<p>@2016BarnardMom - I’m amazed it’s taken that school so long for a rolling acceptance! You would think they would at least get their acceptances out by April 1st as most kids are already getting attached to other schools by then. I can’t believe they would have a great yield with such late notifications. But I am so happy for you that a favorite seems to be emerging!! That’s great news too!</p>
<p>I hear you, @student4ever. I never was successful getting my S14 to make a pro or con list, or to list the things that were important to him or to do any research on his own. I suspect it was few well-timed questions, and my making a list of things he told me he didn’t care about (the mascot, the ranking of the Quidditch team, presence of a climbing wall etc) that got him quietly thinking about what he was looking for. Then we got lucky in our ASD that he was able to quickly tick off his own boxes. I’m still thinking it was kind of miraculous and I keep expecting something to go wrong. He left for a school trip yesterday; meanwhile an assistant dean from another school left a message on the answering machine. I suppose he could yet form doubts.</p>
<p>A friend of ours agonized last year over her decisions – they were all “okay” but none of them stood out. I don’t know how she finally chose, but she did and then asked for a gap year. During the gap year she was offered a paid opportunity to stay in Africa to continue working for a non-profit. But she’d have to extend her gap year. So she called the college up (Dickinson) and they told her that by starting school she’d be able to to enlist college faculty and other students in the effort so she could go back in the summer with a strong leadership role. Now everyone is excited! </p>
<p>We probably would not have done a gap year but would probably have convinced our S to go to a nearby school if he hadn’t decided himself. Trying something out knowing that transferring is an option seems reasonable. Hang in there!</p>
<p>Of course our S16 will likely be a totally different experience.</p>
<p>@gertrudemcfuzz, Looking forward to the result of that pro/con party!</p>
<p>@2018dad Don’t worry, Cornell will be worth it IMHO!</p>
<p>@2016BarnardMom - so good to hear Michigan is emerging as a favorite for S14!</p>
<p>@Overtheedge - Praying that the endocrinologist will be able to get your D’s health back on track asap and the school administration will work with you to ensure your D can graduate on time.</p>
<p>@2018Dad - Hope you’re having a good flight to Cornell! D and I loved the campus when we visited 2 years ago. Any chance they may up the FA?</p>
<p>@crowlady - Hope your S has a wonderful Spring break in Europe! Is he going with his school? My D14 and S14 went to Europe on a band tour summer before last. They visited 7 countries and had a wonderful time, leading to my D hoping to do a study abroad in Lausanne, Switzerland. Which countries will they be visiting?</p>
<p>Congrats to all those having made decisions, and best wishes to those still in the process!</p>
<p>In flight on our way back home, as I post, after a wonderful trip to Pepperdine in sunny CA. Weather was beautiful; everyone, to include front gate campus security, was very friendly; and exciting study abroad/internship possibilities explored. D was ready to load up on apparel and came very close to signing on the dotted line yesterday . . . thinking D may commit this week.</p>
<p>@overtheedge - I am praying for your daughter’s health and studies. </p>
<p>@1dilecon - I live not far from Pepperdine. Our weather has definitely been gorgeous! I’m glad she liked the school. And yes, they do have a wonderful study abroad program.</p>
<p>Well, I have officially joined the staff on our voyage! Captain, I gratefully accept tomorrow off with the other parents, but in the meantime I’m happy to help out by donning my uniform and taking an evening shift. BTW, I make very good nachos and will be carrying plates of those with me as I deliver the drinks. </p>
<p>We had a wonderful time today at UC Santa Barbara’s Spring Insight for admitted students. I’ve completely let go of Santa Cruz, because UCSB is obviously a great fit for my son. The day was wonderfully jam-packed with a multitude of activities, including lectures on various topics by some of the faculty. We attended one such lecture, in an area entirely removed from my son’s major, and my son enjoyed it so much he stayed afterwards talking with the professor. A bonus is this professor teaches this course at the Freshman Summer Start Program and my son plans to take his class. So I feel we have a bit of a connection made with the school already. </p>
<p>The SIR is submitted! Woohoo! 
So relieved to have this decision made.</p>
<p>We aren’t getting any closer to a choice. D is heading halfway across the country by herself this week for one accepted student event, and then all the way across the country with her mother in the last few days of April for another. So I suspect I’ll be drinking margaritas until the captain kicks us off the USS Indecision on May 1.</p>
<p>Congrats Calla1!! Sorry we won’t be seeing your S at Santa Cruz, but very happy he found a perfect fit! Santa Barbara will be on D15’s list – looking forward to hearing about your S’s first year experiences!</p>
<p>Congrats to all kids and parents who’ve made a decision. Very happy for you, but jealous.</p>
<p>S and I are off tmrw to New England, to both visit family and re-visit Brandeis (although we may simply cancel in the face of this whole Ayaan Ali debacle). Then to Miami to visit the ‘U’, and after a couple of days of scuba diving and a Marlins game it’s up to Atlanta to see Emory. That will take us to April 21st. </p>
<p>Never a dull moment.</p>
<p>@2014ProfDad, ok I know this is tough but I feel better now. We are not alone. Same w you @AsleepAtTheWheel. Have fun at the U. You won’t believe this but H and I tried to revive interest there last night but D’s weren’t having it. </p>
<p>@calla1 major congrats! Living on the east coast, we don’t know much about the UC schools but so happy you found a fit!</p>
<p>And @2018dad, are you appealing the FA pkg at all? Not sure if people know this but Cornell has a state side. NY students can pay in state tuition and there are only certain “colleges” on that side. It’s still not cheap but saves $17k/year. Lots of kids from our school go there. Still wishing my D’s had applied there. H and I love that area. Go 2x/year for a state swim meet and always enjoy. Have fun! </p>
<p>Posting this from JFK. </p>
<p>@1dilecon
Thank you. I am glad your daughter liked Pepperdine. Peperdine campus is gorgeous, overlooking the ocean. </p>
<p>@3tallblonds
I am planning to appeal depending on how my D feel about the school after our visit. </p>
<p>She had a very positive experience @UCLA. 2 nights overnight hosting with her fellow Regents scholars. When we picked her up she can’t stop talking about how she can see herself @UCLA. She attended 2 classes related to her field and they had organized events specially planned for them. For those of you who are not familiar with Regents scholarship, only about 100 incoming freshmen are Regents. For kids that have financial needs they have full ride. For us they only offered an honorarium monetary amount (2K per year). But the real benefit is they have enrollment priority. So pretty much, they can get to any class that they want. They also have 4.years of guaranteed on campus housing and parking. The university also tries to house them together. </p>
<p>We are off to Accepted Students weekend at Mount Holyoke today. I’m looking forward to meeting some of the other parents and my D is very excited to meet some of her future classmates. Yesterday she had a 1.5 hour Skype with a young woman from Uzbekistan that will be a classmate. So strange and wonderful that these two girls so far apart have so much in common :)</p>
<p>@calla1 So glad you had such a good experience at CCS UCSB! </p>
<p>Congrats to all those that had made a decision and to everyone who is moving closer to choosing “the one”! </p>
<p>We spent the day at ASD at Muhlenberg ( Allentown PA). It was a beautiful day in the 70s and the campus was just beautiful. It was our first visit - we had no expectations going in and came away loving the school. Everyone was very warm and welcoming and we could totally picture my S attending the school. He really liked it - got a chance to chat with the chair of Neuroscience. He also sat in on a BIO class on Friday.
We drove up to the Albany area late yesterday afternoon to spend the night and we are heading on to UVM today. Tomorrow admitted student’s day. This is a revisit but our first visit to the Honors College. S will sit in on an honors seminar and we will attend the honors reception. We also will do a full campus tour and dorm tour, The Honor’s College has a lot of perks - only 200 enroll each year so it is a small college within a larger university. S really liked UVM on our last visit but I he really liked Muhlenberg after yesterday’s visit.</p>
<p>We are also heading north on Monday afternoon to visit Clarkson on Tuesday morning. Clarkson also invited S to join the honors program. Although Clarkson offers only a minor is neuroscience there are many opportunities to do research and work on multi- disciplinary teams. </p>
<p>Three very different schools… he is not making a pros and cons list and is going by feel only…It will be interesting to see what he decides - All FA is about the same when you add merit and FA together.</p>
<p>Clarkson merit is the largest at 30K/ yr for 4 yrs ( 120 K) plus grant and summer research stipend pre frosh and future years. </p>
<p>Good luck everyone! I have a big presentation on Thursday so I need to focus and prepare my slides…</p>
<p>Congrats calla1! </p>
<p>I haven’t been posting much lately but have been reading your posts and feeling high and low along with you all.
DS is waiting for one more decision from a program before we can all sit down discuss and decide. </p>
<p>Good morning to all!</p>
<p>Sounds like ASDs have been interesting experiences for many of us. We did not do one of those. My oldest son’s attitude toward them was that everything is perfect that day – the food, the dorms, the grounds, etc. Go on a day when kids are just kids, and then ask what they think about the school. We kept that philosophy with Son '14.</p>
<p>Speaking of Son '14, he had an incredible day at an invitational track meet. Won the 1600 meter run with a state-qualifying time. Broke an 11-year-old school record in doing so. Set a personal record by more than five seconds, too. Took fourth in the 800, with a good showing, but he missed a state-qualifying time by .26 seconds. Also anchored the 4 by 4 relay to a sixth-place finish. He was a pretty happy camper. Now, he’ll spend the day refereeing youth soccer games. Then, he has a spring break week off. Yes, he has track practice. But he also promised to do some yard work, finish a couple of scholarship apps and weed out some old clothing that he no longer wants. Oh, and he needs to study for AP exams, too.</p>
<p>After a week long business trip to the Netherlands, where I’m sure it was forum members bringing the Grolsch and Amstel, we’ve gone red in the acceptance list. For S '14 it looks like Pitt is it. Now if anyone wishes to sample our simple Margarita Recipe with Tequila, Cointreau, Agave Syrup, and fresh lime juice, we’ll be serving. </p>
<p>In the end, the finances (full tuition scholarship), strength of the neuroscience program, and support for pre-meds (Honor’s College advising and ample research opportunities at UPMC) were the main factors. </p>
<p>Next on S’s list are the “promposal” and 6 AP Exams. Weekend review and practice test sessions have started. If he wasn’t pre-med, based on Pitt’s chart he would get like 60+ hours of credit. I wonder how it works when pre-meds have to take 1 year of Bio, chem, organic, etc if you should go for the higher level or the A. I suspect you need to go for the A. </p>
<p>@Overtheedge - from a public school teacher’s perspective, get the 504 plan ASAP. If you advocate hard for it, your school’s administration will move quickly, especially if you have recommendations from a physician. For me, when a student has a 504 that specifically states something like “extra time for assignments” or “reduced work load”, that allows me to start excusing the student from completing work without a guilty conscience. If there’s a 504 in place, I’m not showing any favoritism by excusing work, and it might even allow me to resolve something I’ve been feeling guilty about - holding that 504 student to the same standards as everybody else in my class. It’s a win-win situation. :)</p>
<p>D’s pro-con list party was last night, and when she came home I was too savvy to start grilling her about it. Her personality is like a cat - when she wants to interact with you, she’ll come over to you and let you know, otherwise, leave her alone. </p>
<p>@GertrudeMcFuzz took over the job of prodding this morning over breakfast. Looks like D has a decision based on some pretty clear-sighted logic… but like a cat, she’s going to spend a while in her corner having a bath and seeing how it feels before she tells the world. So hand over one of those crew uniforms! I’ll be in the smoking lounge offering up 151 & cokes for those who want to get hammered in a dimly lit environment and need to mutter quietly into their drink. I’ll also be in the Paradise Room for open mic night trying out my new stand-up material - don’t sit in the first two rows unless you wanna become part of the act. ;)</p>
<p>So, we have narrowed the list down to two schools. My D loves Northeastern and the PharmD program. She is currently doing a high school internship at a pharmacy and loves it. We are visiting Vanderbilt next weekend for the ASD. There she would be majoring in neuroscience, something she is also very interested in. I favor NEU because it is a pretty set curriculum and no doubt she will finish in 6 years (with 3 CO-OP opportunities). Not sure what happens with a neuroscience major … I guess she’ll figure it out. But she will have to apply to grad school which may be hard to get into (and she wouldn’t have to do this with the PharmD program). I know she’s going to fall in love with Vanderbilt which financially turns out to be a little bit better than NEU. It is a really tough choice. And she loves Boston and the fact that the T station goes right through campus. Socially and academically, I think she would do well at both. Living in the dorm for 4 years is a plus … she always wanted that … and she is able to do that at both schools. She is interested in the prestige of Vanderbilt, and at a slightly better price tag, it certainly makes sense. She is not a rah rah sports kind of kid so this factor doesn’t sway her … although she did say it’s cool that the freshmen run out on the football field at the first home game of the season! Didn’t really think this decision was going to be so hard! </p>
<p>Yep, so D has made her decision but would like to sit on it a few days before we send in the enrollment etc. She did decide that the decision was “car-sticker final” meaning that it was probably safe for me to invest $5 in a decal for my car. Not to spill the beans or anything, but the sticker has a big red “T” on it. Go owls!!</p>
<p>Congrats @GertrudeMcFuzz! How nice to have a decision made! I love the idea of a pro-con party with friends! DD has been at school all day for musical rehearsal but did get a chance to hang out with friends last night. One is basically decided and one is very conflicted about her two choices. It’s funny - I’m allowed to talk with her about her friend’s decision process but not hers! Don’t know if she’s going to decide before or after the ASD but I really hope the decision comes before as it’s 10 more days till the ASD visit is done. But it ends on her 18th birthday so hopefully it will conclude with a bookstore shopping trip!!</p>