hi @MACmiracle !! long time 
If you need more WVU info, Iām here for you. I posted a crazy long review of the place in the WVU subsection.
And I can steer you to people who can answer questions. The school is really wonderful at recruiting; I canāt overstate that.
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What a difference a few hours make. Now my son has UMaine as his first choice instead of Xavier. He was admitted into the Honors Program at UMaine and wants to double major in Engineering and Business. Not sure if that is possible. Heading to UMaine next Saturday. Any info regarding UMaine would be appreciated.
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Sheās neither excited nor communicating. I guess itās better to be that way than be super-excited about a school we couldnāt afford. But it feels like the clock is ticking.
Sometimes I start to worry if sheās really ready for college.
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Iāll have to check out your review. 
She has a close friend who visited recently and had wonderful things to say about it. It seems like it would be not too far off in price, but almost half the distance of UMaine. That part is tempting.
My biggest worry is about dorms being far from classrooms from reviews, like no rolling out of bed and into class. 
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I think the campus at UMaine was nice. It seemed to have what a bigger university would offer but everything within walking distance. The students with admissions seemed friendly and laid back but we didnāt see too many students walking around the campus.
I think D liked it and would attend but had reservations about the area because she really wants to have a downtown area with shops that she can walk or bike to.
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I am feeling the same way now about my son. He is all over the place.
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That depends on the dorm youāre in, and the classes you take. But generally speaking, itās quite possible thereāll be an early morning class on the other campus from the student. Whether youāre on the downtown campus and need an engineering or ag sciences course or a theater elective, or whether youāre on Evansdale and have a history/English/math class downtown. (There are also dorms placed between the campuses.)
Transportation is buses and the PRT. Walking between campuses takes at least a half-hour so not really an option.
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@nidaco ha, you mean making it to the Sweet Sixteen today didnāt seal Xavier as his choice? 
Iām happy to still give you my impressions of Xavier if you think it is still an option (let me know if you want more insight). I will say, that despite being far from MA, there are a lot of kids from East Coast/New England. Nearly all of my sonās friends are from mid-Atlantic/New England (one of his roommates is from Chicago). None of his friends go home on weekends.
Good luck to your son! Itās great he has options, tho it does make it hard to make a decision.
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Feel free to PM me with specific questions. D21 is at UNH and a good friend has one at QU. Both are happy, different experiences, different kids.
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Hey there! Umaine is a classic New England college community.
There sure is a small downtown- actually TWO- Orono and Old Town- with shops and restaurants that are bike-able from campus, and there is a local bus loop all around. Athletic facilities are standard-D1-fantastic. The New Balance gym (for non-D1 athletes) is also wonderful.
Standard dorms, nothing overly good or bad to say. My daughterās dorm room has fantastic natural light, which I happen to really love.
Any time Iāve been there, the place is buzzing with people all over campus, so perhaps the comment about not many people around was just a fluke. Itās a fairly large school/campus, with plenty going on.
My daughter is a nursing major, she does club lax, and she is on the vol. ambulance corps. She has found it all very welcoming, and she really likes the proximity to Bangor, which is a small city with anything you could need just 10 minutes away.
We have taken advantage of the airport, a quick flight down to NYC to come home, actually much less expensive than the alternative ferry-drive-hotel-drive routine.
Best wishes!
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We spent a weekend looking around the area around campus and had lunch in Old Town. Those areas were nice but D was hoping for more to explore. I think that if she went there and made friends, the size of the surrounding towns wouldnāt be much of a issue. She would be busy with other things and could always go into Bangor. It didnāt feel remote to me, but D has lived in NJ suburbia her entire life.
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I think we went on Presidentās Day and I donāt think classes were held so that could have explained why the campus was so quiet. The gym was very busy, however.
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I totally get that too- we live on LI. Coming from suburbia I wondered if she would find it remote- itās absolutely fine. She knew she didnāt want a congested area or a city for college. She finds it perfect and I CANNOT overstate how great it is to have the airport in Bangor with 5-6 daily nonstop flights to NYC!!
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Hang in there. Have you considered spring admission at colleges that offer that option? Could she take a few classes at the local CC to get her feet wet, so to speak? Some parents and students do not like this option for a variety of reasons but I think it is a great option for many kids that might need a little more time adjusting.
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Just reading through posts about Denver. My son is a sophomore there. We live in the Midwest and he fell in love with the school when we visited during vacation in 2019. He chose it over bigger and higher ranked schools because he really liked the vibe of the students he met. He is a bit of a nerd, does not ski, and a bit outdoorsy with hiking. He is not preppy and we are not rich. He joined the alpine club and D&D club, and also absolutely loves his professors. He is planning for his study abroad quarter in the fall. Heās definitely it a partier either. If you have any questions I can try answering.
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Thanks for sharing your sonās experience. We plan to visit over the summer. I have two kids and I am hoping it is a good fit for at least one of them! Your description makes me hopeful that they will like it.
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Itās official! S23 has committed to a school. No surprise to us because it was clear after the tours in Junior year which one came out on top for him, but he wanted to give it plenty of time to be sure it was the correct choice after receiving his decision letters. He is going to University of Oregon. Go Ducks!
Still about 10 weeks until graduation. Itās going slowly for him with classes, but I feel like itās flying by for us. UO doesnāt start classes until late September so at least we get a long summer with him before he heads off to his next adventure.
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There are six Ducks in my sonās class - congrats to your Duck! 
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D23 made her decision last night! She chose Suffolk University, in Boston.
I am sharing a lot of nitty gritty details as I found this site and the B student threads really helpful the last few years. My biggest fear was that as a true B student (3.4 gpa, 1 AP class, nothing to weight!) applying test optional - that D23 might get some acceptances but wouldnāt get any merit at all. Pro tip - if you psych yourself into accepting that your kid might be full pay at 70K plusā¦the actual numbers feel almost like a bargain.
Also really happy to say that we saw some wonderful colleges and Iād have been happy for her to attend any of these:
Iāll do them in order of net price-I didnāt include āfeesā costs below are tuition and room/board. Some colleges have travel and insurance included in their fee recaps, so I thought Iād do apples to apples.
University of Denver - 15K merit - net price $57K
Drexel University -15K - net price $55K
Bryant University - 15K merit - net price 49K
University of New Hampshire - no merit -net price OOS 48K
College of Charleston - $1500 merit - net price 48K
Suffolk University $18,000 merit - net price 46K
Endicott $10,000 merit - net price $44,000
Quinnipiac $25,000 merit, net price $42K
Johnson and Wales $25,000 merit, net price $33K
We are in NJ and Rutgers costs a bit over 30K, so that was our baseline when we began discussing college. We just said anything over $35K weād have to decide as a family if we thought it made sense/was do-able. She didnāt really click at any of our state schools.
In the end, it came down to Endicott and Suffolk. Different in some ways - Endicott is a beautiful quiet campus in the suburbs. Suffolk is right in downtown Boston. Both schools have an emphasis on internships. CofC had been her first choice through much of the process, but by the time the acceptance came mid-March, she had already attended an accepted students day at Suffolk and Endicott and I think it gelled for her that she did not want to go South. Iām happy that she will only be a train ride away.
Iām not sad itās over but I am a little sad to say goodbye and leave the mailing lists of some of these schools!
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Congratulations on D23 making a decision and having lots of great options. Per the quote above, I had to comment b/c I felt the same way when S21 was applying a couple years ago - 3.4 gpa, no APs, one honors, test optional. I figured we wouldnāt be seeing much, if any, merit. Yet he got good merit at every school he was accepted to, which was all but one where he was waitlisted. The outcome was much better than I ever anticipated!
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