@LilyMoon that is a great way to think about rejections. I may have to quote you on that at some point as the reach results come in.
@LilyMoon My point as well. If my S had gotten into all his schools I would have worried he didn’t reach high enough. I was almost sure Davis was a reach. And honestly it wasn’t even a top choice school for my son. But you never really know with the UC’s.
My kids applied to the schools they wanted to go to, not to another school just because it was a higher rank or cost more or would be considered a ‘reach.’ They don’t feel like they settled.
By your definition, anyone who applied ED and was accepted didn’t reach high enough is there is another school ranked higher. All those ND, Emory, Vandy ED kids should have applied to Stanford?
@twoinanddone At the UC’s acceptances can be very unpredictable. (I’ve heard of kids who got into Berkley and none the other “lower” ranked UC’s.) I wanted my son to hopefully have a least one choice at the UC’s. There was a chance he could get into the higher stats school and NOT his top choice UC. He happens to prefer the ‘lower ranked’ school over the higher one. Doesn’t mean he shouldn’t have at least tried the higher one. You kind of never know…
In that case he would have considered it because it did fit all of his requirements. It’s just isn’t his favorite. Basically I wanted my son to have more choices.
Don’t give up on $. We went to an accepted students reception last night for one of techson17’s schools. The FA director spoke. He said that the school has offered admission to about 3 times as many students as it wants to enroll and that many of those students were offered FA and/or merit packages. IF you are one of the students who is definitely going to enroll at this school, he said to have the parents call him to see if they can rework the numbers for you. We are going to do so. He specifically mentioned medical bills. H had both knees replaced last year and I had surgery as well. Although I have decent insurance, I have a $5K deductible before i reach full coverage and only half of that is eligible for my health care account. Thus, we have about 2500 in unreimbursed medical expenses from last year. It’s not enough to claim on my taxes, but he said that he would look at it to see if there was anything they could do. I am on payment plans for all of it.
So, takeaway is that it doesn’t hurt to ask if the school can reallocate resources to a child who is definitely going to enroll.
Good luck.
Merit $ needed to be a consideration for any school my D applied to (with the exception of the in-state flagship), and merit doesn’t usually go to students where the school is a reach. My D is 7 for 9 so far, and while anything is possible, I expect her to get in to the 2 remaining as well (one of which might not come in with as much merit as we would need, given her stats, and so could maybe be considered a “reach”). When you have no demonstrated need and merit is necessary to make the college affordable, applying to reaches just wasn’t part of our strategy.
@klinska -
I agree with your analysis as a general rule, but when you are getting to the end of the process, it sounds like you might be able to make a case at some schools to try and get a little bit of the money that other people didn’t take. Believe me, merit money is a major consideration for us as well. By the way, the school I referred to is a state school, not a private, and the FA director was very upfront about wanting to use his entire budget for the kids that are coming, to the extent possible. He said he can’t always do anything, but he will always try. Several times, he has helped a kid who didn’t qualify for an appeal get an on campus job so parents can redirect what they would have given as spending money to tuition.
I was just shocked because in 10 years of college searching, I have never heard a college person inviting people to appeal and telling you what you needed to do to be successful.
@techmom99 – oh, I agree, totally, and I have to say it’s refreshing to hear a FA director being so specifically helpful! I was merely responding to the sentiment that if you don’t get denied somewhere you haven’t reached high enough.
^^That being said, if you’ve got affordable options that are also academic reaches, I definitely applaud going for it. Those of you in California are in a somewhat enviable position. You’ve got so many wonderful options up and down the selectivity spectrum and all at about the same cost. If we were in California, we would certainly be focusing on the in-state publics, and I would have no issue with my D tossing a hat in the ring for schools that would be considered reaches for her.
@klinska -
You are probably right about that, too. However, with techson17, I discouraged any real reaches. He’s had a tough road with dyslexia, dyscalculia and visual issues so I tried to steer him towards only matches or, better for merit $, schools where he would stand out. I know that’s not the CC way, but my son is my primary concern. I really didn’t want him to be rejected as he is already questioning his ability to do college work.
New member here. This whole process was so stressful for me as a single mom and my D. Her GPA and test scores were less than stellar so we (I) was worried. After being accepted at Guilford and Marquette and deferred at Tulane (my alma mater), Fordham, and Elon she was accepted EDII at Denison. All apps were then withdrawn including those outstanding at Drexel and Skidmore. I think demonstrated interest (two campus visits) and an admission counselor interview really tipped the scale in her favor as she is much more impressive in person than on paper. I can not emphasize enough how important those things are. Good luck and congratulations to the Class of 2021!
Totally agree @MrylndMom! My S is in the same position. I am positive that the interest we showed - getting him tours/interviews last summer, and then following up with the reps, at the college fairs we were lucky enough to have here in our area, helped tip the scale for him. Like your D, he is also much better in person, than just on paper. Congrats on Denison! Visited with my S16 in summer 2015, and I LOVED both the campus and the town. Granville looks like it is right out of a turn of the 20th Century storybook! A friends S16 is playing football there, and really enjoys the balance of rigorous academics and time for activities & fun. Hope she really enjoys her time there!
So far, our S17 is 7 for 7. Like @klinska, we advised him to only apply to schools where he was likely to get in, and he worked hard to have a great first semester Sr year. (U Puget Sound, Willamette, Pacific Lutheran, Univ of Portland, Luther College, Iowa State and, just last Friday, St. Olaf.) We are still waiting on fin aid from Willamette and St Olaf, and for his last 4 admissions decision - Gonzaga, Lawrence, LMU and U of MN. One caveat I would add is that, because he was in more the middle of the pack of applicants, at some schools where he was admitted, he did not receive as much merit & fin aid as he/we were hoping for.
We spoke with one of his top schools fin aid offices, and they said to check back, because, like the fin aid rep at the school mentioned by @techmom99, some $ might become available, as some of the other students decline their offers of admission. With these wonderful but less selective schools, I firmly believe that if your S or D tells the school, honestly, that they definitely want to attend a school, if the financials can be worked out, the fin aid will often check to see if they can offer add’l funds - especially if your family was gaped. In addition to having high stats for a schools incoming freshman profile, it also looks good to have a high “yield,” when many students that are offered admission, actually say “Yes!”
D and I continue to circle around the final decision. The CSU honors research was tempting, but looks like she’s headed to NY state. Her heart is at RIT (mine too), but Clarkson is not making things easy. She got into their honors program and I was floored when I looked at the website and saw that they only take 30 freshmen each year! It is kind of intense, requiring a 3.25 GPA and a senior thesis. But it also offers undergrad research and a $2,000/year scholarship. This now makes Clarkson $20,000 cheaper than RIT over four years. I wrote to RIT to see if they could bump her to their max Presidential scholarship of $16,000. That’s just $1,000/year more than they offered – seems reasonable to me! So, if RIT comes back with a “yes,” my work here is done. Okay, my work for sure is not done, but I’d love to move one big step closer.
Case Western decisions are supposed to be out tomorrow. D may well receive her first rejection, but I don’t think it will be a big deal since none of the upcoming decision schools are on the table anymore.
@Hankster1361, congrats on UC-Davis and count me as also baffled by UVM’s decision. Of course I think he should choose CU-Boulder. I’ll get one of the 2017 kids here by hook or by crook!
@mackatarinasmom, congrats on UNCG honors! I guess you’re still waiting for some decisions?
Sorry for the Macalester rejections, but sounds like those weren’t too big a deal for anyone. Whew.
@curiositycat333, I’ll keep my fingers crossed for a UCSC acceptance! Bummer about Davis. I agree that a visit to Boulder is in order (see “hook or crook” above!)
@morningside95, I hope both your S’s will find work or other good summer opportunities. D is hoping to find some kind of internship, but I think she may have waited too long.
@MrylndMom, welcome and congrats on your D’s final choice of Denison!
@snoozn S would love to have Boulder as a finalist school but even with the merit offered the tuition OOS is too high. He would be so happy in those mountains! Those views! We are still planning to attend the local admitted students event this weekend, and there is a slim chance he could receive another scholarship, but otherwise it’s off the table. Best of luck with RIT, but both schools are great options!
S seems to be focusing on two schools where he already has been accepted, have excellent engineering, and are almost within budget (so close!!) Still waiting for 6 decisions, but unless one offers some incredible merit we may be approaching the finish line. I would love to wrap this up in early April so he can relax for a minute before starting to prep for AP exams and we all get caught up in LAX season.
S announced at dinner last night that the remaining 1.5 months to make a decision seemed too short. His brother scoffed at him. He replied he’s been trying to make this decision for months now and he doesn’t know what’s going to push him either way. Personally, I’m hoping the accepted student day coming up will do it or we’re in for serious soul searching.
Congrats on all the new acceptances and even a decision @MrylndMom !
Well, even though I was bracing myself for another month of agony,waiting for the UMass-Amherst decision, my D got her acceptance today! Yay! This is by far our best option financially, and could be her best choice academically. I think she really just needs to figure out whether she wants a big school or a small school experience. Her one remaining decision is due on Friday, from Denison–the school I think will offer the most competition from the small schools she’s applied to. She still really loves UVM, but I think she recognizes that it doesn’t make sense to pay a >$60K premium to attend there (compared to UMass). Looks like she will be moving on to the deciding stage of the journey much sooner than I thought!
@snoozn
did you see this thread?
http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/discussion/comment/20354627/#Comment_20354627
Don’t know if it’s helpful at all, but I commented on that thread (see #15) about my son’s RIT costs.
@klinska Congratulations! We are in a very similar boat with UVM although the premium is closer to +80k versus WWU.
Deciding sooner will be a blessing for everyone I think. That’s wonderful.
@klinska Congrats on UMass!! That’s a relief huh? Now you have a few viable choices.
Good luck making a choice @smakl70 !!
@snoozn Congrats to your D for getting into Honors college at Clarkson. We got to meet with some people in that group and they were very nice. Seems like a great program if you have a kid interested in research opportunities and wants to write a thesis. My son interviewed and after the call ended he sent a note to say he had though about and decided to withdraw his app from consideration. He didn’t want to deal with it, lol. I look forward to reading what school she chooses, 2 very good options!!
My son has not made any decision yet. He got into RPI last week, and is waiting on a few schools this week. I would imagine he will decide by the end of the month. I doubt he will go to any accepted student days.
Hope all of you get some good news this week!!
@klinska congrats on UMass-Amherst and good luck on Friday! S is also waiting to hear from Denison so fingers crossed for both our kids.