@LKnomad and @MuggleMom I don’t think everyone got it. According to this link only 9000 invitations were sent out last year http://alumni.berkeley.edu/community/scholarships/2015-scholars
@OspreyCV22 - somewhere a few dozen posts up, I think i read a couple people discussing other things that were popping up about aid, potential honors, etc. - but I may have been imagining that, or misreading it. This whole process is wearing me out. S appears to be fairly unconcerned, though. Probably for the best, I suppose.
Congratulations to your S on the acceptances, though! I know of a couple of kids who’ve roomed with childhood friends, and it’s been great - and others for whom it didn’t work out. Probably depends on the kids. Have your S and his various friends been close all through school?
S still has 3 more schools to report in March. Maybe if I can get him to at least check those portals, that’d be a start.
@palm715 I’m fairly certain S16 won’t be coming back this way after college. I’m not sure what I’ll do if D18 settles in a completely different area too. I never meant to come back home either, but my mother was diagnosed with cancer my senior year of college so I moved back after graduation to be nearby.
We’re in sort of a weird situation, as S will likely want to return to where we live now after college, for a few pretty good reasons. The open question, though, is whether I will be here. Cost of living in the Bay Area is insane, and it’s really not a pleasant place in so many ways right now. My dad isn’t getting any younger, and he and other family and friends are in another city, the one we left to move to CA several years ago. So many variables.
I’ve promised that I’ll stay in the area for his first year of college, especially if he doesn’t go to school in CA. After that, we’ll see.
D has no intention of coming back to Seattle after graduation. That may change, of course, but her plan now is to live and teach where there is the most need for teachers in low-income, minority schools, and so she is going to college there. She also wants to get away from the rain, and I don’t blame her. She would also like to live where there is a larger black population, and none of what she wants is here. H jokes that I will move to college with her because she and I are so close, but of course, that won’t happen. If we won the Powerball tonight, though, I WILL by a house near wherever she ends up!
DS finished #4 of 5 finals today. He is completely bummed out about his AP Physics exam. He thinks he bombed it and might have lost his A. Combined with AP Calc BC final from yesterday which he thinks went OK but not well enough to bump him from B+ to A- in the class and he is stressed. I guess he will know for sure sometime next week. Two Bs on mid year report in math/science classes for engineering major is not ideal. Still waiting on 3 RD decisions. Oh well, this too shall pass and he has two acceptances in hand.
Then S can move on to a couple of outside scholarship apps and trying to find a part-time job.
On a happier note, I decided to complete the FAFSA tonight with estimated 2015 figures and submit. I will update with IRS data retrieval tool as soon as I can file my taxes (don’t have W2s or 1098s yet). Now I think all that is left is one of the colleges has its own financial aid app and requires a physical copy of the taxes. Another thing crossed off the list.
Finally tackled the FAFSA with estimated figures tonight. Not nearly as bad as I had expected. Then moved on to the CSS and it is much more detailed but still not terrible. FYI if you have a Jan 15 CSS deadline like I do, they are shutting down their site for maintenance from 9 pm on Thurs the 14th to 7 am on Friday 15th morning. I still have a few questions on CSS to confer with DH so I want to get it submitted before the shutdown.
@Ballerina016 We also got Alumni scholarship invitation email from UCB. I don’t think it means anything in terms of admission.
@Ballerina016 I don’t think that they meant 9000 invitations. It seems that they got 9000 applications from those who qualified and chose from those. You can get to the scholarship application through the Berkeley website. I don’t think it is invitation only. There is an apply now on the website that anyone can use.
@LKnomad I was reading last year thread and it seems that everyone can apply, but invitations went to selected group. At this point it just a guessing game as the one with LOR, but I don’t think everyone got it.
@Ballerina016 I would assume they pulled names from their database based on some kind of statistics.
D received the leadership scholarship email, too.
My son said that when he received his Berkeley scholarship email he was at a study group and another student received it at the exact same time. This student had much lower grades than my son including Cs.
But I don’t know which email it was. My son received two. He got the alumni one for leadership and the other for the Achievement Award which has a need based component.
For those who got the scholarship letters, did your child get only the alumni one, or did your kid also get one of the others.
@LKnomad D got the leadership one. She did not apply for FA and did not list income on UC application.
Well we did not win the Powerball so the quest for merit continues. I just checked the weather and our route to/from our weekend college visit should be fine. Let’s just hope it is a productive trip.
@momofzag I do not think those grades are too bad given all the demands of this process, senioritis, and the difficulty of the classes themselves. I think my DS said that something way less than a B equivalent is still a 5 on the AP physics test.
Welcome to all the newbies! We are in the home stretch of this college selection process but everything seems to be in slow motion. I hope that means that the winning school will be clear to all.
Have a safe and enlightenIng trip @Cheeringsection .
Thanks @carolinamom2boys. I think Clemson might have benefitted from a Powerball win but DS (thankfully) is focused on graduating without debt if possible. $-)
Totally understand that @Cheeringsection . DS16 also understands the value of a dollar. Have a good trip. It’s always nice to have good options to choose from.
I echo the frustration with kids letting grades slide. One of the phrases I use over and over with my kids is, “Never leave easy points on the table.” When you can dash off the homework in ten minutes and it matters to your grade do the homework even if you think it is stupid and pointless.
It is really starting to sink in that D16 is leaving and I am not going with her. I’m working hard at backing off and letting her have complete control of her schoolwork. This is much harder than I thought.
DD realized I am on CC, so it’s time to change ID. 