<p>Many congrats to GFG & son! D received an envelope (appearing to have several pages) in today's mail, but we aren't allowed to open college mail!</p>
<p>lol. I'm not allowed either, but he didn't want to wait until after sports practice so I had to drive to the HS and meet him by the locker room. A little nuts, I know, but maybe not as nuts as those people calling FedEx to see if they were getting an acceptance package from Columbia!
Good luck to your D! W & L is not his dream school, but it would be a nice fit for him and now we know we can afford it. Is it your D's first choice?</p>
<p>1) If meeting them at school with the package is nuts, then I'm in the padded cell, too. Have done the same thing. 2) No, it's not her dream school. For a long time it was #2 on her list, but the scholarship visit actually turned her off. All the Greek emphasis & alcohol during a scholar's visit? But it is nice to get great offers. Can't tell where they'll actually wind up until the final bell rings.</p>
<p>TheGFG and maysixxmom, </p>
<p>How generous was W&L for your son and daughter? Will you still have to contribute significantly?</p>
<p>Package was GWHS. It's basically a full ride, our/her contribution looks to be around $3,000/yr toward the actual school. We have to add travel costs to/from Texas. Her trip for the scholarship interview was around $550 (it was on her itinerary from W & L, so that was probably a good deal the school got), but she wouldn't get to come home very often 'cause that layover in Atlanta is brutally long.</p>
<p>To Coquettish, because she needs to clean her PM box:</p>
<p>CONGRATULATIONS!</p>
<p>Let me if you have any questions or if I could help you in any way - let your host know as well, I'm sure she will be as excited to hear it as I am.</p>
<p>Dima</p>
<p>maysixxmom,</p>
<p>I know what you mean - I had the same worry when I was here for GWHS. Unfortunately, Honors Scholars are there for Wed night parties instead of weekend parties and those are usually very alcohol-dominated. There was a certain party like that in the country during Honors Scholars this year and I warned Honors Scholars about going to it but apparently a majority went. Those who went to a DJ party held at a different fraternity house got a different experience (especially since my friend who took them there refused to let them drink). But many parties at W&L, specifically on weeknights, are sadly alcohol dominated. That is why there are organizations on campus such as the Student Activities Org to provide alternatives.</p>
<p>Thanks, Dima! I'll be sure to let my host know about my good news :-)</p>
<p>We weren't quite so fortunate, but S got full tuition: 31,000.</p>
<p>Dima - Thanks for the additional information. D is NOT an advocate of underage drinking but was warned ahead of time about the amount of available alcohol. The particular variety did surprise her however. She recently met a Jr host at another university's scholarship interview who had the exact same experience at WLU 2 years ago. Maybe the school should consider changing their schedule for these interviews to not include Wednesday. I think it harms the school's reputation for parents and increases the "party school" reputation for students looking for that atmosphere. It really seems that the freshman hosts (at least the ones D encountered) put a real emphasis on the parties, i.e. if you miss the one tonight, there's always another tomorrow. And these are the "scholars"? It's a shame.</p>
<p>TheGFG, congratulations to your son - full tuition is still a very prestigious award and very few applicants get it. The total cost of attending W&L (counting everything but travel) next year is expected to be about $43,000 so that still leaves $12,000 to be covered by financial aid and then your family. Your fiancial aid package should arrive in a week to a week and a half, hopefully that will cover most of the gap.</p>
<p>maysixxmom, it may improve the university's "image" not to include wednesday night in the competition, but I feel like it would be deceiving scholarship candidates. It is only fair that candidates get the entire Washington and Lee experience before deciding whether to attend. In my opinion, it is better for a school to have a slightly worse yield than to have a bunch of people here who soon realize that they just don't belong.</p>
<p>I think the university does make some effort to keep scholars away from the party scene. An interview at the admissions office Thursday morning is likely an attempt to keep scholars from going out and hosts are asked to tell their scholars not to go out, or if they do, not to drink. Personally, I told my adopted scholar (he was actually my roommate's) that he should go out and experience the party scene but warned him not to drink or to drink very little. I also warned those scholars I got to know not to go to parties in the country. Personally, I can't stand parties out in the country - I've only been to two all year and I hated them, they're nothing but rampant drinking until you're stuck in the middle of nowhere at 1AM trying to get a ride back into town. When my adopted scholar went out, he went to the DJ party my fraternity was having, not out in the country, and he had a great time without getting drunk. I was also shocked to hear that some scholars went out both tuesday and wednesday nights. Tuesday night parties are very rare here and I haven't been to one all year, and I have a very active social life. Maybe it was because of the scholars, but I'm afraid it may have left the impression that there really are parties every night here when tuesday, thursday, and sunday nights are completely dead.</p>
<p>I think the reason the University has Honors Scholars in the middle of the week instead of the weekend, other than to give scholars the chance to sit in on classes, is precisely that - to keep them away from the parties. But while the parties on the weekends are much bigger and there are many more of them, they are also better - with DJ's and bands - and many of them don't require alcohol to be enjoyed.</p>
<p>So I'm really not sure what a good solution would be. Like I said, I think it is important for scholars to see what the social scene is like here, but their stay here is so short that they only see one part of it - usually an alcohol-controlled fraternity party. They don't get to see the bands or attend the many activities school organizations plan that are alternitives to parties. But there really is only so much you could do in two and a half days. I guess it's just up to the scholars to learn everything they can and their hosts to do the best as they can to teach them about everything (unfortunately, the competition isnt a very good time for many hosts, in the middle of pledgeship for men and in the middle of midterms for everyone)</p>
<p>Dima,
My son was also put-off by the party scene. His sense was that the campus seemed divided along the lines of alchohol, with the Southern Christians and teetotallers on one side, and the heavy drinkers on the other. Is this accurate?</p>
<p>I went to the DJ/fraternity party on Wednesday and did not feel obligated at any time to drink.</p>
<p>I got a full ride!!!! I love W and L! Getting that letter totally made my day. Especially since I got rejected last night by Duke and Yale. Oh well. Who needs those Ivies anyway? That scholarship definately moved W and L to the top of my list. I don't come from a very wealthy family, so college for free is like a dream come true. I hope all of the other honors scholars decide to come to W and L too. They were such a fun group of people! By the way, Dima, did you go to one of the summer programs that W and L offers? Like the service trip or the outdoor trip? Or do you know anyone that did? Would you suggest going?</p>
<p>What was the breakdown of full rides, full tuition, half tuition, less, etc.?</p>
<p>I got enough to make W&L significantly cheaper than my other options, but it wasn't enough to necessarily make me definitely tell people it's W&L for me.</p>
<p>And I was waitlisted at a really prestigious place, and I wondered if I could maybe follow through with that - and go to W&L if that doesn't work out (most likely not). I have no clue how this stuff works.</p>
<p>And the parties on Wednesday made me like W&L more. Ooo yea, how much does it cost to live in a frat house vs. dorms on campus?</p>
<p>Klio, congratulations! I had to back out of a service trip last minute and I definitely regret not going, all my friends who went on them absolutely loved them. </p>
<p>TheGFG, I disagree with that. I think Coquettish can help me answer this. She went to a DJ party at my frat on Wed night, and I believe (correct me if I am wrong) that she was one of the scholars that went there with a friend of mine who did not let them drink at all. She is actually a "Southern Christian" who does not drink but she goes to frat parties and enjoys herself. Two of my best friends are teetotalers and the other two drink maybe once a month yet they have a great time here and we have been going to frat parties together all year and enjoying ourselves. I would say that on Wed night you do see the division more as people who don't drink usually go out only on weekends while people who do may go out Wed nights as well (I usually don't).</p>
<p>GottaStayFlyy, I don't know the breakdown. In terms of waitlists, what you would do is stay on the waitlist but still send a deposit to W&L by May 1st. If you get off the waitlist, you go to that school and just lose your deposit at W&L and if you don't get off the waitlist you go to W&L. In terms of your final question, some frats are more expensive to live in than others. Generally, it is a bit cheaper to pay room and board in a frat house but dues more than make up for that so it comes out to be more, though not by a huge amount.</p>
<p>I got full tuition. I'll see y'all next year!</p>
<p>Also, like kilo, I was rejected from Yale last night (waitlisted by Duke). Although they weren't my top choices, today's letter helped to make up for some of that bad news. I'm very excited and am looking forward to seeing everyone...</p>
<p>Buckeyenation, are you going to W&L definitely? Congratulations on your scholarship award :-)</p>
<p>Almost definitely. I want to see what georgetown offers next week, but I'm pretty sure I'll pick W&L. </p>
<p>Congrats to you too, by the way!</p>
<p>do you guys know what the total cost of wlu is for the upcoming school year?</p>