Parents of the High School Class of 2017/College 2021

[punkin]

Congratulations to everyone with good news today!

Our news is not so good. My DD went from being deferred to being waitlisted at Wisconsin which is now her #1 choice. They are going to hold her in limbo until June. If she's accepted she will have to choose from the undesirable leftovers in housing and won't be able to arrange for a roommate as easily as she could now. She's crushed.

We are still waiting for Minnesota's decision in the next couple weeks. Im hoping that their money grab from OOS may open up a spot for her. I don't know where it stands right now on her list.

We will go forward with Iowa State as her #2 school. We already put down a deposit which we will lose if Wisconsin comes to scratch. She wants to go there but she wanted it to be an active choice over Wisconsin.

Part of me wanted her to be a Badger like her father and me. It's a great school with many fine student traditions. The other part wants her to move away for college and not be literally down the street (the UW is less than 5 mikes away from our house).

I'm sorry Robin, but on the bright side, Iowa is a great school.
Niece got rejected from her reach. She's indifferent and is working on me and DH to let her go to her number 1. I think we will make a phone call to the financial aid office there. If we can get another 10k, we will commit. Otherwise, she'll go to her number 2, which is still over budget, but not significantly and it's closer and she'd be in a city and have more major choices and have some people she knows.

 

[Mrs. Ciz]

Congratulations to everyone with good news today!

Our news is not so good. My DD went from being deferred to being waitlisted at Wisconsin which is now her #1 choice. They are going to hold her in limbo until June. If she's accepted she will have to choose from the undesirable leftovers in housing and won't be able to arrange for a roommate as easily as she could now. She's crushed.

We are still waiting for Minnesota's decision in the next couple weeks. Im hoping that their money grab from OOS may open up a spot for her. I don't know where it stands right now on her list.

We will go forward with Iowa State as her #2 school. We already put down a deposit which we will lose if Wisconsin comes to scratch. She wants to go there but she wanted it to be an active choice over Wisconsin.

Part of me wanted her to be a Badger like her father and me. It's a great school with many fine student traditions. The other part wants her to move away for college and not be literally down the street (the UW is less than 5 mikes away from our house).

I will keep my fingers crossed for your DD and Wisconsin. My college sophomore DS is in the same holding pattern at his school, UVA. He applied to the McIntire School of Commerce as a Finance major for his junior and senior year. He just found out last week he got deferred. 129 kids got deferred, and they will eventually take about 60% of them. He has to go through an interview, write another essay and get great grades this semester to be considered. He will be notified at the beginning of June. His back up plan is to be an Econ major, but he REALLY wants his first choice! He is a hot mess over this, so I can totally sympathize with your DD!

 

[aprilgail]

Congratulations to everyone with good news today!

Our news is not so good. My DD went from being deferred to being waitlisted at Wisconsin which is now her #1 choice. They are going to hold her in limbo until June. If she's accepted she will have to choose from the undesirable leftovers in housing and won't be able to arrange for a roommate as easily as she could now. She's crushed.

We are still waiting for Minnesota's decision in the next couple weeks. Im hoping that their money grab from OOS may open up a spot for her. I don't know where it stands right now on her list.

).

Oh that stinks- sorry! That sucks having to wait till June!

 

[Poohforyou]

Congratulations to everyone with good news today!

Our news is not so good. My DD went from being deferred to being waitlisted at Wisconsin which is now her #1 choice. They are going to hold her in limbo until June. If she's accepted she will have to choose from the undesirable leftovers in housing and won't be able to arrange for a roommate as easily as she could now. She's crushed.

We are still waiting for Minnesota's decision in the next couple weeks. Im hoping that their money grab from OOS may open up a spot for her. I don't know where it stands right now on her list.

We will go forward with Iowa State as her #2 school. We already put down a deposit which we will lose if Wisconsin comes to scratch. She wants to go there but she wanted it to be an active choice over Wisconsin.

Part of me wanted her to be a Badger like her father and me. It's a great school with many fine student traditions. The other part wants her to move away for college and not be literally down the street (the UW is less than 5 mikes away from our house).

I'm really sorry. It's tough watching them deal with what might be the biggest disappointment of their life. I hope she finds a school that's the right fit and she soars.

 

[mamacatnv]

This college decision season is wiping me out. I'm more stressed than my son is! He's perfectly happy where he is accepted right now; I'm wigging out over where he is waitlisted.

A good friend of mine is involved in perspective students for a University - She said something that really stuck "we (as parents) can't want it more than our kids if we want the kids to be successful"

BU and Middlebury notify tomorrow. Carleton is Wednesday. Lehigh end of next week. Reed just mailed their decisions snail mail.

Yikes, stressful week. Reed pursued my DD hard (she did not apply), did y'all get inundated?

Congratulations to all of those receiving acceptances.

Our son received his acceptance to UCLA last night. I am a little surprised.

This was more of a vanity application but we may visit on April 15 depending on the results of his remaining applications.

Congrats!

Thanks! They are out! My daughter got accepted!

Yay!

You're right, we had to submit dd's passport and one school asked for her social security card.

We chose to get dd a passport when she was a baby and have renewed it continually. She now has a 10 year one. However, given the current climate in this country (don't want to get political) I think we're going to spend the $1000 and get her a COC. I just worry about her out in the world as an adult without us.

What is a COC?

Congrats to everyone and hugs to those still hanging

 

[mamacatnv]

Congratulations to everyone with good news today!

Our news is not so good. My DD went from being deferred to being waitlisted at Wisconsin which is now her #1 choice. They are going to hold her in limbo until June. If she's accepted she will have to choose from the undesirable leftovers in housing and won't be able to arrange for a roommate as easily as she could now. She's crushed.

We are still waiting for Minnesota's decision in the next couple weeks. Im hoping that their money grab from OOS may open up a spot for her. I don't know where it stands right now on her list.

We will go forward with Iowa State as her #2 school. We already put down a deposit which we will lose if Wisconsin comes to scratch. She wants to go there but she wanted it to be an active choice over Wisconsin.

Part of me wanted her to be a Badger like her father and me. It's a great school with many fine student traditions. The other part wants her to move away for college and not be literally down the street (the UW is less than 5 mikes away from our house).

Robin, I'm sorry, this whole process is so frustrating. My DS wanted to "go away" but opted for our local (at the time) state University - So, he moved 8 miles to a dorm. Best decision ever! He got his going away experience without the hefty price OOS would have brought

 

[mamacatnv]

DD returned from her visit to Hofstra. Hofstra is now her #1 choice and she does not want to pursue Minnesota. Hofstra has given her the best offer but since she is not paying attention to that, Hofstra is the best social/emotional/educational choice for her, its a very good fit and she is super excited!

We are waiting on Berkeley although I'm not holding my breath and she liked Hofstra so much that I think she would choose it over Berkeley if it comes down to that.

 

[aprilgail]

DD returned from her visit to Hofstra. Hofstra is now her #1 choice and she does not want to pursue Minnesota. Hofstra has given her the best offer but since she is not paying attention to that, Hofstra is the best social/emotional/educational choice for her, its a very good fit and she is super excited!

We are waiting on Berkeley although I'm not holding my breath and she liked Hofstra so much that I think she would choose it over Berkeley if it comes down to that.

That's good that she found someplace that she likes! Hofstra is not all that far from the beaches here, a bus or uber ride away-I think its about 15-20 minutes by car to Jones Beach from Hofstra- plus can hop a train to the city for some time away from studying of course!- I believe Hofstra has a shuttle to the train station!

 

[mamacatnv]

That's good that she found someplace that she likes! Hofstra is not all that far from the beaches here, a bus or uber ride away-I think its about 15-20 minutes by car to Jones Beach from Hofstra- plus can hop a train to the city for some time away from studying of course!- I believe Hofstra has a shuttle to the train station!

Thank you for that information. She did discover (after the fact) that there is a shuttle to the train station. It took her 3 hours to get to the campus from where they were staying in midtown Manhattan. Now I am looking at the options to get her there for orientation as well as to start school.

I'm struggling with taking her to school or just putting her on a direct flight and shipping her stuff to her via ups. I really want to take her to school but the reality is that its really hefty airfare for me to fly with her just to turn around and come right back home.

 

[aprilgail]

Thank you for that information. She did discover (after the fact) that there is a shuttle to the train station. It took her 3 hours to get to the campus from where they were staying in midtown Manhattan. Now I am looking at the options to get her there for orientation as well as to start school.

I'm struggling with taking her to school or just putting her on a direct flight and shipping her stuff to her via ups. I really want to take her to school but the reality is that its really hefty airfare for me to fly with her just to turn around and come right back home.

If you decide to go an spend the night in that area there is a Marriott that is right by there that is decent! Just don't stay in any old hotel without making sure it is ok - we have a lot of "sketchy" motels all over the island- 3 in my town are welfare motels and some house sex offenders. But that Marriott is good.


My daughter was thinking about going to California to college- I enlisted a "standby" to take the drive with us to bring her there and drive back home with me! There is no way I could see getting all her things there- she went just 3 weeks to brown and I could barely fit it all in my car! And then don't forget about "parents weekend"- I already have the dates of that from two colleges she applied to.
When my godsons sister went ten hours away to college they not only had a parents weekend but also a siblings weekend (of course it was 2 months after parents one) so we drove up there so my daughter could spend the weekend with her since my godson had passed away and he was her only sibling.

 

[mamacatnv]

If you decide to go an spend the night in that area there is a Marriott that is right by there that is decent! Just don't stay in any old hotel without making sure it is ok - we have a lot of "sketchy" motels all over the island- 3 in my town are welfare motels and some house sex offenders. But that Marriott is good.


My daughter was thinking about going to California to college- I enlisted a "standby" to take the drive with us to bring her there and drive back home with me! There is no way I could see getting all her things there- she went just 3 weeks to brown and I could barely fit it all in my car! And then don't forget about "parents weekend"- I already have the dates of that from two colleges she applied to.
When my godsons sister went ten hours away to college they not only had a parents weekend but also a siblings weekend (of course it was 2 months after parents one) so we drove up there so my daughter could spend the weekend with her since my godson had passed away and he was her only sibling.

My DD's BFF has been accepted to a different NYC school that was her first choice, it was suggested we road trip them to college but I looked up the mileage 1800.........Nope, I am not driving 30 hours each way. First of all if it were just DD and me, I might consider but her BFF and the BFF's mom would make me nuts in a short minute also I don't have that kind of vacation time available. The BFF's mom does since she is a teacher but I'm an accountant and I switched jobs a year ago, I just don't have that much time available.

She can manage two checked bags that can weigh up to 50#'s ea, along with her backpack. I figure that we will order up a dorm-in-a box and have it delivered, add in a couple of large suitcases and perhaps a few shipped UPS boxes of clothes/shoes etc and she is good to go. The dorms are fully furnished, the micro/fridge combos are rented from the school and if she really needed something else she can go buy it or I can order and have delivered. Amazon is my friend

As for parent weekends etc. I am sure that not every parent attends and as much as I would of course love to attend, she is going 1800 miles, its not a day trip and at some point we have to look at flying her back and forth for the semester breaks etc.

Thank you for the recommendation of the Marriott, I will keep that in mind as I am sure when push comes to shove I won't be able to stand the idea of just taking her to the local airport and sending her off

 

[Mrs. Ciz]

My DD's BFF has been accepted to a different NYC school that was her first choice, it was suggested we road trip them to college but I looked up the mileage 1800.........Nope, I am not driving 30 hours each way. First of all if it were just DD and me, I might consider but her BFF and the BFF's mom would make me nuts in a short minute also I don't have that kind of vacation time available. The BFF's mom does since she is a teacher but I'm an accountant and I switched jobs a year ago, I just don't have that much time available.

She can manage two checked bags that can weigh up to 50#'s ea, along with her backpack. I figure that we will order up a dorm-in-a box and have it delivered, add in a couple of large suitcases and perhaps a few shipped UPS boxes of clothes/shoes etc and she is good to go. The dorms are fully furnished, the micro/fridge combos are rented from the school and if she really needed something else she can go buy it or I can order and have delivered. Amazon is my friend

As for parent weekends etc. I am sure that not every parent attends and as much as I would of course love to attend, she is going 1800 miles, its not a day trip and at some point we have to look at flying her back and forth for the semester breaks etc.

Thank you for the recommendation of the Marriott, I will keep that in mind as I am sure when push comes to shove I won't be able to stand the idea of just taking her to the local airport and sending her off

My DS's college is only an hour away and we didn't go to Parents' Weekend. He had plans with his friends and didn't want to give them up to hang out with us and go to the parent/student events. Plus the college scheduled Parents' Weekend on an away football game weekend - no fun! We went up 3 different times for football games instead, and DS brought his friends to our tailgate.

 

[Aliceacc]

DD returned from her visit to Hofstra. Hofstra is now her #1 choice and she does not want to pursue Minnesota. Hofstra has given her the best offer but since she is not paying attention to that, Hofstra is the best social/emotional/educational choice for her, its a very good fit and she is super excited!

We are waiting on Berkeley although I'm not holding my breath and she liked Hofstra so much that I think she would choose it over Berkeley if it comes down to that.

I live 12 minutes from Hofstra, and work around the corner from it. It's 20 minutes from the beach, 5 minutes from Roosevelt Field mall, and 45 minutes from midtown Manhattan. If it weren't in our back yard, it would be very attractive to every kid I teach.

And the Marriott you want is the Long Island Marriott in Uniondale NY. It's beautiful,

 

[mamacatnv]

I live 12 minutes from Hofstra, and work around the corner from it. It's 20 minutes from the beach, 5 minutes from Roosevelt Field mall, and 45 minutes from midtown Manhattan. If it weren't in our back yard, it would be very attractive to every kid I teach.

And the Marriott you want is the Long Island Marriott in Uniondale NY. It's beautiful,

Thank you for the info and the endorsement! I was just looking at the calendar, move into dorms is Thursday, 8/31 - One of my obligations with work is I MUST be here on the last day of the month to close (I work in mfg). If the last day is on a weekend, I can close on the evening of the last business day.
UGH, I might not be able to accompany her regardless as I have to have August closed by 7am the morning of 9/1. Unless I got her moved in early in the day and then hoofed it to the airport.
Hadn't even thought about it till today when I started to take a hard look at all the various dates, airfare etc. She just might get taken to the Austin, TX airport and sent off

 

[Arkansan]

Don't feel bad if you can't go to Parent's Weekend. My DD is a First Year Student (HS class of 2016/college 2020) at a school 1100 miles from our home. We did drive her to school this Fall (a 12 hr day and a 6 hr day of driving each way), but Parent's Weekend was only three weeks later. We could not make the trip again and we have two other HS children that couldn't miss more school. It is one of the sacrifices you/your child needs to know will happen when they go to college far from home. DD flew home at Christmas and just flew home for Spring Break. She has spent other breaks on campus. I did fly to spend a weekend with her in Feb. where I got to see a musical she was performing in and spend her birthday with her. We are still debating end of the year, but we will likely store most of her stuff and fly her home. It is a challenge, for sure. First Semester she was homesick, but we hear from her less and less now Second Semester. There are students at her school from all 50 states and many foreign countries so she is not the only one and it is a very residential campus, which helps. I know not all schools are like that.

 

[aprilgail]

My DD's BFF has been accepted to a different NYC school that was her first choice, it was suggested we road trip them to college but I looked up the mileage 1800.........Nope, I am not driving 30 hours each way. First of all if it were just DD and me, I might consider but her BFF and the BFF's mom would make me nuts in a short minute also I don't have that kind of vacation time available. The BFF's mom does since she is a teacher but I'm an accountant and I switched jobs a year ago, I just don't have that much time available.

off

Yea I could see that being an issue if you don't get a lot of vacation time. I am retired so I was actually forward to another road trip- my daughter and I took an 11,000 mile one two summers ago. I figured if she went to California we would drop her off and take a bunch of detours on the ride home taking our time.

 

[Mrs. Ciz]

Thank you for the info and the endorsement! I was just looking at the calendar, move into dorms is Thursday, 8/31 - One of my obligations with work is I MUST be here on the last day of the month to close (I work in mfg). If the last day is on a weekend, I can close on the evening of the last business day.
UGH, I might not be able to accompany here regardless as I have to have August closed by 7am the morning of 9/1. Unless I got her moved in early in the day and then hoofed it to the airport.
Hadn't even thought about it till today when I started to take a hard look at all the various dates, airfare etc. She just might get taken to the Austin, TX airport and sent off

You should call the school and ask if you can move her in a day later. Most schools stagger move in days - have some kids move in on Friday, some on Saturday and some on Sunday. They don't want all the freshman and their parents trying to move in on the exact same day. Twice DS's roommate has moved in the day after the one he was officially assigned. Maybe it works this same way at your DD's school?

 

[robinb]

I'm sorry, Robin. We are in the same boat. DS got waitlisted yesterday to his #1 choice (UCLA) as well. We feel like hostages at this point. We will go ahead and SIR to his #2 and lose the deposits if he makes it off the waitlist.

I'm sorry for your DD!
I hope that Iowa or Minnesota is a good fit for her.

This college stuff is truly exhausting some days....

I'm sorry Robin, but on the bright side, Iowa is a great school.
Niece got rejected from her reach. She's indifferent and is working on me and DH to let her go to her number 1. I think we will make a phone call to the financial aid office there. If we can get another 10k, we will commit. Otherwise, she'll go to her number 2, which is still over budget, but not significantly and it's closer and she'd be in a city and have more major choices and have some people she knows.

I will keep my fingers crossed for your DD and Wisconsin. My college sophomore DS is in the same holding pattern at his school, UVA. He applied to the McIntire School of Commerce as a Finance major for his junior and senior year. He just found out last week he got deferred. 129 kids got deferred, and they will eventually take about 60% of them. He has to go through an interview, write another essay and get great grades this semester to be considered. He will be notified at the beginning of June. His back up plan is to be an Econ major, but he REALLY wants his first choice! He is a hot mess over this, so I can totally sympathize with your DD!

Oh that stinks- sorry! That sucks having to wait till June!

I'm really sorry. It's tough watching them deal with what might be the biggest disappointment of their life. I hope she finds a school that's the right fit and she soars.

Thanks everyone! @AustinTink and @Mrs. Ciz, I'm sorry you are in the same boat. I'm keeping my fingers crossed for your kids.

My DD accepted the waitlist and now we'll wait. I will leave it up to her to decide what she'll do if she's offered a spot.

 

[robinb]

Robin, I'm sorry, this whole process is so frustrating. My DS wanted to "go away" but opted for our local (at the time) state University - So, he moved 8 miles to a dorm. Best decision ever! He got his going away experience without the hefty price OOS would have brought

Sadly, Wisconsin *is* our local State University. We live in the same town as the main campus.

DD returned from her visit to Hofstra. Hofstra is now her #1 choice and she does not want to pursue Minnesota. Hofstra has given her the best offer but since she is not paying attention to that, Hofstra is the best social/emotional/educational choice for her, its a very good fit and she is super excited!

We are waiting on Berkeley although I'm not holding my breath and she liked Hofstra so much that I think she would choose it over Berkeley if it comes down to that.

I am so happy that your DD is happy with Hofstra! How did Hofstra get on her radar?

 

[mamacatnv]

You should call the school and ask if you can move her in a day later. Most schools stagger move in days - have some kids move in on Friday, some on Saturday and some on Sunday. They don't want all the freshman and their parents trying to move in on the exact same day. Twice DS's roommate has moved in the day after the one he was officially assigned. Maybe it works this same way at your DD's school?

Something to certainly consider. We could leave early AM on the 1st and arrive midday on same day if we took a non-stop out of Austin to JFK. My brother in law lives in Manhattan, I could get DD to school, spend the night with BIL and head back to Texas on Saturday morning.

Sadly, Wisconsin *is* our local State University. We live in the same town as the main campus.
I am so happy that your DD is happy with Hofstra! How did Hofstra get on her radar?

My DS went to the Univ of Nevada, Reno. We lived in Reno and while a decent University it was the "local" school. However, he got a good education, was able to get into a PT program right after graduation and achieved what he wanted. All with an undergrad degree from the "state school". He did live on/near campus all years even tho free room and board were just up the road with Mom/Dad.

Hofstra pursued her via mail, phone calls, email etc. Then they sent her a code for a free application and by then we had done some research so she decided to apply. She has always wanted to attend a small liberal arts school but realized her strengths are in the STEM. Hofstra had a decent STEM offering with the small liberal arts feel she wanted. Now that we are almost to the end of the process, Hofstra has made the best "deal" and she loves the "feel" of it. I think that while I am still disappointed in Minn, overall DD will be happier at Hofstra and while the education will be different, she will get a good education from a good school and in the end that is all that really matters. She has been accepted into the Honors college. The Honors college has their own living/learning community and she really liked this idea of a small select group being together. It is very similar to how her high school handles the IB kids, they are a small group who are all together inside a very large high school.

She is so on the fence about what to do, what direction etc. Hofstra is small enough to give her a lot of one-to-one guidance and that is a plus. Also, she wanted a "big city" somewhere in the North where it is cold. NYC certainly checks off all the "wants" on her list.