That would be the best! @4sugarplums
@MIRIAM1235 did they look at daughters dads income as well? The FAFSA is based only on yours but most collages look at both parents. I am in your boat with income and custody of 2 kids but they also look at my ex who makes way more than I do. I would send an email and see if there is anything you can do. Good luck
How much would one’s grades need to drop for MHC to rescind acceptance?
In the flurry of activity last week, I failed to post that D19 was admitted with Tuition Exchange Scholarship (no other merit due to no stack policy). Congrats to all, and good luck to those waitlisted (fingers crossed @kschneeb and @4sugarplums) and to those landing elsewhere.
Our daughter is debating between MHC and American university. She also has been admitted to Sarah Lawrence and Bard. Her stats are nowhere near what is listed here by others. But she has a good SAT score and good essays. English is her intended major for now.
Went to a very competitive public high school in nor cal.
We have not visited MHC but have visited the other 3.
We are most concerned about the travel part and weather. Planning to attend the admitted students day. Appreciate any input. Thanks!
@sumahk I think it would be worth the effort of you can swing it. My D made her commitment after excepted student weekend…and I will say the weather was horrid (snow, ice rain) but unusual for April. Don’t be too worried about it…Massachusetts is very good at snow removal! We also traveled from West Coast so visited Boston for a few days prior. Flew in and out of Logan. Its about an hour ad a half easy drive once you clear Boston. Lol we’ve done it several times now. My D is an English major and would be happy to connect with your D if she wants some inside perspective.
@MIRIAM1235 Student Financial Services is really helpful and if you call them they could review your application with you. If your total income is genuinely 50k that’s too high unless you have a lot of assets, but they expect contributions from both parents so we’re talking 50k from all sources. If her other parent has an income of 50k too that changes things a lot.
I would contact the school for clarification.
@sumahk The travel is a bit of a pain but manageable. We’re in MA but my daughter has a lot of friends who do it. Some of them actually get rides with her to and from the (near to us) Logan express in Framingham, and from there it’s really easy to get to Logan, which has cheaper and easier flights.
There’s a really good (in my humble opinion) Facebook group for parents and families of MHC students and the topic of travel and attending the accepted student weekend is much discussed. You’re welcome to join us there if you’d like!
@CollegeOdyssey2001 May I ask how much the tuition exchange scholarship covers? I have been looking into jobs at a college that offers this program and wonder how difficult it is to access at the school a child chooses. Thanks!
@sumahk please send me Facebook group info. We are coming from Florida. Thanks
@Bbates75 I see you found our group on FB and I’ve already approved your membership. Welcome!
For others looking, search Mount Holyoke Parents and Families. Please be sure to answer the question about why you want membership in the group. We do require some sort of affiliation – but parents of accepted students, alumnae, staff, etc are all welcome and are active participants.
hey everyone! this is super late but i got in with spring admission (3.93 UW gpa, 1430 SAT) and would love to know anyone’s experiences with it!! currently deciding between holyoke and a couple other schools and i’m curious how spring admissions has gone for others!
@4sugarplums I am so sorry your D didn’t get accepted but I don’t agree that “holistic admissions is b.s.” They do take into account the entire student but that doesn’t mean the standards aren’t very high and competition is such that many highly qualified students aren’t accepted. The more “untraditional” you are, the more supporting evidence you need to submit. I don’t know about MHC, but at several LACs we visited, they encouraged homeschooled students to submit SAT2 scores or APs as a way of providing what one college called “objectively verifiable indicators” of academic performance. That said, we had a son accepted by an Ivy and rejected by USC, so you can never predict what will happen. And in your case, your D applied to some highly competitive colleges, with Barnard only accepting 11% this year.
One thing to consider is transferring. Many students who aren’t accepted initially are accepted as transfers. But wherever your D goes, it will be fine and this will all become history.
@Bbates75 - thank you for the advice to write a letter. My daughter has already sent an email (beautifully written) and she noted that I am available to explain my financial situation. My ex-husband is a great guy but he was unemployed for many months and last year only had an income of about $20,000 so I can’t imagine that his income would make much of an impact. Plus he has never contributed financially to my daughter despite all of his good intentions.
@Pheebers - thank you for the info and encouragement!
@lykia99, I read your reply in a testy voice - which I am sure has more to do with me than you 
- so I am going to give a measured reply.
I was deep into a very sad, difficult week last week when I wrote the “holistic BS” sentence. Now, a few days removed from it and a somewhat clearer head, I can honestly say…well, that I still feel the same
This is NOT to imply that my not-as-deserving kid should have taken the spot of a more deserving kid…I’m not that kind of mom. I have fully admitted we went into this process not very smartly…me out of ignorance and the daughter out of naivety. I did not guide her properly and that is all on me. I see now that I’m sure they saw her as lacking in a couple of things…higher maths (because I did not feel equipped to teach it) and upper sciences with labs. I didn’t fret it at the time because she was never going to be a math major and can do what she need to get by so what’s the point? Same with science. These are a lot to do with our situation, we live in a small town with no private schools, the public school would NOT let us participate in school under any circumstance and we are/were the only secular homeschoolers so no co-op situation. She did not drive so couldn’t get to a community college 1/2 an hour away. We had no idea how important ED could be so we didn’t sweat it, plus she was in southern Africa from August - December doing school with little to no internet. Had I known, however, how important it was i might have pushed it harder. But, maybe not, as I wanted her to fully embrace this once in a lifetime experience without stressing about following this crazy admission process.
HOWEVER, she scored well enough on the ACT to get into the Duke TiP program in 7th grade, where she participated for four summers along with a summer session at Smith in Women’s Studies. She has certainly expanded on those scores and her learning since then. (Perfect in English and Reading on the ACT.) The state we live in has zero requirements for homeschoolers which we LOVED (a rare thing we love about our state) so we ran with it. I abhorred the constant testing when she was in elementary public school and decided we would forge our own path without grades or testing, which she thrived in. She started with a writing teacher early and did well enough there to place silver and honorable mention keys with Scholastic. SHe’s been learning Swedish, of all things, since middle school. She started a Harry Potter Alliance chapter in our town and was the youngest founder at that time in the nation. SHe’s always been VERY political - at 15, after the election, she caught a ride to our state capitol four hours away, got on a bus of strangers with her ■■■■■ hat on, and went to the women’s march ALONE. At 16, she campaigned for Bernie. Last year, she organized, all alone, a March For Our Lives and actually got 50 people, of all ages, to march in this very conservative deep south town where the most popular store on main street is the gun store. It was so bad for her (and us) after that we had to leave town for a few days. This fall, she got on a plane with 14 other girls, unknown to her, and traveled thru southern Africa doing difficult class work in AP classes, where she made all A’s.
I say all this to say, I would have thought ONE school would have looked at her and said, “You know, she has chosen a different path. We think she is obviously up to the challenge, let’s take a chance on her.” So all of their talk of holistic - which to me also means non-conformist - does not stand up. They take the kids that have taken the same path and chose the same things as most all other kids. Being different and non-conformist did nothing but hurt her. Yes, she could and should have perhaps chosen different schools. But she is desperate to get out of this state and would have loved an all girls experience and wanted a liberal school far away from the south. As it stands, we have two acceptances - one in the deep south and one in Berlin - and two impossible waitlists and six rejections (well, four but two more expected this week). It’s like not one of the “elite” schools could see the potential of a kid that’s forging a different path and would have absolutely bloomed where planted. Not one person advocated for this kid that hasn’t been groomed for this process since birth.
Anyway, that’s my scribe for the day. We are staring at a gap year - she’s already written to Mayor Pete…if you gotta take a gap year, how great would it be to at least work on a historic presidential campaign with a nontraditional candidate she loves?! But my how I would have loved to have seen her at the schools she dreamed of. So, yeah, shame on THEM for not stepping out of THEIR box.
@4sugarplums your DD sounds amazing! No matter where she goes, I am confident she will be a successful person. Clearly she is a passionate young lady with a lot of personal drive. Something many kids at her age do not have. Once her heart heals from this harsh game of the college application process, reevaluate and put a new game plan in place that keeps moving her forward. A complete stranger from NH is rooting for her! Good luck.
@4sugarplums you daughter sounds amazing! She has me as a huge fan and supporter! Keep fighting and I promise it will work out.
She sounds like she has an infinite amount of qualities that if i were on Admissions, i would say yes. She is the kind of friend i would hope my daughter to have the pleasure of meeting. She should write a letter and i hope she is the first to come off the waitlist.
@4sugarplums I hope you and your wonderful DD are finding a zillion excellent solutions to these disappointments. We are inching our way through. Have you thought about other liberal LACs that may have rolling admissions? Check out Marlboro College—liberal, rigorous, unique structure, very small, recently cut tuition. Marlboro (like Bard) is one of the One Hundred Colleges that Change Lives. Just one idea. Gap works too. I also believe your daughter is going to be more than fine. I’m sending love and light to you both.
@4sugarplums On May 1, I believe, NACAC publishes a list online of schools that still have openings and also indicate if financial aid is still available. Some of these are quite good schools, including LACs. The best options fill quickly, so it’s to your benefit to review the list as soon as it comes out and submit applications quickly.
Typically somebody will post a thread when the list comes out and you can search for this from past years to see what kinds of schools have appeared on the list.
I feel for your child. Admissions have become increasingly unpredictable and competitive. Here’s hoping she gets off the MHC waitlist (have her send a letter of continued interest and updates about recent significant achievements not reflected in her original app, if applicable). Best of luck to your family.