Parents of the High School Class of 2017/College 2021

[Mickeyluver37]

The state schools are around $25K here and private $50-$60K but with merit aid they end up around $30. If they went out of state we could get it around $10K or less with merit. But I told my DH I would spend at least that much visiting, so we will save more if they stay in state. LOL

Sadly, it looks like both boys will be in state. DS got a call that he is denied his medical waiver, so he will not be able to attend West Point. We knew it was a long shot, but he was devastated. He is so tired of his medical issues. (part of his intestine removed as an infant and bleeding uclers since 6th grade) I keep trying to tell him how fortunate he is to be as healthy as he is and to be able to do so many things, but that is not helping right now. I told him he can be depressed until this weekend and then we are moving on.

Oh man, hugs all around. That must be so tough for him to accept.

 

[lilia78]

My son just checked his online portal for his top choice University and it said a decision was made! Then at the bottom is asked if he wanted to accept the spot! He accepted his spot for Engineering. This was his first application as regular decision isn't due until later. Now he won't need to bother applying anywhere else. He will be about 4 hours from home but has a vehicle so will be able to come home when he wants to, my sister also lives in the same city so he could travel home with her sometimes. We are so happy! Now just to wait and hear about scholarships!

 

[Poohforyou]

My son just checked his online portal for his top choice University and it said a decision was made! Then at the bottom is asked if he wanted to accept the spot! He accepted his spot for Engineering. This was his first application as regular decision isn't due until later. Now he won't need to bother applying anywhere else. He will be about 4 hours from home but has a vehicle so will be able to come home when he wants to, my sister also lives in the same city so he could travel home with her sometimes. We are so happy! Now just to wait and hear about scholarships!

Congratulations!!

 

[robinb]

My son just checked his online portal for his top choice University and it said a decision was made! Then at the bottom is asked if he wanted to accept the spot! He accepted his spot for Engineering. This was his first application as regular decision isn't due until later. Now he won't need to bother applying anywhere else. He will be about 4 hours from home but has a vehicle so will be able to come home when he wants to, my sister also lives in the same city so he could travel home with her sometimes. We are so happy! Now just to wait and hear about scholarships!

That is awesome! It must be such a relief for you and him!

 

[Poohforyou]

Anyone else's senior apply early decision or early action?

Dd applied early action to Northeastern in Boston. She should know next week. It isn't her 1st choice but it's on part with her 1st choice so it'll be a good indicator. I'm especially interested in merit aid.

 

[Tinijocaro]

My son has his MIT interview tomorrow. It's a huge long shot, even though he's got the numbers for it. We'll see...

 

[Mrs. Ciz]

Anyone else's senior apply early decision or early action?

Dd applied early action to Northeastern in Boston. She should know next week. It isn't her 1st choice but it's on part with her 1st choice so it'll be a good indicator. I'm especially interested in merit aid.

DD applied Early Action to University of Virginia nursing and James Madison University. She finds out in mid January.

Good luck to your senior!

 

[drinkme]

DD will be hearing from notre dame next week. It will be a long shot. Good luck to everyone else waiting!!

 

[lilia78]

That is awesome! It must be such a relief for you and him!

It's a great relief. My oldest son is in Military College and my youngest son considered applying to Queens so he'd be close to him. But in the end decided to stay in our Province. Now he will have lots of time to work on scholarship applications! Our costs in Canada aren't as high as what most of your kids are facing but anything helps.

 

[mamacatnv]

The state schools are around $25K here and private $50-$60K but with merit aid they end up around $30. If they went out of state we could get it around $10K or less with merit. But I told my DH I would spend at least that much visiting, so we will save more if they stay in state. LOL

Sadly, it looks like both boys will be in state. DS got a call that he is denied his medical waiver, so he will not be able to attend West Point. We knew it was a long shot, but he was devastated. He is so tired of his medical issues. (part of his intestine removed as an infant and bleeding uclers since 6th grade) I keep trying to tell him how fortunate he is to be as healthy as he is and to be able to do so many things, but that is not helping right now. I told him he can be depressed until this weekend and then we are moving on.

DD decided to not apply anywhere in state at the moment, she will apply to Texas State as a last resort but really has no desire to stay anywhere in Texas or the South for that matter.

My son just checked his online portal for his top choice University and it said a decision was made! Then at the bottom is asked if he wanted to accept the spot! He accepted his spot for Engineering. This was his first application as regular decision isn't due until later. Now he won't need to bother applying anywhere else. He will be about 4 hours from home but has a vehicle so will be able to come home when he wants to, my sister also lives in the same city so he could travel home with her sometimes. We are so happy! Now just to wait and hear about scholarships!

WooooWhooo how exciting!

Anyone else's senior apply early decision or early action?

Dd applied early action to Northeastern in Boston. She should know next week. It isn't her 1st choice but it's on part with her 1st choice so it'll be a good indicator. I'm especially interested in merit aid.

One of my DD's friends applied early decision for Columbia, he is supposed to hear by 6pm this evening, he was at our house last night, the kid is a wreck, Columbia is his dream school.

My son has his MIT interview tomorrow. It's a huge long shot, even though he's got the numbers for it. We'll see...

Yeah, I hope it went really well!

DD will be hearing from notre dame next week. It will be a long shot. Good luck to everyone else waiting!!

Good luck to your DD

My DD is still anxiously awaiting news out of Univ Minn Twin Cities, she has put all her eggs into that basket. She did apply to Berkeley but it is such a stretch and then at the last minute (last night) she applied to Hofstra in New York (I've no idea why). The two private schools she is applying to are in the $60-75K range which makes me ill just thinking about it. Minnesota actually had reasonable out of state tuition. Attending Minnesota will cost her about $5K more per year than attending Univ Texas Austin (including room/board). One of the things that really attracted us to Minnesota was the out of state price tag plus it checked all the things on her wish list of schools. I am really hoping she gets in, I think its a good match and will be a great experience for her.
She is still working on her Amherst app, its nots due until Feb and Texas State is her back up plan.

Interesting observance: Several and I mean several of DD's friends who went off to school in September are returning home for the Christmas break with no plans to return to their schools. They are all enrolling at the local Community College until next fall where they plan to apply to the local schools (UT/A&M) Their reasoning is different but for most its they miss home or chose a major they don't want to continue on. I can't decide if they really didn't do their research or if they are so homesick they are not adjusting well. I'm torn, I think I would want my kid to stay and tough it out for at least the first year before deciding to return home.

 

[robinb]

My DD is still anxiously awaiting news out of Univ Minn Twin Cities, she has put all her eggs into that basket.

My DD is also waiting for UMN. She received a letter saying that she can apply to the other UMN campuses for free but at this time she weighs everything against the university where she has already been accepted.

Interesting observance: Several and I mean several of DD's friends who went off to school in September are returning home for the Christmas break with no plans to return to their schools. They are all enrolling at the local Community College until next fall where they plan to apply to the local schools (UT/A&M) Their reasoning is different but for most its they miss home or chose a major they don't want to continue on. I can't decide if they really didn't do their research or if they are so homesick they are not adjusting well. I'm torn, I think I would want my kid to stay and tough it out for at least the first year before deciding to return home.

I would also be torn on this. Part of my would say "Suck it up and make it work." and the other part would be "Yay! You're saving me money!". All in all, it's not a bad choice for those kids and UT/A&M are both great schools.

 

[v.t.]

My son just checked his online portal for his top choice University and it said a decision was made! Then at the bottom is asked if he wanted to accept the spot! He accepted his spot for Engineering. This was his first application as regular decision isn't due until later. Now he won't need to bother applying anywhere else. He will be about 4 hours from home but has a vehicle so will be able to come home when he wants to, my sister also lives in the same city so he could travel home with her sometimes. We are so happy! Now just to wait and hear about scholarships!

Congratulations!!! So excited for both of you.

 

[Mickeyluver37]

I could not WAIT to get out of my home state where I went to a small Catholic High school when I went away for college and I really truly was miserable at a huge university, especially in large lecture classes. I was wavering on not going back, but my parents actually wanted me to come back and go to CC at that point. It all worked out, I met my DH on that December break, and eventually graduated from a different university. I do make sure my kids make better informed decisions, and so far so good with DD, who LOVES her school, but I do understand where these kids are coming from when it's not all it's cracked up to be. The problem with making them stick it out might be the cost of 10k-20K just for that one semester, when only delaying the inevitable. OR- they end up loving it after one full year. You just don't know.

 

[Poohforyou]

I could not WAIT to get out of my home state where I went to a small Catholic High school when I went away for college and I really truly was miserable at a huge university, especially in large lecture classes. I was wavering on not going back, but my parents actually wanted me to come back and go to CC at that point. It all worked out, I met my DH on that December break, and eventually graduated from a different university. I do make sure my kids make better informed decisions, and so far so good with DD, who LOVES her school, but I do understand where these kids are coming from when it's not all it's cracked up to be. The problem with making them stick it out might be the cost of 10k-20K just for that one semester, when only delaying the inevitable. OR- they end up loving it after one full year. You just don't know.

My daughter has no desire to stay in nj. I cant say i blame her. She wants to be in a city and the nj colleges in cities are not places I'd want her to be.

I've talked to her about the possibility of her going to her 1st choice and not loving it. I told her to promise she'll speak up because where ever she goes it's going to cost us $$$ and I don't want her not enjoying herself.

 

[mamacatnv]

My DD is also waiting for UMN. She received a letter saying that she can apply to the other UMN campuses for free but at this time she weighs everything against the university where she has already been accepted.

I would also be torn on this. Part of my would say "Suck it up and make it work." and the other part would be "Yay! You're saving me money!". All in all, it's not a bad choice for those kids and UT/A&M are both great schools.

DD received the same letter last week, the way she tore into that envelope was comical - truth be told, she was at work when the mail came, I used a flashlight (I know, I know, shame shame shame) and I knew it was just a form letter

 

[lilia78]

You all have talked about reach schools, match schools and safety schools. Can someone explain this more to me?

In Canada, if you have an core class average of 70% or higher you will be able to find a university to attend. My son's early acceptance was for Engineering in our largest University in the Province. The guidelines for early acceptance are an average in core classes of 85% or higher. Because he is presently in the first semester of Grade 12 they had to go off of his Grade 11 marks. He has to make sure his Grade 12 marks are good or they can pull the acceptance.

The core classes they look at are:

• One English
• One math
• Three other approved subjects:
  • Maximum of two natural sciences
  • Maximum of two social sciences or humanities
  • Maximum of one fine or performing art

For regular acceptance to Engineering you must apply by February 15th and then they take the best available of those that applied, so the higher average the better.

Scholarships are more competitive, a lot are based on community service and the applications require essays and references.

 

[Poohforyou]

You all have talked about reach schools, match schools and safety schools. Can someone explain this more to me?

In Canada, if you have an core class average of 70% or higher you will be able to find a university to attend. My son's early acceptance was for Engineering in our largest University in the Province. The guidelines for early acceptance are an average in core classes of 85% or higher. Because he is presently in the first semester of Grade 12 they had to go off of his Grade 11 marks. He has to make sure his Grade 12 marks are good or they can pull the acceptance.

The core classes they look at are:

• One English
• One math
• Three other approved subjects:
  • Maximum of two natural sciences
  • Maximum of two social sciences or humanities
  • Maximum of one fine or performing art

For regular acceptance to Engineering you must apply by February 15th and then they take the best available of those that applied, so the higher average the better.

Scholarships are more competitive, a lot are based on community service and the applications require essays and references.

Obviously, it depends on the student. Simply speaking, match schools are ones where the student's test scores and GPA fall within the average range for the school; reach schools are ones where scores/grades are at the low end or just below the average range; safety schools are ones where scores/grades are at the high end or above the average range

Obviously, a lot more goes into it besides this. Things like extra curriculum, other talents beside academics, community service, etc.

My daughter chose not to apply to any reach schools.

 

[bjscheel]

Interesting observance: Several and I mean several of DD's friends who went off to school in September are returning home for the Christmas break with no plans to return to their schools. They are all enrolling at the local Community College until next fall where they plan to apply to the local schools (UT/A&M) Their reasoning is different but for most its they miss home or chose a major they don't want to continue on. I can't decide if they really didn't do their research or if they are so homesick they are not adjusting well. I'm torn, I think I would want my kid to stay and tough it out for at least the first year before deciding to return home.

I know of one of last year's seniors that is miserable at her school, a large public university. She also doesn't know what to major in and so they're looking for a cheaper place to explore. She is planning to go to the same CC as my daughter next fall. I guess my gut feeling was why spend the rest of the year there and not switch at semester? I don't know all the circumstances, but if it was my kid and the timing works to change at semester, I guess I would say change, but you do never know if things would turn around if they stay and stick it out, or not.

 

[lucky978]

This waiting is awful. I have twins and they both applied to about 8 schools all Early Action (most deadlines were 11/1 and a couple were 11/15). One daughter heard from a college that they both applied to (she was accepted) but the other has not yet heard. They both have VERY similar grades, scores and volunteer work. Fingers crossed they will hear something soon. It's hard because a lot of their friends have already heard from schools. I feel like this is taking forever!!!

 

[v.t.]

This waiting is awful. I have twins and they both applied to about 8 schools all Early Action (most deadlines were 11/1 and a couple were 11/15). One daughter heard from a college that they both applied to (she was accepted) but the other has not yet heard. They both have VERY similar grades, scores and volunteer work. Fingers crossed they will hear something soon. It's hard because a lot of their friends have already heard from schools. I feel like this is taking forever!!!

LOL!!! I am in the same boat with twins going off to college. While both were auto admits, one did get accepted into the Engineering school 1.5 weeks before the other. After about a week DS2 was ready to go visit other schools, but once the acceptance came he was good. While they have the similar majors, they do not want to room or even live in the same dorm. What do your DDs plan on doing?