<p>For the most part though, once you hit 200K with savings/assets, you’re virtually full pay.</p>
<p>Princeton by far has the most generous and has the lowest COA of all Ivies/HM. Their tuition is “only” about 42K, compared to Cornell’s 47K.</p>
<p>@PetraElise, I wish that other colleges would implement such a method as well. I find it is such a waste at the end of the year to have unused meal points left over.<br>
I haven’t thought about how to handle this for my son this year. Usually boys tend to use more meal points.</p>
<p>@glido - Congratulations! You don’t have to leave the Indecision, you just have to serve drinks! Don’t worry, bartenders are allowed to drink too:).</p>
<p>@Cakeisgreat - That is wonderful news! It’s so nice when you both feel great about the decision!</p>
<p>@creekland - Eckerd sounds wonderful!</p>
<p>@ordinarylives - I feel like I’m deliberately hanging out on the Lido deck (instead of serving drinks) when D’s decision is all but final. I’m just reluctant to let D commit until she does an overnight. It seems like such a major decision to hang on some brochures and a one day visit.</p>
<p>I second the vote for the unlimited meal plan. One of the things I really like about Sewanee is that students can visit the cafeteria multiple times daily (essentially unlimited). My D eats several smaller meals, instead of 3 large meals. I like that she can pop into the cafeteria mid-day and grab some fruit and yogurt without sacrificing dinner. In the long run the unlimited meal plan is probably cheaper than her buying extra food all the time.</p>
<p>From 2018dad “Princeton by far has the most generous and has the lowest COA of all Ivies/HM. Their tuition is “only” about 42K, compared to Cornell’s 47K”</p>
<p>I disagree -
Princeton might have the lowest COA, but they are not necessarily the most generous - sometimes Harvard and/or Yale have better FA packages.</p>
<p>@student4ever:)
So OK, I probably generalized it too much about Princeton. It could be a case by case basis. YMMV</p>
<p>When my daughter was applying, Yale’s NPC gave us nothing but WS, while Princeton COA will be about $48K. But I do realize that NPC’s result is not reality. Oh, how I wish that my daughter got accepted at Princeton. 48K is a bargain compared to Cornell’s 63K. </p>
<p>@2018Dad - Ouch! Sad when 48k seems like a bargain. </p>
<p>
Yup, I’m losing perspective. (I’m borrowing @3tallblonds’ comment about USC’s 40K COA seems like a bargain compared to Darmouth’s 55K).</p>
<p>This college decision is stressing me. I swear to God, I have twice the number of gray hair now than same time last year.</p>
<p>@crowlady, Congratulations!!! RIT is a great school. </p>
<p>@glido, congratulations! Boston is a such a cool place, despite the weather. </p>
<p>Congratulations to everyone who is making the decision and good wishes to who are still in the process. </p>
<p>We are still deciding, need strong coffee to stay level headed during this process. Is it just me or for others we as parents overthink everything? </p>
<p>It’s been a while since I have checked in here. It’s great to see everyone making decisions.</p>
<p>@Cakeisgreat, Congrats on Your D’s choice to go to Quinnipiac!
My Daughter also decided on QU. Deposit was sent last week. </p>
<p>Onlyonemom: I, too, am amazed at the ignorance that we hear when it comes to talking about the various schools where our sons applied. Today, the ignorance came from Son '14’s U.S. government teacher. Son '14 had just changed and was heading to the training room where I was chatting with a student when his teacher stopped and asked him where he planned to attend college. Proudly, my son said, “The U. of Alabama in Huntsville. I got a full tuition scholarship and I will be running track there.” The teacher’s response? He told my son that he would probably be the smartest kid at the school, because Alabama’s educational system is not very good. Well, my son told him that his older brother graduated from the U. of Alabama in Ttown, and the school must have been fairly decent if he could land a full tuition ride to UVA Law. Again, the teacher said that my older son must have been the smartest kid at UA. Too bad my son did not think to say, “No, that would be his best friend. She had a 36 on the ACT, a perfect GPA in Alabama engineering and is currently the top PhD candidate that Stanford wants.”</p>
<p>^^momreads - we live in a very nice community and top students attend top universities but I have never heard anyone critizing students choices. Perhaps the teacher thought he was giving your son a compliment? I think people should just keep their opinions to themselves if it is not positive …actually the CEO of my company asked what schools my son was considering - I mentioned UVM -He replied “oh he can do better than UVM” …</p>
<p>This has been a long and exhausting process. I’m so happy that my son just came downstairs and announced his decision to attend the University of Miami.!! It was tough to turn down Cornell but when he made the Pro/con list Cornell had only 2 Pros; 1. It’s Cornell and 2. It’s closer. Although it was just one factor I was appalled at their “financial aid” package. There was a gap of about 12k between our EFC and the cost but they filled it all with loans!! They gave a lousy $961 grant. Where do they think we were going to be coming up with the EFC? Because I am a CPA and no where on my forms did it indicate that I have a spare 40k laying around every year. But I was ready to take care of that But then even the gap they made up with loans??? Please. This process is a travesty for slightly upper middle class families.</p>
<p>I don’t think people realize the talent that Bama is attracting with their full ride scholarships. </p>
<p>Onlyonemom: I wish I could say that this is the only time my son has heard this type of remark, but it is not. He has been putting up with personal attacks from teachers or students for the past two years. No wonder he is looking forward to graduating and leaving the state. </p>
<p>2016 Barnard Mom: You are absolutely right about the talent Bama is attracting, and a lot of that talent will remain in Alabama or the South following graduation. I would not be surprised if Son '14 called Huntsville home for years after graduation. It is a STEM town, he would say.</p>
<p>@momreads, @onlyonemom – My S14 has yet to make a decision, and these sorts of comments are weighing on him. One of his choices is more prestigious (in terms of selectivity and name cachet) than his other options, but methinks one or two of those other options may be a better fit for him. However, his school’s college counselor came up to him in the library last week and congratulated him on going to where the counselor considered the obvious choice. When S said he hadn’t yet reached a decision, the counselor said that he didn’t know what there was to think about. My S realizes that the college counselor’s dog in this hunt is to generate the best-looking college matriculation list (it’s a private school, and they like to put out what they consider is a prestigious list), but still he said to me, “How can I tell anyone that I’m going anywhere except _________?” Ugh.</p>
<p>@onlyonemom – Didn’t realize until MrsPepper’s note that you were in Maine. Wife right now is in Greene and Leeds, ME visiting our grown kids (and grandkids!!). Depending on where S14 and S16 end up, we could find ourselves living there at some point.</p>
<p>Maybe the people who put down other’s college choices should pay the tuition at those more prestigious schools. I think there is far more pressure to choose the “name” school in the NE than in the South. Of course, in my area, the majority of folks look at you like you’re crazy if you tell them you’re sending your child to a private out of state school. I’m probably doubly doomed for criticism. D is likely going to a school that my college/grad school friends have never heard of and my neighbors cannot fathom. But she and I have our reasons, and they make sense to us!</p>
<p>I’ve been away for a few days and found myself way behind on the reading. Congratulations to those who are closer to decisions. And we are nowhere near to thinking about graduation parties.</p>
<p>@collegetime18 - congratulations to your son! How wonderful to truly KNOW the school is the right fit!</p>
<p>@TitanAPBioTchr - you have an awesome daughter! Drawing herself at each campus - LOL! Great idea! Loved your description of the SS Indecision circling as well. </p>
<p>@cakeisgreat and @glido - congratulations on your respective decisions!</p>
<p>@njl1022 - sounds like your son made a great decision.</p>
<p>@Creekland - what a great fit for your son! Congratulations.</p>
<p>@PetraElise - We were not really wowed by UCSD either when we visited last week. We were there on Wednesday and there were some students picketing and passing out flyers in the center of campus but it was very low-key. My guess is, UCSC students have a more passionate liberal edge, and would be more apt to throw themselves into a protest. </p>
<p>Also, your comment about the energy letdown was right on the money and very helpful. Thanks.</p>
<p>I’m feeling a bit mixed today, as we (finally) heard from my son’s #1 choice - an admission to the College of Creative Studies at UCSB. It’s a wonderful program and I think he will accept it. I’m surprised I’m not more thrilled. Some tiny part of me sees him more as a UCSC student. He’s politically liberal, vegetarian, hippie-ish, and would have fit right in with that student body - more than at Santa Barbara, I think. The final decision will be made on Saturday when we attend Spring Insight for admitted students at UCSB.</p>
<p>@Calla1 – It was a strange experience of mixed feelings about UCSD. The Triton day event was pretty well planned out, and they really made an effort. All of the faculty we spoke with were informative, friendly, and promoted the school well. I think what really turned D14 off was a comment one of the professors made in the question and answer period of the panel we attended. A girl asked about suggestions for students interested in pursuing animation, and he replied, “Go to a trade school”. D14 wants to work as a game design artist, so she was a bit offended by the comment. Although the guy was generally a dynamic speaker, and his initial talk on his program (media majors) was great, it maybe wasn’t the best idea to dismiss prospective student’s goals in a way that implies those goals are beneath UCSD.</p>
<p>Glad my comment helped – I know I was feeling really hyped about the anticipation of hearing the acceptance decisions, but making the final choice has too much angst and back & forth to maintain the same steam. </p>
<p>UCSC students were picketing for the same issue last week – 22 were arrested for blocking the entry gates (both entrances were blocked at one point). I definitely think UCSC has a more…enthusiastic protest element. UCSB was also in the news this weekend for a riot at their spring break party. Sounds like it was more of an issue with non-students crashing the party, but over 100 were arrested there. </p>
<p>So you aren’t going to the Spotlight event at UCSC?? I assume he has already scratched it completely off his list? We are going up the 18th, and attending the event the next day, then maybe Easter with Gramme in San Jose. I’m really hoping she will be ready to SIR while we are there.</p>
<p>Don’t forget to update your final decisions on the google doc! 
<a href=“https://docs.google.com/document/d/1ZxUwgbCqcCpq4L_2L4lAhqcKQAN0AyGHDAjf1rDX9rI/edit”>https://docs.google.com/document/d/1ZxUwgbCqcCpq4L_2L4lAhqcKQAN0AyGHDAjf1rDX9rI/edit</a></p>
<p>DS is still in decision mode. We visited the two Michigan schools. Liked them both a lot, but still quite a bit short finanical aid wise. We did receive an updated FA letter today from one of them. Now instead of being $20k short, we’re only $18k short! haha!! That extra little $2k didn’t really put a dent in the amount of loans he would need. So he is likely to end up where @momreads older son went and had such an excellent experience! I’m excited and ready to pay the deposit. He’s just not ready to make that commitment yet. </p>
<p>Congrats to all that have made decisions recently! </p>
<p>@Calla1. I totally understand your concerns re environment for a hippie-ish son. Mine us also vegetarian and progressive and I worried he would not fit at UCLA (his other choice). I think UCLA and UCSB might be a bit similar. The first question they asked at the UCLA admitted students tour was “what do you like to do at the beach?” My son doesn’t like the beach much, but he said “look for fossils.” The only kid w/o a typical response (swim, surf, play frisbee etc). UCSC might be a better fit for your son, but of course there are kids like ours at every UC and they will find each other!</p>