Well I guess I should give an update!
My D18 has decided to attend the University of Maryland!
No great surprise, it was her #1 choice but we cast a wider net because UM-CP has gotten more selective.
She was admitted directly to Engineering, and also the Honors College (that was a great bonus). She also got into the living learning community she wanted (Entrepreneurship and Innovation) and got a nice merit award. We are in-state and only an hour and a half away so we are all very happy!
D is deciding between UT Austin Plan II Honors with Business and UC Berkeley Economics. Can someone please give me pros and cons of UT Austin (in-state) vs Cal (out of state with no financial aid)? The reputation of Cal is a great pull but staying closer to home and in-state tuition is equally enticing. Please help!!
@ccinfo2 I can’t help with UT Austin but have you visited Berkeley? Cal is an amazing school but it has a very distinct vibe and I think people either love it or not so much. It is worth a visit if you haven’t been. One thing to consider is that they offer one year of on campus housing and then you have to find housing off campus. Living in the Bay Area is expensive, you might want to look into what the options are for that. Cal it is an exceptional school just some things to consider. Especially when you have such a great school like UT Austin with in state tuition! Good Luck
@DeniseS He is definitely going to Bulldog Days later this month! 
Thanks As for STEM, S18 is quite aware of the difference between Yale and other competitive schools in sciences, and he seems OK with it. He only applied to two STEM-specific schools - MIT and WPI - and none of his counselors/advisors felt they were good matches for him. He’s a super strong STEM kid but he’s more into the interdisciplinary curriculum of a liberal arts college like Yale. For example, one of his favorite classes right now is his Literature and Neuroscience class. He could just as easily be found discussing philosophy as he might be coding or reading a book about physics. From everything we’ve seen/read, it seems that Yale is an excellent fit for him and the small teacher to student ratio is also very attractive.
@MinnieFan Congratulations! S18 has a close friend that is headed to Elon and he’s REALLY excited! Sounds like a wonderful school! His rowing coach went to Ithaca and loved it! S18 almost checked it out on the way to see Cornell but we were burned out by then. L-C will be a super exciting place to be after their excellent showing during March Madness!
After keeping everyone on pins and needles all weekend, S18 finally clicked the button to accept Yale’s admissions offer! WOO HOO! I am officially a YALE MOM!
He has already released UD and Hamilton, and will be releasing the rest tomorrow. It’s been harder than he expected - not deciding, since that was pretty given, but rejecting the other schools. I think the fact that he has friends who wanted to go to those schools and didn’t get in makes it a bit harder.
Congrats @moosiechica88 !
@chercheur Thanks! We are SO excited!!!
@ccinfo2, I will second what @lbf said about the cost of living in the Bay Area. I don’t know where you live in Texas, but I can almost guarantee that housing costs in Berkeley are double, triple, or more than what you are used to, and availability is limited as well. The prices have always been high in the Bay Area, but it is truly through the roof now. Do a google search to find some of the extraordinary rents for places that may not be considered habitable in other locations. I don’t mean to overstate this, and it has nothing to do with the quality of the education at Cal, but it’s something worth being aware of in advance.
Blessed Easter and Joyous Passover to my CC friends!
So nice to read about final decisions being made. Congrats to your kids! For those still on the fence, let me pull up a chair and join you. At least I can report on DS’s final tally: 9 acceptances and 1 rejection.
Of the 10 applications, he had 1 safety (admit and financial), 5 matches (but needed FA/merit to be truly financially workable), 3 reaches, and 1 RD Ivy lottery (rejection was completely expected).
To our surprise, he got in at all three reaches! So, just this weekend he sent his declines to the match schools, as their FA/merit packages were either totally NFW or pretty good but less than the safety and reach schools. Now DS has his personal Final Four. (Neither Villanova nor Michigan are in his version.)
Thank you @lbf and @pickledginger - we will take the housing cost into consideration when making the decision. Full tuition coupled with expensive housing will tilt the balance
Isn’t there a concern with some of the majors being impacted at UCB and other UCs?
Our S’s FA appeal to Ithaca was partially successful. His grandparents may be willing to contribute a little more than they had originally agreed to, but he needs to convince all of us that this is what he really wants. He is going to write his “appeal” to his parents and grandparents in the next day or two.
My son got accepted to Duke, Tufts, Case Western (Merit), Tulane (Merit). He is going to go to Duke. We kind of fee bad to say no to the other great schools but on the same token ,releasing them, will open them up to some other deserving kids.
@GammaDelta I think it’s interesting when parents say they are turning down schools so that other kids can get a chance. Even for schools with very high yield, about 50 percent of the kids who are offered a acceptance turn down their offer. So, spots are not “opened” for waitlist kids unless fewer accepted kids accept their spot than planned.
I haven’t posted in a while but I have been following along on these final ups and downs, twists and turns as our coasters come, one by one, into their stations. It’s so exciting to see our kids finding their place, even if it’s not the place they thought(hoped) it would be when we started. It’s been a wild ride that’s for sure, but I’m seeing that we are all ending up with the same thing: a place for our kids to learn and grow for the next 4 years! :x I think our kids are up to the challenge of doing just that in these places they have landed at.
As for my D, well, we’re still rounding that final bend, but the station is in sight! She has made her preliminary decision, but no deposit has been made, so no announcement yet! But soon I hope, possibly even by next week. This girl really likes to drag things out!
Good luck to everyone still riding the coaster, it’s almost over so enjoy the ride while you still can! :))
my daughter is now between 2 very different BFA (dance) programs. Hopefully will have a decision within a few days. We love both schools for different reasons and I’ll feel a little pang when a choice is made (though I won’t tell her that 
@homerdog I can’t speak for @GammaDelta , but when you are accepted in to audition based programs releasing a spot can open a spot for another student. While they over accept it is not usually by many applicants and the scholarships are often limited.
@ccinfo2 my two cents on the UT vs Cal question.
If you are full pay and not planning to pass the debt to your kid and it won’t impact your retirement and you have the funds then I’d weight the benefits of the programs and decide BUT if CAL means loans to you or your kid, then IMO, UT all the way. $100K vs $250K in just rough numbers - UT COA approx $25K, Cal OOS approx $65K
I cannot see how Cal has a $40K annual advantage.
I have a couple of friends whose kids are at Cal - one on a sports scholarship, another is instate and the sting is not like OOS. They are having a blast but they are not racking up a quarter of a million in debt for an undergraduate degree which is what Cal’s OOS sticker price will costs.
DD currently has a friend at Cal, he is full pay and as he nears the end of his freshman year, his family is starting to stress over the actual costs - it was one thing when he was applying and now that those funds are actually being committed to via student/parent plus loans, everyone is stressing a bit. I can’t imagine what year 3-4 will look like if year 1 is causing anxiety.
So I assume he chose Duke with no merit over scholarship schools. My son has a similar dilemma. Its hard to say no to a top school in the USA regardless of the price tag… Good Luck
Any advice on how to make payments from a 529 account to a college?
The 529 is a Maryland 529. Not sure how to make payments (now for committing, obviously more to come). The fund’s website says it will send checks, etc but we’re not sure if they go directly to the Bursar, also commit first online or send money first?