Parents of the HS Class of 2024

We have been looking at uvm as a second safety with S. Their honors college looks wonderful and they spell out merit on the website which brings it down in price significantly.

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We are about to do this over fall break in October. D24 wanted to stay on west coast/ in the western US. On the east coast, she had only visited colleges in NYC and Boston as add-ons to trips previously and did NOT like them.

Her twin brother is going to an east coast school as a recruited athlete, and she has been convinced to go out and look at a few more rural / suburban NE schools as options. So she is going willingly, and we are making it ā€œfunā€ (New England in the fall! apple cider donuts!) and short, but it was not her idea. At least we will know if it is even an option for her; I didnā€™t want her to completely close the door on some great fit schools for her due to location.

I am also insisting because she is considering ED to a school in another part of the country, and I want her make sure she considers all of her options before applying ED. Otherwise, I would have just had her send in the app and visit if the acceptance/ finances worked out.

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We pushed up one of Ss auditions and trial lesson to before the ED deadline for exactly the same reason. Want him to make sure to know exactly what is going on before he makes the final ED decision.

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That may be a visit to insist on when all of the acceptances/ finances are in - I would if itā€™s as good of a deal as it seems to be for NMFs. They will probably have special days for the students to visit after acceptances are out, I know I have seen many posts on these forums of people whose students go visit Alabama and end up loving it based on the visit.

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We visited some schools s24 wasnā€™t particularly interested in because we were traveling through the areas. The visits did not change sonā€™s mind about his top choices. They did give some talking points for tag-along s26.

At this point we are done with pre-acceptance visits. S24 has visited three of his top four schools and will only visit the fourth if he applies and is accepted with sufficient merit aid. (He is still wavering about the fourth application.)

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When someone offers to dump a truckload of money onto your lawn, you should pay attention. If your kid is a NMF, then Bama is offering a truckload. The scholarship alone is worth $250,000+. Remember, increases in tuition and housing (meh, covered). Want a masterā€™s degree, a year of tuition for itā€¦covered. Travel overseasā€¦have a stipend. Booksā€¦have a stipend. What isnā€™t discussed is the financial flexibility it offers. Have a 529? Take $35K over the four years of college and put it in your kidā€™s Roth IRA. What will that be worth in 20 years when other kids are done paying off their student loans? College is what you make of it (no matter where you go). Bama offers you as much as any other school (oh, and those clubs you have to APPLY to get into at other universities, you just join them at BAMA, and they compete just as well, see Astrobotics, EcoCar, CubeSat, etc.).

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Son just got offered a place at Northeastern London! So I guess weā€™ll skip the Preview day!

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Congratulations! Thatā€™s great.

Iā€™m confused though. EA/ED decisions for Fall 2024 donā€™t come out until Dec/Jan, so which term is this admission for?

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I dragged D24 to visit Elon because on paper it checked a lot of boxes. It was a beautiful campus but the fit was just not right for her, at all. She knew that already, and now I just have to trust that she knows the vibe she wants and can eliminate places based on their website and socials.

Based on this, decided not to push for a visit to Alabama, even though it has some things I think she would really appreciate.

If I were to push getting on a plane to see a place my kid probably wouldnā€™t like, I would make sure there was a little vacation in it, so as to not completely waste our time.

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He applied directly to NEU London via the UCAS (UK schools) application. Iā€™d read that NEU London has rolling admissions but certainly didnā€™t expect it this soon.

He submitted UCAS last week and his school counselor only sent the transcript and rec this morning. The website says the process is rolling but that they first interview before making a decision.

But itā€™s definitely an offer, contingent on him affirming his AP scores and graduating with a 3.3.

Heā€™s thrilled bc he has high interest in international/London and would be happy there. And it means his application list just shrank by half!

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Ah, I see.

Happy for him.

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I agree! Kids might not fully understand what this really can mean for them until later. I know my son did not. But over this past summer when his friends were working to help pay college costs, he was sticking money in a CD at 5.2%. And we fund his Roth with money we would have used for his college costs. By the time he graduates, he should have a nice healthy bank account and a good start on retirement. He finally realizes how nice it is not to be working to pay for college, worried about loans, etc. He did not have Bama as his first choice, but now says he loves it and is very happy to not be spending money on expensive places.

Iā€™m so glad we were able to visit and that he made this decision.

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I think Bama may be easier for a boy than a girl. Bama Rush is pretty horrible and if your child is not into sororities and fraternities, it could be very hard to find a community. There are many options for NMFā€™s.

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I disagree with this statement. There are 38,000 undergrads at Bama. My son is one of them. He is gay and has made many friends (more than he ever had in high school). He is very active in the LGBT community at Bama and in EcoCar. His friends just started a Bee Club (because, why not?). Bama is like any other large public university, you get out of it what you put into it. If you make an effort, you will find your people. Yes, football and Greek life are real, but there is a lot more, too.

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My best friends son got a 35 ACT and took the massive Alabama tuition scholarship they offer. He is a senior in Chem E and now and absolutely loves Alabama for whatever that is worth.

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There was a podcast I listened to when S21 was applying and it was actually fascinating the blitz NE did go up in rankings drastically.

It could be different, but there are so many clubs and activities, it seems unlikely that someone canā€™t find something they are interested in joining. But it would be good to look through the activities there and anywhere to see if there is something that looks interesting - fencing, history, books, robotics, disc golf, etc. Or start a new club if there really isnā€™t anything interesting to join.

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Wow. It seems like many of kids are way, way ahead in the application process. Kudos. My D24 has a very rough draft of her personal statement and has made a couple LOR requests. But I donā€™t think sheā€™s begun any supplemental essays. Thanksgiving and Christmas may be busy times for her.

She did, however, recently decide on an ED school: Williams, naturally. Iā€™ve read all about the lack of any ED benefit in other threads and above in this thread. (Thanks, helpingthekid73.) While D24ā€™s got the requisite grades, rigor, and ACT score, Williams ED still feels like a hail mary.

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e-mail marketing is kind of expected in this day and age from schools such as NEU and Case but sending physical mail and that too 4 different versions of the same thing multiple times a week is kind of strange and beyond stupid (at least to me).

@citivas - i hear you regarding Case stretching this spamming well beyond the typical application season. I guess this kind of marketing works for folks outside of CC especially if they havenā€™t been through this process before.

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Best of luck to her! I remember that Williams was your personal #1 choice, and you were hoping sheā€™d give it a chance. And donā€™t give up all hope for ED. My son applied ED and is starting his third year now.

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