<p>First financial aid packages arrivedin the last couple of days: </p>
<p>Pacific Lutheran University: $13,000 Merit Scholarship previously offered with admission letter, plus another scholarship of $1645. plus loans. (Her test scores went up after admission was offered, but they said they don’t adjust merit for changes after the application is submitted.)</p>
<p>Central Washington University: $2000 Merit Scholarship, plus $1000 housing waiver. (In-state public)</p>
<p>These are not on the top of her list, although she would have been happy with them if she hadn’t been accepted at her other choices.</p>
<p>Getting very frustrated here. It is March 15th and I believe the deadline for the last 2 of my DS’s schools to make admissions notifications and we still haven’t heard! My DS called his UMass Amherst Ad rep on Wed to check on things (he was admitted Undeclared rather than into Engineering during EA round and we sent updated SAT scores and 1st semester Sr grades and asked them to take another look). He had to leave a voice mail and she has not yet called back. Maybe this afternoon when she knows he will be home from school??!!!</p>
<p>Yesterday he emailed the Ad rep he had interviewed with at R I T and asked for an update. She told him that the deadline is March 15th so he should hear “any day now”. I’m trying not to take that as a bad sign. We have started getting a few FA pkgs and so it would be nice to have the admissions portion of this process done so we can move on to the next thing!</p>
<p>HL-Thanks (and, btw, love the dreams!). We don’t really need the FA pkg from UMass, just the admissions decision. We are waiting on FA on UConn (admitted to mech eng) and once we also get the admission decision and FA info from R I T, then we can make some decisions and go on to Enrollment deposit, housing deposit, summer orientation, etc!</p>
<p>We are still waiting on one more CSU (Sonoma), and somewhat perplexed as to why it is taking so long. </p>
<p>Got first rejection: from UC Santa Cruz. D was disappointed at the rejection, but it was at bottom of her list anyway, as she is hoping for a smaller school.</p>
<p>Got one FA offer from an accepted school, and wish that we would get some others. It is somewhat frustrating (as we all know) to get everything in mid-April, then have to make our decision days later!</p>
<p>Mom1006 - that is incredible!!! Such a great acceptance. We were going to shoot for UC Santa Cruz also (we are in state) but they didn’t have my daughter’s major.</p>
<p>Another parent of a 3.2 who got into UCSC. Visiting Willamette on April 4-5. If he likes it and we can manage it financially, I think that’s where he’ll go. If it doesn’t feel right, he’ll choose between Humboldt, Santa Cruz, and Merced (we don’t expect USF or UOP to offer enough aid to keep them in the running).</p>
<p>Still waiting on two financial aid packages and four decisions. Just when I thought I was starting to get a handle on things, the rug was pulled out from under me and I was laid off. It was completely unexpected. Ironically, my last day of work will be May 1st, DS’s deadline to choose a college.
My mind is mush and I can’t even think straight. DS is trying to second guess everything that’s going on, doesn’t know if he wants to go away to school anymore. He can’t sleep, I can’t sleep, and he’s not saying ANYTHING. If I knew where he really wanted to go I could try to call the FA offices and negotiate.</p>
<p>Ruby: I know what it’s like to be laid off. Been through that 2 times in last five years. Timing is never right, believe me! Hugs to you</p>
<p>For those that got into UCSC, congrats! Im guessing the 3.2 GPA was accompanied by high SAT? My D actually had 3.5 weighted GPA by senior year, but SAT only 1350. Goes to show that holistic admissions works!</p>
<p>HL - I can totally relate to your dreams. I haven’t had dreams like that just yet, but sometimes when I’m about to reprimand DD for her slovenly room, I catch myself and think about how in a few months, her room will be spotless…and quiet…and empty.</p>
<p>Confused - fingers crossed for both UMASS and RIT!</p>
<p>Mirabile - Congrats to your son on his acceptance to UCSC!</p>
<p>DD heard from her final school today (UNCW); she had been deferred back in January and received an acceptance today, not for fall, 2013 but for spring, 2014. While she was not thrilled with this alternative term acceptance, it’s still an acceptance and so she’s 14 for 14!</p>
<p>The bad news is that the FA package arrived from her first choice school - nothing but loans in addition to her 15K/year merit award, rendering this school unaffordable. She read the letter in the privacy of her room and came out in tears. My heart ached for her, but I assured her (and myself) that she will be happy and successful wherever she ends up. The one thing that made me feel a little better was that we never actually visited the school (we were waiting for the FA info because it’s far away) so although she loved it “on paper” she doesn’t truly know if it would have been so wonderful.</p>
<p>Well at least I’m glad I insisted on a financial safety-SUNY Geneseo, which he amazingly got into! They also gave him a 5k scholarship and with the 5.5k in gov’t loans that brings our cost down to ~17k. I also fortunately just finished taking out a home equity loan which I would never qualify for now.</p>
<p>Do contact the schools where your son has been admitted. I have had students experience sudden losses in support (once due to the death of a parent) and receive amended aid packages. It never hurts to ask. And if one school is more generous/flexible than the others, that may help your son make up his mind.</p>
<p>crizello-</p>
<p>Middling SAT (1650), but strong leadership and community service. Also a personal statement about his growth as a student despite learning disabilities that was pretty heart warming (but I am biased). You are absolutely correct that holistic rating must have played a big part in this. And it probably didn’t hurt that he has a y chromosome.</p>
<p>Ruby, I am so sorry, especially for your S who is feeling bad. Each school seems to have different policies about layoffs. Some require a waiting period after layoff. I guess to see if you get another job right away.</p>