@lisabees Did you say your D applied for the College Scholar award at Wooster ? If so, I recall from last year that acceptances for those candidates came really late in December (though who knows if it will be the same this year given that some schools have been turning things around quicker than usual - Knox and Kalamazoo, for example).
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@nichols51 Nope, she won’t be applying for the College Scholar award. If following the previous years’ schedules, they should have released a batch on Friday/Saturday. She did apply a few days before the deadline, so I hoped for something then.
The next week or two should bring most decisions in. 
@lisabees - Beloit’s merit was good, they didn’t meet their new Midwest Flagship match for us yet, but I expect it to be part of FA award whenever we receive it.
@lisabees - nothing from Wooster here as well. But D applied for CS award, so probably by Christmas.
S21 applied to 11 schools. He heard from Longwood first and was accepted, but would prefer a larger school. The UNC Wilmington decision came yesterday and was a no. I realized after looking at my spreadsheet that UNCW’s acceptance rate is the lowest of his 11 schools. Longwood’s is the highest. Disappointing, but we knew this was gonna be a bumpy ride with his GPA. 9 to go!
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@TheRents522 Congrats! And crossing fingers for you and your S. Bumpy ride indeed!
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Latest: D was deferred to the regular admissions pool at Lawrence. She knew Lawrence (and Wooster and Clark) were reaches b/c of her GPA. She should get into Drew but not sure about the money.
Kalamazoo is the most financially doable right now. If anyone wants to chime in with its positive qualities, I’m all ears.
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@lisabees my S17 - who had a VERY low GPA - got in to Lawrence after being deferred and got a large scholarship. They wanted to see his senior year first term grades. We also demonstrated interest in the form of a visit and in person interview as well as he sent an email stating he wanted to go there. Just a reminder that post deferral for any school is a great time to demonstrate interest and stoke the fires! Good luck- all great application choices your D 21 has made!
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Wow. Great news. Did his first term grades improve dramatically?
Thanks for the advice! D had been planning on attending the “phonecast” this evening, but I thought about telling her not to bother. Maybe I shouldn’t be so hasty!
Thanks again @whyboydanny. Where did your son end up again?
His grades did not dramatically improve but they had been gradually (very) improving since he completely tanked sophomore year.
He is engaging and intelligent and having a conversation with the AO helped. My point was- and I know others in this same boat who have turned deferrals into admissions- it can be a great time to rally and let them know you are still VeRy interested.
He did not go because he got in to a dream school after being waitlisted. Was too much for him as it was far from home and too rigorous. He is graduating from DePaul in Chicago and ultimately did very well and is considering grad school after a bumpy high school and beginning of college career.
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That is a great idea! That’s also a good idea if you’re looking out of state as well. My kids applied to Northern Arizona University, Western Washington, Southern Oregon, and my S considered Western Colorado University. All of those are WUE if you’re out west and all are great for kids in this GPA range.
I was catching up with an old college friend who lives in Kentucky and I was telling her a bit about college confidential. She’s a high school teacher. Both her kids went to University of Kentucky and loved it. Her son had a GPA in this range and her D was just a little above that and they both got in no problem. Of course they are in state. She said a lot of kids from her school go to UK and not just kids in the 3.0-3.4 range, but kids who have 4.0s and get good merit money and like the instate tuition. Just want to put that out there…might be worth checking out
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@lisabees we got the financial aid letter from Wooster today. I wasn’t really expecting any after the merit award, and I was correct. They offered federal loans (mostly unsubsidized). No mention of work-study, no other financial aid. So it remains the most expensive of our current options and about $8K a year more than Kalamazoo. I wish we hadn’t (temporarily?) lost all of our private messages on these boards because I had a conversation with someone months ago who’d had 3 kids go to Kalamazoo, and I wish I could tag her for you here, but I don’t recall her CC name.
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@nichols51 Dang. Sorry about that. My kids usually get work-study options so I find that a bit weird. $8K more a year is $32,000. 
I just had a conversation with D and told her (again) about the realities of everything. She insists she wants to stay on Lawrence’s list. She knows she needs to work hard and demonstrate interest to be seriously considered. But she also knows that we probably won’t be able to afford it.
She told me that Knox and Goucher are at the top of her list. LOL. Not Kalamazoo. But of course!
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@natty1988 I agree. Some of the southern publics are great fits for lower stat kids and offer a good deal of merit for stronger applicants. My older daughter gets in-state tuition at South Carolina.
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Yes for sure! I’ve heard good things about the University of South Carolina. We’ve had some kids from our scbool (where i work) who’ve applied there over the years (we’re in Southern California), but I don’t think anyone has attended. I’d definitely agree that there are some wonderful southern publics that are great for lower stats kids. Could University of Tennessee be good? Ole Miss? Uni. of West Virginia?
At the school where I work we get a lot of kids who go to Duke, Vanderbilt, Tulane, Emory, Wake Forest, Uni of Virginia, UNC-Chapel Hill, University of Miami in Florida. The school I work at is a private school in a wealthy area, and that is reflected in the schools that kids apply to and attend. We do get kids who attend University of Florida, University of Georgia, Uni of Alabama, but in most cases they were recruited for sports or they had parents who were die hard alums.
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My son applied EA to Tennessee. We’re OOS and traveled last month for a campus tour. He would love to go, but it’s still a bit of a reach. Knoxville has a cute downtown and the campus is lovely. I think my low stat kid could thrive there. We should find out next Monday or Tuesday. Fingers crossed!
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@natty1988 my older daughter went to a boarding school that was very hung up on “names” and preferred to send their students to obscure LACs over large publics. My husband and I went to Florida and our daughter wanted big, SEC, Greek, city environment, etc. She was a higher stat kid (is a Pre-Med junior, Deans List every semester) and they seemed pretty appalled that her top choice was South Carolina. It just checked all of her boxes. Is it prestigious? No, but she loves it and is thriving. A good handful of kids she graduated with transferred from their schools a year or two in. So much can be said for a good fit. Any student can thrive if they’re in the right spot! She did get into Florida as well but it would have also been OOS and they are 90+% in-state, and she didn’t want to feel like such an outsider. UofSC has done such a good job bringing in kids from OOS with their merit packages…it’s nearly 50% in state now. These bigger schools aren’t for everyone but certainly have a lot to offer! My current HS senior is also at a (day) prep school but her counselor has been all about fit and couldn’t care less what “name” her top school has, thank goodness.
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@nichols51 @lisabees If you have specific questions about Kalamazoo, I’d be happy to try to help. I graduated over 20 years ago so obviously some things have changed but certainly not everything and I do have a dear alum friend whose child is a current student.
D21 received her official acceptance letters to Beloit and Kalamazoo as well. Still waiting on financial aid packages. She was awarded the Presidential Scholarship from Beloit so I’m guessing that just voids the Midwest pledge. Earlham offered the least amount of money and D21 is concerned about the location being too isolated so I think that is off the list, although she really likes their Japanese program.
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@auroranights Thank you for the offer! Can you speak to the sense of community at Kalamazoo? Between students studying abroad and a good amount of students moving off campus after sophomore year, is there a sense of community? My D is an East Coast girl and I’m not sure how easy it would be to feel part of a campus that always feels fluid.
And can you tell me about the stress level re: academics? What kind of student thrives with the trimester plan?
Lastly…what are the awesome things about Kalamazoo? What will a Philly girl gain from 4 years in and at Kalamazoo?
Thanks again! And congrats to your D. Two of my older kids had trouble with Earlham’s location also (and the one ended up at Beloit). I hope the next two weeks bring a better sense of closure around here.
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One school that I’m getting emails from here is Virginia is Bridgewater College - a small LAC. Just want to throw it out there.
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