@Skates76 Kids perceptions are so funny sometimes. I couldn’t even get my SC born and bred to consider Alabama , Georgia or NC. My husband’s sisters went to UCF and my brother in law teaches at one of the universities there, but I couldn’t tell you where. His daughter just started Miami of Ohio. I do think kids are venturing south more often . 2 of the schools my son has been accepted to report NJ as the state with the second highest number of students at the school. CofC has quite a few students from DC suburbs, Annapolis , Princeton . SC has been quite popular with retirees for the past 10 years and has recently has quite a few international influences with Michelin and BMW .
@Skates76 We are also in a great district, most of the time. My older son attended the same middle school and thrived there. The support was fantastic. When my S20 started a few years later he had the same SpEd case carrier and RSP services and things were very good, BUT we switched in 7th grade to a different RSP/carrier and it was disastrous. My attempt to put him back with the original teacher was shut down by the principal, who was new. His comment to me was that this was not how things are done now and I can find a new school if I have a problem with it. He also told me I was no longer welcome in the school without 24 hour written notice. I was simply horrible. I had never been treated so poorly by any person in our schools district, at all. We had no other choice but to take S20 out.
@carolinamom2boys @Skates76 My DD refused to really consider the east coast or the west coast. Not due to polical leanings either. She is probably liberal more or less in her leanings. She refused to consider any school with any kind of religious affiliation and would only consider HUGE schools. My DS would ONLY consider the coasts and Canada. Also liberal leaning and really only wanted tiny schools though he, on pain of endless nagging, did apply to some medium type schools. The thing that has bothered me most is the sort of dismissive attitude that some people have toward a kid who is not aiming at the ivies or stanford and company. I had one parent indicate that her DC would not associate with kids who did not go to her DCs school or something of “equal caliber” because that person just wouldn’t be intellectual enough.
@carolinamom2boys Charleston is in the top 5 of my favorite cities. It is an absolutely beautiful city with great restaurants. Because of that, I will probably suggest to my D19 that she put an application in to The Citadel when it’s her turn. The school has a good relationship with the MUSC College of Medicine too so that is a big plus.
We’re not from the south but nothing wrong with going to school in that region of the country in my book.
Wow, that’s so ignorant, it’s almost funny.
@CAMidwestMom I would have laughed but since it was in essence said about my kids…
When DD made her school list, she focused on both small size and proximity to home. There are a couple of schools which are relatively far away from home, >6h driving but mostly her choices are close to home.
@carolinamom2boys @Themommymommy D16 was aware, although I am not sure she believed it, that many college campuses in conservative states are very liberal, like UT Austin and UNT in Texas, it was more of the political wrangling about same sex marriage and gun control more than the schools that seemed to turn her away from TX and AL, though she and her brother love making jokes about hippies, go figure.
DD definitely found she had a type of school, larger though not huge feeling (Pitt, Delaware, Tulane, Case) in or preferably near an interesting city, lots of STEM reputation, with an Honors program that offered her the perks she wanted and the smaller school feel that I loved going to an LAC myself. UCF is a huge school number’s wise, but the design and layout of the school is so well done, I guess those NASA guys knew what they were doing, and it simply didn’t feel as big as the Big 10 schools she felt uncomfortable at in the NE (Rutgers, Ohio State, Penn State). We really loved the Honors program at UCF, that was a huge plus for them.
I was also pushing D16 to look to the south because of weather. She has Reynauds like her Mom, the whole cold hands and feet thing, but hers is a little more severe and a warmer climate really would be good for her. She has only seen Case Western in the summer, so a winter there visit would change her mind I think, but it is likely unaffordable anyway.
D16 and we ran into the prestigious school or you suck/are wasting your life mentality with some extended family and others. Most were able to be shrugged off and she knows college is both a business and a game, so playing for merit at a good school appeals to her nature that way, rather than going broke paying for a top brand name. We did deal with a Middle School gifted program teacher who constantly pumped up the kids in her program about an Ivy or nothing mindset. Really, has been the only teacher I ever complained to our school district about, though not for that reason. She was a local school product herself with a bad case of Ivy-envy, lol.
What was the other factor that made UCF jump from safety to her top three? The fact that more kids down there seemed to dress up the way she does, and she liked the fashions of those that were going casual. Who knew?? (-;
@LKnomad We have been super lucky with our school Principals and have a great superintendent (all of these special programs and no tax increase in a dozen years, though our tax base has grown nicely in that time). The MS Principal is very progressive, and we are super excited as the new HS Principal is S21’s former ES Principal and a huge proponent of special education programs. Sometimes it really is all about timing and luck.
@Skates76 It’s funny. My son has 2 schools which are neck and neck , but completely different . My son would rather be tortured than wear a bow tie at any time. He is so not the prep or jock, so one of his top schools really surprises me, but we hope to use the accepted student weekends as an avenue to see where “his people” are, to make the decision easier.
Congrats, @happymochi! Yahoo! Ice cream mochi for everyone!
Ooh, I know about that random cache of laundry that appears just as you’re folding the last load, @fretfulmother! Maddening!
@sseamom, I would guess that your online moms will come around. Maybe they’re a tad jealous! Give them a little time.
@lvmjac1, I feel just the same way about having my S13 home. And–too bad about the family drama. Isn’t it amazing how some people just need drama?! I hope you can maintain some distance in the future. Of course, it’s hard if they’re extended family.
@cakeisgreat, of course you must bring cake.
@Skates76, I think we’ve already talked about how we’ll be doing this together on the Parents of the Class of 2021 thread…while all the rest of you are where? Nirvana? A perpetual barbecue? Is it too early to start that thread? Just think…by that time our D16s and S16s will be done with college! Unless they take an extra year or two to graduate… 
@me29034 please don’t feel bad. D has terrible math anxiety thanks to a 2nd grade teacher who saw a gifted kid of the “wrong race” and assumed she was stupid and told her, repeatedly, that she was “bad at math” and “not ready” for work she’d already been doing well on her own for months! Her test scores in math are never close to her untimed math performance in class. She will not be getting into any “high stats” schools or National Merit awards, but we’ve found a group of colleges where test scores are not as highly considered, and that offer merit for more average performances.
My D specifically chose to apply to southern schools because she is so tired of the rain and dreary WA weather. Then she narrowed it down to small colleges in southern states. She doesn’t actually care WHICH southern state. She did apply to Temple, but it has fallen farther and farther down the list as time has gone on.
@LKnomad - yes, there is one person who has suggested the same thing to me. She keeps asking WHY, and won’t she miss having ALL the AP’s she needs (D’s school does not offer them), isn’t she TOO YOUNG and so forth. She actually lives practically next door to two of D’s choices, but I don’t think we’ll be meeting for lunch if D picks one on those schools.
Ah-too late to edit-We got in touch with the college listing 2 different test scores for honors college admissions and they will take a screenshot of the (higher) ACT score from D’s school. YAY! Now if only they’ll attach the higher merit amount to that!
Yeah. No fun when they’re twins, believe me. The comparisons are inevitable.
@palm715, I did notice that thread! And I thought about participating, because D16 got 5 offers to extend application deadlines, which we both found surprising. All were from colleges where she’d opened their supplement in the Common App but closed after she received good EA news. But then I thought about the most recent exchange I’ve had on CC, and decided against participating anywhere but this thread, at least for a few days! ;))
I agree with @ChicagoSportsFn, @sseamom and others that @me29034 should stay with us and post! Congrats to your child for receiving any amount merit aid! And look at the great discussion you allowed all of us to have about twice-exceptional children and the joys and difficulties that accompany parenting in general.
Trying to help a friend last minute. Her son applied to a lot of great engineering schools, but did not take finances into consideration (!). Besides Temple and Alabama (too late to apply for scholarship consideration), are there other colleges he can apply to for good merit consideration for engineering? He has at least a 1450 (M+CR) and has taken all AP classes available. Not sure of exact GPA, but should be all A’s and B’s.
@RyanG1207 Try West Virginia University, they have one of those merit menus we were talking about earlier, where Merit is based in a formula they publish and is almost completely numbers driven. They have a good regional reputation for engineering and will sometimes stack a Departmental award on top of the score based merit. I don’t know about deadlines, but worth a look.
Thanks to @EastGrad , @carolinamom2boys , @sseamom , @ChicagoSportsFn , @palm715 , and @Skates76 for making me feel welcome here ( I hope I didn’t miss anyone). This really is a great group of parents.
Boy this thread moves so fast that its hard to keep up.
All the schools I can think of the deadlines have passed for merit. Sorry .
How about Manhattan College in the Bronx? They have rolling admissions and it says the deadline for merit awards is 2/15. Also, their Engineering program is pretty well regarded. @RyanG1207