Good News for Dan! *Update Page 5* Just heard from Carleton

[PoohBWV]

Julie: I really hope that Dan goes to Waterloo. It is an excellent school and he won't be so far from home.

My dd has a friend who dearly wants to go to Brock. He hadn't heard anything and the date for sending in residence applications rolled around. He didn't know whether to send in his deposit there so he called admissions and they told him they didn't know either! At least if he got a letter saying one way or the other he would know. I can't believe the stress these kids are going through.

 

[Tink42]

DD's friend is still waiting to hear from one more university. So far he has only been accepted at Laurentian and he doesn't want to go that far away. He has an 86 average and wants veterinarian school. He is so stressed out waiting.

 

[TimNDansMom]

Thanks for all your comments. I'm glad that we are not alone in all this. Yes, the stress is getting to be unbelievable. The deadlines are getting too close for comfort, not to have all the information available to make an "informed" decision. Last year we went to Seneca and Dan was very interested in their computer programs, but then changed his mind about going to college. I wish I had now had him apply there too. He said all his friends are in the same boat with the waiting.

Lisa, how did you get a reply from the colleges so fast?

 

[TimNDansMom]

I guess I spoke too soon! I just went out to the mailbox and there was package each from Waterloo and Carleton and a letter from Western (which, I guess will say "refused").

I can hardly wait for Dan to get home from school to see what the packages say! I just checked the Carleton website and still no change to the "decision pending" on his second choice but maybe there's something in the package.

 

[DisneyLisa]

Good Luck to Dan, Julie. It is so stressful, I know. DS was lucky last year...he got accepted to WLU, Western, Carleton & Ottawa U. very early. But he waited until the end to find out he didn't get accepted to Queens (his 92% average just wasn't good enough for their Commerce Program even though we know of someone who got in with an 87%). Luckily he had already decided on WLU & just wanted to see an acceptance from Queens Commerce just so he could say he got one .

As for 2nd DS Julie, we applied to the College Application Centre on a Saturday & got the acceptances in the mail from the College on Thursday...I have no idea how it was processed so quickly. I mailed his acceptance today (they want a reply by June 5th).

Be sure to post how Dan made out.

 

[NancyK]

Julie,
I'm sorry to here that Dan didn't get into Western. It's so frustrating to know that if it was any other year, they would have gotten in. At least Colin was accepted at 2 universities and was offered a $1000 entrance scholarship at each one. We haven't heard from Waterloo, so we're assuming it's a "no" (they usually have much higher admission averages for Computer Science than the other universities.) I feel really badly for the kids who didn't get accepted anywhere - even with high 70's and low 80s.

 

[minnie56]

I do wish I had noticed this thread before!!

We are in a university crisis at out house!!

My Daughter is going into Engineering...

Because of all the hype about double co-hort she applied to 6 Universities and got in to all 6...

Now, we have it narrowed down to Queen's...UofT....McMaster.

Does anyone have any opinions, experience etc with any of these??

I like McMaster (Close to home..for me)

Queen's...I think her fave at the moment...Is great...But I 'hear' things about homeless people and thus a danger living around certain residences and a high incidence of date rapes which they try to keep under wraps. Now, I know this is heresay....maybe anybody can tell me different?

UofT....Teachers are guiding her away from this one due to being highly competitive and not a 'friendly' environment

Now, I also notice the scholarships many of you talk of. My daughter applied for none.Did yours apply?? She has been awarded some from each University from The Dean based on Academic Excellence....but they are not huge. More like $3,000.One was $8,000...providing her marks remain where they were at the time of application.Just wondering.......

If anybody has any thoughts....we would be so grateful

 

[MaryannF]

DD has been accepted to UofT, York, and Trent. She got a scholarship from both York & Trent. She has decided on York (they offered the larger scholarship, but that was not the deciding factor). I think she is afraid to leave home in case we plan a Disney vacation without her!

 

[minnie56]

Since this morning U of T has been ousted and Waterloo is back in the running!!

Oh what to do!!!???

 

[DisneyLisa]

My vote would be for Waterloo

 

[NancyK]

I think any of them would be fine. Waterloo has a good reputation.

 

[Tink42]

Minnie56,

I also vote for Waterloo for you DD. I'm biased because I live in Waterloo, but I think it is a great city for students. Everything they want is fairly close to the two universities, there is lots of housing when they get into 2nd year and U of W has a great reputation.

 

[NancyK]

Decisions, decisions.... We were sure that my DS DIDN'T get into Waterloo because he just missed the cut-off for Western and Mac (and usually Waterloo is a bit higher). Low and behold, the package from Waterloo comes today. I'm ecstatic because Waterloo is so much closer than Ottawa. DS thinks he would still like to go to Ottawa. So - guess we're taking another tour of Waterloo this weekend so he can make an informed decision by early next week. Poor kid is only 17 until his birthday in Dec. - it's a pretty big decision for someone that age.

 

[DisneyLisa]

We'll have to swap sons NancyK...I'll take care of yours in Ottawa & you can take care of mine in Waterloo . Seriously, I hope your son chooses Waterloo...it'll make life so much easier for you. Good luck this weekend.

 

[PoohBWV]

Nancy: I know what your saying about your son's age. I have two double cohort kids - my OAC dd just turned 19 and my Grade 12 daughter is your son's age, 17 until December. My 17 year old has been accepted everywhere she applied, but doesn't want to go now. I can see how scared she is and the pressure of it all is really bothering her. She may end up waiting a year and applying again next year. We've told her that she shouldn't be passing up these opportunities, but she is getting really depressed about the whole situation and I am finding it really difficult to push her anymore about it. I thought that if she went to the same University as her sister, that she would be more comfortable, but she says no, she doesn't want to go next year and is not sure she wants to go at all! She has a 92 average and it drives me crazy to see her passing this up, but in the end it is her life. Anyone have any advice?

 

[Tink42]

My DS is in Gr. 11 this year. He turns 17 at the end of the year so he should be graduating next year and going to university at 17 but he decided in grade 9 to take 5 years. He still doesn't know what he wants to do and this allows him to take extra courses to see what interests him. If he didn't do this he would be going to school a year after his sister even though there is almost 3 years between them. He has found a lot of his friends are doing this also and even his guidance counsellor thought this was a great idea.

PoohBWV, I know this is very different from your situation. Your DD has already got the credits she needs (and very good marks too). Would she go back to school for another semester or would she get a job for a year if she didn't go to school this year? Are all her friends going away this year or have some stayed behind? It is such a tough decision.

 

[MaryannF]

My DD got accepted to 3 universities with a 90 percent average and was offered 2 scholarships. She wouldn't even read the packages other than the letter that stated she got in. She started saying she wasn't going. My husband and I were stunned. She had worked hard all year to get into university and now she was saying she was going back to high school for another year. It wasn't until her English teacher took a poll of the class that she found out that everyone had been accepted to some university and she knew at least 2 dozen who were going to York. It was like a great weight had been lifted. Now she has her sights set fully on graduating high school and going to York University. The fear and uncertainty of this big step at this age was just too much. She is visibly more relaxed now.

 

[DisneyLisa]

I really feel for you PoohBWV. It's hard to make them see what they may be missing. I think these Grade 12 kids have had a tough road. They've had to contend with a new curriculum (which teachers are having a hard time dealing with themselves and have been very vocal about disliking), they've had a lot of pressure hearing about how difficult it's going to be getting accepted anywhere with the "double cohort" and I think it's really hitting a lot of kids hard. They've reached the "end" now and are scared to move on. I'm hearing about a lot of kids who are saying exactly what your daughter is. It's so sad.

I'd really try to encourage her to accept the University she likes most and pay any deposit required with the hope that she'll change her mind between now & September. A lot can change in 3 months. Once Grad & everything is over and everything settles down she may see things a little more clearly.

Good luck and be sure to keep us posted.

 

[PoohBWV]

In DD17's class of 338 who could graduated this year a whopping 170 of them have signed up to go back to high school next year. My dd has said she would rather work as she has all of her credits. We suggested that maybe she could go back and take co-op to see if she finds something else she likes to do.

I think that a big part of this stems from her voice teacher. DD has taken voice lessons for many years. She loves singing in musicals and has had many good parts, including "Sandy" in Grease which was a huge production here this year. She does both her school theatre and community theatre. As soon as Grease was over this year, her voice teacher sat her down and said "you are at a crossroads right now and need to choose between theatre and opera. If you choose theatre, I've taught you all I can and it's time to move on. If you choose opera, you need to give up doing shows for at least 3 years" The university programs dd was accepted at were all for music. Since it is classical music that she would be studying she now doesn't want to go as all that really interests her is doing broadway style shows and she is getting the parts she wants. Her teacher also made it clear to her that a career in performance is not really condusive to family life and that she herself had to choose early on not to settle down and have children.

Sheraton offers a music theatre program, but dd did not want to go to Toronto just yet. There has been a great deal of that same program being offered next year (2004) here in Chatham. DD was thinking about that program, but now she is even saying that she doesn't want to take music, because it's not going to get her anywhere. She knows she could teach private lessons, but doesn't want to. It seems like she is totally lost, and doesn't have any idea where she wants to head. I should also tell you that Windsor accepted her and her accpetance said Honours Bachelor of Arts - Undecided. We asked what this meant and were told that based on her marks she could choose her major and be accepted. And she still doesn't want to go!

 

[DisneyLisa]

Wow...that's a lot for a 17 year old to handle.