<p>Rhapsody</p>
<p>I don't know about flights from Midway.</p>
<p>Thanks. Yes, the $15,000 a year is merit. </p>
<p>He didn't apply to any Ivies. For one, they don't do merit aid and we're not eligible for much need-based (modest family income, but s has some grandparent $ in his own name--not sheltered in a Coverdell account unfortunately). Didn't want to go into heaps of debt. The new policy some Ivies have announced of giving much more need-based to middle class came too late. So all the places he applied to do merit aid.</p>
<p>Besides, he (and I) think you can get as good, or better, an education at a top LAC. More individual attention, research and classes with professors, rather than grad students. Prestige is less, but who cares? If he goes to grad school (very likely), then it would be great to be at an Ivy, and once you have a grad degree, where you did your undergrad becomes irrelevant.</p>
<p>The closest thing to an Ivy he applied to is U of Chicago--an I think at this point, he'd probably go for Oberlin or Grinnell over Chicago.</p>
<p>^Cool. I applied to mostly LACs like Oberlin, Grinnell, and Reed myself :).
And I think LACs do provide a better foundation for grad school. Good luck with either Oberlin or Grinnell!</p>
<p>Rhapsody, if it helps Northwest has connections from Midway to Des Moines, through Detroit or MSP.</p>
<p>pjpj</p>
<p>I think taking 2 flights including connection times, would take longer than driving. Of course, if the student isn't driving and the parents don't have time to drive both ways, flying would still make sense.</p>
<p>Also, the cheapest fare seems to be $415++ one way. Someone else pointed out that it was very expensive to fly there, and that seems to be true.</p>
<p>My d is a student there and has never paid that much. If you shop around, you can generally find cheaper flights. But she has only rarely flown. Once you're a student there, it is easy to catch rides with other students at breaks, especially if you are going to a fairly-nearby major destination like Chicago.</p>
<p>I'm an international RD applicant. I also got a very nice, personal email about my essay about 2 weeks ago. </p>
<p>Reading some previous posts, should I feel really confident about getting an acceptance?</p>
<p>And congratulations to those of you who got in, with nice merit scholarships!</p>
<p><em>envious</em> lol</p>
<p>When u get accepted, danielcarp, can u IM me ur essay? I really felt my essays sucked. Too impersonal and more autobiographical :).</p>
<p>daniel</p>
<p>My son got a letter like that from Oberlin and I was told that it was a "likely letter" by people here on CC, in other words, that this was a signal that they were going to accept him and they did. So yes, I think it's a good sign.</p>
<p>Daniel~I got a personal email about my essay too, so it's definitely a good sign. :)</p>
<p>pjpj- thanks for letting me know!</p>
<p>Daniel, please send your essay to me as well. I'd like to know what a good essay looks like.</p>
<p>My daughter applied Regular Decision to Grinnell. They have all her credentials, and have for some time, including her mid-year grades. A few months ago she received an email complimenting her essay from an admissions counselor (the same person who visited her high school and with whom she interviewed). I was under the impression that decisions were coming out in late March, early April. It sounds like some of you are already hearing your decision. Are you Regular Decision candidates?</p>
<p>Yeah, I was a RD applicant--definitely wasn't expecting to hear anything until march/april</p>
<p>Now I am really confused. After posting my question on CC, I called Grinnell College admissions office. They said that only ED I and ED II decisions have been released. RD will go out later, by April 1st. What do you make of that?</p>
<p>It's unofficial, a small letter that notifies you that you have been admitted and will be receiving a big packet with all the proper materials at some other point in the future (most likely at the same time as everyone else's decisions are mailed out).</p>
<p>Hmmm....something's not quite right here. How could the admissions office not know that notifications, official or unofficial, were being sent out? The woman at Grinnell's admissions office was quite certain that no notifications for RD applicants had gone out. I guess my daughter can contact her admissions counselor there and see what's going on.</p>
<p>I'm RD as well. When I received the letter, it stated that it was only a small, select number of applicants who got early notification, so I'm assuming the admissions office wouldn't want to get the word out if they didn't release any press releases or anything to that extent.</p>
<p>This does not sit well with me. They should have been forthright when I called today. I do not know what this means for my daughter's chances, but it does not seem good. I am kind of surprised since her essay warranted a personal, positive email from her admissions counselor. She will have to wait and see. Congratulations to you few, select early notifications!</p>