My 19 was accepted at Towson for Graphic design. We absolutely loved the school and the area. Financially she did better elsewhere. What was special about them, in the fall open houses in November, the kids who were accepted early, had their names called out and they picked up their acceptance package on stage.
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I went to Boston College (grew up in Washington DC) and lived in Boston for several years as an adult professional. We now live on the North Shore about 15 miles away. Boston is a beautiful, small city with an amazing vibe for students. If feels diverse because of all the college students, but there are definitely neighborhoods that lack any diversity. There are SO many colleges and universities and it feels like a very young city with most people you see 18-30 years old. Tons to do, sports, museums, recreation, etc. It is an amazing city to be in university. I have only visited Chicago but love it! Feels much larger than Boston with an older demographic, more diverse but also similar in many ways. I canât speak to being a student in Chicago, but my friendâs daughter is a junior at DePaul and absolutely LOVES begin a student in Chicago.
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We know both cities well and agree with what people are saying here. Chicago is much more sprawling, while Boston is more compact. Still, itâs easy to get around Chicago, especially in the areas where most college students/young adults live. Chicago does have a laid back, friendly vibe that I donât feel as strongly in Boston, but others might disagree. 
Even though theyâre different in some ways, I think that both are terrific for students/20 somethings. Winters are tough and dark, so springs and summers are especially fun in both cities. There are tons of great restaurants, museums, bars and outdoor spaces. If you like one, youâll find much to enjoy about the other.
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Absolutely agree!
Their school did a terrific job of bringing in someone every 2-3 weeks to talk to the 11th grade about their careers and their respective college or non-college path. But paradoxically they completely put off thinking about prospective schools and tackling the applications until the winter of 12th grade because they donât want to âimpose stressâ by starting earlier.
IMO, theyâre just delaying the stress (and amplifying it come winter) as this group of students is going to realize at the last minute that they no longer have any wiggle room, they didnât get to apply EA or ED anywhere (when that may have helped them), and theyâre going to pay all those application fees - many of which could have been avoided had they applied earlier too.
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We visited all colleges junior year (except 2 that he will only visit upon acceptance/merit package) with the goal of having his list done by summer before senior year. During our tours between Dec-Feb last year, many students on tour were seniors and they had not applied yet. We were kind of shocked. Some actually said âI wish I had done this sooner, now I am stressed and feel rushed.â Sadly, many discover too late that merit deadlines are earlier than they thought so procrastinating also results in less $ sometimes (which would really hurt families like mine who are chasing merit.) I am so grateful I discovered CC and other social media sites when my daughter was a junior back in 2018. I had to learn fast, but it helped keep her on track when applying (she also had auditions to schedule-music major-so added stress!) Iâll admit to feeling a little behind as I read about students already having a few acceptances here, but my son is pretty confident in his timeline and should be able to apply to all schools in the next few weeks and then enjoy senior year. He is applying to some honors programs and special scholarships, so some extra essays and interview weekends ahead, but reasonable workload as he delves into his AP and SUPA classes. Heâs been really sick with a viral/bronchial infection for over a week (non-stop coughing & congestion) so that was definitely a set-back in terms of energy, but he only missed one day of school and a few gymnastics practices, so not horrible. He does plan to go to the Northeastern Preview Day he was invited to Oct. 8th so hopefully heâll be back to his healthy self by then!
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Congrats to your D. We visited Clark with my S21 - it was high on his list for many of the same reasons you mentioned though he ultimately chose a different school. We particularly appreciated Clarkâs relationship with the local community and felt its size was in a sweet spot. I have a cousin who attended back in the 90s and absolutely loved it.
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My mother went to nursing school in Worcester many years ago. A couple of weeks ago we happened to be passing thru Worcester on a road trip home from my nieceâs wedding in Maine. My mom immediately recognized from the back seat that we were in Worcester and said, âWe loved the boys at Clark, the Holy Cross boys not so much!â Struck me as funny, thinking about how different life was back then WRT dating and such.
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So excited my DD23 was accepted to Wake Forest University last night (rolling ED). She goes to a medium size public high school and was the first (non athlete) to commit to a school in her year. There is a âgradeâ group text where literally everyone was just so supportive and congratulatory. Being the first to commit, I think it hit home that this is ârealâ. Appreciate this group and all the info provided. Helped us narrow her choices. We are done!! Good luck to all of you on your college journey this year!
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Congratulations to your Daughter and her ED acceptance to WF. That is an incredible accomplishment. Also tell her not to be too upset this afternoon when Clemson kicks their butts on national TVâŠâŠlol
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She might be happy as Wake Forest is making a great game of it!!
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Congratulations to your daughter! Wake Forest is a fantastic school. Go Deacs!
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College counselor just provided ED and Regular Decision stats for Northeastern (and a bunch of other schools). For 2022 51.2% ED and 17.5% regular decision.
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I have a Common App question. Our D23 did a summer course at UC Berkeley after her junior year. It appears from the Common App FAQ site that we can add that she took a course under Education/Colleges and Universities, but there is nowhere to report a grade? Is this correct?
Also, do we add that grade into her overall GPA calculation which we are reporting, and lastly, is it counted as an honors course since it is college level? It was not a college honors course. We just donât want there to be a discrepancy if they add up all her grades w/out the summer course and wonder why we are reporting something different.
Thanks in advance for your help!
Was it UC Berkeley Summer Session?
Is her high school adding the course to her transcript?
Yes, it was through their summer session - but my understanding was this was a ânormalâ college course. She was the only HS student She earned 5 credits and an A, (and has an official UC transcript) but her HS does not add it to her HS transcript. If I add it to her gpa wtihout any weighting it actually pulls it down 
My understanding is that it doesnât get calculated into her HS GPA if itâs not on her HS transcript.
We have a similar situation with concurrent enrollment (two classes this fall semester at UCB), still trying to figure out how to report it.
So interestingâŠok, thank you! 
When my daughter took a college class summer after her sophomore year her guidance counselor said not to add it to her transcript as they wouldnât weight it and it would therefore bring her GPA down (even with an A in the class). She just sent a separate transcript from the college. Her high school basically doesnât weight any class not taken at the school and I suspect thatâs not uncommon.
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This is super helpful feedback - thank you both!
There has to be a place to add the college classes and their grades on the common app.