<p>So, have you applied ED? Will you be applying RD or ED ll? </p>
<p>I've applied ED, and I'm so nervous! St. Olaf is a wonderful fit for me, and I would love to have the amazing opportunity of living, learning, working, and growing there for four years. </p>
<p>Who wants to be an Ole? I know I do!</p>
<p>S applied RD because he hasn’t been to visit. He’s very excited about the school though. We think it would be a great place for him to spend four years! Plus he loves cold and snow, which certainly helps in Minnesota.</p>
<p>I think I’ll like the cold, but I’ve been warned, by the admissions staff no less, that “Minnesota cold” is “you will want to wear long johns cold.” Yikes!</p>
<p>So, any other hopeful Oles out there?</p>
<p>D is applying RD because of need for FA. We visited last February just after blizzard and loved it. She did a super reach SCEA (FA safety) and was denied today, so STO is now the top of the list for sure. Now it’s time to buckle down and get the supplement essays done ;-)</p>
<p>I’m sorry that your daughter didn’t get into her first choice. Maybe St. Olaf will become her new first choice!</p>
<p>I really enjoyed the Interim essay (part of the supplement). It allowed me to be very creative. </p>
<p>I received my admission decision today: accepted! I also received an academic scholarship, and couldn’t be happier. I can’t wait to become part of the St. Olaf community!</p>
<p>Congrats on your acceptance and award! It must be a relief to know where you are headed. Actually, D didn’t get into her “lottery” reach, but I think STO is really first choice. If you don’t mind sharing . . . did you get a dollar amount in the decision, or an invite to come for the Buntrock weekend? Also if you don’t mind sharing, or pm for more privacy - what grade/score range are you? We’re trying to figure out about what to expect for merit aid. She did get acceptance from Willamette yesterday with 17k, so it gives a reference point. Will. doesn’t necessarily meet your need, though. It will all come down to cost/benefit when numbers are in for us.
Interim essay needs to get done over break. Also, essay tips - Did you describe the idea straight up, like a course description, or other? Actual realistic option, or off the wall, Pie-in-the-sky idea?</p>
<p>TaylorJD: Congratulations! I’m curious about your award too. My S is very interested in St Olaf, but it all comes down to merit money. He also got into Willamette with 17K and has been accepted at Knox, Beloit and University of Portland with similar $. My feeling is that it’s a bit harder to get merit money at St. Olaf. I wish they had EA because it’s going to be very hard to wait until March!</p>
<p>Whe I visited St. Olaf for an overnight visit, I learned that prospective Oles are called “prospies” so I thought it would be fitting to address you both as “prospie moms.”</p>
<p>Anywho. Here’s some info from StO’s website:</p>
<p>“Many colleges that offer merit and talent-based scholarships prescribe strict criteria with respect to a high school GPA, test scores, class rank, etc. We have found that such measures may discourage strong students from highly competitive schools from applying. Respecting the differences among high schools, we do not set minimum criteria for scholarship candidates and instead seek to evaluate a student’s academic potential on a more individualized basis.”</p>
<p>“St. Olaf seeks exceptional students with energy and initiative, independence, originality, a sense of humor, and concern for others.”</p>
<p>"Eligibility for St. Olaf Academic Scholarship awards are based primarily on academic performance in high school, and the selection is highly competitive. Past recipients have generally presented a high school <strong>GPA of 3.8 or higher and are often in the top five percent of their high school graduating class. Evidence of participation in extracurricular activities in addition to academic performance is valued.</strong> "</p>
<p>I’m sure you’ve both read all this already, but maybe it would be helpful to others.</p>
<p>About Me: I homeschool, out-of state, and I was very sure that I wanted to attend StO, and visited twice. I intervied both times with the homeschool admissions officer. I have a “homeschool” GPA of 3.8, and I have attended a local university as a dual enrolled student for my junior and senior years (haven’t finished senior year yet),also with a GPA of 3.8. I have several EC’s that I’m very passionate about, and I started an animal assited therapy program in my community with my registered therapy dog. Two of my recs were written by my university profs.</p>
<p>I was very pleased and surprised that I was awarded the St. Olaf Scholarship (8,500/year), which is dependent on my maintaining a 3.1 GPA.</p>
<p>Saintfan, I’d encourage your daughter to write her Interim essay however she thinks will tell the admissions staff the most about her. Does she want to pursue a Bio major? Why? what “problems” if any, would she like to solve? Maybe she’d love to travel to see Shakespeare’s (reconstructed lol) Globe in order to undertand more about Shakepeare’s plays and how they were performed. Couldn’t anything become a course? :)</p>
<p>However, if she feels that something more along the lines of a course description would do more to tell the admissions people about what interests her/what makes her tick, maybe she should go that route. </p>
<p>Good luck, I’m sure she’ll come away with something great!</p>
<p>Question, did your children receive 17k/year or 17k? I’m not very familiar w/ other schools’ merit money processes.</p>
<p>My S’s was 17K a year from Willamette. The downside is that Willamette is very expensive to start with, so it’s still a bit pricey even with merit money!</p>
<p>D also received 17k/year initial merit from Willamette. They do not guarantee to meet full need, but state that they skew grants towards their targeted candidates in their FA packages according to academic merit. The price is about the same as STO - I think 1k more COA. D could never go on the 17k per year alone, she will need a favorable package to attend (STO as well). We won’t know until late March, then, how it all comes out.</p>
<p>pacnwmomof2 - are you WA, OR or ID? We are from Washington - STO was different from home, but not too different. D felt really comfortable there and loved her visit. We went last February.</p>
<p>p.s. It looks like our kids could end up at the same school no matter how this all unfolds . . . too funny! Is your S looking at other similar schools as well?</p>
<p>saintfan-We are from Oregon. He’s applied to about eleven schools and gotten into Willamette, University of Portland, Knox and Beloit. He hasn’t heard back from any others yet, but of the remaining ones, St. Olaf, Whitman, Colorado College and Gonzaga are top choices. He’s kind of all over the map with his schools, but circumstances have prevented him from visiting many of his schools. Oh well, we do the best we can with the hand we are dealt!</p>
<p>Oops, I left off the last line. Where other schools caught your D’s interest?</p>