Parents of the HS Class of 2021 (Part 2)

@srparent15 Yup. I think that’s why I loved the UW because we had exposure to tons of lib arts courses and it’s not a “tech school.” UVA is the same way. My friends went their as an ME and ChemE. We swapped ChemE stories and I thought they were actually a little more advanced than the UW at the time. But ultimately, we both got what I feel was such a well-rounded education for being engrs. And UVA rep is known in the corporate world. I think you can have a strong engr program but top companies aren’t going to your campus to recruit or designate it as a recruiting hub, what’s the point.

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I agree. She is an exceptional candidate.

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S21 waitlisted at UCB, already having a waitlist at UCLA. Oh, such a long wait until May first few weeks…

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That is really sweet for you to say but are planning for more waitlists or rejections, just knowing the sheer numbers. So many great candidates!

I didn’t even think about my daughter being out of contact for part of the summer! She won’t be off the grid as long as your son but it is something to plan for. She is on a couple of WL.

Fortunately, she got into a great college (Lafayette) with merit so I think she is leaning accept there. She is waiting on two more decisions and I hope they are either straight up rejections if they choose not to admit her. It will make it a lot less stressful.

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Congrats to all the admits! This thread moves so fast! Not sure if I posted but D21 is in at Mount Holyoke but not enough merit to make it worth a look. Still waiting on USC but looks like it will be between UT Dallas and UCF, both with NMF rides. Not the most prestigious of schools but she is seriously considering going the art/animation route and both programs are in the top 10 or so nationally. We didn’t make it to visit UTD last weekend and have a trip planned next weekend instead. I’ll be happy once we have a decision and I can get some mom swag!

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Congratulations, but I hope you don’t feel like you need to justify choosing “not the most prestigious” school. While many people here scoff at non-name brand schools, I personally think it’s great when kids choose a school that fits them, rather one that fits the family brand.

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Wow. That’s amazing! No aid and My daughter did apply to a Michigan scholarship. She didn’t apply to any Ivys but she did get into WashU. All these schools she got into no financial aid and no scholarships so it will be a hard decision since she got into our state school which is excellent. Good luck on the ivys.

@Aguadecoco Being first (I think) to make it, I was thinking of the waitlist as a campground :tent: But I like your bar idea much better. Cheers :maté:

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Thank you for your comment. S21 applied to only 5 schools (got into all 5) and didn’t even apply to any RD schools - just 4 safety/matches and 1 reach. It is now down to Northeastern (his reach, which he got into EA) and Temple. While Northeastern is the “name brand,” it will cost almost 3 times as much (S has a merit scholarship at Temple and it is in-state for us) and is 5 hours away. It might be nice for S to wear the Northeastern shirt on Decision Day, but four years from now, how much will it even matter? Trying to stay grounded.

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If D had made NMF UCF was definitely on our list. UTD and UCF are both really strong schools. Congratulations!

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My D has struggled to define what she wants out of a school, so we have spent the last year focusing on outcomes of people like her from different schools. What we found is that it really doesn’t matter where you go. Sure there are things like availability of majors, research, etc, but it’s more about what the student does while they’re at school. Find a place where they can do their thing and you’re golden.

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My D18 is at UCF and I am a go for fit not prestige person. She looked at me yesterday and said, “We just ranked #1 for Hospitality in US and #2 in the world.” I told her that is the part of fit I mean- having a good program for your major! Of course who’s ranking it was, who knows and who cares!

Many times she has had to answer why she is not at UNC- they don’t have her major and at the time didn’t take her IB credits!!!

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Congrats on all of the new acceptances!

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Oh…that’s hilarious! “Syllable fatigue”… :joy: If I’m not mistaken I believe Frank Bruni has a book about the whole college admissions process. Negative yields coming to a school near you. :face_with_hand_over_mouth:…thanks for the laughs!

Our S21 is choosing between Lafayette and Dickinson. Seems to have lost interest in Clark so it’s looking like we won’t even visit. Waiting for one other result but don’t expect an acceptance.

We’re lucky that we got to visit both schools in autumn 2019 so got real tours of both (though the physics building at Lafayette was locked so we missed that). We’ll go back to Dickinson for an accepted student event and walk around Lafayette again and hopefully he’ll attend some virtual events.

Both felt similar to me, the main difference being that Lafayette felt like a bigger university despite student counts being fairly similar. Dickinson felt like a classic LAC to me. Both great choices in my opinion so we’ll see!

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Echols is a lottery ticket only in that of all the amazing candidates that are considered, very few get it. It’s not this random mistake, if that’s what you are thinking. We have to remember that there simply isn’t space for all of the qualified applicants and that’s where holistic review comes in. And the higher you reach, statistically your chances go down. It really says nothing about your daughter.

Remember, your child can only attend one school. Back in the day my only affordable opportunity was the honors program at my state university. It was a fantastic experience - I met so many other smart, engaged, students. I made so many friends. The curriculum was fantastic and I had wonderful professors. I imagine a scholars program is like that x10 and UVA is considered by many to be a “public Ivy.”

Some of my D21’s results have been head scratchers. Among her classmates, similarly qualified students will get WL, accept or reject from the same school and there doesn’t seem to be any logic to it.

I was speaking to my own D about this the other day. She applied to many things over the past year - competitive summer programs, competitions of various kinds, scholarships, scholars programs, etc. So many rejections. It is discouraging. But she has also been admitted to some fantastic schools and so far has great merit at one of them. She reminded me that she can only attend one school and that the R and WL make it easier to choose! She is much more resilient than I.

And who knows, maybe both our girls will end up at UMich together?

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My daughter now has acceptances from Georgia Tech, RPI, Rochester, Brandeis and Rutgers. The remaining schools are the ultra-competitive ones of which we have little expectation so we are now in the denouement phase :slight_smile:

Georgia Tech was always her first choice and she is absolutely delighted with that acceptance. She will be majoring either in math or physics

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Of course as Lafayette Alum, I would highly favor Lafayette. Close to Philly and New York. The Lehigh Valley has been growing a great deal. Lafayette slightly higher rated in USNEWS.

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I know a girl who went to UT-D for art/animation. She got excellent merit aid. She is graduated now and had great internships along the way. COVID has messed up the job market a bit but she had a great experience there. It is definitely remaking itself from the commuter school of the past. I have also heard great things about the UCF Honors College - the school is MASSSIVE though, so if your D hasn’t visited, it might be worth checking out to see if a school that size is exhilarating or intimidating. Two great options - no bad choice here!

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