Sounds like fun @LKnomad! Count me in, as long as I don’t have to come in a swimsuit!
Can we pick a location east of LA, San Gabriel Valley area? Unless that is a really far drive for someone else. I think I am coming the furthest. But what could be cool is eating at UCLA or USC. The Hard Rock on Sepulveda (or is it Robertson?) would be cool too. Just throwing ideas out there, because, you know, it’s 4 in the morning and I am planning to go to a dinner with a bunch of anonymous people I met online 2-3 months from now, it’s what I do. Lol I’ll be in my S college shirt, shorts and flip flops. No ties on weekends or breaks.
Whoops…didn’t mean to blow someone’s cover!
This is what I hate about only having 15 minutes to edit a post. I type one thing, then if I come back to it a re-read it it looks like another. What I meant to write is, “Can we pick a location east of LA, in the San Gabriel Valley are.” Not “Can we pick a location east of LA (and) the San Gabriel Valley area,” like it reads and would be the IE (speaking So Cal lingo here for those of you OOS). Of course then I list downtown or west of LA areas. The OC is fine too.
Thank you all @happymochi @frenchtoastlover @morningside95 @Mysonsdad and anyone else I forgot.
I can tell there are many Californians here because I always see a bunch of new posts when I wake up. I’m jealous–lived in the Bay Area for 6 years and still miss it. We are having a heat wave here–43 degrees!
Not only many Californians, but also many former Californians. We too looked at the UCs, toured UCB and UCI. In the end, it just seemed like it would be a better deal to apply at some of the privates and get the merit aid. I have fond memories of visiting UCB back in the day and it was a blast going back and touring it with S.
I’m a Berkeley grad (PhD), spouse is Stanford PhD. D16 had no interest in either school. S18 is a big Stanford fan but knows he probably won’t be able to go there undergrad. We’ve encouraged our kids to aim to these schools for grad school instead. And once the 2 of them are gone, I may vote we downsize back to CA.
Hmm…I’ve been to California once. When I was ten. Does that count?
I, too, qualify as a former Californian – worked for a summer in Carmel Valley and then lived in Pasadena for a few years between undergrad and grad. Only a few years, but definitely formative ones! Still love to visit. I’ll be at your meetup in spirit!
Hello all! I’ve been following this thread for a few months now, but this is my first CC post. I’ve enjoyed reading everyone’s successes (of which there are so many!), have been disappointed along with you, and thank you for the advice freely given on this thread. It’s been very helpful, especially when navigating the financial aid steps. Thank you!
Belated happy birthday, @readingclaygirl!
I’m sorry to hear of your community’s loss, @4kids2graduate.
Congratulations to all the the good news coming out of California! Definitely get together in real life if you can. As for meeting “online” friends, several years ago I belonged to an online fan group for an entertainer, and flew from the east coast to Las Vegas for a dinner - there must have been a hundred attendees! - and a concert. I was up for 24 hours straight, but it was a blast finally putting faces to all the screen names. No regrets, as crazy as it sounds now when I think back on it!
I apologize in advance for my first post being a bit of a “venting” post, especially since you folks don’t know me at all, but I feel you of all people would understand, and maybe even have some advice, if there is advice to be had…
My S16 applied early decision to Ivy X, of which I am an alum. He submitted a strong application for a STEM field, and we felt he had a pretty good chance of being admitted, although of course it was never a guarantee. Sadly, he was rejected back in December. We were disappointed, but moved on (he more quickly than I, I will admit!).
A few days after the denial, he received a letter in the mail from admissions, which I thought wasn’t going to happen. (S16 wouldn’t let me see the initial rejection letter online, so when he asked me to open it - he was in school - I didn’t know it wasn’t the same and just assumed it was.) This letter reiterated their regret, but went on to say that, although they couldn’t offer him admission at this time, “the Admissions Committee felt that [his] interests and experiences were particularly intriguing” and that if he was still interested in X, he should consider applying for a transfer for either the fall 2017 or 2018 semesters. They continued with “Your appropriateness for our programs places you in a very select group to whom we offer this encouragement.” While this did give S16 encouragement, it made me wonder why, if his application was so “intriguing” why didn’t they just defer him to regular admission? We filed the letter away, and when S16 makes his final decision as to where he will attend next fall, he will take a look at his freshman classes to make sure they would cover any transfer requirements, in order to keep his options open. We moved on, again.
Fast forward to this week, where I was speaking to S16’s guidance counselor after meeting with her to start the process with S17. I mentioned, in passing, our disappointment over S16’s rejection to X, as we thought he had a good chance and she agreed, but then mentioned last year’s “X debacle” and was surprised when I said I didn’t know what she was talking about. (I’m not plugged into the social scene here in town!)
After S17 went back to class, she proceeded to explain to me that last year, a student was accepted to X early decision, only to break the agreement to attend MIT. CG told me how everyone in the guidance office was “livid” and the CG of this student is no longer with our school. She also mentioned that in S16’s guidance meeting last fall, prior to his sending in any applications, when he mentioned his plan to apply ED to X, her silent reaction was “oh, no” - I guess she was thinking there was a good chance our high school had been blackballed by X over the “debacle” - but she didn’t say anything since I’m an alum. I don’t know if S16 would have made a different choice, but perhaps it would have made a difference if we had known this. Maybe I would have contacted admissions and reassured them that we were a family that wouldn’t dream of breaking (any) ED agreement, and especially one with my school!
S16 has mixed feeling over this news. While he’s looking forward to attending one of his other choices, he told me if there was any way to “fix” this, to go for it! (I honestly don’t think there’s anything to be done at this point.) At least now, he can feel that his rejection last December may have had nothing to do with him or his application, and may have just come down to bad luck due to the actions of an unethical family and guidance counselor - and I do feel they both acted unethically. It might also explain the snail mail from admissions, which, while welcomed, didn’t really make any sense at the time. I also don’t know if I should be annoyed at my alma mater - I do know I’m deeply saddened - if they are in fact playing such a game, although I realize this is the only way an ED school really has of keeping wayward guidance counselors in line. The threat of getting one’s school blackballed should certainly be enough to have an effect. It remains to be seen if this is truly the case, as our school still has about a dozen other students who have applied RD to X, and at these numbers, based on past history and the strength of the kids I know who have applied, I expect a few of them to get in. If they don’t, I think it will be quite telling.
Thank you for reading, and I’m sorry if my first post here is such a downer. I’m typically a pretty upbeat person - just not this week.
The farthest west I’ve ever been is Buffalo. But I have atleast ridden through every state on the east coast.
@readingclaygirl, before I went off to college, having grown up in a town near the beach on the east coast, the farthest west I had ever been was Philadelphia, north was NYC and south was Washington, DC!
Interesting @beech653 . I’ve never came across someone who has first knowledge of someone breaking the ED agreement. I hope Ivy X did not use that circumstance to blackball the next generation of students at your S school. That would be sad (but I guess somewhat believable…you just never know). IMO I would call the school just to give your two cents about the situation, your son and his legacy. At least you can say that you gave it your all to try to get your S accepted.
Welcome @beech653 I’ve read here on cc about those transfer offers for qualified alumni kids who were rejected. It is always nice to have another option.
Welcome @beech653 ! Hope everything turns out for your son and ivy x. I agree it wouldn’t hurt to call admissions.
Duct tape does solve nearly everything!
@beech653 - first, welcome!
I hope it’s ok that I will infer from your post that you are referring to Cornell. If this is the case, then they often do this “come next year” business for legacy waitlist/denied students, so my guess is that it has nothing to do with last year’s family.
However, since you are an alum, I would recommend that you call the admissions office and state again your disappointment, and even your promise to sign with Cornell at any time if they were willing to reconsider, in light of this letter that they sent you. In other words, treat this status as more of a “waitlist” status than a “denied” status at this point.
You are correct that breaking an ED commitment is a serious breach, but the attention for that would be focused on the student/family/GC in question and perhaps on MIT for not checking/rescinding, and unlikely on your family a year later. However, if your son’s GC really thinks this could have been an issue (“silently worried”) than she should have done something about it at the time, such as TOLD you, or perhaps contacted Cornell and said, “this family is serious; they are legacy; they are appalled that XYZ broke his commitment last year but that should have no bearing” - or perhaps advised your son to take his business elsewhere for the early round.
Good luck!
I completely agree with @fretfulmother
I would want my child’s GC tell me that bit of information. While we don’t know for sure that your child’s denial was the result of breaking the ED agreement last year by another student, knowing that information would have given me thoughts on how to mitigate the potential negative effect it could have on my child’s app.
@fretfulmother is spot on. If I think the ED “boost” (whatever that may be) would have been negated by the scar tissue Ivy X suffered last year from dealing with the other student, then I would have taken my money elsewhere. My first COA though would have been to have the GC call the school and tell them that you guys WILL enroll if accepted because of factors x, y, z. At the same time, I would have emailed or communicated to the regional AO my intent of enrolling if accepted.
It’s tough to hear stories like this where good things don’t happen to good kids as a result of horrible judgement by others.
Welcome! @beech653. I’m a newbie too, and agree with the other posters. My longtime motto has been, “It never hurts to ask!” (Also, my favorite word is, “Free!”) I’m sorry to hear that this extra layer of stress has been added to your son’s application process. Hopefully he finds another school where he will be just as at home, as he would have been at X, and will consider transferring, if that is truly his dream. Just a little story:
A friend of mine’s son applied to a top LAC in California, and thought, with over 4.0 GPA, rigorous class load, nearly perfect test scores, awards and amazing EC’s, AND the fact that both the boy’s father and grandmother went there, a 2-generation legacy, that he would get in. He did not. The boy who had hardly ever left CA, ended up accepting admission at Oberlin, in a tiny town in OH. They offered him a very generous fin aid package. He could not afford to visit, so the first day of orientation was the first time he stepped on campus. It was a gamble but it paid off. He now knows what it’s like to live in another part of the country, and is having a wonderful experience, these first few years. When he and his parents started out, they never thought he’d be leaving his home state, as he mostly applied to UC schools, where he was also admitted. But he decided to take a chance and it is paying off! Good luck to your son. I hope he finds his own way!