<p>Even though I’m not a parent, I’m wondering if I’m still allowed to post in this thread? I got into MIT EA (complete shock) and Carnegie Mellon ED over the weekend and I’m still over the moon! While turning down MIT immediately was pretty much the hardest thing I’ve ever done (I had to), CMU is where I really wanna be (though MIT is quite dazzlingly shiny, I have to admit). </p>
<p>My crotchety old English teacher had to remind me that the one girl who’s ever gone to MIT from our school dropped out after a year and both they’ve sent to CMU flunked out. Thanks.</p>
<p>D should be hearing today from a top contender. She should get in, but we all know how fickle admissions are these days. It’s a match and everyone in my family seems to be obsessed with this school since my niece works there. Quite a few kids have applied as well so I’m uncertain if that will play into the decision. I think I’m more nervous than she is - I watch the colleges on here when people start saying they’re getting answers so I know when they’re coming - lol</p>
<p>Nice way to begin the day! go2girl received an acceptance from one of her two EA schools (the other decision should be out later this week.) No idea on merit money. They have some full-ride scholarships that will require interviews down the line so it is staying in the maybe pile.</p>
<p>With decisions coming out all around her, it was nice to feel some love. </p>
<p>I feel for the kids who did not apply EA somewhere…it’s nice to know you’re going to college, whether it’s your dream school or safety.</p>
This is the exact reason that my daughter decided not to apply ED/EA because she doesn’t want distraction during finals. Still. it must have been nice to have an acceptance just before the holidays.</p>
<p>yayitsme123 - Congratulations!! What a wonderful accomplishment! Ditto what Creekland said - study hard and set a new record your English teacher can share with future graduates!</p>
<p>eyemamom - sending good thoughts and best wishes for your D today!</p>
<p>go2mom - Congratulations on go2girl’s EA acceptance! Couldn’t agree more with you - sure is nice to get that first acceptance and know you’re going to school somewhere, whether dream school or safety!</p>
<p>ovrseasmom - Congrats on your S14’s acceptance to his first choice ED! </p>
<p>AvonHSDad - what a scare! Sure seems to make sense though that the dental school wouldn’t be asking for a supplement unless she was accepted. Wishing good news for you and your D in a few days!</p>
<p>And AvonHSDad … I share your thoughts about the supplement! Hoping for acceptance news for her soon!</p>
<p>The official Vandy acceptance package came in the mail today for DD14… along with a mass Vanderbilt mailer addressed to DD15. Here we go again! :)</p>
<p>Congrats to those who are still getting all that good news! It’s getting to be too many to list individually. I’m so envious… I’d like for us to have ANY response. People keep asking me if my son has decided where he’s going for college- as if it is up to him??? Applying to schools with 9%, 13%, or even 30% acceptance rates? I keep saying “He won’t even know who has accepted him until late March.” </p>
<p>Kicking myself for not getting him on those last two college visit trips earlier in the process so we’d have some answers now. But really, there was nothing I could do. <em>sigh</em></p>
<p>OK, here’s a quandry. S2 was rejected from his ED dream school, Claremont. He was very disappointed. However, he really, really now wants to go to his EA school, Tulane, who have offered him $25k in merit scholarship, and where S1 went. When I do the net price calculator for Tulane, they are the most loan-heavy out of all the schools he considered applying to (including another reach that is no-loan after EFC, just like my daughter at Vandy). If it was S2’s choice, he’d accept Tulane right now - however, I am concerned that although Tulane would be doable for next year, from his sophomore year on our EFC will definitely increase, as DD will have graduated, and we will have only him in college. This could prove burdensome to us and him, and he does want to go on to medical school. My husband and I would like him to apply to 1-2 more schools, just to see how it will play out (he has visited all the other schools he was considering, and liked them all). He is burned out with applications and essays and wants to just focus on the rest of his school year and applying to outside scholarships. I plan to contact Tulane’s Financial Aid office to get a better handle on what we would be looking at for years 2-4 for him, but right now my biggest problem is getting him back on board with a couple more applications. One he would have to move on this week, as far as starting the application and getting his school to send transcripts and SR. His rejection from Claremont (he was a very good fit statistically, and had a wonderful interview) came right on the heels on exclusion from Varsity sports honors this year for the first time, so I understand his reaction, but timing is a problem. Any suggestions from the more experienced parents here? Right now he sees me as bad cop, so dad is going to have a go at it tonite. My view is that 1-2 more applications is not a huge thing to ask, if he is asking us to potentially take on tens of thousands more in debt. We are not rich, and just over Tulane’s income threshold of no-loans after EFC.</p>
<p>Hi Moonmaid - I totally understand your situation. My D is so application weary as well & it seems like after she submits an app, she just gets more invitations of programs or scholarships to apply for. Which is wonderful, but oh so much work. It’s like they keep moving the finish line just when we think we’re there. </p>
<p>The only thing I can suggest to you is that somehow your S have some “skin in the game” financially, so the extra thousands of dollars have some concrete meaning to him. Perhaps split the loans 50/50 or something, & show him how much he will owe each month upon graduation, versus going somewhere where he can come out owing nothing. Or discuss how many hours per week he will need to work at one school versus another. </p>
<p>Thanks - we already are splitting the loans 50-50 in my scenario, but it’s pretty abstract to him at present, so maybe laying it out like you suggested might help. He will have WS no matter where he goes - all of my kids have had a WS job for spending money.</p>
<p>Moonmaid–I agree about the abstractness of money to teens. Would it help to take a starting salary, divide it into monthly net after taxes, then start subtracting out costs for housing, transportation, insurance, etc. I realize there would be a lot of assumptions in this calculation, but it might help drive the point home. Definitely a challenge.</p>
<p>moonmaid, your S2 still has pending applications, right? At the very least, he needs to let those play out. He’s already put in the work, and for all he knows one of those acceptances may come with a great aid package that he can use as leverage for another go-round with the Tulane FA folks. Also (and this isn’t for him to hear right now) he’s feeling hurt and wounded, and Tulane has already shown him love. It’s not surprising at all that he wants to enroll there right now. However, in a few months when other acceptances show up, his feelings could change. This is heat of the moment.</p>
<p>Am I remembering correctly that he was considering applying to Pomona?</p>
<p>yayitsme123, did you ever read the children’s book “Frindle”? Give it a read, and then consider giving your crotchety English teacher a copy along with a winning smile and effusive thanks for her support, just like Mrs. Granger. </p>
<p>D2 received her acceptance packet from the University of South Carolina yesterday. She loved the big envelope with the giant YES on the back. Her tweet about it, though? “Go *****”, with a photo of her envelope. Yikes. I may have to get used to that … .</p>
<p>SlitheyTove, yes he is considering Pomona. But when I suggested he send in the app there (he would have to finish one essay question by Jan 1), he said, “Mom, Claremont rejected me, why should Pomona accept me?” I pointed out that from what I had read, Claremont is currently the “hot” school of the consortium, with huge increases in applications in the past couple years, while Pomona’s is more stable. Also, from what I have read from Pomona’s admissions officers, they look for a well rounded student, which my son certainly is. He gets high grades in all subjects (well, AP Calc is a struggle this year), is an athlete, has volunteered with kids and is NHS and just last night got an All-State Academic First Team award for football. He is just very consistent, and well liked. And Pomona, from all the admit stats I have read, seems a reasonable reach school to apply to - his stats are smack in the middle of what they have posted. Their NPC is really nice for us, and he loved it out there, so why not roll the dice? The other school he loved in California was Oxy, but he now argues that it can’t compare with Tulane as far as research possibilities go. I could counter back, but I just don’t want to argue. The difficult thing here is getting him to write a meaningful essay when he doesn’t want to, even if he agrees to. He really put his heart and soul into his Claremont essays - his Tulane ones too, and I thought those were even better. His plan was to apply ED to Claremont, EA to Tulane, and RD to Pomona, Rice and Oxy. My concern from the start was that he had 3 reach schools, but only 1 fit (Tulane) and 1 safety (Oxy). And he’s kind of blowing the plan I have had all along, that worked with my first two kids: get into a school that offers merit money and good FA for middle class families. The problem is, we now earn about $20K more a year than we did for my first son at Tulane.<br>
He also loved Rice when he visited, but wont even talk about it now.</p>
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