We’re still awaiting word from all DS’s schools. With two exceptions they are all rolling or EA, so I have no idea why it’s taking so long. I’m definitely feeling more antsy with the second kid.
Yay, two acceptances today, and a surprisingly nice merit offer from one of them (the other was an OOS public). So thankful the first responses were acceptances.
Congratulations!!
@taverngirl Congrats!
We have heard from 3 of 6, the last 3 will be Jan, maybe late Dec. Unfortunately it is son’s first choice (Appalachian State), and my first choice (NSCU) that we are waiting on… So glad to have you guys here to vent to! I am trying to be all positive for DS, he is freaking out today about a calc test and I was trying to console him that even if his calc grade drops - it shouldn’t affect the schools he is waiting on that this point!!!
Next issue would be if he gets deferred or offered Spring admit – and then we will have to deal with that……
We have planned a second visit to his first choice in February, assuming we know he is in by then. The school is in the mountain of NC and I want to make sure he visits in the winter before he commits!
Congrats to all!!
DS20 has a 3.0 and 1130 sat. Has received acceptance from Indiana State University, University of Evansville, Xavier University (Cinn, OH) and is waiting on Purdue University (1/15) He also applied to Butler and has received a request from them for 7th-semester transcripts. Of course, Butler is the one he really wants and we will not know anything until late January if we are lucky. lol
@ITBgirl I’ve heard good things about Appalachian State. I really wanted to take D20 and S20 there for a visit - but never made it. Neither ended up being interested enough and OOS costs made me not push.
@kandtgraf congrats on the acceptances so far! It looks like might be neighbors, as only Evansville wasn’t on our list. We have a few extra, but many crossovers with you. The Purdue wait is killer. We can’t really move on until after 1-15.
@momofmanytoo exactly! I am a Purdue Alumn and I secretly would love for him to attend PU, but sadly he is just not as excited about West Laf as he is about Butler. As much as I play it cool, this waiting process is killing me over here. To relieve the anxiety I have been clearance shopping for dorm stuff all fall. lol ? My husband loves that!
@kandtgraf We were excited about Butler until we got the merit aid amounts. We ended up looking at Xavier as a replacement. It seems very similar, costs a little less, and they give more aid. But then again, I’ve got twins. So we are managing the costs x 2. Plus, will have one in her last year next year, as well.
My D took the last-chance SAT today and came out feeling very good about it. She said she used some strategies that the tutor taught her and they were very helpful.
Last weekend she finished her first application. Rutgers. Her Common App is done so she’s ready to hit the submit button on a few more as soon as I sit down with her with the credit card. She was so late in getting started but she’s really making progress now.
I may veto one common app school after doing the net price calculator. It’s one she never mentioned, I can’t see her ever going there, and I can think of better ways to spend the $50.
Anyone know anything about scholarship weekends? My D got a great merit award and was invited to a weekend in Feb where she could earn up to a full scholarship (I’m guessing highly unlikely for her but I think at a minimum she’d get and extra 2k per year). Problem is that it’s a plane ride away and it’s not one of her top choices . I’m assuming they don’t pay for you to come so we’d be paying for plane tickets as well as a hotel room for at least one night. We visited in the summer so not sure if she likes the vibe or not. She loved the students we met but now thinks it might be too small and less challenging than some of her other schools. I feel like it may be a great fit for her but can’t decide if we make her go or not .
DD 17 was invited to a couple of scholarship weekends. One was like your description, where there was an interview for a chance at a Full Tuition scholarship. Only a few, 20 or so, I think, were awarded to the 400+ invitees over two weekends.
She was seriously considering attending this school, so it did make sense to attend for us. The main feeling I got was that the weekend was really a recruiting weekend for the attendees. A few lucky attendees got the top award, but mainly the university was trying to show off the university to the invitees.
The other weekend was a more focused weekend where the invitees were invited by the various departments. In this case, she was interviewing at big university in a very small program. In this case, we had to fly cross country, but it was our first chance to visit. The college provided lodging and $200 of travel reimbursement. DD hit the jackpot on this one.
Again, you get the feeling that a large part of the weekend is recruiting the kids, but that is ok.
Overall, if you can afford it and the school is a realistic option, I’d recommend you consider it. If nothing else, it is good for our DC to feel the love.
Hope this helps.
Son and I are somewhat anxious now, awaiting EA decisions. Four of his reach schools requested more information for FinAid and such. These are LACs that I feel would benefit him greatly from having smaller classrooms and more personal attention from professors. There have been some back and forth with actual AO and FinAid Vice-presidents, not just student interns.
While some schools have semi-automatic FinAid message to help clear up issues, I’ve heard enough to think that smaller schools don’t waste personnel resources on creating FinAid workups for every applicant, only those the AOs has already decided to accept or is strongly considering. My line of thinking is these four schools want to include a FinAid package with the acceptance. Or maybe that’s just me being hopeful.
Other LACs he applied to have requested nothing extra. I know that doesn’t mean anything specifically, but it really contrasts with the schools that have upped the ante with more requests. With announcement dates coming up soon, these portals are going to get abused with check-ins.
@momofmanytoo I hear ya. We have twins that are soph in HS and I am really hoping they stick with their current favorite, Purdue!
@kandtgraf Bless you, my child. 
Hi all! I’m new to this site, and I’m glad that I’ve found this thread. My D is a HS Senior in Nor Cal. She goes to an extremely competitive school that routinely sends kids to the UCs as well as prestigious private schools across the country as well as public flagship schools.
My daughter is a solid student, despite the fact that she has an IEP and was diagnosed with high-functioning autism when she was 4 yrs. She currently has a 3.1 GPA with a college prep course load and scored a 24 on her ACT. She’s poised to have her best semester in her senior year, and if things break right she’ll earn a 3.5 this upcoming semester.
She wants to stay within a 2 hr flight from the Bay Area and has been accepted in 5 schools so far which are U of AZ, U of Montana, Montana State, Nor Arizona and U of Idaho. We also visited Seattle U, Washington State, U of Colorado and Evergreen but have decided not to apply to these schools for various reasons.
She also applied to several Cal State schools; including Humboldt, Sonoma State, Cal State Monterey Bay, Cal State East Bay and Cal Poly. She’ll also apply to St Mary’s in Moraga over the winter break.
She’s very social, active and will take advantage of disability services. She knows a lot of kids, but deep connections with her peers is her challenge.
OK, so here’s what I was looking to ask…
We collectively loved U of Idaho. We like the idea of a flagship university in a smaller state and an undergraduate student body of < 10K. They also guarantee the WUE to her, which means that the school cost is w/in ~10% of a Cal State school. They also seem to have amazing Disability Services services with a program that, if she gets in, resembles some of the top programs such as Arizona’s SALT Program w/out any additional costs.
Anybody know much about Idaho?
Also, she loved the SALT Center at Arizona, but we would have to pay for all of it. Is there any strategies to get $$$ outside of private scholarships?
Finally, any suggestions on the Cal States? I keep hearing that you run the risk of being impacted, and that the Cal States don’t do as good a job supporting kids with a diagnosis. However, I just don’t want to assume this to be the case.
@Damon389 I can’t help (east coaster) but welcome to CC and this thread!
@Damon389 Hi and welcome! My S20 has applied to 3 Cal States (East Bay, Sonoma and San Francisco) although he will likely do community college and then transfer. We are in the Bay Area.
We loved Sonoma as it’s small enough that it feels more like an LAC and they definitely talked a lot about their help for learning difference students. I also love Saint Mary’s in Moraga (I did my MBA there), but it was too small for my son. Your daughter would definitely get lots of personal attention at Saint Mary’s and they are pretty generous with merit aid.
Kudos to your daughter on doing so well! My other son is on the spectrum but he has significant learning issues and won’t be doing college. It’s wonderful that your daughter can have that experience.
My son also is interested in UA but did not check out the SALT Institute. How is it and what did you appreciate about it? What services do they provide and how does it differ from other colleges’ services?