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

[ez]

Traditions wasn't open when my son was in Ragan, but my cousins daughter loves it! Says it is very nice.

Wanted to let you know my daughter did get a 2 bedroom 2 bath apt in Traditions. They've changed the way they pick now it is done by credit hours rather than priority number when you are an upperclassman. So all her IB credits made her a jr even though this is only her second semester. You are given a time slot to choose. Her roommate who started when she did, can't choose till next Monday and I think Traditions is already filled up and ragans almost. The reason I am mentioning this is, all the hard work your daughter is doing in her AP courses now will continue to pay off in ways you wouldnt have imagined So anyway if my daughter isnt offered an RA position, it's a pretty nice Plan B.

 

[BibbidiBobbidiBOO]

Wanted to let you know my daughter did get a 2 bedroom 2 bath apt in Traditions. They've changed the way they pick now it is done by credit hours rather than priority number when you are an upperclassman. So all her IB credits made her a jr even though this is only her second semester. You are given a time slot to choose. Her roommate who started when she did, can't choose till next Monday and I think Traditions is already filled up and ragans almost. The reason I am mentioning this is, all the hard work your daughter is doing in her AP courses now will continue to pay off in ways you wouldnt have imagined So anyway if my daughter isnt offered an RA position, it's a pretty nice Plan B.

That's great! I had heard they had changed the way they were assigning dorms for current students. At least she has a good backup plan!
We plan to check out Reynolds, Broward, and Gilchrist for sure next Friday at preview! Looking forward to it. Hope it's a prettier day then the rain we are having right now in N. FL.

 

[ugadog99]

We made it home from our 11 day road trip of visits and portfolio reviews but just barely! I rented a car from a local Avis because I was worried about my 2004 Trailblazer with high mileage making that long journey. Turns out, I should have trusted Lucy (my sweet old truck) to get me where I was going just like she has for almost 10 years.

Saturday night a rear tire blew on the rental. Avis was HORRIBLE to deal with in getting the issue resolved! Through the extreme kindness of the West VA Courtesy Patrol, the tire was changed and I was escorted to a safe area to wait for Avis. SIX and a HALF hours later, Avis finally gets a replacement car to me. As it turns out, the courtesy patrol and the tow truck operator both said the back tires were retreaded tires that should have never been driven. I have pictures of the tire that didn't blow showing exposed wire and a split all around the tire forming. Having driven through Winter Storm Q, it is a miracle that I didn't wreck and injury or kill us or someone else. Avis doesn't care and has been downright nasty to me. I'm not finished with them, yet.

To the colleges: Point Park was a wonderful experience. The current students are so nice, helpful, and very talented. The faculty puts the prospectives at ease and are extremely approachable. There is a new facility slated to begin work at some point. I think it looks doubtful that they will get it completed before 2017 graduation, though. Our family ADORES Pittsburgh!

We liked DePaul, too. Chicago is HUGE, but the area where DePaul is located is small and easily navigated. I think the chances of her acceptance to The Theatre School are small, though, just because of the vast number of applicants and the tiny number of acceptances. Otterbein is AWESOME! Loved it, the town, the faculty/staff, and the facilities-everything is great. Wright State stages a lot of shows, so that is always good. We really didn't have time to do anything but breeze in, interview, tour the facilities and leave for the next review, so I can't say too much about the actual school.

I'm pleased to say that I think my D has colleges chosen where she will be happy. I don't know that any one school is the "be all and end all" for her now. I'm glad we made all these visits because we wouldn't know which schools to keep and which to drop without visiting the campus. I guess we are now at the wait and see stage.

And now...the HUGE news: We received a phone call yesterday from Shenandoah Conservatory and she has been accepted!!!! This is her first conservatory acceptance, so we are flying pretty high right now. Of course, there are more decisions to come in and then financial packages before a final choice can be made, but we are SUPER happy right now!!

 

[mom2travel]

We made it home from our 11 day road trip of visits and portfolio reviews but just barely! I rented a car from a local Avis because I was worried about my 2004 Trailblazer with high mileage making that long journey. Turns out, I should have trusted Lucy (my sweet old truck) to get me where I was going just like she has for almost 10 years.

Saturday night a rear tire blew on the rental. Avis was HORRIBLE to deal with in getting the issue resolved! Through the extreme kindness of the West VA Courtesy Patrol, the tire was changed and I was escorted to a safe area to wait for Avis. SIX and a HALF hours later, Avis finally gets a replacement car to me. As it turns out, the courtesy patrol and the tow truck operator both said the back tires were retreaded tires that should have never been driven. I have pictures of the tire that didn't blow showing exposed wire and a split all around the tire forming. Having driven through Winter Storm Q, it is a miracle that I didn't wreck and injury or kill us or someone else. Avis doesn't care and has been downright nasty to me. I'm not finished with them, yet.

To the colleges: Point Park was a wonderful experience. The current students are so nice, helpful, and very talented. The faculty puts the prospectives at ease and are extremely approachable. There is a new facility slated to begin work at some point. I think it looks doubtful that they will get it completed before 2017 graduation, though. Our family ADORES Pittsburgh!

We liked DePaul, too. Chicago is HUGE, but the area where DePaul is located is small and easily navigated. I think the chances of her acceptance to The Theatre School are small, though, just because of the vast number of applicants and the tiny number of acceptances. Otterbein is AWESOME! Loved it, the town, the faculty/staff, and the facilities-everything is great. Wright State stages a lot of shows, so that is always good. We really didn't have time to do anything but breeze in, interview, tour the facilities and leave for the next review, so I can't say too much about the actual school.

I'm pleased to say that I think my D has colleges chosen where she will be happy. I don't know that any one school is the "be all and end all" for her now. I'm glad we made all these visits because we wouldn't know which schools to keep and which to drop without visiting the campus. I guess we are now at the wait and see stage.

And now...the HUGE news: We received a phone call yesterday from Shenandoah Conservatory and she has been accepted!!!! This is her first conservatory acceptance, so we are flying pretty high right now. Of course, there are more decisions to come in and then financial packages before a final choice can be made, but we are SUPER happy right now!!

Sorry to hear about the car nightmare. Thankfully you came through it all safely.

Congrats to your DD!!! She (and you) must be so happy

 

[Lucky4me]

dd was accepted so far into 4 of 5.
The 5th of course is her top choice.
She's only had one award letter from University of Buffalo. Between their merit scholarship and grants, her out of pocket cost would be minimal. I'm all for that, but UB was at the bottom of her list.

The whole process is nerve wracking.

 

[PlutoPony]

Saturday night a rear tire blew on the rental. Avis was HORRIBLE to deal with in getting the issue resolved! Through the extreme kindness of the West VA Courtesy Patrol, the tire was changed and I was escorted to a safe area to wait for Avis. SIX and a HALF hours later, Avis finally gets a replacement car to me.

Wow - that was quite an adventure. Bad tires + winter storm is not a good combination at all, glad to hear you came out of it in once piece. Good luck with Avis!

Know what you mean about Pittsburgh, my son really likes the city and would love to spend 4 (or more ) years there in school. It would be an easy decision if Pitt was less expensive, but that pesky money thing keeps rearing its head .....

 

[BuzznBelle'smom]

First, to go off-thread...Ugadogg, I had fabulous experience renting from Enterprise. I "had" to go too them last month, when my car got dinged and needed repair. I got sideswiped in the rental van, then they gave me a crossover vehicle that reeked of smoke, so they traded that for another minivan. All through the process, they were completely wonderful and helpful. So, just throwing that out there for next time, since I assume you WON'T be going to Avis again!

And congrats to your DD on her latest acceptance.

As for us, DD and I flew down to Loyola over the weekend for a scholarship reception and open house. It went very well, this is one of her top schools, but we haven't heard from the other top choice yet. DD is freaking out--she got letters yesterday from two of her other schools, one giving her $5k more/year (on top of the $22-23k they'd already offered). The other school is doing the full-court press for her to join their Honors program. She should be flattered, but I think she just feels enormously pressured. Plus, she has an ear infection, which means she missed work today and is on meds. No wonder she just wanted to crash at the hotel after our campus visit!

Lucky4me--I would hate Buffalo, just for the snow! But, I know a lot of schools do financial awards by 3/1, maybe there will good news for you guys this weekend.

 

[krcit]

Congrats to all those getting accepted to their top choices!!! Woohoo!!

We went to see Binghamton and LeMoyne last weekend. We LOVED Binghamton, just loved the whole 'feel' of the place. The people were great and I just feel like DD could do really well there. Luckily, she loved it to. It is SUNY so much more affordable. It is very competitive so we are just happy she got in and knew we wouldn't get any money from them, lol. LeMoyne was not for her. Unfortunately because they were offering her 24k a year and it is only(only..lol) 38k a year. It's small and a bit too far away, she just wasn't feeling it.

We are waiting to see if she got into Iona's Honors Program and if so how much more money they will offer. So far, they offered 17k and that is not enough. Also waiting on Siena's offer. She is very happy with Binghamton though and it seems to be the best school out of the 3 so if that's where she chooses, I will be thrilled.

Am I the only loser that got choked up on these visits?? When we were leaving Bing, I was imagining leaving her there in August and while I am SO excited that all of her hard work has gotten her to this point, I'm going to miss my baby!!!

 

[marcyinPA]

We are still waiting for financial aid packages here. We were I guess lucky ones who had to fill out verification paperwork to go along with our FAFSA. Just discovered that on Friday. So, we spent Friday filling that out and scanning and emailing it, and now we wait. Again.

I will be so glad when we are able to make a decision!!

 

[Tinijocaro]

campus visit!

Lucky4me--I would hate Buffalo, just for the snow! But, I know a lot of schools do financial awards by 3/1, maybe there will good news for you guys this weekend.

Believe it or not, we don't really get that much snow. The Blizzard of 77really gave buffalo a bad reputation. Last year we barely got any, skiers were very disappointed. This year we got a bit more but still not much to speak if.

 

[marcyinPA]

The saga continues for us. The IRS is so backlogged that getting our 2012 tax transcript that is needed for financial aid will take up to a month! They can only accept the transcript, so our hands are tied- we are at the mercy of the IRS. This process has been extremely frustrating. I hope it is worth it (financially) in the end!

 

[BuzznBelle'smom]

Thankfully, we're done with the financial aid forms and all. We just filed the final forms this week--one college needed the actual IRS forms. Unfortunately, it doesn't look like DD is getting much need-based aid, although she's already gotten some generous merit aid.

DD also got into UMASS-Amherst last week. Of the 6 schools she applied to, it's #6 on her list, so she didn't really care. She's now gotten into 5, and we're still waiting on her first choice.

 

[Christine]

Thankfully, we're done with the financial aid forms and all. We just filed the final forms this week--one college needed the actual IRS forms. Unfortunately, it doesn't look like DD is getting much need-based aid, although she's already gotten some generous merit aid.

DD also got into UMASS-Amherst last week. Of the 6 schools she applied to, it's #6 on her list, so she didn't really care. She's now gotten into 5, and we're still waiting on her first choice.

Congrats so far. I am very ready for this process to be over. It's great to know that in 2-3 weeks, all will be known.

I am having a tough time of it on the financial aid area. One school has award a small amount of need-based loans. The other schools are hounding me for my "final" FAFSA. Because I owe money to the IRS this year, I won't be able to use the automated IRS Retrieval Tool because they won't load that information in until I've paid. That sort of stinks because they've accepted my tax form and agreed on it. Not knowing this, I scheduled my payment for late March. Then, in 2 weeks, I might be able to finalized the FAFSA. All the while, the colleges are urging me to HURRY.HURRY.HURRY for the best financial aid offerings. Sheesh.

 

[ugadog99]

That really stinks, Christine! Hopefully all work out in the end, though. I hate the waiting part!!

We found out yesterday that my D was artistically accepted to Otterbein! She did get a small talent scholarship to go with her small academic scholarship, so two smalls make a medium, right?

We are still waiting on three artistic decisions: Point Park, Webster, and DePaul. After that, the financial packages have to arrive, and then maybe we can make a final decision. This has been a crazy ride! I'm hoping it will be over soon.

 

[marcyinPA]

Congrats so far. I am very ready for this process to be over. It's great to know that in 2-3 weeks, all will be known.

I am having a tough time of it on the financial aid area. One school has award a small amount of need-based loans. The other schools are hounding me for my "final" FAFSA. Because I owe money to the IRS this year, I won't be able to use the automated IRS Retrieval Tool because they won't load that information in until I've paid. That sort of stinks because they've accepted my tax form and agreed on it. Not knowing this, I scheduled my payment for late March. Then, in 2 weeks, I might be able to finalized the FAFSA. All the while, the colleges are urging me to HURRY.HURRY.HURRY for the best financial aid offerings. Sheesh.

We owe too. I wonder if that is why we are having so much trouble getting a transcript? We were able to submit the FAFSA though- I don't know. I thought our problem was due to us being chosen to be verified. All I know is that this a huge pain in the neck!!

 

[Julia M]

Just came acroos this...

two graduating from our household in May.

DfosterS19 is deciding between Univ of Colorado and Univ of Kentucky. He's making his UC visit this week and then we will know which one to send the deposits to.

DS18 has made the decision and will attend St. Gregory's University. If we send in the deposit by the end of the month, we receive $800 off the annual housing.

Subscribing now and will go back to read the threads.

UK is one of my daughters top two schools too!

Julia

 

[BuzznBelle'smom]

YES! My DD is officially 6 for 6 on acceptances! Now we just have to sort through the financial aid packages.

 

[Christine]

Good news, bad news here:

DS was denied at UVA (no suprise there that was a super reach school for him).

He was waitlisted at his #1 which was Virginia Tech so no great moods here this weekend.

He has been accepted to James Madison University, George Mason University, and we've known for awhile that he's in at WVU for engineering and honors. Can't seem to do as well in our own state of Virginia!!

We've got one more acceptance we are waiting on but it was another reach school so not even really considering it.

For my son, it now comes down to James Madison and West Virginia University. James Madison is popular here but it doesn't really have a strong engineering program so he would probably go into a different major there. Just not sure how it's going to go.

 

[punkin]

Good news, bad news here:

DS was denied at UVA (no suprise there that was a super reach school for him).

He was waitlisted at his #1 which was Virginia Tech so no great moods here this weekend.

He has been accepted to James Madison University, George Mason University, and we've known for awhile that he's in at WVU for engineering and honors. Can't seem to do as well in our own state of Virginia!!

We've got one more acceptance we are waiting on but it was another reach school so not even really considering it.

For my son, it now comes down to James Madison and West Virginia University. James Madison is popular here but it doesn't really have a strong engineering program so he would probably go into a different major there. Just not sure how it's going to go.

Just my 2 cents worth (and it's worth just about that), if he really wants engineering, VW is a better choice.

 

[ugadog99]

Congrats BuzznBellesmom!

Christine, good luck on making a decision.

We heard from DePaul this week. It was a no. It's fine because neither of us were really sold on Chicago. Rejections still sting, though.

We are now waiting to hear a decision from the Conservatory at Webster. My daughter and I are really, really hoping this one's a yes. We have received some financial aid packages from her schools and Webster's is, so far, the best. So, if you have any pixie dust laying around, please toss it this way!