Love Rick Clark, and think the GA Tech blog (and his book on Admission) should be required reading for families.
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S23 heard from his final school this morning!
Applied to 5 schools (has mild ASD not mentioned in applications, felt like it was best to say close to home in MA)
UMass Lowell EA: accepted to Math, 1/2 tuition, total COA ~26K
Clark EA: accepted (Data Science as probable major), merit brought COA to ~40K
WPI EA: accepted (Data Science as probable major), merit brought COA to ~55K, no Fin Aid, appealed for special circumstances & got 4K more
Northeastern RD: Waitlisted (listed Data Science with Journalism as probable major)
BU RD: accepted to College of General Studies (spring 2024 start, and complete 4 semesters in a more defined liberal arts type program with smaller cohort including Summer 2024 semester, then transfer into Data Science on track Fall of junior year), Fin Aid brought COA to ~60K, prior discussions with FA office said our circumstances could warrant more aid & we should request a review
Heāll go to admitted days at BU & WPI. I think he prefers WPI, but is intrigued by some of the BU program features. He will see how he feels about the fit at each place, and weāll see if he gets more aid at BU.
Without more aid I think it has to be WPI. It is already at the top of what we can afford. If we get more Fin Aid either place Fall 2024 when S24 starts college, that would be a big help and we could afford a little more this year if that is the case. But if whatever it costs this year stays the same (+5% for inflation) I think we canāt go over ~50K. Spring start at BU would allow him to work full time next fall though, so have to think about how that factors also.
āāāāā
(Stats)
Homeschooled, 3.95 UW, 1480 SAT
2 APs (4 & 5), senior year all DE
Interesting but not impressive ECs (25 hr/week PT work; self taught instrument & music composition; DM writing original adventures for D&D group; lots of church stuff)
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Last year my son, after getting rejections and deferrals from his early schools, used all 20 spots on his common app. The last one was a reach, and really I didnāt see much chance of him getting accepted, but he had one spot left and it had programs that were perfect. He got in. Heās attending and is happy as a clam.
It does take an incredible amount of time and money to apply well to multiple selective schools, and the process has to start in earnest very early. But I do think the state of things being what they are if students can do this, they likely should to ensure they have some choices at the end of the road.
My D this year applied early and was accepted fairly early at a really strong option. Her remaining list was only reaches. I tell all my friends with younger kids to really investigate and go after the schools that notify early. Having a solid acceptance in the bag does so much for a studentās mental health in this very taxing process.
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I am local here in MA and just saw a news story on NECN yesterday morning about WPI opening their brand new student wellness center, all focused on improving student mental health. It looks amazing!
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I have a friendās kid BU. It was spring start. Summer in England.
My concern would be starting late and integrating.
Each kid is different.
Clark a fine school.
Do they each have the resources to support your son ?
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Did you just find this out this morning? My niece on the west coast is awaiting a RD decision from BU.
AOs are evaluating a much larger volume of students with less information than they had previously (not just test scores, some colleges no longer look at counselor recommendations). Of course they system is not going to work as well. Add in that one of the remaining factors is gpa, with grade inflation at some but not all schools. Some colleges arenāt considering senior year grades at all, others freshman, still others look at neither. Itās hard not to conclude the system is broken.
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The info talks like the CGS program is a smaller, closer cohort with some special programming so people connect there. Definitely something to think about.
The types of supports he needs arenāt really that strong at any school. 
Hence the focus on schools close to home. He primarily has challenges with āemotional regulationā (gets overly upset by little things, and needs someone to help him think through/process emotions), and social pragmatics (doesnāt catch on that everyone else sat down so he should too, unless someone specifically says to, for example). I think he could be okay at any of the schools on his list, though.
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Yes, BU decisions out this morning.
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Interesting blog post with useful information and things to keep in mind during the admission process. Thanks for posting!
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Itās too late for this year, but I saw that UDel has a special program for students on the spectrum. Link: https://www.cds.udel.edu/spectrumscholars/ And RIT had something similar. But they would be too far for your student.
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The info is true but itās also marketing.
The girl I know wants to transfer but thatās more due to a lack of party opportunity. Sheās on such a scholarship her parents wonāt let her. She told my daughter you canāt go out in Boston. 21 means 21.
Iād make the integration statement about any spring start. It may be ok for your student. But donāt forget more kids say no to these schools that accept them then yes. So itās a sales pitch too.
Pick the only thatās truly right for your obviously brilliant son.
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Some applicants are obvious admits and some are obvious rejects, but the vast majority of them are somewhere in-between. Thereās this common āwisdomā on CC that this group of applicants in-between are all āqualifiedā, so that the final selections are determined by āinstitutional prioritiesā and the āshaping of the final classā. IMO, weāre giving AOs way too much credit, considering how little concrete information they actually have, how variable their abilities in assessing that information are, and how little time they spend on each application.
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In that case you know the date. This yearās Ivy Day is 3/30:
And generally, they are smart and release the decision after business hours.
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We noticed the releasing decisions after business hours while D20 was part of a highly competitive EC (outside of school) during middle school & high school. Their decisions were almost always released on Fridays after the close of business.
This is something many should get used to. That has been D20ās experience with internship and fellowship decisions as well during college. Seems like lots of competitive programs have realized there is no upside to being able to be contacted asap after their decisions are released.
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Same with USC yesterday, and some of their materials said they aim for late afternoon so as to not interrupt classrooms around the world.
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Funny - they never heard of time zones?
Trust me, itās not for altruistic reasons - itās because they donāt want to field pointless impulse calls about a ship that has sailed.
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As an aside, I unfortunately know from direct familial experience that this is also when people get called in ājust for a chatā when it is really to be let go/laid off/contract not renewed/etc!
Same reasoning as mentioned for the colleges doing it: less ability to complain or do anything or see anyone about it. What can you do? 
But for the love of God, if you are an employer, please donāt actually contact an underling for a ābrief chatā for Friday afternoon that actually is just a brief chat. It gives people an anxiety attack all that day until they know!
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My son is at BU after homeschool most of the way through school. We visited WPI and were very impressed but he didnāt apply because of the amount of FA he needed. Heās doing fine at BU but the bureaucratic issues of such a big school have reached ridiculous levels and caused both of us a lot of stress ā from trying to reach residential services about flooding in oneās dorm room to trying to get FA to acknowledge they have received his state grant, from trying to get a medical appointment when sick, to trying to find a class that fits the HUB requirements remaining. (He is enjoying study abroad right now.) Also, for outgoing kids with lots of social/city life experience, I think BU and the Boston setting is a good fit; I think itās harder for my son to find friends at such a large school. If my son were to have the choice now, I would definitely be rooting for WPI.
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Also when considering costs at BU, and probably many other schools, note the housing costs are calculated for standard large dorm doubles (although my son ended up in a tiny triple for his first two years). Singles and other types of housing, such as the Brownstone rooms, cost quite a bit more. I think the meal plan is the same ā the amount quoted in the original FA package is not for the full 21 meals/week. (I may be recalling that wrong or thinking about my S23ās school instead on the meal plan).
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