Parents of the HS Class of 2023 (Part 2)

Yes, either chemistry or biology, depending on what area of forensic science you want to go into.

Thanks so much for your comments! Even more ironically, I lived about a block away from UFā€™s law school during my grad school days there. Wonderful little neighborhood of post-grads, mostly, where I rented a 3BDR house for $400 a month, split three ways. Ahhh, good times.

Was talking on the phone with hubby and kiddo as they drive home - theyā€™re almost back after driving all night. DH said he was struck by the massive number of blondes on campus, and, he noted, they seemed to dress them all in white and cluster them in the middle of the road. Maybe a sacrifice ritual, he speculated.
ā€œDad. They were taking graduation pictures,ā€ kiddo said.

Thatā€™s our kind of humor in my house (apparently it was well-received by the Blount people)

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I worked for a NY financial firm with pretty snooty hiring practices for fifteen years and was in charge of hiring. We requested transcripts to confirm that a candidate had actually graduated. You would be surprised how often we would realize someone had not done so. We never paid much attention to what was on the transcript, particularly for more senior people. We ran background checks on everyone but never to recalculate GPAs or cross check against the resume in that level of detail. And yes there are firms that ask for SAT scores, but even in elite circles those are not the norm, and they are routinely mocked. But they tend to attract people who donā€™t think its weird to be asked their SAT score well into adulthood, so like the UChicago essays, serve as a sign to know what you are getting into. So does all of this happen in some cases? I am sure it is, but itā€™s not the norm.

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Can I just say ā€œI told you so!ā€ Visit and you will love. Maybe we will meet up one day. Roll Tide!

OK, having paid the deposit and the housing fee, hereā€™s kiddoā€™s final breakdown, which I will cross-post in that ā€œactual resultsā€ thread:

Stats: 32 ACT (superscore, with 36 reading/35 English); GPA 4.07 weighted, private school doesnā€™t do unweighted, solid ECs & LORs but nothing spectacular.

Results, with merit amount & estimated COA (tuition + R&B only):

ATTENDING: Bama: accepted + Blount honors, $24k auto-merit; COA $23k

Pitt (in-state): accepted, no merit; COA $35.7k

FSU: accepted, in-state waiver, COA $17.5

South Carolina: accepted, Capstone Scholars, in-state waiver = $21.7k merit; COA $26-28k

Temple (in-state): accepted to Temple Rome + honors, $10k merit; COA (after full cost of Rome first-year): $19k

Southwestern: accepted, $23k merit; COA $37k

Loyola NO: accepted + honors, $30.5k merit; COA $32k

UNM: accepted, Amigo in-state $16k + extra $2k merit; COA <$20k

Cleveland State: accepted, $7.2k merit, COA $25.8k

Montclair State: accepted + honors, $7k merit, COA $32k

CWRU: deferred, then WL ($20k merit estimate in WL notification)

Brown: denied

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Same happened to my son four years ago - all set to Purdue.

He loved Purdue.

It is kind of crazy how it happens.

Everyone is like - the deep south - yuck - but somehow you get sucked in.

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Did he visit FSU - just out of curiosity?

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Isnā€™t the purpose of admitted student days/weekend to suck you in? :stuck_out_tongue_winking_eye:

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One year in college a group of friends and I were walking down the main drag (Franklin Street - Chapel Hill) on that first day when all the students are back. Itā€™s crowded and loud with people running into those they know and we witnessed these 2 girls pass each other and the only thing said was:

Girl 1: ā€œyouā€™re so tan, I hate you, bye!ā€

So in the future whenever we saw each other on campus with no time to stop weā€™d repeat that phrase as we passed by.

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My daughter had a good friend who lives in that neighborhood. That is where they all go to tailgate before the football games. Maybe in 4 years you will be back looking your sonā€™s housingā€¦lol

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D19 and I visited, and I had spent time in Tally while at UF, so I knew the city pretty well.
We took it off the table due to politics; it had been iffy to start with, and by winter, it was no longer an option.
fwiw, kiddo cast a wide net because we needed merit and really had no idea what to expect these days; hence the kind of all-over-the-map strategy.

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I am late to respond, I bought my DD a 3 in 1 coats at NorthFace outlet for around $150 (basically 3 coats in 1 that zip together) We were fortunate to find Sorrels with liners almost new at Goodwill.

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Iā€™m sure there is nothing normal about it. But I have seen my employer and its peers specifically mentioned in posts on this site from people listing the kinds of places they are seeking, so for a particular subset it is what they should expect. Again, Iā€™m not endorsing it, just living it.

we took FSU off D23ā€™s list because we werenā€™t sure about the engineering college set-up; it is not on the FSU campus, but combined with FAMU and on that campus. We wondered if she might not feel part of FSU if her classes are not there. She was contemplating changing majors to attend FSU with the out-of-state waiver she was granted; but NO ONE from admissions would respond to her emailed questions; so . . . that was that. See ya!

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Always interesting to me - and usually itā€™s the publics - but if I were running a school, Iā€™d be heavily invested in admissions. I mean, thatā€™s the front facing, sales folks.

Some are FANTASTIC - Oklahoma, for example.

Others are just ball dropping - and it sounds like that here.

I hate for someone to eliminate a school because of it but it definitely happens. One student was asking on another post recently - and it was an elite school that they felt represented poorly - Vassar.

I know schools like FSU are not hurting for applicants or enrollees but it just seems answering and responding to emails and phone calls are just the basics of college salesmanshipā€¦I mean admissions.

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i dont know applicant numbers this year; but last year FSU had around 75K applicants. The Bama rep was delightful; she got to know my S20 and D23 and myself. And sent the sweetest note when D23 declined. I think Iā€™m going to miss her! :joy:

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Last night my daughter made a tentative decision (for Oxy!), and weā€™re going to sit with it for a few days and see how we all feel about it. Iā€™m having such a hard time feeling good and resolved about itā€”itā€™s hard not to focus on the downsides of her choice and the upsides of the other potential top choices. Iā€™m pretty sure Iā€™d be doing this regardless of what she choseā€”and yet I still canā€™t shake it. Anyone going through something similar? Or does anyone want to talk some sense into me? :slight_smile:

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Congrats - except the weā€™re going to sit down and think about it and see how we feel.

That means itā€™s still open :slight_smile:

The other choice was Oberlin??

I do this all the time - should I have taken this flight or eaten in this restaurant.

If she really chooses Oxy, no one will need to talk any sense into you. Itā€™s a fine choice!!!

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Yes, Oberlin with George Washington/SDSU/Lewis & Clark as the top "maybe"s.

She was very torn between Oxy & Oberlin, so she wanted the ā€œsit with itā€ period as well. Iā€™m not sharing my struggle with her, as I donā€™t want to introduce doubts she doesnā€™t haveā€”but Iā€™m personally fighting my fear that Oberlin would be a better choice. But yeah, I think we will all feel better once weā€™re committed!

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Someone in the admissions office chatted with my kid while he was waiting for the next thing on the schedule and turned her monitor around and said, ā€œYou want to see something cool?ā€ and it was the # of applicants to Bama this year: 70k, which was their most ever. Yet I agree with @bgbg4us - the personal touch was never far away, and everything was shipshape.

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