<p>Thanks, historymom! Will be interested to see what happens when those scores come out!</p>
<p>We're curious, too - it'll either mean S1 is all done with testing, or that he has to pick another SATII for October.</p>
<p>Signing in on D#2...........wants to study human bio/life science.........looking at BU, G'town, Cornell, Wellesley, Mt. H, American, Brown, Simmons, Ithaca........and maybe more. This major isn't offered many places.</p>
<p>Actually historymom, I'm a 2010 parent, but I do read this thread.</p>
<p>We're off to visit SUNY Stony Brook and Fordham. My daughter decided not to take the SATs for the third time. She's taken them twice (December and January last year) and has very good math and CR scores and an OK writing score. She's concerned that taking them a third time would not give her an increase....and frankly is tired of taking them. </p>
<p>As for the visits I don't know what to think except wouldn't it be wonderful if she preferred SUNY Stony Brook. I'm confident she will get into both schools and maybe get some academic money......and wonder --- how do people pay for private schools without aid? We won't get any financial aid --- she'll probably get some academic aid and I suppose we just borrow the rest.</p>
<p>I want my daughter to apply to wherever she wants to but when it comes down to it money will definitely be a deciding factor. She wants to study something medicine related......and work towards becoming a pharmacist or MD. I'm thinking that if she's going to a good college to study biology or pre-med or pre-pharmacy that we'd be better off if she goes to a good public university.</p>
<p>How do most people pay for college for their children??</p>
<p>I'm in.... D is interested in Neuroscience or Bio w/ a neuro minor. Wants to stay w/in 3-4 hours of our New England home, so Duke is currently high on her list. Wants a rural school, so really liked Brown. Absolutely will not go to a religious school, so we're going to look at Salve Regina this summer. You all brought the baked goods and wine, so I guess I'll bring the Advil!</p>
<p>Signing in with S#1 -- he is interested in Religious Studies and Tibetan Studies in particular, but also planning to explore some classes in Psychology. He has a rather unusual background (homeschooled for many years -- will graduate from an international boarding school in Wales with the IB diploma).</p>
<p>Because his interests (Tibetan language, culture and particularly Tibetan Buddhism) are so focused, he has a very short college list: Columbia (ED), Harvard, University of Chicago (EA) & UVa. He is guaranteed admission to the state flagship -- although he won't apply this fall since he is planning a gap year and they won't defer admission.</p>
<p>How do people pay? For us, son does not want any loans at all (future plans do not include making more than minimal money) so he is looking at schools that meet 100% need, and he has the Davis Scholarship (for UWC students) that will replace the first $10,000 of loans/work-study/summer contribution that is in the FA package. As far as our part of the EFC -- I guess we will just work even harder, but it will all have to come out of current income (no savings, assets to borrow against nor credit to borrow with).</p>
<p>AdvicePlease,</p>
<p>My son also does not want big-time loans, so like hsmomstef, our son is looking primarily at schools that address the need-based question. Our state schools are all right at FA, but he is also looking at private schools. I hope that your daughter liked SUNY Stony Brook. I have a cousin whose son has a full ride, and he loves it. And just to let you know, my son, too, is tired of taking the SAT.</p>
<p>chintzy, that Advil is deeply appreciated. Though it sounds as if you may need it even more than the rest of us. :D</p>
<p>Completely off-topic--hope you survived the last day of k-garten, Harriet!</p>
<p>Instead of balling my eyes out (as I was likely to do) we had a big party...made it manageable!</p>
<p>I don't know if it's totally off-topic, Jolynne. I think of it as our very tiny sub-thread: Parents of the high school classes of '09 and '20. :eek:</p>
<p>A party sounds like the perfect solution. How smart of you! Was it grownups, or kids? Or both? We did survive pretty happily, thanks. The fact the boys' piano recital was that night helped a lot. Also, H and S1 came along for the kiss & cry session at the end of the school day, which kept my crying contribution somewhat under control.</p>
<p>Piano recital sounds like a great distraction (plus lovely event on its own!). </p>
<p>Our party was 16+ kids plus 10-12 adults---sprinklers, splash pool, make-your-own-sundaes, temporary hair dye, silly string et al. I was too exhausted at the end to feel any of the bittersweet pain of the milestone..!</p>
<p>I like the 1/2 day...will take some adjusting to the full-day, 1st grade experience (notice this is all about me? lol). Guess we have the summer, though!</p>
<p>Momreads -- Good to hear that about your cousin's son. I'm hoping Stony Brook looks good to my daughter. My older daughter did get an academic award but decided to go to our instate school. Interestingly Stony Brook out-of-state tuition is actually less expensive then Penn State is in-state. </p>
<p>I'm confident that my daughter will succeed wherever she chooses because she is very driven to succeed academically. She plans to apply to a bunch of schools so it'll be interesting to see where all of this ends up next Spring. At least I know that she has worked hard all the way through school so she is in a very prepared position to start these applications.</p>
<p>AdvicePlease no doubt that confidence in her has contributed to the confidence she feels in herself. Cheers to you and all who raise confident kids! :raises wine glass:</p>
<p>One of my Ds now has a list that is 16 schools long. I don't think she will end up applying to them all but she is definately interested right now which is a good thing. We just got home from a grad party for their cousin who is a year older . Everyone wanted to know what schools they wanted to attend and I have to confess that even I overloaded on "college talk" ;)</p>
<p>My other D is much more circumspect in her listmaking and is really only considering 6 or so schools right now. Though she did just tell me two days ago that she is going to apply to Cal Poly, a school she originally thought was "too big" for her so who know what other "big schools" she'll add between now and January.</p>
<p>I'm getting quite excited - S and I are leaving for a college visit road trip (will be touring 7-8 colleges) on Friday. Not excited about the price of gas, though.</p>
<p>I'm jealous of your road trip firefly. Based on other cc advice, we have agreed to limit all college discussion in our house to 30 minutes on Sunday so S2 doesn't feel overwhelmed/irritated at us and we feel we get his undivided attention rather than him spending all of his energy fending us off. We have had only one discussion so far, which I thought went well. I had him fill out the survey in the front of the Fiske Guide to determine fit and had him read some blurbs in the book and rank order them (trying to get him actively engaged in the process). I know I learned a lot from that process and felt good about our progress. But, when Sunday rolled around yesterday he asked for a deferral to Monday, saying Sunday came too fast and he wasn't mentally prepared to talk about college for 30 minutes that day. </p>
<p>I would love to schedule a visit somewhere. That is my goal today--to get him to agree to see at least two campuses anywhere at all and we put an actual date on the calendar on which he agrees to go. He will probably pick University of Hawaii (just kidding). </p>
<p>H and I visited Christopher Newport on our own last week while S2 was in Myrtle Beach with friends. His Fiske survey pointed to an interest in a smaller school so that really changed my focus (but not that of S2 who thinks the survey was bogus). H and I both liked the campus but S2 refuses to go see it. He also nixed College of Charleston, Elon and every other smallish school I have suggested. I'm willing to visit large schools, but he doesn't get excited about the idea of a long road trip with me. He doesn't think visits are necessary. This is not fun.</p>
<p>TheAnalyst, my son sounds similar to yours & I think I'm going to take the 30 minutes on one day a week idea! Will be good for son [and me]...! Will check out the Fiske guide, also. CC has guided a lot of our search, so far! (comp sci school recommendations from CC professionals in the field...)</p>
<p>Gearing up for our flight/road trip to the NE in 2 weeks! OK, so maybe it's more of a bribe to spend some mother-daughter time, but whatever....</p>
<p>We're on the brink of applying - not just talking about applying any more! It's time to get serious about this tuition stuff. </p>
<p>There is a book out called something like How to Pay for College without Going Broke. Does anyone have that, and if so, how helpful is it? I'd like D to spend some time this summer learning about available scholarships, but don't know quite where to start.</p>
<p>Ah, the college road trip! D started out highly motivated and we took a swing through NC during Feb vacation. Since then, it's been like pulling teeth to get her to schedule anything. Finally had the "I don't want to be the one driving this bus. It's your search, blah, blah, blah" talk and managed to get a couple more on the calendar. ChiSquare, how many schools in the 2 weeks?</p>
<p>Firefly, what schools are you visiting?</p>