@eandesmom @curiositycat333 – Thanks! And I promise I didn’t copy @curiositycat333’s username; It’s a play on my actual cat’s name (another Mexican food) and CC made me add numbers so I randomly chose 3s. (Yes, I know being so secretive online is SO 1999, lol, but don’t want to blow my kid’s cover.)
The night my D17 got his first EA acceptance was the very first time I didn’t dream about college admissions since September.
Lol there is a character in the game exploding kittens called Tacocat.
And tacocat is a semi frequent character that appears in a certain cartoonists works, which partially inspired the game,
@eandesmom My D hasn’t started her little Goucher supplements yet. Working this weekend and other plans. Not happy about it but she says she doesn’t have a lot of work this week, and since Goucher is a top choice for her she says she will work hard on them. We’ll see. I did encourage her not to say something true but trite, like “world hunger”. 
@kt1969 S kept telling that it would be easy but I knew once he actually started the exercise, not so much.
Somehow I don’t think “Stop Stalin” or “Keep Brian Wilson from trying psychedelics” are what they are looking for. Although both are arguably less cliche than world hunger, Stalin is not by much and the reader may not have a clue what is meant by the Brian Wilson comment. Then again, his AO probably would.
@endesmom My son old his grandparent, I don’t have a top choice. Will wait to see where I get in.
@curiositycat333 I think it’s good to not have a top. Then they aren’t crushed. We are very much in a wait and are admissions and wait and see money game here. As long as they have one that both parent and student are happy with then the rest is gravy.
So for you that’s probably anything but Humboldt?
D was unhappy with her college admissions progress on break so far and I had to remind her how much she’s accomplished with eleven apps done and three to go (only one of which looks like a real pita). She’s also submitted one honors college app with two or three to go. Yesterday she was despairing over CSU’s honors app which has a priority deadline of Dec 1. It has one 500 word essay about “why honors” and then three or four essays with no word count listed. She’s really stressed out about it and was telling me yesterday she didn’t think she could write all those essays at the quality needed before the deadline. Of course she can, but it sure won’t be fun. Her stats are right in the middle for honors, so this one is a nail-biter for me too.
Congrats on WWU @eandesmom and @mamaedefamilia! D got an acceptance as well, but they’re off the list. I don’t know how I missed it on their website, but the EE dept is not yet ABET-certified. We also found out on our visit that the energy specialization within EE is competitive and students apply at the end of freshman year. D is not willing to take a gamble on going to a school with the program she wants and then finding out after a year that she can’t be in it. It’s too bad because we loved our visit and pretty much everything else about the school.
@eandesmom, I’ll be interested to see if OSU makes a better offer. As it stands, they’re in the “do-able” range financially, but probably not the “worth the extra $$” category. Also – we love Exploding Kittens too!
@klinska, D thinks that OSU offers a stronger more focused energy program than CSU at least “on paper” (on pixels really!) One of the million “we’ll have to look at this more in depth later” areas.
Hugs to your D! The good news (right) is that it’s only Saturday morning. Is everything 12/1? I can see where the honors one would be stressful.
I had NO idea WWU wasn’t ABET! Oh my goodness. Grr. I can see where that would be a deal killer. I went round and round on that one for 2 different programs. And, while I imagine it might be by the time she graduated it isn’t worth the risk, nor is not getting into the program after freshman year. I loved the outline of the OSU program on the mechanical side, I didn’t look at it on the EE side but it really looked like one of, or the best possible option, for S had he stuck with Engineering. Even outside of Engineering it is absolutely one of the stronger ENVS programs that has renewables out there that was a fit for him. It’s a great town, a great school and we know of many a successful engineering grad that is well employed right away.
I go back and forth as to whether I should have forced S to visit and apply. It’s not totally dead but it’s a back burner RD app depending on how round 1 acceptances go. Had it been a common app, it would be in. But it’s a pricey backup plan. Were it less than the rest of his list I’d have forced the issue but it’s not, though certainly travel would be less lol. I am assuming she has looked through the OSU departmental scholarships available?
@snoozn Give your daughter a big hug. As my D said this morning as she worked on dance scholarship applications - “It never ends…” “Seriously? They want ANOTHER essay?” And so it goes.
@eandesmom Happily D does not intend to pursue engineering so WWU is still in play. However, we are waiting on WUE scholarship and Honors acceptance. She did get her packet in the mail, which admitted her with “highest honors,” a nice certificate, and priority evaluation for the Honors Program, so I’ll take that as a good sign!
I want to go to WWU when I grow up!
@mamaedefamilia I would definitely take that as a very good sign! That automatically puts her in the WAE/WAA/WUE pool so it becomes a matter of how much they offer. I hope it is the full WUE! I do not expect S to get anything, though a safety he’s middle 50 not top 1/3 and was not admitted with honors (nor was expecting to lol). The idea of the honors program (anywhere) gives the kid hives. LOL!
It has fabulous programs for him, it really couldn’t be a more perfect safety. It is really going to be interesting to see how it plays out. Selfishly I’d love it from a visit home perspective but I know it’s not really what he wants.
@snoozn Good luck on those additional essays. Not a lot of fun spending the holidays writing essays. I should know as that what S17 is doing for his UC App.
I’m a bit confused, I thought at OSU you got into the Engineering major as an upperclassman as well. And that it depends on how you do the first two years. Isn’t there is some risk there as well? I guess there is a risk anywhere, even if your admitted to a major if you don’t keep the grade up…
Now I’m wondering why S17 didn’t look at WWU. Just took a look at where it is and it would fit a lot of what my son wants. Hmm. I doubt I could get him to consider another school.
The letter finally came. I really nice acceptance that specifically talked about his essay and what they view as his strengths. I expected DS to be slightly more excited than he was since this was his only high-match school. His response, “Show me the money.” At least he realizes that between his top choices it is really comes down to finances.
He still has one essay to go but it’s for an outside scholarship and isn’t due until March. I’m just afraid if we let it sit around it’ll never get done. He’s goofed off for most of his break so today is the day to get back into it. He did get together with his Calc study group but not sure if it was more social or academic.
@eandesmom, my S17 wasn’t accepted for honors at his favorite state match/safety either, despite a very prompt EA acceptance. (I urged him to apply just to put him in the pool for more merit aid. ACT score is very high but GPA is right in the soup on Naviance.) We joke that this school TRULY gets him because he’d honestly hate being in an honors program! This is a kid wholly uninterested in rhetoric, creating a portfolio or defending something over 4 years.
@tacocat333 Sorry about the honors app rejects but I can relate to your feeling.
My S17 isn’t going to bother with Honors apps. I flitted with pushing the honors app for OSU (he hasn’t even applied yet), his SAT puts him in the mix. But his GPA isn’t competitive, i’ve heard is a hard honors program to get into, and they really didn’t sell it well. The idea of doing an honors thesis isn’t a big attraction.
My son is going to drive me nuts… I KNOW I gave him till today to get those UC essays in. And he supposedly has been working all weekend on the essays. And says he will get them in by tonight. (It’s due Wed night at 11:50 pm) But jobs like this take all available time. They always do.
And he now thinks that since he missed the OSU early deadline he doesn’t need to finish it till January. Seems he is having a hard time with two of the essays. The community service one and “Describe your experience facing or witnessing discrimination”. He can’t think of anything. Last night my husband suggested turning the question around, talking about how diverse our school is and how inclusive the school is. I know his H.S. does put in a lot of effort and is better than many schools in this regard, but I’m sure the reason he doesn’t see it is he’s a young white male. I’m sure it’s there but if he doesn’t see it I can’t make suggestions. My son has always had a hard time, not answering questions like this precisely and while turning the question around is probably a good idea here, I’m not sure he will.
The more I think about it, the more I find multiple essays annoying - I really feel for our kids! I mean every college has 1-3 (UC 4) ADDITIONAL ESSAYS - and none of them are the same. I mean, they have studying to do for their regular classes!! So yea, honors essays? Forget it. No time.
@curiositycat333, my kid was THRILLED not to get into honors! It was a totally win-win situation. He did get merit aid, which was the goal. The essay situation is very familiar. S17 (a white male) had to write about how he’d add diversity to a certain (fairly homogenous) school. The way he turned it around was to address how he has an understanding of neurodiversity due to having a sister with special needs.
I’ve found the essay process very interesting, especially since I’m convinced no one in admissions does more than scan them. In my head I compare it to finding a dress that fits perfectly, being willing to pay full price, then noticing it’s 40% off. You’ve already made your decision; the extra is just icing!
Regarding honors programs, they’re not everyone’s cup of tea. Oldest D started out in honors, but her gpa was too low after the first year. She didn’t miss it at all. The big excitement for her was getting into her upper level major classes. D17 likes the idea of small seminar style classes and a smaller community at a big U. I don’t think it would be a big deal for her not to get into honors at a smaller school. She submitted her OSU honors app with the regular one, but no word yet. I just want her to get the CSU one finished so we can both quit stressing over it!
I guess D has an easier time with the diversity and discrimination questions than many CC kids. Being LGBT and autistic is nothing if not diverse. While she hasn’t suffered anything like hard-core discrimination (which seems to be getting worse now instead of better), she does know what it’s like to be singled out and treated differently because of who she is. I have to add that I feel very good about her hs. It’s 30% Hispanic and they’ve had no discrimination issues. They take that kind of thing very seriously.
D and I hate the leadership questions. Every college seems to want every student to be a leader. People can be successful, happy, helpful, and productive without being leaders. And if everyone’s a leader, who are they going to lead?!
@curiositycat333, yes, at OSU students are accepted into pre-engineering and then apply to an engineering specialty after two or three years. The difference is that there are set criteria. I’m a little confused in that electrical engineering and energy engineering have different minimum GPA’s (2.8 and 2.25 respectively), but I think 2.8 is reasonable. Like you say, there’s always a risk, but at OSU she knows what she needs to do and there is no competition with other students. At WWU, the prof described the energy program as competitive, and I believe he said just a little over half of students who applied made it in. A 2.8 wouldn’t feel so great in that situation.
@smakl70, I’m with you – I’d be excited for D to get a personalized admit letter like that. It’s good for the self esteem even if the money doesn’t come through. But a good thing he isn’t getting his hopes up in case the money doesn’t work out.
@curiositycat333, D received her OSU acceptance the day after they received everything, which suggests to me that admissions is not exactly “holistic.” I can’t believe there was some committee diving into her essays which she wrote quickly and didn’t even let me see. I think as long as he writes something related to the question at a hs senior level it will be fine.
Thank you @snoozn. Great post.
And…
We are DONE!
Unless a new school magically pops up, S is done with his apps! There are scholarship ones to complete and music auditions but the actual applications are in! He knuckled down and whipped all of the supplements (5) and apps (3) out today. Were all at the level I might like? Maybe not but they were close enough and overall pretty decent.
Mildly concerned that not one of the 3 apps submitted generated a Great Job! Your Application is Submitted email as did his previous CA submissions, but all have the magical green check and the one that required payment did get an email. Super frustrating thing with our comcast emails. Junk email NEVER shows up at all. Nothing exists in our spam folders. It either gets through, or it does not.
Hopefully we will have portal emails for all by 12/1 and then I won’t worry about it at all.
I am a bit shocked though, I was poking around Naviance today and so almost 40% of the class has applied to the flagship. Huge uptick. 111 so far, 89 last year and only 49 in 2015. It is going to be VERY interesting to see what acceptances look like as that will give me an idea of where S really stands in the class since we do not weight or rank. S isn’t applying but I don’t think he’d get in. Not statistically impossible but a decent reach to be sure.
@curiositycat333 if he has a common app essay (from Boulder) or any other essay it would be quite easy to do the WWU app. All he needs is an essay and then an activities list. Which can just be an uploaded resume.
From everything you’ve said I think your S would like it. Of course I think he’d like CSU too!
I agree with @snoozn that OSU is really mostly a matter of stats and then checking the boxes. I don’t think he needs to overthink that one. He could be honest and say that he’s never had to face it but would like to think he would handle it xyz if he found himself in that situation. I might also remind him that witnessing doesn’t’ have to be personal. Witnessing is watching the news or reading the paper these days.
@smakl70 I think they often react differently than we expect but the “show me the money” attitude is a healthy one! A personal letter that shows that level of attention to one app is amazing.
@tacocat333 I love it. * wholly uninterested in rhetoric, creating a portfolio or defending something over 4 years.*
Exactly! Not that I necessarily think all honors programs are like that at all. But the overall environment offered, for him, is not a fit. Perfect on the other hand for his little brother who will thrive in an honors program. I love the way your S turned around the diversity essay.
While S is not remotely diverse, nor is our area, he is a bit of an activist and as a result has had a lot deeper dialouge in a number of areas with both other kids and adults, one in particular that got quite confrontational ( contacted the principal about it in general terms, I was that concerned). He handed it and ended up with an amazing result. He didn’t end up having a diversity essay to do but if he does (and may for some of the scholarships) I believe he easily has a topic to work with.
@snoozn we hate the academic awards section of the common app. Leadership isn’t our favorite but he does have some even if it isn’t traditional. Half on the EE - Renewable? That’s brutal. I am guessing it’s the renewable part that isn’t ABET but their main EE program is? That seemed to be the case with every program I looked at. Just too new and they have to get a full class through.