High School Class 2013: Picking Colleges..Check in Here!

[BuzznBelle'smom]

Don't panic, it may just be a minor glitch. My DD had one over Thanksgiving--she applied early to Loyola, got all her stuff in...and got an e-mail from them, saying her guidance counselor recommendation was missing! DD e-mailed the GC right away, GC called Loyola yesterday. It turns out, the GC's rec. was on the common app., but DD had sent a separate, regular app. to Loyola, and they coudln't access the recommendation because it was attached to the common app. GC faxed it right out to them.

I told DD, I didn't think they'd hold that against her--the stuff she needed to send, all got there, and she and the GC responded swiftly to fix the problem.

Here's hoping your issue is something similar.

 

[BuzznBelle'smom]

My DD got her first acceptance! We're all so excited! Well, except DS6--he "gets" that college means his sister is going away, and he doesn't like it. She got into College of Saint Rose, which is a small teaching college in Albany, NY, and is her safety school. She'd just sent in her stuff last week, and got an e-mail from the admissions counselor saying that stuff was missing. She sent an e-mail back, clarifying (they said she needed to send her SATs, which she did last week, and also another teacher recommendation, aothough she'd sent two, etc.). The admissions counselor checked into it, and wrote back saying okay, they had everything, and by the way, she's accepted! So, she's really happy.

We have 4 other "early" choices, but one of her biggies is a regular decision, so we've still got a long slog to go. But, it's a good day in our house today.

 

[mom2travel]

My DD got her first acceptance! We're all so excited! Well, except DS6--he "gets" that college means his sister is going away, and he doesn't like it. She got into College of Saint Rose, which is a small teaching college in Albany, NY, and is her safety school. She'd just sent in her stuff last week, and got an e-mail from the admissions counselor saying that stuff was missing. She sent an e-mail back, clarifying (they said she needed to send her SATs, which she did last week, and also another teacher recommendation, aothough she'd sent two, etc.). The admissions counselor checked into it, and wrote back saying okay, they had everything, and by the way, she's accepted! So, she's really happy.

We have 4 other "early" choices, but one of her biggies is a regular decision, so we've still got a long slog to go. But, it's a good day in our house today.

Congrats!!! Isn't it a great feeling?!?

 

[ugadog99]

Congrats, BuzznBelle's mom! I just love that acceptance feeling!

 

[Christine]

My son got his first acceptance yesterday. He got into the engineering program at West Virginia University. Not a shock. This was an out-of-state safety school for him. His sister goes there and loves it. This is not his first choice but probably his #3 choice.

But man, I do love rolling admission. Send in your app, give a a few weeks, and it's over. We sent this in on November 1st, along with an app to another college for early admission. We won't hear from that one until December 17.

It's just so nice and tidy with the rolling admission.

 

[punkin]

My son got his first acceptance yesterday. He got into the engineering program at West Virginia University. Not a shock. This was an out-of-state safety school for him. His sister goes there and loves it. This is not his first choice but probably his #3 choice.

But man, I do love rolling admission. Send in your app, give a a few weeks, and it's over. We sent this in on November 1st, along with an app to another college for early admission. We won't hear from that one until December 17.

It's just so nice and tidy with the rolling admission.

DD has a friend in that engineering program and the third hand information is that he loves it and they are very supportive, unlike some engineering programs which are designed to weed people out. This one seems designed to support the kids. Take this as the third hand info it is.

 

[Christine]

DD has a friend in that engineering program and the third hand information is that he loves it and they are very supportive, unlike some engineering programs which are designed to weed people out. This one seems designed to support the kids. Take this as the third hand info it is.

Your information is accurate!!! Third-hand and all...

When we went for the orientation in March, they really tried to get this point across. For engineering majors, there is a 2 hour mandatory study hall with tutor every week. The tutoring doesn't have to be in engineering courses--it seems that most of the student use it for their math courses.

The engineering major also is "heavy" on advising and I think they really kind of micro-manage their engineering majors.

The whole thing made *me* feel really good as well as my son. He's very comfortable with the idea of going there; however, we are concerned about the tuition.

As long as he stays in the dual aerospace/mechanical engineering program, he gets in-state rates. If he changes his mind (as most kids are known to do) and goes for another type of engineering at WVU, we get to pay a hefty tuition bill. And I"m not prepared for that. And just try to tell a kid midway through college, at a college that they love, that if they change majors, they have to go to a state school. That's what would happen and it's easier said than done once someone has fit in to their college.

 

[marcyinPA]

My son got his first acceptance yesterday. He got into the engineering program at West Virginia University. Not a shock. This was an out-of-state safety school for him. His sister goes there and loves it. This is not his first choice but probably his #3 choice.

But man, I do love rolling admission. Send in your app, give a a few weeks, and it's over. We sent this in on November 1st, along with an app to another college for early admission. We won't hear from that one until December 17.

It's just so nice and tidy with the rolling admission.

Congrats to your son!

My son's top choice is rolling admissions too. He submitted his app, and got his acceptance letter in 2 weeks! Unfortunately, I don't think we will be able to afford it, but it was nice to hear back!

We are still waiting on his last application. Hopefully we will hear something soon!!

 

[punkin]

Your information is accurate!!! Third-hand and all...

When we went for the orientation in March, they really tried to get this point across. For engineering majors, there is a 2 hour mandatory study hall with tutor every week. The tutoring doesn't have to be in engineering courses--it seems that most of the student use it for their math courses.

The engineering major also is "heavy" on advising and I think they really kind of micro-manage their engineering majors.

The whole thing made *me* feel really good as well as my son. He's very comfortable with the idea of going there; however, we are concerned about the tuition.

As long as he stays in the dual aerospace/mechanical engineering program, he gets in-state rates. If he changes his mind (as most kids are known to do) and goes for another type of engineering at WVU, we get to pay a hefty tuition bill. And I"m not prepared for that. And just try to tell a kid midway through college, at a college that they love, that if they change majors, they have to go to a state school. That's what would happen and it's easier said than done once someone has fit in to their college.

Keep in mind, that at WV they will make sure he graduates (more or less) on time. That will be cheaper than paying for an extra year (or more). DD has another friend in engineering at Penn State. He is already on a 5 year plan (only taking 12 credits per semester) and his mother is afraid a sixth year is a distinct possibility. He's the oldest and they have two more to put through school behind him.

 

[ugadog99]

Woo Hoo!! My DD's internship/work based learning was approved today!! That means that she will not have to take classes from "evil man director" anymore!!

I was going to have her be the one to talk to him and explain, but then I figured why subject her to his venom? So, I am emailing him (through the system so that I have the email, if needed). She is so excited, and I am so relieved!

Now, if only that Early Decision will be positive, we'll be pretty happy around here!

 

[marcyinPA]

Woo Hoo!! My DD's internship/work based learning was approved today!! That means that she will not have to take classes from "evil man director" anymore!!

I was going to have her be the one to talk to him and explain, but then I figured why subject her to his venom? So, I am emailing him (through the system so that I have the email, if needed). She is so excited, and I am so relieved!

Now, if only that Early Decision will be positive, we'll be pretty happy around here!

That is great!! Congrats to her!!!

 

[BuzznBelle'smom]

DD got another acceptance today--La Salle in Philadelphia. It came in a big blue envelope that said, "Congratulations!" on the outside, so I handed it to her and said, "I think they rejected you." This one wasn't such a surprise, earlier in the week, they'd sent her something on their Honors program, so I figured she was getting in. And the nicest part was, she earned a Founder's Scholarship, to the tune of $21k/year. She's eligible to apply for a higher scholarship (full ride), but we won't know about that for a while. In any event, it's a happy day for us.

 

[disykat]

My son finally got his first acceptance. It was pretty clear on the envelope that it was an acceptance. Inside it had a fat envelope that he was supposed to open to find out what would come next. When he opened it, a bunch of little colored cubes popped into shape and flew out at him as a little celebration. Pretty clever, IMO.

 

[afnaechiquita]

My son got his first acceptance yesterday. He got into the engineering program at West Virginia University. Not a shock. This was an out-of-state safety school for him. His sister goes there and loves it. This is not his first choice but probably his #3 choice.

But man, I do love rolling admission. Send in your app, give a a few weeks, and it's over. We sent this in on November 1st, along with an app to another college for early admission. We won't hear from that one until December 17.

It's just so nice and tidy with the rolling admission.

Congrats to your son I'm a WVU graduate, and everyone I knew in the engineering program loved it. A lot of work, but they loved it.

 

[marcyinPA]

My DS is 3 for 3 He checked the website for the status of his application on Saturday morning and saw a green checkmark! He was accepted at Kutztown University, which is one of the larger state schools in PA. He is pretty excited. It is his second choice, with the first being the private Christian school he was accepted at, but the difference in cost is about $30,000 a year. We'll have to see what the FAFSA says in January.

 

[mom2travel]

My DS is 3 for 3 He checked the website for the status of his application on Saturday morning and saw a green checkmark! He was accepted at Kutztown University, which is one of the larger state schools in PA. He is pretty excited. It is his second choice, with the first being the private Christian school he was accepted at, but the difference in cost is about $30,000 a year. We'll have to see what the FAFSA says in January.

Congrats! My DS got his 2nd in last week (2 for 2). It feels good to have some choices

 

[ugadog99]

Congrats to everyone with the new acceptances!!

Disykat, what a cool acceptance! That's really neat, and it's something I've never heard of, either.

Well, Saturday is THE day when CMU Early Decisions should be posted. The stress is pretty high over here! We also received word that the decisions for the UNCSA group that interviewed mid November have been mailed. We are both expecting a rejection on that one, but it will still be a little sad.

If you have any spare pixie dust to send our way, I'd sure be appreciative!

 

[ugadog99]

Sigh...my DD received her first rejection today. It was to UNCSA and wasn't a huge surprise. In fact, she knew shortly into the visit that it just wasn't a great fit for her. We both expected the "no," but it still stings a bit. It's not the greatest way to start a week. Here's hoping the week ends in a MUCH happier way!!

 

[Christine]

My son just got his merit scholarship offering for WVU. He got $6,000 per year for four years so that's good. Now if he could have eeeked his cumulative GPA up another 0.2 points he could have gotten $12,500 but, oh, those religion classes were the bane of his existence!!!

 

[luvavacation]

Congratulations to all those receiving acceptance letters and even offers of scholarship! Happy kids makes a happy home!

Ugadog99, I feel for you and your daughter. Even though you didn't expect a positive response, it still would be nice to have that confirmation of hard work!

My daughter has so far been accepted to two of her three schools. Eastern IL has offered her admittance to the Honors College, with scholarship. Indiana University has offered admittance, small scholarship. We had been waiting on Purdue, and it came in an email to my DD Friday evening. I knew it was bad news when I heard her cry out and slam her laptop shut.

Purdue told DD that she has a deferred decision, pending completion of application. The email said to check her application online, which we did. It said everything was in, nothing was outstanding. We were perplexed, and there were many tears. Turns out, my daughter has been playing it cool, not admitting she really, really wants to go to Purdue, where her big sister is right now. This would explain why she was never ecstatic about the acceptances to the other two schools!

After an evening and night of distraught daughter moping about, on Saturday we received an email that too many applied to the college of study she applied to (Education), and so she is deferred until February pending review of her 7th semester grades. Why, oh why could they not have said this on Friday? And why, when Indiana University has tougher requirements, did she get in there, but not Purdue? Oh Admissions department, I wish we knew now!

DD is still upset, as she really wanted to be accepted and make a decision. Luckily, she does have all "A's" this semester, so I don't expect she will be rejected. However, Eastern keeps calling, wooing her, and recommending that she accept soon to get the best choice of housing (first acceptance, first choice). Poor daughter, she is torn.

Personally, I think the smaller school at Eastern will be a better fit, and they do have a strong teaching program. Purdue is very science and aeronautic oriented, not a powerhouse in education graduates, but big sister goes there, and DD has heard people remark how proud we must be to have such an intelligent child that goes to Purdue. It all leaves its mark.

Then there is the financial aspect. While we have been very blessed with good investments and we can pay for Purdue with no real hardship, there is still the desire to only pay the $10,000 per year for housing at Eastern, as opposed to the $42,000 out of state bill for Purdue! I want my diesel Class C RV sooner rather than later!

With eldest daughter, she is so specialized (Entomology), there were only a few schools to choose from. Education majors are offered many places. I wonder if it makes sense to go to Purdue, if a degree from there will have more prestige than one from Eastern IL, if education is your major? Gosh I wish I knew people that knew the answer to this!

Good luck to the rest of you waiting to hear. May we all have good news and lots of scholarships!