<p>Well, contacted the FA office at UCSC to see if any adjustments could be made to her package, and was told nothing could be done. Hmmm. The person also mentioned in the conversation that she is new. So I emailed the Honors program director, in hopes that he can or will try to do something. </p>
<p>I have to assume that if the Honors program is to be successful (It’s a new program in an attempt to attract higher achieving kids) then it has to be financially competitive with higher ranked schools. Basically, UCSC is charging $3220 more for a double room than UCSD, and it is cheaper to get a single at UCSD than a triple at UCSC. It just doesn’t make a lot of sense for a high stat kid to go to a more expensive lower ranked school over a less expensive higher ranked school. </p>
<p>Keeping my fingers crossed, because I know D14 prefers UCSC. We haven’t decided she won’t go with the package as is, but it will certainly be under lots of discussion. </p>
<p>EDIT: Heard back that he has forwarded my email to the appropriate person.</p>
<p>@ordinarylives according to their site, US News considers a university “regional” if it offers very few PhD degrees, even if they have lots of Masters programs. That means the school isn’t as research-oriented, and usually isn’t as well known on the national scene, which I guess is why they only compare them within region. That may or may not matter to you depending on the major.</p>
<p>Congrats to @dadfor2014 for settling on a port city. Time to put on your black tie and serve drinks and appetizers for the rest of us on the USS Indecision. </p>
<p>We are meeting with a financial aid rep this evening before attending a reception for one of Spygirl’s top choices. Hoping they are interested enough in her to offer more merit. I really think this school is the best fit, and I suspect she thinks so, too. If only the $ wasn’t an issue…</p>
<p>I’ve put together a few bits of wisdom gleaned from parents who’ve already gone through this process. This is for all of us who’ve been dealing with naysayers and critics of our DC’s choices:</p>
<ol>
<li><p>When dealing with the parent who talks nonstop about the importance of prestige and the top ranked school their DC is attending: Smile and nod. Smile and nod.</p></li>
<li><p>Not everyone can afford, or is interested in, attending a 4 year college. When inquiring about a soon to be graduate:What are your plans for next year? </p></li>
<li><p>When listening to a parent of a child who graduated a decade ago discuss how affordable college was: Refrain from sobbing or striking said parent and see #1</p></li>
<li><p>When listening to a grandparent, uncle or other relative’s disapproval of the “cheap/unknown/unranked” school your DC has chosen: Great, are you going to pay the tuition?</p></li>
</ol>
<p>crowlady – thanks for the explanation of regional – it’s hard not to take that word with a slightly negative bias (like provincial) – I wish USNWR had a better name for it.</p>
<p>eyemamom – yes, upstate winters are not for wimps. The sky is always gray and the wind is icy. I’ll tell him about all the blonds! He’s blond, so maybe I’ll end up with beautiful blond babies someday! But not before graduation.</p>
<p>ordinarylives – yep, no way to compare. And I like your thought that ranking really doesn’t matter. If a kid loves a school, sure there will be pros and cons (too many girls!) but at least THEY chose the school.</p>
<p>For the LACs, which don’t offer many grad degrees at all, the difference is in kind of degree. Regional schools award less than 50% of their degrees in the traditional liberal arts. So, you’ll see business, CJ, education, mass comm, nursing, etc. However, it’s still pretty meaningless. Basically, the conclusion I can draw from the data is . . . stay away from anything with a national ranking if I want a business degree (or nursing or mass comm)! </p>
<p>I don’t know, does it really matter how a school is ranked? Ask anyone about the schools my kids attend - my son goes to Univ of Rochester - ranked 32 - my daughter will be attending Auburn, ranked 91 (I just had to go look that up, I’m not one of those people who just know things like that). Dollars to donuts most people know Auburn and think U of R is the same school as RIT or have actually asked me - oh is that RIT? No, RIT is RIT and University of Rochester is a different school. Or have to ask where Rochester is located. Will it matter in the long run? I’m not so sure, they’re each going to get the education suitable to them. My son would flip out with the rah rah school spirit, greek life, football stuff…my d would flip out with all the nerds and the snow. </p>
<p>I hire for my company. I pretty much ignore online degrees, but otherwise I’m pretty open to most schools except a handful I won’t mention. </p>
<p>Can I book passage on that SS Indecision?? My son is STILL waiting for financial aid packages from a few places… I’m trying not to stress about May 1st deadline as looms closer and closer!! </p>
<p>great list @Agentninetynine , especially number 2. I have really tried to incorporate that in my conversations with any high school senior of my acquaintance. Even though about 99% of our high school goes on to a 2 or 4-year school, some don’t, and they must get awfully sick of people making assumptions.</p>
<p>It doesn’t matter but I wonder if the people who do the rankings know something I don’t about the quality of the educational experience and that’s reflected in the ranking. I’m probably giving them way too much credit.</p>
<p>You are. Rankings consider things like size of the endowment, yield, etc. Things that really don’t tell you much about the experience once a kid is on campus. I didn’t refer to any rankings when making college suggestions to either d. I just looked at the middle 50% range of test scores, the GPA, and the retention and grad rates. </p>
<p>@Agentninetynine - Love your list of responses! I am going to adopt the Southern version. Instead of “smile and nod,” we say “That’s nice”. You have to drawl out the “i” in nice. It’s the polite way of saying f&@k you. </p>
<p>@Classof2015 - you know my vote is for CofC:). And now that I see the other schools to which your S applied, even more so. Our kids had 2 overlaps and almost 3 (D nixed Elon at the last minute). CofC, despite its size, is consistent with those choices. It’s beautiful warm and sunny here today:). </p>
<p>@spritle and @crowlady - I am so sorry to hear that you have been sad:( </p>
<p>Too funny@Overtheedge! As a child of two southerners and a one time resident of the south, I wholeheartedly approve of, and appreciate your approach. I’d also recommend a “Bless your heart,” but too many people are on to that one. </p>
<p>@Classof2012: Know that you are not alone. A good friend has 4 children - one going back for a masters, two in college and the fourth headed there in a year - and their choice has always been a fight with the ex. Just recently she was gleefully counting down the number of times she’ll have to see her ex, before the number is zero. Hang in there.</p>
<p>I just skimmed this quickly so won’t be able to keep track of who made which comment. (Am so impressed at all of you who do, though!)</p>
<p>Is C of C considered regional or is HWS? I grew up hearing about HWS b/c of their lacrosse team, as Lax was big is my HS. Lax is also big where I live now, so we see a couple to several attending HWS each year. We also have a fair number attending C of C each year, but not as recruited athletes. The stats of the admitted students are higher for C of C, but that could be b/c of all our athletic recruits at HWS.</p>
<p>I had never heard of C of C until the past couple of years, so it is funny how name recognition works.</p>
<p>I can completely agree about the horror of the weather in upstate NY. Winter is a long season there….survived four years, never to return!</p>
<p>@eyemamom Heh, nerds and snow were serious requirements for my S. And I can see we’ll be constantly explaining the UofR and RIT difference. @classof2015 I’m a Florida gal originally, so the upstate NY winters were brutal. But summer and fall are wonderful. </p>
<p>@ordinarylives Yes, I agree that the kind of major and career makes a difference. People in the field will know which schools have strong programs, regardless of overall rankings.</p>
<p>@spritle I’m going to be on the sadness roller coaster! Was down, then up again. I’m sure I’m not alone!</p>
<p>I’ve finally caught up on a week of posts and wanted to congratulate all those who have decisions in hand and are now serving drinks! DD and I are ready to come out of hiding in our cabin and explore a few ports of call. We had to take a break when the talk turned to vals losing their class rank as it was hitting way too close to home. DD had a really bad term in AP Calc and her grade dropped enough that she was really concerned about her rank. A combination of a couple of bad test grades along with bad timing. Plus she chose to work with a partner who was failing the class in hopes that she would be able to pull her grade up so she would pass. While I’m really proud of her choice to try to help per friend and I know she would do it all over again, it didn’t help bring up her own grade at all. But I finally got a call from her GC today confirming that her rank hasn’t changed! She pulled up her AP English grade a bit which helped offset the lower AP Calc grade. When she got home tonight I was able to give her the good news and she’s so happy and relieved as are we!</p>
<p>As far as visiting ports of call, she’s got the lead in the school play and is very reluctant to miss school right now to plan the next stage of her life! After finally getting a chance to talk things out yesterday afternoon, she decided to skip visiting Smith tomorrow and Friday and instead we’ll head down to Brown for the morning/early afternoon. She’ll do another tour and info session and then hang out with a friend for lunch and hopefully be able to see her dorm room and a few other places not seen on the tour. Then she’ll be able to be back at school for an important music rehearsal she was going to miss by seeing Smith. She’s leaning towards Brown and wants to see it before their admitted students days start April 22nd. We’re supposed to head out to Mt. Holyoke for Sunday/Monday but rehearsals are also scheduled then. Maybe we’ll just disembark in Providence tomorrow?? She went to Preview days at both Smith and Mt. Holyoke this fall so it’s important now for her to see Brown again and figure out if the fit is right for her. In the meantime, I’ll take a pitcher of Sangria - anyone want to share it with me?</p>
<p>The name recognition thing is funny. We live in CA, so most all kids go to state schools here, and for good reason, my kids went to a private college prep school, and had a broader scope of schools to which they applied to. My S who got in ED to Kenyon, is so tired of people asking him if he is going to school in Africa, that he just smiles and says, " Yes, I am" :)) </p>
<p>Is anyone else worried their child might not come to a decision, ever??? DS went to one ASD so far, and will attend 2 more in the next 9 days. He just hasn’t shown a spark for any college, yet!!</p>
<p>@student4ever:) I am concerned. I’m afraid he’s so disappointed that he wasn’t accepted to his top 3 picks that he won’t ever show a spark for either of the remaining 2. He says that isn’t why he banned college talk, but I’m still afraid it might be. He didn’t fall in love with just one school- he fell in love with three and applied to the other two because he knew he had to apply to some that were guaranteed admissions for him. The fact that he refused to go to any accepted student days prior to being rejected/wait listed everywhere else tells me something. I want him to start really exploring his remaining options and find things to get excited about. </p>
<p>I’m concerned too but for different reasons. My girls didn’t fall in love w any but they like many. They will turn down an Ivy; not a great fit location wise and so expensive we actually laughed at the FA pkg. We’ve gotten flack for this decision bc people think the Ivys are affordable for all. Not so people, not so.</p>
<p>Yesterday news came in that 2nd twin was also offered full tuition scholarship at a good research institution 5 hrs away. Perfect. </p>
<p>But wait, we go to a diff college 7 hrs away tomorrow for ASD just to see it one more time- only 1 d can go, 2nd d said “my sister knows if I’ll like it.” Ok then. </p>
<p>And then wait again, there is still interest in checking out USC. It’s across the country. We haven’t even seen it yet. And, can I really send my girls across the country? I know people do it all the time. So why am I so worried? </p>
<p>@2016BarnardMom, is he leaning toward either of the 2? Has he been to ASD yet for either of his options? And @student4ever:), yes I feel the same way. 3 more weeks. </p>
<p>Saw one of my husband’s former students at a track meet. She was accepted to four Ivies, Stanford and several others. She admitted that life was a bit nuts, because everyone is offering an opinion where she should go. So she has plans to visit all of her schools over the next two weeks and come to a decision. No mater where she goes, she will be a success. She is a real winner.</p>
<p>Meanwhile, Son’14 is glad that he does get a break during spring break. While others travel to see schools and make decisions, he will be studying for AP exams, running a lot, repairing a fence and hopefully, painting it, and maybe, doing some college shopping. I’d like to get his eye doctor’s appointment done if possible – one less thing for the summer. Gotta take the older son to UVA to search for law school housing. Son '14 wants to come along. I just want a few days to clean, weed out, run things to various donation places and … do nothing! The idea of sitting in a chair and cross stitching sounds very appealing!</p>
</p>