I have been a long time reader of this thread (since October) I have enjoyed following your stories. Congratulations to to everyones DC. We visited 19 colleges. I have an only DS. He first wanted to study music composition and film. After all of our visits he decided it was too competitive(most schools only accepting 2-3 students) decided to not presume music comp. Then he was thinking film and history. So he took some schools off the list and added additional. After 32 essays and applying to 9 colleges he was accepted into 7. He did not get into his top choiceā¦ University of Notre Dame. We knew it was unpredictable but he attended their summer scholars program last year and we were hoping that would help. So after his rejection we moved on. Just like many of you have stated āgo where you are wantedā. He had many top choices, but it eventually came down to fit and comfortability. He was awarded large merit scholarships at the other 7 universities, but no big MAC. My DS has severe food allergies. So dining was one of our top concerns. (Again another reason why UND was #1). Yesterday he wrote 6 thank you letters to each school turning down their offers. After 2 years of research and visits I found it hard that he was saying no.
He decided on a school that was the last one we looked at since his majors changed. He was accepted into the Honors Tutorial College at Ohio University.(A one of a kind program). He was also given a full tuition scholarship. I am happy because it is only 3.5 hours away and in state. Its not where I thought he would go, but am very happy that he had many great options and he was able to make the choice.
Good luck to everyone.
Congrats to @reba66 , @caroldanvers and @mamaedefamilia !!! <:-P <:-P 
Congratulations all!!! So exciting to see this all wrap up.
@mominthemiddle any movement? Has your daughter articulated where she wishes sheād applied? I can feel your stress, Iām so sorry. Obviously I understand the boyfriend thing. Weāve had the benefit though of having a boyfriend that truly wants the best for our daughter and can see the big picture. Iām not sure what you should do at this juncture. Again, for us spreadsheets are our friend, compare and contrast cost, ranking, faculty ratio, etcā¦ Best of luck!
So we received a weird bit of marketing yesterday. We got a postcard, looked like it was from UT Austin. Upon further inspection it was from a realtor in Texas encouraging us, as the parents of an accepted oos student, to buy real estate in Texas so we could gain in state status for sophomore year and beyond. Had a breakdown of the cost savings over 4 years of college. Wth??? Does UT sell accepted student information to realtors for marketing?
Ok, Iām catching up from a few days ago, so @dustypig and @youcee Thanks for the report on Bruin Day, it sounds like you all had a great time!
@MotherOfDragons Yep, love the new avatar and your artistry! Looking forward to see what you come up with for @srk2017!! I might have to get in line - etsy isnāt a bad idea! My S/O has ordered a ton of unique art work for his office from etsy!
@LoveTheBard Sounds like youāre making progress and narrowing down the choicesā¦ My daughter felt the allure of Stanford when we visited - for sure. Sheās lucky to have you and your h to support whatever decision she makes!!
@NerdMom88 Canāt wait to hear about your daughterās decision!
@WhataProcess Howās the whirlwind tour going?!
@mominthemiddle Iām sorry to hear your daughter is unhappy with her choicesā¦ hopefully she agrees to visit again?
@socalmom007, no, that doesnāt sound either slimy or scamlike at all. 8-}
@reba66 Congrats on your sonās choice. That Honors Program looks really intriguing and the town of Athens offers a beautiful setting.
@socalmom007, Actually The Texas thing is True. My oldest D went to UT. They do allow OOS students to get instate tuition after one year. They even have an office of Residency that you can contact and they offer advice. There are three ways to qualify. The child must be independent for tax purposes. Parents canāt declare them . The student must demonstrate intent to make Texas their permanent home. They can do one of three things to establish domicile. After getting license, registering to vote, and filing independent returns, the student can either buy a house in Texas( either live there with roommates near campus, or in our case, buy a rental property in her name in San Antonio); or they can work off campus 20 hours a week, or lastly, they can start a company or business while in school. This last way is relatively new. After one year, you get instate with some filing of paperwork. I am not exaggerating when i say I have helped over 25 people do it, and know probably 75-100 kids who have done it. My dās Sorority has 30-35 OOS girls every year join. 60-75% of them gain IN state. I do think the university sells the list. My S got in this year. We have received at least 4 solicitationsā¦Missouri and texas are two states that make it easy for OOS students to get instate. A great value
We did look up residency potential in the states where she applied to publics. Texas was one where it looked like you could gain residency. I just thought it was so weird that we received a solicitation from a realtor to sell us a condo in Texas. It was specifically marketed to oos students accepted to UT Austin. Obviously they got our information from somewhere. The graphics and logos all looked like it was from UT at first glance, but it was a real estate agent.
@mamaedefamilia Congratulations on Oberlin!! <:-P So glad sheās thrilled!!
@caroldanvers and @reba66 Congrats on your kids choices and being done!
@thshadow Nice updateā¦ sounds like sheās getting closer to a decision as well. I wholeheartedly agree about the ADHD and smaller class sizes, it definitely makes a difference!!
@Stem2017 Thanks, I let her know you mentioned Lehigh and Miami. Wasnāt there a college in Florida you liked for engineering? I know your son applied to Florida State, but wasnāt there another one? I think UMD will be a top choice for him, itās close to home, he liked the tour but Iām getting the sense they give no $. I think UVA is a great choice, a little far for him, but I told her itās doable, a 7 hour drive for check-ins!
@IABooks Thank you, I think the schools you mentioned are worth considering also. Iād like to give her a few choices out of state to at least research, just in case.
@mommdc @carachel2 Yes, heās taking AP Physics now and getting a 97%. Also taking Pre-Calc and will take Calc next year.
@Fishnlines29 I believe it was UCF (and UF), which has a solid engineering program (and in Stem2017 DSās case, a rather good aerospace engineering program). USF (in Tampa) is about on par with UCF and also offers decent OOS merit aid.
Using USF as an example, the OOS tuition is only $17.2K a year. The highest level OOS merit scholarship is $12K a year (1360+ SAT/29+ ACT/4.0+ weighted GPA), plus they will stack additional scholarships.
http://www.usf.edu/admissions/freshman/admissions-scholarships/nonflorida.aspx
FSUās engineering program is a bit weaker than UCF/USF, itās a shared program between FAMU and FSU, but they are building up ($$$) the program. FSU offers OOS tuition waivers (last year a 30+ ACT was required), which brings tuition down to the in-state rate of about $6,600 a year.
UF has the best engineering program in the state, but they donāt offer much in the way of OOS merit scholarships.
@BigPapiofthree -Clearly you have devoted a lot of time and effort to figuring out your way around a variety of systems. Well played! 
Thatās so cool that you teach others!
@Gator88NE is correct as usual.
My S applied to UCF, USF, Embry Riddle, FSU, and UF. What can I say? He wants warm weather.
With merit-aid, UCF and USF are absolute bargains. He crossed UCF off the list because he was not accepted to Burnett Honors. USF was a safety (academic and financial).
Embry Riddle also gave him a nice scholarship, but the school is laser focused on aeronautical (he was worried what to do if he changed his mind later).
FSU was also a bargain, but they did not offer any tuition reduction at allā¦not one penny of merit aid. That was a bummer. Plus, their engineering school is 3 miles off campus and is a joint program with another college.
UF is still an option becauseā¦ its UF. No merit aid there. Just happy to be accepted. Weāre hoping to visit before May 1.
Other Florida schools that he considered but never applied toā¦
University of Miami
Florida Inst. of Technology
Florida Atlantic U
Florida International U
You should take a look at the website below. I donāt buy into the rankings, but I love how comprehensive the list is, especially by stateā¦
Any news on where MACās dd is going to attend? (I havenāt figured it out if he is around.)
Texas has no state income tax and high property tax so they get your money thru property taxes and thatās why they encourage property purchases.
@Fishnlines29 - Engineering - Look at UConn or UMass and Olin. Olin is really small and I donāt know stats.
I got back from Stanford with DD late last night. I forgot to take my IPad on this trip; so Iāve been reading CC but not posting. Congratulations to all who have finalized decisions in the last week!!
The Stanford visit had both good and bad aspects so D is planning to go back next week for admitted student days. Her hostess failed to pick her up as mutually agreed and texted D about an hour and a half after they were suppose to meet for D to make her own way to the dorm. The āhostessā spent about a minute with D and that was the extent of their interaction. D had specifically requested someone that would interact a lot with her as the only person that she knows at Stanford was out of town the first two days D was there. D had a much better time once her friend arrived. She enjoyed the campus tour and the class she attended.
D is staying on the path of not making a decision until May 1st.
@Testingearly Thatās a shame and quite frankly, rude! I hope she has a better experience next week.
@Gator88NE and @STEM2017 Thanks for the Florida info, very helpful. My nephew would have a place to visit on occasion the West Coast for fishing if he went to college there.
@Testingearly, I suggest that your D give the Stanford recruitment office that arranged the host feedback on the host. They should know that this girl is not the best person to represent the school to interested participants, especially after your D asked for an interactive host! I donāt know if these kids volunteer or if it is part of work study, but that is very disappointing to basically be left to your own devices.
Congrats everyone on your DCās choices.
Popping in to report that Spykid has finally made a decision - Heās going to college next year. 
After much deliberation and a rainy (boo) admitted students day he has chosen Cal Poly. We are thrilled. Especially because Iāll have to fly into Santa Barbara several times a year to visit. Oh, darn.
Congratulations @Agentninetynine !!! Go mustangs!