Sorry @ProbDeferred I was out watching basketball with my boys, but @Ballerina016 said exactly how D feels. She is not looking to go into medicine and wants to make sure she has a broad enough and rigorous enough to degree to find an engineering job directly after receiving her undergraduate degree.
Iāve been reading this thread and Iād like to say congratulations to all the kindness, good-hearted advice and optimism you put in your messages. Itās really refreshing to see this kind of parental network. I learned a lot reading your thoughts here, thank you. A special thanks to @EastGrad for his summaries too.
My son is applying to chemical engineering programs. We are from Maryland. He got his first rejection on the 14th, from MIT. Heās been accepted at UMD (Clark School of Engineering, Honors College and Gemstone Program) with the full Banneker Key scholarship, at GA Tech and at Cornell (just as he was receiving the MIT rejection he got the Cornell letter of acceptance, which was great). Weāre still waiting on a few others. So, I though Iād join this wonderful group with your permission, awaiting with hope and celebrating all of your happy news, even if for us they turn out not to be that good. Best wishes!
Hmmm, Iām feeling left out since our son was admitted EA. Seriously, congratulations to all. Time goes by way too fast.
I āthoughtā I meant, sorry for the typo
@ReminiscingDad welcome! I donāt post often but read everything and truly appreciate all the support this thread offers. Our D has decided on her college and now we are trying to wade through the financial aid waters. Every step of the college process has been eye opening for us, but the folks here are always helpful. Best wishes to everyone!!
@ReminiscingDad Welcome, and wow, those are some really great offers and choices your son has. Congratulations to he and you and glad you could join our merry band of slightly and delightfully crazed folk!!
Congrats to all those receiving good news and hugs to those who need them!!
@ReminiscingDad - these things are obviously so random! Although my DS got into MIT, you will recall he did not even get considered for a partial BK at UMD, whereas your son got the full deal! Do you know where he will go?
Also, to those who were following my sonās friend with the deferrals and refusal to take advice - unfortunately he has not received any acceptances so far, only one waitlist and the rest deferrals. (He did get into a super-safety in-state but with no merit aid, so he has somewhere to go.) Iām very disappointed about this, and my son is upset for his friend, too.
@AsleepAtTheWheel that sounds like an awesome trip with DS1. And even though I donāt like ocean-sports or driving fancy cars, I am jealous because it sounds like an awesome trip for a dad and son who like those things. 
Welcome @ReminiscingDad . Hope your sonās evening has gotten better @LKnomad .
Only because he is a double legacy. 
I think it is time start prepping the friend for a transfer. May be he will take advice now.
@mstomper I feel the same way. I guess the grass is always greener. I know many would gladly change places with us right now. I love reading about all of the acceptances though and hope at the end of the process we all post where our kids end up going.
Welcome @ReminiscingDad!
@fretfulmother - I was curious about the friend. Thanks for the update!.
I was just reading another thread and someone mentioned that the last school added to their final āwhere to applyā list was the school their kid ended up at. I was just thinking that was the same for us.
D16 had Marquette on her common app list in early August when she started, actually took it off the list in late August ( when looking at her schoolās Naviance statistics, she had āredā across the board, her stats where not even in the ballpark, although her stats were ok if we looked at the common data set directly) thinking it was a long shot and because it was a Mom suggested school. Then Marquette called at the end of September wondering why they had not gotten her application, so she added it back on at the last minute in early October on a whim. (I remember thinking it was weird that they knew they had been on her common app list and that they had been removed from her common app list because I didnāt think they could see they were a contender until she hit the submit button, learned a lesson there!).
It is truly amazing the changes from August to the end.
Thank you @greenhk , @Skates76, @carolinamom2boys , @livinginLA for the kind welcome. @fretfulmother yes, youāre right, this process is a bit random and I think your son should have gotten the full Banneker Key as well, however, the Presidential award he got is also very prestigious. I think your son didnāt get the BK because heās out of state. Congratulations on his acceptance to MIT! What major is he going to choose? And is that the same as yours? My son has not made a decision yet and it will be very hard since many factors will come into play besides the strength and quality of the program (closeness to home, weather, friendsā¦). Is your son attending MIT? It seems like the right choice, itās local for him and itās excellent!
Is anybody attending any of the Cornell programs? If so, which? The letter my son got has invitations to the diversity hosting and the Cornell Days program, and mentions the Cornell Alumni-Student Mentoring Program in the last paragraph, āwith more information to come at a later dateā
Nice āseeing youā here @ReminiscingDad 
Congratulations on all the good news your S has gotten so far. Iām sure there are more coming his way
@morningside95 Thanks for always remembering my S! He just got back from Vanderbilt. Needless to say, he loved the school. They were super-nice to the kids and everyone was fun and welcoming. S had the chance to speak with the admission officer for FL and thank him for the acceptance. S invited him to come to his school to talk about Vandy since most kids at his school donāt know about it.
Heās leaving for Boston tomorrow morning. Funny thing, one of the kids at the Vanderbilt event this weekend is also going to the Scholarās event at NEU
In other news: S got WL at UChicago. Hey, you win some, you lose some!
@LKnomad Congrats on UCLA and sorry to hear that things did not go as well with Pomona and Mudd. I hope that bettter news arrive very soon for your S. Hang in there
@ReminiscingDad - we donāt know yet! DS is definitely attending the preview weekend on April 7-10 at MIT, and the visiting days at Princeton later that month. Wherever he goes, I donāt think his major would be the same as mine. He is probably interested in Chem-E!
Two questions for the CC wisdom:
- Whichever DS picks of P or M, will the other one resent him and/or not admit his brother(s) or even have prejudice in that direction? (I guess this also goes for other schools that admitted DS - would they be resentful? Has anyone heard of this happening? There was an "Ask the Dean" about this question and she was not 100% sure it wouldn't happen.)
And:
- Does it help kids on the waitlists if DS tells schools he is now almost certain that he has omitted from consideration, now vs. in a couple of weeks after the visits? He would do it earlier and commit to at least a top couple, if that will help anyone. I'm nervous about declining the financial safety, though, until I get something in writing about final numbers from the others.
Hey @EastGrad, thank you for your support! Midd is one of those schools that Iād love to go to, but if I decided to go to a liberal arts college, thereād be others that would take the cake (Vassar, Bowdoin), although Middās probably in third place due to the interesting ways to be involved on campus. Learning more about February admission, it seems that itās really actually harder to gain admission as a āFebā, considering that the admissions officer seem to pick you for that if they believe you can succeed coming in later. Also, skiing down Middleburyās ski slope rather than doing regular graduation walk seems pretty cool (Iām a big skier). Overall, I donāt look down on it anymore as an āinferiorā admission, just different. Iām anxious to start in the fall, but I could appreciate the benefits of starting a little later. But still, Vassar is definitely my top pick for liberal arts, considering the strength of its academics, spectacularly beautiful campus, and great social life (for me, anyways).
@ProbDeferred I was out with friends tonight, one with a graduate degree in BME and he told me the same thing that @Ballerina016 wrote - it is better to get an undergraduate degree in a more traditional engineering major and get a graduate degree in BME.
@ReminiscingDad S would love to go to the one of Cornellās programs; however, at this point he doesnāt want to commit anymore. He HATES missing school and attending these programs require that he miss school. He will definitely go to MITās CPW and Columbiaās Engineering days, both during the first half of April.
@ReminiscingDad It would be great if your S made it to one of the events at Cornell. Try if possible