@LKnomad Maybe your S should just send a copy of the poster for the science fair (if it still exists) and say what he wants to say, such as, “see essay for details”…with a letter from your FB friend who was the principal at the time. Perhaps the school just wants to see/know that your S actually had prepared something?
@mysonsdad: You want to get as close to actual amounts as you can, so that any change is no more than, say, plus or minus 10% of what will be reflected in the finalized IRS statements.
Sending you a PM.
D pulled the trigger on her 1/1 app yesterday. She has two more due 1/15 with two essays to write and another week of winter break, so that’s good. I think she has a fair amount of homework to (start) and finish as well. We’re out of town visiting my mom, so I’ll tackle the financial crapola next week.
@drmom123 We have discovered a phone number with the documents he was sent, so there is an actual human being that we can talk to. I am now in the process of trying to get my son to contact them. He is really trying to avoid it because he hates using the phone (he has an ASD). I have offered to give him a script. But he is going to write a letter. The good thing is that we do have a copy of the poster board, even though this was from many years ago. (His essay was reflecting on something that happened in the past). I really want him to call and I am tempted to contact them myself because the stakes are so high…Sigh.
I did find an old LA times article about how the UCs are one of the only institutions that do a formal verification by randomly selecting 10% of all students, and looking at past articles the timing shows that he was probably randomly selected. Just bad luck.
@LKnomad I would think a letter with the documentation would work. If your S is not comfortable on the phone, that may not be to his advantage? Or, perhaps his GC could make the phone call if needed, if the email/letter doesn’t work?
Just wanted to say to all those parents whose kids are still working on apps- you have my sympathy!! @-)
This whole process has been the most difficult, challenging thing I have ever gone through with this child. Although she always does all her school work with no intervention or assistance from us, she has really needed some guidance on this process. Neither of her parents have experience in this because we both attended OSU when they had open admission and our college applications were barely two pages long and looked like a fast-food job app. It has been a learning process for everyone.
I am so, so, so relieved we are almost done. I hope the process goes well for those still working on it.
Yes, Ask Ms. Sun blog says the UC verifications were recently sent out. @lknomad sorry that your S was one of the random 10%.
I’m new to this thread, but very happy to see so much advice from parents who are going through the same experiences we are with our S (and D, who is class of 2018). S received 2 acceptances from in-state schools back in November, and the first sent a letter for a small merit scholarship about a month later. His third EA was deferred to RD, so he won’t hear back until late Feb.
It sounds like many of your kids have received merit scholarships - do those typically come at the same time as the acceptance letter? I can’t tell if the one school is only going to give him the small merit scholarship or if more might be coming from them (and if he’ll get anything from the 2nd school). Just curious about when you heard on merit scholarships, and if us filing FAFSA might bring in more merit scholarships (we won’t qualify for need-based scholarships this year)?
Also, any tips on how to help our kids with their decision when both schools are pretty similar in terms of cost and prestige? Although he plans to go to one of the two that accepted him (he’s not really interested in the 3rd, which is ranked higher), he keeps saying he really doesn’t know which of the two he wants to attend (he’s toured both once already).
Thanks for any guidance!
@lifegarding welcome!
I would send your child to the admitted student overnights when they come around, so he can get a feel for what it would be like to live at each school. That is our plan.
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Welcome @lifegarding. I’m pretty new to the group and it has been awesome for help with the process and for support too.
For merit, you’ll probably have to check with the school’s individually. Some of ours have come with the acceptances, one a few days later and two others are coming in January and February. Both of those were early action acceptances in December. It is hard to have some of the info and wonder if the others will be similar or there won’t be anything!
As for deciding, we are in a similar boat. He had a few schools that are similar and that he really liked. I think he is figuring it out as time goes on and leaning more towards one now, knowing there are still some other possibilities. He seems to be ok waiting to decide. I am making a spreadsheet and keeping notes on things I find out that might impact his decision. For example, two have options for five year MBAs and that might be an option he decides is important to him. Can he visit either again and perhaps do a shadow type day where he attends a class or something to get a better feel?
I think it depends on the school. I know I got my merit scholarship in my acceptance letter but I know of people who were told by colleges the merit scholarships are awarded in FA packages. @lifegarding and I definitely agree with @LKnomad 's advice.
Welcome, @lifegarding ! The others are right-each school awards merit in its own way. We got one major award about a month later, two others, if we get them, will be awarded with acceptance to the honors colleges, another school said in the acceptance letter that merit would be coming in another letter, and still another sends out an email blast to selected applicants in February with a deadline and a short essay prompt tied to merit. Some of the above also wait until they get the FAFSA to make awards, even if you qualify. I have a line on my spreadsheet just for this kind of thing.
As for helping D decide-she’s already got two financial safeties in the bag. Her real decision will be if both of her top two admit her with enough merit, or the next group down come through with likely even better merit. We may need a whole new spreadsheet of “pros and cons” for each category.
@lifegarding
I agree with LKnomad. Except… I would contact the colleges now to see if your child can do this sooner than some “designated” date. I have found out that 3/4 universities my daughter applied to will do this. While they may have specific dates for this, they are also flexible and willing to schedule at other times as needed.
@lifegarding
For info on merit aid at the schools your child has applied to, I think you would find more specific info under that particular school’s forum. You can find school specific info through this path: Home / College Discussion / College Admissions and Search / Colleges and Universities / Alphabetic List of Colleges- then choose your college from the list.
It is also helpful to look at merit aid conversations that took place the prior year so that you can see how the process works at that particular college from start to finish.
Welcome, @lifegarding ! A second visit might help your son get a better feel for each school. A back to back visit might even help bring out any differences. We did a 2nd round of visits for our top contenders, and even squeezed in a 3rd visit to the top one just to be sure.
Hi @lifegarding - welcome! S received varying amounts of merit from the 3 schools to which he’s been accepted. With one, it arrived on the webpage notifying him of his acceptance, right below that. For the second, it was posted online a few days after acceptance. For the 3rd, it was buried in a piece of paper in the paper file that included his letter of acceptance, and we almost missed it.
Not sure how his other 3 (RD) schools post - although now that I think about it, only one of them offers merit aid, so there won’t be a hunting expedition there!
Good luck, and yeah - this group’s incredibly valuable - between us, we have probably encountered every single weird and incomprehensible aspect of this crazy process! Confusion loves company, or something.
Thanks, everyone, for the tips! I was reading older messages in the strand and really appreciate all of you sending advice so quickly. S does seem interested in visiting each school again, so I think we’ll try to go in February once classes start back up. Last time we toured, it was 75 and sunny, so perfect weather…February will probably be 30 degrees and snowy so things will look quite different! I wish they offered overnight visits - both schools have an admitted visit date, but not until early April which seems pretty late to me. I will also check the threads for information on merit aid decisions - I didn’t realize they were available. I appreciate all of your help - and good luck to all of your kids with their college search/decisions!
Welcome @lifeguarding My son has received merit letters in 4 of his 5 acceptances, the last letter included an invitation to interview for scholarships. One of his letters notified him of other scholarships he could apply for.
A college financial advisor told us that for colleges that give aid, the longer you wait to commit, as long as the college really wants you, the more aid that might be offered to you as May 1st nears. He advised parents to hold out, to increase chances of more aid. FWIW.
I was off-line for few days and it’s impossible to follow up.
DD just finished her five 1/1 deadline apps today and goes on another 1/2 deadline app. The last app deadline is 1/15 and I wish she finishes it as soon as possible.