<p>MDCISSP: Congrats on choosing Towson. My daughter and I were very impressed with Towson when we visited. I think that it is a great choice for your son for all the reasons you mentioned. I applaud you for all the effort you put into the search and decision. l</p>
<p>mdcissp - woo hoo! Congrats and glad you are all happy with the decision! It makes a lot of sense to me. Wishing you and your son all the best.</p>
<p>mdcissp, congrats to you and your son. now take a deep breath and enjoy the decision and time you have together.</p>
<p>mdcissp, congratulations! You must be thrilled to have a decision and one in which you and S feel so positively about! WOW!</p>
<p>Thank you also for the comments about Viterbi, mdcissp!</p>
<p>Levirm, I really appreciate your comments and insight about engineering. D just came up with this possible career path this year and the idea about grad school was something that one person advised–clearly not the correct person to get advice from! Great to know about the Bucknell’s experience with regard to engineering–could be a good option for my D if she ends up selecting Bucknell.</p>
<p>So much to think about and, yes, I agree that it’s ideal to apply to at least one EA or rolling school that your student is very likely to be admitted to. Worked well for D2 but I’ve still been struck by how stessful the last 10 days of March have been!</p>
<p>congrats MDCISSP!!!</p>
<p>mdcissp, you and your son must be thrilled and relieved. I think that he, together with you, made a very wise decision for your family. Please keep us posted on his progress!</p>
<p>Collage1 - Mazel Tov on all of the great news!</p>
<p>mdcissp - Mazel Tov on your S’s decision. Really sounds like the best fit for him and your family.</p>
<p>Regarding an EA or rolling early admission. We have friends whose D had only received rejections up until last Thursday. To say that the family was under considerable stress would be an understatement. The D refused to apply to any safety schools. Luckily she did receive that one acceptance. I can say 100% that there will be EA safeties on our list!</p>
<p>My DS is going to attend UC Santa Cruz (and I am compelled here to add: “kayn ayn hora” for superstitious reasons!). The entire family did a campus drive-through and stroll around when DS was a high school junior. Then, last Spring, he and his aunt and uncle spent a full day there. DS did the official tour and also sat in on a lecture with the son of friends of ours who was a sophomore at the time. That evening, since it was a Friday, DS along with aunt, uncle, and said friend (acquaintance, really, the boys hardly know each other)went to Hillel for Shabbat dinner and discussion. So it’s not as if DS has no idea what to expect from UCSC.</p>
<p>Here’s my question: there is a week of “special events” for admitted students during DS’s Spring Break. The last day is a Saturday. Hubby and I (the mama) have to work that week, so if we all did the 6 hour drive up there we’d leave Friday afternoon and stay in a hotel at least for the Friday night, though probably for two nights. Honestly, DS is acting like a puppy about wanting to get back up there and most of all to check out his dorm options since they use a college system like they do in the UK. We are excited for him, too, but don’t know about spending yet another several hundred dollars on an unecessary visit. This money could cover the cost of books for DS’s first year… </p>
<p>I can see compromising and going for one night. I pay the bills and know that it won’t break the bank. Hubby’s attitude is suddenly curmudgeonly as in, “We didn’t have all this hoopla around college when I went…harrumph! It’s just more money we’re being encouraged to spend and we’re even fully out of the recession … We can take him up there for orientation in July and then again to move him in…” What do y’all think you’d do?</p>
<p>calv1n, congratulations to your son; what a gorgeous campus!
How about a Greyhound (or similar) bus for him, he could bring a sleeping bag, and sleep in a dorm with a student?</p>
<p>^^^I missed the “edit” time window. Please read “we’re NOT even fully out of the recession…” How could I have left out NOT?!</p>
<p>I would do it. It may give him a chance to meet some people that he will stay in touch with (FB and so forth) , maybe meet a potential roommate, etc. You might get to meet some parents of incoming freshmen that you will enjoy being friends with - maybe the kids will share rides in the future. I would tell DH that much has changed since he attended college in the Dark Ages! It is a lengthier and more involved process now and it seems to involve the entire family - not just the actual student. I say - go - have fun - learn more about where he will be attending college and have a great weekend.</p>
<p>calv1n, congraulations! The kids we know at Santa Cruz love it there!</p>
<p>Mazel Tov to Mdcissp:</p>
<p>Glad you and your S made a decision for Towson. Sounds like an excellent choice and fit for him…I wish him the best of luck! :)</p>
<p>Also, Mazel Tov to Calv1n:</p>
<p>For your S to attend UC Santa Cruz. I know nothing about that school, but if he is happy, then that’s great news! Wish him the best from his “cc” friends. :)</p>
<p>collage 1, mdcissp, and calv1n,</p>
<p>Congratulations one and all!</p>
<p>calv1n, if you were heading south to Santa Cruz I’d be wondering whether Hwy 17 will be open (having seen something about a road closure in the news), but driving north, everything’s good on Route 1 now, yes?</p>
<p>Thank you all for your congrats and good advice. We would be heading up the I-5 until we get to someplace around Salinas (?) and then hang a left and take a horribly winding road over towards the coast, so Route 1 isn’t an issue. I’ll check the map to see if the squiggly road is 17 – not sure.</p>
<p>I’m thinking that a compromise is in order and that we should at least go for one night. This is the 21st century and things ARE different!</p>
<p>Mazeltov to collage1 and mdcissp and everyone else who got good news!</p>
<p>collage,</p>
<p>While I do not know a lot about the engineering school at USC, I feel that I am familiar with the school as a local. We know many former and present students at the school. I think it is a great school. While the location is not the best area, the campus is very nice. Over the last 10 years or so, USC has made a concerted effort to increase their jewish enrollment. They went from just under 3% to almost 15% now. Their national rankings have gone up tremendously as well. This past year they moved ahead of UCLA, and racked the top 25.
What impresses me most about USC is the alumni network. It is quite remarkable. They do a great job of staying in touch, and helping their recent grads get work. It is an enviable network.
Your child has great choices. Congrats. UNC and Bucknell are both great schools. Whatever choice you make, you can not go wrong. I would strongly consider USC.<br>
Good luck and don’t stress</p>
<p>I think the road that goes between 101 and 1 is 156, not 17, thank goodness.</p>
<p>Cal: We’re having a similar dilema here. My daughter wants to go to an accepted students day at BU. She spent two weeks on campus last summer and we’ll be going back this summer for orientation, so it certainly isn’t necessary. We’ll need to fly and possibly spend a night in a hotel, but we’re trying to work it out. I feel like she’s missed out on some of the excitement of the process. I went to an accepted student day with my older daughter and it was a lot of fun. A campus feels different once you’ve been accepted. It’s a great chance for the student to meet other kids and just get excited about college. I agree with your plan to compromise and just go for one night.</p>
<p>calv1n, I think your idea of a compromise where your son gets to go up for at least part of the time sounds fair. After all, compared to New York, Santa Cruz is next door! :-)</p>
<p>re: my edit</p>
<p>Oops! messed up which schools were on the table for consideration a short while back</p>
<p>My daughter is NOT going to accepted student days. She would have to miss two days of school, shortly before AP tests. I posted the question about whether it was worth it on the forum for her college, and the admissions officer actually answered, saying it was not! We would have sent her by bus herself if it were worth it to go.</p>