Loving this conversation about the “old days.” It’s kind of like our Grandparents and their walk uphill both ways in the snow. Of course being from Miami, maybe it was the sand??
Kids today don’t know how easy they have it with online forms, spell check and font selection, hahaha. at least on the one hand. My son applied to a dozen schools, can you imagine if he’d had to type it all on a typewriter each on a separate app??? I am sure that list would have been less than three. But on the other hand, it’s so much more competitive and stressful. The options are so many and varied and information so accessible on the web, that sometimes it’s hard to choose where to apply. Personally, I’ve stressed about missing that “perfect” opportunity of cost, fit, location…and so on for him. He doesn’t seem to have the same concerns.
In 1987, I went to a CC that is now a 4 year in Miami, then I transferred to UF. It never occurred to me that I wouldn’t get in in 1990, it just seemed to be a given. Maybe there was an agreement even back then to take CC grads. I just don’t recall.
@mrminsky Pitt was my eldest’s reach school, the one she cried happy tears over when she was accepted. It was her first acceptance in late September. It was the one I thought she would attend. I remember waiting and waiting to see if we received any money…it never came and by January, it was clear Pitt had lost it’s appeal. Then I was sad, I loved Pitt, lol. But, a trip to Marquette over Valentine’s weekend for a scholarship weekend proved that the school that was a last minute addition was going to be her new home. Sometimes you never know …
I applied to 3 schools in 1982 - UCLA, UC Santa Barbara and SDSU. I lived in the bay area and wanted to get as far from home as possible but stay in state. I think the UC Application was a single application even back then. The CSU application was separate. I got into SDSU and UCSB. I ended up at SDSU because it was a lot cheaper. S17 is going to University of Minnesota and his first year will cost more than ALL 5 of my years at SDSU.
What is interesting to me is that while I moved to Colorado, I still have 4 siblings that live in Northern California. Of those, 4 kids have gone or are going next year to college and every one of them went out of state. UT Austin, Elon, Purdue and Louisville. I am not sure why, given the number of great schools in CA.
Ah, the early 80’s were filled with memories of Liquid Paper, correction ribbons, erasable ink, and paper that allowed you to erase ink off of itself… I do smile a little when I see today’s youth go on about their typing speed. If they only knew… The kids also missed out on the awesome smell of ditto paper from elementary school.
@jpc763 Yes, California sometimes feels like some college entrance twilight zone. Students are going all over, CSUs and UCs are still very popular but impacted, UW, UO, ASU, and UCBoulder are really pitching their wares to California kids, and they’ve been successful attracting them. Colleague’s child is attending Michigan this year… I’d like to believe that she had the goods to attend a top UC if she got into Michigan OOS, so I’m curious regarding her choice.
The surprising comment I heard recently is that those in the central valley were not having as much trouble getting into the top UCs. To some extent this is not surprising, but in terms of ramifications, it does raise some interesting questions. I have two more rounds of college admissions coming up; I was hoping this first go around would bring clarity, but not so much with California schools for us.
Over the holidays as D showed my mother all her acceptances and scholarships, my mom was wide-eyed and impressed “Wow, your mom(meaning me) never got any scholarships like that!” 8-| No, mom, generally when you only apply to out-of-state publics you don’t get a lot of big scholarships. She had no clue then (nor did I) and still doesn’t, but she conceded my point. :)) I applied to 4 schools “back in the day”, as I said, all out of state publics. Ended up at a UC, fortunately just before they revised the residency rules so two years in I got my residency and the cost went down, which was a good thing as, like @burghdad I was on the 6-year plan :-" I literally squeeked in weeks before the change. But I feel like living in CA for 25 years since, I’ve paid off their investment in me, especially since I won’t be taking advantage of it for either of my kids.
I do remember typing up my applications and mailing them off. I especially remember the UC app as it was multiple pages and at the time seemed very complicated (possibly just complicated compared to the others). I remember that the essay was typed in an area on the application just for that purpose, so that was the space you got, but I don’t remember at all what I wrote about, probably space exploration as I was dead set on becoming an astronaut at the time.
DS had to do a HANDWRITTEN 500 word essay for a scholarship. He did it on the computer first and then printed it out and copied it by hand. He is a lefty so although it was legible, it looked a bit like chicken scratch. I can’t imagine why the scholarship committee would request handwritten essays! DS was actually nervous about making a mistake and having to start all over. Welcome to our good ol days.
ASU is way impacted, too. I recently heard they are “encouraging” current students to take online courses because they physically do not have space for them all on campus. Having been down there recently for a couple of events, I can see why! Parking is an absolute disaster.
I never toured any college. I just new that I didn’t want to go to SMU, that was where the “snotty kids” were going. Didn’t want to go to Texas A&M that was where the rest of my class was going. Went to Baylor. Graduated in 88 class size 172. I still have no clue why or how I ended up there. Was not a great fit, just a tad to Southern Baptist. I had a great year but knew it was not where I wanted to be. Ended up at UTA, meet my husband graduated in 3 years. I have always wondered why my parents never had a discussion with me about college. I knew I was going but never any options. Very strange, I guess that is why I want my DS to have options and it to be his choice.
My SIL is a high school teacher in CA. She says one of the issues with the schools is they have become 5 year schools, are severely overcrowded and have housing issues. Thus kids are heading out of state.
I know 10 years ago when I lived in N. Nevada this was true.
Also two years ago a friends kid had housing issues at San Jose State.
Good stories. In 1983 I applied to 3 schools using the electric typewriter - Clarkson, Syracuse and Cornell. Got into all 3 (doubt I could get into any today). I decided Clarkson was too small and, besides, what if I changed my mind about engineering (I did) - so thank goodness I didn’t go there. I really thought I would go to Syracuse having grown up a big fan (as was everybody in my home town), but Cornell offered a way better financial aid package and that’s where i ended up. Best decision I ever made.
S’13 applied to 11 schools and S’18 has applied to 9. Definitely the computer and the Common App have made a huge difference, along with the search for merit or outstanding financial aid.
I was first generation college and had no idea about anything! Applied to 3 schools, Georgetown, Holy Cross and Babson. Got into Babson with enough financial aid that with loans me and my mom were able to make it work. My DS only applied to 6 schools and that was with major arm twisting by me. If he’d had to rip them out of catalogs and use a typewriter he’d have applied to 2 schools! :))
I don’t ever remember even discussing anything beyond, “you are going” with my parents. We didn’t really discuss options, I just decided to do CC because it was free (scholarship) and at home (boyfriend). The latter is not something I would advise my kids to consider.
When the time came to transfer, I told my parents I was going to UF. The summer before, a friend and I took a road trip to Gainesville to find an apartment. My parents came to Gainesville twice…once to drop me off and once to pick me up at graduation. That’s it. No fanfare or big discussions. They didn’t even help find an apartment. I would never let my kids do that without me…but different time, different standards. I was much more independent than my kids are. There are SO many things I did that I’d never let my kids do.
I was first generation college, too. I wasn’t in any honors classes and I don’t remember any discussions with counselors about college, but there was never a doubt in my mind that I would go. What I do remember is one evening my mom said, “Oh, by the way, you’re taking a test at school this Saturday.” It was the SAT!
