Hello, I applied early action on November 30 and haven’t heard yet, however, the last material required (a transcript from a previous college) wasn’t received until the 14th of this month. At this point could anyone provide a guesstimate of whether I’m getting in or not? 3.7 GPA with two recommendation letters and a good essay, if that helps. Thanks!
Was there any financial aid information in your packet?
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Yes! I got a presidential scholarship.
Wonderful, congrats! I meant other than Merit scholarships.
Daughter received acceptance to the Park School earlier this week, with merit scholarship info. She inquired about need-based aid timeline and they said it will be available by 15 Feb. Hope that helps you too!
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Yes, that’s very helpful! Thanks so much and congratulations to your daughter!
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I have a question that may get some mixed responses. Are any accepted student parents concerned about how the school has handled COVID and concerned they won’t open up campus for visitation until after the May 1st commitment day? Students haven’t been allowed on campus until a few weeks ago and my concern is how quickly they will close in the Fall if COVID doesn’t get better. I have a student who can’t gauge through a virtual tour or videos and needs to see a campus and its film / communications facilities in order to make a decision. Would love some input and everyone’s thoughts on the subject. It is my understanding that they did handle COVID fairly poorly compared to some other schools. But then again, these are unchartered waters.
These thoughts are a concern of mine as well. A number of schools did poorly, but there are many schools that even had some in-person classes and many on-campus activities with strict safety protocols and frequent testing and kept transmission rates very low. I was concerned that Ithaca did not even open at all. Also, I have some concerns over the extensive cuts in faculty that are taking place.
@greyhoundgirl … I sat in last week on the Park school session and many asked the question about cuts. They were very transparent that those cuts are foe part timers and more adjunct… that all the full time professors are going nowhere. But again, they did a horrid job with covid and my kid can’t do remote in college so just things we have to weigh. All concerns but Park school for film so good it’s hard to say no to it:)
Any word on financial aid? I thought we were supposed to hear something by February 15th.
At the virtual accepted students day they said they would start sending them in March- no exact date given though.
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Hi - my son is accepted for the fall. I joined the parent Facebook page and now I’m very concerned. They handled getting the students back on campus extremely poorly - there are many, many awful stories! And lots of terrible stories about waiting online at dining halls 90 minutes for food and then being turned away without getting anything. And other things. I could go on. My older son at another college has experienced none of these problems.
@FfieldCounty I think I may join the group and just hear a little about it. He’s waiting on one school whereas he won’t hear until then end of March. The Park School is so good, but I can’t send him anywhere where there’s a chance they don’t handle Covid well. He isn’t a kid who will be successful in a virtual world. Plus being a film student, not being hands on is pointless.
The other thing that is happening…you’ll see the posts once you join…is that they are getting rid of 100+ staff members/professors and eliminating many departments in an attempt to “survive.” This was planned even before Covid. The Park School majors won’t be eliminated but they lost quite a number of staff. And this past week there were on-campus protests. Make sure to really read through the posts of the past month - you won’t believe it!
Actually, I’ve been on the parent Facebook page for months, and other than the dining situation which is still working things out. 95% of the comments regarding move in have been very positive. They were very strict with following covid policies (compared to many schools), which I was happy to learn. Now that all students have returned, and the numbers continue to be low, they are starting to allow in person classes and some more freedoms for the students. They want to ensure that students can continue to be safe and on campus and not have to shut down after 2 weeks.
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@Jjamensky thank you!!! It’s such a concern so hearing another perspective is always great! Thank you for your input. Now if they would just allow a campus tour!!
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No actual campus tours, but they are having virtual accepted students days (multiple over the next 4 weeks). We also know many kids have gone on their own to walk around campus - not allowed into buildings though. We are from Canada so we can’t even do that, but we participated in one of the virtual accepted students day. My daughter has committed and is super excited! She has already found a roommate through the Ithaca College class of 2025 Facebook page 
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I don’t mean to dispute what you are saying, but I disagree. There were dozens and dozens of posts about various move-in fiascos, plus parents were not allowed to help their kids move in, and many students have found that NONE of their classes will be in person, at all, through the entire semester…though they were told otherwise before they returned. It was all such a surprise to me, I certainly didn’t join the Ithaca FB page looking for negative stories. Many parents are trying to keep things positive despite major issues, which is commendable. However, I will just say that my older son’s college (in comparison) has handled everything from move-in to dining to Covid testing so much better, and I’m grateful for that.
I’m happy with all the precautions in place at Ithaca. In Ontario Canada they are not allowed back in dorms at all, and everything is completely online. Likely that will be the situation next fall too. They are only looking at starting at letting kids move back in spring 2022.
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I watched the accepted student events last week (3 hours!) and I thought it was well done but it was difficult for my son to stay engaged. If they don’t allow campus tours prior to May, I guess we will just drive there and walk around. But I fear not having access to buildings or organized in-person events will make it challenging for him to envision himself there. Conversely we are soon headed for an in-person accepted student weekend at Elon whose communication program he is also considering. I just think it’s going to be impossible to compare them fairly when the experience is not apples to apples. Just so frustrated and sad for these seniors who are being denied all of these significant coming of age experiences like real college visits 