No weather delays or school cancellations here for 100 years
@dfbdfb My kids don’t ever get snow days. 
I am incredibly strict with our days off. Even when we had no water and it took plumbers days to fix the problem, we went to the library and to do work. I am a proud, card-carrying member of the mean mom club. 
@NolaCAR Merit aid is scholarship money from a college that is usually renewable for all four years as long as you maintain a certain acceptable status (sometimes it’s just “remain a full-time student,” and other times it may be “keep a 2.5 GPA” or something like that). It isn’t dependent on your EFC or financial status. Merit money may REPLACE need-based aid, though. So if my family’s EFC is $12,000, and my daughter is given a $20,000 merit scholarship, she won’t get any need-based aid because the “merit money” replaces the need-based aid.
The nice thing about merit aid is that is a known amount that should remain consistent for all 4 years, whereas need based aid may fluctuate depending on if your income and assets go up and down. Hope that helps!
@dfbdfb --unfortunately, we may see 15-18 inches in the northeast tomorrow. Hoping the power stays on, as the combination of heavy snow on news leaf growth and high winds…not good with overhead power lines.
Welcome @NolaCAR!
You guess correctly Big MAC is what we affectionately refer to around here as a (Big) Merit Aid College
If your EFC is $39,000 and the cost of attendance is $60,000, you will – in a perfect world and with a school that meets full need – be given a need-based FA package of $21,000, ideally without loans.
On D’s admissions/FA letter, it should say whether the award is merit based (generally referred to by schools as “merit aid” or “scholarship aid”) or need based.
Merit aid does not depend on need. Most of the time, merit is awarded by Admissions or, in the case of named scholarships, a by committee. Some merit aid scholarships are automatic – i.e., based on stats, others are given to entice kids to go to the school and reject other offers. Others require that you attend finalist weekends, interviews, etc.
Institutional aid is the same as need-based aid, and is based strictly on financial need. You should know that in most cases, a merit scholarship will, in the eyes of college FA offices, reduce your need.
Unlike your D’s and @dfbdfb’s D’s experience, my D loves those diversity essays. Then again, she’s got a lot to bring to the table in terms of diversity, leadership, etc.
@LoveTheBard, my daughter actually liked the real diversity prompt she got to answer (for an honors college application). Macalester’s, though? Yeah, that one was obnoxious.
I got a notice that my D15’s east coast college has cancelled classes for tonight and tomorrow. I’m sure she’s devastated. =))
School cancellations for tomorrow already being announced in NY! Some are wondering if it will be 2 days instead on 1 to allow for cleanup. We’ll see. Bought lots of food & we have a generator. I am worried about my daffodils and budding bushes & trees.
Congrats on the DECA win, @RightCoaster! And Disney!! Love the DECA update to colleges - can’t hurt though and some schools may have later awards of scholarships so perhaps it would be considered for those puroses.
@dfbdfb – wonder how the kids get t school if there is 12-15" of snow. In DC it likely only takes 2-3 inches to stop things.
@VickiSoCal No cancellations where you are? Over my kids’ school careers, I think we’ve had one flood day and two fire days. No snow days, though.
Stay safe, East Coasters.
Warming up the slow cooker for tomorrow here in NYC. Thinking chili.
@Ynotgo we are not close enough to the hills for fire or close enough tot he river for a flood. We must be in the sweet spot. My kids do not find that sweet.
I’m happy; H had to cancel his trip to Philly because of the snow. Sorry/Not Sorry!
I realized I’d booked D’s Bama Bound on the same day she graduated. And this is looking at Google Calendar and still not putting 2 and 2 together. Some days I am as dumb as a box of rocks. Luckily I was able to shift it around and all’s well.
The weather here in Atlanta is just icky, but at least it’s not snowing (she says glancing out the window anxiously).
Back to gluing pennies onto a giant canvas. You think I’m kidding…
@dfbdfb I went back to read what @LoveTheBard was referring to in terms of prompts. My Dd wouldn’t have applied, but for one diversity prompt, she went all in with the typical American family having 2 kids and attending school. It must have worked.
To my SOCAL friends - any recs on where to go in San Clemente for dinner?!
@smcirish and @LoveTheBard: Thanks for the clarifications about merit aid. D got a named scholarship for 4 years provided that she maintains a 2.0 so I guess that is merit aid, which is what I had been calling it.
My D doesn’t hate all diversity Q’s. Just Macalester’s because of how it was worded.
Good luck with the snow everybody. We had a 2 hour school delay here today and it’s still snowing lightly, but that’s nothing compared to what the NE and Mid-Atlantic is going to get.
@Fishnlines29 If you like great SoCal micro brews, go to Pizza Port San Clemente.
http://pizzaport.com/grog/san-clemente/beers/
We definitely have school in Colorado if there is only 12-15" of snow. 2 - 3 feet may be a snow day. It is not hard to drive over a foot of snow even without an all wheel drive. Most main roads are quickly cleared out anyway here. The only danger is low visibility with blowing snow.
I don’t know. We never have a snow day so we just get used not having a snow day.
We did have flood days several years ago. School buses were used to evacuate people in some areas so we did not have school.
@CA1543 -ha! ha! Have you lived here (DC Metro)?? The storm just began…should give us at least one day off but forecasts are all over the map regarding accumulation.
What is this snow you speak of? It like falls from the sky and piles up in the streets???
Not terribly familiar with San Clemente to recommend a restaurant @Fishnlines29
Our stupidest essay prompts were for Occidental college. They were so stupid my daughter didn’t end up applying. Some nuggets included:
What is your favorite word?
What is the fifth song on the soundtrack to your life?
If you had your own food truck or restaurant, what would it be called?
There was another one about describing your idiosyncrasy, my daughter’s idiosyncrasy is she cannot tolerate the idiocy of your essay prompts.
@thinmints – yes I Iived in DC a couple of years – a long time ago though (ear of Marion Barry). I grew up in the south but was still amazed that a few inches of snow stopped the Metro, schools, the roads were a mess etc.
It is all relative but I am impressed in some places (Colorado & Alaska mentioned above in thread) - that with a foot of snow people are driving around to school and work). Here in NY if major snow we try to stay off the roads till they are plowed. Floods can be worse of course - growing up in New Orleans I had several - including the river cresting and flooding us!