Holy cow @LoveTheBard , I am astounded by your daughter’s opportunities!!! Congratulations!
@LoveTheBard Congrats!!! Your D is on quite the roll!
@LoveTheBard congrats on all the tough choices your D will have to make!
@sdl0625 - hugs. So sorry to hear that. Some of my D17’s friends have been really heartbroken recently. It sucks all around. Finger crossed for a happy ending.
@youcee Even thought UT Austin is definitely one of the better state schools, if @texasmissy 's kid’s first choice was Claremont McKenna, then we’re looking at fit being an issue. Those schools are really, really different size-wise. @texasmissy I hope your daughter feels better now.
@socalmom007 @mtrosemom Girls have a leg up with STEM at large unis, but boys have a leg up at almost all LACs. I was lookingat Vassar the other day…my brother went there and i was just curious…and the Vassar overall acceptance rate is something like 25%, but only 19% for girls. My brother said even way back when he went there, the girls in his year had entered with significantly higher test scores and all that than his fellow Y chromosome holders.
@LoveTheBard Wow! All this, and UChicago now too? You must be so proud. 
I guess I’m used to California schools where race and gender aren’t considered. I’m still stunned. She’s Latina too, that may have helped as well.
Congrats on the acceptances and conditional acceptances. @LoveTheBard, you must have one special child. Wow.
Today, our Cal sophomore got admitted to Berkeley-Haas. She’s planning on double majoring with Econ. Understatement alert: we are very proud of her. Along with 2 admits for our class of 2017 daughter and we are having a very blessed week. I wish as much for everyone on here.
Thanks @Fishnlines29, @itsgettingreal17, @socalmom007, @JenJenJenJen and @BigPapiofthree. Yeah, @BigPapiofthree, I think she’s a pretty cool kid (but I’m probably not the most objective person).
D was accepted into engineering at University of Texas today also. Honestly that one was a tossup as far as predictability— super competitive and we just didn’t know how it would go.
She will be declining but it’s good to know she got in!!
@LoveTheBard congratulations, how many lovely options!!!
@carachel2 congratulations, it’s still nice to get in no matter what.
D was in reflective mood last night. She was humbled by all the opportunities she was presented and wondered if they should have gone to more deserving candidates. She thinks she is just a regular STEM girl, that she hasn’t done anything special when there might be other kids who have done more. She was also grateful for her upbringing that we afforded her, where she can feel free to pursue opportunities without considerations of costs, while other kids in lesser financial situation might not be able to. She is also thinking about the time and money we might have to spend on the admitted student weekends and scholarship trips…which I assured her we are glad to join her on the journey. (Apparently I am deemed a less qualified long distance driver, DH would be first choice!!)
It is also the same night which she told me that she wants to give her unused lazer swimsuit (an expensive swimsuit that makes you fast, D thinks it is all in your head) to underclassman teammate so that she can get the championship meet cut too.
That was a proud mom moment for me…to know that we raise her right — to have a kid with a kind, humble and generous soul :x :x
Congrats on all the acceptance or good news and hugs on the not so good news.
@LoveTheBard does she have a favorite yet? Do you have one in your heart that you’re not telling her, or does she know how you feel?
H and I were trying not to show favoritism to the schools too much when D was trying to decide. She did eventually ask us, and was surprised when we both said (in unison, lol) “UA”. Evidently we were doing a better job of keeping our feelings close to the vest than we thought.
I don’t remember if I said this here, but D17 was accepted into the Blount Scholars program yesterday, and she’s super happy about it. Promptly replied “yes”-it was sort of like the cherry on top of the sundae she’d already said yes to :).
Ironically all the worrying I did about housing at UA was moot because Blount has guaranteed housing, and she likes the Blount dorm a lot.
The last time I was going over UA stuff with her she was running permutations for a Blount minor and a microbiology minor + the cs engineering major. The website for figuring out your class schedule at UA is so good I’m jealous-the only way for me to keep track of how close I am to graduating is an antiquated excel spreadsheet that my adviser and I pore over each semester and hope to hell we got it right.
Today I have to go over people’s houses that I don’t know and photograph their children. This assignment for my advanced photography class is just the worst-it’s all the stuff I hate. Asking people for favors, intruding upon their time, possibly taking a really mediocre image of their kids, and then having to defend it in front of the class. I will NEVER be a photographer-I don’t have the temperament for it at all. My stomach is in knots right now with the idea that I’m going to totally screw up the pictures and the parents will be mad. Ugh. I’ll be so glad to graduate and be done with some of these classes that aren’t strictly in my major…
Hello, I am new to this thread as a Parent of Class of 2017. I am currently trying to help my D decide which school to list as first choice for National Merit Scholarship. She received Finalist notification this week
She has been admitted to Fordham, UNC Chapel Hill with a combination of great Merit/Need FA. She was deferred at USC and waiting to hear from Brown, Cornell, Stanford, Wash U & University of Wisconsin.
Her major interests lean toward Communications and I know many of these schools have great programs. As she is undecided about schools, is there a down side to remaining undecided as a NM Finalist beyond March 1?
@LoveTheBard - Congratulations on U of Chicago!!
@carachel2 - Congratulations. I thought your DD already committed to Pitt before UT decision?
congrats to @carachel2 @SincererLove @MotherOfDragons @Capecodder2014 @LoveTheBard for the new wave of acceptances. And for having great kids!
@HSCounselor2 Welcome to the thread and congrats on NMF. I believe you have until May 1 and I am also “pretty” sure that if you designate a school before then, you can change your mind, up until May 1 or when you accept an offer of admission. But I’d double check that information. Does your D have a favorite?
@SincererLove, enjoyed reading your D’s reflection. It took a lot of hard work to get to this point and you have all the reasons to be proud.
@MotherOfDragons, that’s a great UA moment. We also try to keep our opinion about D’s college options to ourselves. I wanted her to have these next couple of months to tour the colleges and reflect without (too much) of our influences. Then we will have a big discussion and will provide guidance on things D has not thought of.
@LoveTheBard, Your D sure will have a difficult time deciding. I also wonder if she has some preferences at this point. Our D’s have a few same options available to them.