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

[PrincessKsMom]

I haven't posted in a while, but ds chose Brandeis in MA. We're pretty excited about it, though it was his most expensive option. Also a little sad as he will now be over 4 hrs away

Congrats on his choice. And hugs for you on his being so far away.

 

[PlutoPony]

We too were in the "how much of a role should tuition costs play in the college decision" dilemma. In the end, we all decided jointly that my son's first choice @ $29k tuition wasn't that much better than the very well regarded in state option @ $11k, and it just wasn't worth making making the sacrifices and taking the financial risk that sending him there would entail. He's not particularly broken up about it now, I'm probably more upset about it than he is! Like most of you, we went into this hoping to send him wherever he wanted to go (within reason) and it's disappointing to feel like we can't do that. But we're very fortunate to have such a good school in state as an option, and one that in the end he's happy about attending.

Best of luck to everyone in the coming year!!!

 

[maxaroni]

I haven't posted in a while, but ds chose Brandeis in MA. We're pretty excited about it, though it was his most expensive option. Also a little sad as he will now be over 4 hrs away

Congrats to your DS's decision. I know I hated 2.5 hrs away but take it day by day. I don't know about Brandeis but a friends DS is at Endicott and on the LAX team. He found it was a suitcase school so had a hard time adjusting. He flew home (southern NJ) a few weekends and mom and dad drove up. Finally, he spent some weekends at relatives in MA.

 

[java]

I haven't posted in a while, but ds chose Brandeis in MA. We're pretty excited about it, though it was his most expensive option. Also a little sad as he will now be over 4 hrs away

While most of the time Boston didn't feel that far away this past year, recently it felt like an eternity!

My son loves the Boston area. He has friends from many different schools.( that he met up there) I went up a few times. Boston is such a fun city to visit. I've even done there and back in a day!

Congratulations to all making their final selections!

 

[PrincessKsMom]

Hello all, hope you don't mind if I join in.
DD decided on UCF a couple months ago. She is VERY excited. It's about a 30 minute distance, which is pretty dang close, but she'll be living on campus so it should be like a whole new world!
She just got her dorm linens in the other day! Just adding to the excitement lol

Congratulations to everybody and their kiddos on their college acceptances/decisions!

Missed your post yesterday. Welcome and congrats on having survived the process.

 

[marcyinPA]

Lots of decisions being made over the weekend I see! Congrats to everyone!

We paid the deposit last night. DS will be attending Kutztown University of PA in the fall. He is thrilled!

We met with our accountant last night, and we figured out a way to cash in DS's savings bonds in stages as not to get hit hard with taxes. We have the first three semesters covered with savings bonds, grants and the stafford loan. We are going on a leap of faith for the remainder. DS will be budgeting his pay over the summer and campus work in order to save enough to help pay semester 4 and beyond, and we will start cutting back and throw more into savings as well. We have a year and a half to come with $5K- I think we can do that. We just need to be creative, and he needs to be disciplined. And then, if we need to take out a parent loan, or take money from our equity, we will if we absolutely have to.

I am still worried, because that is my nature. I will always worry. But my DS has a sense of peace- although he is a little scared (but what incoming freshman isn't?!)- but he finally feels like he is moving forward.

 

[lurkernj]

While most of the time Boston didn't feel that far away this past year, recently it felt like an eternity!

My son loves the Boston area. He has friends from many different schools.( that he met up there) I went up a few times. Boston is such a fun city to visit. I've even done there and back in a day!

Congratulations to all making their final selections!

We told him he had a 4 hr radius and it had to be near mass transit, so this does meet the criteria (well, maybe just a bit farther). I don't expect him to come home very often, but we will trek up there occasionally too. We did the back in a day thing a few weeks ago and it was exhausting!

We visited Boston last spring to visit some other colleges and we all loved it and he really wanted to attend a school up there and make the escape from NJ (He applied to 4 in that area). His best friend is going to be attending MIT, so they're both happy to be close by. He's extremely independent and will be fine, it's those of us left in NJ that will have a huge adjustment.

Thanks for the kind comments and congrats to everyone on their kids choices

 

[whoiam]

Congratulations to your daughter! We looked at UCF's theatre department very seriously for quite a while but ended up withdrawing her application. My older daughter is looking at going to UCF for graduate school eventually.

Thank you!
UCF has a very nice theatre program from what I've heard. I still can't get over how huge the school is!

Missed your post yesterday. Welcome and congrats on having survived the process.

Thank you!
Yes it was quite a process, I'd be lying if I said I was gonna miss it.

 

[disykat]

WooHoo! DS just got a scholarship phone call. 1K a year, renewable for 4 years. We weren't sure if he would be in the running since he "only" has a 3.56, so I'm happy, happy, happy!

Just had to share with someone!

 

[mom2rtk]

WooHoo! DS just got a scholarship phone call. 1K a year, renewable for 4 years. We weren't sure if he would be in the running since he "only" has a 3.56, so I'm happy, happy, happy!

Just had to share with someone!

Congrats! That's awesome news!

 

[corpcomp]

WooHoo! DS just got a scholarship phone call. 1K a year, renewable for 4 years. We weren't sure if he would be in the running since he "only" has a 3.56, so I'm happy, happy, happy!

Just had to share with someone!

Congratulations. Any money is welcome money. And if he is applying to U of Washington, I hear they are taking almost 50% of the class from out of state to get more money for themselves.

 

[disykat]

Congratulations. Any money is welcome money. And if he is applying to U of Washington, I hear they are taking almost 50% of the class from out of state to get more money for themselves.

Not UW - they don't really give merit aide. (Our older son goes there) He didn't even apply there because his grades and test scores probably wouldn't have gotten him in. UW takes lots of out of state and also TONS of foreign students. They especially have a lot of students from Japan and China. I guess UW is struggling financially and is now losing a bunch of federal grant money due to sequester.

This was a private scholarship he applied for locally. He is getting a little money from his school as well, since he chose a less selective school. (2K at entry, not renewable)

It's exciting to see any help when we thought we'd get none.

 

[corpcomp]

Not UW - they don't really give merit aide. (Our older son goes there) He didn't even apply there because his grades and test scores probably wouldn't have gotten him in. UW takes lots of out of state and also TONS of foreign students. They especially have a lot of students from Japan and China. I guess UW is struggling financially and is now losing a bunch of federal grant money due to sequester.

This was a private scholarship he applied for locally. He is getting a little money from his school as well, since he chose a less selective school. (2K at entry, not renewable)

It's exciting to see any help when we thought we'd get none.

That is happening a lot. There are about 800,000 foreign national students now coming here. GT gave us the Honors program but no money. But as an out of state student, it was still $20K cheaper than the private schools in the Northeast he got into. We also applied to about 6 or 7 private scholarships but have not heard back yet. But the books will cost about $1200 per year and the computer he needs will be another $1300. My only restriction - he cannot take XBOX to college.

 

[MerMom60_94]

Hi everyone! I haven't been on in a couple of months and was just dropping by to see what is up on the Dis. DD was accepted to all schools and, like many of you, we had to weigh out the prestige of some of the private schools with the price tags and in the end decided to send her to Framingham State College. At first I felt bad like we were basing our decisions too much on finances. Then we went to the Accepted Student Day and we were actually quite impressed with the academics. The buildings are older and not as fancy, but the campus is charming and in a good location. She will only be about an hour away and it is a quick train ride into Boston so she can take advantage of the citylife. Now that the decision is behind us, it's a weight off her shoulders and she seems like she is getting excited. Less than a month left of high school and then she moves on to bigger things!! I can't wait to see how far she goes and where she ends up.

 

[BuzznBelle'smom]

Is anyone else ready to kill their HS senior? Mine's life is hanging by a thread. Her latest is, she wants to have a Spanish exchange student this summer. Now, I wouldn't mind in principle--we've hosted before, it's a lot of fun for all of us--but she' agreed to work full-time this summer, as part of the deal for going to her pricey dream school. Plus, her brother is 16 and has a job lined up. My little two have strings camp, art camp, dance camp, and both boys are going to scout camp, at different times and one goes with Dad. Plus, DH has at least one training class that involves travel, and DD17 has officially failed her driver;s test, twice (third time is in 10 days). I really don't know what this poor student would do at our house while the kids are working and I'm schlepping. Oh, and the students arrive while she's at freshman orientation.

Add all that to AP exam stress, and she's a powder keg. And I'm ready to kill her.

 

[corpcomp]

Is anyone else ready to kill their HS senior? Mine's life is hanging by a thread. Her latest is, she wants to have a Spanish exchange student this summer. Now, I wouldn't mind in principle--we've hosted before, it's a lot of fun for all of us--but she' agreed to work full-time this summer, as part of the deal for going to her pricey dream school. Plus, her brother is 16 and has a job lined up. My little two have strings camp, art camp, dance camp, and both boys are going to scout camp, at different times and one goes with Dad. Plus, DH has at least one training class that involves travel, and DD17 has officially failed her driver;s test, twice (third time is in 10 days). I really don't know what this poor student would do at our house while the kids are working and I'm schlepping. Oh, and the students arrive while she's at freshman orientation.

Add all that to AP exam stress, and she's a powder keg. And I'm ready to kill her.

We are ready to come down on DS but for different reasons. He has chosen Georgia Tech Honors Program, has great grades but for the last two weeks he has basically given up. He is taking practice AP exams in Physics and Statistics, the class is all getting 40s and he just wants to get out of school. Teachers are giving them practically no homework. Not studying much and is starting an internship in about two weeks and does not want to work more than 5 hours a day.

Every time we go into his study room, he just says what do you want, leave me alone. More to me than his mom because I'm more of a helicopter parent and push him all the time to get good grades, study and stop playing XBOX!

They should sue Microsoft for all the lost hours of studying that darn (read that as Politically Correct, Liberal garbage) game has caused.

 

[mom2rtk]

We have a week and a day of senior stress left here. All of my son's classmates have given up and are playing, flunking exams right and left. But he's fighting for class rank. He's number 2 and could potentially end up first, or could fall out of the top 1% still. I guess ultimately it's not a huge deal since he won't flunk any classes and his college plans are all set, but I would just hate to see all that har work through the years fizzle out at the end. He has a calc test today, with calc and physics finals and an AP Stat final still to go.

But at least he's not asking us to add a foreign exchange student to the mix over the summer! I think I'll hug him for that tonight.

 

[spima3]

Oh, I wish I had seen this thread back in Sept.

It has been a very frustrating year w/ oldest DD18. Her grades and attitude started tanking back in 11th grade. She wanted to be an "actress" because it was fun. Sadly, she isn't very good, and only recently realized that. She saw no need for college in any form. So her GPA is only 3.2 with just basic classes, no AP's and only one honors. She was lucky in that she did fairly well on her SAT's, and has won a number of awards for Speech & Debate, as well as various clubs and activities.


I actually made her fill out applications and did the FAFSA "in case" she changed her mind. Then she decided she would like to attend a state school, but dorm there. The costs were still around $18K, and there was no way we could afford this, and I was not going into deep debt to fund the "experience" of dorming.

So, as it stands, she has been accepted to Penn State, local campus. She will be able to keep her part time job, live at home, and w/ financial aid, grants and scholarships, some $$ from us, will only need to borrow $3500 in subsidized loans. Probably won't need the full amount, but don't want to be caught short.

She is really very disappointed she will be living at home. ( The horror of it! ) But I told her she needs to look at the big picture.

It is hard to be 17 and know what you want to do for the rest of your life, but in today's world, unless you are going into a trade, you really do need that degree. Time will tell, at least she shouldn't have too much debt upon graduation, if we continue to make smart $$ decisions.

Now only 2 more to go!

 

[Sanchez]

Our situation is similar to many others. Final four came to Georgia Tech, Clemson, Virginia Tech and Syracuse. Clemson is the in state option. GT is a top 5-6 engineering school and if going out of state it would be preferred over Syracuse and Virginia Tech.

The real question: Do you select the out of state (excellent) option over the in state (very good) option? GT is $42-43k per year. With a merit award we would pay around $35k. Clemson is $22 per year. With the SC Lottery scholarships and a Clemson merit award we would pay around $10k. Is GT worth the extra $100k?

We put deposits on both. He needs to decide very soon. With his current attitude I may injure him prior to that decision.

 

[mom2rtk]

Our situation is similar to many others. Final four came to Georgia Tech, Clemson, Virginia Tech and Syracuse. Clemson is the in state option. GT is a top 5-6 engineering school and if going out of state it would be preferred over Syracuse and Virginia Tech.

The real question: Do you select the out of state (excellent) option over the in state (very good) option? GT is $42-43k per year. With a merit award we would pay around $35k. Clemson is $22 per year. With the SC Lottery scholarships and a Clemson merit award we would pay around $10k. Is GT worth the extra $100k?

We put deposits on both. He needs to decide very soon. With his current attitude I may injure him prior to that decision.

That's a very personal financial decision. But it's almost exactly the one my son faced. He was accepted to Purdue (top 5/6 engineering program) but also applied to our solid in-state engineering school. He got 100% of the tuition paid at the in-state option. When we got the Purdue package it would have cost about $32K a year. So only room and board to come up with at the in-state school vs. $32K at Purdue. The difference was just too much. He went with the in-state option and I supported him on that.

If he's going to an engineering school, studies hard, pursues internships and coop programs, he is very likely to get a very good job when he graduates. I just can't see taking the risk for the additional HUGE amounts of money.