<p>You probably won't know more in a week then you will on Monday, will you? </p>
<p>I presume you are talking about the Honors College at OSU? In which case, DON'T compare BU v. OSU except for "ambiance" (town, etc.) Compare the Honors College v. BU - these are the students she is going to spend most time with, have classes with. What are the mentoring opportunities like in the Honors College? Research opportunities? Internships? Study abroad? etc.</p>
<p>(If I'm off-base about the Honors College thing, disregard; but I know in their business program, for example, OSU has an honors residential college, with opportunities, trading floor, trips to NY, mentoring, etc., that looks a heck of a lot more like Wharton than it does like Ohio State.)</p>
<p>John Jeffries House my budget buster in town location near the tram stop..
Momnipotent. Good luck..we sympathize with how much OSU has made your daughter feel appreciated and wanted, too.
my two cents..Boston is an education in itself and a fabulous playground for the young, even for the shabby chic poor young in colleges. I would definitely consider the wealth of learning, arts, cultural institutions, museums, historic sectors, sports teams and cultural neighborhoods of Boston to be a factor considering her projected field of study. Big cities are for the young and poor student and the rich. When she wants to have a decent standard of living in her first jobs she can move to a more affordable part of the USA.
regardless, we are "rooting for you" and think it is cool that you have another great invitation to consider.</p>
<p>What a hard decision. I know that OSU is giving your DD a great deal and it would be a fantastic experience but if BU is her dream school and you can swing it.... </p>
<p>mominpotent's D has been given a scholarship at OSU that I think only 2 students receive. If she goes to another school, someone else will receive the scholarship. It is quite an honor.</p>
<p>Psst, can I have a vote. I'm voting with you mominpotent and rooting for Boston. </p>
<p>It sounds like it's going to be a crazy weekend at your house. Good luck and I'm really happy for your D.</p>
<p>Oh- I am sitting with DD, reading your posts aloud and crying. This is a big decision for her. She won't likely make another decision like this until there is a sparkly ring involved------I hope that one is not as difficult. Lot's of money involved. </p>
<p>We met a lot of kids yesterday, DD was the only one who had been admitted to BUs Honors Program. I need to know a bit more about that program. I know the classes are small (capped at 15) and that there are some great research opportunities.</p>
<p>Here's my sidestory that is funny to DD and I. We met a beautiful young lady from Mass. who is currently finishing up at a boarding school. She and DD hit it off fairly well and it sort of looked like pearls vs. Chuck Taylors (that would be DD in the Chucks) and the two shook hands (not really) and exchanged emails so they could let each other know of their decisions. DD is not phased by GLARING socioeconmic difference---and I guess I am---it's a southern Ohio thing. DD is just amazing. But anyway, the girl with the pearl necklace said she really likes BU because of opportunities for SAILING! Dang it--and that one had never made it to our pro/con list. SAILING---can you imagine! I am sure some of you can---but try to put an Ohio spin on that one. The girl was wonderful and we both had a good laugh later about adding a "sailing" column to the pros and cons--OSU-0, BU-1.</p>
<p>Love the sailing. That's why it's fun to go far away for school.</p>
<p>Just another anecdote here. When my D and I did our monster East Coast tour, there were two schools where my D felt that she really liked the students. 1. Princeton, where she is now. 2. BU.</p>
<p>She didn't wind up applying to BU because she got scared of New England weather by a day in New Haven where it blew a gale, hailed, and then was sunny all in one day:). But BU really had a good feeling to her. Friendly.</p>
<p>I forgot about the sailing opportunities. BU is really close to the Community Sailing area. I love watching the sails in that part of the river.</p>
<p>"DD is not phased by GLARING socioeconmic difference---and I guess I am---it's a southern Ohio thing. DD is just amazing." </p>
<p>Exactly..DD is amazing and that is why BU wants her-- there to bring a little Ohio fresh air and attitude with her. You could put a sweater set under the Christmas tree. ha.</p>
<p>I attended BU for a year about a century and a half ago. Loved the city - had trouble with the class size (which would not be an issue with the honors program) and the fact that I was a commuter (again, not a problem for your DD). </p>
<p>Since then, BU has classed up its academic act, and has attracted an interested bunch of students. Boston offers an amazing selection of things to do on the cheap - and while many of Boston's students will enjoy watching the boats on the Charles ... few of them will be sailing them. </p>
<p>Boston has always had its bluebloods ... but they are in no way the only ones who have pride of place in the city. Its different from southern ohio - and your daughter sounds like she would do fine there. </p>
<p>And - its more fun to go visit in Boston than Columbus.</p>
<p>I still advise you to address you financial aid questions to BU in the form of an email. Print and save the responses - you then have "proof" of what you were told. Verbal discussions are too hard to remember exactly, (did he say they might shift grant to work/study, loan?? or didn't he???). Ask ALL the questions - in writing, especially how the grant may change over time if your income stays about the same. Will there be a loan component or not? If so, how much? etc.etc. Get it ALL in writing. In my DD's case, her school offered her a freshman F.A. package with no loan and no workstudy - just grants and scholarships. There was nothing to indicate if that would continue in future years -so I asked, in writing. She was/is very lucky, and they stated, in writing, that her package would remain all grants/scholarships for all four years if she met some (very modest) grade requirements. This was one of the reasons she chose this fine school. Some of the other schools that accepted her were rather vague about how her F.A. package would change over time, and it was uncomfortable to contemplate!!!!! GET IT IN WRITING!!!</p>
<p>Boston U accepted 15 kids from my school that i know of, all had 3.8-4.0 with plenty of APs and decent act/sat scores (28-33act, 1300-1500sat) and a few were national achievement or national merit semifinalists and such... of those 15 kids the biggest scholarship offered was 15k, needless to say most of those kids were heartbroken and to my knowledge only 2 will actually attend. With that said, BU is a good school and if they want your daughter bad enough to give her decent aid then she should be honored... but the fact is that student body and environment are a lot more important to some kids than rankings and percentages. My grandparents(who were more excited about college than even I) almost attacked me when they found out I wouldnt apply to any ivies and i applied to very few top tier schools. Lucky for them I decided to take a full ride to a decently prestigious school that i liked rather than end up paying 8k/year at the safety school that i absolutely loved. OSU and BU are both great schools and IMO, for undergrad at least, not much seperates the top 1-50 ranked schools from the bottom 50-100 ranked schools (besides specific super programs of course).</p>
<p>EDIT: Just realized the OP is from southern Ohio. The safety school that i loved and turned down was Ohio University-Athens.. go figure</p>
<p>my<3-- I live in central Ohio now. I was raised in southern Ohio. Older brother #1 is a U.K. grad and older bro #2 is a civil eng. from OU. Both are quite successful. Thanks for the post and good luck to you. DD is honored and flattered at the attention from both schools.</p>
<p>anxiousmom- I believe that I will call the director of finaid next week and explain that there is too much at stake without having written details of the grant in hand. I will ask if the grant could change into work study, etc. because it is likely that she will need a job anyway while she is in school- and there would be no time for work study.</p>
<p>kinshasa- thanks for the links! I need to read every word when I am not as tired and emotional. I love hearing your spin on stepping outside of your comfort zone --and it sure seems that your S found a new one at BU. </p>
<p>I am waiting on DD to come home from a coffee run with her friend from UMich. She is filling his ears full of the things that I am typing. Each and every one of your posts is greatly appreciated!!!!!!</p>
<p>momnipotent, I chatted briefly tonight with a good friend of my son's who is attending BU (in the [url=<a href="http://www.bu.edu/uni/%5DUNI%5B/url">www.bu.edu/uni/]UNI[/url</a>] program; he's a first-year). He says he's had some classes with the Honors group; in some of them the classes were smaller, but in some they did the same general material as everyone else yet either had a separate honors-only recitation/discussion section with the prof or, for courses where the sections were normally taught by a TA, the prof taught the Honors section instead. He called these "honorized normal classes". He thought there also might be honors-only classes which could only be selected by those in the Honors program, but he was not completely sure of that.</p>
<p>Hope that helps -- get in touch if you would like me to forward any other questions to him this weekend.</p>
<p>DD is planning on going down to OSU for an overnight and a couple of days with a friend who is currently in honors. We are also going to go back to BU later this summer and check out the city a bit more--go to some other campuses, check out the consortium deal, etc and stay for a couple days instead of just 12 hours. I think this should make it a bit easier (or a bit more difficult). Tomorrow I may post a couple questions for some of you in the area. Thanks again to all.</p>
<p>I agree it's VERY helpful to have confirming e-mails in writing so there is no confusion later about what was said or meant. Without meaning to, memories fade and change over time, so it's VERY important to clear write things down when the school is still courting her and you & the FAid office have reached an agreement about how her aid may increase in scholarships/grants as school costs rise in future years, any effects in change in your income/assets, any GPA or other requirements DD needs to maintain. Better yet if you can get FAid to send you a confirming letter (but an e-mail will help as well).
Congrats! My son was accepted by BU but they didn't offer him ANY merit money so he will be going to USoCal, which offered him significant merit money. We think he'll be very happy & successful there & the weather will be an easier adjustment for him than MA. <grin></grin></p>
<p>Regarding the BU honors courses, yes, in many classes there is a separate honors discussion section and students attend a general lecture, but the upper level courses are strictly for honors students. (S's American Politics and the Media, for example)</p>
<p>I too am confused... did you get a couple of months' extension on D's decision?</p>