Parents of the HS Class of 2017 - 3.0 to 3.4 GPA

Parents Forum
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Oh, I know…I think, four years ago she was in 4th grade and that WAS just a blink away. Can barely stand it, so you’re right about cramming in (the hard part is knowing this is also her time to spend more time away from mom and dad, just as I want to draw her close.)

Speaking of cramming it in, am so looking forward to an extra-long (taking extra days) spring break trip with her to Colonial Williamsburg/Jamestown/James River plantations area of Virginia because she has done so well in American History this year and expressed interest in going. Of course, I will try to (oh, so casually) slip in to peak at the College of William and Mary with her while we’re there. Just in case :wink:

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@curiositycat333 I heard the rumor about Davis releasing decisions tomorrow too and hope it’s true. The UC’s are all reaches for my D but I’m hoping that by some fluke she gets into one of them. She applied to 6. Best of luck to you and your son! [-O<

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Great to see the update list and congrats to everyone!

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Thanks for the updated list @eandesmom - looks great! Of course just today we got another one that you can add to next update (I will PM you also). My D was just accepted to Chapman University with Provosts Scholarship of $22,000 per year. Like @curiositycat333 we are anxiously awaiting the UCs (as she said, tomorrow is rumored to be Davis - and also UCSD) and we are also awaiting some other privates.

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@CAtransplant Congratulations on Chapman! We know many happy kids there.

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I am lurking here to get ideas of schools for my DS 2018. That list is AMAZING! @eandesmom THANK YOU! I have an S2015 too and CC was invaluable for helping me navigate with him.

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@eandesmom -

Techson17 (whom I am about to disown and toss out on his ear) can apply to be an RA after the first year, which would make the school more affordable if he is hired. If not, he would have to move home or take out loans.

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@techmom99

LOL! Oh, these seniors, I so feel your pain. Got it on the RA, makes sense. If it makes you feel any better one of S17’s arguments for staying close to home now is…

He could take his stereo system. That is of course if 1) it were allowed and 2) there was room and 3) the roommate was willing.

But yeah, it could be driven and not shipped.

Good to know the kid has his priorities straight.

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@wrights1994 I am glad it is helpful :slight_smile:

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@eandesmom The list is AWESOME, it’s so cool to see the successes of all these kids!

Sorry about all S struggling compatriots who aren’t feline gronlund well–S had it a few weeks ago, and it made it through our whole family. We’re thankfully on the mend now.

S calculus struggles continue–the 5 week progress report is scary, but he has a big packet that counts as and exam that could significantly help. :)>- He also dropped his,normal spring sport to get ready for IB exams, his big mock trial competition, and another Model UN session. So, we’ll see how,the rest of the year plays out…

I got his last visit to MSU set up for the end of the month–had to make calls to get him into the admitted students program for his major (James Madison College), but it worked out–our last road trip on the college choice journey! And he’s waiting on hollered college decisionstudents and his 3+3 law app will go to Albany this weekend…

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@eandesmom - ha, ha, ha on the new “driving distance for the stereo’s sake” criteria…but potential yay for your pocketbook on saving airfare travel expenses on top of all the other college costs.

Thanks for the updated list - I know the formatting is a lot of work, but it makes the list soooo much more readable - you’ve definitely done a great service, not just for all of us “vocal” readers, but for all the lurkers and for future cc readers too!

@curiositycat333 - hope your son’s cold went into remission in time for physics/amusement park field trip. Hope everyone else is getting better too.

@tacocat333 - Congrats to TacoSon on the acceptance from Dickinson, but bummer about the price. So glad that a couple of the VA State schools are affordable (and that UMW is a good LAC sized option)! I know GMU is too big, but that open house really paid off for us - CoyoteSon will indeed do his internship with the grad student who co-runs the Observatory. Yay!

@smakl70 - thanks for sharing your Son’s good news on the Captain nomination!

And best of luck to all those hoping for UC news soon!

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We have a healthy list of acceptances of great schools that are too expensive (Case Western, Dickinson, Pitt). We’re also not in a position to bargain; the schools that are too expensive are really too competitive to get overly excited about a 3.6GPA kid with great test scores.

However – I am tempted to email the FA offices and say “Hey, busy FA people, we’re not trying to bargain and throw around competing offers. But before we move on to our affordable options, I just wanted to make sure there aren’t additional grants available for a prospective student with my son’s stats.” He did get into all of the above EA and with great feedback, so I’m wondering if this would yield anything worthwhile.

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@tacocat333 If one would be his dream school it may be worth it. Especially if you go in thinking the answer is no - you won’t be disappointed.

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@smakl70 , I don’t think any are his dream school (mostly because I don’t think he has a dream school); it just feels so odd saying no to these great places without throwing that Hail Mary! It’s certainly a luxury that he hasn’t had to pin all his hopes on a specific school or program and he definitely wouldn’t be crushed if they come back with nothing.

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@tacocat333 then as I tell my boys, “If you don’t ask the answer it automatically a NO.” The real question is how to ask and get a positive response. I have no idea what the answer to that is. Maybe play off of the great feedback that he got? I know a D3 track coach told my son that while he can’t give him a scholarship, he can go to bat with Fin. Aid dept for him. Especially if we can show another similar school gave more (or came in at a lower COA)

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tacocat333, I think the answer may depend on how far off the costs of these schools are, so how much you are asking for. If you are within spitting distance, it’s worth a shot. If the schools are off by $20k? Not likely you are going to fill that gap.

My daughter’s school has 3 levels of merit, so if she could have moved to the next level, that would have meant another $3-5k per year. She did move to the next level but not because I asked for more but because the school had made a mistake (wrong ACT score). I think the school is very fair in not moving Student A up just because she needs/wants more money. It has a matrix and plugs in the numbers. There are some grants only available to state residents and the school is good about directing students who qualify toward those funds.

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@tacocat333 - As I always say, “It never hurts to ask!” I agree with @smakl70 it helps if you can say that, if the school can get closer to what your family has the ability to pay, he will definitely enroll in the school, as it’s his #1 choice. We had a problem with S16, last year, because the offer of aid did not match the NPC at his #1, and this is school with a good reputation for meeting need. They said that they had changed the NPC format in Jan 2016, so it resulted in higher NPCs than in the fall of 2015, when S16 was applying. They asked us to fill out a request for reconsideration, and we pointed out that DH’s bonus is not guaranteed every year, and I’m self employed, so my income fluctuates from year to year. We asked for the $4500 difference, between the original NPC and what they offered, and they met us just over 1/2 way, and an assurance that the COA will go down for our son, quite a bit, once S17 is in college too.

Another CC friend and her D just went back to the school with a better offer/lower net COA, and they wanted her D enough, that they increased the merit aid by about $7,000.

It helps if the student makes the first call, perhaps to admissions rep to start, and then to the fin aid office, if admissions can’t help. The schools like to see a student taking charge of the request, as it shows maturity, so they can express how much they’d like to attend said school. Parents can get involved when the school needs specific information. You will definitely have to follow up in writing, as well.

According to reports I’ve read, nearly 50% of requests for increase aid are granted, in some form or another. You can search the web first, to find out if there is any information about appealing an aid award, for the specific school, so you and your student go into the process with as much information as possible. Here are a couple of fairly recent articles.
http://time.com/money/collection-post/4285135/how-to-negotiate-college-financial-aid/
http://www.cbsnews.com/news/4-keys-for-negotiating-a-better-college-aid-offer/

Taco Son has quite good stats for the schools to which he’s been accepted, so he should be a desirable candidate for admissions. I would definitely go for it! It takes some work, but it could very well be worth $$ it.

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@morningside95 , all good tips! The likelihood of TacoSon initiating any of this is next to zero, which shows how little he is personally invested. If his dream school were on the line, we could be aggressive and go through the formal re-eval. The sad fact is that FAFSA imagines a financial picture quite different from the one we’re living, so it’s more a matter how how learning how desperately any of these schools want a quirky Caucasian male low-brass player in the mix before we hit that sad little “decline” button.

@MSU88CHEng , I haven’t checked the portal this week so no calculus update, but according to TacoSon, most of the big IB projects are now behind him, so that’s a very welcome bit of breathing room after a rough start to the first semester.

@eandesmom , too funny about the stereo – but a most excellent point! TacoSon loves his collectibles and he’d love nothing more than to bring every single one with him. Our move-in day could very easily be a shopping bag of clothing and 10 crates of Pop figures.

@CoyoteMom , GMU is still in the mix for TacoSon, especially as we received an email a few days ago about a Chipotle going in on campus. We need to do that lunch!

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@tacocat333 My son at Grinnell, in the middle of Iowa would LOVE to have a Chipotle in town! Right now the coolest place is a Jimmy John’s and the local vintage drive up - Dari Barn! A must for anyone visiting town.

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My struggling S18 has recovered in Calc, but slid down a grade in APUSH. He took a mental health day off last week.

D is pretty much down to RIT and Clarkson after giving CSU the boot. But she was wistful about it when looking at their COA – free for her and very affordable for us. Then today I checked her college email (legal!) and saw a CSU invite to their honors undergraduate research program which sounds amazing and is (according to the email) only offered to the top 2% of students. Now I’m wanting her to give CSU another look and maybe find out more about that program. All the schools say you can do undergraduate research, but in this program it’s guaranteed and seems like it would be at a decently high level. Arrrgh!

@LilyMoon, @inthegarden, and @wrights1994, welcome!

@inthegarden, I’d say you are early, but better to err on that side. My Dad and sister live in Williamsburg and we love hanging around CW. You can claim you’re only going to W&M to see the historic buildings. My nephew (who met his wife there) was married in their old chapel.

@smakl70, congrats on the nomination and I hope your S gets picked (voted for?) captain. Accomplishments don’t stop being important just because we aren’t putting them in the CA anymore!

@eandesmom, that’s too bad about your S’s friend. If he does have to go the CC route, I hope he’ll be able to find opportunities to perform. And we definitely need a short list – it will be very exciting to see how that one goes over the next month or so.

@curiositycat333, I’m keeping my fingers crossed for you on the UC’s.

@techmom99, oh no! I hope techson will be back in your good graces soon.

@tacocat333, I’d say you’re unlikely to see any real increase in aid from that kind of letter, but nothing ventured nothing gained. Write a quick note and you’ll know you did what you could.

@Hankster1361, I thought of your S when I saw this thread in the engineering forum: http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/engineering-majors/1964171-the-trend-to-jump-ship-from-aerospace-to-meche-really-that-prevalent.html