<p>I am trying to stay on top of all the news here and really enjoy reading about college visits and final college picks. Congratulation to everyone who came ashore recently. </p>
<p>Bkcsmn99 – sorry about what happened to your daughter. I am glad she is ok now, but it sounds like she suffered quite an ordeal. </p>
<p>S came from a visit to Duke, but unfortunately we are not any closer to the land. Maybe we are sailing in the wrong direction? This week we are going to visit 2 more colleges and another one next week. Maybe something will click during these visits. </p>
<p>I am not sure if I can say that S has senioritis; he is still on top off all the school work that he has to do. But I think he enjoys HS a lot less lately and he said that he was glad to get away from it for the Duke visit.</p>
<p>I just got back from the post office to mail S’s reply card…We have officially disembarked from the SS Indecision…</p>
<p>D will be a proud member of the University of Notre Dame Class of 201!!! (Cue Fight Song.)</p>
<p>Theoretically it was tough, deciding between ND and Cornell. I went to ND and know it’s a perfect fit for my son; H went to Ivy League and was originally pushing hard for Cornell. The prestige factor played a big part here. But when we showed Dad the test scores for the two schools are practically the same and they differ in the US rankings by only 3 spots, he dropped his opposition. S has wanted to go to ND his entire life and is SO excited. There was no question about which to choose if he listened to his heart. He was admitted EA but we didn’t get the FA until the last week in March, so all those months he didn’t allow himself to get excited because he didn’t know if we’d be able to swing it. It’s great to see him walking around with a big smile on his face and asking lots of questions about campus traditions. It’s truly a match made in heaven. He can always go Ivy for grad school.</p>
<p>Congrats to everyone who has made his/her decision, and good luck to those still deliberating! We feel very lucky to have a happy ending to our story.</p>
<p>Well, we have a decision at my house. Yes, S2 has decided to go to . . .</p>
<p>. . . London in June with his best friend. Well, it’s apparently much easier to decide on a great trip destination than on a college. So why not bring in a big bright distraction to take off some of the stress? Heh. He’s so excited about this trip that it really makes him see life in a more balanced way. (i.e. the college he attends is not the only thing in the universe–so chill!) I’m glad they’ve made this happen, because he and bf will be at least on 2 different coasts for college–and bf is really gunning to attend a school in Europe. </p>
<p>My DH and I are clearly taking a stay-cation for the foreseeable future. Our frequent flier miles just sort of … flew away?</p>
<p>Oh, and mini-rant. When one constructs a dang fabulous list with safeties and matches and reaches in all the right proportions. And then, poof!, the state doubles the tuition for their great Universities, where exactly does that leave one with regard to financial safeties? Oy!!!</p>
<p>momdoc - Big Congrats on Notre Dame! I can just imagine your son’s smile. </p>
<p>rom828 - S actually liked Duke more than he expected. He met several current Duke students who graduated from our HS and all love it there. He really clicked with the student who hosted him and his friends. So he already has people to hang around with if he chooses to go there.</p>
<p>Bkcsmn99 - sorry to hear about your D fainting. Hope she is feeling better now. Sometimes, when you internalize all the stress, your body just can’t handle it . Been there, know that :)</p>
<p>Pepper - congratulations on disembarking! Great that he loved NEU. Not an easy choice to make, especially given his disappointments. Several kids from our high school are also headed to NEU this year - appears to have been the popular choice, at least amongst private schools.</p>
<p>madbean - loved the London trip decision. It’s so much easier to think of all the other things, rather than handle the one tough thing that won’t just go away, right?</p>
<p>At our place, D might just have ruled out School #3. Spoke to her really briefly - will know more tomorrow. She loved the school, loved the academics they talked about, the classes she saw for registration. Her comment - “I felt like it was a fit for me during the day, but not so much at night!!” I think she didn’t get the vibe when it came to the after school hours life there - so it might be out. And if that’s the case, we will be down to 2. A bit sad - funny, I should be thrilled that we are a step closer to THE decision, right? But somehow, it feels like we have something vested with each of these schools now. D was talking to me before she went on this visit how she’s going to have to say No to two of three schools and how disappointing it will be. And to top it all, school #3 upped her merit award this weekend :(</p>
<p>Pepper ~ Congrats on your S’s decision to attend NEU!</p>
<p>Bkcsm99 ~ Hope your daughter is ok.</p>
<p>momdoc ~ Congrats on ND! So glad your son is so happy!</p>
<p>keylimepie ~ How nice to hear your S enjoyed his Duke visit and made new friends!</p>
<p>S decided not to go to a regional party for the Princeton accepted students tonight, because he is still exhausted from his MIT weekend, and has to catch up with sleep and homework. I would have preferred he went, of course, to help him with his decision, but then he will be traveling there anyway, in a few days, so I guess it doesn’t matter that much.</p>
<p>One thing he just seemed to have realized over this past weekend, is that the kids come to college from all over the world, lol. He loves that, btw.</p>
<p>BKCS: I hope your daughter is feeling better. </p>
<p>Momdoc: Congrats on the ND decision! It’s great that your son is going to the school he loved all along. I bet that you’ll have a wonderful time visiting. My D1 attends my husband’s alma mater, and he loves visiting her.</p>
<p>Keylime: I’m glad to hear that your son had a good visit to Duke. It really helps when kids meet up with friends and get a feel for the school beyond the official program.</p>
<p>Madbean: It seems a little bit unfair that your sons are the ones doing the European traveling this year…</p>
<p>Arisamp: It sounds like your daughter used good judgement in her decision to cut choice #3. Keep on sailing.</p>
<p>Oh, and here’s my mini-rant of the day. The lovely folks from financial aid have send us the “final” financial aid statement including…the scholarship that we already knew about and …drumroll…a loan! Then, they included, just in case we couldn’t figure out a loan wasn’t really aid at all, a 16 page book explaining the financial aid. Sigh. I wish they had just taken what they spent to print the book and given it to my son as aid instead.</p>
<p>I think we just booked onto the extended cruise. Three, or maybe 4 schools, has expanded to 5 (with tears that school #5’s visiting overnight started today at noon and she is not there, even though she signed up.) School #1 may be fading, after being the front runner for almost 2 years. Gaah!</p>
<p>DD an DH are headed back East at the end of the week to visit/revisit four top choices. We have family back there, so they will use that for a home base. With the exception of Penn, they will not arrive on campus for the official welcome student days. D said she didn’t particularly want to go to those events, but just wanted a chance to see or revisit a school again. We are looking at a long ride on the SS Indecision, I am afraid. I fear that we may be the last to depart.</p>
<p>Still waiting on the financial aid appeal from one choice. A great school, but with a cost of $20,000 more a year than the other schools, we will probably have to cross it off the list unless they up the award. With all the financial chaos we’ve been through in the last three years, it just doesn’t make sense to me to spend $80,000 more for a similar school. The way I look at it, If the worst thing my D has to endure with this college selection process is being FORCED to choose one Ivy over another Ivy because of FA award, her life is pretty darn good. Fortunately, I have a pretty level-headed D, who has already told me that if the financial aid appeal isn’t approved, it is just as well, for it will make it easier for her to choose.</p>
<p>Don’t worry that you will be the last aboard the SS Indecision- that likely could be us. D’s decision making just got more difficult unexpectedly because of a generous family member.
I actually think, today, she will end up at the state U, but we will see- probably on April 30th.</p>
<p>We are getting closer to shore! The school that’s been #1 or #2 denied our appeal for more financial aid. Their merit aid was not that great. Good news is that the other #1 or #2 DID come through with 1K more per year. They gave the same amount as the former school but the sticker price is quite a bit less. I can see land!</p>
<p>One more school to visit for an accepted students day on Friday. I believe on Saturday we’ll have a decision!</p>
<p>We are also undecided here. I’m taking S to see one of his schools this Friday; his father is flying down to NC with him to visit another school on Sunday-Monday. There are two other schools in the running that are farther away – I’m not sure we’ll make it to visit in person. I’m thinking this might change if the two visits this weekend don’t help S decide his front runners.</p>
<p>Of course, the one school that’s offered significant FA is the school S is least interested in (drat!) Still waiting to hear back from two schools about FA, but I’m not optimistic. We shall see. </p>
<p>S has always worked best under pressure – I’m guessing he’ll make up his mind on April 30 : )</p>