@socalmom007 As a mom with a daughter currently at UMass Amherst - it is a great school. My D16 had acceptances at UVM; UConn; Virginia Tech; UMass Lowell; Wentworth and UMass Amherst. She ultimately chose UMass Amherst for Mechanical (now moving to Industrial) Engineering and has no regrets. The campus is very manageable and the various school breakdown really makes a very large school feel much smaller. There are definite cultural differences to the residential areas on campus - with some areas being a little wilder than others. My daughter has felt safe on campus and is living in one of the quieter areas where a lot of the Engineering students are. If you have any specific questions - feel free to PM me.
@TimEnchanter - Congratulations on having a final decision!
Congrats to all who have similarly made their decisions, and good luck to those still deciding. The end is definitely in sight.
1 revisit day down, 2 more to go. Georgetown (SFS) revisit was very interesting ā I was kind of impressed in spite of myself. I didnāt love that the kids didnāt get to attend an actual class or spend the night in a dorm, but I did feel like we nonetheless walked away with a pretty clear picture of what it would be like for him to attend that school. S says he can definitely see himself there, but that doesnāt necessarily mean it will be the winner. We were with extended family yesterday, and I heard someone asking him which of the three heās revisiting heās leaning toward. Of course I immediately started eavesdropping, thinking that maybe heād be more forthcoming with someone other than his parents, but his response was picture-perfect oldest, analytical child: āIām trying not to have any leanings yet; I want to revisit all three before I start drawing any comparisons.ā
Killing me!!! Just have an opinion and letās be done with it!!
Thank you all so, so much for the feedback!!! @Motiv8tedmom23 if it looks like weāre moving in that direction Iāll definitely message you with questions! Everyoneās impressions are very helpful. Iāll see what D17 is thinking when I see her tonight.
@mizuno22 my daughter died over Fordham, completely fell in love. If you havenāt visited itās worth a look.
@TimEnchanter one of my daughterās best friends also committed to chapman, itās a great school. Being in Southern California definitely seems best if your child is considering entertainment.
@TimEnchanter congratulations!!! Lovely school. I also have a child who decided to have skin in the game (aka the federal loans lol) to go to his preferred school where he thought heād be the most successful academically as well as the happiest, and we all feel great about his choice.
@socalmom007, as a Fordham grad, that is nice to hear! My D17 fell in love with Fordham also, but unfortunately, did not get enough merit aid to justify the ridiculous cost. To think that when I attended, total cost was less than 10K/yr and now it is $72K. Even with her merit aid, it was well out of reach. 
Congrats @TimEnchanter, @mizuno22, @eandesmom and others! Best of luck to the parents and their kids, who are still making final decisions. My college roommateās D17 just finished a whirlwind trip, visiting 5 colleges in IN, OH, PA, NY & MA, and she STILL does not know where sheās headed. 20 days left, right!?
Our S was accepted at Willamette, Univ of Portland, Pacific Lutheran, Univ of Puget Sound, Luther College, Iowa State Lawrence Univ and St Olaf. He chose St. Olaf after a very well done Accepted Students weekend, and we are very proud Ole Parents. S wanted to go further away, but ultimately realized he could find everything he wanted in a school, including January Interim sessions that often involve travel outside of frosty MN, a bit closer to home. They also have a January Interim class, which can be taken away from campus, either nationally or internationally.
S developed wonderful relationships with Admissions reps at most of the schools, through college visits to our HS, college fairs and in-person interviews, and we feel that really helped our engaging, but lower stats kid. He worked hard on his applications and has a nice list of ECs, so those were factors too. I mostly post on the āParents of the HS Class of 2017 - 3.0 to 3.4 GPAā thread, but thought it would be fun to share his news on the BIG Class of 2017 thread too!
Looking forward to reading more good news and fun stories from you all!
Re: Prom-Posals - at our HS they usually involve a special homemade sign and a treat, or something related to the person they are asking. Using puns on the signs is the norm. Sometime kids sing their prom-posals. They donāt get too out of control and are usually quite thoughtful, so they donāt bother me. The kids seem to have fun with them. More and more, kids are just going to dances, like prom, homecoming, sadieās and sweethearts, in large groups of boys and girls, with only a portion of the group being actual couples.
We have several banquets, etc in May, plus helping with Sr Party (a bit too crazy but fun all-class lock-in that immediately follows grad ceremony) and planning Sā grad party with his friend and her family. Hoping to keep our heads above water, so we can enjoy all the fun events during this, our familyās last Sr year! 
@4kids4us Fordham is so expensive. Even with a full-tuition scholarship, room, board, and fees were close to $20,000. As non-NYers, letās just say that is some crazy high room and board.
Congrats @morningside95 !!! Sounds like a great choice!
@4kids4us my D17 knew Fordham might be a financial reach, but she was pretty surprised when she was rejected. Her test scores were a bit low for them, but that rejection stung a bit even though she knew she likely couldnāt attend even if admitted.
Great news @TimEnchanter ! Thanks for updating us and good luck to your D. Sounds like a solid choice.
Thanks all. One down, one D19 still to go.
@morningside95 Congrats on St Olaf! I really loved that school when we visited and the admissions staff could not have been more kind and caring. I suspect my daughter will choose a different school (juryās still out). If she does, I wonder if I will look upon it as āthe one that got away.ā
@TimEnchanter Congrats on the Chapman decision. I have heard very nice things about it. Sounds like itās a good size, good location, and good program for your childās interests. Must be nice to be done!
Hi all. No decision yet but 13 acceptances, including all of his DSās top choices. Question. I have seen recent postings here about U Conn and wonder what your impressions are? Offered some money and admitted to engineering school there.
@HSCounselor2 Congratulations on WUSTL! The scholarship sounds like quite an honor.
@TimEnchanter Congratulations on your daughterās decision. Can sympathize because our son is also a NMF and got the USC rejection. I think it worked out best for us - I hope youāre as excited about her eventual choice as we are our sonās.
@morningside95 Sounds like your son made a well thought out choice. Congratulations!
Our son finally made it official and submitted the SIR and deposit for UCLA. We went to their Engineering event yesterday and got any remaining questions answered with no red flags popping up. His smile meter pegged as soon as we stepped on campus and we knew right then that this was it. Back for Bruin Day on Saturday. I donāt know how much weāll get out of it at this point, but weāll take the dorm tours and have some fun in the area the night before.
We are done! My son is going to William and Mary, no surprise really it has always been the school others had to beat. UVA was close since he volunteered in the neuroscience lab and did their mini med school program. I think he is drawn to the small school size and he likes that he is the only one going there this year from his school. My DH went to W&M grad school so it always felt like home.
A daughter at UVA and a son at WM I couldnāt be prouder!
@youcee and @twoforone99 Congrats on finalizing those decisions. Glad the final visits went well and Iām sure itās wonderful to see them all smiling ear to ear!!
@RightCoaster MIT had Campus Preview Weekend this past Thurs. to Sat., so the campus would have been busier than usual. My S17 sounds similar to you and prefers nature to the hustle and bustle (and the constantly honking car horns) of Boston. My S15 loves Boston.
Congrats to all the recent finalized plans.
@mamaedefamilia Curious what your Dās final choice will be. Sheās the dancer, right? I have a guess.