<p>I’m following all of you with interest since my S15 was previously known as S14 before he took a mid HS gap year to go to China with NSLIY. I admit that postponing college apps for a year has been both a relief (for him) and more nerve wracking (for me). I’ll get back to chilling the champagne for you all…</p>
<p>Apollo6 - how was his time in China?</p>
<p>He loved it! It was absolutely life changing. He came home fluent in Mandarin and won a scholarship to finish high school at UWC Atlantic College. He will spend this summer helping kids learn Chinese at Concordia Language Villages, then he’ll have to figure out where to apply for Chinese, computer science and music composition. Thanks for asking, @go2mom.</p>
<p>@Apollo6… So sweet of you to be thinking of me, as you know, this had been a long, tedious, mind numbing road for us…but NOW…now she sees what I have been saying. She finally gets it. She sees that I wasn’t such a nut job after all. She got into her favorite college. She is waiting on her 2nd choice. Let’s see if she makes it in…,fingers crossed and prayers up to the heavens!</p>
<p>Are you ready for the lunacy of 12th grade? You’d better put your running shoes on! It’s going to be a long, bumpy ride!</p>
<p>@mrspepper…</p>
<p>Yes, girls are very mercurial, odd creatures. My d is so sweet to everyone else…they always say she is such a gift and so amazing…really lol are we talking about the same girl? I always beg her to treat me like a stranger! </p>
<p>Congratulations to all for amazing acceptances!!!
So far my S has UNC-CH, UF and UVA…Likely letters to UPenn, Cornell and Rice!! Waiting for D-Day of March 27 to hear from the other big dogs: Yale, Princeton, Brown, Columbia and Cornell</p>
<p>S2 got his Oxy acceptance today, with a very nice aid offer of near full tuition. However, it is a pricey school and a long distance away, so really the offer is comparable to Tulane’s, which is now his clear first choice. Waiting for the Pomona decision in the next 10 days or so. We are going to an event in Austin Monday night for admitted Tulane students. He’s going to write a letter tomorrow to his admissions officer laying out his reasons for asking for increased grant aid, so he can give it to her Monday at the event. It can’t hurt. I have the oddest feeling - Murphy’s Law premonition - that he will probably end up getting into Pomona and it will cause a bit of family angst, since their NPC indicates he would pay less than $10K a year to go there. Pomona is a no-loan school. Ah well, cross that bridge if we come to it!<br>
Actually after I finished writing this I checked the Pomona thread, and acceptance letters were sent out yesterday via FedEx. So if S2 gets one on Monday, it will make for an interesting night at the Tulane event. </p>
<p>My S was accepted to UIUC , U Michigan and ED to UPenn. He had to withdraw all his other apps after the ED admit and I must say I do wonder , only because so much work and heart went into each application. Since December its been kinda quiet on the college front, no communication from Penn as they wait for the RD admits and S is totally into his other activities, has no interest in talking about college anymore for now. That leaves me coming to you all for venting, support, discussion and celebrations.
We’ve been having the senior parent meetings to plan grad, prom, after parties etc. I have to say I didnt expect to feel soooo emotional about all this. This group allows me to remain outwardly calm at home :-S </p>
<p>D14 was accepted to Macalester this weekend. It seemed like the perfect school for her, but even though they are offering her one of their top merit scholarships, we really can’t afford the rest of the costs (even though our EFC says we can…) And living in Michigan, every acceptance has to be compared to in-state costs at U Michigan. “Is this school really worth twice the costs of U of M?” </p>
<p>She has a few other merit opportunities, so was not even considering Macalester any more, but it is still making me sad - I guess I had been picturing her there since she started her applications. I’m so glad there are other options!</p>
<p>My S is going to a Prom! I never thought he would…he just casually mentions it to me over dinner last night! Of course I got all gushy. I just couldn’t help myself. He is not going to his prom but rather he is going to his former girlfriend’s prom( they recently decided to be friends). Having a boy, it is not so much fun …No prom dress to buy…no day of beauty…less planning…But I can help with the flowers and tux…I told him to tell his “friend” that I was coming over on prom night to take pictures…he just rolled his eyes…Lol…this is a good diversion from college acceptance and FA ! </p>
<p>This thread has exploded with mostly good news this weekend! Congrats on all of the scholarships & admits, especially @2018dad as I know your D has been hoping beyond hope for UCLA. </p>
<p>@onlyonemom - congrats on the Prom. Make those other parents invite you over for drinks beforehand!</p>
<p>We had quite a day yesterday. We woke up to unseasonably beautiful spring weather and headed off on our primary mission: Operation Prom Dress. After trying on many dresses, she found the one - Mission Accomplished. The best part of the day was when Spygirl and her shopping consultant - and BFF - checked their portals and both were accepted to Oxy! </p>
<p>However, after reading the fine print and adding up the merit aid, Oxy is not as affordable as I had hoped. We can do it, but I won’t be happy about it. COA at Oxy rose $5k last year to $64K! Ridiculous.</p>
<p>We’re going to need that app @GertrudeMcfuzz.</p>
<p>OK everyone - the app is called T-Charts (Pros and Cons) - here’s a link. Enjoy!!</p>
<p><a href=“T-Charts (Pros and Cons) on the App Store”>T-Charts (Pros and Cons) on the App Store; </p>
<p>BTW, so far the app has mostly had the result of pointing out how evenly matched D’s two choices are, but in wildly different ways. At least we have the feeling that either choice is great & she can’t really go wrong.</p>
<p>Wow - Congrats on all the acceptances and prom success stories - both attendance and shopping 
Maybe spring will finally come someday!</p>
<p>We’re still waiting for Smith’s financial info to come in the mail. They were all sent on Friday but it didn’t make it here yesterday so I’m guessing it will come tomorrow. Meanwhile, I think DD is focusing more on Mt. Holyoke as a good choice especially with the scholarship she received. I’m just a bit miffed that her other grant will be reduced dollar for dollar by any outside scholarships she receives, which seems to make all the work she’s been doing on them pointless. But I didn’t expect them to give her any need based aid anyway so we’ll just have to see how it all works out in the end.</p>
<p>When can we line up to board? I’m ready to set sail right now! Especially if we’re sailing somewhere warm and tropical!!</p>
<p>Wow, go for a few days of travel and completely lose track of the thread! Congrats to all who got good news this weekend. After getting started with Carleton last week, D added several more choices yesterday including Middlebury and Colby. Exciting, and a relief. </p>
<p>Our house hasn’t even started thinking about graduation, the summer, packing, etc. Y’all have a big head start! Prom is at least fuzzy on the horizon, but mostly D is swamped with IB work and exam studying. Even now, during spring break. </p>
<p>A few hours and I lose track of the news! I have to admit that I rely on the Google doc to help me to keep track of everything. Congratulations to everyone with new acceptances, scholarships and great aid offers!</p>
<p>This is going to sound dumb, but what is Oxy? Occidental?</p>
<p>I am living vicariously through the prom stories since D and her boyfriend have decided to forego prom this year. D went to prom in prior years so at least I didn’t miss out completely. Her boyfriend’s family (lovely people) have rented a beach house for senior week and she will be staying with them. She reminded me how much money she was saving me compared to S because he did a senior trip to the Bahamas. I think this was an effort to increase her dorm room decorating budget. I laughed and reminded her that S went to State flagship with scholarships, not a private LAC! I haven’t even thought about a graduation party yet. Most of our family lives far away so it will likely be a small affair. </p>
<p>@akmom124 - Wait, are you sure that MHC grants are reduced if one has outside scholarships? I had read the working differently. </p>
<p>edited: never mind, I found the exact wording online: "If a student receives an outside scholarship(s), we will first reduce the student’s institutional and federal need-based loans included in her original financial aid package. If the outside scholarship(s) exceed the amount of the need-based loans, the remainder reduces the College grant. The total financial aid will remain the same unless the student requests her full federal Stafford loan eligibility rather than the loan reduction. (Important note: If the student’s institutionally determined need is met solely by College need based grant, such as the Mount Holyoke Grant or the Mary Lyon Legacy Grant, any outside scholarship(s) will reduce the institutional grant aid dollar for dollar. )
The Subsidized Federal Stafford Loan will be added back to the package unless the total aid package exceeds federal need eligibility. If this occurs, a student is usually able to borrow an equivalent amount in unsubsidized federal student loan. However, to help reduce overall student loan debt students are encouraged to consider reducing their FDSL by the amount of her outside scholarship. "</p>
<p>Can anyone help me understand this? The way I am reading it, if D had outside scholarships, they would first reduce the amount of federal loans indicated in her award. If the outside scholarships totalled more than the federal loans, then she could still borrow the federal monies but only enough to reduce the EFC figured by MHC to the federal EFC noted on her FAFSA. Is that correct?</p>
<p>Congrats in all the acceptance! </p>
<p>@Agentninteynine- congrats on finding the perfect Prom dress and thanks for the advice. I am sure it would be ok to stop over before the prom…I think I’ll send an email to the mom.</p>
<p>@akmom- S’s “friend” was also accepted to Smith and Holyoke -I think her top choice is Smith - she received a Science scholarship but Holyoke gave her a “full ride” ( NMS) - I assume that means full tuition?
Both are great schools - happy deciding </p>
<p>I am starting to feel sad as I realize …this is it…my boy (my baby) will be off to college next year…It is hard to believe! </p>
<p>I have seen a lot of “growth” in him this year and know he will do just fine! For now, I would like him to focus on which school he wants to go to! I know he wants to wait until he knows all his options but I wish he would at least start to consider his current options…nope…well another week and the push will be on next weekend! </p>
<p>@onlyonemom what you just said re your son is exactly what I would have said about mine! My S won’t consider his current choices until he has it all in front of him. </p>
<p>@staceyneil - that’s the way I’m reading it. First they reduce the loans and then the scholarships. They actually didn’t add loans to DD’s package and the outside scholarship she’s already received (to get the money next spring) was indicated on the award and her Spring Mary Lyon grant was that much less than the fall one. So any scholarship money she brings in will not help her at all as it will just reduce the grant further. And she can still borrow anyway. Kind of depressing given her hard work on them as she was just named a finalist in another one and we already know she’s getting more from somewhere else that came in after her MH application went in. And it stinks as I’m sure this will be the only year for need based aid as we only have two in school this one year.</p>