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<p>Same with my D! I reminded her that she could go to the Ambler campus. I think she would be fine going for an Accounting or HR degree - both of which she could complete at Ambler - but she won’t even consider Temple. </p>
<p>Of course, @sally305, that was my point! Sorry if I wasn’t clear on that. There are (relatively) liberal campuses in the South and (relatively) conservative ones in the North. My feeling was that a boy who grew up in a (wonderful!) “Quaker bubble” should give both a closer look because college is the time to step out of your comfort zone and put that liberal education (as in arts not politics) to the test. </p>
<p>@halfemptypockets, I think it’s just the whole “anybody can go there” mentality (and a hefty dose of misplaced pride). My son kept arguing that only the “stoners” at his school went there and I had to remind him if a kid really was a stoner, he likely wasn’t getting a full scholarship! Temple has a lot of great programs–their arts school and theater and music departments (among others) are top notch.</p>
<p>@anxiousmom My S assured me that he had no interest in Rice and was certain he wanted to go to school up North, until the first time I took him to the campus. It was love at first sight, and he became determined to get in from that moment forward. He is a freshman there now and loving it. </p>
<p>I just want to add that I don’t know where you live in Texas, but we find the Houston weather to be comfortable by comparison.</p>
<p>^^^I don’t think that’s the case with my D since most of the kids she knows who chose Temple chose it because it’s free or very low cost for them, not because they couldn’t get in anywhere better. She has told me she’d prefer to commute to St. Joe’s or Drexel if it came down to it. Since it’s very likely, but by no means guaranteed, that those two schools will give her plenty of merit, this crazy mother insisted she have a sure thing that is also close to home. So she put two satellite campuses on her PSU application. </p>
<p>Looking forward to hearing what she chooses @halfemptypockets! </p>
<p>We (perhaps crazily) visited over 20 campuses, starting after sophomore year in high school. Initially S was interested in pursuit of engineering programs, but waffled a bit toward premed slant during senior year of high school. Also particularly enjoyed AP Econ, in addition to the hard core AP math/science courses. So bottom line was that S’s final list of schools narrowed down to schools that would support his exploring a bit and trying to figure out exactly what he wanted to study. In the end, S got into a number of excellent schools (U of Mich Engineering, Purdue, Case Western, Haverford, Centre), but opted for Tulane after being fortunate enough to receive a full-tuition merit scholarship.</p>
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<p>Ditto for my D’15. For some reason, being good at math and science seems to immediately put engineering to mind. Once she became aware of other options (currently she digs epidemiology and neuroscience), she decided to keep her options open and not apply to any engineering schools where she couldn’t switch easily.</p>
<p>As an aside, Temple is the full tuition “safety” she chose to apply to, over Alabama and potentially Miami (OH). She spent a week there doing an engineering program and really liked it, and Philly.</p>
<p>My oldest son first heard about Ivy League schools when he was in sixth grade. His math teacher told him that he had the smarts to study at one. So, he focused all his attention on getting into an Ivy, Duke and MIT. He also applied to Wash U, because his AP English teacher was from St. Louis and told him what an awesome school it is. He appl;ied there and got in – just did not get enough money to go. Meanwhile, all we heard was Ivy. Well, he got two waitlists from the Ivies and another from Duke.</p>
<p>He went to his safety school, the U. of Alabama, and he just loved it! He called home two weeks into school and said that he could not have gone to a better place. Not only did he develop an incredible love for SEC football, but he graduated debt-free (he was National Merit) with two majors and two minors. He studied all over the world. Headed six different campus organizations. Now, he’s at UVA Law on a full tuition scholarship. BTW, it was not his first choice, either. Again, he wanted an Ivy or Stanford. It did not happen. And yes, he truly loves UVA (which is our state flagship).</p>
<p>His kid brother wanted to go to Alabama from the first moment he stepped on the campus as an eighth grader. He even sat down with the Dean of the Honors College as a sophomore to learn about all the options available. But truthfully, he just wanted great football! We told him he needed to score 1400+ on the reading and math to earn a full tuition scholarship. He thought he would do it. But something strange happened. He decided at the start of his senior year that he wanted to run cross country and track in college. He would need a miracle just to walk on at Bama. He also needed that SAT score. So he looked at other schools. Liked a lot them. Got great merit money, and he chose UAH, a D2 program. Not only is he running there, but his SAT gave him a full tuition scholarship.</p>
<p>BTW, he took the SAT twice in his senior year. Both times, he fell short of that 1400 mark by 10 points. But, he is very happy at UAH.</p>
<p>@sally305 , </p>
<p>DS1s list was a surprise. His story is that he had fairly strong feelings about where he didn’t want to apply, but not so many about where he did. He loved Bama, and we knew that with outside scholarships and NMF, he would have, basically, a full ride. Having that security lifted most of the stress of his app year.</p>
<p>When DS1 was in first grade, he read about Harvard in Schott’s Miscellany and informed us that was where he wanted to go to college. We smiled and nodded. As he got older, though, he became increasingly annoyed by a Harvard Alum/Parent of a classmate who seemed to be personally competing with him all the way through school. It was super creepy. So, by 10th grade, she got her wish, and he was certain he did not want to even attempt to attend the same school as her child and have to put up with her competing with him all the way through college, too. </p>
<p>In 10th grade, DS’s sights turned toward Cambridge (UK). He spent a magical six weeks at a summer program at Cambridge. Loved almost everything about it. Three problems: 1) He hates Cilantro, and the chefs in Jesus College evidently used it liberally on almost every meal. 2) He “couldn’t get a decent orange.” (He loves his citrus. LOL). 3) No grape jelly. Anywhere. So, he determined that Cambridge was not a good dietary fit, and moved on to Yale.</p>
<p>Junior year, he got a scholarship to attend Yale GS summer program. First, though, he spent some time with East Coast friends whose mom was a Brown Alum. They could not believe he didn’t have Brown on his list and convinced him to visit before he left New England. We knew almost nothing about Brown. I had visited briefly when I was pregnant with DS1 and my husband was speaking there. DS had one HS friend who was there. The End. Not on the radar.</p>
<p>When we visited Brown, DS happened upon a creperie off campus that served the very type of crepe he had fallen in love with at Cambridge, sans the Cilantro. Brown immediately moved to the top of his list. Then, he went to the Yale program. He LOVED Yale. GS was his heaven. He was not a fan of New Haven, though. Also, two of his advisors at Yale were Brown grad school students and he was fond of both. By the start of senior year, Brown–a school that wasn’t even on our radar until July–was his first choice, Yale was his “backup school” (an illogical conclusion that you can justify when you’re 17 and REALLY like your safety), and Bama was his safety that he loved.</p>
<p>If he had had his way, he would have applied to those three schools. That’s it. I forced him to apply to more schools because I had NO idea how things would work out, or if he would regret not applying to other schools later, or how he would change his mind…or find out that a favorite food was unavailable at all three schools, etc. I had NO idea how the process worked. So, he EA’d all four non-binding Questbridge schools, including Yale and was deferred in EA, denied in RD to all four. He didn’t care. He knew all along that he was only going to Brown or Bama.</p>
<p>He had 10 schools on his RD list, but decided he didn’t want to waste his Christmas Break on any more “pointless” applications and applied to six. When decisions came out, he had acceptances to Brown, Bama, Duke, UVA and BU. He went to Duke and UVA for Accepted students, but it was always just Brown and Bama for him. Bama tossed an additional Fellowship and scholarship his way on May 1st, which really threw him. He got an extension until May 6, and finally decided on Brown (where he was concerned about the financial package, but it all worked out, in the end). He goes to the creperie about once a month now, though he really enjoys the dining hall options and thinks that Brown is heaven on earth. It’s a pretty great academic fit for him, too. ;)</p>
<p>@momreads </p>
<p>Absolutely loved that story. Thanks, and there’s a lesson there.</p>
<p>Post #38, DragonBoatGirl, I can’t resist replying, though I recognize you did not ask for a solution. Take it or leave it :). Easy one! Look to Wellesley or MIT. Both have excellent Financial Aid- especially if you <em>really</em> need it (under $75k AGI). They have regular bus service between the two campuses and liberal cross-registration. Sloan has excellent classes reaching into the UG curriculum, which she could access from Wellesley through cross-registration or (obviously) from MIT. Alabama is fine, but it will be a culture shock.</p>
<p>Both my kids decided to do their entire college education overseas. We learned that it is cheaper and the programs are more focused in Europe. Fortunately, they will be in the same city, though different schools. It was not my choice, but I am very proud that they made up their own minds, and want to be near each other.</p>
<p>My parents were more surprised by the list of schools I had been admitted to! </p>
<p>Do any of you consider the college costs at this point in the game? Here’s an article that encourages this: ■■■■■■/1r1ZIs1</p>
<p>Dear PaddyMum, do you mind telling us which schools , what are they studying and at what cost?</p>