@maritam I heard a U Penn admissions officer say that when someone applied again in a later year, they automatically pulled the original application as well and compared them (if denied the first time, they wanted to see what had changed for the newer one), so in that case, at least, a new application in a later year wasn’t exactly a blank slate. That’s just one example, though…I don’t know anything specific to UCs.
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@4kids4us congratulations on being basically done!
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My D21 said she’s 90% set on Montana State, but she still wants to visit Oregon State just to make sure. MSU gave her $10k on the early scholarships but she is waiting on the later round which includes the WUE, which has been ~$16k in previous years and she should get that.
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@Johnny523 Crossing fingers for you and your daughter! Congrats on almost being done!
(hmm…I tried to include a quote and it said it automatically deleted it.)
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Great to hear the acceptances coming in! I’ll update for my daughter. She is a solid student, a great kid, but does not test well. She initially thought she wanted a small school but has decided a larger school might “fit” her better. She will be majoring in Social Work and plans to go on to get her MSW. We moved to NC this summer so aren’t too familiar with the schools.
Acceptances:
Creighton - 24k merit – too far from home, but loves the school
Xavier - 26k merit – closer to home but have not visited, we will try to visit at least on our own soon - no idea about the location
Roanoke College - 25k merit – no SW program, may be too small, loved the school on our visit
UNC Greensboro - oved the tour and location, tied for second choice as of now, applied for honors
UNC Charlotte - accepted, toured on our own, beautiful campus
East Carolina - accepted, she did not like the tour/campus/town, taken off the list
Waiting to hear:
NC State - applied TO, her top choice but have no idea if she will be accepted
App State - tied for second choice with UNCG, think this might be a better “fit” than UNCG
Elon - applied TO, she loved this campus but no SW program and to pay 2x the amount of a state school and MSW on top of it doesn’t make sense.
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Hi @caymusjordan
From one North Carolinian to another, might I recommend the University of Dayton?. If you have Creighton and Xavier on the list and do not think Ohio is too far, you should look at UD and see if you and your daughter like it. The merit aid should be comparable to those two schools. My son is a freshman at UD and absolutely loves it.
I know current students and recent graduates of all the NC schools you listed. IMO, there isn’t a “bad” choice among them. There are degrees of fit that might make one or two more appealing to the others, but I think most students can be happy at any of those options.
Most students prefer NCSU above the others, I assume for the perceived prestige. I know students denied at NCSU who swore they’d attend one or two years at UNGG/ECU/Charlotte/ASU then transfer to NCSU as soon as allowed. However, after two years at one of those schools almost all of them decided to remain where they were because they loved where they were.
My son thought Roanoke was too small, too. Like your daughter, he loved Elon. Now that he’s at UD, he says the campus feels very similar to Elon.
Good luck
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Hi, @caymusjordan, I normally just post in the regular 2121 parents’ thread but thought I’d send a shoutout to you, in case your D’s favorite (or most affordable) schools happen to not offer a social work degree. I think most MSW programs don’t necessarily prefer students with a BSW degree…some may actually prefer students with a broader background (though it wouldn’t hurt her in admissions either). She would do just fine with a combination of major(s) and minors in related areas such as sociology, psychology, anthropology, especially combined with internships and/or volunteer work in community development-type projects and working one-on-one with people. Another major/minor that would make her incredibly employable is Spanish! Just look at the pre-requisite classes she must take in college for the graduate programs she may be interested in (a few, for example, may require a course in human physiology).
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Oops, I accidentally hit reply for the wrong person! I still don’t understand how to work the new format here!
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@inthegarden Thank you for your response. She’s thinking of the BSW with the “plan” of applying to an advanced MSW program that is only 1 year if you have a BSW. If she chooses Roanoke or Elon (if admitted), she would major in Criminology/Sociology and focus internships on working with kids. However, I think she is leaning towards one of the NC state schools so she is closer to home and able to get the BSW.
My daughter loved her Jesuit HS and felt very comfortable in the Creighton setting. Since transferring senior year to a large public, she has changed her focus to now include larger public universities. I still think either Creighton or Xavier would be a great fit - I think I’ll have her look into UD as well as EconPop suggested.
It’s tough, with my son he “knew” when he found his top choice after a visit/tour, and our fortunately he was accepted…it was an “easy” process. With COVID, it is making it much more difficult to have the same ability to feel out schools. The tours she has had this year are awkward, few students in sight and aren’t really allowing her to get a great feel for the campus. Virtual tours/sessions are not helping her (or me) at all.
I really hope schools are able to do some sort of accepted student days in the spring so kids can make more of an educated decision.
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@caymusjordan Yes! Doing this all virtually has been so hard. Really tough to get a “vibe” of a campus when there are no students walking around, and most of the tours we’ve done don’t even take us into buildings. My daughter’s top choice has changed several times and I think she’s generally very conflicted about which school to choose. Like your son, my older daughter set one foot on her campus and we both “knew”.
First time on this thread but I had a D19 that ended up at Penn State (in honors somehow even with a 3.9 GPA and 1210 SAT).
But - my D21 is a different animal. She has a 3.3 (no honors or AP) and didn’t bother even attempting the SAT once she heard about Test Optional. I think her PSAT was maybe 1000. I figured she was Community College bound but she wanted to apply to a couple places. I think she targeted the right schools because its all acceptances to date:
WVU - accepted. Idk about merit. She decided she doesn’t like the campus.
Mount St. Mary’s - accepted with merit but its low on her list.
York of Pa - accepted with merit but low on her list.
Lebanon Valley College - accepted with merit and she REALLY liked this school at the visit last year. It’s definitely her #1/2.
And that brings me to my problem - her #1 is Saint Josephs in PA. I never thought she could get in with her grades but I’m thinking COVID has shaken up the acceptance game and she just might (find out of Dec 20th). This is her #1 after we visited. My concern is - she is a VERY average (in some areas below average) student. Can she be successful there? Will she be over her head (not just at SJU but anywhere)?
I’m failing in the balance of supporting her dreams and being realistic about her ability. Anyone else happy for their kids but concerned how they will do (will they be completely overwhelmed at the difference from HS to college?).
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@Cotton2017 I definitely think about that as well. S21 has two reach schools on his list - he probably won’t get in, but even if he does, I’m not sure I’m completely comfortable with his ability to succeed at those two schools. (They are reachy for him, not reachy for everyone…plenty of kids would consider them match or safe schools). It’s different for my D23 - she will have reach schools on her list, too, but I’ll be sure she can do well at all of her schools…they will just be reaches because they are reaches for everyone. So in that case, chase all the dreams! With S21, I really want him to land somewhere where he’s going to have the right balance of challenge (so he’ll rise to it as he tends to want to do) plus nurturing and support (as he tends to need in order to rise to the challenge). It’s tricky to figure out. This is one of our questions about Wooster for him. He got in and with great merit aid, and he loved it when we visited. But they have a major required independent study project…if he gets the right support and rises to that challenge, it’s going to be a wonderful growth experience for him as a person and for his skills…but it could also be the thing that sinks him. Which will it be ?
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We think about our son’s ability to navigate the work in college as well. I definitely believe he will continue to develop in all the ways that will help him with school work, executive function of organization and time planning, but also of developing a vision for his life, what he really wants and how he can get there. This is the reason we’ve pretty much avoided big schools and are focused on schools that at least claim to have robust 1st year programs and advising.
One thing we’ve learned from another group is to find out what percentage of students who started out with a certain merit package freshman year, still had it senior year. There are definitely stories out there of students who lost their $20K or $30k merit because their GPA slipped. I will only feel comfortable sending him somewhere that will do everything it can to help him over rough patches until he’s mature enough in those ways to do it without support. In the end of course, it’s all on him and I’m sure he’ll get through whatever it is that lies in front of him. But it sure is a parenting challenge to let go at the right time.
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@lisabees since you have a stepdaughter at Beloit and your D21 is applying to some schools that overlap my S21’s, I wanted to share that S21 got into Beloit with the same amount of merit that Wooster gave him. I think you said you weren’t sure Wooster would come through for you on affordability, so here’s one data point since you’re somewhat familiar with Beloit’s aid. Given that Wooster’s COA is higher to start, Beloit is less expensive for us by the differential in that starting point, but the merit was the same for S21 at both places (he heard from Beloit yesterday). He’s now heard from 4 (Kalamazoo, Knox, Wooster, and Beloit).
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Well, this discussion is timely. This morning I found out that D is doing very poorly in 2 classes (this is very typical). We are again having conversations about community college. She is NOT happy about that. I’m also going to have her apply to Temple’s Ambler campus (suburban campus; commuter) as another option. She can also defer and work to help pay; I can’t see the point in paying for college if she’s not yet ready for it - even if she would like to be ready. Another year can do wonders for maturity.
Some of the schools on D21’s list run on trimesters which adds to the potential stress. That worries me a lot. And @nichols51, I hear you about Wooster’s independent study project.
I know D is just as frustrated as I am. I know she wants more from herself. It’s just really hard to stand by, watch, and wonder, as a parent, if I should even be entertaining the college idea. Grrrr. She doesn’t want me to give up on her. But are we being realistic?
(She is getting evaluated next week for ADHD etc. upon her request.)
@Cotton2017 We are likely from the same area. My kids refer to St Joe’s as a huge party school. That environment would worry me more than the actual classes. A culture like that can be a big distraction. I feel your worry. You’re not alone.
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@nichols51 Wahoo; Congrats!! Beloit is always very generous! And it does have a laid back environment, btw. When my stepdaughter applied, her merit aid offer from Beloit was $3,000 more than Wooster. Oh - and she got into Denison with stats a bit lower than your S. I just checked - her merit was $15,000 (sorry! I originally said a number much higher!)
Your son is on a roll! I’m excited for him!
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@Cotton2017 what you describe is exactly how I feel about S21 going off to college. He has a 3.4 but WTE of two “easy” honors classes, he has taken all college prep, no AP and nothing challenging. I worry that he simply has no idea just how much work college will be compared to high school. He has not had to work that hard for his grades but he also has a lot of support (he has an LD). I would have been happy for him to start out at CC and then transfer to a 4 yr college, but he wants to follow the “traditional” path and have a college experience similar to his older siblings. Plus, he wants to get out of state (MD). I knew he would not want to go to a small LAC so we targeted mid-size schools with about a 75% acceptance rate. That tended to be mostly Catholic schools, and like your D, one of the ones he applied to is SJU. He liked it when we visited, which thankfully was last January shortly before COVID, but his #1 choice is Xavier. They have rolling admissions so he has already been accepted. I almost fell over when they gave him a merit scholarship of $20K. He also got in to an in state public. We will wait to see what happens with SJU and the rest, but they all start out at a higher price than Xavier. I doubt he will get as much, if any, merit at the other schools so most likely, he will go there once we compare costs. I did not go on the Xavier visit but dh seemed impressed by the supports they have in place for freshmen to succeed. But, wherever he goes, it is certainly something that concerns me.
I can’t speak for SJU’s reputation as a party school. The only person I know who goes there is a freshman, so obviously she wouldn’t be able to speak to what the party scene is like as this year is unlike no other! I do like the location, esp since it is far enough away that S21 would not be coming home often, but not nearly as far away as Xavier is for us (2 hr drive versus 8 hrs).
Anyway, congrats on her acceptances so far! And know that you are not alone worrying about your “average” student. I am too!
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We worry about this a great deal. D is moderately dyslexic and not academic in any sense. She managed a 1230 on her SAT but her unweighted GPA puts her in this group. She did reasonably well first marking period (all honors classes and AP Stats) but and it is a big but…she is not an intellectually curious kid and we worry about how she will manage in college. She has applied mostly to big schools but to business schools (she is 7/7 right now with acceptances…still waiting for a few more this month and Jan). I think she will find the workload at university overwhelming and my husband is particularly worried about how she will manage. We are going to heavily suggest she live in learning community dorms to get as much support as possible.
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@lisabees @nichols51 - my D21 applied to some of the same schools as your kids -
Wooster, Hendrix, Drew (still waiting),
Kzoo, Beloit, Goucher (accepted)
How soon after acceptance did you get financial aid package from Kzoo and Beloit?
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Thank you all for sharing your concerns about your children heading to college, I am following this thread for my son who has struggled all through high school and just about scrapes in at the lower end of this gpa. He did well on the ACT and will probably get some college acceptances but we worry terribly about how things will go when he gets there. To make matters worse he really wants a big school experience…I am so afraid he will get lost.
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