Congrats!!! This is such great news! Happy for your D. Does this mean she’s done – decision made? 
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Most likely yes, I have a Red Raider just like her mom and dad!
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Congratulations! That is great news to start the new year.
FANTASTIC!!! So happy for her and you! They knew she was too good to let go to Bama!
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Plan B? Noooooooo…This is me putting my fingers in my ears and saying ‘lalalalalalalala.’
I just can’t think about not having close to normal college by Fall 2021. Sigh. My head will be in the sand about anything like that until it absolutely would have to be faced. Sigh.
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YAY!!! That is AMAZING news!!!
If TAMU doesn’t come back with good news in January, my son will seriously start thinking about Tech…they upped his merit aid a little after he sent in his latest SAT and it was superscored. We’re still trying to figure out when to get up to Lubbock so that he can see it…maybe in January, he has some college visit excused absences he can use.
Ditto…S21 will absolutely be living on campus wherever he ends up as long as it’s open.
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Congratulations!
Thanks so much for the information about Reed, it is very helpful. I think D21 would enjoy the intensity of the academics but not sure about the work load. She is a avid and quick reader but not a fast writer. The no sports and Greek life she views as a plus, and at this time in her life she thinks she would like to pursue a PHD, but things can change. When you say Reed is very liberal do you think it is more liberal than most LAC?
I have 2 sophomores who went to 2 vastly different schools as it relates to Covid. One basically did nothing, the other was amazing. Tests 2x/week for everyone, had very few cases. One small cluster at the beginning of the semester that they were able to take care of quickly with their major contact tracing and one cluster at the end of the semester after Halloween/election. She had in person and hybrid classes, was able to safely socialize and live in her sorority and have a relatively normal semester. She cannot wait to go back. The other one, had huge breakouts of cases in her sorority and on campus, testing was not pushed by the school, it was “test if you want”, no contact tracing, some people had in person classes, not her, lots of parties in frats on campus, sports as usual for the most part, needless to say, it was by some crazy miracle I can’t believe she didn’t get it. She did the best she could, was careful in her house, kept to her pod of friends but I am still worried like crazy as she is getting ready to go back for another remote semester but she is loving it and it’s her happy place. I have full intention of sending my soon to be freshman son to school in the fall as I expect things will be better, however, I am also watching very carefully how school has been for freshmen as I do think some schools, including my one kid who’s school did a great job with covid, did not do a great job with freshmen and some were very isolated. It took a long time for them to meet people and feel comfortable. So, that is something then I have no problem encouraging him to defer if necessary. There is absolutely no hurry to rush through college. These kids have their whole lives to work. College will still be there in a year. But, ultimately it is a personal choice each family has to make.
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Yes. It is probably one of the top 5% most liberal campuses in the country. To the point of being dysfunctional sometimes. Read this story in the Atlantic from a couple of years ago: Students Protest Intro Humanities Course at Reed - The Atlantic
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We are going to be in Houston in late January. Is the Rice campus open to walk around? DS is very interested in attending Rice (hopefully he will get accepted) and I saw they are not doing official tours but I am not familiar with the campus and am unsure if it is possible to walk through on our own.
That’s fantastic. I know a few kids who have followed the merit money to Texas Tech and have loved their experience there. And with ongoing uncertainties regarding COVID, it’s nice to have a close to home option!
@AOP1925 If your D21 is attracted to the academics, and lack of big sports and Greek life at Reed, and wants some last minute additions to her list, she might consider Carleton (selective, no merit aid), Oberlin or Macalester (moderately selective, merit aid, politically liberal but not as extreme as the media makes it out to be), and St. Olaf (moderately selective, merit aid, more moderate politically, great graduate and med school placement). Carleton and St Olaf are actually in the same town, about 45 minutes drive from Minneapolis.
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Rice has a beautiful campus! It’s pretty easy to walk around yourself. You probably won’t be able to enter any buildings, but a self guided walking tour to get a feel for the surroundings/campus is totally doable!
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@textbooked I feel the same way. I want D21 to experience on-campus life and I have hopes it will be an option. But I also want to prepare in case it isn’t.
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If life isn’t pretty darn close to normal on campuses, D will take a gap. And I don’t even really care what she does. By that time, there should be a ton more options than there were last fall for gap years. I don’t know our line in the sand about what “close to normal” means. Need to see how it all shakes out at whichever schools she’s admitted to.
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@textbooked Your comment is thought-provoking. If things aren’t relatively back to normal in the fall, I bet we’re going to see a bigger percentage of students opt for a gap year over the previous year. This will be D21’s third semester of remote learning and she too feels quite done with it all.
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Ran into friends in the neighborhood whose oldest is a junior. She’s really interested in dance so they’re exploring options for her. She’s got almost a year and I was wondering if any parents here have kids who are into performance arts/dance and have tips on colleges you’ve liked for your S21/D21 that you can share. Thanks!!
I am confident all the Texas schools will be opened and S21 will go live on campus even if his classes are online.
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