We are planning on visiting two schools next month. We will hear from another high choice this week. Then we will wait for a couple of long shot decisions at the end of March. If a long shot comes thruand If we need to do any other last minutes, we will spring break. I expect decision around the third week of April at the latest. But without long shots, it could be made by April 1st. Having said all that, things seem to change every week. I was up in the middle of the night last night, running scenarios, numbers for tuition, and trying to figure out chances, prestige vs value, and everything else. I then realized I don’t control this…Oh well…
@CA1543 @longwood CMU website says by April 15 but email to the kids says end of March for decisions.
@CA1543 @longwood I checked last year’s CMU thread and it come out on their portals at midnight on March 25. (Almost March 26, that is.)
QOTD: We’re in it until the bitter end also. D should be getting answers through March, but a couple she’s pretty keen on may not come out until 4/1. She hasn’t visited several yet so there will be trips over spring break. Depending on how many she gets into, she may do a little bit of preemptive weeding (that would be a nice problem to have!) but considering the size of the investment in both her time and family money, we would like her to visit all real options.
Interesting thing is the psychological effect of early acceptance notice from our state schools, SUNY Stony Brook and Binghamton. I would say that both have grown appreciably in her affections since she got in. The extra time while she waits to hear from other schools is allowing her to imagine herself there, whereas during the application process she didn’t give them a whole lot of thought beyond the need to check the "affordable " box.
@MA2012 – Thanks - I just looked again through emails to DS & see this in one “The Office of Admission will work hard to notify you of an admission decision by late March.” Very helpful. So it looks like all schools’ decisions will be released by April 1. Very helpful - need to figure out last revisits for the April break time - some within driving distance if they pan out and 2 or 3 could involve flights - thankfully we have a lot of FF miles!
@CT1417 Second time parent here as well - 15/17 - hasn’t been what I expected. You expect to stumble through the college application process with child #1 and then correct all mistakes with child #2. Makes sense, totally rational thought process there - unless child #2 does not play nicely.
We have 7 acceptances, waiting on 3 - she has seen 2 of the accepted campuses and 1 of the still waiting on. Unfortunately, she dropped out of the whole process back in October after hitting the last send button.
Last summer we visited a number of schools she was supposedly interested, her interests changed in September when the time to apply came along so I scrambled to find her schools that fit her interests on paper at least. 1 acceptance is and always has been an absolute no way due to cost - her BF goes there, I made it clear from the get go that it was out of the picture, she just chose not to listen to the ‘no way’ and acted shocked when I told her even with the financial aide package, it was still far too expensive.
One school, on paper at least, seems to be everything she wants in a school, but, still dating the long time BF, the location has become an issue. The school accepted to and seen is the only one she is paying attention to,BF is trying to transfer there. Hubby and I aren’t 100% thrilled, if she gets accepted to honors - didn’t first round - we might feel differently. But the only thing this school has as far as fit with her desire for a school is location.
I dealt with a rebellious, I want to do my own thing, I think I’m an adult and know it all attitude with my oldest - but that ‘strutting’ all came about AFTER we went through admissions and visits and he carefully checked out every single option and made a well thought out decision, with us his parents involved, as to hit fit.
This one, oh my, without seeing, without knowing, without looking into, without visiting others, has decided that the one school she has seen out of all accepted is her ‘love’. We figure she chose to apply to other schools for a reason - she should visit and make a decision. BUT, this BF and him trying to transfer to attend school with her, seems to be trumping anything we try to get across to here. Sick day this last week, she actually tried to confirm her admissions to this one school - but she wouldn’t pay the deposit herself - all without talking to hubby and I.
We have no plans for our very long Spring Break this year other than to take her around to colleges - but seriously feels like a waste of time and money for us if she has already made her mind up and is just going through the motions to get us off her case. She will only willingly visit that one school she has already seen. It is beyond frustrating, and we alter between giving up and letting her commit and then that’s it - don’t utter a peep if something comes up that you don’t like - and trying to get her to at least open her mind to make sure this is the best place for her considering it doesn’t have many things she said she wanted in a school.
QOTD - who knows, we may be up to the deadline or we may not.
Hoping child #3 (S19) is the golden egg in the process and learns from all the pros and cons of what he has heard from his siblings.
LOL @mominthemiddle. Our 12th grader is #5 and this time was the hardest yet!!
@HiToWaMom It took me a minute too, but the cow who said it was a helicopter already has mad cow disease.
@thermom I totally agree about the early effect syndrome… D can really picture herself at one of these now - (her favorite of safeties and the one that gave her the most money). I almost wonder if she gets into her first choice this week, it wont be quite as easy to give it up and we will have to cancel the admitted students day next weekend.
@mominthemiddle That sounds like a struggle when they won’t look at all. They do get a feel for the campus when they visit. Hopefully with a few admits, she’ll want to check them out. good luck!
@mominthemiddle it sounds very frustrating to deal with a situation that is based on a BF that may or may not be in the future. Hopefully the school that she has “chosen” will be a good one whether or not the relationship works out. Then again, there is always the transfer thing. I think sometimes we forget that if a school doesnt work out, there are other possibilities out there. Right now with D17 dream school, we have discussed starting elsewhere and then transferring as a junior. Also not having visited schools yet does add complexity.
We wont be able to make a decision until probably close to april 1st. March is going to be a nerve-racking month
@sdl0625 Transferring isn’t an option for many, and why it’s important to try to find a good fit now. There is very little merit money for transfers, which is a problem for many families. This is precisely why I’m making my D visit every possible option. There will be no transferring for her, as I’m not going from full ride to full pay. She understands that. She’ll have to graduate from whichever school she chooses now, so chose wisely.
QOTD: We are like the many of you waiting until all RD decisions come in so I would say mid/late April. We are going during spring break to visit schools he hasn’t seen yet. We have 2 scheduled so far and it could turn into more we will see. Hoping after visits he will have a clear favorite!! Seems so far away :((
QOTD (yesterday?!): Earliest possible acceptances not expected until late Feb/early March, and several not expected until mid-late March. Some schools they (twins) have not visited, so if accepted and the school is a top contender we will be visiting. It all depends on the acceptances, so just waiting, waiting, waiting.
Late March and April could be a bit crazy if we need multiple visits for each, but we’ll do what we need to do. Luckily we both have jobs where time off (even with little notice) is usually not an issue. Kids are more reluctant to miss school and athletics than we are to miss work!
@mominthemiddle – SO sorry that you have to deal with all that on top of regular college admission uncertainty. It if does not sound too lame: hugs to you!
@thermom – I also agree about the halo affect or whatever the correct term would be for those early admits. Not sure how it will pan out, but it is nice to invest in the early admits and visualize oneself on campus, something one does not want to do with the outstanding applications.
QOTD: Anything could happen on any given day from here until April 1. It wouldn’t surprise me if he just wakes up one day and chooses. The thing that is holding him back is he really just wants to see if he can get into one of the Boston area schools he applied to. I think he likes the idea of knowing that he got in more than anything else. He worked hard in high school ( I know many of your kids worked harder!) to keep his grades up and stay out of trouble, so he feels like he has a shot to get into a few of his more reach type schools. Even if gets in I’m not convinced he will choose them, and I’m not entirely sure they are the right choice for him anyways. If he got into one of the schools he was deferred 'm pretty sure he’d accept on the spot. It has some “prestige”, the right size, the right programs, access to the city, 4 day school week ( lol), closer to home etc. ( but the most expensive ). If he doesn’t get in there I literally have no idea where he will end up. This is a brutal process in my opinion. Everyone is trying to stay focused on enjoying senior year, but wishing away the days until decisions come out. Not fun really.
@RightCoaster I’m with you, this is not a fun process, especially for our kids.
Same here, @itsgettingreal17. We are visiting all the schools that seem reasonably good fits. (perfect fit is a non-issu
@sdl0625 I would never force my son to stay at a school that is a bad fit BUT transferring is very expensive and
I am not sure all kids/ families understand that transferring could lead to a delayed graduation if the family can’t afford it. In addition to the lost credits (I think FA is capped at 8 semesters --but I don’t know for sure so know one should take my word for it) there are often the relocation expenses.
My friend’s son went ED to his dream school. Transferred to the school his girlfriend was at for the first semester of sophomore year. An excellent school but he discovered not a good fit. He’d been there many times (during his college visits and to visit his girlfriend, her sorority formal and events, etc). Fun when you are visiting but he didn’t consider that a large university is not a good fit for him. He has returned to his original college and it cost the family about $20K for a semester detour to another college. When he sought to transfer back, it was an interesting process. His college did not want to accept the credits he had taken because they were all courses in his concentration. The dean of admissions was not helpful and the student was at his wits end. I told the mom it was time to step in as she was paying the bill and she called the dean of the business school where he was a direct admit. End result is the kid lost credit for 2 of the 4 courses he took but he’s in a much happier place. The family can easily afford this detour but some cannot so the option of transferring has to be thoroughly considered.
I’ll be off the radar for a bit. I am going on a two week Caribbean cruise with my 85-year-old Dad, sister, and her boyfriend. My Dad loves cruises and had to go about 15 years without going on one because he was taking care of my Mom with Alzheimers. He and I went on one about a year after my Mom died which was a combination of nostalgia, fun, and healing. He’s so excited about this one! I’m not much of a cruise-type, but can’t wait to see them.
It’s going to drive me a bit crazy not knowing what’s going on the next few weeks though!
Slightly belated QOTD: If D is accepted and gets enough merit from first choice, I think we’ll be wrapped up by the end of March. But there is a chance that her eyes will sparkle with the thought of no debt, so she might keep thinking a bit. But she will not be waiting until the end of April. I’d be really surprised if she goes past early April unless there are unusual goings on.
I feel like things are going much smoother with my second kid. Of course we were in near chaos with the first one. The third will be challenging if he does senior HS year abroad.
QOTD: D is fairly decisive and I hope this process won’t be the exception to the rule. She has 5 acceptances in hand, a presumptive acceptance (invite to scholarship weekend), and 3 outstanding. There are only three campuses she hasn’t visited, and she will see those during her spring break. There are definitely favorites currently in the bunch, but until the financial offers are in hand and the visits are complete, it is hard to venture a guess.
April seems very far away.
@snoozn – Hope you have a great trip!! Seems like a good time to get away from all this college stuff - an lots of waiting!