyone and making it my life’s work to see the people that have fallen to low priority because “life is too busy.” So fair warning I may be weird about visiting people who just meant it as a casual internet invitation that amounts to nothing. Have hat; will travel will be my new motto. (Also: all my kids will practically be out of the house starting this fall, and my one holdout can speed dial me in an emergency, so…).
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It was a sincere invitation!!
My farm is 15 minutes from Millbrook and 30 minutes from Berkshire, so definitely in range.
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Y’all are all welcome to come visit us anytime – we will also be empty nesters with multiple extra bedrooms. I must provide the disclaimer that we live in the desert and it is pretty ugly and isolated out here.
And for all you machete carrying serial killers (inside joke–scroll back on the Misc Ramblings thread), you are welcome as long as you leave the machete behind!
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But wait a minute!! I had already fluffed the pillows in my guest room and started chilling the wine for everyone when they ended up at George!
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California much? 
.
We have a humble abode, and there aren’t any boarding schools nearby, but if Berkeley is on your college list, we got you!
And then there is always Napa Valley to consider…
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