<p>kinderny - that sounds horrible. Can’t she sit in the library? The internship sounds incredible for a college kid, never mind a HS kid, too bad there are so many other issues with the school.</p>
<p>Thank you everyone for your wishes, prayers, pm’s and everything. I have been reading them all and all you thoughts help soooooo much right now. I’m just trying to take care of everyone and everything and cking this forum is the one thing I’m doing for me. I also wanted to tell everyone about ds’ umiami scholarship, he hit the 24K/yr renewable scholarship, no mention of the full ride possibility (singer) but maybe that could come separately. Like I said before, with his school choices, this was the only one that could possibly give him anything like this and I’m just glad they did. The funny thing was, he got the packet, saw it was the acceptance letter (that we already knew from cking online) so he tossed it on his bed. When I found out 1) the mail came 2) the miami envelope was there, I had to call him to ask him to read it carefully. Eventhough the scholarship was on it’s own certificate, with a green sticker/seal thing (bright colors) - he didn’t see it! When he saw it, his response (I was driving) was to tell my dd3 “don’t let mom freak out but I got 24K” Just thought that was too funny.</p>
<p>amanda- woot!woot! 24K would make any school my S applied to affordable. Congrats! Again, sorry to hear about your loss.</p>
<p>Amanda: Congrats on the Miami scholarhip. I’m so glad that you got good news at this difficult time. I’m sorry that you are so busy dealing with everyone else when you need some time for yourself. Hang in there.</p>
<p>amandak- so glad you got some good news! I am sure it was very much needed! hope you are doing as well as you can be and taking solace in wonderful memories.</p>
<p>D is now officially a second semester senior. I think everyone in our house is a little relieved - it really takes some of the pressure off! Her schedule is not easy - 4 AP’s - but she’s not as stressed out about her grades and won’t have a meltdown if she gets a couple of B’s. She has been swamped with preparation for running her last high school theater production, preparing for her summer program in Latin America and keeping up in her classes, but at least she’s not doing that in addition to college apps and studying for finals as she had been for the previous month! We are now in a waiting mode for college decisions - I don’t think we’ll hear anything until mid-March. It’s kind of nice to be able to focus on other things, at least for a while.</p>
<p>Mamom- Because this is a technology centric school, the only library in the school is the front half of the technology person’s office (my daughter is the founder of the library and acts as librarian.) While she could sit in there, and it would be quiet a lot of the time, she would not be supervised by staff and so that is unacceptable to the school. (Not that it might not happen from time to time anyway if you know what I mean. 
) Hmm I think I need to change my profile so it is not quite so transparent about her school if someone from there were interested to investigate.</p>
<p>amanda: glad you got that good news; let us know if Singer invite arrives; hang in there; weather’s not helping I know…</p>
<p>I’m having a pity party here. Last year I lost my job, my husband had to retire early for health reasons, my dad got put into a nursing home after a car accident and my mom had a stroke from the stress. Yesterday dad got admitted to the ICU with pneumonia and his condition is grave. Imagine the feeling last night when my son got letter of rejection from the program he really wanted to attend (it’s an honors college within a large university). </p>
<p>I really thought he nailed it so we didn’t even have a discussion about rejection. I mean, he’s in the top 1% of his 400 graduating class, has a 33 ACT, 4.39 weighted gpa, 11 AP classes by year end, is a really nice kid, has done lots of community service and EC. He’s also very self-motivated and loves working one-on-one with his current teachers (very valued traits according to the folks at the college).</p>
<p>Now he doesn’t even want to go to the university, which had been his top choice before I butted in. He feels like he won’t be challenged if he’s not in that program. The letter says he could apply again next year, but since he doesn’t know why he didn’t make it in and doesn’t think he could have done any better than he did the last 4 years, he thinks there’s no point.</p>
<p>Seems like the harder I try the worse it gets. Sigh.</p>
<p>Mamom, yes it does stink, but I also understand the delay. The school is Dickinson, and on their website it says EA apps this year went up a whopping 60%. So no doubt they were overwhelmed and couldn’t make their deadlines. But they should have been more transparent and honest about it. Yesterday morning they were telling callers that decisions would be emailed after 5 p.m. Nothing happened. Someone on CC called this morning and they said now it will be another couple of days. Meanwhile a lot of kids, including mine, had trouble sleeping last night. She was up checking at 6 a.m.!</p>
<p>And of course since apps are up so much, it just increases the acceptance anxiety. She was solidly in their range for admission based on previous years, but who knows now that they got so inundated…</p>
<p>AMI1988- Wow that sounds rough, both for you and your son. All I can say is that time will help. My daughter got denied by the school (ED) that she had wanted to go to for years. She was subsequently pretty apathetic when it came to her RD applications. She mostly did not want to talk about it- why it was understandable, how another program might suit her better, how other schools have a lot to offer. What changed her demeanor was visiting another school where they were excited about her and what she had to offer. So now we have some decisions and are waiting on others and she is fine, if not jubilant. Many/most of the top notch students I know have gotten turned down by really good programs; even though they may not have been the students’ first choice it hurts. But there are a lot of really really challenging programs out there. Unless he has to go to that university (?), maybe he should at least look at other places where he might be challenged as much as he think he wants. He might decide that this really is the place, even though he did not get in to the honors program or find that another place that wants him is a better fit. In the mean time, hang in there. Words for both you and him. This is such a tough time for many.</p>
<p>madbean - congratulations on the acceptance, but sorry that there was no help financially. It’s the old “accept, but deny” thing. Awful.</p>
<p>D got an email from another university yesterday that they hadn’t received her school report. This is so annoying. D applied to these universities well ahead of the Dec 31st deadline (she was done before xmas and these two universities were done a week or two before that!). Her GC said he mailed everything on Dec 15th. Now, she’s back with the GC, asking him to fax the materials to this uni. He’s a really nice person and he will do it for her, but he sent me an email and said that most of the time, the universities can’t be bothered to look - they do have the materials, but have most likely mis-filed or misplaced them and the easiest option for them is to ask you to resend/fax. I completely agree with him - but unfortunately, since we are still in the process of waiting for decisions, we have to play nice with the uni. Ugh! I wish our school could have opted to do all the GC stuff online - it would have made his life and our lives easier…</p>
<p>researching4emb - didn’t a similar delay happen with Clark as well? They didn’t mail their decisions in Dec - they ended up sending an email in Dec followed by the packet in mid Jan. Looks like a lot of these places are overwhelmed. Maybe too many applications since the applying has gotten a bit easier with the common app? Or perhaps students applying to more places each thanks to the uncertainty of decisions?</p>
<p>AMI1988 - I really feel for you and your son. I’ve been a family caregiver for years, and also went through an ED deferral with D in December. It’s times like you’re experiencing now that makes being a sandwich generation member especially challenging and heart-wrenching. Hopefully your S will be excited about other options once he has a little distance from the news. It’s especially tough when he seemed to have such a good shot - but from all accounts it’s an incredibly tough year. And hang in there with your parents … there are a lot of us in similar boats (though yours seems to be experiencing especially rough waters now) and we’ll be thinking of you.</p>
<p>AmandaK - congrats on the scholarship! What a mix of emotions you must be experiencing now …</p>
<p>AMI1988 - sorry to hear about your situation. My D was deferred from dream school in December despite being above the average for stats, etc. She bounced back after a day or two of self doubt and the unhappy task of telling those in the know that she was deferred. Each day will get easier. We are looking at the deferral as an opportunity to reconsider other choices. All things work for good, in my opinion, even though it does not feel that way some days. Great thread in this forum called What To Tell My Kid. Hope it helps.</p>
<p>Congrats on scholarship news, Amanda. Hope this puts a smile on all of your faces during this difficult time. </p>
<p>These delayed decisions can be so frustrating. I sympathize. Here’s hoping the couple of schools mentioned are the only ones that cannot live up to the deadlines. It must be hard to be an admissions officer at these schools with SO MANY apps, but it’s hard for the kids and parents too. In this technology driven day, we are not too good at delayed information!</p>
<p>Amandakayak: I have been thinking of you so much. I lost my mother a few years ago, and the first year was really the hardest. Now, I happily feel her with me all the time, and I take such comfort and joy in my memories of her. Sending you a huge hug. </p>
<p>FlMathmom: CONGRATULATIONS on the Olin weekend invitation!!! That is fabulous!! What an achievement, and now you really can imagine how wonderful an acceptance from Olin would feel! </p>
<p>UNC-Chapel Hill is another school that dragged out their notification dates this year, delaying it by almost 2 weeks I think. My daughter’s friend almost lost her mind with the anxiety of the wait!</p>
<p>Deferrals are tough. D just received her first deferral from a program that we (parents) consider to be less desirable, not as well ranked, more expensive and seemingly less selective than others that she has already been accepted to. D is disappointed because the school was high on her list (not ours). The point of this is that I think the admissions process and the merit process are still a “crap shoot.” </p>
<p>D received merit from a well regarded program with lower stats than some of the other kids. She did not received merit from another school where she had higher stats than other kids that received merit…so, who knows? There seems to be less money going around these days and there is no way to confidently predict if an award is coming your way. Very frustrating.</p>
<p>D did not get merit from her first choice. Does anyone know of anyone that has had success calling the Fin Aid office and asking them to reconsider or to appeal for merit?</p>
<p>Our school calculates class rank by weighting but there is no weighted GPA. They used to calculate class rank at the end of fall semester senior year but changed that several years ago when they realized that kids were dropping classes and opting for late arrival / early release as soon as they are into their EA/ ED school. They now calculate rank at the end of the year - it has prevented the slacking off to some extent.</p>
<p>Hi All.
Hope the good news continues.</p>
<p>Wondering what others are seeing in behavior of their Sr.</p>
<p>I am seeing our Sr pull away a bit.
Less communicative, more social w peers, more independent etc.etc.
I am missing kiddo already…and move in isnt til late Aug!</p>
<p>Anyone else seeing changes?</p>
<p>Rank calculated here at end of junior year (so that kids doing ea/Ed can report it) and again after 3rd quarter senior year. ( for valedictorian ). I know d’s rank has improved and wish they did a mid year ranking as it might help her on scholarship applications. She just missed top 10% at end of junior year. I think she may now be within that range. Oh well!</p>
<p>Fog fog: I’m seeing changes too!! D2 is definitely pulling away and doing all the things you described in your post. What is consoling me is that D1 was the same way but then she was so awesome and understanding the summer before she left - it made it hard to drop her off 3000 miles away! I’m hoping that by giving D2 the space she seems to want, she will also rein in. We’re going to be empty nesters when she leaves and I’m not sure I’m ready for that AT ALL!</p>