Rejection from Northwestern today - not unexpected - so I feel more ready to play the odds for my D:
75% University of Rochester (invited to pre-season for varsity fall sport; wasn’t an early recruit, but coach now interested, thanks to my persistent D - gotta give her kudos for going after a goal; accepted students day in mid-April w/ an overnight w/ team member will seal the deal)
15% Clark University (recruited athlete)
5% Tufts (reach; decisions not out yet)
4% Two Ivies (reach; won’t hear til 3/28)
1%Three other acceptances that seemed to have lost their luster
I noticed an earlier post that mentioned this and wasn’t sure if it was a joke so thought I’d ask? Do colleges EVER increase their merit award to make it more affordable for a family or if they know the child cannot attend because they didn’t get the full merit they had expected based on stats?
@Toeupwms Yes, according to admissions rep that I spoke with once, they had some leeway in increasing a merit award, even in cases where stats didn’t quite make a certain level but there were other convincing factors. At that school, though, no merit could never go above the maximum award. So if you already received the top merit, it could not go higher.
I was surprised that a couple of colleges gave my D grants which are usually based on need. She had received the maximum merit and total costs were below our EFC so it could not have been a true need situation.
There are so many CA transplants in our central TX neighborhood that when someone moves in, the first question is “so where in CA are you from” and they are actually building a subdivision called Caliterra to make the new CA transplants feel more at home.
As the famous “sunscreen” commencement speech put it:
“Live in New York City once, but leave before it makes you hard. Live in Northern California once, but leave before it makes you soft.”
Hi I’m not a parent but rather a member of the class of 2018 and I was wondering how much you, as a parent, would spend on a senior prom dress? I googled but kept finding drastically different numbers.
Have you looked at someplace like Plato’s Closet? I’ve seen dresses at Goodwill as well.
I paid about $300 for last year’s, and less than $200 for this year’s. This year’s is pretty simple, but can be worn again in college. It makes me gag, to be honest, but if it is something that is timeless and you think you can wear in college $250 would be okay.
Locally, I’ve seen dresses go for about $300-400 and up in this one shop that is very popular.
@ski_racer We live in a small town and have few options, so I have spent more than I would like to say on just a homecoming dress! Last year with alterations we spent $150, but were guaranteed no one else in town would have the same dress (yes, they sign a contract) This year while on spring break in a larger city- we found a beauty for $80 out the door! :-c
My D wanted a prom dress from a prom shop senior year. We went Easter Monday when they had a sale. It ended up being around $200. I still thought it was a bit much for wearing it just once, but it was very pretty and she helped pay for it.
I think the tux rental last year was almost $100. And the guy gets the flowers and tickets and dinner here too. My S also chips in with the costs).
I bought him a black suit for college (heard that musicians need one), and if he wears it to prom, I will pay for most of the other expenses.
Rent the Runway. DD used them for prom last year and will again this year. I don’t remember last year’s rental price but this year is $185. We have a Rent the Runway store where she can actually try on dresses plus they give you a backup size for free.
Much less than what we would have spent to buy a dress and now it won’t be sitting in the closet gathering dust. From what I can tell from social media nobody wears long gowns for college formals so they would never be worn again.
Then of course there is the cost for shoes, hair, makeup, and accessories.
@ski_racer we spent just shy of $500 for this year. She loved the dress and we had searched for hours. The quality is fantastic and it’s classy and unique looking. I don’t regret spending a little extra. I will be more frugal with shoes (actually found a pair that were stunning for $7!!!), accessories, and she will do her own makeup. Now next year we won’t spend as much (it won’t be “her” prom).
My D used Rent the Runway a couple of years ago. They sent the wrong dress by mistake, but it was close enough that it wasn’t a big deal. The fact that they send you 2 sizes is a huge help, and she rented a handbag from them too.
On a separate note, one of our local dry cleaners is collecting used prom dresses, cleaning them, and giving them to girls in foster care so they can go to prom too. What a lovely idea.