@MotherOfDragons I’ve been doing a very bad job of keeping my college opinions to myself. That’s why I’m sending D to visit most on her own to make an informed decision without my influence. Must. Keep. Quiet. :))
Thanks! I think her preferences would lean toward Ivy League, but not knowing about admissions or FA makes it hard to be certain. Practically speaking, I want to make sure she has good options to fall back on. A visit to UNC next weekend may clarify that choice.
@carachel2 Congrats on UT, it’s still nice to get those acceptances!
@SincererLove It is heartwarming to hear your story and so nice when our kids express appreciation.
@MotherOfDragons That’s terrific she got the scholarship, icing on the cake, for sure! Just relax and take a deep breath when you’re taking pics of the kids. Keep in light and fun and you will do great!!!
@HSCounselor2 Welcome!
@MotherOfDragons – while you are at it, take a photo of the children with the mother in the shot. Since there are never any photos of the mother with the children, she will be thrilled with that no matter how her children look!
I am sure your photos will be fabulous!
Thanks @Fishnlines29! It’s interesting to read about all the great college options your kids have 
@HSCounselor2, I believe that the Ivies don’t participate in the NM program, so if you designate them, the only award your D would be in line for is their $2500 scholarship, or a corporate scholarship if where you work is a participant. Check with the schools that do participate and see if they have any internal deadlines for naming them as first choice. That may play into your decision.
Thanks @mtrosemom, I think may main concern right now is whether to select a school for first choice with the outside chance they may offer more Merit money, (i.e.Wisconsin or USC). She has not been officially accepted to either school and may decide to attend elsewhere. I realize we are passing on considerable options for Merit $$ if she chooses and Ivy. Nerve wracking! Ugh 
I guess time will tell…
I’d wait to select in the event that they do offer so thing and then you don’t choose them. You might forfeit any other potential scholarship you’d get. And, frankly, I do not think that the school use your designation in their selection process at all. Good luck!
Congrats to all with good UT news, love it!!!
Welcome @HSCounselor2 you have found a great group of supportive parents >:D<
@socalmom007 sending good thoughts to you D BF, my son is applying to CS also and it is a tough major.
@LoveTheBard continued congrats on all of your great news…AMAZING!!
Did not apply to Duke, but still really curious to know what leadership, ECs, and CS it took to get nominated for Robertson, if the nominees care to share. . .
I’ve also been trying to make a big effort to keep quiet about any personal feelings or preferences I have about the schools D17 has applied to. I’ve had to shush DH into keeping quiet about his feelings too :)) Partly because she hasn’t heard from any of the places she’s most keen on so I don’t want to add to her feeling bummed if she doesn’t get into any particular place. I also don’t want to wind up inadvertently pushing her away from a school because DH or I hyped it up too much and she feels pressured in some way.
@HSCounselor2 - Welcome! By USC you mean So Cal not Carolina? If so, then you are looking at a 1/2 tuition (i.e., 26K scholarship), no? There is no downside to waiting and no upside to declaring before you have to do so.
@SincererLove - How sweet! My D17 was wishing that she could transfer some of her acceptances to a few of her classmates that regrettably did not get into some of their top choice schools that D has gotten into and that she doesn’t plan to attend. She now regrets having applied to some of them because she feels like she’s ruined other kids’ shot at them. I have to keep reminding her that she needed to cast a wide net because of the Big Mac issue and that even if she had not applied, the others still might not have gotten in.
@MotherOfDragons - Congrats on your D’s decision and the icing on her already great cake! In answer to your question, D’s top choice, irrespective of price, is her SCEA school – Yale. That said, she still hasn’t visited, but on paper it seems like a great fit. Vandy is a total wild card – she feels like she will either love it or hate it (she’s afraid that Greek Life – which she has absolutely no interest in – might dominate the social scene and that the school has the potential of being a bit too rah-rah for her), but she likes the idea of residential colleges (one of the many reasons she likes Yale so much) and wants a school with happy, very bright kids.
She’s approaching everything with an open mind – she’s going up to USCali for their scholarship program (another school which is probably a bit too Greek and a bit too rah-rah with the added problem of being large). She’s going to Grinnell’s accepted students program and will certainly try for Davidson’s Belk if she makes it to the finalist round. She’s still waiting on Rice and WashU and Duke, which she would only consider with BigMac. Other schools will likely not make the cut (Scripps – unless she got their New Generation full ride - their $22K max merit won’t cut it. Bryn Mawr, Kenyon, and the UCs are likely goners). If WashU invites her to their scholarship weekend, Emory will likely fall of the list as well as their scholarship weekend dates overlap.
I’m trying to keep my opinions out of it. I’d selfishly love for her to remain in CA (Stanford – are you listening??), but DH and I will support wherever she feels she will be most happy. Mostly, I do not want to own this decision. It HAS to be hers to make. Of course, we would also love for her to be able to save some $$, but not at the expense of a good fit. If she can find both, so much the better! She’s got a good head on her shoulders and is not coming at this with a sense of entitlement, but rather deep appreciation and humility, so I trust she’ll make a thoughtful choice.
@AngelaD - where is your D and your family in this whole thought process?
@nw2this - For the Robertson, unless your C is in a nominating school (mine wasn’t), they can self nominate (mine did). My D has shown leadership, passion, and initiative in her EC and has done a lot of advocacy work both at school and in her community to promote diversity and inclusion, as well as community service leadership.
@LoveTheBard wrote
My D had similar worries about UA (as did I-we are not a Greek Rah Rah familyat all). When we actually were on campus it was not nearly the issue we were concerned it might be, so I’d say definitely don’t pull Vandy from the list before you visit based on the greek thing. Or the rah rah thing :D.
How many does she think she’ll visit?
D is having her Very Last Interview right now.
So glad this will be over soon!
@MotherOfDragons - Hopefully she’ll get a chance to visit many/most of the schools that she is seriously considering. The scholarship visits are useful for that, of course. The biggest problem is that we are trying to make travel plans without all of the necessary information (kind of like trying to put together a jigsaw with a bunch of missing pieces; there are some overlaps between scholarship dates and accepted students program and for a few schools, she still has skype/telephone interviews to advance from semifinalist to finalist stages, and there are a few schools that won’t announce until the end of March). It makes it really hard to plan, of course. Thankfully, she has a 2-week spring break during the last week of March and the first week of April, so once things become a little clearer, we can make plans for the best use of that time (although some of it will have to happen on the fly. That goodness for Southwest’s flexible cancellation policy! This, of course, is the down side of waiting until acceptances are in before visiting schools…And then there’s the fact that Yale Bull Dog Days are during finals week…that’ll add another layer of complexity, I’m sure.
Exciting times, for sure!
@WhereIsMyKindle Croft?
Maybe S should let March Madness dictate where he goes in the fall. :))
D17 got her UA Blount Initiative acceptance letter yesterday (along with a little congratulatory origami crane), and was all smiles and excitement as she read it.
She’d been sounding very negative about Alabama as a possibility lately, but sounded incredibly positive after that. She does the (HN)CBHP visit thing next weekend, and doesn’t think she could do both. Blount actually excites her more than CBHP at the moment, but either way, like I’ve told her, the site visit is a chance to not just be interviewed for the honors program, but to essentially interview the entire university to decide whether she could fit in well there.
(Also, extra bonus if she goes with Blount: The lodging cost is lower.)
Congrats to you daughter @dfbdfb That’s cute!!! <:-P