I need to catch up on everyone’s news today but quick news before bed. S17 was accepted to Ithaca today. I picked up the mail and saw the big YES UVM envelope and was very surprised to see a plain white Ithaca one that was nice and big and fat. But ZERO indication on the outside. No fun! S was at work and I was off to an annual xmas gift exchange with my college girlfriends so had to wait until he got of work for an update on the contents of the packet. Acceptance with a 17K scholarship. Which matches the NPC. We will see if they offer any FA at all for the overlapping student years but I am not expecting any.
COngratz @eandesmom on your S’s acceptance to Ithaca! And that big YES envelope from UVM brings a smile, yes? We got a mailing a few days ago about the Wellness Environment… What’s not to love about a nice substance-free dorm that comes with a nutritionist, personal trainer and yoga and meditation sessions? 
@jmek15 Yes, she is on the young side but has always seemed older. She is a lot like me in that the more free time she has, the less she does. So far, what seems to be helping is that she is staying an extra hour and a half at school. This was decided by the principal, counselor and the rest of us. I had suggested this earlier on but her first job required earlier hours. This job actually works well with her schedule. She finishes classes at 12:15, stays for lunch and then gets her work done the next period for four days during the week. She usually works 3 weekdays from 3 - 7 or from 5 - 9 so it is not bad. This year has been full of adjustments for her and sometimes she feels she is too young for all the changes (and so do I) but then she is always very mature and seems much older than most kids her age (even as a toddler). Her room is absolute chaos but when she cleans up, it is spotless. She works in spurts and is very erratic, which I hate to say, is much like me. She was going to counseling before she left for Croatia to help her with adjusting and I may have her go back, just to have a sounding board.
She stayed in Zagreb for 10 months through Rotary. She stayed with two awesome host families and went to Slovenia and Austria and Germany as well. She really misses it and wants to go back in the worst way. I told her to wait until she is 18 at least. Her trip really inspired her to study Eastern Europe and she wants to pursue Russian studies/International Studies. She speaks and understands Croatian now and has tried to pick up some Russian. She just has so many things she is interested in. Part of the reason we pursued smaller LAC’s was so she wouldn’t be quite so overwhelmed.
@curiositycat333 Yeah, I put the option of the community college and now she just looked into another local university that we never realized offers Russian. It is only 35 minutes away but she missed the cut off for merit aid and we do not qualify for any state or federal aid which would make it a huge stretch. She seemed very positive about it acknowledging that it would be a good stepping stone for her. I am good with that if we can figure out a way to get some aid. She has been very good at communicating with admissions officers and financial aid officers so we will see.
I am hoping that they will request to see her later grades since she did not go to school for a year here and they may see it as a semester of adjustment. Hopefully she will continue the upward rise and I know her essays have been very good so we will see.
Love to hear all the good news and acceptances!
Congrats to everyone who got accepted and condolences to those who didn’t. It’s getting so exciting.
@mackatarinasmom Zagreb sounds like an amazing experience for your DD! I didn’t know the Rotary had such programs. Were her classes in Croatian or English? With her background and interests perhaps the local university would make an exception regarding the merit aid deadline. It can’t hurt to ask or connect with a faculty member who might be willing to advocate for your D. Sounds like you and the school are working together very well give your D strategies to stay on track. That’s nice to see!
Congratulations to all who have had good news and hugs to those experiencing some disappointment.
S was accepted into Engineering at UMass (in state) but was not invited into the Honors College. Based on the acceptance/discussion thread we are not alone in being disappointed, especially because there were kids with his stats (and lower) that were invited. Possibly hurt by the fact that his school doesn’t weight GPA or rank. Also possibly hurt by the fact that I only sent one ACT score - had I sent the the second score he would have superscored a point higher. But who knows if any of that made a difference. Truthfully, when we investigated the HC for DD15 I was impressed with the facilities (gorgeous new dorms and study areas) but not so much by the program itself. My hope was that he could live in the HC dorm for his freshman & maybe sophomore year so that he could be in a reasonably quiet dorm with other serious students. Engineering is a tough curriculum, and it’s hard to be around kids in less demanding majors who are partying when you have to study. I think that you can probably always find a party when you want one, but it’s nice to have a reasonably quiet home space.
Waiting to hear about Villanova - rumor has it that they may release EA decisions this evening. Not too optimistic since a ton of kids from his school apply and they are extremely selective for engineering. Will be checking during his swim meet this afternoon!!
@cameo43 SIGN ME UP for the Wellness Dorm!!!
@cameo43 The wellness dorm at UVM sounds awesome, esp since next year they will be in a brand new dorm. Guessing though that more kids will want it than there are spaces, and if we wait to decide where to go until April but housing requests open earlier, not sure what our chances will be. Does look very cool.
Lots of good news coming in! Congrats @jmek15 on UMass, @eandesmom on Ithaca. Good news about St. Mary’s! @Sailinghedgehog, I hope RD brings better news for Case.
TacoSon was accepted today to The Catholic University of America with $20K merit, which is not as much as I expected. Case Western’s offer was for $5K merit and another $8K in loans and work study; since he wasn’t a lock for acceptance I am grateful for anything but it’s barely a drop in the bucket. Both schools will have to be off the table. Just as well as TacoSon’s favorite is still University of Mary Washington. The COA letter came today and I’m sure after my husband sees it, it will continue to be his favorite too.
@jmek15: Today one of D’s friends, who attends our local public HS, was also rejected from UMass Honors College. This girl is ranked in the top handful of kids in a class of 155, with SATs in the 1500s. She has a few ECs but is a pretty serious dancer so much of her free time was spent in those classes. She did call Admissions today to talk about this, since kids with lower stats had gotten in. Their reply: “For the Honors College, we look for applicants who not only have strong grades and test scores, but who also have solid leadership experience.” This is a really lovely girl who is quite shy, and has not been the type to step up into a leadership role in a club or sports team. She is so sad, and we are too.
I had no idea that UMass Honors was quite so selective. I assumed they based selection on stats alone.
@kt1969: It makes me crazy when I hear that the substance-free dorms fill up and not every kid who wants them can get in. We heard this on a few of our tours… “not everybody who wants them can get in, they fill up quickly.” Hello!!
To me, that sends a clear message: Designate more dorm space as substance-free! Sheesh.
According to my younger daughter, not every student in a substance-free dorm is necessarily a nonsubstance user. And not every nonsubstance-free dorm is filled with students who are regularly drunk or high.
@cameo43, two years ago when DD15 went through this process UMass Honors College was completely based on stats, per their website and information session. If you met the specific criteria then you were accepted into the Honors College. D is a dancer like your friend but she was offered a spot. This past year a friend completely committed to dance with zero leadership was accepted. However, things are turning out to be very different this year. Your D’s friend can reapply to the Honors College if she decides to attend UMass and meets their GPA requirement of 3.4 after the first semester, but acceptance is not automatic.
The Villanova kids are seriously bouncing off the walls
http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/villanova-university/1933250-official-villanova-ea-2021-discussion-thread.html#latest
@klinksa Keeping my fingers crossed for American. So no portal update, gotta wait for the letter? Would think Thursday. Let us know.
D17 got her admit packet from U of Redlands today. We knew she had gotten 26K merit, but it turns out she also got a 5K grant [guessing need-based, which I don’t really understand since I was pretty sure we wouldn’t qualify for a cent], so a total of 31K. It is an expensive school, but that is a significant chunk. Have to decide if it’s worth a visit all the way from MA.
I’ve been lying low, bracing for ED notification this week. Not even sure what I’m hoping for at this point, to tell the truth! Thanks for the good thoughts, @kt1969–no, they don’t update the portal–it’s snail mail. I’m expecting we’ll hear Thursday or Friday.
A little catch up:
@techmom99: congrats on Adelphi, SUNY CC and LIU Post! Good luck on SUNY Purchase and SUNY Fredonia!
@93pilots: congrats on Chapman!
@CoyoteMom: congrats on Allegheny–the money looks great! we’re in the RD pool there, so no news for us for awhile!
@eandesmom: congrats on Ithaca! Is it enough merit to keep it in play? Lol’ing a little at S19’s project–hey, at least you’re a little bit ahead of the game for him now, right?
@suburbancat: I feel ya on the C’s–we’ve got a little of that going on ourselves. It appears that D17 is trading her C+ in Physics for a C+ in AP Stats now. Ugh. At least the Physics grade is up a bit!
@“Queen’s Mom”: congrats on St. Mary’s of MD–affordable = good in my book as well.
@smakl70: congrats on the invite to compete for the Presidential scholarship–exciting to be in the hunt for big $$!
@tacocat333 (I laugh every time I see your user name!): congrats on Case and Catholic U!
@Sailinghedgehog: sorry to hear about the Case deferral–here’s to good things in RD!
@snoozn: sorry about OSU honors, but YAY for CSU honors! I loved the UVM package–that green is so cheery and that big YES was nice to see! It’s the best acceptance envelope D has gotten. Sorry about Case, but your D seems to be taking it in stride (nothing like a little fatalism to lighten the mood!).
@jmek15: congrats on UMass! I’m a little jealous–would love to have that one in the bag! Getting in as an Engineering major is darn impressive!
@kt1969, yay for “extra” money from University of Redlands! That’s a nice chunk of change!
Feeling really happy for this group overall–these kids have some great options so far!
Keeping my fingers crossed for @klinska 'S D and American!
Regarding substance free I agree they are not always such. Bear in mind that there are parents who will require their kids to live in substance free dorms and the kids don’t have a choice. Highly restricted teens are often more at risk for early substance abuse as they have zero experience and do not know how they will react.
And I agree not every or even most non substance free dorm is full of partiers.
I have to admit the wellness dorm is would not be my S’s cup of tea on every level lol. Far too zen for my extrovert lol. It’s odd though, the scholarship he will apply for requires a learning community that isn’t listed in the current options so I am confused by that
I need to look through all the schools and make sure I’ve got a grip on housing timelines. I really don’t see a decision happening until March but we may put a deposit down somewhere before that if it makes sense.
Well, just got a call from D that she got accepted to Kalamazoo. She was so excited, she was crying. I wish I saw it in person! She is now texting me about scholarship - 60K!!
@eandesmom, is it this building? https://www.uvm.edu/~arch/?Page=projects/fysh.html&SM=currentprojectmenu.html
@rosered55 Yes, that’s the one.
@mackatarinasmom I wish my kid got that excited and that scholarship is phenomenal! Congratulations
@smaki70 HAHA! I think she just doubts herself and it just sunk in for her. Thanks! It is still a long way to go financially but we will see.
@Sailinghedgehog, @snoozn sorry about the Case deferrals.
@snoozn has she heard from Gonzaga yet? I feel your pain on the 40k price tag. We will be slogging it out till March when all FA shows up I think. UGH.
@tacocat333 congrats on the Case acceptance but bummer on the merit barely making a dent. Boo. OCngrats on Catholic U and how lovely there is a favorite that is also a financial winner!
@jmek15 sorry about the honors college denial, that is a bummer but congrats on admission into engineering and fingers crossed that Villanova releases soon!
@kt1969 I ran Redlands NPC over the weekend for S19 and I swear there was a agrant in there as well, one of the few places where that showed up (which usually just means a much higher starting price point lol, it’s the only way we show as having need). But I also seem to recall they were a bit more generous in our EFC (aka it was about 6 lower than FAFSA says). Congrats!
@“Queen’s Mom” congrats on St Marys of MD, it looks really lovely! I was looking at it this weekend for S19.
@smakl70 congrats on the scholarship invite, exciting!
@rosered55 no, the scholarship (if won, which admittedly the odds are likely super low) would require living here
I’m sure he will want the sustainability theme (and prefer to be in the new building) if the scholarship doesn’t happen and he is headed to UVM although it says they will be announcing more in mid Feb. But if the new dorm only holds 695…that is certainly not all of the freshman!
@mackatarinasmom is that 60K for all 4 years or per year? Congrats! I really liked a lot about Kalamazoo but it didn’t work for S.