<p>My kid’s HS also does a grad night. Disneyland closes early one night, and the schools on the approved list (ours is the only one left in our town on that list) can send their seniors for a grad only Disney event. They keep the park open later for it too. I think the kids get home at 5am the next day. </p>
<p>I believe this is my first post to this thread, but I’ve enjoyed reading so many of your stories, I thought I’d “jump on board” just long enough to “disembark.” (Apologies for the length!)</p>
<p>What a roller-coaster ride the last two years have been. My son started out wanting to attend a small, selective LAC; thought about possibly studying engineering; applied early and got accepted to our big (and highly-rated) state flagship as a safety; added the University of Alabama at my request, so he’d have a legitimate alternative; got rejected ED from his top-choice LAC (one of the very few schools whose NPC gave us an affordable number); and then was wait-listed from the LAC with engineering he thought he was actually competitive at for merit money (so much for “demonstrating interest” and having stats above the 75th percentile!). </p>
<p>After some cross-country visits to schools that accepted him and much self-reflection, he realized he didn’t want a LAC at all! He wants to try engineering but have a lot of flexibility if he changes his mind. He also wants to be safely ensconced in a place where he can find a new group of friends if the first ones don’t work out. And he also wants to feel like the school he attends values him. So he chose his “alternative safety” and couldn’t be happier. And we couldn’t be happier with the price-tag, since he was offered the Presidential Scholarship (four years of free tuition) and the engineering stipend to attend Bama. </p>
<p>There’s so much Bama boostering on CC, I didn’t think it was possible the school could live up to our expectations, but it actually surpassed them. It has everything my son wants and will cost us no more than the local state directional school. Does it get any better than that? Not in my world!</p>
<p>Graduation parties are huge around here, but my kid doesn’t want one. Dinner out with the family and a few close family friends is fine with him. He can get his fill of parties by attending his friends,’ whose parents generally have much larger budgets to work with than we do.</p>
<p>Now that the decision has been made, I would be remiss if I did not offer thanks to the following:</p>
<p>*To the super-selective schools that rejected and wait-listed my kid: Thank you from the bottom of my heart, for saving us a BOATLOAD of money and wasted time on re-visits or worse–a bad decision on his part.</p>
<p>*To the hoity-toity schools that offered him a place in their freshman class (especially those who offered generous FA): Thank you!! Even if you weren’t right in the end, you made my kid feel like he was valued and “worthy,” and that meant SO MUCH after some of the rejections and wait-lists.</p>
<p>*To everyone here on CC who offered advice, counsel, unsolicited opinions ;-), etc.: Thank you, thank you, thank you! If we’d left this to my son’s college counseling office, I shudder to think where he would have ended up and which body part I would have had to sell to pay for it. They’re great folks, but their strength is not in helping unhooked, middle-class kids whose parents cannot easily afford $120,000-$240,000 to provide a bachelor’s degree for one kid. </p>
<p>*To the University of Alabama: Thank you for treating my son like you value him and like he has something to offer your school and, most importantly, for putting your money where your mouth is via an amazingly simple and transparent process.</p>
<p>*To the Heavens: Thank you that we will likely never have to beg for money from a college again! I will sleep much better at night knowing that!</p>
<p>Best to all the Parents of the Class of 2014. I look forward to reading about all your kids in the future!</p>
<p>Another mom ready to serve drinks to those still on board the SS Indecision.</p>
<p>D14 will be getting off at the Port of Nashville - Vanderbilt Class of 2018. It was a long journey and a really tough decision between Vanderbilt and Clark University, both which offered her very generous scholarships. She had several other options that we could have afforded, along with a couple waitlists and several “redirections”, but in the end, I believe she found the right place.</p>
<p>We visisted Vanderbilt last week for the first time. It is an impressive campus, and they seem to do an excellent job with the college transition. Nashville is a great city, and it certainly helped to see sunshine and feel some warmth after such a long winter. The magnolias were not yet in bloom - delayed for a few weeks this year - so I am glad to have an excuse to get back to Vanderbilt during another springtime.</p>
<p>Now back to the craziness of senior year!</p>
<p>So many happy endings (or, I should say, happy beginnings). Congrats to @MImama and @LucieTheLakie ! </p>
<p>PS - If somebody wants to add my D to the google doc, that would be great. I don’t have an account.</p>
<p>Taken care of Mimama</p>
<p>In the event you have a D or S graduating in 2016, the preview of the revised SAT was realeased today. Check it out at the following link:
<a href=“Pick up your pencils: A sneak peek at the new SAT”>http://www.today.com/news/pick-your-pencils-sneak-peek-new-sat-1D79544162</a></p>
<p>Congrats to the latest group of decision makers! Now you can sit back, relax, and start stressing about AP tests, prom and graduation activities and schedules!</p>
<p>Welcome LucieTheLakie…I’m sorry you didn’t hop on deck earlier…you clearly have some good things to say… and you say it very well…congrats!</p>
<p>My understanding of the new SAT is that it will only apply for students currently a freshman or younger…is that not correct?</p>
<p>@LucieTheLakie loved your thank you list (couldn’t agree with the first one more!!)</p>
<p>A lot of graduation parties and open houses around here. We had an open house type thing for D12 it was fun but in the end so many people coming in and out and “party hopping”, it seemed kind of impersonal to me. </p>
<p>S14 didnt want a party but I think I need the closure before the empty nest happens. So I told him it wont be a “graduation” party, but rather a farewell, to close friends moving to different parts of the globe, and a thank you to a few special teachers who made it all happen. A smaller more personal and meaningful event for everyone invited and not just my S. I haven’t planned any of the details yet, but at least the idea has been approved by my soon to be grad 
</p>
<p>A request from my brother…My brother (AKA the farther of my nephew) knows that I am on this forum and asked if I would contact my friends to ask for help…
Background - My nephew who many of you know has great stats and was either redirected or WL by many of the schools he applied to - he is undecided ( I think) but is leaning towards CS but also likes Economics and Math. He was deciding between Oberlin and University of Wisconsin - He was leaning toward Wisconsin because he felt it had a stronger science program …However, he got a call last night from Case Western who said they were contemplating taking him off the WL! ugh… My Brother was wondering if any of you knew which U would be a better choice for him? I know that is a very broad question but I thought I would put it out there to see if any of you have an opinion? Any takers? Thanks for your help! </p>
<p>^^^ additionally info Case also offered a 22k merit scholarship but no firm we are taking you off the wait list but if we do…really…</p>
<p>I only know Case Western. I really liked that school! My son is at Rochester and I’d call it their “cousin college”. I Are finances an issue? I did a brief tour of a computer lab and the kids seemed to be offered a lot of internships and research opportunities. Weather stinks at all of them - lol I liked the influence of the music school and the art museums around, and of course i enjoyed the computers alerting kids to when their laundry was done. Seems like a serious minded student body, but the day we were there the physics department was dropping pumpkins off the roof of their building to prove laws of gravity and a huge humans v zombie thing was happening all around.</p>
<p>I only know Oberlin well out of those three, since S is wait listed there. If I remember correctly, he’d have to do some sort of combined program to get an engineering degree because I don’t think they have it as a major of their own, right? </p>
<p>We are definitely making progress. ASD at Kalamazoo College tomorrow. He applied to and was accepted to the Residential College at Michigan and was very excited about that. They asked which language he would want to study and he told them Latin. Really kid? He finds it a paradox that it is a lost language but is such a basis for other languages and elements of it are used so widely in our society. Ok. He has said that if he was accepted off the wait list at Oberlin he doesn’t know that he would accept now. Brown would be a definite yes, but he’s not sure about Oberlin anymore. Perhaps he’s starting to “love” a new school? </p>
<p>@2016BarnardMom - I see it happen here all the time - kids fall in love with who loves them back. Then come fall they couldn’t picture themselves anywhere else. My d studied Latin all through school - lol When the teachers came in middle school to present the hs programs d just loved the latin teacher. Luckily she’s not choosing a major that requires a language.</p>
<p>I can’t wait for June when we can begin the shopping! She’s got sec sorority recruitment outfits to buy - lol </p>
<p>I am glad to know that we will not be the only one not doing a graduation party. We will still take the whole family out to celebrate though.</p>
<p>onlyonemom, I don’t get Case Western’s call to your nephew. Are they implying that “we will only taking you off WL if you would commit?” </p>
<p>^^^we don’t get it either - I guess they want to see how interested he is and waved the 22 K scholarship in front of him ? Very odd…
Barnardmom -you are right about the 3/2 engineering program at Oberlin - a little bit of a turn off for my nephew. I think he was leaning towards UW until the phone call from Case. </p>
<p>Eyeamom - I agree about the sister schools -that was my feeling about Case and UROC. My son WL at UROC but he didn’t want to get on a WL. Thanks for your comments -I will send them along to my brother. </p>
<p>UW and Case are both excellent schools but they are completely different in scope. UW is a large public institution with lots of school spirit that offers a more traditional college experience, while Case is a medium sized private school with a more serious (some might say, nerdy) vibe among the student body. Both schools are highly ranked overall, but I’d give UW the edge in the specific programs of study that you mentioned. The choice really depends on what type of environment your nephew prefers. So, assuming that finances are not an issue, I think this should be an easy decision based solely on personal fit. </p>