I was sitting on the couch folding what must be my 500th origami crane (for the mixed media piece I’m working on that uses all the college flyers) when D was opening her Blount letter and the crane fell out.
We just sort of looked at it in silence for a moment as the universe did a weird little jig…
@MotherOfDragons and @dfbdfb - how sweet!
QOTD - Any funny stories about how your kid received news?
My D was sitting in her French class when she the news about Yale EA was posted. She was expecting to see a letter when she clicked for the update to her status on the portal. What she got was a very loud video with the Bulldog cheer (Bulldogs Bulldogs, Bow Wow Wow…). Talk about embarrassing – esp. since one of the other kids had just seen his silent rejection 
Thanks @LoveTheBard! That makes a lot of sense. I would rather see a clear favorite emerge and be fully aware of all options when she picks her first choice. Yes, it’s University of Southern California.
@HSCounselor2, my daughter was an NMF last year. There is no downside to waiting. I tend to think that one is more likely to receive the $2500 award if there is no early declaration of intent to attend a school with an official NMF scholarship. I could be incorrect about that, but it makes sense to me 
My daughter made her final school decision late in the game, just days before May 1, and had Ivy schools in the mix. You will know well before May 1 if she is chosen for the $2500 award (which she will not receive if she ultimately chooses a school that offers an NMF scholarship, but is certainly better than nothing if she goes elsewhere.)
So glad I stumbled on this thread @GoodGrief16 & @lbf! The voice of experience is so valuable!
Jeepers, it’s been days since I’ve posted here! Things move so fast!! Congrats to those with admits and scholarships or even just a little time to finally relax! <:-P <:-P Hugs to those who need them!
@MotherOfDragons Don’t stress over taking photos of kids – some of our best little kid photos are from students at a photography institute that used to be here in town. The students would visit playgrounds and offer to take and email photos if you signed a photo release. Sounds a bit creepy, but everyone here knew the name of the college. (And congrats again on the Roll Tide decision! Love the origami crane story.)
As a former Aggie, congrats to those admitted to tu – I mean UT Austin! Hook 'em horns or hullabaloo, as appropriate!
Welcome @HSCounselor2 – we are also waiting to the end to specify a college for NMF with the hope that might help for the $2500 directly from NM Corporation if he decides on a college that doesn’t give NM $$.
@LoveTheBard, D is acting as cool as a cucumber and she is having an open mind like your D. I asked her several times if she wants to turn down any finalist invitations. She is eager to go and wants to visit the schools to determine how much she likes them comparing to her EA school. We don’t express to her our preferences - at least not yet. We are also open minded and will want to consider all her options. Merit scholarship is part of our considerations.
As of now, D will be missing two weeks of school due to all the finalist week, scholarship competition, and school visits. I emailed her counselor with all the details and she confirmed that all will be excused. Now I am just hoping D will be able to keep up with her grades with so much absence.
D was shopping at Costco with me when we got the Cal Tech deferral. She was in her room after swimming practice around 5 30 pm when she got Chicago news. DS20 was concerned because his older sister almost never screamed…
D tried to decline Case Western so that someone else can get the merit scholarship, and had to complete a pretty intense survey…it wanted to know if Case was your 1st, 2nd, 3rd or less than 3rd choice and where you are going. All difficult questions…can we just say it is not you, it is me?
@HSCounselor2 S17 is a NMF as well and as far as I’ve figured out, the only downside to waiting is if you miss a particular school’s deadline. S17 applied RD to BU and they offer $20K/ yr to NMF. BC, which he was accepted to EA, will select 7 NMFs to give $1K. Both BU and BC require they be named first choice by 3/1. UNC-CH won’t give any NMF $ and the other RD schools he applied to won’t either. With BU’s $20K/yr being the largest college sponsored NM award, I had him list BU. It would be nice if the kids had until 4/1 to list their first choice particularly when some kids are choosing between multiple schools with large awards. Good luck!
S got a invitation to a Chancellor’s reception for UCSB, so that should mean an acceptance based on past years. It’s been an exciting week for us!
@youcee - Congratulations! Are you instate and if so which reception are you going to? DS received it a week and he will he attending San Jose event.
@srk2017 Yes, in-state. Going to the LA reception. We already have a kid there, but this one gets his moment in the sun too.
@AngelaD I am so jealous of your D’s school supporting her in attending these scholarship competitions. D will miss about 2-3 weeks, and we are still fighting this battle with them. They don’t want to excuse the absences.
@youcee Congrats on Chancellor’s reception invitation for UCSB! (S didn’t get an invite, but looking at past years, it appears they don’t send them to people actually in SB.)
@Ynotgo Looks like you had the most rain in CA yesterday, at least along the coast. S said kids were wearing swimsuits to class because it was so wet. I think a wetsuit would have been better and warmer.
@youcee Lol, swimsuits. That’s UCSB. But I was on campus Friday and saw plenty of umbrellas.
Yup, 5" of rain here yesterday, 7.6" at our reservoir, which has gone from a low about about 7% full to 35% full and still rising. Yay! If it gets to ~50% I will start gardening again, I think.
Nor Cal reservoirs are full and we are expecting lot more rain next week. Now, suddenly we need more dams.
First post from a long time lurker-- I discovered this thread over a year ago, and it took me until last month to catch up. Yes, I’ve read every post, although I’ve skimmed over some. I have a S17 who is our oldest.
I just wanted to add a couple points to ongoing discussions here.
McGill-- We have friends whose S15 is half-Canadian and was accepted there, but when he visited, he realized that his not knowing any French was going to make it very difficult there. Even if the classes are taught in English, apparently almost everything else in Montreal is in French.
USC (Trojans)-- Our nephew15 is a student there, in his first year after transferring from U San Diego, and there are quite a few kids there from our kids’ school. N15 told us the academics at USC are a lot more rigorous than at USD, and he described most of the kids he knows there as ‘nerds’ who spend most of their time studying. The kids we know who go to school there were very good students in HS, many of them attracted in part by generous merit aid. We know kids for whom it was their dream school, but they weren’t accepted.
@robnnn - Welcome to the group. Which schools did your S17 apply?