Parents of the HS Class of 2017 (Part 1)

Parents Forum Class of 20xx Community
30901

Congrats @youcee and @twoinanddone for selecting 2,great schools. Very exciting, glad it all worked out and your kids are happy!!

@shuttlebus I knew there was something going on at MIT, it was packed with kids, even early in the morning/- which is unusual for a college campus :slight_smile:

My wife and son17 love the city and could easily live there. I’ grew up on the ocean and spend a lot of time in the mountains now. I like the city, I just can’t stand traffic, waiting ,and crowds. I’m planning to move in 2 years to Vermont. I’ll have access to a small city and airport, Burlington, but wiill be living in a mountain town.

30902

@socalmom007, bummer that your daughter got rejected but in a way, that makes it easier than having to say “No, can’t afford it!” like we had to. D17 actually got deferred from EA for her top two choices - NEU which was a reach and Fordham. She ended up rejected from NEU which was upsetting, but again, we wouldn’t have been able to afford it anyway. So it stung hard when Fordham gave little aid to her when she eventually got in, but her test scores were not great (I think being a legacy possibly helped her when it came to her test scores). Feeling a bit sad that probably none of my kids will be able to afford to go to my alma mater. I won’t even take the others to visit unless their stats/scores are much better than D17.

30903

I’m so sorry about NUE @4kids4us ! Test scores were also our problem. D17 did get a very generous offer from Manhattan College right down the road. That took the sting out a bit and kept her New York dream alive a bit longer.

Congrats all on all the decisions! So exciting to see where everyone will land.

30904

@socalmom007, I didn’t think to have her check out Manhattan College. She drew up the list of colleges herself and frankly, I was surprised Fordham ended up being at the top. She has gone to a K-12 parochial school and is so over it. Frankly, Fordham is sort of “more of the same” in terms of the typical student so I thought she was looking for some place larger and with more diversity. I think Fordham’s big appeal was location. Too bad we didn’t check out Manhattan though she’d probably say it was too small. I’m a little new here - has your D narrowed down her list?

30905

@4kids4us Manhattan is a bit smaller. We actually didn’t visit when we toured Fordham, but my daughter kept getting mail from them, did some research and decided to apply. It is also Catholic. My daughter so far has liked the vibe of the Jesuit schools we’ve visited. As far as my D17’s decision, well she’s trying really hard to go to school with her boyfriend. It has not worked out at all. Every school one was accepted at, the other was declined, except we found out today they both are accepted to U Mass Amherst and with scholarships. The short list as of right now, who knows how this could shift, is Cal Poly San Luis Obispo (parents top choice), Manhattan College, Seattle University, and now U Mass Amherst is back on the list. She was also accepted to Ithaca College, Sarah Lawrence, Purdue, UT Austin, among others…

30906

@Mom2aphysicsgeek, ~$20k/year for just room and board doesn’t seem too out of line to me—if my D17 had taken the Presidential at Alabama, the cost next year (not counting flights there and back, but yes counting what they list as average room and board costs) for room and board and such would have been…$20,372.

30907

@Dolemite She’s definitely closing in on a choice. Hopefully by the end of the week?

30908

@mamaedefamilia is your daughter a dancer too? Majoring in dance?

30909

Well, our Decision Tour is about to get under way. We’re leaving tomorrow to visit Grandpa. Then on to WUSTL Friday night, for their spring preview thing on Saturday. Still trying to find a student to host DD on Sunday or Monday night at WashU. They have definitely been less than helpful in setting things up. Admissions said “we don’t arrange student hosts, though if you can find one yourself that’s totally fine.” I guess the down-side of a “big” school (certainly compared to Rose Hulman, which is the other stop).

30910

Completed our Red Carpet Day tour at IU. We got into Bloomington in time to wander around a bit Sunday night. We did the typical tour, panel discussion. Felt it was well presented. Great energy on campus, saw students walking, jogging, etc. Campus was beautiful this visit, in bloom, trees not out yet. For a big school, when you get inside the perimeter, it doesn’t feel big at all. IU seemed like the whole enchilada; knowing our D, we felt it suits her to a tee. Hubby has only seen 3 schools with D and MU where S15 attends, he felt it was ‘her’.

Academically, we liked what we heard. D wants Psychology but would like Arts involved somehow and some sort of Forensic, Legal twist. Has plans for graduate school. While we felt the more set in stone Liberal Arts education was better for our oldest, hearing the flexibility that UPitt and IU offered really intrigued us. We both feel the academic offerings would be better for what she wants out of her education.

D17, however, is still on UD but cannot provide a concrete reason. We have asked for a list of pros and cons of each school and asked for a non-emotional, rational, reasonable conversation. We are still open and willing to look at Scranton (says absolutely not - too small and too many local kids from our area), UNH (no interest since applying), UVM (says too cold).

We did get to have dinner with our son last night - stopped for the night at Miami Univ. - doing awesome in Farmer School of Business. So impressed with the maturity we are starting to see. Sadly, D17 truly regrets not applying to MU but did not like the preppy vibe she got from it before.

No closer to a decision than last week. I feel she is frozen. She regrets all the wasted time leading up to this, wishes she had not fought so hard agsinst the touring I wanted to do. Wishes she hadn’t changed her mind about where she was applying in September - she got cold feet about being away and changed all her schools prioritizing location even when schools weren’t really what she wanted overall.

If anything positive comes out of this, she pushed S19 to tour with us - told him not to make her mistakes.

30911

@socalmom007 Yes, she’s a dancer. She is not planning to major but does want to continue to perform at a reasonably high level. So that was one of her search criteria when selecting her college list.

30912

** QOTD: **

Any idea when the BIG payment will be due at most schools?

June?
July?
August?

30913

@mominthemiddle, she might have liked Ohio University too.

Would she maybe be open to a gap year, really delve into what she likes and see how her bf is doing with his first year of college, work a bit, and reapply to some new schools next year?

30914

Our bill comes in July and is due about middle of August. The one that hurts more is the one due in December…

30915

They do usually offer payment plans, but there might be a fee.

30916

Good luck with your decision tour @thshadow. It is disappointing that WashU will not help you find a host. It is interesting to see how different colleges try to close the deal with accepted students. My daughter has no idea what college to choose. She got a nice Tshirt yesterday from Yale and joked that she would go to the school that gave her the best swag.

30917

@mamaedefamilia, I, too, have a D19 who loves dance but doesn’t want to major in it. What colleges still allow you to perform at a high level without majoring? TIF

30918

QOTD

Very good question, I am going to call today to confirm. Statement dates for 2017 aren’t available but based on last year it was billed mid July, due mid Aug. However the payment plan starts 7/1. Not sure how that could happen if we don’t have a statement yet (and registration is late June). Thinking maybe the first years are a bit different? It’s very unclear. I like Mid August a LOT better than 7/1! LOL.

@thshadow good luck on the tour, I hope it provides clarity (and a magically appearing student host!). We’ve a friend headed to revisit Rose Hulman and Purdue next week, curious to see where that lands, though he has 2 other solid options as well.

30919

@mamaedefamilia me too, my D17 has spent her whole life as a competitive dancer. She doesn’t want to major in dance but she wants to be able to continue in some capacity, a performance team, competition team, or a minor.

@mominthemiddle do you think it comes down to the boyfriend? This is my life right now. It’s not been easy to separate out the emotions from what the best logical choices are. We adore the boyfriend and are so sad for them, but they have to make the best decisions for each of them. Their current short list puts them at the same school, 2 miles apart, 45 minutes apart by train, and 3.5 hours apart by car. Guess which one is probably the best academically and financially? Yup, 3.5 hours. Trying to get them used to the idea.

30920

@Testingearly - Yes, I do find it interesting how cooperative or uncooperative schools are regarding overnight visits for accepted students outside of their weekend programs, if offered. Vanderbilt, for instance, has no overnight opportunities outside of MOSAIC, a multicultural recruitment weekend. They offer “'Dore for a Day” and “Anchor Days,” but no overnights. Likewise, Princeton – outside of Princeton Preview days – doesn’t arrange overnight visits, but Yale does. Stanford will, but only during two specific weeks.

We were able to have D hosted by a Cornelius Vanderbilt scholar, but that was not done through admissions; it was done through the scholarship people. Unfortunately, we don’t know anyone at Princeton. Yale was very kind in arranging both a schedule and a host that matched D’s interests.

I think it’s’ amusing that UC Berkeley charges $$ for hosting overnight visits…(I get that there are costs involved, but that just seems petty!)

As for going with the best swag, I have to say Chicago, after a late start (we never got much in the way of their infamous mailings or swag before applying, has made up for lost time since D. was admitted and have showered her with great swag. Too bad the scarf didn’t come BEFORE she froze her butt off there in April!)