Curious what others are doing with their 529s (owned by grandparents, and so didn’t have to disclose on CSS or fafsa … or if I was supposed to, I didn’t know) … planning on saving it for grad school (prob. med school) as, am expecting some (modest) need-based aid from some (my S applied RD to 8 places, four are out-of-state and so those we can’t afford w/o some partial aid). I know such need-based aid disappears if 529 is used during undergrad … and after all, med. school is even more costly than undergrad. I’ve also heard of parents waiting until senior year undergrad to tap into their S/D’s 529. I suppose it all depends on peoples’ income levels, etc.
Got a text this morning:
"Happy MLK day, XYZ:
While you are enjoying the holiday, we encourage you to complete and submit your application for admission to UD via the Common Application. If you submit your application by January 16, we will get a decision to you within two weeks of receiving all of your materials.
Respond to this text with any questions!
Reference: 4371NNNN"
That’s a first.
Welcome @VBhitter21.
Spring Deferments:
IMHO:
Colleges may have different reasons for these type of enrollment schemes, but most are doing it to manage enrollment and maximize revenue (tuition and housing).
For example, if 5% of your Freshman drop after the first semester, then you lose 5% of your revenue (and students!). Enroll 100% of your freshman capacity in the Fall, but then enroll and additional 4% to 5% in the Spring, to make up for freshman attrition to mitigate freshman attrition.
When trying to figure out why a college has some sort of enrollment scheme, keep in mind revenue and (freshman) resource (facilities, faculty, housing…) limitations. Some may do it for US News ratings, but it’s much more likely due to $$$ and resources.
I am of the school of allowing my D17 (who is already 18) to start having experiences that might be similar to college. I was the crazy mom who allowed the NYE party at my house, but there was absolutely no driving. Most of the teens were wonderful, and one that ruined it for everyone else was taken care by all the good ones. I did converse with the mom and she said that it helped her to see that her kid was not ready for the college yet.
Im glad that D17 is not making college decisions based on her on again, off again BF, even when they were heavy on again. WE have visited all the schools she is interested in. A few schools in the process we ended up doing just “drive by”, but these were not not serious contenders. (for example, while driving through nashville on the way back from Indiana, we did a Vandy drive by.). In state we have also done some “driive by”.
GT is just INSANE to get into. Top students did not get in. i was happy to see that out of the 28% that got in EA, 1/2 were from GA, since it is a state flagship school. I heard that UNC only has 5% out of state, which i think is good.
@Fishnlines29 Oh yes, I get that - the visit to Villanova we did as a family. We parked across the street, standing waiting for the light to cross she says nope, I don’t feel a vibe. Hubby is like what do you mean ‘vibe’? I tried to explain, but he didn’t get that there was just something that didn’t sit right and she really didn’t need to sit through the presentation or anything to figure it out - she knew standing there at the cross walk. We sat through the presentation for Hubby. 
Hubby was confused the whole ride to Lehigh.
S15 had fallen in love with a school, was the ONLY one he got denied from. Each school we toured, he found something that didn’t sit quite right until he stepped foot on Miami OH. But the difference to me with S15 and D17 is he saw every single school - she hasn’t.
UDel, may in fact, be ‘IT’ for her and I am the one who dragged her there when she had no interest in anything so ‘close’ to home. I guess I end up dragging her off to visits sooner rather than later - I wanted her to experience admitted student days so she could meet members of the incoming class, but maybe it’s best for her to see a few campuses now to get a feel if UDel is everything she thinks it is. Ugh!
We’ve visited several schools in California and New York, she ended up applying to several in Pennsylvania too, I do think visits will be important to make any kind of informed decision. My daughter and her boyfriend are all caught up in staying within an hour of each other, we’ll see how that works out. My husband and I chose a college together, I get it, it’s just made the college search so complicated.
@sdl0625 – I think UNC-CH allows OOS enrollment to = 18%. I think UVA is closer to 30%, but not certain.
I agree with you that it is good that GT admitted in-state applicants at a higher rate than OOS applicants (49% vs 21%).
Been a few days since I’ve posted on this board. It’s back to being busy, with too many posts to keep up with.
S17 finished his applications yesterday. Finally got the app in to CU Boulder and Oregon State. Both which had been sitting almost done for a while. So now we just wait. When push came to shove last night it really didn’t take that long, it was just more writing. But it’s writing about himself, and this is like pulling teeth for S17 and he really needed the motivation of a deadline to get him moving.
@jmek15 I’m hoping to send S17 to Boulder (if he gets in) over his spring break. I’d would love to see the rep’s you get.
@Gator88NE – agree with you about spring admits being a revenue maximization play. I commented something similar here yesterday. Schools have to guarantee housing for all freshman, and they can easily have 4-5% dropout after first semester. My son’s school has a formal program where they admit 125 as second semester freshman. They feel comfortable offering spring admission to 125 out of a class of 3400, as they know they will have empty beds to fill.
About state flagships and oos students- I think it’s totally appropriate to limit oos and admit higher percentages of in state students whose tax dollars are paying for those schools. Here in California the UC system got caught admitting out of state and out of country applicants with lower stats to maximize revenue. UCLA and UCB are like 40% oos.
@Fishnlines29 - we’d probably sleep until 2 or 3, then get up and prep breakfast. No way I could actually STAY UP that late.
@VBhitter21 - from what I read in your post, it sounds like D is happy / excited about a college that she’s been accepted to. Which means - congratulations, game over, you’ve won!
Or put another way - she’s comfortable with her college decision, while you’re anxious. IMO, the issue is with you, not your D.
Which means you’ve come to the right place! I think many of us are on the lunatic spectrum, while our kids are (much) more well-adjusted. So we come here to vent / worry / gnash our teeth, to spare our children (and likely spouses as well). OK, I’ll be honest, I’m talking about me…
I’m sure that all of the colleges would be fine choices for her, and so whichever one she’s happiest with is the best choice.
Lol @thshadow My DC is the same, I worry over every little detail. Good to see other folks like me
FYI (@snoozn et al) - Rose Hulman financial awards are out, on the portal. Check the Rose Hulman thread. You should have gotten an email like an hour ago.
Taking advantage of a day off work to try to catch up here. Congratulations on the acceptances and merit awards! My sympathies on deferrals. Sounds like we don’t have many outright rejections. DC is still over the moon with ED acceptance. Got together with some members of class of 2021 FB group and had a great time. Now to keep grades up and enjoy last season of activities!
@phoenixmomof2 Ok good, I feel better now! lol.
@socalmom007 yes, that’s true they got slapped on the wrist, but oos numbers don’t include intl. so this year, for example, UCLA admitted 60% in state, 26% out of state and 14% international. Of those that actually enrolled, 75% were in state, 14% out of state and 11% were intl.
@VBhitter21 Welcome!
I’d say a lot has to do with your child. For me, D1 has always been the kid who made up her mind quickly and stuck with it. We walked onto the campus of her current school and within 5-10 minutes she knew it was the one. We required her to apply to one of our local universities and one other with guaranteed merit, but she never doubted she’d end up where she did, and that wouldn’t have changed if we’d taken her on a dozen other campus visits.
D2 is a different kettle of fish. It usually takes a lot of research and thought before she makes a final decision. She’s visited two of the three schools to which she applied, and likes them both, while the one she hasn’t seen (Bama) is a distant third. Knowing her personality, we’ve insisted that she visit the campus, so we’re going to be doing the Great Spring Break Tour '17 in March to visit all three. If she sees UA and it’s still at the bottom of her list, I have no problem with knocking it off, but I know my kid and she needs visceral experience with a place to make a good decision.
Hope this helps!
(P.S. Any child can throw you a curve, though. We were driving with D2 through a campus and she refused to stop and look at it because she didn’t like the way the kids looked and thought the traffic patterns were “weird”. It was very surprising coming from her!)
@STEM2017 We still get mailings from Case (and S was accepted EA). He got email to apply to various schools - fee waived- as late as last week. Not ones he was considering - random schools.
@VBhitter21 What @NerdMom88 just said reminded me of this thread. It’s worth a laugh.
@Fishnlines29 I just remembered that thread myself and hopped over to post that incident on it! (Anything to avoid work…)