@sbinaz that is AWESOME and super sweet.
But first I must issue a correction!
I put the wrong source in the original post. Itās not NY Magazine. Itās The New Yorker. SHAME ON ME.
Itās now corrected in the original comment. I have to turn in my NYāer card.
The decision is in and we have a winner!!
D24 officially committed to NJIT this evening and put in the deposit. She got into the pre-health scholars accelerated track at Albert Dorman Honors College.
Very excited as we got a full ride and D24 really liked the idea of attending college for free and saving money for grad/med school.
Congrats to all the people who are DONE! Jealous!
S just made a pros and cons spreadsheet with a numerical ranking system, and Amherst won by one point! I donāt think he sees this as definitive enough evidence to deposit, though. Also I keep suggesting new categories, which Iām not sure is helpful.
Such a fun surprise, S24ās first grade teacher sent a sweet letter to their entire class with 2 writing pieces with artwork. One was favorite memories from first grade which was āven digramesā and the āzoo feild tripā. Such a special lady thatās been retired and still makes this happen for all the years she taught.
Handwriting was top notch and probably peaked there. I remember 2nd grade teacher was a bit of a curmudgeon and on him all year about it. Guess he really is destined to be a doctor.
Very exciting to see all of the commitments! Congratulations to all!!
S24 committed to Stanford a few weeks ago and weāre now on campus for admitted studentsā weekend. He has already made a group of friends and is so happy. This school seems like a perfect fit for him. 
S24ās second grade teacher had each student write a letter with advice to their future self to be read when they graduate from high school. I look forward to reading the letter in a few weeks! (Although S24 has always been a man of few words in his writing assignments, so Iām not expecting very detailed advice!)
That is such a good idea, please post, Iād love to hear! I love that, giving idea to my teacher friend.
Freshman year, they had to do something similar.
C24 is headed to University of Michigan. Deposit is paid, orientation date is booked, and I am learning Ann Arbor and oddly Ohio hotels seem to be expensive any dates we need to be there. At some point it will hit me that we will be empty nesters but for now I am enjoying the victory lap of college decision and upcoming high school graduation.
Congrats! A great choice !!! I was a bit sad when my son didnāt pick Michigan as Iāve never known a person who went there who didnāt love it and have met successful Michigan grads in every place Iāve lived - there is some magic there I believe.
Amherst is pretty amazing!
Seven years after determining this school to be a great fit, and after a large number of applications and an entirely nutty results list, my kid has committed and we have paid the deposit for Harvey Mudd.
We are celebrating by watching Stanley Cup playoffs.
Congratulations to everyone as families/kids commit to their next step(s)!
I think so, but according to Sās calculations, itās only one point better than St. Olaf!
I know he is probably having a hard time putting the idea of a music degree behind him but Amherst and your offer is so amazing!!! Good luck with the next few days!
Iām not sure St Olaf is the clear winner for music in this case, for assorted reasons (like the 24 student horn studio with only one teacher, for one thing). I really, really like St Olaf, butā¦AMHERST! Cheaper! (I had a very similar situation with the last kid, who came close to going into debt for music school at a unknown-outside- our-state public over Blair/vandy with no debt)
I have my fingers crossed for you!
I do want to note in my view it is not in fact crazy to select the less-famous St Olaf over the more-famous Amherst if it is actually a better option in other ways. Although I get Amherst ALSO being cheaper making that quite a bit harder of a decision.
no, for sureā¦if he went and felt like it wasnāt a good fit, that would be fine (and, in fact, that was the case with Emory, which is probably pretty much off the list now). But he likes it a lot! Iāve said it before, but I worry that heās giving music too much emphasis (for a kid whoās not planning to major just in music) because itās just easier for him to make judgements about. But even on his spreadsheet where music has more weight than academics, St. Olaf loses by a point. ETA: and Amherst is the only one of his options that Iām rooting for over St. Olaf, ā¦he also has Hamilton, Vassar, Colby, Grinnell out thereāall bigger names than St. Olaf and all cheaper-- that Iām fully supportive of him crossing off the list because he doesnāt feel like the music part would be a good fit. I think the music at Amherst would be great and better than at St. Olaf in some ways. But Iām not the one in charge of the spreadsheet/decision
Iām a big fan of St. Olaf - S24 was admitted and liked it a lot. And I can imagine reasons why a student might choose it over other, more highly ranked options, such as the location, some of their well-known music ensembles, the fact that they have a nursing school, etc. But what would give me pause is the very substantial difference in the school endowments. Amherst has so many more financial resources to support its students. Itās not just the financial aid, but funding of fellowships or unpaid summer internships; small grants for students who want to send out a research specimen to a larger lab to be analyzed, or want to attend a musical performance in another city; the number of student support staff in career services and other student support offices; even the student-faculty ratio in this case.
The way in which a schoolās endowment can impact student experience is not something that is on the minds of most high school kids, I imagine. But it can make an important difference that goes well beyond fancy looking buildings.