That’s terrific. I was just curious if it was a special place and presumably a “major university” allows for diversity of thought, geography and socio-economic background. I hope that my kids are challenged to think differently and inclusively.
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S22 chose to attend University of Southern California, committing Saturday. He was also admitted to UGA (EA, honors), UVA (EA), FSU (honors), Villanova (EA, honors), Lehigh (Eckard Scholar), TX A&M, U Miami (EA), LSU (honors) and BU (honors). He chose USC over UGA, because he thinks USC is better for his major and he appreciated the more diverse student population. He had good success getting into schools, with no rejects, 9 acceptances and 4 wait lists, but he did not have the merit scholarship success he was aiming for. When he did get scholarships, they were less than he had hoped. Thankfully, he had large NMF scholarships to USC, TX A&M and FSU which were automatic once accepted.
He made some connections with students when he went to the USC admitted student day recently, and he is chatting with potential roommates on social media. But he is also comfortable with random assignment. We’ll order a lot of his dorm stuff ahead for pick up in L.A. from stores there, as we won’t be able to fly with everything. We did order a mattress topper when there was a sale a couple months ago, thinking he’d go to a college we could drive to. Oh well. I may have to carry that on the plane in luggage.
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Actually, my husband often comments that there were many kids who were similar (upper middle class and from the same areas). Today, the school is very international and people come from across the globe. It was different then, less diverse certainly.
Yes, getting kids to think and consider other opinions without shutting down is an important life skill. Unfortunately, I think many people don’t value diversity of thought. The problems in society don’t seem to be caused by disagreement but rather by pushing agreement at any cost.
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Yes, something my daughter learned the second year, when she moved from freshman housing to apartment style with 3 other girls: Friends do not always make good suitemates.
She stayed friends, but picked more “responsible” suitemates the next year.
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Congratulations on a hugely successful admissions cycle and to your son for finding the school that fits him best! Good luck to him!
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Congrats!
Wow, we have come full circle! DS was weighing U of Oregon, U of WA, and UC Irvine for Mathematics and Psychology. He was a direct admit for Mathematics (first choice) at U of O and UCI, and pre-sciences for U of WA.
He then found out that U of WA’s admit rate for Applied Math was 15-20% after freshman year. And as much as he appreciated the prestige (and P&G scholarship money), the anxiety of not getting into his major - and the potential student competitive factor within his major - turned him off to U of WA.
He loved UC Irvine during Accepted Student’s Day and found others from Oregon with whom to bond. The eSports complex was exciting and the campus was beautiful and lively. He has a friend there who is also on the wushu team and was excited about being on a club sport team.
This weekend he visited U of O (one of our state’s flagships). He almost didn’t want to go because he didn’t sleep well the night before. He’s so glad he did. He said he would have to be “blown away” by U of O’s offerings to not attend UCI. The campus tour was terrific: he loved the school spirit (even though he’s not a huge football/track guy), was impressed by the AAU designation, campus dining and residence halls, the programs (both in Math and Psych), and the students. And they even have a club wushu team 
We were shocked. U of O is a school where almost 70% of students from his high school attend (both the regular school and Clark Honors). He thought it would be weird to continue an “extension of high school”, but he’s liking the idea of maybe seeing some familiar faces on campus.
Turns out maybe I was the one too focused “prestige” and “name”? He said, “Mom, it’s a solid education and an excellent value.” 
He wants me to put the money we would have spent as OOS UC Irvine into an index fund to either 1. Buy real estate 2. Help pay for grad school 3. Get a Tesla at graduation 
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As someone whose kid also applied to Washington, Oregon, and California state schools (and was turned off UW for the same reason as yours), I have to say the the Oregon schools really excelled when it came to visits/marketing/communications with admitted students.
My kid’s favorite public university visits were to Oregon and Oregon State and she ended up choosing Oregon State over UW and UCSB, among others. 
Here’s to affordable options that are good fits!
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This is so excellent, CMA22! I know your daughter will enjoy OSU, not just because it’s an excellent school, but it sounds like she carefully considered what she wants to get out of her college experience. I feel my DS operated the same way.
Yes, cheers to those of us in OR (although, I reserve the right to tease a bit during “Civil War” week! 
)! 
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Congratulations to you and your son on his final decision. Sounds like a very smart kid! I really enjoy hearing each kid’s path and thought process. Gives me a lot of hope for this next generation!
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As our kids committed to a school they go and are declining admission offer to others, how do you all feel? Some schools are EA admits and have maintained a “long” relationship through emails and posts. Whether my D feels or not, I feel so terrible to turn down offers. Wish there’s more ED than EA, atleast we don’t need juggling around. How are others doing with committing?
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As a parent whose kid didn’t have the luxury of EA admits to sit around with, I don’t feel that emotionally invested. It’s more on the level of choosing to buy the fancy TV from the close Best Buy over one in another state instead of the boutique electronics store (which has me standing in the hallway, waiting to be allowed to see if I want to shop there) for me.
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S22 didn’t want to say no to WPI initially. Tough to turn down an option and a school you could see yourself going to.
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Thank you! Sounds like your kiddo made some smart choices too! Yes, it does give one hope, doesn’t it?
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It was a relief for us, frankly! After turning decisions around in his head, making comparison spreadsheet entries, and visits…ah, what a relief to have a decision made (and a well-thought out one, at that)!
Take comfort in the fact that your declining admission to some of these schools is freeing up spots for those students anxiously waiting to get off waitlists . Those kids will give these schools plenty of love!
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Well, you’re probably asking class of 22 parents but I’ve been lurking so I’ll answer too. Lol.
I felt awful when D turned down some of her schools. One in particular, Davidson, I felt really bad about. S19 also accepted and said no. I love that school and our kids did like it enough to apply and get in but it wasn’t either of their favorites in the end.
Kids can only go to one school!
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That’s definitely a thought. That’s the one thing which keeps motivating us to decline acceptances.
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It’s a relief and feels like my child can now focus on enjoying the rest of senior year. I think for my child the decision was easier because they weren’t choosing from identical options. Each option had very different trade offs between money, class size, distance, and having a fall vs spring start. After attending admitted student events, they gained clarity about what trade offs they were willing to make and that led them to the college they accepted.
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Yes, both, my D and I felt terrible turning down some of the schools. One sent a survey about the admissions process and I completed it and let them know how great their employees and the process were and that I will be a cheerleader for them. Another didn’t send a survey but I will email them with positive feedback too.
Then I’m sorry D22 had to turn down two schools that I think would have been a good opportunity for her, but they were too expensive.
For some reason D has not yet declined our flagship (though we have deposited and she will go elsewhere) and now they keep increasing the merit to an extent where I feel bad turning them down, because it is such an incredible deal.
In sum, different reasons for me to feel bad about declining
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Some of those long “relationships” have been borderline abusive. Looking at you UMich.
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