<p>Yes! She is riding the bus they offer from Manhattan (we are in North NJ about 20 minutes outside the city.) Congratulations, and don’t worry about the others - focus on the opportunities!</p>
<p>RayneDrops:
I have not heard from Bowdoin either. But I hope to soon as it overlaps with another. 2 kids from my school went to Bowdoin last month and had a blast…though one will not be applying because the location is just too far and would cost him and his family a fortune to get back and forth on breaks. The other, who was NOT a liberal arts school fan, now will apply (though preference is still HYPish schools)</p>
<p>Just got into Mount Holyoke! Hope to go from there to Colby.</p>
<p>Rejected at Middlebury, Amherst and …?? Can’t remember the other (s).</p>
<p>I can’t wait to see these schools and really start getting a feel for things. My safety school applications are all now in (state schools, mainly). So now I want to see more of ‘the world’ and make some choices. Lovin’ my parents for making me write essays and fill out these things. Without these flyins, I would not have been able to see these schools!</p>
<p>TO ALL: Oberlin is still accepting apps for the flyins. Not up my alley but thought I would share.</p>
<p>HSG</p>
<p>Picktails, I’ll be flying in at like 4 A.M. Getting there so early will be exhausting, but at the same time, I think it makes it even more exciting! 
I’m from FL, so the bus option was out for me, haha.</p>
<p>Hsgrad, Thanks for your responses on this page and the Bowdoin one! I had a chance to visit Oberlin and have an interview this summer because my sister goes to Carnegie Mellon, and the drive wasn’t too far. I liked the open atmosphere, and the campus was lovely, but they’re so into propping up diversity-this and diversity-that, that I almost felt it was possible to slip through the cracks if you don’t have anything interesting in your heritage. I was about to try and apply to the fly-in only to realize I wasn’t even eligible because I’m white. </p>
<p>I know that the other college fly-in’s I applied to didn’t specifically say you have to be a person of color, but do you think that that could be why I was rejected?? Someone posted that the September Bowdoin fly-in only had two white kids out of the 50 or so attending, which leaves me to think my chances aren’t too high. :/</p>
<p>Oh well! Looking ahead and thinking positively. 
Thank you for your help, guys!</p>
<p>Interesting RayneDrops - I thought all of these programs were for persons of color? My daughter is invited to Brown for “Students of Color Day,” which I admit sounds very odd.
She is still applying to the Oberlin fly-in for December, but is too busy now for anything else.</p>
<p>@ Picktails.</p>
<p>Some of the programs specify exactly the type of students they are looking for.</p>
<p>Some, like Colby and Tufts, may state High School Seniors, different backgrounds (this does not have to always mean ethnicity)</p>
<p>The diversity can mean, diverse political views, someone from a Large city as opposed to a small one. </p>
<p>As such, students from any ethnicity/race can apply to those. </p>
<p>Hope that helps.</p>
<p>Picktails,</p>
<p>As learninginnprog explained, it’s not necessarily only for students from certain ethnicities, although there does seem to be a strong, strong preference for those students; for the ones I applied to, they said you have to be a person of color and/or have significant financial need.</p>
<p>Thank you both, I was not aware of the criteria. We are using a college counselor that only advises minority students for top tier colleges; this is how we discovered these programs. It has been a learning process, to say the least…</p>
<p>I will say that for kids at boarding schools these fly ins are great, but require a lot juggling with transportation to the airport, getting acceptance forms faxed from school by child/counselor and then from home by parents and trying to keep track of where the heck they are going since they sometimes apply and forget to mention it. Colby College came out of the blue…had no idea it was on the list. Left hand/ Right hand. Plus, if the fly in falls on a school break it is bitter sweet as they lose a weekend home and we parents lose a weekend with them. But as others have said…we are VERY grateful for these options.</p>
<p>And I will second the postings on various threads that Oberlin is still accepting (and we hear from our counselor LOOKING FOR) applicants.</p>
<p>T</p>
<p>p.s. The farthest we have heard is coming from Hawaii to the east coast for a fly in. These kids are GO GETTERS!</p>
<p>Picktails, when they don’t specify just ALANA or AHANA, ‘diversity’ usually means racial/ethnic minorities, low income and ‘first gen’ (first generation to go to college). So the idea is to increase all groups that are traditionally under-represented on college campuses (esp. selective colleges). Sometimes, though, they can even distinguish between URM (under rep…) and ORM (over rep…). AA and Hispanics in the first group, and Asians in the second. Yep, it is a steep learning curve isn’t it!!! just be glad our girls are making the most of their opportunities!</p>
<p>RayneDrops, don’t worry, they are looking for strong students who fit their criteria. Bowdoin definitely accepts on basis of income too. I just think that more ALANA groups know about the programs, and so more apply – it is hard to get the word out to other students…you will have a great time at Carleton and Tufts (and maybe Bowdoin)!</p>
<p>Just got into Bowdoin. Rejected at Middlebury and Amherst (and others) and so this is a surprise. Now, I have to get my parents to let me go from Bowdoin to another back to back. Never been to Maine and while Bowdoin is in a nice town (city?), it is still TOTALLY removed from all I know and have experienced (I am from the south).
Hold out hopes, folks. I started out with lots of rejections but now am getting some offers. Glad I did not throw in the towel early on in the face of early rejections.</p>
<p>Congratulations hsgrad! Took my D to visit Bowdoin this past summer. Maine is beautiful, the town is small but has some nice cafes and a good feeling. Winters are COLD!!</p>
<p>Dd made it to Williams for the WOW event. She is smitten! She texted to say how absolutely beautiful it is. Loved the class that she sat in on…said it was “TOTALLY AMAZING”. I hope the love fest continues until tomorrow. Has anyone else done WOW? How did you like your experience?</p>
<p>The lovefest comment it totally on point NewHavenCTmom! The further removed the fly in becomes, the more you can gauge whether the ‘connect’ was with the fun of traveling, meeting other kids and being courted…or with the exact college.
Friend’s son got back from Dartmouth’s program and LOVED it…until he went to Amherst…then Amherst until he went to Swarthmore! He still really likes all, but does not have a front runner. On the other hand, another friend had one go to several already and Amherst remains the fit to this girl…liked the others, but still LOVES Amherst.</p>
<p>I guess this is why trying to get to 2 or 3 of these is a good thing! In your case, we have heard only good things about WOW and the one we know who went and will not apply said it is because of the location (too remote) but LOVED WOW and the folks there!</p>
<p>T</p>
<p>@taben</p>
<p>Dd is VERY persnickety and knows what she likes as soon as she sees it. She has always been that way, even as a tiny tot(which made for a very interesting childhood) </p>
<p>We started looking at schools in her freshman year so she has a good sense about what she does and doesn’t like. She has taken college courses and knows the difference between a good class and a bad one. I’m sure the the traveling aspect didn’t impress her either. She has flown/taken Amtrak to different locales sans adults so I don’t think that was it either. Her trip to WOW was in the backseat of a cramped car with 2 other WOW participants with a Williams person at the wheel…</p>
<p>When she says she loves it…she loves it. I’m so glad! I wasn’t so sure. It’s so different from where we live.</p>
<p>Taben1112…I agree that it is good to see a lot of schools is you can. But, even for kids who have traveled and been to many places or have been away at boarding school and know how to assess dorms and residential life beyond summer program experiences, the experiences are good. Plus, it is always good to LOVE more than one place and keep an open mind. Sometimes the place you love might not love you back enough, financially…college application time is a lesson in being aggressive and humble (a senior at school said this last year and it stuck!). And of course there is always the saying to LOVE the schools that love you. Fly ins mean that, right now, they like you. But they are far from a guarantee of admission. Hence, the continued search! :)</p>
<p>On another note:
FYI…FOR ANYONE GOING TO SCRIPPS FLY IN THIS WEEKEND…there is a thread on the Scripps area here on CC that talks about the fly in and a current student gives some weather and clothing tips.</p>
<p>HSG</p>
<p>NHCTmom, my D is at WOW right now too :). I’ve been (gently) bugging her all day to text me but she said they were really busy - she took 3 classes, then took time to herself for a run, then 2 info sessions, dinner w profs, a night hike, a fire, a late night snack in the dining hall…whew. So she finally messaged me on FB that she was going to bed! I begged for some info and she did say that she LOVES Williams too – with hearts and lots of !!!. She did concede that food and dorms are better at Bowdoin - says the dorm she’s in is tiny but she really doesn’t seem to care. She also says campus is easier to get around but she is a kid whose internal GPS is permanently broken. Her friends call her mapquest lol. (This is why she’s not doing fly-ins at Chicago, WashU etc.)</p>
<p>Now that I’m reading what others have said about the kids loving the campus where they are at the moment, I’m kind of dreading the next bunch of fly-ins. Will she ever be able to make up her mind? She’s gotta edit her list of schools (14 at the mo’) bc I dont think they can do a good job on that many apps. But I guess I won’t complain about her Loving lots of schools, better than the alternative! </p>
<p>If/when your D reports more, pls post here or on the Williams forum. I feel so out of the loop in a way having never been to any of these schools (and we’re not going to schedule another trip to fly-in schools until after acceptances come out). I’m eager to hear all impressions.</p>
<p>Out of curiosity, did anyone else get the travel grant scholarship for GWU’s Your GW program? I haven’t seen anyone in this thread or the GWU College Confidential page talking about it, so I’m feeling a bit like I’ll be the only one attending (loner status). Hopefully some of the other attendees will see this!</p>
<p>Yes, my D attended the GW Diversity Day back in the spring - they provided bus transportation out of Manhattan. She didn’t like it - all city, no green space!</p>
<p>Thank you all! It has been incredibly encouraging to read your posts. I had doubts before about missing too much of school for these programs, but no more! They are truly valuable and I won’t hold back on applying :)</p>
<p>Btw, can anyone speak of their (or their child’s) experience at Bowdoin and Scripps?</p>