kiddo is applying to a few engineering scholarship programs at auto merit schools . . . and ESSAYS are turned in! 11:08 PM. Now i know what so many of you have felt with the schools that need essays! wow. what a relief; fingers crossed for us all!
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Kid sent his video at 1 am December 1st (meaning, before the day had dawned). I hope thatās OK; the deadline was āby December 1stā so I assume so. It was too late to ask!
I saw it last night and it was sooo good. I was verklempt; proud mama here. He talked directly to the camera, without a script, and cut in video from his acting over the h.s. years.
The youngs are so proficient on the whole video thing! I would need a freaking year of classes to even get close, and Iām not a luddite to start with.
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Did the school have a very specific ED day that you knew about? Our ED school says āmid Decemberā on the website but a financial aid officer I spoke with said more likely early December, so I donāt have a specific date. I might need to come up with something that wonāt deflateā¦
For those awaiting ED results, and worried about denials or deferrals, I was just speaking to someone recently who just graduated this spring. This person originally applied ED to Pomona and didnāt get in, then ended up settling for Harvard in the RD round.
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Poor kid. Hope they were able to keep their head up.
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Against my better judgment, I snuck into ED1 school bookstore when my D23 was touring with a current student. I bought a hoodie and hid it. I have to be across the country on a business trip the week of the 12th and wanted to be prepared in case she gets good news. Of course, now I feel like Iāve jinxed it with the purchase 
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Aww so cute! Good Luck, hope you get to surprise her with some more gimmicks (put it over her softtoy and click a video reaction hurling it around when she gets in) and youll have a hearty laugh.
Update: we were shocked with an acceptance to Rollins on 11/29 with the Deanās scholarship of $32K which is the top merit (this still leaves $39K but we may get some financial aid.) He hopes to be invited to the Alfondās scholarship weekend where students compete for 10 full-ride scholarships. I think merit is bumped up for anyone invited to that but not positive. The portal said we would get a decision in the Spring so this was welcome news!
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We have come to the conclusion that they are not. Perhaps some of the same schools? We passed on Rose Hulman even though they sent a waiver to apply and a few other small private engineering schools. I am sure they are excellent programs. My son says no loans and dad will only fork out so much each year.
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We just got the full financial aid package from Southwestern University for Twin 2 last night. On top of the $31K/year merit scholarship, theyāre giving him $10K in institutional grants. So total of $41,700 that doesnāt have to be paid backā¦after factoring in the $5500 federal loans ($3500 subsidized/$2000 unsubsidized), COA will be $20,661. We havenāt heard back yet on the additional merit scholarship he interviewed for 2 weeks ago.
This can be doable for us. Itās less than the cost of Texas A&M, where he wonāt get any merit scholarships. Itās more than his other back up/safety instate options, but I think heās already mentally ruled those out anyway (Texas Tech & UNT).
Weāre waiting to hear back on his is EA app for Trinity University (Dec 15) and UT Austin (sometime in January probably).
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Congrats! Itās so great to have affordable choices. Forgive me if youāve already said this - has he visited? Iāve heard good things about Southwestern and kid also is in there, but I believe heās ruled out Texas and Florida schools at this point, which is sad, but I respect his choice.
Yes, we visited on Nov 14 for Pirate Preview. I posted about it further up in this thread somewhere. He really liked it. I LOVE it for him, but it has to be his choice ultimately. Heās still mulling over the smaller, LAC aspect of going from a huge, 6A public high school to a small private university where the total enrollment is almost the size of just his graduating class lol but the more I talk with him and hear his reservations, I think they have more to do with normal graduating jitters and moving on to adulthood than anything else.
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Or secretly re-sell it on eBay if she doesnāt 
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Ok, I just looked at this Southwestern University package again a little more closely, and it looks like we can waive/opt out of the student health insurance, which is $3000/year so that actually brings us to like $17,000/yr out of pocket 
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Our kid feels the same way. Even with expected merit, COA of ~$50K for Rose (for example) doesnāt seem like a great deal, compared to one of the OOS publics where he is already accepted (Pitt, UMN-TC, Oregon State).
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How do we know what is COA for any school? My D got accepted to Pitt but we are yet to see the breakdowns?
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For Pitt, go here: Tuition & Fees - Financial Aid | University of Pittsburgh
Most schools have a similar tool on their web sites, but you may need to rummage around to find it.
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Have very tempered expectations for ED after my first go-around with S21. Feel like its a long shot just because its so brutally hard to get in the very top schools. Assuming it will be a deferral.
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Thanks, I see the general breakdown. But I was referring to how @Momof3B said above that they received a package with cost breakdowns. Will all colleges send out something like that to each student?
Yes, all colleges send out a breakdown of finances once theyāve processed the FAFSA and CSS (if required). Every school operates on their own timeline though. Between my twins, this is the only financial package weāve received so far. We havenāt even seen merit aid offers yet from many of the in state publics (safeties) my twins have applied and been accepted to.
Most schools wonāt send these out until early Spring from my experience with my Class of 2021 son.
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