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

[Buckalew11]

Well DD received her first acceptance letter in the mail this weekend. YAY! My dumb/silly question - it mentioned nothing about the amount of merit scholarship she will receive. Do we just assume it is the amount on their web site based on her ACT/GPA?

DD was accepted around this time last year and we did not receive the full financial package info until Spring! We had an idea from the website of the merit scholarship but that was it. Honestly, $$ was due by August 1 and we were ironing out details the week before. Her college was 42K with everything (38 was the listed amount) and we're paying just under 2K with a unsubsidized loan. Honestly, that was unexpected. Merit money was 19,000 so we had a lot to come up with.

Looking at that, I would have said, "No way, honey."

Good luck!!

 

[ugadog99]

Ugadog99, DD 's number one choice this week, is Shenandoah U, with American and Desales right on it's heals.

Have you visited Shenandoah? It has been on and off our list, it seems. I really like that it's a true conservatory, but we have received little communication from them. My daughter began this summmer emailing departments of colleges she liked. All but Shenandoah have responded, and most have kept in constant contact with her. I can't decide what to do with that one.

 

[Beachbumpirates]

DD was accepted around this time last year and we did not receive the full financial package info until Spring! We had an idea from the website of the merit scholarship but that was it. Honestly, $$ was due by August 1 and we were ironing out details the week before. Her college was 42K with everything (38 was the listed amount) and we're paying just under 2K with a unsubsidized loan. Honestly, that was unexpected. Merit money was 19,000 so we had a lot to come up with.

Looking at that, I would have said, "No way, honey."

Good luck!!

That is amazing (and inspiring)! I guess we just wait until all the packages come in and then compare and decide? Now I am not sure if I should be sending them the 300.00 deposit just yet? Things have certainly changed over the last 20+ years. But I guess we will be old pros by the time the next kiddo starts this process.

 

[SydSim]

Have you visited Shenandoah? It has been on and off our list, it seems. I really like that it's a true conservatory, but we have received little communication from them. My daughter began this summmer emailing departments of colleges she liked. All but Shenandoah have responded, and most have kept in constant contact with her. I can't decide what to do with that one.

Yes, she's visited Shenandoah (during the open house), as well as all of the others. She really enjoyed the breakout session with the conservatory, where all they talked about was the stuff that she loves! She loved the beautiful campus, the welcome that we received - especially the admissions presentation (not just administration standing up there touting numbers but a infusion of administrators, students and lively videos. I have always said that schools have to grab these kids' attention, and just standing there saying WAH WAH WAH loses their attention.

I'm looking forward to Elon since I've heard so much about it's beauty and theatre.

 

[MerMom60_94]

Hi everyone! I am joining this thread late, I guess. DD started her Senior year of high school this past week and we are about to start visiting schools. She has talked about working in veterinary since she was a small child and has gone to an agricultural high school where they have animals on campus so she has had a chance to perform some minor procedures and work with the animals. She also interned in a hospital this past spring. She still is interested in veterinary but also has a couple of other areas that have caught her eye so she has a couple of backup ideas. She has decided to get her undergrad in biology since it would tie into any of the careers that have caught her interest. She is very close to us and is the one high school Senior I know that would prefer to live at or near home when she goes to college. I am encouraging her to look at all situations because a lot can change in the course of a year and by the time next year comes she may feel differently. Luckily, there are a lot of great schools in the Boston area that would meet her needs. Later this month we have signed up for open houses at Roger Williams University and Salve Regina (both in Rhode Island but not long drives for us). Also, she is going to the open house at Quinnipiac in Connecticut (about 2-2 1/2 hours away, so it is a stretch). Next month she will go to UMass Boston and Emmanuel College in Boston. I think as she gets back in to school she may pick up a few other ideas from her classmates. We had a couple of other schools we were talking about in the spring but she hasn't mentioned them lately. At least this is a start. I haven't read through the thread yet but am hoping somewhere in here there are maybe some tips for college visits. Hard to believe a year from now my baby will be off at college. She is our one and only and this house will seem empty without her.

 

[ugadog99]

We have an information session to attend in Atlanta tomorrow. It will be my daughter's first "official" college anything. Which college? Carnegie-Mellon! Nothing like starting at the top and working our way down!!

I am interested in knowing more about their Early Decision option for tech theatre kids and the meeting 100% of demonstrated need. Can anyone think of any specific questions we need to ask?

 

[SunFloridaDisney]

I haven't jumped in here yet, just reading all of your posts. My DD, my youngest of four, is also in this class. It has been somewhat of a struggle since she isn't very interested in all the college prep work. Her grades are ok, and ACT score is just average. (Yes, as another poster said, here in the midwest ACT seems to be the test of choice)

She's not at all interested in going away, and we have some very good state schools right in the area. She's fine with that, I just wish I could get more enthusiasm here!

Her sister, 2 years older, was a different story. I have gone to great lengths to not compare them, because they are so individual, though they are very close sisters. She received merit scholarships and did very well on ACT, etc. She is loving her school, which is in state, but 5 hours away from us!

Good luck to everyone, it is an adventure, and my last time through, thank goodness!

 

[marcyinPA]

Went on another visit yesterday, to Kutztown University (part of the PA state system). He loved it. LOVED. They have the major he is interested in with the concentration he wants- the campus was the right size, it was pretty, it is not too far from home (45 minutes), there is a Chick-Fil-A, a Rita's, a zillion coffee shops right on campus, they have ultimate frisbee....basically, he was like "sign me up now!".

I think it is funny when every time he steps foot on a new campus, that one is "the one"... There was only one school so far that was an absolute no- and that was Penn State Hazelton campus. He hated it- and pretty much was ready to leave when we got there.

He'll be filling out the Kutztown application today- and we'll send that one and the other state school app out this week.

 

[padams]

We have an information session to attend in Atlanta tomorrow. It will be my daughter's first "official" college anything. Which college? Carnegie-Mellon! Nothing like starting at the top and working our way down!!

I am interested in knowing more about their Early Decision option for tech theatre kids and the meeting 100% of demonstrated need. Can anyone think of any specific questions we need to ask?

How was the Carnegie Mellon session? My junior wanted to go but he was already signed up for the UCLA info session at the Westin by the airport. No way to do both. Lots of theatre kids at the UCLA session.

 

[ugadog99]

How was the Carnegie Mellon session? My junior wanted to go but he was already signed up for the UCLA info session at the Westin by the airport. No way to do both. Lots of theatre kids at the UCLA session.

The actual session was okay. Honestly, not much was presented that I didn't already know. I went through this four years ago, so I know the drill. We did find out that theatre majors have NO math or science requirement in the Conservatory. That is HUGE, HUGE for my daughter! We were told there isn't a large cafeteria but several "cafe" type places scattered around the campus for food. That was kind of cool. None of my questions about Early Decision and Demonstrated Need were answered.

When I got home, I emailed Financial Aid all of my questions. My daughter also emailed someone in the Drama Department to get some answers to her questions. I can say that CMU is most definitely her top choice. If the financial aid is right (and if she is accepted), CMU is her school.

I didn't know about the UCLA one. It isn't on her list, so I guess that's why I didn't know. How was it?

 

[ugadog99]

Late last week, I completed the Financial Aid Estimator that Carnegie Mellon has on their site. (This is different from the Calculator that all schools have to have on their website.) According to our admissions person on Sunday, the calculator is very accurate and should be used if trying to decide about Early Decision. Today we got the letter with the estimate. Holy Shakespeare! If what they sent is accurate, then my DD will go ahead with Early Decision. I knew they were a well endowed school, but I had no idea how much. I still need to have one final question answered before we begin the app, but it looks like we will go forward. Now, will she be accepted? Ehh....it's such a competitive and selective school for theatre, but on our side is that she's tech and not performance.

To all those here who kept pushing me to encourage her to take a shot at CMU, I say: !

 

[marcyinPA]

Late last week, I completed the Financial Aid Estimator that Carnegie Mellon has on their site. (This is different from the Calculator that all schools have to have on their website.) According to our admissions person on Sunday, the calculator is very accurate and should be used if trying to decide about Early Decision. Today we got the letter with the estimate. Holy Shakespeare! If what they sent is accurate, then my DD will go ahead with Early Decision. I knew they were a well endowed school, but I had no idea how much. I still need to have one final question answered before we begin the app, but it looks like we will go forward. Now, will she be accepted? Ehh....it's such a competitive and selective school for theatre, but on our side is that she's tech and not performance.

To all those here who kept pushing me to encourage her to take a shot at CMU, I say: !

My friends pay very little for their son to go to CMU. He received a lot of merit aid, but their income is not high either. His decision to go there was based on the fact that the cost would be less than any other school he applied to (including a few state schools). Oh, and the fact that his girlfriend was going to Pitt...

 

[ugadog99]

My friends pay very little for their son to go to CMU. He received a lot of merit aid, but their income is not high either. His decision to go there was based on the fact that the cost would be less than any other school he applied to (including a few state schools). Oh, and the fact that his girlfriend was going to Pitt...

That is what I'm discovering about CMU: they have a lot of aid to give. Now, everyone please send TONS of pixie dust that she is accepted. This is her number one pick, of course!

 

[ugadog99]

Just giving us a bump. Any new developments with anyone over the week?

My daughter will be working on more apps and in rehearsal this weekend.

Wishing you all a productive couple of days!

 

[MerMom60_94]

No developments here yet, but we have two open houses to go to next weekend. The two Rhode Island schools were nice enough to hold their open houses on the same day, one in the morning and the other in the afternoon. I am trying to give thought to the questions we want to ask and information we need to hone in on while we are there. DD had her first meeting with the guidance counselor this past week. I think it will be good to have him to nudge her along and provide guidance. DH and I are trying but I think she feels pressured when it comes from us and she gets stressed out.

 

[mom2travel]

DS started a few online accounts to get his application going at some schools. That is progress here!

 

[marcyinPA]

No news this week. Still waiting on DS to fill out some paperwork for the guidance office so we can get his transcript folders in. Once those are turned in, we will send the on-line apps he has finished.

 

[ugadog99]

I just need to vent a bit. My DD has put her heart and soul into her theatre department since the first month of her freshman year. I busted my rear end as parent and booster officer until the last two months of last year. (Issues that I could no longer ignore made me stop participation.) My daughter is the ONLY senior who has participated in every opportunity for all three years and is the only one planning on a tech major (only 3 students total are pursuing theatre after high school). Each year the director targets a student to be "that" kid he ignores and essentially "punishes" for being the most dedicated to the troupe and to theatre, in general.

Well guess who gets it this year? (Actually, it started in February last year and has just increased.) This is a small department, small group of core kids that do everything, but the director is so full of himself. He thinks he and his department are so much bigger than they are. I have tried (as have others who have already graduated) to get my daughter to see that this director and this "drama club" do not equate to theatre in the big world. Granted, things like this will happen everywhere, and I suppose we can look at it as a learning experience. But good grief, I'm so tired of her crying every day because of what has gone on at drama. Thankfully, she got to do a show with a different company this summer and a different director. So, she has seen (at least for a little while) that it can be better once she gets out of high school. It is just an unfortunate situation to be in for your senior year. It will be a learning experience, but when it's your child suffering, it is difficult to accept.

I do not agree with the director on almost everything he does, both as a parent and as a fellow teacher. I do want to address the issues, but I can't do that until my daughter has graduated and is away at college somewhere. I feel like I'm in an even more unusual situation because I am also a teacher in the same system. Thankfully, it's not the same school. Still, his behavior is just unacceptable. Yes, there is drama in drama. There has always been and will always be, but as an ADULT your job is not to perpetuate the drama. Simply put, he is an egomaniac.

My daughter cannot confront or stand up to him in any way. If she were to do that, he would double up his efforts to oust her. She knows she needs him until mid February. After that, if she wants to disappear from the group, it's fine. The problem, though, is that our school runs a block schedule. Her second semester she will be in class with him half of the day. It will be difficult to disappear. I forsee her staying with the program until the end, but it will be hard for both of us.

In retrospect, I now see that the students who suffer his wrath are the ones who have extremely involved parents. It seems to be some kind of power play with him. Four years ago, if I had known his pattern, I would have made the decision NOT to be involved in boosters or be at his beck and call. I didn't know, and as a result, my daughter has suffered. I hate it, but it is what it is. When this is all over, I will be expressing my observations and opinions to the appropriate personnel.

Director is at it again today. My daughter is lighting tech for the fall show. This is production week. Rehearsal began at 5:00 today. She arrived at 4:45 and he was there with an ACTOR working on lights. Never mentioned it to my daughter and never asked her to come up to the booth to help. My disdain for this man grows DAILY! I just keep saying: February, February, February, but I don't know if either of us will make it that long!

 

[donac]

I just need to vent a bit. My DD has put her heart and soul into her theatre department since the first month of her freshman year. I busted my rear end as parent and booster officer until the last two months of last year. (Issues that I could no longer ignore made me stop participation.) My daughter is the ONLY senior who has participated in every opportunity for all three years and is the only one planning on a tech major (only 3 students total are pursuing theatre after high school). Each year the director targets a student to be "that" kid he ignores and essentially "punishes" for being the most dedicated to the troupe and to theatre, in general.

Well guess who gets it this year? (Actually, it started in February last year and has just increased.) This is a small department, small group of core kids that do everything, but the director is so full of himself. He thinks he and his department are so much bigger than they are. I have tried (as have others who have already graduated) to get my daughter to see that this director and this "drama club" do not equate to theatre in the big world. Granted, things like this will happen everywhere, and I suppose we can look at it as a learning experience. But good grief, I'm so tired of her crying every day because of what has gone on at drama. Thankfully, she got to do a show with a different company this summer and a different director. So, she has seen (at least for a little while) that it can be better once she gets out of high school. It is just an unfortunate situation to be in for your senior year. It will be a learning experience, but when it's your child suffering, it is difficult to accept.

I do not agree with the director on almost everything he does, both as a parent and as a fellow teacher. I do want to address the issues, but I can't do that until my daughter has graduated and is away at college somewhere. I feel like I'm in an even more unusual situation because I am also a teacher in the same system. Thankfully, it's not the same school. Still, his behavior is just unacceptable. Yes, there is drama in drama. There has always been and will always be, but as an ADULT your job is not to perpetuate the drama. Simply put, he is an egomaniac.

My daughter cannot confront or stand up to him in any way. If she were to do that, he would double up his efforts to oust her. She knows she needs him until mid February. After that, if she wants to disappear from the group, it's fine. The problem, though, is that our school runs a block schedule. Her second semester she will be in class with him half of the day. It will be difficult to disappear. I forsee her staying with the program until the end, but it will be hard for both of us.

In retrospect, I now see that the students who suffer his wrath are the ones who have extremely involved parents. It seems to be some kind of power play with him. Four years ago, if I had known his pattern, I would have made the decision NOT to be involved in boosters or be at his beck and call. I didn't know, and as a result, my daughter has suffered. I hate it, but it is what it is. When this is all over, I will be expressing my observations and opinions to the appropriate personnel.

Director is at it again today. My daughter is lighting tech for the fall show. This is production week. Rehearsal began at 5:00 today. She arrived at 4:45 and he was there with an ACTOR working on lights. Never mentioned it to my daughter and never asked her to come up to the booth to help. My disdain for this man grows DAILY! I just keep saying: February, February, February, but I don't know if either of us will make it that long!

Please I urge you to complain. I do understand you waiting.

I have been involved in my local high school's theater group since my older son was on stage. I continued until my younger son(also a tech person) graduated and then decided to stay on to work on costumes. The director was just like your director. During a show three years ago he said something to some of the cast members and parents finally went to administration. They too waited until the show was over because they knew how he could be. He was told that he could no longer direct the show. Unfortunately the costume person I worked with was part of his team so he didn't come back.

Good luck

 

[ugadog99]

She came home sobbing last night. My daughter is NOT one to cry, ever. This is becoming a ritual now after rehearsals. She has always had chronic, severe migraine type headaches. The frequency and intensity has increased so much in the last month. She isn't sleeping and is ALWAYS in a grumpy, irritated, angry mood. Now, I will say that she is not Little Miss Sunshine ever. She has a darker personality, but not this bad! She also has had issues sleeping, but again, not this bad. Everything seems to be magnified. I do have a doctor's appointment on Tuesday to try and get this handled. Oh, and the director knows all of this, by the way.

Now for rehearsal....The director HATES it when the seniors begin to apply to colleges because it takes focus away from his precious program. He doesn't get involved in any of the college process except for letters of rec. He doesn't, or pretends, know anything about any college theatre program. Most of the senior members don't start the college stuff until January or February and even later. Well, we can't do that. We have a huge amount of schools on the list because the programs are so competitive and it all boils down to finances for us. We have had to get going and must have everything finished by November 1 for most, December 1 for some. So, it is making him furious that we are thinking of something other than One Act right now.

He has begun belittling two of the seniors in front of the cast and crew. My daughter is one of the two. Then, he started in on her about not coming to rehearsals. Now, I have NO idea what that is about because she has been at EVERY rehearsal. There was a tech work session after drama club last Wednesday. No one told my daughter about it, but it wouldn't have mattered because she was at home sick that day. She couldn't have come in because she had missed school. Two days last week she arrived a little later to the tech session due to having to go to her math teacher for help. She told the "stage manager" about this and got approval before hand. However, the "stage manager" isn't telling the crew things that the director tells her and isn't telling the director things the crew is telling her. I am just at the end of my rope with this.

We need him until all this college stuff is over. She has to stay active in the troupe until February so that she can attend ThesCon. We do have a very good theatre company in town that she could work with this year. I'm friends with two of the directors (and they totally understand this entire mess). I'm just torn on what to do and how far to take it.

She has to go in at 3:30 today to work on lights. I told her to TALK to him about all of this. I think that has to happen before I get involved. He intimidates the kids, and they are afraid of him. I understand that, but I can't do anything until she takes this step. Right?