Hey everyone , DS16 is hearing the same thing from peers and adults about his choice of schools. He already has provisional acceptance to a large instate, nationally known and ranked university, but frankly prefers a smaller instate public LAC , urban campus. He’s constantly hearing things like" Why would you want to go there when you were accepted to X university " or “That’s a party school”, etc. It’s very frustrating for the both of us. Thankfully, he’s a strong person and makes decisions based on logic and not popularity or emotions.
Yes, D chose schools based on 1)social fit and 2)if they have the majors and foreign languages she may be interested in… She didn’t look at all at rankings, or even acceptance rates. I looked at common data sets for incoming freshmen, but she did not. She simply looked at what programs were offered and went by how she liked being on the campus.
This past summer, she zeroed in on mid-sized public schools after we visited all sizes, private and public.
Ohio U is one of D’s choices too - still waiting to see how much it will end up costing…
Yes, the two campuses are in similar areas, geographically. It’s what D likes about both schools. She loves the outdoors and camping, and SIU-C especially is surrounded by beautiful natural areas and state parks…
She also really liked the campus and town, and felt like she would fit in with the other students she saw on campus.
And yes,it’s a much nicer and more interesting area than Urbana-Champaign imo, too.
@sseasmom, Wow re: the comment you’re getting about her going to HBCUs. That’s just sad… and rude. Your blank-stare response is probably the only appropriate one.
I don’t think D is letting it get her down. It just irritates her mom!
Class of '13 & '15 parent here, starting the process with '17 and eventually ‘19. Very wise folks on CC gave same great advice that usually circulates through almost all the “Class of” threads and I think it holds true for both adults and the students…“Just smile and nod…” Saved my and my kids’ sanity a time or two!
One thing I loved about the Parents ‘13 list is that there was no hierarchy about schools (at least, this was my perception). Everyone celebrated and was glad for students’ options and choices. I know it is harder in an offline community, but I wonder if some well placed comments, “I am thrilled with her choice, and I hope you are thrilled for my D too, just as we will be about your child’s choice.” If that doesn’t work, I agree with ILMom…smile and nod. There will always be unpleasant busybodies. :)>- Congrats to everyone’s kids for their great options!
@Pheebers my D’13 applied to several women’s colleges along with coed. She decided to go to the women’s college and is thriving and loving it!
Senior stuff going on at D’s school this week…we got the order forms for cap and gowns, plus all the senior junk the souvenir company tries to sell you, like overpriced jewelry, sweatpants, etc. that aren’t even personalized. D liked the Roman numeral ring, but we found one online that you can have the exact graduation date on in sterling instead of silver plate and instead of only 2016, for $250 less! They also got a deadline for senior quotes and photos. Today the kids had their weekly meeting and the boys tried to get everyone interested in brown gowns and light sabers. Fortunately the gowns are locked in with the school color (blue), but D said they are still trying to keep the light sabers on the table. The principal is a Star Wars fan. Maybe he’ll allow them!
D16 is back from the fly-in weekend. She saw two colleges, and preferred one over the other. So unless the other one came up with a great scholarship. her huge list may be slightly narrowed 
She got to run with the cross country team, which she enjoyed. A rep from the preferred college called me after the visit. I told her that in the end, money will weigh heavily into the final choice…just the reality of our finances. She told me about a supplemental financial aid form for the school, of which I was not aware, so that was useful information.
The academic atmosphere here is not terribly competitive, so there’s been no pressure on either of my older daughters to consider rank in their school selection. The final top two choices for my oldest were a small women’s college and a large state flagship. She ended up choosing the state school (primarily because of their programs), but no one seemed to care one way or the other.
Oh yikes, sorry, I thought I was on the primary 2016 board. Not that it matters, I suppose, and it looks like a lot of familiar “faces” here anyway 
@sseamom We went through the whole ordering of graduation supplies process about a month ago. DS16 only wanted the basic announcements with upgraded name cards , tissues etc. He had no interest in all of the “extras” like sweatpants,sweatshirts etc. I was amazed at the amount of money exchanged that night. Your daughter and my son sound a lot alike in the responsibility department and their ability to not be easily influenced. Hopefully this will be a huge benefit when they go off to college. PS, I won’t tell him about the light sabers . I’m not sure I’d win that battle .
I thought I’d posted on the main 2016 thread too. Oh well. Carolinamom-when D was looking at the announcements and the prices, she said, “That’s what Facebook is for!” I’m not sure she wants ANY to go out, but if we do send them, she’ll probably design them herself and have us print them up. They do a lot of that kind of thing at her school and she’s pretty good at it.
H is a Star Wars fan and is secretly hoping that the light sabers get the ok. “Some friends got married and marched out to the theme music…” Sounds good to him.
Moment of truth. S16 is filling out the UC application where you have to list all your academic classes and grades. He might not make the minimum OOS GPA requirement, depending on how they give extra points for honors (1 year ahead) and G/T (2 years ahead) grades. I did a calculation a while back and thought it worked out for him, but now I’m not sure. He is starting to get depressed thinking about the C’s he got in classes he said were really easy. And wishing he had taken AP English (we thought he wasn’t doing well enough in Honors).
Well, I’m rooting for him @crowlady! Hope he gets in!
Good luck to your son @crowlady
Good luck to Crowchick, @crowlady!
Thanks @BeeDAre @carolinamom2boys @EastGrad ! So ready to be done with all of this, and I only have two kids. Can’t imagine those families with three or more. Will be feeling better when S16 has an acceptance somewhere. Re-did the calcs. He barely makes the GPA minimum (when rounded to one decimal place) but he makes the test score minimum! It is worth proceeding with the application :-/
@crowlady – UC as in University of California? I can’t imagine why anyone would choose to go to a UC and pay out of state tuition.
I think he should submit an application. I do not know anything about the school that you mentioned. However, many schools consider the entire aplication(EC ,essay ,etc) so that could be enough to be admitted. Best of luck to your son…
@AsleepAtTheWheel I guess it is all about that magical fit. We don’t know yet what it will be and how much it might cost. We do anticipate a work-related scholarship that can go anywhere, so that will help.
By the way, I’d suggest checking out the 3.0-3.3 parents thread for anyone on here -
http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/class-20xx-community/1656351-parents-of-the-hs-class-of-2016-3-0-to-3-3-gpa.html
^^^^oops, I meant to post that in another thread