I admit I’ve hesitated to withdraw/decline any acceptances for fear of some drastic change of scenarios. There’s only one that I think should be acted on somewhat soon as it is a very large scholarship in the honors program at a small school. They said he had until May 1, but asked to know ASAP if he isn’t attending. I don’t think he’s interested but part of me wants him to visit and really check it out before he totally writes it off.
Congrats to all with good news! LKnomad - we are touring that school with all the essays and the $90 app fee today, with all apps submitted in December. I cannot imagine my D having to write essays while we are visiting family. Have to say that touring the campus while having acceptances under her belt is really stress-relieving, and there is no pressure on her at all. It would be too much to have her worrying about colleges and touring this time of year. Sending positive vibes and energy out to parents and kiddos as the new year approaches.
Thanks @mommdc your advice has been ultra helpful through the entire process!!
@Booajo I have noticed the similarity in our D’s and family’s search and application patterns, including a large number of the same schools on their lists, so I’m sure this isn’t the only dilemma and process decision point we will face in parallel. We could start our own mini-forum on “Chasing Merit and Keeping Your Daughter Happy too” (-;
Of DD’s eight schools, I think realistically we are down to three very likelies, which is what I hear my D telling people who ask about her search. Schools 4 and 5 are her financial reaches, while number 6 is her catch-all safety, that just in case and it really is a safety (affordable, good school, majors she wants and although not her favorite, would be happy and do well there).
Trust me @CAMidwestMom my paranoia and over the top cautiousness make me hesitant as well, but one of the two schools on the current withdrawal list is simply a no-go, a school that was near top of her list and crashed and burned in the admissions process, while the other school, while a safety numbers-wise, she has not visited yet and is very unlikely to ever visit it. That is also her pharmacy safety school, which no longer seems to be her interest, and if it turns around and becomes an interest again, she has full tuition offers to two other universities with pharmacy schools and an acceptance into the guaranteed seat program at one of them. The safety in question is also a 0-6 program, so her withdrawal could open up a spot in that part of the program plus in the pharm related scholarship as well.
Ultimately I will recommend that she withdraw those two applications, but leave the decision up to DD. She was very cognizant of not just throwing in a free application at a local LAC that heavily recruited her, definite stalker school, and offers a limited number of Stamps full-rides. She knew she wanted a larger, research oriented school and said several times that she really didn’t want to take the place of someone else in the scholarship process there, so she has an admirably mature understanding about things like that.
Thanks all for your advice and discussion!!
This is my 4th and last child going through the college admissions process…
My advice is to keep ALL options open for a couple more months because circumstances can change, opinions can change, financial aid offers can change (a few schools will add additional scholarships) and if a student is likely NMF it would be wise to at least wait until that is official in February. I know from experience with my oldest (S11) that his ranked order of schools changed (slightly) several times from Dec. to March, and I know of other students who did COMPLETE turnarounds late in the game, after they were certain what their top couple choices were.
S16 is more methodical in his approach so once he decides he will more than likely stick with his choice, but I still don’t trust the fickle nature of colleges and kids…
As I’ve posted here before, my S14 had three different “Oh my God, this is my #1 school for sure” schools before choosing a fourth/different school on April 23rd, with his final choice turning out to be a very very good fit. Granted, he’s a bit of a knucklehead, so his experience may not be relevant to other kids here. However even for him there were some EA/rolling acceptances to schools that he was clearly NOT going to attend once other acceptances were in, and he did notify them as soon as that was clear.
Also, I’d second what @2filles wrote. If there’s a B of A convenient to the school they’d be a good choice. They have a no-fee no-minimum checking account for students/young adults. We bank at B of A here at home, so it makes it very easy to transfer money into the account. Would also note my son also uses his credit card for absolutely everything, which is fine. Finally, he has a Venmo account, so that when he and friends go out and share an Uber or split a meal it’s really easy for them to split the costs.
@AsleepAtTheWheel What is Venmo?
@bjkmom yeah, another reason to root for Clemson!!
Yikes, just realized @3scoutsmom D is going to UO. Now, who to root for!!!
I made a separate account at Wells Fargo for S. I still have access to it and can transfer money into it if I need to. This way he has his own debit card and has to be aware of balances.
On a final note, S will start submitting the rest of his apps today.
@Mysonsdad That college program sounds great! I didn’t realize degrees in homeland security were available!
@Skates76 So far D16 is in at 10 of 15. We have withdrawn 3. 2 because she is no longer interested in major. We sent an email to those 2 schools asking to withdraw application. We have not heard from either of them acknowledging so who knows what the status is at this point. I had called and asked the procedure to withdrawal and I was told an email with name, birthdate, and common app ID # would suffice.
The 3rd we have not officially withdrawn, but should. The app needs a supplemental music recording, D16 has a finger injury that we had hoped would be better by the time the piano recording supplement was due on 1/15, but that doesn’t look like it will happen, so we should withdraw. I think D would still like to consider this school, but she is an unlikely candidate for acceptance without the music ed major.
We are waiting on 2 more decision which will come by Feb 1. We are not going to withdrawal any of the remaining apps until those 2 are in, but I know that at least 3 of the 10 acceptances so far are definite no at this point. I will definitely have her decline those ASAP after the two final decisions are in hand. One is a d direct entry BS/DPT program and I hate to have her take up a spot in a program that has limited spots available. There is no reason to keep 10 or 12 apps in play.
@carlson2 I should warn you that the 3 short answer essays for the $90 school seem to require significantly more thought than any of the other essays that my son has had to write. Even though they are short, they take a lot of time to write.
Has anybody heard of 2+4 or 3+4 BS-MD Combined programs at California Northstate University College of Health Sciences and College of Medicine ? This is in Elk Grove, CA and a completely new program/college. This is the only BS-MD combined program in California (UCSD has stopped their direct medical program from this year: 2016).
@indsfolax I checked the website. This school seems to be brand new. The College Navigator has nothing on them, and since they run off government data this shows that they are so new that they are barely in the system.
My biggest concern is that on the website they did not indicate control. In other words they don’t state if they are private or private for profit. From what I have read, however, I would guess that they are a new for profit institution.
They do have WASC accreditation, but I wonder about this because if they have barely started their programs, they might be in a preliminary status.
As you might guess, my background is in university research. I would not send my kid here.
@indsfolax Another concern (besides WASC) would be finding residencies at the end of the program and are the students allowed to sit for the boards. btw, are you a pilot?
re banks - we’ll keep DS’s accounts at our local bank but also have him open a local account in the credit union of his new college. He’s already been on a couple of our CC for a few years, and this thread jogged me to remember to think about his own Discover card.
re withdrawing - same dilemma over in our house. DS got into Princeton and UPitt, the latter with a nice scholarship, which means he refrained from applying to a couple of other schools (we’d already sent scores, yes 
). And the big thought now is that he should withdraw a few more of his apps to leave room for other kids. However, he’s not going to give that as the reason in case they push when he calls. At first I was afraid to have him drop more schools but as time passes, the acceptances feel more real. He will still have apps in to a couple others, though!
@Mysonsdad – Venmo is an app that allows kids to digitally transfer money between their Venmo accounts. At any point they can transfer money to or from their bank account. The fees are, I think, minimal. When my son first signed up I did some homework regarding security. It appears to be a well-established company/app and I saw no reports of fraud, etc. I don’t know if it’s just at his school or is the case at many schools, but all of his friends have a Venmo account. So, if four of them go out to dinner one of them will pay (if the restaurant doesn’t take multiple credit cards) and before they get up from the table the other kids will have paid their share to the kid who paid the bill.
@RyanG1207 Embry Riddle Prescott campus also has a major in Homeland security and Cybersecurity. Their Daytona campus also has similar options. I tried to get my son to apply , but he didn’t want to go that far away.
@LKnomad @Mysonsdad Thanks.
I don’t have any idea about this combined medical program. We didn’t apply there but got a conditional acceptance offer. Don’t know how they got our grades and test scores. Looks like their College of Medicine is atleast >= 1 year old as in one of their emails they mentioned that their inaugural class of 2019 has 60 students.
Venmo is almost universally used by college students, from what I can tell (both in the sense that all college students use it and they are the main users). There are no fees, unless you make payments by credit card. Bank transfers between individuals are free.
@Mysonsdad that’s ok, thanks for thinking of us but root for whoever you like, we aren’t a football/sports family - actually that was the number one negative on DD’s pros and cons list for OU. She’s actually going to her very first football game ever this week. She’s signed up to do some National Honor Society volunteer hours there, not sure exactly what.
If DS18 stays on his current course he’ll be applying for this scholarship for grad school
https://www.sfs.opm.gov/
sounds like it might be similar to the program your son is looking into
(counting chickens even before the eggs have been laid that NM/other merit will cover most of his undergrad)
@3scoutsmom Your D sounds like me, the only football games I have ever gone to because I’m in student council and we were handing out spirit prizes(pom poems and megaphones). I don’t understand the game at all.
This is an aside, I know, but I now know how I will reach the exalted College Confidential “Senior Member” status of 1000 posts: by fixing the “Class of 2020: List of Acceptances” Thread. A quick reminder to be sure to update both the “By Student” and the “By School” posts, so you have to post twice when adding your student. Also, don’t forget to copy the bottom line. (Poor Wofford College! Always left out!) I know I’m preaching to the choir by posting this information on this thread…