<p>So I am still working on her to try and get her to apply to one or two more-
she had four a couple days ago, but then she dropped one ( Occidential- I didn't say anything to her I swear!)</p>
<p>I got her to add University of the Pacific- it has better aid than University of San Francisco which was also on her list- and it is is smaller and less expensive-
She is also applying to Humboldt- ( which sounds good- but the on campus life sounds like it doesn't go with the community & I think she would like to live on campus- their student newspaper has also been complaining quite a bit about budget cuts & while it is affordable- especially since it is part of the Western undergrad exchange-resources are good too)</p>
<p>Eckerd she applied to- I tried to get her to apply to Rollins, since diversity is one of her priorities, but I think the admission director of Eckerd came to her school and convinced her it was diverse.
Of course its in Florida- and thats a long way from home for someone that will go to Ghana, but doesn't like to walk around the block.</p>
<p>Western Washington University is her first choice- ;)- see? not saying anything about it at all worked. I was thinking it would be a good fit for her, even though it isn't in CA & has worse weather than Seattle. But its a nice school, has a strong bio dept, is a reasonable size- with profs teaching the classes & it will be within hailing distance of the Winter Olympics which she would love to work for .
I expect though that the reason why she has it ( this week) as her 1st choice is because many kids from the GTA program she is involved with attend, enough to have their own group.</p>
<p>And- she is an alternate for her Americorps program- but I am encouraging her to look for others- as well as look into things like LeapNow- which horrifies her because she thinks it is expensive</p>
<p>But the NCCC program might open up- a prereq is to turn in fingerprints- so we are doing that tommorrow at the courthouse.
However, she doesn't have any id besides her school ID, GTA has her passport because they have to turn them all in together in order to get Visas for their trip & she doesn't have a drivers license- so she wants me to come with her and tell them she is who she says she is - hope it works!</p>
<p>( her sister only applied to four schools as well & I * made her* add two of them)</p>
<p>UoP is beautiful...we took a trip there 2 years ago as a class. Wonderful campus. :)</p>
<p>Humboldt is nice...I've never been there but one of my friends may transfer there next year. You might get her to look into Sonoma...not as diverse, but GORGEOUS campus and I'm going there next fall :)</p>
<p>My d applied to 2 schools only - fortunately both were rolling admissions so she heard back early. I tried to convince her to add one more after she was accepted to the first 2, but she said she didn't want to confuse things. She knew where she wanted to go and wanted to be done with that part of the process....I guess I should feel lucky - no angst!</p>
<p>EK - We were at WWU last spring for a tour. What a beautiful area! Hope everything works out. Good luck!</p>
<p>Be assured, having lived in both places, there is absolutely no discernible difference in weather between Bellingham (where WWU is located) and Seattle! Great choice btw.</p>
<p>Well since she didn't even want to attend school in Wa- since this side of the mts is too rainy & according to her the east side of mts is too far from the ocean- I was a little surprised.
Still, since our EFC means that even if she attended a school with 100% need, we would be paying more than what we can easily budget for ( even with loans), it would be reassuring if her debt wasn't too unwieldy, that would allow her to do more internships and things summers that her sister wasn't able to do, because she needed to work for money for the EFC.</p>
<p>I also know a few people who live in B-ham ( actually they moved up here for retirement- sold their place in San Diego) & since their kids are grown they would love to have someone to keep tabs on ;)</p>
<p>We did look at Western with #1D, she applied, but we didn't visit until she was already accepted at Reed & so she knew she was going to attend.
But a good friend of hers ( actually several) was going to attend & so we went to visit to keep her company.
( oh that reminds me- I had forgotten that she stayed overnight there- Im not sure I remember where though- it might have been on campus but it also might have been with a friend of both of them who was an upperclassman and lived off campus)</p>
<p>Im glad #2D didn't go at that time, because when I was looking around, I couldn't picture #1 there & I might have made comments that she would remember for. ever.</p>
<p>( In particular I think I was rolling my eyes when we went to a bio major Q & A and the prof was comparing their dept to Yale- at the time I thought it was hyperbole & hysterical- but now I just think he was trying to impress upon the parents and students that they do some great work- it also isn't really fair to compare a public university- not even the flagship of a state that has fewer universities per capita than Nebraska- with a private college of less than 2000 that ran $45,000- if you ever think you are going to change your mind- watch what you say around your kids- they have memories like elephants)</p>
<p>I could picture #2 there though- in particular since she loves team sports & I think they even have rugby. Its a nice way to get to know other students</p>
<p>Eckerd may or may not be diverse -- D's friend went there & the pictures she sent were all of smiling blondes frolicking on the beach -- but it IS quite isolated. D's friend left the school after her freshman year just for that reason: too small, too far away from town (if you didn't have a car.) If your D prefers bigger, more urban environments, Eckerd may not be for her.</p>
<p>Do you know what she didn't like about Occidental?And... you didn't say anything like what? (D applied but hasn't visited, and it was my idea...the diversity thing)</p>
<p>Congrats on her hopefully completing her list! Was up in p-ton dropping off son after Christmas break and ate lunch with one of his best buds. A friend of his(best bud) also joined us who went to school with best bud and now attends Rollins as a sophomore. PM me if you want more info.</p>
<p>Oh no it wasn't that she didn't like Occidental- I think she would probably love it- but I don't think she thought she would get in & she wanted to save the application money
( not sure- she didn't tell me & I was almost done with the PROFILE too!)</p>
<p>D only applied to 3 schools, too. She's in at Humbolt and is waiting on two other privates. We should hear any day and we are all on pins and needles.</p>
<p>Good Luck INCA mom- isn't it funny how we stress over the older ones and the younger kids come along with much smaller less stressful lists- my youngest is only applying to two schools, one she's in with $$$ and the other will be an easy admit- no stress compared to the Berkeley kids waiting until April 1 to know whether or not they are in!</p>
<p>I wasn't so stressed with the older one.
( Im not really stressed with this one either- not about colleges anyway- once I get through worrying if she is going to fail physics and getting her set to go off to Africa & coming back healthy, then I can worry about college)</p>
<p>She was going to a private prep school with 18 kids in the senior class- and at that point I didn't know that some of the parents had hired private counselors.
However- her first choice was also a "sure thing" actually- instate public and high admission rate.</p>
<p>But I also started suggesting to her that she take a year off. Some of her friends had done that the year before- to programs like LeapNow, and had been doing things like getting their Dive masters certification and working on a sheep station ( with motorcycles)</p>
<p>We also found CityYear and while it didn't involve travel, it had other things going for it and it was a good fit for her, even though I think she would have liked to have been more on her own and not living with her parents.</p>
<p>So this one- already knew that she wanted to take a year off- they've been going to school for a long time.</p>
<p>somemom, I know! I should be feeling grateful that we'll know her destination by the end of the week rather than April, but how soon we forget! Having been on CC for five years now, the fact that she's applied to only 3 colleges has me feeling really anxious -- even though one was a safety and the other two are clear/easy matches! But kids are different with different needs and this kiddo is not a "reacher," if you know what I mean. She needs a place where she can be right in the middle, not too academic, not to easy, not to big, nor too small... kind of like Goldilocks! BTW, I didn't know you had 3 kids!</p>
<p>EK: Consider belonging to CC all these years your private counselor. You could probably teach them a thing or two, even. </p>
<p>The gap year plans sound interesting... going to have to go Google them now. :)</p>
<p>INCA- my older two were very "reachy" my younger wants a small private- has to be FAFSA not Profile, so she found one she liked, applied rolling, visited, made the cut off for merit aid and that is all she did!</p>
<p>I feel almost bereft not utilizing all my "application smarts" but I guess I actually used them well, knowing precisely what would and would not work for us financially and how to find what she wanted. Due to FAFSA/Profile her sisters went to publics and she did not want to be part of the big factory.</p>
<p>Oh, and she only added a nearby public safety so she would have two choices come April, but really because her older sis is doing grad work there and DD3 is hearing good things and might want to room with DD1- who would have imagined that sisters who complained about sharing a room as children might look forward to it as young adults!?</p>