First weird college thing we’ve received in the mail came today: VR glasses from Grinnell. It’s to take VR tour of the school. We tried it, but we couldn’t get the images to come into focus.
@daffodilpetunia So funny…my D received the VR glasses from Pitt this week. Must be a new trend haha!!!
I’m trying to figure out is S18 is considering quitting because he’s found other things he loves more or just being lazy. I feel a lot better if it is the former. All complicated because his coach just quit, so is that the reason? He is definitely leaning much more towards his other sport these days (considering doing it in college even), so who knows!
@go2mom Congrats to your boy! Yes, it’s a relief to have one confirmed well before Thanksgiving.
Congrats on the acceptance @go2mom !! <:-P
Congrats on your D conquering the essay and hitting submit @Veronica02 !! :D/ ohh I can’t wait for that day around here!
Congrats on the scholarship @apraxiamom ! $-)
I love all the good news!!
@DavidPuddy my opinion on double deposit before May 1 due to housing requirements is if you can afford it, do it. I think the colleges that require the deposits or risk losing housing are pretty much asking for people to double deposit and my opinion of the practice by schools is unfortunately unprintable here on CC. >:P it’s pretty deplorable honestly.
But I also think the final “decision day” of May 1 still stands and all schools should be notified of the final decision by then with no double deposits after.
@DavidPuddy - Actually, it’s tuition and housing, to the tune of $325.
Everyone swore up and down it was refundable (and I have that in print). We were told about this on our summer visit, so they don’t make it a secret at all. Perhaps because they are a private school they can do it.
Another school, once nursing decisions are made in January, asks for a $500 non-refundable deposit. We won’t hear about a third school, the one with the interview, until late January as well. I’m not doing anything on either of those yet, obviously. That third one is a state school so it probably won’t suggest an early deposit.
I agree with @1822mom, it’s sketchy but several schools do it. I felt that because this was a very serious contender I was comfortable doing it. I wouldn’t do it for every college, but since she could very well go here it was worth tying up a couple hundred bucks for a few months.
Since S18 is seriously considering Franciscan, I’ve asked if S can be considered for additional merit once 1st semester final grades are in, once the school sees the rigor and increased GPA. The worst the school can say is no.
DD hit the submit button this morning on her first EA app. So excited! One down-12 more to go. She wouldn’t let me look at her essay, which is totally uncharacteristic, but two English teachers gave their blessing and she says she proofed it multiple times, so I’m hopeful it’s good. Such a relief to have the common app done and one app submitted.
I would consider paying deposits at more than one college if I could afford it and if my child was not sure at this point and we both were committed to finding out more information, like going on a tour or sitting in on classes.
I would not if I couldn’t afford it, assuming it was not refundable.
My S18 is in a different situation than most others. He is looking at one possibly two (hopefully not 3) D’s this quarter, and may end up changing a class. He’s very bright but he is inconsistent. My take is that if he can’t handle HS, he can’t handle college, and we’ll be looking at him taking a year (or two) off, maybe while taking a few community college courses and working.
Anyone in the same boat? Not necessarily D’s, but just feeling like your child hasn’t “found himself/herself” yet? Maybe a postgrad year would be better than working and taking a few CC classes?
Advice would be appreciated 
We are currently debating making the deposit at one of DD’s top 3 schools. They do not have enough housing for all freshmen and repeatedly reminded us of that during our campus visit saying make the decision quickly if you want housing . It’s $200 to accept the admissions offer (nonrefundable) which must be made in order to make the $200 for the housing deposit (refundable). Unfortunately, we will not hear about her top choice school until mid February…
Anyone child get their SAT score today? Was it higher or lower than previous or expected?
I’m with the crowd that says if you can afford the double or triple deposit and your student hasn’t made a final decision, or are waiting for other decisions, but housing is first come first served, then send multiple deposits.
@1822mom - thanks for the well wishes. I know our D’s were both stuck on that CA essay for a long while. Yours will get there, it’ll happen! It’s such a process and I think the essay just has to marinate awhile for kids who aren’t naturally introspective. Fingers crossed yours will finish soon!!
Question about SAT sub test scores. Do colleges have access to the score ranges for marketing purposes the way they do for the ACT? D is suddenly getting some STEM-specific emails from colleges which she hasn’t seen before, everything up til now has been pretty general. I’m wondering if it’s because of her score on a recent exam or how they have ID’ed her. Or maybe they have tracked her response to general emails if she clicked on something STEM. Just curious how they are collecting such targeted data. The whole marketing side of this process has me intrigued…
@rhandco is this a new, Senior year, problem, or has he always had inconsistencies? Is there any consistency with what subjects he does poorly in? Or with teaching (learning) styles he does better with? I’m wondering if there is an undiagnosed learning disability, or whether it’s a fear/motivation issue because the solutions will be dramatically different for each issue.
@apraxiamom I think the scholarship guidelines are in the Franciscan website. But you should definitely ask. I think I know a family who may have received help from them, but that was several years ago.
If my D applies, I am hoping for $8,000, too. They gave such a low cost that would make a big impact.
We are planning a visit for November to see Franciscan and St. Vincent since both are near Pittsburgh. I might see if I can strategically plan overnights to make the most of the experience.
Hmmmm. I might be changing my mind about the deposit question. If I knew housing or class scheduling or other important things were tied to the timing of deposits AND that it would make things a lot harder to wait for spring acceptances before paying those deposits, I now think I might shell out the money for schools my kid really really liked, even if that meant accepting admission at more than one school. I’d have to think hard about it though, because it does feel a little wrong to me to accept admission if the student isn’t fully committed to attending. That would be especially true if it were for a limited major, such as UT Austin CS. On the other hand, if my kid were accepted into a limited major his spot would be held until May 1 unless he actually went into the system to decline the offer, right? So by “temporarily” accepting the offer of admission it wouldn’t be keeping anyone else out of the major, it would just be getting the student in line for housing and whatever else is based on acceptance date. In a fair world colleges wouldn’t start their “first come first served” clock for housing until May 2 or would allow families to pay housing deposits without first accepting the offer of admission, but then in a fair world a lot of things would be different about college admissions. Hmmm. Now I’m not so sure what I would do.
@rhandco Have you considered a Gap Year program? I went to a financial aid presentation at my son’s high school and the presenter talked about exactly what your son is experiencing. She suggested Gap Year programs for kids that are not yet ready for college but plan on going in the future. Here is some info on it: https://americangap.org/research.php
I thought it was considered unethical to have multiple deposits for admission. But at the same time, you are allowed to change your mind. So you don’t have to have final decision, but have to decide of the first deposit, but once you get a choice you prefer, have to withdraw that first one.
Feel like I see this every year regarding Alabama.
Congrats @taverngirl on app submission!! May the rest fall like dominoes!
@rhandco it’s a tough situation, and while I don’t have the same issues I have asked myself on more than one occasion if my D is ready for this. She really doesn’t know what she wants other than to go to college, my fear is she’ll get there and be like “now what?!” And her house of cards will come tumbling down. I’ve talked to her about a gap year but she is adamant against it so :-? This is what she wants and I’m just moving forward with how she feels is best and trying to support her. I feel for you and I hope you and your S are able to find a path that feels right for him.
@booajo A lot of schools (though not all so you need to check your particular school(s)), make at least a portion of deposits refundable if the prospective student doesn’t enroll. That tells me the schools understand some kids will put deposits down at multiple schools so there is no issue of ethics or doing something wrong.