My son really liked U of Minnesota when he applied with class of 2015. They were very welcoming and helpful. Was in his final list of 3 schools.
@jpc763 I’m glad to hear of another school that does this.
I asked at other schools we toured and they said it was complete lottery - and one said it was illegal/discriminatory to do that. I think I remember him saying it was because you couldn’t show preferential treatment based on one’s ability to pay. But obviously at least two schools do it, lol.
It’s time too update the odds, not because of changes that have been made, but because of the potential for change next week.
My guesses are based on what I “know” combined with what I “think”, and not meant to be a serious prediction:
Current Odds.
20% ASU
16% Texas A & M
15% Alabama
10% Oklahoma
10% Trinity San Antonio
9% Tulane
5% Texas Tech
3% Chicago
2% Princeton
10% The Field
We will be visiting two schools on this list in the next seven days. There is a real chance those schools go up significantly, or are dropped from the list completely. In that sense, I am optimistic for this trip - not because I have a feeling one way or the other for the schools, but that I can see the effectiveness of taking the trip.
Unrelatedly, I should tell DavidPuddy Jr. how proud I am of him - I don’t do it enough. I did a parent stealth grade check over the weekend and he has all As in what I would consider a rigorous senior schedule. That includes some time intensive non-school activities chewing up time. It’s senior year, and given his current somewhat comfortable status (some acceptances and scholarship opportunities) some might take their foot off the pedal.
Sometimes, I don’t appreciate how hard he works.
@bearcatfan - Minnesota does a similar thing. The housing application opens in November (15th I think) and the sooner you fill out your application and pay your housing deposit ($25) you get in line. They award dorms based on your spot in line. Note that you can apply for housing at Minnesota without confirming enrollment.
UF and FSU are similar. FSU housing priority is based on when they receive your application for admission. UF has a housing application which is used for priority.
I’m with DavidPuddy. S’18 is working very hard on applications, during marching season, while taking 6 AP classes. And he auditioned for all-state and has started working on his solo pieces for the spring. I’m very proud of his level of effort. And I intend to tell him again tonight, but that’s a good reminder to do so.
@DavidPuddy I see some changes on the leaderboard there! Fork 'em! >:) And definitely give your S props. It can’t be easy to do what he’s doing.
I’ve been thinking about this odds game the last week or so, chuckling at the wild swings on D’s leaderboard in such a short period of time. I’ll give my best odds, at the moment. May change before the day is through.
40% UBC
25% McGill
25% USC
7% Toronto
1% ASU
1% Trinity
1% Grinnell
The big wild card here is USC, which she visits a week from today. She has spent lots of time on campus, but not as a prospective student. She may love it, she may hate it–I can see it going either way. And NOW, we throw in the BF factor. :-< For about a year, D has been telling him he really should consider USC, as it is a great fit for him. Well he just this weekend decided to apply, and may even visit yet this month. D says BF will not factor into her decision, but who knows at this point. They both have to be accepted first. Doing my best to sit in the back seat and let her drive. H is going on the trip to USC with her next week. Probably a good thing! I’ve been running off my big mouth too much lately.
So anyway, I expect big changes to D’s leaderboard again in a week or two. 8-}
I did the final proofread on S’s NMF essay last night. Just little stuff. Delete this extra space. Delete this double period. I mark those, but I don’t make the changes because seeing them and fixing them himself is necessary learning. I told him to paste in the corrected version, but not to submit the darn thing until we had a chance to do a final check together.
You know where this is going, right?
He submitted it, and his 529 word essay appears to have been truncated, which he/we would have seen in the Preview function if he’d done that himself or waited until I was there. We can’t fix it now, either. Maybe if I call them tomorrow and ask them to kick it back to us, which I doubt they’ll do.
Bigger boat? Nah. I’m gonna need a bigger desk. :-L
Ah, well, what’s done is done, and it won’t keep him from advancing.
In other news, the GC is doing the final submit today on her end, and she sent me a copy of the wonderful rec letter she wrote for him. I teared up. :-S
The early housing deposit seem unfair to me in that they break the general commit-on-May-1 agreement. And they do discriminate financially because some families to “commit” to more than one while others cannot afford to.
Grrrrr. Just got an email from the counselor asking if our S had actually pressed “submit” on his NMSF application because once that has happened, he can do his end. Yes, he submitted it on 9/25! I responded and said as much and then took a picture of the applicant portal where it says exactly that and states the school portion still needs to be completed and attached that to the email. I’m going to lose my mind over this!
@jpc763 wow a $25 housing deposit is cheap! UTD has a $300 housing application fee!
Finally making progress on applications with South Carolina, Minnesota, Seton Hall, and Rutgers all getting done, feels good to see a few sent and more to come this week.
With Minnesota waiving the application fee in October it frees up some money to apply to another school so that’s always a nice bonus
@DiotimaDM I don’t think the essay can be fixed once it is submitted. S refused to let me proof read his essay and submitted it last night. However he forgot to logout and when I reviewed it, I could find 4 errors in first glance. There were “-” and “;” instead of “.” and he had missed an “at” in a statement. I was really disappointed, but what could I do? If he had let me take a look at it we would have fixed those errors. The posts I have read says that , it doesn’t matter. There was a post where the student made the same mistake of not fitting the essay within the space provided but moved to the next stage. I am not sure if it will affect any scholarship chances but shouldn’t matter to become a finalist.
@laralei you could reach out to the honors college, they were eager to arrange a visit for us a few years ago. We went on Veteran’s day so no school missed. A student took us on a tour as well and to the cafeteria. Whitmyre hall seemed like a nice community. Maybe you could contact someone in the college of education as well to see if they could meet with your D.
https://www.iup.edu/honors/visit/
nooooooooooooo! D just handed me a NEW draft of her CA essay 
I thought she was about 95% done and for some reason decided she needed to go a different direction. X_X
I’m going to pour a BIG glass of wine now…
Well, I’m smiling here tonight because D’s counselor and teacher recs have been submitted for a few of her early Common App schools. They are on it!
Alas, D herself is not on it. She still has to write another essay for the 10/15 deadline school. AND, she has asked if we can reschedule the WashU visit. I’m sure that has nothing to do with the looming app deadline. 8-| Sorry @LMHS73, we may be of no help on this before app deadlines.
oh @Veronica02 I feel your pain! Hopefully this one will just flow.
Counselor sent an email that they figured it out. Not increasing confidence levels over here that the rest of the application process will go smoothly. I am going to have to keep a close eye on portals to make sure school stuff is getting done.
@labegg I would be really losing sleep over that. We are still waiting on GC too, but only for 3 schools due by 11/1. DS sent a reminder email today. If that doesn’t work I will be emailing her and then request a meeting. He met with her at the end of August with his file folder and checklist.
I would make your email direct and brief (I agree it is too long). Stick to the basics of what exactly you need from her, deadlines, and implications of missing the deadlines (ie. I told my son to write that if he does not have his application file complete by 11/1 he would not be considered for their premier scholarships)… Is it important to include the other info (missing teacher recs, transcripts, etc)? Is that also the GC responsibility at your school?
Our teachers do their own and we use Parchment for transcripts so thankfully didn’t have to go through the counselor for that.
If we decide to put in housing applications and deposits at all schools that assign rooms based on priority dates, we would be out nearly $300 in non-refundable fees and would also be out about $1000 in refundable deposits (if canceled prior to 5/1). Since DS won’t likely be making his decision until April we are considering multiple housing apps so he is guaranteed a decent room (or any room at all ie. TAMU). We will hold off on Alabama as they have a $200 nonrefundable enrollment deposit prior to applying to housing - and a $300 ($275 refundable) application fee. We can’t just throw $325 away to secure housing at a school he “might” attend. I really hate that they do this - I understand them wanting a reasonable application fee but…