<p>Pghmomof2-guess school size hasn’t been narrowed down yet? Can’t wait to read about IU, Grinnell and Lawrence.I wish DS liked Kalamazoo. I would go there myself for the K-Plan.</p>
<p>Pghmomof2…</p>
<p>If you have any questions about Iowa, just ask. Live in Iowa City.</p>
<p>Pghmom, that’s some serious mileage. How many days is this trip? Looking forward to your reports.</p>
<p>Pghmom, Great list I would also love to hear your report. I am interested in Grinell and U of Chicago. My D was at IU last summer. The campus was beautiful. There’s a Turkeyish restaurant at the SE corner of campus. Good food. It was authentic.</p>
<p>Hi! New to this forum. I have a 2012 D and we are navigating the college application process. She has found the student threads helpful but intimidating. We now have an impressive collection of study guides! I have been reading about the college visit reports with interest. Figured I should start contributing but you all seem to have a good handle on this process that has me losing sleep!</p>
<p>I’m with you sunshinestatemom. I was standing in line in the drug store to buy pepcid for my torn up stomach over this process! Another mother laughed and me and told me one box was not going to be enough! Her oldest daughter goes to college as a freshman this fall, so the process is fresh in her mind, and she is on to the next level of stress. oiy.</p>
<p>PGHmom- I laughed at your students reason for not applying! But my favorite one on that thread is the student that would not apply to Rice becasue he did not like the food. It was not the food AT Rice he did not like, it was rice as a food the he did not like. I laughed so hard at that one!</p>
<p>Welcome, welcome, sunshinestatemom and vlines! Misery loves company! I’ve gotten lots of help here and also just comfort in not being alone with it. D is my first but some on this thread have kids already in college and thriving. It is all SO different than it was a billion years ago when I was applying. </p>
<p>Haystack I envy you, I went to grad school in Iowa City and I am still nostalgic. Is the corn tasseling properly, I hope? If you have a pig roast will you invite me? </p>
<p>And thank you mutti-- yes D is bright-eyed and dear…for all the nerves of this process the real trial will be when she goes!</p>
<p>Thanks vlines; pepcid and chewable tums. Husb and I are both using them! Especially after we looked at the sample common app and FAFSA form…</p>
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<p>I don’t get the joke, Pgh. These are both excellent reasons to reject a college. ;)</p>
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<p>Welcome, Sunshinestatemom!</p>
<p>Welcome, sunshinestatemom and vlines! I love how busy this thread is getting - we should do a roll call - our screen name, whether we have a son or daughter (or both!), and some info.</p>
<p>PinotNoir - 2012 S, 2010S already in college (going to be a sophomore), 2015 (!) S entering high school this fall. 2012S wants to be a math major and right now we’re looking for good math programs that have a chance at giving enough money to attend. Our state flagship is a good safety for him (Indiana U), and he isn’t sure he wants to go far away, so I don’t think we’re going to have terrible pressure for this admissions cycle - I guess that means I’ll be the calm voice in the corner handing out Pinot Noir or pepsid to all of you! (Please don’t hate me!) He does have some reaches on his list, I just don’t think he’s going to be too bothered if he ends up at his safety.</p>
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</p>
<p>Have we exchanged the ways that we all manage to keep the stress down?</p>
<p>Once we . . .</p>
<ol>
<li><p>Told DD that we’re not going to break the bank, and she’ll have to forgo ED and wait until all of her offers are in before we decide what the best value is among schools that accept her.</p></li>
<li><p>Really looked deeply into her safeties, and liked them. A lot.</p></li>
</ol>
<p>. . . the stress has been almost nil around here.</p>
<p>Well, the college stress. She definitely does not want to come home from her summer program, and that’s causing me a little anxiety.</p>
<p>MizzBee wrote:</p>
<p>Quote:
Do you think that will count as a leadership acitivty? </p>
<p>I see “organizing” (leadership) and “registration fees to benefit a local charity” (community service), so I don’t know why not.</p>
<p>Agreed! Leadership, creativity + philanthropy = EC</p>
<p>Lol, Pinot. We simultaneously suggested thread starters.</p>
<p>Angry Dad. D’12, S’19. DD is a great student who always manages to get a B anyway, but has near perfect test scores. Her abilities are mostly in the humanities and fine arts, and she writes fiction in her spare time. I love every single college in this country, a strange trait that has prevented me from putting too much pressure on the poor girl.</p>
<p>CPUscientist3000, HS student class of 2012. Looking to major in engineering right now (MechE with an aerospace concentration). Has two reaches on her list, rest safeties/one or two matches (for the sake of “classifying”.) A big STEM lover. Wishing she had chosen a shorter CC name.</p>
<p>Thanks to all for the welcome! My insomnia is the result of D wanting to apply ed to a school we can not afford without significant financial aid, and the word “binding” that is used in conjunction with early decision. We have always told her work hard and reach high… She has backup schools in case she is not accepted and positive opinions of them, but if she actually gets accepted…</p>
<p>We live in MD. I have lurked here for some time, but have just recently started posting. I have a son. Smart, great grades, so-so SAT’s, but retaking SAT and ACT this fall. His
“dream” school has been CMU for computer science since middle school. However, he has also known that going to any school like that would require significant scholarship help, and we do not qualify for need based aid. We are definately in the “too much but not enough” salary level. We sat down with son with many of the schools that he is a “match” for and printed out the expected costs. We explained what would have to happen if he wanted to go to CMU, and how long HE would likely be in debt. Also explained that he would be taking care of us in our retirement years if he went there, as it would wipe out most of our retirement savings. So, he has applied to University of Alabama, where he qualifies for Presidential scholarship, as well as engineering scholarship automatically. We can afford the rest one way or another, and will put the extra effort and time into applying for outside scholarships to help, instead of applying to 15 colleges to leverage merit aid. So that is where we are. Until his SAT/ACT are firmly over the presidentail scholarship level, and we have the paper from UA stating that he is in with the scholarship, I am not sure I will sleep. If son decides he wants to apply to CMU, maybe one or two more “just to see”, we will entertain that. But chances of his financial need being met, IF he is even accepted is very very low. And after writing all of that, I need my pepcid.</p>
<p>I’ve been lurking here for a couple of months and figured it is high time to de-cloak and introduce myself.</p>
<p>My ds and I are wading into the application process this fall, but with a twist. He’s been homeschooled all along, and is finishing up by taking community college classes. (I like to joke that he “fired” me after geometry.) So I’m now acting as guidance counselor in addition to being mom and teacher and chauffeur and all around nag-in-chief. I don’t know if stress is the right term to describe my feelings on the process. Freaked out, maybe? Anxious definitely. Excited mostly. </p>
<p>PghMom’s mid-west itinerary prompted me to write as we’re also visiting Grinnell and Lawrence next month, along with Beloit and Macalester. We did the Pacific Northwest tour last spring. We’re from So Cal, and he really wants to experience 4 seasons! </p>
<p>I’ve designed a transcript, have a draft of the counselor’s letter written and we’ve got outside teachers on tap to write recommendations. We’re waiting to find out what else the admissions folk will want, whether book lists, or course descriptions or a portfolio. Guess we’ll find out more next month as we visit and he interviews!</p>
<p>Welcome Sunshinestatemom! Hope you get as much from these people as I have!</p>
<p>Mutti2012 - Yes, Northeastern was on our radar; my niece is currently there, but DD decided it was too big for her.</p>
<p>Rhode Island college report:</p>
<p>Roger Williams U - beautiful campus (again - but I have to admit, I edited the colleges DD would see - and I knew her - if the campus wasn’t gorgeous, she would have a hard time considering it!!). Right on the water, #1 sailing program in the US (no interest to DD, just interesting); wasn’t prepared to be impressed, but was - offers alot of majors, strong in business, great internships, and is small enough for individual attention. For example, they have a tutor sit in on all math classes, so that if you seek tutoring help, the tutor was in class that day and knows exactly what was covered. Just an example, but haven’t heard of this before. DD liked and is still on list.</p>
<p>Bryant - Another beautiful, wooded campus. On over 400 acres, much of which is not developed, but has hiking trails. Very business oriented, but they also have Liberal Arts. You have to major/minor in different schools - so if you major in a business field, must minor in a LA field - daughter thought this was pretty cool. Not near as intense as Babson, so still on DD’s list.</p>
<p>Now in CT, will report more tomorrow!</p>
<p>We’re from Mass. and D 2012 is our only. She’s looking at auditioned acting programs-- has been deeply involved in theater for years, but these are all very, very selective and harder even for girls. She’s a very good student with a big skew between her verbal and spatial abilities-- 200 point spread between CR and Math scores on the SATs and lower math/science grades in spite of extreme diligence there. </p>
<p>But then-- those grades she worked so hard for don’t matter as much, because her audition will be the main piece of her application at all but 2 of her schools. As she has said, if not for theater she’d love to go to a womens college near home, in which case much of my stress would melt away…but, there is theater. So pass the pepcid…actually I’ll go with gin.</p>