@tacocat333 I hear you, my S is not comfortable initiating financial conversations either. We are sort of attempting this with Ursinus but so far it’s not going terribly well. Asking for a merit review is not the same as a FA review…I don’t have any “special circumstances” that impede my ability to pay…unless my unwillingness to finance our EFC counts as special. LOL!
10 crates of Pop Figures. I love it!
I am of the mindset that it can’t hurt to ask. I’ve considered it at his other top choice but as it’s a state school I doubt there is any wiggle room and frankly knowing what their top award is, I am not sure if it’s enough to really move it into serious financial contention.
@snoozn well that complicates things at CSU! I’ll be interested to hear what she thinks about it.
@snoozn–thanks for the link re ME/Aero. Yep, that’s the push/pull. S17 is pretty sure he wants to do aero, but he’s a fairly practical guy and was warned about aerospace industry being cyclical. On the other hand, some ME stuff is cool, but there’s a whole lot that isn’t.
Super intersting on CSU invite, and I can see why it’s tempting. S17 was invited to apply to Honors College, and said he’s going to, but just never seems to get around to doing it (same song, different verse!). To be fair he’s been staying after school every day until around 7pm with Robotics, but still . . .
So, a couple of admissions decisions came out today. The first was UVM. I thought S17 (3.3 GPA / 36 ACT) would be joining the large number of UVM admitted students here, and I read the reports you all have given with great interest, but he was waitlisted. That was a surprise (not in a good way). We didn’t do a college visit there–too far and we’d been there a few years ago. Other than that, I just don’t know.
On the other hand, S17 was admitted OOS to UC Davis into Mechanical Engineering. Woot! I thought that one was a long shot. I think the moral of the story is, when a kid is low(ish) GPA and super high test scores, almost everything’s a crapshoot!
@Hankster1361 I am shocked about UVM, honestly. My D has 3.25 unweighted [4.1 weighted] and 1230 SAT and got admitted early action. So odd. You just can’t predict, I guess. But congrats on UCD, that’s a great school!
Congrats, @Hankster1361, on UC Davis! I agree it’s odd about UVM; maybe your son was Tufts Syndrome-d out?
TacoSon is another with high(er) (33) ACT and sub-4.0 GPA, and yes, crapshoot. One acceptance to a school I thought would automatically toss out that combo, and denied for honors for a less competitive school with an arbitrary GPA cutoff despite ACT being way above. :-?
@Hankster1361 wow, I am surprised by UVM. They did send an email out tonight stating that they were offering spring admission to some, which was a first, based on the total application volume. But still, for RD at your stats, I am surprised. They have seemed holistic though as the merit awards have not necessarily seemed wholly stats based. They don’t count interest so that’s not it. Impacted major more likely I’d think.
CU Boulder definitely meets many of the same fit requirements as UVM so yay for that!
Congrats on Davis where does that fall in the rankings?
Congrats @Hankster1361! I grew up and went to college in CA (upper Midwest transplant for the past 22 years), and Davis definitely one of my favorite UC schools. Usually some of the most down to earth students in the UC system. Can’t believe the wait list result with stats like that. Good luck on final decisions.
WOW! Congrats on all the acceptances! Just got word that D was accepted into the Honors College at UNCG. A few minutes later she found out she did not make it into Macalester. Funny thing is Mac used to be on top of her list. That was all she talked about though we never visited. I really had not heard anything from her in months about it so when she got the rejection, she said she didn’t really feel bad. Now that she was accepted to the Honors College at UNCG, that is where she is leaning towards. She was talking about it more and more and has become very excited about it. She will commute for the first year since we do not qualify for any need based (except for loans) and she applied too late for merit aid. She will apply for merit aid next year and stay on campus if she goes that route. They require study abroad and they give a scholarship for honors students towards their study abroad which they can do in sophomore year. That is what got her really excited. Ironically, UNCG was a last minute thing. She did not want to go to school close to home but the idea of zero to no debt really appealed to her and the program seems pretty promising. So glad she never tried applying early decision to any schools because so much can change during their senior year.
@mackatarinasmom congrats on Honors College, that is very cool news! Zero to no debt is a pretty great option.
My son was also denied from Macalester, he does not seem bugged by it either. It was a reach school for him and he knew it, and he wouldn’t have visited unless accepted so…one less trip to worry about is okay too.
Congrats to HanksterSon and LilyMoonD on UC Davis - wohoo! Congrats to mackatarinasD on UNCG! Big grats to snooznD on the Honors research program at CSU. Looks like she may or may not wind up in NY after all!
Bummer on the denials from UVM and Macalester – but your sons’ and daughters’ level-headed reactions are giving me hope for the inevitable rejections that will be coming CoyoteSon’s way. After all, the kiddo can only actually attend one college (at least, in the fall! Fingers crossed that they all like their first choices, and we don’t go through this whole process again for a transfer!).
I think it’s very healthy to like the colleges that want you, and not worry about the ones that say no. Frankly, a few denials would probably make April a whole lot less stressful for CoyoteSon, who already has several good options, and be good for my budget (as any new acceptances from these reach schools will likely be far, far more expensive then the schools where we pursued merit aid).
Trying to remember to enjoy the time together now, and not agonize over the waiting.
@Hankster1361 Admission to UC Davis!!! Way to go… Great choice if you can afford the OOS fee’s. It’s really a nice school. Sorry about the UVM waitlist. Universities can be very unpredicatable.
Mine was rejected from Davis. (In-State) Oh well… we thought it was a reach. We are waiting on UC Santa Cruz and he has a much better chance there. My S’s stats aren’t that different from yours probably a bit lower (3.5 UC GPA and 1520 SAT) but he is in state and applied CS.
But he’s been admitted to 4 schools. Three which are great choices. UCSC should come out this Wed. I’m anxious as it’s MY personal top choice.
Although honestly I’m more anxious about the job he wants for this summer. It’s being a counselor at the camp he’s attended the past 6 years. He had a Skype interview for the job and will hear in April. Crossing my fingers. I am honestly really worried if he doesn’t get that job, he will be very depressed. It’s his home away from home for the past 6 years. The place that makes him the happiest. My mother just measured me that they told her at the end of last year they really wanted him to come back this year. So we will see…
While I know I’m be sad if he doesn’t get into UCSC. He has other choices they are just OOS with high OOS fee’s. He did just find out he gets a $2K freshman award from UofO. Better than nothing but doesn’t make a huge dent.
@LilyMoon Congrats on your UC Davis admit as well.
@mackatarinasmom Good news on the honors college. Mine didn’t bother to apply to any they just didn’t seem to be a good fit.
Hope it all works out for your S’s summer camp job, @curiositycat333! Sorry to other CC friends whose S & Ds have experienced some disappointing decisions lately. Our S17 has been accepted everywhere, but some of the schools have gaped us so much, knowing our FAFSA result, that there is no way he could ever afford to attend!
Our S16 was really hoping for an on-campus job as a CS research assistant, but now that he’s into the application, he doesn’t think he’ll have enough experience to qualify this year, but at least the professors know he’s interested. Maybe next year. It would not be the end of the work for him to find a job that is more physical, after a rigorous first year of college. He’s feeling stressed about finding a job, but I told him to apply over spring break, and I’m sure it will all work out.
S17 has applied for a fun job, hopefully starting asap, now that his theater and band shows are mostly behind him. He had to quit his Starbucks job after his car accident last summer. The very kind manager held a spot open for him, and S really liked the location, but realized he’s not very good at making coffee! He only felt comfortable handling orders, at the register, so decided he should probably find a different job, now that he is mostly healed. S learned that our local “Ben and Jerry’s” store owners pay their employees well, and he knows how much I enjoyed my HS job, at Baskin Robbins (which we don’t have here), so he is hoping to work there. They have a couple of rolling ice cream carts, for catering jobs at businesses and parties, and are getting a food truck to bring to the many farmer’s markets, and other special events that take place around here in the summer. Should be fun! He should find out if they are offering him a job, this week.
@curiositycat333 --Thanks on Davis. Sorry your S’s result was different, but your right, different demographic. Good luck on UCSC, and on the summer job. And every $2k counts. I’m still holding out a teeny tiny hope that there might be a little money from UC Boulder, but I think it’s more likely it’s all been awarded already. I have no idea what S17 will be doing this summer yet. UVM is not a problem here as it was not likely to make it to the top for S17, just a surprise. @mackatarinasmom --yes, congrats on the honors college!
Congrats to everyone on acceptances! D found out she didn’t make it into UC San Diego, but the fact that she got into Davis softened the blow. I told her that if she didn’t get some rejections then she didn’t apply to enough reach schools.
Thanks @curiositycat333 fingers crossed for UCSC!
@Hankster1361 We haven’t heard anything from UC Boulder about merit either. Also not really expecting anything.
What I can’t do is get my son to visit Boulder. If he doesn’t get into UCSC I’m going to push that he visit Colorado. Otherwise I’ll let him decided between UofO and UCSC.
Colorado emailed and said they have an accepted students day in town that I’ve love the two of us to attend. Except he’s busy with a competition for his EC at exactly the same time. And I’m driving so we can’t just drop by if we can squeeze it it. (I won’t know exact timing of the competition for a few days) I always happens like that.
