Our guidance counselor has been really good lately. I think she’s afraid of me by now. :))
Yeah, our public school GC was useless. My S on his own knew more about his schools’ apps than she did.
Agree GC, while nice, has not been super helpful. That is ok–our expectations were low, and I like to manage these things myself anyway.
Having heard horror stories from friends with students older than S, I came into the HS years with very low expectations for the GCs. I’ve been pleasantly surprised by the ones who have been assigned to S though. S hasn’t needed the GCs much, and really hasn’t needed the college & career counselor at all, but when he has needed help they’ve done a great job.
@Kayak24 I’ve heard it’s recommended to wait until the second semester of sophomore year or it could be counted as untaxed income on the FAFSA. By waiting, it will be too late for it to matter since there is that tax year delay now.
I also heard, though, that if the grandparents pay the college directly it might not count as untaxed income, but I would have to verify if that’s really true.
Our Performing Arts Charter school just added 9-12 grades. My daughter is in the second graduating class. Our guidance counselors have been amazing. They are making a huge push to assist with college applications. Their programming started in 9th grade and continues through today. They have a special counselor for the top 50 students which has been helpful. But in addition she has done programming for the entire school each year.
We didn’t need as much hand holding but a lot of these students are low income, first generation children. A lot of my daughter’s friends live with single mothers who were out of their depth and really appreciated the help. The kids are getting in to a lot of schools with a lot a lot of money. Good targeting of schools.
Got TigerTown bound envelope from Clemson today with 15K merit money so now Clemson the same amount as sending her to PSU or Pitt neither of which she is interested in. PSU too big at 40,000 and Pitt too urban for her liking.
Now we are waiting for Calhoun Honors college admission which is separate and comes out Feb. 15. Really likes the school but I think she will only go if honors college is part of the deal.
The first real disappointing news has arrived at the Puddy household, in the form of a deferral from the University of Chicago.
Given the selectivity, and the factors that we know they weight, it is not surprising, but still hard to stomach for a “NMF” kid with a 36 comp ACT. The phrase “I’d rather have been rejected” or one like it was muttered. There has been minimal gnashing of teeth, but extensive moping of feet, chin, and shoulders.
We’ll need to have a sit down, with cooler heads, and see what is next. Knowing the sometimes fickle and fragile mind of a teenager, I can say “at least it’s not finals week” … OH WAIT YES IT IS!
DP Jr: “Five dollars just for postage on this. I know the school is small, but think of the money they spent just on this!”
@DavidPuddy first great screen name…Getting deferral from U chicago is a great accomplishment. The kids that have the crazy stats and get deferred and rejected from these highly selective schools is mind blowing.
I’m sure your kid will have plenty of great options even if U Chicago isn’t one of them.
@DavidPuddy - did your kid apply ED or EA? Seems like very few acceptances EA.
EA. The school is a financial stretch. Your supposition is a valid one, the same app is likely to be an accept on ED and a deferral on EA.
A big envelope arrived from Tulane today…happy to report that D was accepted with $25k per year merit money and accepted to the Honors college! Waiting on additional scholarship decisions due in a few months but this nice award - which equates to about 1/2 tuition - makes it a serious contender.
Roll Wave! <:-P <:-P <:-P
Looking back, I have to hand it to D, she planned her strategy pretty well. No ED, a handful of EAs coming in before the holidays and the rest of the decisions in 2018. She got all her work done before T’giving and now she’s just sitting back as the decisions are rolling in. She’s so much happier and less stressed; even though her faves (reaches) are still to come its fun for her to have some wins in the meantime.
Yes @DavidPuddy. D’s friend who was accepted ED is full pay AND has a twin that will be most likely be going to Fordham. $$$$$$!!!
S18 got a college bill for spring semester 2018 today. However, he’s not in college yet! He’s scheduled to start fall 2018. I checked his portal with his permission. No aid disbursed. No classes enrolled. The outstanding bill is there though. I checked his admission letter. It says fall 2018 too. S18 is watching to see how this gets fixed. I’m sure it’s a simple clerical error, but it’s still stressful.
@DavidPuddy, I saw lots of EA deferrals in that thread, and it’s not surprising with the ED option. Hope your kiddo keeps his chin up.
@Veronica02, congratulations to your D! My D has a very good friend at Tulane so if you have any questions I can pass them along. I also have extended family members who attended but are older now (one was there when Katrina hit) who may also be helpful. I absolutely love New Orleans. Fantastic school in a fantastic location.
@suzy100
I just took a look at the acceptances thread, you are correct some absurdly qualified Waitlists there. Tough situation.
I wonder what the deferral admit rate is at UChicago? @DavidPuddy - I would think the chances aren’t abysmal since it seems so many are deferred EA.
Sorry about the deferral, @DavidPuddy. Hopefully tomorrow’s a new day.
@Veronica02 Oh how I love Tulane. D visited twice, and she appreciates the school, but ended up not applying. It’s a great fit for her on paper but she just wasn’t feeling it. I love how it takes advantage of the immense learning opportunities just off campus in such a culturally-rich city. It’s rapidly becoming more selective, too. Big congrats to your D!
@Veronica02 , Congratulations!!
@DavidPuddy , that really is a bummer. 
Of course we can all say chin up and mean it, but I’d be lying if I said I would be pretty bent out of shape to be deferred with those stats. This too shall pass, I know, but I’m going to say their loss!