Also consider Berra College in Kentucky. Students pay NO tuition (in fact, students over a certain family income can’t even apply). All students do work on campus.
I don’t think Amtrak runs there from KC, but Greyhound does.
US News:
https://www.usnews.com/best-colleges/berea-college-1955
Chemistry at Berra:
https://www.berea.edu/chm/
They have an auditioned choir:
https://www.berea.edu/bc-concert-choir/
Well, there is something in the mail from Knox College. I’m so anxious for her to get home. It looks like a Christmas Card? Is it possible they just sent a Christmas card with a rejection or a Christmas card with no information? I don’t think we’ve gotten a Christmas card from any other school. Did they send acceptance letters in the form of Christmas cards? I’ve like two hours before she gets home. Someone please speculate with me.
@parentmother Thank you, that is definitely something to consider.
@liska21 Thank you for the info.
I can’t really do anything about her attachment to certain schools over others or attachment at all. All I can do is try to make sure she has some options. But hopefully this Christmas card is actually good news not just holiday greetings.
My speculation is that it’s neither. Maybe a confirmation that all materials have been received.
Why do you think it may be a Christmas card? Is the envelope red or is there a Hallmark imprint on the envelope? Let us know what it is! I’m curious
I’ll chime in to speculate that it’s generic marketing material, possibly even a reminder to apply with application due dates prominently featured.
Don’t be alarmed if this is the case, colleges don’t seem to bother removing kids from the “potential applicant” list once they have actually applied. Now they are just on both lists. My D got several such mailings after application to her schools and was recently admitted, so there’s no correlation there. 
It’s shaped like a Christmas card. I know they have everything, they’ve confirmed they have everything. I just am wondering because the AO told my D to “expect good news in the mail before Christmas.” I did a quick search and it looks like some schools do send out EA decisions by Christmas card. I wish she would get home already…
Edited to add: Its from Admissions and I can see the design of a holiday card inside.
She’s home. I’ll update soon!
It’s a Christmas card, with a poem. Darn, not a yes, yet.
Darn it!
It’s still thoughtful to send out Holiday cards. It’s anticlimactic though since s the AO told her to expect good news in the mail before Christmas.
This part is soooooo stressful!
@porcupine98 Yes, it’s getting to her, for sure. She just finished her honors pre-Calc final and she has been so stressed she couldn’t focus. Her A dropped to a B, 1/2 point away from an A. She now won’t have straight A’s this semester. She was really counting on those to boost her application. It’s not going to effect her unweighted GPA much but will impact her weighted. I don’t know if that changes everything or not? She thinks it does, I’m worried, too.
She shouldn’t worry. They’ve seen this a million times before. It’s the big picture that counts, not a single grade.
It’s certainly possible that one B might tip the balance in a situation where she’s really on the edge, but it won’t matter to the schools that want her for all her other qualities.
Now if she went from straight A’s to all B’s and C’s, different story, but that’s not the situation.
I agree that overall, it’s the big picture not a single grade BUT Admissions is also trying to read the tea leaves on how an applicant will fare in a Their particular academic environment. If she were an English major, a B in honors pre-calc senior year is not a big deal (and pretty impressive) BUT i would see if you can advocate for a consideration on the pre-calc grade. If she’s passionate about STEM (and pursuing a STEM type degree) and shes not in AP Calc (I recognize that honors pre-calc may be the highest level offered) and not rocking an A in whatever calc she is taking it might not send the right message to admission departments. (Just as a point of reference at our HS honors pre-calc is very typical for junior year students and AP Calc is the typical path for seniors)
I wouldn’t stress her out but you might want to advocate directly on her behalf. 1/2 Point seems like a gap that could be bridged for the sake of her transcript.
@Cornellian88 It was a false alarm! I don’t know where the rest of the post went? How weird.
She has an A for semester grades. The MC part of the final had not been graded yet. Her teacher emailed me this morning.
She finished this semester with all A’s just like she said she would.
Her ACT scores were not released this am. I hope they will be released on Friday or next weeks batch. A delay in scores could really harm her.
Awesome News! See, no reason to stress.Those are very impressive grades for a rigorous senior year. Fingers crossed on the ACT results.
Update: 1st official acceptance.
Coe College (I forgot about them) They called my D tonight to personally congratulate her and offer her admission with 27,000 a year in Merit Aid. They also will stack her need based aid which should about cover the COA. They told her the letter and FA package were mailed today. It was a lovely gesture to make the personal phone call. They also offered $250 in travel money to visit the campus.
Since she’s gone to bed and won’t look on this board tonight, I can also announce that she has also officially been accepted to Knox, her AO emailed me today. Her letter will arrive in the mail tomorrow along with socks and a lanyard. This was her top choice. It’s been EXCRUCIATINGLY difficult not to tell her as it’s been a tough week with finals, but I wanted her to be surprised when she opens the mail tomorrow.
Also, St. Olaf has become a real contender, it seems like acceptance in likely after her conversation with them and than their calls to me today. She spent some time making a pros and cons list about each school this evening. They are both (Knox and St. Olaf) very different.
I expect we’ll hear some more good news before 1/1.
Thank you all for your support. These developments are wonderful for her self esteem and for her rapid, almost instant, leap in maturity.
These are acceptance offers with her current ACT scores.
She still loves Knox, though…she will be over the moon when she gets the letter tomorrow!
Wonderful news. Thanks for updating us!
So exciting, congratulations to her, and you! Your positive attitude and willingness to keep looking for good fits for your daughter, has been absolutely inspirational. What a wonderful morning in your household tomorrow!
What great news! So happy to hear.