@TwinMom2023 Thank you for the encouraging words! We’re visiting Wednesday and my daughter is excited to see the campus.
@dfbdfb Thanks for the info! Is there any way to find out the debt load of a school? Is that public information?
@Britmom5 For us too, the Hampshire events were a shock and I feel quite sure the admissions staff had no idea. They recruited my daughter heavily and even for ED, so I don’t think they had any idea. Apparently not the financial aid office either?!! The news is that the entire admissions staff was laid off a month or so ago. One of Hampshire’s most avid alumni supporters in our region of the country is a close friend and she was shocked to find out about the situation. She was only informed the same day we were and even called us to apologize! Apparently the school was remiss in contacting well to do alums and donors to ask for help ahead of the catastrophic announcement that I feel will most likely lead to their closure. Yes, we too are looking at college “financials” especially considering recent trends at small LAC’s which they say are likely to worsen. Kind of a bummer…
School debt loads: Google, actually, helps—searching for the school name plus “financial report” or such (or, intriguingly enough, “consumer information”) turns up comprehensive documents at a very large number of institutions. You can get information on some but not all bond issues via Moody’s (requires free registration), and you can look up IRS form 990s—which are amazingly informative once you learn to read them—for all but the few colleges that refuse to file them on religious grounds at GuideStar (requires free registration).
That said, getting 100% of the information you’d like? Not gonna happen, unfortunately. Nonprofits don’t have to report as much as, say, publicly traded corporations.
@Britmom5 Wow! Congratulations! Great school! We visited last fall and my D loved the campus - not to mention Brooklyn! We have a close family friend who is a very successful architect who is a Pratt alum and lives in Brooklyn. He speaks very highly of the school!
DS19 completed his email to decline attendance to Flagler College , his second choice. He did have a little " if only " moment , but knows he made the right decision. He did say of they had Historic Preservation and Community Planning, it would’ve been a much harder decision.
The reality that Senior year marches on. Today I received a Remind 101 text from the vice principal saying in second period students will be checking the spelling of their names to ensure correct spelling for their diplomas.
Well it’s official. D has decided, with our complete support, to forgo college next year. I wouldn’t necessarily call it a gap year either, as she hates the idea of a classroom environment. To her credit though, she does recognize the need for a degree and mentioned the possibility of maybe taking online classes at some point in the future. But for now, college is just not a good fit for her.
Coming from an ultra-competitive town and school environment has taken a toll on her, and I’m proud that she’s going to blaze her own trail rather than go along with masses simply because that’s “what everyone does”. It took a lot of courage and shows a real maturity that I’m optimistic will serve her well as she figures out this game of life.
Time to get the deposit back and shift our attention to S21.
I’m really happy for you guys. You should definitely be proud of her decision. It can be very hard to stick with what you know is right for you when society is putting all these expectations on you to be / do something else. It’s great that she realizes this isn’t the right path for her right now. I completely agree it shows a maturity to realize that.
I wish I hadn’t been pushed toward college so young. I was completely undecided, ended up choosing a major other people pushed me toward because I had no idea what to do. In the long run, it didn’t work out. I would have been much better off waiting until I was more sure of my goals in life, so I don’t think it’s wrong to wait a bit at all especially if you are undecided.
Has your daughter heard of or looked into AmeriCorps NCCC? That might be a good place to start if she’s not sure exactly what she wants to do after high school. It’s similar to the PeaceCorps. The difference is you stay in the US, you live and work on a team of around ten people instead of alone, and you change locations / jobs every two to nine weeks. It’s a program for 18 to 24 year olds, so there’s a bit of a fun college vibe, minus the school part, going on. Participants get to travel the US. They are exposed to different types of jobs and professions which can really help a child discover areas of interest. The program also builds character if you can survive until the end. It’s not a walk in the park, but in my opinion, the benefits far outweigh the negative aspects. It’s hard work, but also a lot of fun. They also give you an education award of about $7,000 when you finish, so if your daughter did decide to go to school later on, she’d already have some money to put toward that.
@Momof3kidz sorry I’m not Brittmim but would love to hear your thoughts on Catholic U. My D20 has it tentatively on her visit list. Her and my husband just met with an alumn at a college fair and my husband was very impressed. D loves the location but is concerned about the religious aspect (although she was raised Catholic). My H said they are building new dorms and a new cafeteria.
