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<p>sounds like a plan!</p>
<p>Iām attending NC State in the fall. Our school is a very competitive high school (ranked number 9 in the nation at one point). Literally half of our school is going to UNC, and we have kids at every ivy. Our school is 500 people haha. The day after the Carolina decisions came out, people asked where I was going. I had already decided on NC State, as I want to do animal science pre-vet. When I informed them of this, they apologized, assuming Iād been rejected to Carolina. I hadnāt.</p>
<p>Love this threadā¦
smile and nodā¦smile and nodā¦
When people ask why my son picked a school in Indiana (IU) over UC Santa Barbara (is one of the most beautiful campus I have ever been to!)ā¦they just can not believe that he would pick a school in the midwest, where it is cold in the winter. Of course, the UC does not have his major or the sports that he wants!</p>
<p>IU Bloomington? Utterly gorgeous. :)</p>
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<p>Great line! My D is going to Minneapolis College of Art and Design and weāre from Florida. Everyone predicts sheāll come home at the first snowfall. I know she wonāt!!</p>
<p>I talked to a mom who really needs some lessons in smiling and nodding! I told her that I had heard that her son was going to the [hard to get into] state flagship and what a great school it is. She said yes heās going, but it was his last choice. While I was praising the school, she was telling me about the schools that waitlisted him. I guess sheās not yet over the sting of April 1st.</p>
<p>iām feeling your pain in advance. son won a full scholarship at a science fair to sierra nevada college. he is excited to have an option as a 9th grader. i am happy he got some recognition and that if some horrible unforeseen financial crisis hits the family at least he is taken care of college money-wise. my friends just goggle at meā¦ā but heās not going is he?ā one thing i learned in lifeā¦never say never!</p>
<p>I donāt tell people what college Iām going to. If they ask, I now say, ā<blah blah=āā> community college.ā LMAO!!!</blah></p>
<p>Missypie, that is so common with both kids and parents. So much healthier to focus on your choice from what accepted you and forget about the waitlisted schools other than doing what is needed to let them know you still want to go there. Too many folks extending that misery.</p>
<p>Last summer, I was hanging out with one of my friends the day before he left for his freshman year of college (I was going to be home for a few more weeks before leaving myself). I go to the University of Michigan and he goes to Albion College, a small liberal arts school in central-southern Michigan that Iām willing to bet most people outside of this state have never heard of. Now, I applied to and seriously considered Albion because they are known for being a good school that gives a lot of scholarship money to top students, causing the price to equal out to U of M and Michigan State for in-state students. I chose Michigan over Albion mostly because I decided I wanted a big school over a small school (and Albion is the extreme version of small schoolā¦less students in entire college than I have in my class). I received the top scholarship they give and my friend received the next level down. So weāre hanging out and we run into a family friend of his.</p>
<p>Family Friend: So where are you going to college?
Me: U of M in Ann Arbor.
Family Friend: Oh? Did you get any scholarships like [my friendās name] here?
Me: No.
Family Friend: Too bad. You shouldāve worked a little harder.</p>
<p>Okay, first of all, U of M only gives merit scholarships (and I donāt qualify for need based) to absolutely top students. There arenāt very many available for the typical freshman class of about 6k, and despite the fact that my grades were excellent and my test scores were excellent, I wasnāt exactly shocked when they didnāt offer me a scholarship.</p>
<p>Now, this guy is one of my best friends, and the only reason I was more competitive academically than him was because I took a harder curriculum. Heās extremely happy at Albion and Iām extremely happy at U of M, and thatās all that really matters. It just killed me that someone actually criticized me for getting into U of M but not getting a scholarship, especially since, little did they know, I got a bigger scholarship offer from that particular school than the guy I was being compared to. And I mean, seriously? We live in Michigan. You would think everyone would know that U of M is a great school, and that just because someone didnāt get a scholarship there doesnāt mean that they slacked off in high school. Oh well.</p>
<p>Yeah, Iāve been bottling that one up for almost a year.</p>
<p>it drove me crazy because people messed up my colleges all the time. i considered marquette university people always said something like āoh northern michigan, thats coolā because northern michigan is in the city of marquette. this made me pretty annoyed cuz nmu isnt that great of a school and i didnt see why people would think i would say the city instead of the school. i decided to go to depauw and a decent amount of people say āo in chicagoā, which bugged me cuz i was pretty happy about getting in there and depaul doesnt really compare much to depauw. also i applied to loyola chicago and college of the holy cross and i always had to specify which loyola and holy cross.</p>
<p>srgirl6: I live in Michigan; I get it!</p>
<p>Go Blue!</p>
<p>Yep. And the many definitions of āfull rideā When you realize that fin aid packages are based on merit and need, someone boasting a āfull rideā might be talking about tuition only and really not have the same amount as someone else got overall. </p>
<p>some of the top schools give grants and meet need 100% so āscholarshipā is another misleading word. </p>
<p>you pick the school thatās best for you. Go there and make a difference! In real life, it is who you are that really matters.</p>
<p>OK, we have learned that when speaking to new graduates:</p>
<p>1) Donāt ask, āWhere are you going to college?ā DO ask, āSo, do you have your plans for next year?ā</p>
<p>2) Donāt ask, āDid you get any scholarships?ā or āHow are you going to pay for that?ā or āWow, out of state tuitionā or make any kind of financial mention. By this point, the student/parent is aware of the cost and has made the choice to pay them. Case closed.</p>
<p>3) When people say stupid things about your/your studentās college choice, just do your best bobblehead imitation, becauseā¦ (see #4)</p>
<p>4) Despite all of your research into colleges, visiting campuses, interviews, browsing websites, talking to current students, etc etc etc; people who are only vaguely aware of your college will apparently thing they know more than you about it and give you feedback based on something they heard, because their neighborās cousinās best friend went to your college 10 years ago.</p>
<p>I love the advice about asking āwhat are your plans for next year vs. where are you going to collegeā It is just so much more considerate.</p>
<p>We are dealing with college graduates, for the most part, but the advice is similar, given the economic realities.</p>
<p>I say, āCongratulations!ā if I really have no idea if the grad has a good option at this time.</p>
<p>If I know the grad has some some options, I say, āCongratulations! Whatās next for you?ā And whatever the answer, my response is some variation of āThatās great!ā</p>
<p>mafool, thanks for the good advice. What a tough year for graduates!</p>
<p>TomofBoston and Hunt, lol, very clever!</p>
<p>There have been so many hilarious stories here, and a lot of good advice has been given as well. I just want to respond to the people who have decided that it is a good idea to tell their interlocutors that they or their children will attend a CC. I remember meeting a particular sophomore student when I was a college freshman. I asked him what his major was and he said he had no idea what he wanted to study. My reply was something along the lines of āThat is fine. Many people take a long time to figure out what they want to do.ā In a couple of future interactions, he made some comment about how he did not know what he wanted to study and then turned to the others and repeat what I had said. At some later date I learned that his dad was a prominent surgeon, and he himself was at the top of his class (and ultimately graduated at the top of his med school class). He knew what he planned to do from the first day of kindergarten, was tired of telling people, and decided to have some fun with it at the expense of well-meaning fellow students. I am not impressed by people like that.</p>
<p>Take it easy, Srgirl. Happens all of the time. That person was just plain rude. Who would say a thing like that to anyone? That you had the scholarship was a personal consolation, Iām sure, but the comment would have been just as rude to someone who did not have a scholarship.</p>
<p>Iāve seen that so many times with the big flagship school. My close friends have their girls going to Ohio State, and though they are great students, they did not get scholarships there, but did to any number of the small, private, excellent schools in the Ohio area. They chose to go the the big state school for a number of reasons even though the cost to go to many of those other schools would have been about the same. And, yes, they and the parents get remarks. They got even more for their oldest daughter who chose to go an out of state university. They donāt even bother to say, āYes, she DID get into Ohio State and any number of colleges in Ohio and in the area, and some even offered scholarships. She wanted to go THERE.ā Sheesh.</p>