@seabay From the very beginning he said “no tiny schools in tiny towns”, so Whitman was never a consideration (sadly…my alma mater!). Also he didn’t want big school in a big city, and UW just wasn’t his speed even if he could get in. But he was willing to look at small schools in larger communities, or large schools in smaller communities. He had offers at NAU in Flagstaff, and OSU in Corvalis. He decided the travel required for NAU made it less appealing, and we (parents) decided the OOS costs for Oregon just could not be justified, given the comparable value at WSU. Good luck with the rest of your visits. I hope your kid feels that “I’m at home” vibe somewhere this week! Holler if you have any Bellingham specific questions… I don’t know the college that well, but I know the town.
It’s been a long time since I’ve posted here, but I’ve enjoyed hearing about all of your journeys and want to say congratulations to all your wonderful kids. Decisions are done in my house, and I’ve got two happy kids. Twin One will be going to Otterbein University to study theater design & technology, and Twin Two (whose stats put her a little outside of this group) will be going to St Louis University for their 5 year occupational therapy program. I credit CC for helping me help them cast a wider net, so that they both ultimately found schools that 1) simply feel right and 2) offered great merit scholarships.
Congratulations @Bubblewrap666 ! I so love Westerville and the faculty at Otterbein are simply wonderful! How you managed all this with two . . . I bow to you!
@Bubblewrap666 Congratulations to your twins on their decisions!!
Whitman is also a reach for this stats group. Lovely school. Considered it as a reach for S17 but the NPC even if he did get in, did not look friendly and he wasn’t a fan of the location. S19 loved the idea of NAU and really considered applying. He chose CSU as his WUE safety instead but Flagstaff is fabulous and the kids we know there, love it!
S19 came downstairs wearing his College of Charleston sweatshirt (only college shirt we bought so far…hmmmm) and I lit up! And he’s like “no no mom I havent made a decision yet. I’m just wearing the sweatshirt.”
UGH
By the way - does anyone have any experience/thoughts about West Chester University in PA? Thinking of looking at it for D20.
@cakeisgreat I know a couple of kids who have gone there, and love it! Supposed to be very good for music too
@cakeisgreat , my cousin is at West Chester now! Very popular choice for a PASSHE school. Also gets many from NJ and DE.
Great school spirit. Greek Life without being overly Greek.
Cute town.
My DD didn’t like how roads cut through the campus and we couldn’t get her to tour ?
@cakeisgreat - I have heard only good things about WCU from the kids that go there from our HS.
@Bubblewrap666 - Congrats to your twins!
@cakeisgreat that is hilarious although I’m sure you wish he would just make a decision and be done with it! College of Charleston was a top contender for D17 but she ultimately chose a different school. While she is at the right school for her, and in a great/fun location for us to visit, I must admit I was a little sad she didn’t choose Charleston. I love Charleston and was looking forward to the possibility of frequent visits!
We are just back from a Spring Break tour. Our S was ultimately accepted by five of the schools he applied to, four with merit. Of the four, we visited Trinity University in San Antonio, Denison University in Ohio and Connecticut College. Trinity was a second-time visit, this time for an admitted students day, and the other two were new to us. Somehow, things didn’t click with Connecticut, although it’s a beautiful school, so Trinity and Denison are the final two for S. I have no idea at this moment which way he will ultimately decide. While we are waiting to hear S’s thoughts, it’s hard to avoid the temptation of trying to pick parent favorites, but I find that I am on the fence as well. Granville, Ohio and San Antonio, Texas couldn’t be more different, but Denison and Trinity both feel like schools on the move, with well thought out curricula and a lot of energy from both the students and the administration. Our S is Asian-American and has been educated entirely in international schools outside the US. He doesn’t think of himself as an international student, but there may be some shocks in store for him in moving to the US and we hope the school he chooses will have a comfortable culture. Trinity is clearly more regional than Denison, but the school has ambitions to become more of a national presence and already naturally reflects the diversity of Texas and San Antonio. On the other hand, Denison is needs-blind, which seems like a great way to supercharge all sorts of diversity, and the comments I’ve read on CC suggest that there isn’t a lot of groupism on the campus. Actually, I’m pretty confident he will figure out on his own whether these schools will provide a happy home - he’s a pretty outgoing kid, and the various FaceBook groups he’s participating in are providing him with a good sense of who his future classmates might be and whether he would like to hang with them for the next four years. I have to admit I am looking forward to pushing the commit button at the end of this long process, although getting to this point also brings home the fact he will be gone from home (FAR from home) in just a few months. We still have D21 to sort out - she’s currently in her “I don’t want to go to college” phase (I remember going through this phase myself!), but who knows where she’ll be a year from now. On this last trip, we also stopped by a good junior college in Northern California that offers programs like Digital Photography, Viniculture and Equine Science, just to get her thinking more broadly about what’s out there. I would never even have started thinking about CC’s if it weren’t for this site.
Sorry, long post, but although I don’t post much, I have benefited greatly from this thread and have found you all to be a great source of balance and wisdom in the midst of madness. It has been a lot of work going through this process with S, but I am pretty satisfied with the results. He has great options, and the schools have made him feel both welcome and valued, which is a pretty good set-up.
I haven’t posted much, but I have been reading this thread since it began. I just want to say congrats to everyone on all the acceptances and decisions! I am so impressed with all the choices these kids have had.
D19 started this process with a 3.1 UW gpa and a 26 ACT (She had 29’s in English and Reading; Math and Science not so much). With all that the college application process has become these days, I really thought we were sunk. But finding others in the stat range of this thread seriously helped my morale. It has been so gratifying to see the acceptances–with merit, no less–come rolling in for all of them. D19 was accepted to 7 of the 8 schools she applied to (4 w/merit, 1 w/decent aid) and waitlisted at the 8th.
She is hoping to make her decision next week, having narrowed it down to College of Wooster and Drew University. Ohio University is a distant third. She wanted a school that had a BA in Theater (adamantly did not want a BFA program) but also offered Chinese/Asian studies since she wants to continue Mandarin in college. Oh, the time and research to compile her list of schools!
Wooster gave her generous merit and a theater arts scholarship. Visited Drew last week and we are waiting on a financial appeal which we expect to hear back from in the next few days. It has been a long time getting to this final point!
@Britmom5 I would be interested in hearing how your boys felt about their visit to Wooster–drunken frat party notwithstanding!
Special congrats @momzilla2D and your D–H and I are OSU alums and S16 is finishing up his jr year. Go Bucks! (D19 not interested since it is so close to us, plus Main Campus was a reach for her.)
@tkoparent D19 visited Denison twice. I really loved the school and where it’s heading. Seemed very dynamic and diverse and D19 has several friends attending there who love it. D liked it a lot, but liked some of her other choices better. Good luck to your S in his choice. I relate to just wanting to hit the commit button!
If anyone has any thoughts or insights about Wooster and/or Drew, I would love to hear them! Drew’s past financial issues concern me. Plus, no one here in the Midwest knows much about it.
^^^This is all so exciting :)! Cant wait to hear what the final decisions are. @tkoparent I wanted to look at Denison as well for D20.
@Longhaul what is a PASSHE school if you don’t mind my asking.
@augie696 My D loved Drew and it ended up being one of her top choices. It is very small which can be a concern for some but it has great theater and wonderful science research opportunities. Its also close enough to NYC to make it very appealing. I was also concerned with the finances, but I think they are on a decent footing now. The endowment is over 170 million, which isn’t huge, but much higher than schools that have closed. For comparison Sarah Lawrence is 112 million and Hampshire, which is closing, is 48 million.
Drew is also beautiful. D visited twice and each time she was really happy with all the students and faculty she met. Its one of the schools I’m really sad she will not be able to attend!
@augie696 Thank you for your reassuring thoughts on Denison. I grew up about 30 minutes from Drew. My information about the school itself is probably out of date, but it has always had a strong reputation regionally. I spent quite a bit of time on the campus for various events over the years. It is a beautiful place, and the location is great - close to beautiful countryside (it’s in NJ’s horse country), interesting towns locally and New York (by train is easy).
Do we pick the affordable college option not a top contender but a real safety in terms of affordability, two hours from home and okay academics or the top 2 where either are a great fit. Kid lights up when speaking about the schools; majors, dorms, great visits: love the campuses but not as afforadable, will need loans. My family keeps saying, they can ger an education anywhere, why waste money. My kids is a first generation college student and I need outside advice please. Thank you.
@cakeisgreat PASSHE is Pennsylvania State System of Higher Education
@my2greatkids Ahhhh…that is a very big question you have asked - one that I think we have all struggled with. The most likeIy answer is “maybe”, but it depends on where and how much. You may get better responses if you can possibly give more information. For ex) difference in cost, how much in loans, area of study and the schools involved. Also, there are really excellent experts in the Financial Aid forum who might be able to more succinctly address your questions.