Oops - I thought that I had posted this after you reported on the Elks, but I realized that it had saved as a draft.
Congrats on the Elks! (and now Dickinson), and good luck with the one that you’re still waiting to hear about…are you accepting a spot on the waitlist? (you’ve got nothing to lose…)
For the right major, UCSB’s College for Creative Studies can be a gem.
Too bad for Williams their loss. Maybe good news next Friday from a somewhat better school in the area… 
Haha @OHMomof2 Hoping for Amherst to come through.
So very very stunned and happy. I was accepted at Swarthmore College, Colby College (as a Ralph Bunche Jr Scholar), UCSD and UCLA. I was rejected from Pomona College.
So very very blessed with the choices. My mom is sad about Pomona (it was her top choice). Someone from my school was accepted via ED, so I knew that my chances there were virtually gone.
Congrats on today’s great news!
And, Pomona’s loss.
You have wonderful choices!
WOW - That’s great news about Swat!! And Colby!! And the UCs!! Sorry about Pomona – RD there is really, really tough, esp. if they’ve already taken their school-specific quota ED.
What does a Ralph Bunch Jr. Scholar at Colby entail?
yaaay! congratulations, kelvin! don’t even sweat pomona. the acceptance rate this year was a chilling 6.9%. swarthmore, colby, UCSD, and UCLA would all be lucky to have you! 
Congrats on swat… I was waitlisted there 
Congratulations!! That’s awesome and well deserved.
Will they fly you out to visit?
Awesome news!! Swat? Colby? SD and LA? Yes!!
Ohhh, the next two weeks are going to be exciting!! At this point you already have multiple top-notch options, so you know you will end up someplace you can be happy about - it will just get better (and more complicated!) from here! Huge congrats on Swat, Colby, UCLA, UCSD… sorry about Pomona, but yeah… the RD admissions statistics there are tough even if you don’t take geography into account, and for SoCal students it’s just brutal. I’m pretty sure you’re still going to end up with a 5C’s option, though
Sounds like time to start building the decision spreadsheet! Are you getting enough financial aid info up-front to be able to compare bottom lines between schools yet?
Soooo exciting! Huge results! For us posters finished with our kids getting admitted, we are really enjoying following your process! I am super thrilled about your choices so far but secretly still hoping USC comes through with great aid. Take some deep breaths and really think about what YOU want in your school of choice, because the choices you have are very different. And I hope the FA works in your favor. Please ask if you have any questions about any of those schools…you should feel very proud of all the hard work you did to get these results.
Also, apparently waitlisted from Grinnell.
@LoveTheBard Thank you! I do plan on accepting Williams’ waitlist. I love UCSB College of Creative Studies, but considering UCSB would be significantly more expensive compared to Swarthmore or Colby; I’m not sure if I want to take out loans for UCSB. Colby says that as a Ralph Bunche scholar, I’ll get to have a $3000 summer stipend to do research or an internship, and get access to funds for experential and international learning.
@GnocchiB @kalons @auracle @OHMomof2 @CADREAMIN Thank you!
@MYOS1634 yes, Swat and Colby will fly me out to visit. The problem is that the dates overlap; Swatstruck is on April 18th to April 21st, while Admitted Students Weekend for Colby is on April 19th to April 22nd. I honestly don’t know what to do. My head is telling to me to go to Swatstruck to gain a fresh perspective, but Maine sounds gorgeous.
@aquapt perhaps the most important part of all is the financial aid, haha. When I ran the NPCs, Swarthmore was the most generous, and their actual package was incredibly generous. I only have to pay roughly $200 a year. Colby would have me pay around $2,000. I’m probably unlikely to consider Dickinson; their financial aid would involve loans, and I’m not to keen on them. UCLA would involve the standard package of $5,500 in loans, and $2,500 for work study.
Does anyone know if earning $2000 in work study is possible over the year? I feel like it is possible, but I don’t want to overestimate.
I think your head is on target as far as Swarthmore vs. Colby. Colby is an excellent school, and Maine is indeed gorgeous, but to me, Swat seems like a better academic fit and a better financial deal. The difference in aid more than offsets the one-time summer stipend - much more. And… as a student for whom driving is not in the cards, do you really want to be 3 hours from the nearest major city/airport? At Swarthmore you would be an easy commuter rail trip from Philadelphia, plus you’d have the resources of the whole Quaker Consortium available by shuttle. (Also the whole Philly medical community if you want to move your specialty care over there.) The Bunche Scholar offer is a nice honor, but I don’t see how it outweighs what Swat has to offer you. Also, as lovely as Maine in April can be, don’t forget that Maine in November-to-March is a whole different can 'o frozen worms.
$2000/year in work-study is very reasonable - you could probably make that in under 10 hours a week. But it sounds like you have a very clear financial front-runner here. A top-tier, no-loan school for almost zero out-of-pocket? Yeah, make your reservations for Swatstruck! Of course, there could be additional front-runners materializing over the next couple of weeks, but thus far I have to agree - why go into debt for a UC when you can go to a Swat-caliber school for virtually free? Also, Swat sounds like they have a good track record at providing accommodations for STEM students with visual disabilities (see articles I PM’d), and having a college already demonstrably up to speed in that way could be a real plus. So far it sounds like Swat is the offer to beat… but who knows what’s still to come? 
@Kelvin82 - I’m surprised about Grinnell. Did they ask you to do a “Why Grinnell?” supplement? (I know they don’t ask for it with the CA, but they emailed D and asked her to write a 100 or 150 word ‘Why Grinnell’ essay.
UCSB’s CCS is absolutely not worth going into debt for (or paying OOS tuition for) when you have Swat and Colby as more affordable options!
$2K is absolutely doable in W/S. At $15/hour (which is probably what most campus jobs pay, if you work 10 hours a week for 30 weeks, you would be paid $4,500. So even with fewer hours or less than 30 weeks, you should be fine.
If you really want to see both before deciding, you can talk to admissions at Swat and Colby. I’ve seen them work with students and fly them from one school to another for visits (I know someone that had to get from Williams to Swat and for their diversity weekends and the schools worked together. Sometimes it’s harder if there are scholarship interviews, but that’s not the case here, so you should be fine.)
They can split the difference between the two schools time-wise, and $$-wise. My D had several schools fly her in from one city and out to another. These days, things are generally priced as separate legs/one way fares, so it’s no biggie. Have Swat bring you on the morning of the 18th and have Colby fly you in on the morning of the 20th and fly you home after.
That said, I’d take Swat over Colby anyday academically, logistically, and – in this case – financially. Go visit Maine sometime (even now if you’re curious), but your time is probably best spent getting a feel for life at Swarthmore and in Philly.
Where do you live? (I know that I knew at one point, but it escapes me now.)
Swat sounds like a great deal.
One point on Colby -
These funds are available to all students at Amherst (D has had funding 2x already, once for a non-profit internship and once for a research gig abroad). Because of that, I suspect similar funding may also be available at Swat or Williams or others you are considering - so look into that. If so, that kind of neutralizes that particular Colby advantage. I’d ask detailed questions about that to Swat - does every student with a reasonable proposal get funding or is it competitive? Can a student get it more than once?
Speaking of international learning, how is study abroad handled? Some schools at this level ensure that kids on financial aid pay the same thing whether they are abroad or on campus for a junior semester or year, but not all - also something to check.
PS: Also check health insurance policies. That can be a $2K or higher annual expense, and some schools will cover it as part of financial aid if your policy at home won’t cover you in your college state.
Congrats. Excellent options! You really should try to visit both Swat and Colby. Both fantastic schools but very, very different vibes. For my D, I would pick Colby, but can see how for others Swat may be the right choice.
Email Swat to ask whether they offer support for summer experiences such as research or internships.
After re-examining Colby’s financial aid package, I think I made a mistake. Colby offered me $1950 in work study, and will cover the rest through their grants and federal grants. Swat will have a work study of $2080 and will cover the rest with grants. I also have an Elks Scholarship of 1K per year for 4 years, which I can also use.
@LoveTheBard I live in Southern California, Los Angeles. I applied to Grinnell via Questbridge RD and didn’t receive an email request for their supplement. But I remember that before I applied to Grinnell, I ran the NPC and was expected to contribute around 8K, so I am not too sad about getting waitlisted.
I know that swarthmore has fellowships and funding, but I am not sure if they are gauranteed. I do know that both Swarthmore and Colby said that their financial aid would carry over if I decided to study abroad.
From peeking at the Scripps thread on CC I found out that decisions were released.
Pitzer decisions were also released.
Waitlisted at both