<p>USNChief -you can always just go for a visit and a tour so you can stop by the Dairy Bar!</p>
<p>That is true. It’s only 200 miles or so. Definitely worth it for good ice cream. Go UConn!</p>
<p>LOL, H and I were talking about driving down to UCONN the other day, just to go to the Dairy Bar & then walk around campus, it is only a couple of hours plus for us. Maybe go to Willington Pizza, which has great pizza, another favorite for us!</p>
<p>A few years ago our family drove 2 1/2 hrs to go get pizza at a place we saw on “the Phantom Gourmet”. ([The</a> Pizza Barn located in Center Ossippee NH - Hand Tossed Pizza!](<a href=“http://www.pizzabarnnh.com/]The”>http://www.pizzabarnnh.com/)) It was good! then on the way home we got lost and found this place for ice cream [url=<a href=“HugeDomains.com”>http://sandwichcreamery.com/]HOME[/url</a>]</p>
<p>So driving to UConn (1 3/4 hrs for us) for pizza and ice cream seems very reasonable!!</p>
<p>I have not posted to the thread in a couple of weeks so I thought I would update son’s progress.</p>
<p>Applied list - </p>
<p>Northeastern - RD - awaiting notification
Purdue University - EA - denied (program competitiveness)
University of Connecticut - RD - awaiting notification
U Maine - EA - admitted College of Engineering/Honors College/Flagship Scholarship
U Maryland College Park - EA - admitted Letters and Sciences (undeclared)
U Massachusetts - Amherst - RD - awaiting notification
U New Haven - EAII - admitted College of Engineering
Worcester Polytechnic Institute (WPI) - EAII - awaiting notification</p>
<p>Considered but did not apply - </p>
<p>Alfred
Clarkson
Lafayette
North Carolina State
Renssalear Institute of Technology
Rochester Polytechnic Institute
Stevens Institute of Technology
Tufts
University of Massachusetts - Lowell
University of New Hampshire
Vanderbilt
Western New England University</p>
<p>Of the schools that admitted him, does the net price come out to an affordable level?</p>
<p>Admission but too expensive is effectively a rejection.</p>
<p>None have sent him an official “award” letter yet. However, even without the letters I see cost as a primary issue with a only a few of those on the overall list. He is still waiting on notification from his top reach school. Cost would be an issue at that school but depending on the final cost calculation may still be worth the extra debt load.</p>
<p>Luckily (for me), the lowest cost option is still very much in play and in the top 3 for my son. Overall value is only one part of a very complicated deliberation that also then must deal with intangibles such as how a person feels about and fits into a school. We removed some very good schools from our initial list because my son just didn’t get a good vibe about going to those schools.</p>
<p>USNChief - Have you visited New Haven yet? How was it? I have a bad impression of New Haven as a city. Is the school outside of the city? suburban?</p>
<p>We are waiting on visiting U New Haven until we hear from UConn. Then we will do a visit of U New Haven, UConn (maybe), and UMCP. Unless U New Haven offers some type of merit it will be off of our list entirely. We see UMaine as a better option than New Haven and UMaine is already offering merit and we are now waiting on an additional degree specific CoE scholarship. U. New Haven is a safety school. It is the same for my son’s friends/classmates who also applied Engineering.</p>
<p>If we had to order the choices still in play based on what we know right now, it would look like this. Of course this is only a snapshop in time and changes constantly as we weigh the pros and cons.</p>
<p>Worcester Polytechnic Institute (WPI) - EAII - awaiting notification
U Maine - EA - admitted College of Engineering/Honors College/Flagship Scholarship
Northeastern - RD - awaiting notification
University of Connecticut - RD - awaiting notification
U Maryland College Park - EA - admitted Letters and Sciences (undeclared)
U Massachusetts - Amherst - RD - awaiting notification
U New Haven - EAII - admitted College of Engineering</p>
<p>U New Haven and UMCP acceptance letters/packages arrived today.</p>
<p>U New Haven sent nice admissions package and included offer of Merit Scholarship - Presidential Scholarship of 16K (annually) + 1K (annually) Writing Award.</p>
<p>UMCP letter was generic and did not even mention College of Engineering or any other College. UCMP slipping in our regard by not being very straightforward about the admissions offer.</p>
<p>USNChief - Great news about New Haven. Do you think that the letter from UMCP means he was accepted undeclared?</p>
<p>Yes, that is the case. However, it should certainly have stated that on the letter they sent. We found it at the bottom of the web-based acceptance. I don’t know why UCMP seems to feel like it needs to be skirted around. I would much rather see a statement that says that they were not able to offer placement to the College of Engineering and then offer undeclared admission with an opportunity to apply to the limited entry program after Freshman year.</p>
<p>It felt like a “gotcha.” Son is at first very excited to get the admissions letter and then we have to go digging on our own to find out it was not to the degree program he applied for.</p>
<p>A non-engineering student at UMCP needs to apply to change into an engineering major:
[Undergraduate</a> Advising: Frequently Asked Questions | A. James Clark School of Engineering](<a href=“http://www.eng.umd.edu/advising/faq#changing]Undergraduate”>http://www.eng.umd.edu/advising/faq#changing)</p>
<p>It is not obvious how difficult it is (in terms of selectivity or GPA thresholds) to make such a change.</p>
<p>We did look into the LEP admission process at UMCP and then decided we would rather accept at a school that admitted him to their College of Engineering upon initial admission. The good thing is that our options are starting to become much clearer and son is really only talking about and focusing on the top two of the schools now. </p>
<p>Newly ordered list - </p>
<p>Worcester Polytechnic Institute (WPI) - EAII - awaiting notification
U Maine - EA - admitted College of Engineering/Honors College/Flagship Scholarship
Northeastern - RD - awaiting notification
University of Connecticut - RD - awaiting notification
U Massachusetts - Amherst - RD - awaiting notification
U New Haven - EAII - admitted College of Engineering/Presidential Scholarship/Writing Award Scholarship
U Maryland College Park - EA - admitted Letters and Sciences (undeclared)</p>
<p>We have that same problem with UMass. DS was accepted Undeclared rather than into Engineering. Does he go to UMass and try to transfer into Engineering or just go to a school where he was all ready accepted into the Engineering program. Just wish this hadn’t happened with our flagship. Was hoping that would be in our back pocket while we waited for the other admissions and FA decisions to come in. </p>
<p>Good luck with WPI. Shouldn’t be much longer (we are waiting too). Website says Feb 10th.</p>
<p>I can definitely identify with what you are saying. I am not that confident about WPI. It is a bit of a reach. However, once we had the acceptance from UMO then the stress was gone. Having a solid option already in hand is a good feeling.</p>
<p>If your son goes to UMass-Lowell Engineering for a year wouldn’t he be able to transfer directly to the engineering program at UMass-Amherst? Or are they considered to be entirely seperate schools?</p>
<p>I don’t know. My husband suggested the same thing. Will have to research that option. I also think WPI is a reach for my DS but he wanted to try. Also, even if he gets in, I think it will be financially out of reach.</p>
<p>I did find this on the UMass website:</p>
<p>Interchange Transfer
Enrolled degree-seeking students at UMass Boston, UMass Dartmouth, or UMass Lowell may apply to UMass Amherst under the Interchange Transfer program. To be eligible, you must have completed 12-15 full-time credits with a 2.5 or better cumulative grade point average, and be currently enrolled in 12-15 credit hours. You must be in good academic, fiscal and disciplinary standing at all previous institutions. If you meet these eligibility requirements, no application fee is required.</p>
<p>Note: Applicants from the Boston, Dartmouth, and Lowell campuses who are special non-degree students must apply as transfer students and, therefore, must submit all fees and other application materials.</p>
<p>That does sound like a direct transfer between programs. It may be a good option if you prefer the Amherst program or campus over Lowell. However, I do not think that the merit aid package would transfer. Definitely something to talk to admissions about before you do anything.</p>