This is my experience as well. My higher stats kid’s applications had us nail biting the whole time, while my dd20 had gotten all acceptances so far (Bloomsburg, Cortland, Fredonia, U Maine, Michigan State, and Ithaca). It’s actually been fun to open the mail this time!
Congrats on the Elon acceptances. One of my kids goes there and it has been a spectacular experience.
Same experience for us. My D19 has much higher stats and it was totally nerve wracking the whole time she was applying. D20 it’s been a mostly smooth and happy experience, even when her stats have been low for the school.
S received two acceptances this morning, Quinnipiac with $22k merit and UHartford with $25k merit. Quinnipiac is one of his top choices, so we are very happy with the news!
Can the Elon parents please post their kids’ stats? I think it’s out of reach for my D21 but it would be such a good fit for her. Congrats!!!
Son accepted, no merit. 3.4 GPA and 1390 SAT.
I have not posted in a while even though I have been reading posts each week. Congratulations on all the acceptances. It surely gives a relaxing feeling during the holiday break for the kids.
DS was accepted a while back to Mississippi State University and University of South Florida with enough merit bringing cost down to less than our state. MSU is his first choice and will likely attend. He is sitll waiting a couple of more months to hear from one more school where he applied regular decision.
Happy New Year CC family! D20 getting a little nervous now as the deadline (1/15) to hear from her top 2 EA choices is now less than 2 wks away.
@scoutmom2002 Happy New Year! Same here. I feel like we finally be able to make some decisions after 1/15. 
Here’s to hoping!
@Momofmanytoo – For us it will be about comparing financial aid packages and that combined with education programs offered we will narrow to top 3 and then do admitted student day visits at top 2-3 before making final decision.
At first I wasn’t too keen on S20 deciding on VMI after committing to play soccer – but now that he’s “one and done” there are no decisions to be made…feels nice. Now I can focus on D20.
Happy New Year everyone! DS20 has heard back from all his EA schools: 4 acceptances (all with merit) and 1 deferral. He has 6 more schools he applied to RD but 4 of those are our large in state CA publics plus 2 privates that he is not likely to get merit from, so I am thinking that he will end up choosing one of the EA schools.
We are planning to visit the one he hasn’t seen yet in the spring and possibly revisit the other ones if needed. Although I know everything could change, I am feeling kind of done here even though he has 6 more schools to hear from.
Good luck to everyone waiting for 1/15 decisions. Hoping that you all have good news!
Hi All,
I posted about a month ago re my D and her applications. She’s a good student with a solid GPA (3.1) at one of the most competitive HS’s in her home state of CA. She performed well on her ACT (24 composite). I do recognize that there are plenty of other kids though that have better numbers than her. That’s fine, not every kid will be a NM Scholar or go to an Ivy League. She’s totally cool with that.
Her top choice is U of Arizona (we are OOS). She got accepted, but a paltry merit offer. Net-net, U of AZ really comes in no less than a private school and I just cannot justify having to take out loans to make things work. We’ve saved $X but the goal is for this to last for both undergrad and grad school. I ultimately graduated with some student loan debt and I always wanted to give D the gift of getting her diploma without debt.
My question is as follows. Have any of you had luck appealing your scholarship offer? if so, I would love to get suggestions from you. Does appealing your offer work better with private vs. public schools? My D just had her best semester in her HS career, which the school doesn’t have. There are also a few mitigating circumstances when she had her one poor semester (first semester, Soph year).
Anyway, I’d love to hear strategies that others have taken to have schools reconsider their merit offer.
@Damon389 We got an increase of scholarship with an D18 after her SATs went up. I asked her guidance counselor to call and ask about it when the scores came in. They asked the GC to fax the new scores and then sent out a new scholarship offer. She’s at a state school and the scholarship went up 40%. That increase covered tuition so I was really glad I pushed it. I think part of the increase was that by us reaching out through the GC the school could see she was serious about attending.
A private college D18 was accepted to increased their offer $2,000 a year when I wrote a letter. That was not for the increased score since she applied with her highest score, but for extenuating financial circumstances. The costs couldn’t come down to anywhere near the state school’s cost, however.
Interestingly, D18 got a postcard from that school in December saying we hope you are happy at the college you chose but it you want to transfer we will honor our previous scholarship offer.
I was planning on appealing D20s scholarships if her December SAT went up because a 20 point increase would have brought her to the level posted on their website. That would have been $5000 a year for a state school, which I would have been thrilled with for D20. Unfortunately, her scores did not go up so I couldn’t try.
But the good news is that she got her acceptance to that school today and got $4,000 a year. I’m very happy for her and it will more than make up for the cost of the math tutor. Lol. But if a miracle happens and she gets a great gpa her first semester, I might ask her GC to call in February and see if they will give her a little more.
There are some extenuating circumstances In D20’s case. She has some special needs but does not have a IEP, and she had issues with not tolerating medication due to side effects. That really brought down her grades sophomore and part of junior year. This year she’s got a medication she can tolerate at the right dose and things are going better for her. I don’t really have high hopes for her getting an increase in her scholarship, but if the GC were to call anyway with the higher gpa, I might ask her to mention it.
@Damon389 – I’ve heard that if the student directly contacts the financial aid office of the school and either speaks (or if possible meets) directly with a financial aid officer (writing a letter first and then perhaps following up with a call or meeting is what I would do) that they will often work with the student to increase merit/scholarship/work-study options. Student would go in explaining any extenuating circumstances (i.e., one parent out of work, medical bills, etc.).
I am embarrassed to ask this, and to be so clueless, but I see where everyone says that they are waiting on their financial packages from their admitted schools.
When I completed the FASFA, it said DS was eligible for 5k “loan” each year, so that means we are full pay at all schools, right? (only applying to in state publics) Except for merit scholarships which we would have to be asked to apply for, correct? I just don’t want to drop the ball if there is any more I can do.
Yes. You are technically full pay, with either a subsidized or unsubsidized loan option. If it’s unsubsidized, that basically means that interest starts to accrue when you take out the loan. This is usually the case with full pay. You’ll have to engage the financial aid office to get these loans. They do not automatically enroll. I think you can choose to do this at any time during the year. I could be wrong, but I don’t believe there’s a deadline.
Your financial aid package should be no mystery, just simply the loan. We are in the same boat! I’m not holding my breath for these packages to arrive.
Thank you. This is my second child so I should know more, but 1st kid had HC scholarship and had inherited money so I assumed that was why she didn’t qualify for anything else. But apparently DS won’t qualify either. 
Right there with you. We are on #4&5 with #3 still in college. Looking for the best value for the best deal is our college application game right now!
FAFSA only determines how you fit within a federal aid formula. Your EFC may or (most likely) may not be what you actually pay at a school. Folks are waiting to hear from each school on the schools offer re: both need based and merit based aid offered by the schools themselves. The FAFSA has only confirmed that your student qualifies for a federal loan, as most students do, but does not include any information specific to a school. It does not even include any state grants that your home state may offer.
@Cheeringsection so he might get some offer from some schools? Do we just wait or is there action required I wonder?