@Sapphire_G Hartwick came through tonight and you were right. $34K a year in merit which makes them the most affordable so far. Makes sense for the school given where they fit overall among the schools he’s looking at.
We’ll definitely be making a trip to check that one out in person. If it looks good in the dead of winter in upstate NY, it can only get better from there. 
I’m from NY originally (Kingston/Pok, college in Potsdam - very rural town waaaay updated, work near Binghamton). One of my cousins attended Hartwick years ago and liked it. There is a lot to be said for going to college in a small town, if the student likes that vibe as I did. Good luck!
@ububumble That brings a smile to my face. I thought very strongly that they would be generous. I know two girls from the HS class of '20 that attend now and through my daughter, I’ve heard that they like it there. They both received good merit and that influenced their decisions. Different personalities too. One quiet and the other outgoing. Worth a visit if you can swing it. My feelings are that if a college looks reasonable in Feb than it’s probably pretty good in the spring & fall.
I just wanna say…I love this thread. 
I pop in for updates every few days. So happy for you and your son @ububumble!
Hi, this is really a reply to the Xavier/Jesuit questions from a while back. Congrats on all the great acceptances so far!
I can’t speak to Xavier specifically but have experience with 3 other Jesuit schools. I agree that the Jesuit philosophy is more service-oriented than religious-faith oriented, if that makes sense. It is also very open and accepting, and yes, liberal. It is my experience that at Jesuit schools, there is a presence, as in symbols (crosses, Christmas trees, chapel, priests) but not a pressure. The Jesuit-ness is really most apparent in the visiting process, IMO…but the student experience is more a “it’s here if you want it” kind of thing, and fades into the background for those who do not partake, and there are many who do not partake. I believe all Jesuit schools do have a religion class requirement, which can vary from “world faiths” or philosophy, for example, (or Georgetown has a 'do dogs go to heaven class, I kid you not); it is not about classes whose purpose is to convert anyone. These can be checked out during the decision making process, what the religion core requirements would be.
Sounds like your son is well on his way with his list, but thought I’d provide some input on this loose end, if the Xavier WL comes through and this is a factor that you have to figure out quickly!
@TS0104 thank you for that! Completely makes sense to me based on my limited experience through this search. It would be the right kind of environment for S21.
But one of the things we discover through this process is that there are a number of “right” environments for our kids. And I’m so thankful for that!
And @lisabees your quick comment just made my day. It’s the little things these days…
Another update here.
College of Charleston was a deferral to RD yesterday. Frankly that’s better than we thought he’d do–we were planning on a denial or waitlist.
So the only school left to hear from is Salve Regina. And he really wants to hear about this one. It’s been a top contender for him from the start. When they went TO for education majors he was thrilled. We should hear from them in the next two weeks.
In the meantime, the quarter ended here and S21 continues to kill it. He’s going to finish with 2 A’s, 1 A-, 2 B’s and 1 B-. It’s the best he’s ever done and the A’s are in physics and environmental. I think he’s on the right track with a science focus.
But the best part of these grades is the B-. Last weekend that teacher loaded in all of the quarter homework grades and the B- he thought he had dropped to a C+. Every year until now, he would have shrugged and moved on. This year he got pissed and took the optional quarterly test (which allows them to drop the lowest test grade of the quarter) so that he could bring it back up. THIS is progress. It’s not about the grade. It’s about his ownership of it and an inner drive to achieve something specific.
This coming week the basketball season will end and then we’ll make some plans to visit some campuses.
Latest scoreboard:
6-0-2 record
9 applications
6 acceptances
Western New England with $15K per year in merit
Roanoke with $1K per year in merit (basically nothing, the $ was for touring)
Wichita State (doesn’t want to invest in starting his student email there to see what any merit was–why must they make it complicated?)
Keene State with $4K per year in merit
LaSalle with $12K per yer in merit
Hartwick with $34K per year in merit
1 deferral
College of Charleston
1 waitlist
Xavier
Onward!
You guys!!!
We received the FA letter from Roanoke today and the need based aid brings us within a couple thousand dollars of all the other schools! This is huge!
It was getting tough around here for my hub and I to stay as positive about the school when it was coming in 2X some others. We can now fully embrace the visit he’ll make and hope he continues to love it as much as he seems to right now.
For those who might be in similar circumstances–here’s the situation. We’ve been full pay (except merit) for older son for three years now. We were able to save quite a bit over the years and income was high. The last couple of years income has wavered quite a bit as I’ve made a career change but the savings always made up any difference according to FAFSA. A few years of eating into that savings for life and college, along with 2 in school next year puts us in a category of receiving aid finally from a school that didn’t offer him merit–to get us close to our EFC.
We could have swung the whole amount but would have had a very hard time agreeing to that given some of his other choices. Again, it seems to be a great school. But worth 2X the others? Not sure anyplace is worth that–I’m a big believer in “college is what you make it, wherever you make it”.
I recognize there is variability I need to assume for years 2-4 once S18 is out of college and income stabilizes.
But for today…we dance!
Congratulations!! That’s really good news, indeed.
Great news - keep us posted!
My son graduated from Roanoke last May. COVID prevented a real graduation ceremony, so the class of 2020 will have a proper graduation this May. I love Roanoke College. I’m looking forward to going down this May and watching my son walk across the stage.
Best wishes to your son wherever he lands!
@123France wishing you and your boy the ceremony he deserved. These rites of passage matter.
We just booked our trip to check it out. Headed down in two weeks and really excited to see it.
Salve Regina is a no.
He’s got a good perspective on it. It always been one of his top schools in terms of his interest in it. But as other options have come in, he’s started talking about what those schools have for him that Salve doesn’t. And his first comment to me was “Well, I had to start figuring out why some of these don’t work anyway. This one doesn’t work because they won’t let me in. 
” True enough, my friend, true enough.
I had been downplaying Salve for a while because, even as a great school, I was growing less and less sure it was a great school for him for a number of reasons. Good to know they felt the same way.
So he ends the first part of the season at 6-1-2.
6 acceptances–in order of net cost low to high–$10K/year swing from top to bottom
Wichita State
Hartwick with $34K per year in merit
LaSalle with $12K per yer in merit
Keene State with $4K per year in merit
Roanoke with $1K per year in merit (basically nothing, the $ was for touring) plus financial aid to bring them close to EFC
Western New England with $15K per year in merit
1 deferral
College of Charleston
1 waitlist
Xavier
1 denial
Salve Regina
February break this week brings us a 1/2 day virtual visit at Hartwick and an in-person visit to Roanoke. After that we’ll see if he needs/wants to see anything else in person.
Report back on his impressions from this week if you’re inclined. Sorry about Salve Regina but I’m going to say no great loss. I’ve known a few students that went there in recent years and some have transferred and the others don’t give it a ringing endorsement. Every student is different of course so I don’t like to make blanket statements but he has other great choices.
Having a few good options to choose from is really what we all want. Congrats to you both.
This thread makes me so happy! You did such an amazing job finding the right schools. My D19 and D21 were both 3.9 type students, but I have an S23 who had a very hard start to high school and I’m stressed about his college journey. First semester this year was terrible but he is still above a 3.0 for now. You have me inspired for sure! He says he wants to stay in FL for college because ehe loves fishing haha but I want to at least have some options like you guys. Congratulations and have fun visiting to find the perfect match!
@momtogkc I’m so glad you find it helpful. What I know for sure is that who they are as sophomores is not who they are as seniors. True for every kid but particularly for those who had a hard start.
There were a number of schools in FL I would have pushed S21 to tour virtually because I heard great things about them from his EF coach but he’s not a hot weather person and nixed anything in the far south from the very start.
Wishing your S23 the space and grace to find his way through high school and figure out the next right place.
I just read this entire thread and need to say “thank you” for sharing your son’s (and family) journey. Like you, my older d18 and my s23 are so different. Based on your son’s journey, I am going to suggest a couple of the schools that were mentioned. I wish there were more “real” threads like this for our wonderful kids. Good luck with everything.
@nidaco oh my! I’m so glad this is helpful to you. Should you want any additional info or if you have questions about schools that weren’t mentioned here, just reach out. I did a lot of research on schools that never even made it to this thread.
So many great options out there. Good luck!
Congratulations on the wonderful results thus far! FWIW when my S got rejected from a school he said he felt good knowing that he stretched himself in his applications!
You guys have had so much good news (deservedly so) that the Salve rejection is a minor bump in the road - their loss.