@JanieWalker - PS I would not have her email them asking why, etc. (That would seem a bit resistant to me. They are human afterall.)
@123Mom123
i also suspect school begin at least a preliminary review of aps as soon as they receive them, for the same reason as you ā why would they not 
Thanks, folks. So I guess she should feel flattered?
I am going to make sure she takes her friend out to a socially-distanced outdoor lunch as a thank-you. Her poor friend has enough on her plate without having to speed things up for someone elseās college application. So glad she already wrote the basic parts for the other application.
At least with the peer rec you can put some friendly pressure on the friend to submit. DS submitted 10 apps several weeks ago and his school does not send transcripts, etc until late October. Perhaps it is more involved than I realize but as it is done electronically through Naviance, I cannot imagine it takes too much effort. Given the counselor submits a recommendation, it is not like we can complain or try to push the process, instead we must sit back and smile and waitā¦
I hope the schools to begin the process but it is annoying to keep getting reminders to have things submitted that are out of his control. Sorry for the rantā¦
And I think that in a typical year, there would be a lot of travel for admissions reps now, but this year there isnāt, so they may be more available to start looking at completed early applications than theyād usually be ?
I recommend listening to the August 17, 2020 episode of the Inside the Admissions Office podcast from InGenius Prep (the episode is dedicated entirely to this topic). I just listened to it a few days ago and think youāll get your questions answered.
I canāt post the link, but you should be able to find the episode from the info above.
(Iād summarize what I learned from the episode but then I might miss mentioning something important since I only listened in passing as my son wasnāt planning to use that section so I just wanted confirmation that him not using it made sense, and I got that confirmation, but I can tell you that the answers youāre looking for are in the episode).
Well, D21 has an acceptance from an EA school that said she would have a decision on 12/1! She got a notice that there was an update to her portal on Tuesday and it was her acceptance!
@nichols51 Thank you so much! I just listened to it and found it so helpful, you were so right that it was just what I was seeking. (I didnāt know this podcast existed so I also just listened to part of another episode that was really helpful on a different topic.)
Congratulations @NJWrestlingmom and any others that have received acceptances. D21 received an email this week that she successfully created her Common App account Itās the little things, right?
Sorry I didnāt post again last night, I forgot we had a meeting with a Tulane rep all the way down in Miami. It was nice to be able to do something college related in person but it was a long way to go (an hour and a half because of rush hour traffic) for a 30 minute presentation. Tulane does love demonstrated interest though so I think it was worth it.
Our weekend trip went pretty well, I think the kids had fun and D19 seems much more motivated and excited about the whole college process now which was one of my main goals. Overall the girls absolutely loved the VA/NC area, they are so used to boring, flat Florida they were in heaven with all the hills, trees and cute houses. And the fact that it wasnāt 92 degrees out every day didnāt hurt either! Iāll try to give a quick rundown of each school although we really just wandered around on our own so I donāt have too much information. Of course those of you who know me know I can rarely write short things so skip all this if you donāt care about these schools. 
(Oh geez - this got so long - sorry! Iāll break it up into a few schools at a time.)
University of Richmond
When we were considering UR for D19 I had done a little research and learned that there is really nothing in walking distance form the campus but that the kids like to go to the Careytown area of Richmond to hang out. (When we did go to campus I saw a small shopping area by campus that seemed walkable but not sure what was in there, I only noticed an Orvis and Talbots) The girls wanted coffee before we started our long day so we went to Careytown to check it out.
As we drove the girls were talking about how beautiful the area was but they were concerned that VA and NC were going to be too conservative for their liking. These kids are super liberal and probably what you think of when you say SJW. As we got closer to Careytown they were so happy to see tons of BLM, Love is Love and political signs that they agreed with. Then the Careytown area was just this cute little strip with coffee shops, bookstores, restaurants - they all agreed this was the type of place they want to live and all of us parents are jerks for making them grow up in FL.
Then we got to campus, WOW, what a way to start the trip! This campus is straight off of a postcard. It is all brick so if you donāt like that traditional campus feel you may not like it but otherwise it may be one of the prettiest schools Iāve seen. It had hills but not the kind you have to hike up and down. It had the lake in the middle with a walking path all around where we saw ducks, turtles and a dad fishing with his little kids. There was a lot of green space and the campus was very big for a smaller school. Everything was clean and manicured but not in a too perfect way where it felt fake.
We didnāt see too many kids, it was a Sunday morning and Iām not sure all the students are even bad on campus? I always thought of UR as a pretty preppy place but I though it seemed like a mix of preppy and sporty maybe? Itās so hard for me to tell nowadays - I feel like most girls are wearing either leggings and a t-shirt or athletic shorts/jean shorts and a t-shirt at every school I see, its not like they are parading around in Lilly Pulitzer or anything.
All of the girls agreed that this school would be tops on their list if it wasnāt only 3,000 students. Their high school is about 3,600 and they donāt want a school smaller than that. My D said it it just had about 1-2,000 more kids it might be her number one, but for now she will probably not even apply.
William & Mary
It is about an hour drive from Richmond out to W&M. Williamsburg is a touristy town because they have the Colonial Williamsburg reenactment center right by campus. We were there on a Sunday so it was pretty busy but not terrible. The downtown area is adorable, its a few blocks of shops, some touristy (Ye Old Christmas Store type places) and some not (Lulu Lemon) and lots of restaurants. Iām not sure if it was due to cover but the main street was blocked off from cars and it was all set up with tables for the restaurants - very, very cute. The campus is directly across the street from the shopping area. In fact the sorority houses were on the same side as the stores.
I had always wanted to see W&M so I was glad we made it out there. O thought it would be nice reach for D21 because of the size and location. The campus is very pretty, again all brick buildings, much more historic looking campus as it is the second oldest college in the country. The quad is called the Sunken Garden because you go down a few steps to get to it, it was beautiful. The campus was very flat, had lots of green space and while wandering around we found a really nice wildflower walking trail right next to campus.
I couldnāt get a feel for the students because there werenāt many around - it was still Sunday late morning. The few I saw looked exactly like the kids I described before, nothing that stood out as especially nerdy or geeky which is what people always say about W&M. I was hoping to see more kids because I thought D might like that.
For some reason D21 just didnāt love it as much as I thought she would. She has no real reason, she just said she didnāt like the āvibeā as much as other schools. She agrees that it was very pretty and the town was nice but think maybe the tourist part turned her off? Who knows, but since it is yet another reach its fine that she takes it off the list. One of the other girls with us said she liked it better than Richmond though because of the town.
@momtogkc Thanks for the write up!! How do you think the Richmond kids get to Careytown? Itās not walkable from campus, right?
Your description of W&M is right on from what we saw. I loved it. We were there on a rainy day during S19ās search and D21 thought it was creepy. The attached Colonial Williamsburg was just too much for her. The buildings on campus (especially the dorms and the student center) just seemed old to her. I thought it was super ācollege likeā and Iām a sucker for that.
OK, on to the next set of schools. After W&M we had a 3 hour drive to Chapel Hill. By the time we stopped for lunch and checked in the hotel it was pretty late so we did not get to see campus that night. We did walk to Franklin Street for ice cream which is the main street by campus for eating and shopping. The only reason I mention that is that as we sat outside and ate the ice cream twice homeless (?) men approached both us and two other tables asking for money. one of them wouldnāt leave a table of two girls alone and D started to go over to act like she knew them to try to get him to leave but he finally left. It wasnāt threatening or anything just something I thought I would note on here.
Elon
Elon was the only school giving actual tours. It is about an hour drive from Chapel Hill and a little less from the Raleigh Durham Airport. I had been to Elon with D19 but was looking forward to seeing what D21 thought about it. As we were getting close D got a text saying welcome and asking her to check in through text when we got there. When we signed up for the tour they said only four of us could go into the information session but all of us could go on tour but when we got there they said they changed rooms so I could go in as well which was nice.
The information session was nice and short, a good video then a quick speech from one of the admissions counsellors. Elon is big on real life experiences. To graduate you have to participate in two out of five options that include things like study abroad, research and internships. They have the 4-1-4 model which means that have a 3 week January Term that is not mandatory. They also have abroad programs during J Term (although they might not be abroad it may just be around the US for that term, canāt remember.)
There are about 6,500 students, their GPA and test score range is lower than the surrounding schools, their tuition is lower than most privates (around $52,000) and they give some merit scholarships but most are only about $6,000 (there are others that are stackable but you apply to them and they are more competitive.)
Two tour guides came in and we were lucky to get one who couldnāt have been more perfect for this group of girls. He was super outgoing, quirky, had a BLM bracelet, etc. When he talked about greek life he said, āIām guessing youāre all female identifyingā¦ā I know he would turn some kids off but these girls ate it up. It was also nice to see that there are different types of kids on campus as Elon also has a very rich/preppy reputation.
The campus is beautiful (I know I keep saying that but we didnāt see one campus that wasnāt!), again all red brick, flat, pretty big, lots of green space, some fountains and a small lake. We got to go in a few buildings but not the dorms or dining hall. I have been before and know the dining hall was very nice, similar to most schools set up. For freshman they have both traditional hall style dorms as well as the two rooms that share a bathroom set up. The business school seems very modern with one of those rooms set up like a trading room. I canāt remember if it was a certain class or a club but the school gives the students $250,000 a year to invest so they can have first hand experience with the stock market. The communication school is probably their strongest area, they have a full TV studio where they produce shows such as ENN News and even a reality show.
The town is tiny, like one block tiny. There are a few restaurants, pizza, tacos, ice cream, a gas station and a Barnes & Noble campus bookstore. Other than that you can drive about 8-10 minutes and be in strip mall heaven - Wal Mart, fast food places, Lowes, etc. This sone of the things that turned D19 off but D21 said she was OK with it.
Another thing D21 liked was the outing club, it seemed active and they do trips to the mountains by the Asheville area - D LOVES that area and would definitely take advantage of only being about 2 1/2 hours to the mountains and 3 hours to Asheville.
The kids all liked Elon a lot, D21 will definitely apply. Her grades and scores are high for them so I am super happy that she found a more likely school where she would be happy!
@NJWrestlingmom Congratulations - what a great surprise to hear back early!
@homerdog I donāt know but I think I read here on CC thatās where kids hang out so I guess Uber? I think one of the parents on this thread has a kid at UR so maybe they can let us know.
Great write-up @momtogkc! I live about 20 min from UR. Carytown is a very liberal leaning area. Itās usually flooded with VCU students, for whom the area is walkable. From UR @homerdog , students would have to catch the bus or uber to go the 15 min drive into Carytown. Itās basically just a section of Cary Street with lots of hip stores, vintage stores, restaurant and coffee shops and the best dessert only restaurant ever- Shyndigz. Richmond is definitely a foodie city. Carytown a fun place to walk around and kids love to take pictures in front of all the local murals painted on the buildings. Itās a very eclectic area. There is a closer shopping area the UR bus goes to that is more traditional, but still has some fun shops and restaurants called Willow Lawn- maybe halfway between UR and Carytown. I see the UR bus regularly when Iām in the area. There really isnāt anything walkable from UR.
I went to W&M. The closed off area is always that way (itās a walkable mile stretch- DOG Streetā¦ Duke of Gloucester), but the tables have spilled from the sidewalks out into the open area with Covid. There is an awesome farmerās market there, 2nd Sundayās Art Festival, an ice rink in the winter. Such a cute area! We called the tourists ātouronsā- a mix of tourist and moron because they were annoying, but they donāt come on campus. Williamsburg is a very walkable area, and has grown tremendously with lots of restaurants and great shopping. I lived in one of those sorority houses right at the Colonial area for 2 years. Itās a great college town!
Pretty sure UR has a regular shuttle bus between campus, Careytown and downtown several times per day. Not the same as walking distance to college- town shops, but still. Have no idea if the shuttle is running during the pandemic though.
Should have written in post 9401 that U of Roch has their own form for peer recommendations, not their own application (D21 applied through the Common App). Too late to edit that post now.
Question: for those of you whose schools use an outside service to order and send transcripts to colleges, does your school also use Naviance? Iām getting a little frustrated that my D21ās GC has still not sent transcripts to schools that do not require letters of rec (or any school for that matter). I havenāt been able to get a super clear explanation why but the idea Iām getting from her is that she is not able to send the transcripts without the LORs, which seems strange to me. I donāt know exactly how Naviance works from her end, so this could be right. However, I seem to remember that last year, my D20 had transcripts sent and LORs sometimes came later. In any event, just curious if the transcript service syncs up with Naviance for those whose schools use both.
nextā¦
Wake Forest
We had another hour drive from Elon to Wake Forest. We were going to see it for one of the girls with us, I didnāt think D21 would be too interested because of the āWork Forestā reputation but it is the right size and location for her so I was looking forward to seeing what she thought. As we got close the girls needed a bathroom break. Right before the entrance to the school was a nice little shopping center called Reynolda Village. It had a few restaurants and shops and I think it had a museum and trails in the back, easy walk from campus. Just past the campus the other direction there were two grocery stores.
I didnāt do a ton of research but I knew you could only get a tour if you had already submitted an application or had an interview, we hadnāt done either of those things but I was hoping we could walk around on our own. Bad plan, donāt go there if you donāt have an appointment or you will not be let inside the gate!
The campus is gated but normally the gate is only closed from 10pm-7am. I had heard the surrounding area wasnāt great but coming in the way we did it seemed fine to me. During Covid the gate is always closed with the guard checking to see if you have an appointment. The guard was very nice and sympathetic. He didnāt seem to think it was a big deal if people walked around campus, told us it was closed due to ācoronaā and he did air quotes when he said it, told us we should come back because after the election the campus would probably open up again. :neutral: He asked if we were local and we said we had come from Florida. He felt bad we had come so far and then stepped back and took his mask down. He said he didnāt want them to see him say this on camera but if we wen to Reynolda Village and went not he walking trails we could get in campus that way. 
I know he was trying to be nice and helpful but no, we were not going to try to sneak on campus.
That was our entire visit to Wake, sorry I donāt have any more information for you!
Duke
Because our trip to Wake was so short we had time to squeeze in a quick visit to Duke. Nobody was thinking of applying, one girl said maybe she would go for it as a super reach and I have never been there so we checked it out. By the time we got there the girls needed another bathroom break so we stopped at what was labeled the Visitors Center. As we walked up there were two girls out front asking if we had our symptom trackers up on our phones. Turned out that was where they were doing covid testing - made the girls feel good that they got mistaken as Duke students!
Another WOW campus. This was the only campus that was not red brick, Iām sure you have all seen pictures, but it is the lighter color stone buildings. It felt like we were walking around a castle in England, lots of Hogwarts comments coming from the girls. I loved the long quad/grassy area surrounded by what I think were mostly dorms on one end and maybe class buildings on the other?
We were only there for a little bit but we saw lots of kids out and about. The very first thing we noticed was that at all of the schools we had seen so far we had seen maybe 5-10 Bl-POC kids combined. At Duke we saw about 20 kids and only 4-5 white kids, that was a nice change.
I did not notice if there was a town around campus, the way we drove in was through a neighborhood.
Last oneā¦
UNC Chapel Hill
This was the biggest hit, the favorite for all four girls. The downtown area - Franklin Street - is right off campus. It has all you would need - restaurants, bars, ice cream, CVS, even a small Target.
The campus was (you know what Iām going to sayā¦) beautiful. Back to the traditional brick with lots of grassy areas. It is big but not overwhelming. I think you would have no problem walking to classes, I donāt think you would need a shuttle bus but I am not sure since we didnāt have a real tour. The bookstore was fun, everyone but my D21 bought lots of UNC swag (she is like D19 - doesnāt want to get anything anywhere in case it would jinx something!)
I donāt know why this school came out on top but they all agreed it was number one - I think it jus had the best balance of location, town and campus. It is much bigger than my D was looking for but she said she thinks she might add it to her list as her big reach school. If it wasnāt test optional she wouldnāt have a shot, but with TO I told her to go for it if she wants. The application is due earlier than the others - October 15th - and does have supplemental questions so weāll see if she gets it done.
She does want to check out Boulder for sure now as it is a similar size, similar cute downtown but easier to get accepted.
So that is our whole trip - sorry for the long novel!!
@Rue4 We got coffee and snacks at Sugar & Twine, long line but it moved fast. One girl didnāt stop talking about her drink (Chai latte?) the whole trip, said it was the best sheās ever had.
The sorority area was really cute, I liked the little houses all together. I made the girls wander around there until I found the sorority my D19 and I are/were in so I could take a picture. We saw a sign for the farmerās market and meant to go after we walked around but totally forgot! I am sad W&M came off Dās list, I think it would be a better fit for her than UNC but I guess she doesnāt need too many reaches.
@inthegarden Yes, Iām sure they have shuttles, I just wasnāt sure since we didnāt get to do a real information session.