Parents of the High School Class of 2017/College 2021

[AustinTink]

So just out of curiosity, how much schools did your senior apply to? Did you visit all/most of them before applying? Is there a clear favorite?

Dd applied to 5 schools (accepted to 2 so far). We visited all of them (#1 twice). Yes, there's a favorite and it'll probably be the last she hears from.

We are realizing now that he didn't apply to enough schools. Originally he applied to two safeties, two (supposed) match schools and two reaches. He got into the two safeties back in September/October and got rejected from his supposed match which leaves us worried about the remaining three. He has since applied to two more safeties and got accepted to one in a matter of three days since he was auto-admit. Nonetheless, I wish we could go back and do it all over again and apply everywhere in state that would have been a match. There are a couple of schools that pursued him heavily and he brushed them off. How I wish I would have forced those applications to happen. Of the original six schools, we visited three.

 

[bjscheel]

We visited 4 and she applied to 2. She was accepted to both. She definitely knew after visiting what her favorite was.

 

[bethbuchall]

So just out of curiosity, how much schools did your senior apply to? Did you visit all/most of them before applying? Is there a clear favorite?

Dd applied to 5 schools (accepted to 2 so far). We visited all of them (#1 twice). Yes, there's a favorite and it'll probably be the last she hears from.

Ds applied to 5 schools. He was most interested in 3 of them to start and then found out the major at one of those wasn't really what he wants. The last one he applied to only because a friend asked him to and the application was free. He was accepted at all 5. He has two favorites, but one is in the definite lead due to costs. We visited only the two that he had the most interest in.

 

[laughinplace199]

DD applied to 9 schools and she has visited all of them. Her favorite was a reach, she applied ED, and was deferred. The other 8 schools are a mix of reach, possible, and likely. She won't hear from any of them until late March/early April.

 

[aprilgail]

So just out of curiosity, how much schools did your senior apply to? Did you visit all/most of them before applying? Is there a clear favorite?

Dd applied to 5 schools (accepted to 2 so far). We visited all of them (#1 twice). Yes, there's a favorite and it'll probably be the last she hears from.

My daughter applied to 15- she has been accepted at 8 of those and wont onow about the other 7 until april 1st. We visited all the ones in Boston and most of the ones on NY-we are visiting two other in ny in march. We are not visiting u of tampa or u of southern california unless they give her some big financial package and may actually go there.

 

[robinb]

The big news around here this week is that DS finally got his license. He has had his permit almost 2 years and it was due to expire in April. He was just too busy before with school, after school activities, summer jobs etc. that he never had time to complete the driving hours. Glad that it's done.

It's interesting to see what people consider big graduating classes. DS will graduate with about 80 so 400 seems big to us.

To answer a PP, he applied to 6 schools: 1 safety, 2 match, and 3 reach. Haven't heard from any yet.
Eta: We visited 3 of them. We have also been to the areas/ cities where 2 of the others are located. He has two favorites, but both are reach. He did really like the safety school, though.

None of them? Even the safety schools? You must be beside yourselves. Sending good vibes your way.

 

[lovesdumbo]

My DD originally had 8 schools on her list last year. We visited 7 of them. One she wrote off without visiting. Two she wrote off after visiting. She applied to 5. Two of those applications were safety and free, two were match, one reach. She got into all 5. We are on a trip right now visiting two. We did Penn State first. I can see why folks love if there but she just wasn't feeling it. We are at Oswego now. She's doing an overnight with a student tonight. I think we will give admissions office signed papers before we leave tomorrow.

 

[robinb]

I *thought* we were going to visit 3 more schools, but we're down to only 2. I asked my DD to choose a date to see IUPUI and she said, "I'm not interested in IUPUI any more." WTH? They are giving you in-state tuition and suddenly you're not interested? Without even visiting? I think she's putting all her eggs in the Iowa State basket now and we won't visit there until April. We'll still have time to visit IUPUI after the ISU visit if that doesn't go well but I wanted to get it done sooner.

 

[piglet too]

We visited two schools last year, Cornell College and Creighton University. Both were part of a trip we made for DH work. DS fell in love with Cornell after that visit and didn't like Creighton at all. (DD14, really liked Creighton though and it's on her list right now.) DS only applied to Cornell, but had planned on applying to two state schools; Eastern Illinois and Illinois State. His heart was really set on Cornell though and while waiting decided he'd rather go to community college for a year and transfer, then go anyplace else.

Interestingly, my older DS also only applied to one school. He filled the application out in September, and was accepted by late October so felt no need to apply elsewhere.

 

[v.t.]

Both of mine applied to 2 schools. They were auto admits for the school they will be attending. DS1 applied to another just to see what the scholarship would be, DS2 wanted West Point but was denied because of medical reasons. We did visit WP. They have visited many colleges through their high school extra curricular activities so they knew what they wanted before applying.

 

[mamacatnv]

We paid my DD's first acceptance fee and signed a housing contract! She applied to Iowa State at my urging and was accepted in less than 24 hours. As an out of state student in the top 25% of her class, she'll receive a merit scholarship which brings the tuition down to a reasonable level (about 50% more than the UW-Madison, but with cheaper housing). They have a very good Kinesiology department and a very active Greek community on campus. We are planning on visiting in early April for their special Freshman Greek Visit Weekend. Almost all of the fees are refundable by May 1 if she changes her mind but it gets her in line for dorm selection.

Yeah for your DD, that kinesiology will come in handy for her future plans.

So just out of curiosity, how much schools did your senior apply to? Did you visit all/most of them before applying? Is there a clear favorite?

Dd applied to 5 schools (accepted to 2 so far). We visited all of them (#1 twice). Yes, there's a favorite and it'll probably be the last she hears from.

DD visited a ton Amherst/Boston, Texas and the San Francisco Bay area as well. Funny, most of the schools she visited she did not apply to. She ended up applying to schools she had never seen with the exception of Berkeley.
We just returned from a visit to Univ Minnesota Twin Cities where she has been accepted. She loved it and it completely changed her on the fence mindset. She really loved it, she did not want to come home. I froze LOL brrrrrrr

DD has applied to 5 - been accepted to 4 of the 5 and still waiting on Berkeley.

DS sent two new applications this week to schools he had not previously considered. Never thought we would doing this in February! Thanks a lot, UT.

Where did he send app's? DD did this with Corpus, it was a last minute and the only downside was no eligibility for merit or scholarship due to the missing the December deadlines.

We are realizing now that he didn't apply to enough schools. Originally he applied to two safeties, two (supposed) match schools and two reaches. He got into the two safeties back in September/October and got rejected from his supposed match which leaves us worried about the remaining three. He has since applied to two more safeties and got accepted to one in a matter of three days since he was auto-admit. Nonetheless, I wish we could go back and do it all over again and apply everywhere in state that would have been a match. There are a couple of schools that pursued him heavily and he brushed them off. How I wish I would have forced those applications to happen. Of the original six schools, we visited three.

This is where we began to consider a GAP year to reassess.

We returned from Minnesota last night. I froze my hiney off and DD loved every second of it. We also learned that they are still in the process of assembling merit/scholarships so we really have our fingers crossed. Of all the schools she has applied, I really do think UNM is the best fit for her. Hofstra is still in consideration as they have thrown some decent merit her way but it would be a completely different education. She will have to make a decision as to what kind of education she really wants and honestly, I think she will go with Minnesota.

 

[SmallWorld71]

None of them? Even the safety schools? You must be beside yourselves. Sending good vibes your way.

He applied regular decision to all, so he will find out in March. Of course, now he is wishing he applied early decision to at least his safety school so he would have some kind of acceptance. He should have applied early to his top choice (binding if he had done so) and his safety, but felt he wasn't ready. Oh, well.

 

[sksjasams]

DS applied to 6 schools. We had visited 4 before he started applying, and he only ended up applying to two of the ones visited. We visited one more last week, and hope to visit another in late March when he has his next day off from school. He has said he doesn't want to visit the last two.

 

[robinb]

We returned from Minnesota last night. I froze my hiney off and DD loved every second of it. We also learned that they are still in the process of assembling merit/scholarships so we really have our fingers crossed. Of all the schools she has applied, I really do think UNM is the best fit for her. Hofstra is still in consideration as they have thrown some decent merit her way but it would be a completely different education. She will have to make a decision as to what kind of education she really wants and honestly, I think she will go with Minnesota.

I'm sending pixie dust your way for $$ from Minnesota. I thought that UMN had the best tour.

My DD contacted the admissions counselor from the College of Education and Human Development at UMN. She wasn't very encouraging but asked my DD to send her semester grades. My DD sent a letter of continued interest and an update along with the grades. I think that UW Madison is now her top choice (she also sent a letter of continued interest and grade update to them too) with Minnesota and Iowa State tied for second.

 

[J'aime Paris]

DD was not accepted for the dental scholars direct admit at Marquette. We knew it was a long shot, but hoped for it of course.

Now she can make a decision between Marquette and UWMadison. But she's dragging her heels on making a choice. She seems to find small faults with both places.

She finally opened up to DH and I yesterday. She's feeling very anxious about living in a dorm. She's considering a single (I think that's a mistake, too isolating as a freshman). She's freaked out about getting assigned a dorm with community bathrooms. She'd prefer one that's more like a suite, where you have a bathroom in the dorm room. But most of the suites aren't singles, and dorm assignment isn't guaranteed.

DD is an only child, and we've probably sheltered her too much. We are a close family that does a lot together. She's never had to share a personal space, her bedroom is large, and she has her own bathroom.

Any advice? How can we help her make a good choice and feel comfortable?

 

[robinb]

DD was not accepted for the dental scholars direct admit at Marquette. We knew it was a long shot, but hoped for it of course.

Now she can make a decision between Marquette and UWMadison. But she's dragging her heels on making a choice. She seems to find small faults with both places.

She finally opened up to DH and I yesterday. She's feeling very anxious about living in a dorm. She's considering a single (I think that's a mistake, too isolating as a freshman). She's freaked out about getting assigned a dorm with community bathrooms. She'd prefer one that's more like a suite, where you have a bathroom in the dorm room. But most of the suites aren't singles, and dorm assignment isn't guaranteed.

DD is an only child, and we've probably sheltered her too much. We are a close family that does a lot together. She's never had to share a personal space, her bedroom is large, and she has her own bathroom.

Any advice? How can we help her make a good choice and feel comfortable?

There are private dorms where you can get exactly what she wants. I know that Lucky Dorm is very close to campus and they set aside a couple of floors for freshmen.

 

[Poohforyou]

DD was not accepted for the dental scholars direct admit at Marquette. We knew it was a long shot, but hoped for it of course.

Now she can make a decision between Marquette and UWMadison. But she's dragging her heels on making a choice. She seems to find small faults with both places.

She finally opened up to DH and I yesterday. She's feeling very anxious about living in a dorm. She's considering a single (I think that's a mistake, too isolating as a freshman). She's freaked out about getting assigned a dorm with community bathrooms. She'd prefer one that's more like a suite, where you have a bathroom in the dorm room. But most of the suites aren't singles, and dorm assignment isn't guaranteed.

DD is an only child, and we've probably sheltered her too much. We are a close family that does a lot together. She's never had to share a personal space, her bedroom is large, and she has her own bathroom.

Any advice? How can we help her make a good choice and feel comfortable?

My daughter is also an only child who's never had to share. What we did was make a priority list. She'd rather be in a situation where she only has to share a bathroom with a few people than one of those huge floor bathrooms. She'd be willing to share a room if it meant having this type of bathroom.

This was an important consideration in looking at schools. As was food and seeing regular people. That's why all the schools she applied to are in cities.

My suggestion would be find out what's most important and go from there.

Good luck.

 

[aprilgail]

She finally opened up to DH and I yesterday. She's feeling very anxious about living in a dorm. She's considering a single (I think that's a mistake, too isolating as a freshman). She's freaked out about getting assigned a dorm with community bathrooms. She'd prefer one that's more like a suite, where you have a bathroom in the dorm room. But most of the suites aren't singles, and dorm assignment isn't guaranteed.

DD is an only child, and we've probably sheltered her too much. We are a close family that does a lot together. She's never had to share a personal space, her bedroom is large, and she has her own bathroom.

Any advice? How can we help her make a good choice and feel comfortable?

My daughter got a false impression of dorms last summer when she was dorming at Brown University- the dorm rooms were SO big, more than twice the size of "normal" dorm rooms we have been seeing. I am glad she saw the size of a dorm room she could be assigned to. She is also an only child, her bedroom is 12X24 so it is bigger than most dorm rooms they squeeze 2/3 into. She is getting the privacy tent for her bed for sure. She wasn't thrilled with the group bathroom/shower situation but she lucked out because her room was right next door to the handicap bathroom so they all used that for a private bathroom since it was just one big room with toilet and shower in it.

 

[bethbuchall]

In the grand scheme of things, this will end up a blip, but my ds is very disappointed today. They've been telling him at school all year that he's the valedictorian. They told him as recently as last month when second quarter grades posted. Today, they made the official announcements, and he's #2. He said that he would have been thrilled with #2 if they hadn't told him that he was #1 so often. (And he still is happy under the disappointment.) He'd also told people that he was valedictorian based on what the school was telling him, so he's embarrassed. I don't know what changed. No new grades came in. I ended up picking him up this morning because he was in no shape to face the rest of the day, but he's doing better this afternoon and knows that he needs to go back to school tomorrow.

 

[aprilgail]

In the grand scheme of things, this will end up a blip, but my ds is very disappointed today. They've been telling him at school all year that he's the valedictorian. They told him as recently as last month when second quarter grades posted. Today, they made the official announcements, and he's #2. He said that he would have been thrilled with #2 if they hadn't told him that he was #1 so often. (And he still is happy under the disappointment.) He'd also told people that he was valedictorian based on what the school was telling him, so he's embarrassed. I don't know what changed. No new grades came in. I ended up picking him up this morning because he was in no shape to face the rest of the day, but he's doing better this afternoon and knows that he needs to go back to school tomorrow.

That stinks! He still has 2 quarters so maybe he can pull his grade up and it will change again. The difference between our #1 and #2 is like one is 110.47 and the other is 110.44- the difference is so small that it wont be determined until the end of the 4th quarter 2 days before graduation!