@eandesmom Another update to note–I requested that Goucher review Emma’s merit offer in light of getting more at other schools, and they upped her offer from 19k/year to 22k/year. Not a super formal process; I sent in copies of the other offers in question, and they have an appeals committee that meets and reviews requests. If D17 ends up there, that was the easiest 12K I ever made. 
Well, I will be splitting costs with my ex, so I guess just 6k for me, but still, not complaining.
Congratulations on the extra merit aid @kt1969! Woot-Woot!! Great story to encourage others to ask for more aid, if their student really wants to attend a particular school.
Thanks for clarifying my comments @eandesmom about the scholarship your S was awarded. There were so many posts to read, recently, and I should have gone back to double check what I saw, before commenting. It would interesting to know how he was admitted to a program (music) to which he never applied. Anyway, I hope your S will be able to find an outlet for his music and tech theater talents wherever he decides to go. In the future, feel free to PM me if your S19 wants to know what my S17’s experience at St. Olaf is like. What we know so far is that It’s very warm and friendly, and about 1/3 of the students or more participate in some form of performing arts.
We were surprised by the wait-list at Gonzaga too. He’s been admitted everywhere else, and he had a good interview with the admissions rep. He was a bit on the low end of their stats, but he seemed to have a lot of ECs and other experiences what would be a good fit for their school. Oh, well. We are very happy with the schools he chose to apply to.
Great to see more and more young women studying Engineering, @atb514 and @snoozn! STEM and Robotics are big at our HS, and attracting more girls each year.
@kt1969 that’s fabulous! 6k is 6k! I would take in a heartbeat
We just sent a GIANT packet to Ursinus for a review (they had a lot of required docs, total pita) and then last night he tells me it’s off the list.
Of course he changes with the wind so…GRRRRR
@eandesmom: So, now (at the moment…) it’s down to WWU and UVM?
@cameo43 well that was last nights moment. He just bit my head off for suggesting he chat with his friends older brother after the jazz performance tonight so who knows. He’d rather talk to the kids mom! But yeah, I think that is where he is at but even he admits he’s all over the place. How he gets “solid” with one in the next 5 weeks so we can be done with the drama is beyond me.
@eandesmom – Oh no - I can now envision these last 5 weeks as living with a kid who is completely impossible – it must be soooo hard for them - “biggest decision of their lives”, the pressure they must feel, especially when they have so little experience themselves!
One Mom of older kids in my neighborhood has warned me that one of her kids might have picked a different school if she hadn’t internalized her Mom’s frugality - in other words, this young woman picked Dickinson (which has worked out great for her) - where she had gotten a great merit award - but might have picked a different school because the other school, which her mom had assured her was affordable - nevertheless cost some measurable amount more (don’t know the other more expensive school) - the point is both that the young woman is fluorishing where she is, but nevertheless, she might have picked a different school (where she likely would also have bloomed).
I think E1 has 3 great choices! I personally think that the pita paperwork, if it does indeed result in a better award from Ursinus, will potentially have him reconsider (because E1 knows he'll have to earn $$ to help with cost, but also because he has likely internalized your 1) hope that the small school environment will help him succeed and 2) that nevertheless, at the same cost, UVM seems to be the better academic value, so 3) if Ursinus cuts a deal, you'll feel like it's a better value for the potentially increased attention. But then 4) it's all reading tea leaves anyway in trying to figure out how a teenager tries to make a decision! He may indeed decide to stay closer to home. I've included your process into my thinking here in CoyoteDen - Juniata is the only school in driving distance - IMHO, almost all of the other schools on his list will likely be a better match academically (and most socially, though I am worried that Conn College and Hamilton both better academically, will be filled with too many privileged kids for CoyoteSon to find his tribe there) - but thanks,to the wonderful discussion we have here on this thread, I'm keeping my less than stellar opinion to myself to try to *not* prevent CoyoteSon from picking Juniata, which will be OK, if he values the "close to home" aspect more than the academic/socoal aspect.
My new mantra - CoyoteSon will bloom best wherever *he* picks - as MamaCoyote (should be mamaBear, but trying to stick with just one animal) -,I already helped shape the list - there are pros and cons, but I think he can succeed at any school on his list...so time to keep my thoughts to myself.
So, even today CoyoteSon didn’t want to discuss Juniata visit details (the visit is tomorrow into Friday!). I suppose I should envy his “zen” of living in the right now.
I had already decided that the dibs and drabs approach to the next 4 days (one new college decision per day) would not go well – so decided to wait and tell him all 4 college results on Saturday, or just wait til all the packages come in the mail. I also figured that will help, because I’ve been assuming one or two will be rejections. I am sticking with this plan, even though we have great news - CoyoteSon has been accepted to Carleton!!!
So yay! But I am trying to not succumb to prestige bias, and don’t want that bias to creep through when CoyoteSon finally gets the big packages in the mail. I personally think Carleton and Beloit are his two best fit choices from the social standpoint - and only he can decide where he fits academically and socially. And of course, I am trying to practice my own zen - it shouldn’t matter where I think he best fits - CoyoteSon can and will make that decision himself, and he will bloom wherever he picks (or, he will struggle, and then we’ll cross that bridge when we get there - despite the “best 4 years of your life” - we’ll tackle the whole thing one year at a time).
So woot! So glad I can do my “happy dance” with my friends on this list!
@CoyoteMom , Carleton is amazing; congrats to CoyoteSon on this and his other impressive schools!
I am struggling with prestige bias, particularly since TacoSon’s prestige acceptances are uniformly unaffordable. I feel lame having to rattle off all these names and beat any congratulations to the punch. After 3 solid days deflecting inquiries during our band trip I am sensing that most kids and parents are still opting to be cryptic so at least I’m not alone there!
Hey TacoCat -
Hope the band trip was fun! I can totally see why people in real life don’t talk about the “list” of colleges - it is exhausting to walk through acceptance and rejection lists, or in State v OOS, or the $$ implications, either for need or for merit. With real life conversations, it’s just too fast, and can come across like comparing the features of the new car you just bought, with the neighbor who just bought a bigger/faster/cooler vehicle.
I do think that now the choosing will be the hardest stage yet- but then it will be so much fun to talk about in real life once the choice is made.
Gaaah - so sorry about the great choices for TacoSon that are unaffordable - fingers crossed that he really truly loves some of his more affordable options!
@coyotemom Wow, congratulations on the Carleton admit, great school! (I’m also a big Beloit fan, D16 is finishing off his freshmen year there.)
@CoyoteMom congrats on Carleton, what a fantastic school! (My prestige bias is showing…) That is big news to sit on!
Good luck to CoyoteSon on big decision. We still haven’t visited but I am a little in love with Beloit just from their communications.
@CoyoteMom Congrats on the Carleton admission. Good luck keeping it under wraps until Sunday.
Let us know how the visit goes. We have one Sunday and son and husband are making me crazy alternating between asking me questions that I don’t have answers for or refusing to discuss it. It’s also the crazy busy week before Spring Break here so a big english paper due tomorrow with 2 tests (one in calc - ugh).
On a lighter note, oldest son was showing us a project he’s working on in one of his engineering classes and a big calculus discussion ensued between sons. It was nice to see them interested in each others work even if I had no idea what they were talking about (but the picture that was drawn was nice)
Wow, the decisions are rolling in fast and furious. I am following with great interest to see where everyone will wind up.
We recently attended an accepted students evening for one of the SUNY’s. While I was chatting with a friend, H overheard one of the admissions people discussing an all expense paid visit to the campus. Since I had budgeted close to $1000 for Techson17 and I to visit the school (either flying up or renting a car and staying in a hotel for 2 nights), a free trip for Techson17 would be perfect. Somehow, H finagled a seat on the bus for the diversity weekend for my Irish-Jewish little boy - the website says it’s for students from the NYC area, and he is… Anyway, he is going up alone and we have switched his theater tech audition from Skype to in person, which I think will be much better. He can be engaging in person (especially if you have never seen him early in the morning!) and I think his work will show better in the books he’s assembled than in a couple of photos emailed up.
H is hoping that techson17 will hate the school and I am hoping he loves it. H is on a kick about community college again and having him take gen eds and I am blue in the face trying to explain about BFA’s and how this degree is perfect for a kid who can’t do math. I am even considering hiring his ACT math tutor, who got him from a 19 to a 24 despite his barely doing the HW the tutor assigned, to study with him so he can CLEP out of any math at college, the way I did. I have to laugh, ruefully, when I see how many kids are pursuing engineering. That is so not happening in the techson17 world.
@techmom99 - delurking to ask how you found a tutor for the ACT. I am clueless about the process but am dubious of the big testing firms’ actual results. Any guidance you could give would be great - D19 is definitely gonna need help on that front!
I emailed RIT just over two weeks ago to request a merit bump and haven’t heard back, so I re-sent with a note in case we got lost in the shuffle. I’m heartened by @kt1969’s big success! I’m only asking for a bump from 15K to the max 16K (max presidential), so hoping they’ll come through. Mostly though, I just want to hear something and get this process over with.
@morningside95, congrats on St. Olaf! My oldest D really liked St. Olaf when we visited, but she was waitlisted. One of her best friends graduated there recently and loved it. He’s now in grad school at U of MN.
@CoyoteMom, you are spot on with the “self-fulfilling prophecy” I think. I’m really anxious to see how the RIT weekend goes. Congrats on UVM honors. Does that come with additional merit? And congrats on Carleton! It sounds like this will be decision weekend for CoyoteSon. I think you’re right about us parents being careful not to project and influence decisions in a way we didn’t intend. Sounds like you are doing a great job of keeping quiet when appropriate. I’m going to keep that in mind with S18.
@jmek15, I hope you won’t have to wait until Monday for all decisions, but at least that’s not TOO far away.
@stlarenas, hugs for your D going through a stressful decision time. I think you’re making the right call on UofR, but that’s tough. When will all the decisions be in? I hope she’ll be able to have some good visits (really just one good visit needed!) after all the info is in.
@eandesmom, sounds like E is still circling, but perhaps the circle is narrowing?
@atb514, are all of your decisions in? I’m interested to know what your final decision is, Clarkson, RIT or other – hope you are enjoying the process!
@techmom99, I hear you on H’s with dumb college ideas. Way back at the beginning of this, my H put forward what he thought was the best idea for our D: Go to CU-Boulder and live at home to save money. Yep, we’ve got a D who struggles with social skills and is very independence-minded and wants to make a fresh start. Sounds perfect! 8-|
I hope techson enjoys the SUNY visit!
Wow! I haven’t been here in a long time…had to cut myself off cold turkey because I couldn’t regulate how much time I was spending on these forums X_X . But congratulations on all the acceptances, and good wishes to those for whom there’s been disappointment. It’s amazing to see how far we’ve all come in a few months though.
An update on DS17: In the end, he only applied to four schools, SUNYs Albany, Binghamton, Buffalo, and Stony Brook. That is, the four D1 SUNY schools. At the beginning of this process he was all about going someplace warm and far away, and we did come up with a few possibilities that we could afford, but he changed his mind completely late last fall and decided to stay closer to home, snow or no snow. Go figure.
He’s accepted to Albany (with merit) and Buffalo, and we haven’t heard back from Binghamton or Stony Brook. He very much wants to go to Buffalo, though. He went to an official track team overnighter last week which turned into a three-nighter because of the snow storm @-) and that settled his mind. However, as far as I know he doesn’t have an official offer of a place on the team and that makes me nervous! Like some of your kids, asking him about little details like that doesn’t work well but once he knows what his options are I’m going to try to get him to ask the coach clearly what his chances are.
We’re almost there. Graduation is three months from tomorrow!
@CoyoteMom Carelton!!! Wow. You can show some prestige bias, that’s wonderful! Another one I think might be good for S19 (as well as Beloit) although I really hope to find him much bigger MAC so grad school can be an option.
EXACTLY!
It really is a lot of pressure and stress to be sure. I am so tired of the drama. Much of which I don’t think has a thing to do with college…teenage hormones. BLEH.
I really hope it isn’t drug out for 5 weeks. I am probably not as frugal as I should be, and that isn’t helping. He really alternates between really wanting me to tell him what he should do and what is the best choice, and really wanting me to stay out of it entirely. But at the end of the day, it has to be his choice to take on debt or not. Not mine. And yeah, that’s stressful to be sure. I am trying hard not to project but…probably am.
It is fascinating to watch actually. He did tell another mom at the concert last night that it was “probably” down to WWU or UVM. The older brother at WWU was there who basically said he really hadn’t tried that hard “yet” to get an internship, was happy at Huxley but has zero input really on underclassman years as he transferred in as a junior from an east coast private U that he was unhappy at. Private U is far higher on the CC prestige scale (pretty unknown in our area though) but he’s much much happier at WWU. Of course it will take him 5 years instead of 4 but at instate pricing it likely works out the same or even less lol.
She did mention to my S that transferring back was always an option. Which I have said repeatedly but of course he seemed to “hear” it when she said it. Whatever! LOL. He will go to the event on the 1st as planned and then we will review in detail side by side, whether he likes it or not. I fully anticipate 1-2 very not fun weekends for the compare/contrast.it’s all reading tea leaves anyway in trying to figure out how a teenager tries to make a decision!
I also need to lean hard on him regarding grades. I did hear from UVM and they will look at it, after all, but it would be based on grades (or new test scores) not other offers. If he can have a strong q3 I’d have something to send them. It’s ugly at the moment thanks to the trip and it is recovering but I’m not sure it will be where it needs to be for a reconsideration at the Q3 mark, though it has a very high chance of being there at the semesters end.
@techmom99 I love free trips to the schools! S17 actually could (so could we for that matter) get a free ride to and from our event on the 1st. It’s a 90 minute drive though and I’d rather do that than be held hostage to the bus. Plus H has never been there. That’s so hard that you and your H are not on the same page with wanting it to work or not. I’d check if it actually has to be math, I took logic in college which qualified as my needed math credit and there may be other options as well. I looked at my college transcript today. Holy cats there are a LOT of gen ed classes that I don’t recall at all, as in…“I took a class in that?” kind of reaction. Very surreal. It did however make me a bit nervous for scholarship retention. I didn’t have any such burden and only cared about my final gpa hitting a certain mark but oy.
@smakl70 I feel your pain,. It’s a jekyll hyde thing, refusal and then wanting to talk about it. And l cannot figure out the triggers at all.
@Gatormama your GC will likely have some recommendations, if it’s specific to math, so will the teachers and other local parents. If you have a local FB group you are a part of, that can be a good place to start… We used different prep scenarios for all 3 of our kids, S19 will use the same local place that S17 did and has his diagnostic testing over spring break.
@snoozn I hope you hear on the bump, it’s a little request. Ursinus said they will take a couple of weeks, it’s entirely possible the kid will be committed by somewhere then so it will be interesting to see. UVM actually has let me know if we see an uptick either for q3 or semester 2, they can submit it after all. He’ll need to have a good quarter but it is possible for him to hit a new benchmark and the impression I got was it could make a difference and they’d revise, even after committing. Still circling, we will visit WWU on 4/1 but likely can’t really dig into detail comparison until 4/2 and that will be depending on work schedule and homework load. He’s been reaching out for teachers he really respects for some outside input. I’m not sure if that’s a good thing or a bad thing or just a thing. LOL!
@mdcmom congrats on Buffalo and Albany and sending good vibes for the other 2. I can add him to the list if you PM me his stats (if you want). I hear you on being nervous about Buffalo. SD14 applied ED to her school without knowing if she was going to be offered a spot on the soccer team. She decided the school was more important than the sport so did ED anyway but boy, it freaked us out. She got in, did not get offered a spot, and is happily playing club for the school (and their club team does better than their D1 team does lol). So for her it was the best of both worlds. Track seems hard with spots often offered late? It does seem late not to know but I have seen kids go down to the wire and have it go both ways so GOOD LUCK!!!
@eandesmom Thank you! And as to late offers for track teams, there was a kid a couple of years ago from our school who was offered a place on a team at the beginning of May, after he had a breakthrough performance at our qualifier for states! Yikes. Part of it may that track is so data driven. You’ve either got the time, or you don’t.
Don’t look at the board for a few days and there are a lot of posts. Congrats to all who have gotten acceptance I haven’t responded to yet.
@LillyMoon Sorry about UCSB. But Davis is a good school as well.
@techson Great news about the trip to SUNNY (Buffalo??) on his own. Sounds like a great learning experience. My older D has chosen a school by spring break and I sent her own her own to the east coast just to make sure she could handle it. It works out great for her.
@mdcmom Good news on his admits. It’s good his has a decision made. We are down to deciding between 3 sc
@eadndesmom My guess is we are going to be fretting for the next few weeks at least. No decision till after he see’s Boulder.
TacoSon’s final decision just came in: Waitlisted at William & Mary. This was the last-minute long shot and the itch I had to scratch to make sure he was aiming toward the right kinds of schools – so I’m honestly delighted he wasn’t flat-out rejected.
TacoSon, meanwhile, seems satisfied that his acceptance is now a solid 11 (10 yes answers, two waitlists).