<p>**Sunday’s Countdown for the “reachy” schools is: </p>
<p>Stanford - 5 days to go. Less than a week (if they are early like last year).</p>
<p>Vanderbilt - 3 days to decision mailing day (snail mail only - probably 5 or 6 days to hit your mailbox)</p>
<p>The big “H” and other ivys - 10 days to go based on the 5PM March 30th announcement date and time. Almost down to single digits.</p>
<p>March 31st schools - 11 days to go. </p>
<p>There is light at the end of the tunnel. It got a bit larger overnight.**</p>
<p>I am monitoring the news releases and admissions blogs to nearly a dozen “reachy” schools and will post updates or changes to the countdown as they occur.</p>
<p>How lovely to “participate” in owm’s family’s happy evening. Congratulations!</p>
<p>Gosh, people, the end-of-year events are just beginning. In the past there have been quite lively “awards s/he did (and didn’t) get” threads. Not just for bragging, but for the real feelings and meaning in this point in kids’ lives. They’ve all worked very hard, and I hope they all feel very proud of themselves.</p>
<p>I had a bit of a sobering experience yesterday - a friend who has a business was telling me the hoops she currently jumping through to get chosen for “preferred vendor” status with several large companies. This could mean steady income for the next few years … or not. Sadly it sounded an awful lot like college/financial aid applications - but truly life or death stuff (right now they can’t afford health insurance unless business picks up). I was humbled - partly thinking that college worries pale next to this, but also thinking, this is life, trying to take steps, sometimes getting what you want, or what you need, and sometimes getting rejected and having to regroup. The college process isn’t so once-in-a-lifetime, after all.</p>
<p>This is a huge thing in these kids’ lives, and it won’t end with the letters they’re getting this month. More decisions are to come, more judgments … that’s life. So as they deal with how these next few weeks and months feel, as they learn about what keeps them happy and healthy, they truly are preparing for life and all that it brings. </p>
<p>A big “journey not a destination” moment for me, I guess.</p>
<p>Hurray for the good news for so many of our kids (even if FA for the UCs is not as good as one would hope). Can’t wait to see new pics on shutterfly! Sending support for fishymom and aniger who have not had quite as good a time of it.
We are happy here, just cruising along until the beginning of April for accepted students days. D put her WL “yes, keep on the list” letter in the mail for RPI. We are not counting on anything, just nice not to be denied. H and I are going to see how D reacts to New Paltz as opposed to Albany when we visit. If they are even close we are going to talk about 4 year graduation rates (both low) and the practicality of the 5 year MSIS at UAlbany- the classes she wants just might not be there so she could end up doing 6 years for BA/MS anyway. If need be, a(n older, used) car may be in the offing so that she does not feel isolated in New Paltz which is one of her concerns. We shall see…</p>
<p>Hurray for OWM’s son! We all agreed with Grandma and expected him to win. </p>
<p>Congratulations on the UCSD acceptances and my condolences on the rejections. That point system sounds brutal. My daughter met a lot of CA kids at a summer program last year who were focusing on East coast schools because they didnt’ think they could get into the UC’s.</p>
<p>EB: Congrats to your daughter on the lastest merit award. I’ll keep my fingers crossed on the reach school.</p>
<p>The diet has not gone well for me either. I’m going to Jamaica in a month with a group of skinny women, so I need to either get serious or buy some great looking cover ups.</p>
<p>I can’t wait to see more pics on the shutterfly site. Thanks again to Education2 for setting it up.</p>
<p>At New Paltz they told my D that they have regular buses right from town that go into Poughkeepsie and also directly to Penn Station (1.5 hrs). My D who loves cities thought the town was really nice, plenty of variety of ethnic restaurants, etc. But I had much the same feeling as you - that maybe as an older student if she didn’t have friends with cars she might want to have one herself.</p>
<p>Wow, so much going on here. I’m going through the getting new ID business myself X3, and it really hurts.</p>
<p>Went to son’s senior mom prom last month and it was truly a wonderful experience.</p>
<p>Congratulations to all of the kids getting to the end of this college application gauntlet. And to the moms too… Where ever they end up going, they can make it a great experience. I wish my heart would be in tandem with my brain. I want my son to have all the choices in the world, even though I know he only can go to one school. As with so many kids, his first choices are the reaches for him.</p>
<p>As S and I were coming home from getting haircuts yesterday, I pulled up to the mailbox and S opened it. We both saw a large envelope at the bottom of the stack. He quickly grabbed the stack of mail and pulled it into the car. Turns out the big envelope was not from a college, but just the newsletter and bill from our homeowners’ association. So we continue to wait.</p>
<p>Congrats to OMW’s son on winning the scholarship competition! Great news. :)</p>
<p>Congrats for all of the good FA news yesterday! :)</p>
<p>Boos to all of the bad decisions coming out of UCSD and the other UC campuses. :(</p>
<p>Crazy non-stop good and bad day this afternoon. Memorial service for a close neighbor’s mother; then a Happy Birthday party for two of our grandchildren (ages 1 and 3 - sister and brother ); then the Ohio State - George Mason March Madness game here in town! It will be exhausting but it will make the day go fast!</p>
<p>Yes, it will eventually end. Then we can start the countdown to May 1st when all decisions have to be made and submitted (except for waitlist situations and we are not going there today!)</p>
<p>I’ve been away this week and I can see it was a big one for many families, good news and disappointments and the aggravations and high points of life mixed in. </p>
<p>We are right there with you- an acceptance, a waitlist and two rejections this week. The rejections were not from D’s favorites but they were auditioned programs so they stung. And the admittance was to a school D has declared she has no interest in. The waitlist is one she would like but not a favorite. She will go on the waitlist for now. </p>
<p>A favorite, and 3 auditioned programs as well as 2 BAs, are yet to be heard from. She has a couple acceptances she could be very happy with so some of the pressure is off but I know D is waiting to get at least one auditioned program in hand to feel successful and to really start to make her choice. And I’m waiting until all choices are in hand to figure out where we need to go visit again and how the heck we are going to squeeze those in in April. I’ve also revisited the websites of the schools she is considering and reminded myself of why they are good choices for her. I think we will be able to love the one she’s with when its all over.</p>
<p>In the meantime, the prom dress we ordered before we left arrived and fits so she is happy about that. And we had a great family vacation. I tried to push away all thoughts of “this is the last time we will…” and just be in the moment. It wasn’t always easy but this really was a fun family vacation and I’m glad we had the time together. </p>
<p>Wishing you all a week of good new. I hope we can all step off this roller coaster feeling exhilarated rather than nauseous.</p>
<p>Thanks much avonhsdad. Any thought on dates of admission release for Duke? Or Amherst? Other than the Ivies, those are the ones we are waiting for…</p>
<p>LOP: Congrats on the acceptance and sorry about the other decisions. The audition process makes this experience so tough for brave kids like your daughter who take the risk. I’m glad to hear that she has some acceptances that she likes. I’m glad that you had a nice family vacation. We’re still managed to take some great summer vacations with both of our daughters, so those days aren’t over yet.</p>
<p>Vacations - We take a big family vacation every summer with two sets of grandparents, four siblings (my husband and his brother and sisters) and ten cousins whose ages range from 26 to 16. Once in awhile we’ll miss one or two people, but the cousins love the vacations as much as the parents and grandparents. I too thought that once the kids hit College that they wouldn’t want to join us, but we now have three college grads, and they keep coming!</p>
<p>This made me think if a sign I saw this week that said -</p>
<p>“Due to budget constraints the light at the end of the tunnel has been turned off”</p>
<p>Made me laugh.</p>
<p>I was chaperoning a group of 8th graders at church this weekend so I was reading all the posts on my iPhone. I’m SLOW on the phone keyboard, so let me tell everyone congrats on all the news. Sounds like overall it was a good weekend. I hope those suffering the stings of WL and “no” will bounce back quickly. We are all headed into the stretch! S and I were looking at the NCAA brackets and he pointed to the games in 2 weeks and noted he’d know what his options were by then…seems more real.</p>
<p>OWM-congrats! Glad the event worked well and he won. I remember when u first announced the event several months ago. What a great way of celebrating your talented son.</p>
<p>In our house, son has decided on state school. He is going to pass up the better scholarships and focus on the school that was always his #1 choice. </p>
<p>We still will get more news over next few weeks through April 1, but I don’t think it will change his mind.</p>
<p>He has picked out his ‘dorm’ which is suite style shared with 3 others. They will have full kitchen, bathroom,etc. We just did lease this weekend and now focused on paying for it all.</p>
<p>Congratulations to your son, OWM, and we are also happy you have some great news this week as well! (My son is thinking he should have applied to Michigan, after I described your experiences with the university.)</p>
<p>Lots of empathy for those not getting enough aid (kinderny, I wish we could give you our spot at RPI, 'cause we can’t afford it.). I have to stop reading those scary threads in the financial aid forum. And I’m impressed with those of you working through the California system. Great schools, but so many hoops.</p>
<p>Fishymom, I’ve been thinking that I cry as easily now as when as was pregnant, so you’re not alone. I teach at my son’s school, and I will be the one to hand him his diploma. Just thinking about it brings tears to my eyes, and he has warned me not to get him wet! The good news is that as a teacher, I get to wear a graduation gown, which I’m pretty sure will fit.</p>
<p>Thanks to all for sharing the good and the bad; makes me feel a little less alone in my extremes of emotions.</p>
<p>lacrossemom, wow, I can’t imagine yet the feeling of having the decision made! Grats to your son – how exciting to be picking out the dorm.</p>
<p>Spring break is this week for us. My daughter is doing a couple of dance programs. One at the U that is her safety, so I hope she really enjoys it and has more “safety enthusiasm.” The other is aerial dance (trapeze and fabric). Between that and hanging out with her boyfriend and other friends, hopefully she can keep her mind off the upcoming seven decisions (even if I can’t)!</p>
<p>I think it is really unfair that top HS students with nearly a 4.0 are denied at UCSD, while community college transfer students have been GUARANTEED admission with only a 3.0. I understand the argument about accessibility of the UCs, but sheesh… I wonder if this easy transfer is true of all the UCs? Is this true of other top state colleges, like Texas, Virginia, and Michigan, among others?</p>
<p>Hi All,
I am a lurker with my own senior D. Just popping in to say that “yes!”, other state flagships are like the UC’s and have automatic acceptance from the branches with lower grade points. We are in Ohio and it’s true at OSU. It’s gotten extremely competitive to get in OSU, when it used to be the safety that everyone could go to.</p>
<p>Enjoying reading about all the senior year stories from around the country! Good luck to all!</p>
So we continue to wait.</p>