<p>I guess everyone is on the same page then.. no one will know anything until they get their letters.. misery does love company though : )
I also filled out the fafsa this weekend.. sounds like we had similar results... very disappointed.. though not surprised. Sometimes I feel that the harder you work in this life.. the less you get. And to think I have taught my kids the exact opposite! And that whole.. "it feels better because you worked so hard for it and nobody ever gave you anything".. (does it really.. I am beginning to think that I could really learn to enjoy someone giving me something and NOT having to work for it, LOL).</p>
<p>Well, for the middle to upper-middle class families it certainly seems that way, although to be fair nobody's forcing our kids to apply to these places! It's going to be very interesting to see how this shakes out merit-wise, meaning that scholarships appear to be an inexact science at best. My D got a nice package to a private Midwestern school after doing the entire 'dog-and-pony' show--the visits, the follow-ups, the essays, along with her stats. Her friend applied to the same school--less stats, less visits, NO essay--and got almost the same package. I'm happy for her, but it has me scratching my head somewhat...</p>
<p>I know what you mean.. we are trying to figure out what to do right now about a school in Texas that D has applied to and is very interested in.. they have an "up front" merit scholarship program that is attractive.. however, for the "third step" of the program a personal interview by Feb. 1 is STRONGLY RECCOMMENDED (this is how it is typed in the 'thank you for applying letter'). They also note that you can request a telephone interview.. but "in some cases lack of a personal interview can result in a student being waitlisted".. yikes!! SO, being that we live in PA I have tried checking out flight costs to get her (us) there before Feb. 1 and WOW - it is sure not cheap. I am also having a tough time with scheduling due to school (her course load is so heavy that it is really rough for her to miss even one day of school). And while certainly this is one of her top choices, we want to wait to see how the money plays out at the others.. do we spend over $1,000 to make this trip? An overnight where we get to campus at 11pm and leave 4pm the following day? It is really difficult when all of your childs choices are out of state (and not states nearby either!). We have visited 3 of the 7 schools that she has applied to. We have also ordered and viewed the collegiate videos of all 7. We figured we would wait until decisions come in before visiting the other 4 because they are farther away and/or expensive to get to. And now we have to decide whether to put out another $1,000!! Heck, between application costs, costs of submitting the profile, sending SAT/ACT results, videos, campus visits.. she could have paid for attendance at one of our state schools for a year, LOL!</p>
<p>lsandin---</p>
<p>I think you're doing the right thing in waiting--a thousand bucks is a thousand bucks, and bottom line is your D can only attend one college at a time. If that school is not D's 1st choice, it's probably the best move short-term.</p>
<p>There's been a lot of discussion on CC about 'demonstrated interest' (e.g. campus visits). From our experience, in the grand scheme of things when you're factoring in GPA, class rank, essays, EC's, test scores, etc., it will help for admission purposes. But for merit aid, I'm afraid it's just another piece of the pie.</p>
<p>The collegiate videos are a prudent way to go, and fortunately my D's HS had many of those to rent out.</p>
<p>D decision (admitted) was online today when she checked. Click on the EASY link at top of page.</p>
<p>I called the admissions office today = and they said that my decision was made; however, on my EASY page it says "no messages to be displayed at this time." Does that mean I was deferred?</p>
<p>No, not necessarily. From what the Admission Counselors told me, the Easy Page will show you the Hey You're A Hurricane! Banner at the time that the decision is sent to be mailed to your house. So I think it would be safe to wait a couple more days. EA applicants should be given a decision by next week at the LATEST (at least that is what the admission counselors said).<br>
Just relax and stay positive.</p>