<p>Our S didn't apply to many schools, b/c he had to have music auditions. These were smaller schools that did not offer regional auditions.</p>
<p>Applied to 4, accepted at 4. He chose a #1 early on, and it seems to have stayed in the #1 slot. They offered a very good fin aid package; would be very doable, but includes some loans in his name [interest deferred until after graduation]. All of the scholarships offered are renewable for 4 years with a certain GPA.</p>
<p>We eliminated one school [his #4 choice] b/c their fin aid couldn't come close, even though it was a generous package compared to their average.</p>
<p>We are waiting to hear this week on fin aid from the other two. There is a strong possibility that one of these other two will offer more scholarship/grant aid than choice #1. It would probably leave the same gap amount for help from us; the difference would be not having to have any loans in his name. It will be interesting to see if a better financial package will change his mind about his #1 choice.</p>
<p>My daughter has a clear first choice. We would all be ecstatic were she accepted there, but the odds are against it. She is not obsessing over it, although she is starting to pay attention to the postman's schedule. </p>
<p>After that come three schools that are all very high on her list as second choices. She would be quite happy with any of these. So far we have one rejection and one acceptance with pretty good scholarship money. Still waiting to hear from the third.</p>
<p>Next are two others from which we have not heard. They would have to offer a lot of scholarship money to temp us away from the school at which she has already been accepted. Neither is particularly known for generous merit aid awards, however.</p>
<p>Bringing up the rear are four schools from which we withdrew her applications after receiving the previously mentioned non-binding offer.</p>
<p>My DD refused to spnd any break time visiting schools, wanted only to visit places she was actually in!</p>
<p>DD was accepted last October with merit $, great to have that in our pocket, but they are weak in her sport.
Denied EA in December-mildly annoyed, but figured it was "not meant to be."
Accepted Feb to public Canadian Uni with small merit $
Likely letter to two eastern schools Feb/Mar- visited one if Feb, not interested, to "militant"
Visiting anohter this week.
Accepted with $ to a UC this week
Awaiting final UC next week.
But she has been in tears now & again that she doesn't really have a pssion when so many of her friedns are so passionate to attend school A or B. She wishes she felt more strongly about where to go next.</p>
<p>We think she may like this week's visit and hope the $ are good :)</p>
<p>My D also has a definate first choice, but based on their projected acceptance rate of 10% for those who were deferred, she's not very optimistic at this point. </p>
<p>She's been accepted to 6 schools and is waiting to hear from six more. She is very happy with one school in particular that she was accepted to, with a nice scholarship, and will attend if she isn't accepted to any of the remaining 6. I know it's quite important to her (primarily for her ego) to be accepted to at least one of these, as they are definately reaches for the most part, however, aside from her first choice school, I don't know if she would choose any of the other 5 over this one. She's still not sure if she wants to go to school in the east.</p>
<p>Someone - I'd be very interested to know what your D meant by "militant" when describing the eastern school you visited.</p>
<p>Sorry, meant to say Somemom, not Someone - I'd be very interested to know what your D meant by "militant" when describing the eastern school you visited.</p>
<p>She visited a top LAC in NY and the students were very outspoken about their opinions. While she has been in places where people have different political/relgious/etc beliefs, this place seemed to ahve poeple who were more into talking/sharing/pointing out their perspectives.</p>
<p>It may simply be "back east intensity" vs. western "laidback," people were different and seemed to have string and frequently expressed feelings about those differences.</p>
<p>I "wish" my S did not have such a strong desire for his first choice school. He applied to 6 schools...so far in at 4, awaiting financial info at 3 of those 4. We should hear early next week (tomorrow) on possible scholarship at first choice school (crossed fingers). 2nd choice has invited him to an all expenses paid scholarship weekend (interview/recruiting) in April. Interestingly, a prof from the 2nd choice school sent him a letter commenting on his interesting essay (in the scholarship app) and how he could take this interest further and with what specific profs. THAT got my son's attention. The waiting game continues....</p>
<p>Best of luck to all of you and your wonderful kids!</p>
<p>We didn't experience any waffling prior to sending in the apps. But, he did later admit that his #2 hopeful had changed from Brown to Emory. </p>
<p>I want to say that some kids have a first choice without it really being their "dream" school. </p>
<p>I don't think my son had a dream school. He felt like he could have enjoyed himself and gotten a rich education at any of the schools on his list. But, he also felt that he was able to rank them based on various factors - some of which aren't found in any college selection books. The school that topped the list simply ranked higher than the others - but it wasn't a "dream". He applied ED (binding) and was admitted and that was that. He hated shopping for a school, completing the applications, essays, etc. </p>
<p>Some kids just make up their minds with little fanfare. For others, there is a "dream" school. As a parent, knowing which category your child falls into can really help you understand their position.</p>
<p>mardad, a year after the fact, I still wonder what kind of experience my son would be having his fresman year at several of the schools he declined. So, I understand the waffling from a parent's end. Thank goodness my son loves his school and has never had a second thought about his choice.</p>
<p>With 2 decisions still pending, my son is waffling btwn his first choice school vs significant merit aid at his second choice. It will probably go down to the wire, but that's okay. I am glad that he is giving the process as much careful consideration as he is. If an extra visit to each place or extra time to decide helps ensure that he loves whichever school he ends up attending, I'm all for it.</p>
<p>We too were here a year ago. Our S waffled up until the very last minute. He visited 4 schools for accepted students days, one included an overnight dorm experience, but was still up in the air. We tried to point out that they were all excellent schools just different. Two were more competetive to get into than the one he chose which offered a half tuition merit scholarship. I too wonder how his experience would differ at either of his other top choices, however, as a middle class family that didn't qualify for financial aid the 70K or so in merit aid makes a difference. This summer he will be spending 7 wks abroad with the schools language immersion program and it looks like he'll get merit aid for some of the costs so now we are glad to have the extra cash so he can take advantage of this experience.</p>
<p>My son has been admitted to all four universities he applied to.
He has the final financial package from one, amost the full story from a second (a partial scholarship is still in play) and nothing yet from the other two (an expensive private and a in-state public).</p>
<p>for the wafflers...my friends who work in college admissions have a saying that by Halloween of their Freshman year all kids feel the school they chose is their top choice.</p>
<p>Dogs, thank you. I hope that is true. Another thing I have learned along the way is make it entirely my daughter's choice. She has the ability to see the cloud behind every silver lining, and if she does suffer buyer's remorse as we have seen some students here suffer it's not my fault.</p>
<p>I hear that some kids who attend their so called dream school, if it doesn't live up to expectations, can become quite depressed over the choice. So while Iadmire people with a strong preference I think there is something to be said for wafflers being able to see the pros and cons of all the schools and weigh it out in a way that works for them. I agree with several posts on other subjects that challenge us not to use the term "dream" or "safety" because of what it implys. While the decison about what college they attend seems formost in our minds right now we need to gain some perspective...after all imagine when its "spouse time." LOL</p>