Testing 123. I’ve been silenced for the past few days due to a technological glitch (or divine intervention). Just checking to see if it’s fixed.
@Trixy34 - Welcome back 
Looks we’re up and running again. So we had an acceptance to BU over the weekend with a small amount of merit aid. Bleh - and a wait list at Colgate, which really surprised me, but oh well. I think S19 probably thought it was a better match for him than it actually is, and now he doesn’t have to go visit and figure that out. I am a bit disappointed, though, not to have the option. Two more decisions to come in this week, then we can wrap it up. I’m feeling really horrible, though, for my son’s girlfriend. She wants to go into PR - waitlisted at Syracuse, rejected at BU, in at Emerson, but they can’t afford to send her there. She’s down to one school as an option, but I feel like this girl could do so much better. I’m sure there are lots of small LACs that would have loved to have her. It’s breaking my heart.
But congrats for all the good news over the weekend! We’re getting down to the wire!
We are doing mostly regular days. In some ways I like that because, sure, everything looks nicer on a “special day”, but that’s not a realistic look. If I have one real complaint of this process is we only have a month to go from acceptance letters to final decision, and that month is super crowded with activities at home which shouldn’t be missed either. I wish everything was backed up a month and we heard from everyone by 3/1.
On the other hand, boo-hoo for kids who have too many schools to visit. I’m sure the kids who don’t would gladly make a trade!
@MWolf that is a nice thought about the cohort of kids. Despite the ups and downs, it sounds like everyone will land places and be well prepared for the next adventure.
@Trillian9955 that’s great that she has 3 good options. She has a little time to weigh her choices. Do you have a favorite?
I completely agree with you about the stress. It is really hard to set it aside and work on other things.
@Trixy34 congrats but I’m sorry for the WL and his GF’s options. It has been a rough time for lots of kids.
@pn24601 so true on both counts! 3/1 would have been soooooo much easier.
S19 isn’t going to any because April is his absolute busiest month of the year. If we had been able to know in March, we might have planned a spring break trip. As it is, there is 1 OOS, 1 WL, and 2 unknown. He’s seen his IS option when his sister attended. We were only able to visit in summer and I wish he could see them in session.
Best wishes to all those traveling! I’ll be curious to read your updates and if they seem very different from original visits.
@Trixy34 Congratulations to your son on BU! Really hope his GF finds her place. 
@drewsmom17 Not sure about the college formals: Her school, Parsons School of Design, is about 80% women, and many if not most of the 20% guys are gay. Maybe she’ll make some friends at NYU!
@Trixy34 congrats on BU.
@Vineyarder I know a young man studying at Parsons. He was smoking cigarettes and designing wedding gowns at 13, no exaggeration. LOL. He lives around the corner from me. His parents are the 2 most straight laced people I have ever met.
@firstwavemom sorry your S got cruddy news, hope he rebounds and finds the “one”.
Hi all, I’m in the same boat as some, trying to figure out admitted student visits in the next couple of weeks. We got some decisions last week so can move forward with the acceptances. DS is accepted with merit at Loyola of Chicago, Elon, Furman, Loyola of MD, Fordham, and St. Joe U. I think his preference is in that order with Fordham and SJU not real options at this point. Rejected from W&M (so sad but not a surprise, his stats make this a reach), WL at U Richmond (again a reach), Georgetown yet to come but that was even more of a huge reach so there aren’t really any hopes there.
Interestingly enough, my initial list of reach-match-safety turned out to be exactly right. (Wish it wasn’t for the reaches!!)
Of course, two of those admitted student visits are on the same weekend (Thur-Fri then Sat, so it is doable).
@homerdog , I am also feeling like one huge benefit of the admitted student days is being around the students. Not sure if you are interested in this, but sone and myself have joined the Facebook pages, so we can get a glimpse into who is posting and attending. Many of these are then starting snapchat groups which could also be a way for your son to try to tune in to the incoming student body, if you can’t make all the admitted student visits work. Now I admit you’re only getting a portion of the students opting in or posting, (mostly girls from what I can see), but it is a way to get SOME data from home!
@TS0104 that’s a great suggestion. He just joined three FB groups yesterday. I will tell him to take a look through those to read about the kids.
He’s booked for the admitted student days for his favorite of his current acceptances. After that, we are unsure. He wants to wait until Thursday to get all decisions in. If both schools this week are a no, then he may want to see his second choice on his current list before deciding. If he gets a yes this week then I don’t know what to do. They were his big reaches in the university category on his LAC-heavy list. Part of me just hopes he loves his current first choice enough and, even with any acceptances this week, he can just move ahead with the first choice LAC. And part of me secretly hopes he just doesn’t get into these two schools and then we don’t have to deal with it!
We went to a local reception yesterday with meeting students in mind. It was okay and they wisely separated the kids from the parents. I ended up exchanging information with two parents in the event this was THE school for our kids.
@sdl0625 The majority of these clearly bright kids were shut out of the in-state top options. Most were from what I consider our elite public high schools or privates. Too many parents of smart kids caught off guard by how competitive UGA and GTech have become instate.
S19 already went to admitted student day at Grinnell. I assume each school is different but he had a blast hanging out with the prospective students at all of the evening events and at meal times. It was an early admitted student day, though, so these were kids who got the early RD nod and all of them had a bunch of schools they hadn’t heard from yet. He gathered a bunch of their names and they’re keeping in touch as the rest of their decisions come in. So, that was a good experience. I imagine, when he goes to this next ASD, he will be with more kids who know they want this school so he’s more likely to meet kids who would be his classmates.
The FB groups is a great idea. Only problem is S19 isn’t on FB. He’s going to do an accepted student event Thurs and Friday. Crossing fingers it goes well. There’s a dinner Thursday night for the “scholarship” kids so hopefully he’ll be able to meet some kids that way and size up the situation.
@peachActuary73 this is why KSU is becoming more and more popular. And lucky that there are options from surrounding states. And this is not just in GA. Look at the UC’s in CA. I have two kids and neither are in state and I will not be retiring anytime soon. 
@Trixy34 S19 not really on FB either. Just has an account so he can use messenger. He just went in and threw up a photo and joined the groups.Good luck on the visit!!
@peachActuary73 - Boy, you speak the truth. It’s really befuddling - all these really smart kids who can’t seem to find a place for themselves. We’re doing OK because I forced my son to apply to some great safety/merit aid schools, and I know he’ll get a fantastic education if he ends up there, but they aren’t necessarily the locations/type of school he was looking for when we first started out. And his girlfriend - there is definitely an element of not enough searching for financial safeties and hedging bets, but this kid should have had tons of options to choose from.
Adding to the problem is that the public school option in PA, while very good, is unaffordable for a lot of families.
I knew the state of our higher education system was bad, but I guess I thought people were exaggerating a bit. Now I see that’s not the case. It’s rough out there.
@sdl0625 Agreed. My co-worker just did a campus tour of KSU with his S20 and D21, and he put UAH on the list for a summer visit. He said he’ll let me know if he hears similar advice from his high school in the upcoming months.
@Trixy34 , my son only signed up for FB for some of this college stuff. I think he did it back in December. I guess he learned of it from some of his friends who made early decisions and were setting up roommates through the admitted student groups.
My D21 found her college roommate on the admitted students FB group. She knew this girl from a tv shoot they did together, then they weren’t really in touch and like 3 years later there she is, saying she is attending D’s school as a Theater major! So they got back in touch and roomed together.
FB has also been beneficial for D21 (now a sophomore) in finding off campus housing options for next year and babysitting jobs. I know FB is “out” for the younger generation but it turns out both of my kids (S19 and D21) are using it for college stuff.
Yeah, I just don’t know if I will be able to get him to set up an account. His Dad is an IT guy, and has been pretty adamant about keeping the kids off social media. He was just allowed to add snapchat a year ago. I know he would only use it for this purpose, but he has heard about how exploitative and dangerous social media is for so long, I think he’ll be resistant to the idea.
While watching NCAA tournament yesterday…
H: What about UCF?
Me: For ?
H: No, for .
Me: Have you lost your mind?!
D19 is so close to a decision. Could happen this week. Why would you throw another school into the mix? Even if you could still apply (which I doubt).
Re: Facebook groups. I suggested joining the accepted student groups where she’s been admitted, but D19 seems to think they are only for the kids who have decided/committed. Is that right?