Hugs to both of you. It’s hard not to worry, isn’t it?
What I can say is that I have another one (dyslexic) who would barely squeeze into this GPA. He graduated from Susquehanna with honors, got a great job at Vanguard, and is saving up for a ring for his girlfriend. He is 24 and thriving.
Our wonderful kids will be just fine. It just might take more work on their part and more worry on ours.
Yay! Welcome to our little club.
@nichols51 has already heard back from Kalamazoo re: f/a - within the day, I think! We, however, have not due to needing FAFSA verification.
It’s been a few years since my stepdaughter applied to Beloit. Maybe it took 2-3 weeks? I can’t remember.
What is your D21’s top choice? Is it one of these schools?
My D21 also applied to Drew in October. Will we really have to wait until January for decisions?
@psblstnr what @lisabees says above is exactly right. We haven’t heard back re: f/a from any other school yet (just merit with acceptance). I have no idea whether to expect any additional aid or not since the merit alone got us a little bit below our EFC, but Kalamazoo gave us some, so now I’m curious!
@lisabees @nichols51 - thanks! Kzoo asked about an additional fin info and we sent it last week. They were waiting till acceptance to even start looking into FAFSA to see if they need more info. Weird, since other places like OWU and Goucher sent the FA award with acceptance. Drew rep told my D during the interview that she might hear back by Christmas. Not sure about top choices - its different every day. Beloit would be the one I pick since its the closest to us and easy to get home, but D is waiting from some lower ranked schools about possible full tuition offers, but not till February.
@psblstnr - you’ve piqued my curiosity… can you share which schools are potentially offering full tuition for kids in this thread?
I’m right there with many of you in wondering if D21 really knows what she’s heading into going to college next year. Her GPA will maybe be a 2.6 after this semester, which puts her well UNDER this group but there wasn’t a 2.5-3.0 page! She is so bright but has a really hard time with her executive functioning, even though she attends a private school with a dedicated support coach. I just don’t see how she’ll manage college work. I have another daughter who is a junior in college and has always been an A student and she works SOOOO hard and doesn’t see how her sister can cut it, either. We’ve discussed a gap year, or staying home and going to CC, but she wants to go away with everyone else, which is understandable. I just worry that she has no idea what she’s in for. She’s in 4 out of 7 of her schools now (of course we have not heard from her top choice–schools DO send out rejection letters still, correct?) I have heard from parents over the years with kids like mine that they get it together in college and do well but then I hear from others that they continue to struggle. I guess we’ll all have to take a leap of faith with our kiddos and hope for the best and be prepared to support them in whatever happens.
@psblsrbr — D21 was accepted to Beloit and Kalamazoo (as well as Earlham.) She received merit scholarships with her decisions but we are waiting on the complete financial aid packages. I don’t expect that she’ll qualify for need-based aid but the merit awards were generous and brought the expected cost to below our in-state flagship. K’s website says that the fa packages will go out in January but EA decisions came out early so I would guess it could be before then.
K-College is D21’s first choice. It is the closest school to us, she likes the k plan and definitely wants to study abroad. I’m an alum so a little biased, lol. I loved my college experience, found my tribe there and my classmates went on to do interesting things and got into some very impressive graduate programs. K does have an earned reputation for being academically rigorous. We haven’t had the opportunity to visit Beloit in-person but it seems more laid back which I think could be a positive in D21’s case.
I have a freshman who was in this group last year, 3.0 gpa and a 32 on his ACT, so clearly capable but not very motivated, and was diagnosed with ADHD/exec function issues but chooses not to medicate. I stayed on top of him during high school and was very worried about him going off to college. And he chose to major in engineering! I have been completely hands off since he started because it’s really up to him now. The bad: he did struggle a bit, had five pretty tough classes (one of which was honors english), and ended up dropping one because he wasn’t sure he could swing a high enough gpa to keep his merit scholarship. That now puts him behind and he’ll have to take a summer course. The good: he says he’s doing well in his other classes. He managed to do everything he needed to do without any interference by us (going to class, dealing with professors, taking the initiative of dropping the class, going to office hours, meeting with his advisor, registering for classes, etc). It’s not a success story yet – he’s got a long way to go – but it wasn’t a disaster either. I’m cautiously optimistic though.
@eb23282 - my D’s unweighted GPA is 3.3 since she had a rough freshmen year, but her weighted is 4.8 (taking all APs last and this year and getting straight A’s), ACT is 29, some impressive long-term community service activities and top leadership positions at her HS, plus she is a great writer and charismatic during the interviews. Majority of private colleges on her list are looking at weighted GPA for merit and she has been awarded maximum auto merit at most places. She got invited to compete for full-tuition scholarships at Alma, Hanover and OWU at the moment and we expect more to come. PM me for more details
Awesome to hear and congrats to your daughter! Some of us may be picking your brain about Kalamazoo!
@psblstnr It sounds like our D21’s are similar. Congratulations on those merit awards! That 29 ACT for us, has been a point of friction. She missed a higher merit score, and I think for one particular school, it likely contributed to a deferral. The next 3 months will be quite the nail biter around here, as one of top schools will be the last one she hears from.
Finally received Kzoo Fin Aid Award today. +/- 3K difference from other places. Goucher is the best offer at the moment.
Also heard form Hendrix admission that they releasing EA decisions tomorrow.
Hmmm…that’s so interesting. Even with no financial aid package yet, I can’t imagine any school going below Kzoo for us. Goucher is $10,000 more!
@lisabees - Kzoo after merit/need is 26K, Goucher is 23K
I updated my post. Kzoo likely wants my D more than Goucher b/c we’re on the East Coast.
@lisabees - quite possible since its reversed for us (Kzoo is full of IL kids). Geographical diversity 
I found that to be true with my son during last year’s application cycle. Comparable schools within an hour or two from us either offered not enough merit+need aid or deferred/denied S. Yet similar type universities much further away accepted and offered much more aid.
For my NC student, St Joseph’s, Wooster, Manhattan, Ursinus, Allegheny, Marist and others offered much more aid than schools closer to us.
@EconPop - had the same pattern with my D13, also notices that small LACs would like to have more boys to balance the demographics.
Not liking the new format 
Anyway, haven’t visited in a while. All D21 apps are in and she got her first acceptance last night SUNY Oswego. Not her first choice but I think if it turns out to be her only option, she would be happy there. She only applied to safe schools, only one I am really nervous about is her top choice, Binghamton, she is only slightly above their average.