I wonder if they get a lot of apps in October and that’s why it took so long? My D applied end of August and got it back beginning of October.
Certainly possible!
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I remember my daughter mentioning that it said it took longer if you applied later - here is what they say online:
Once I apply – how long will I have to wait to hear back? - Admissions | University of Pittsburgh %.
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That was my S25. And I might add that he only applied to the 3rd one after I insisted he added one more.
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We’re signed up for admitted student stuff at one school of the four he’s admitted to. One of the schools did such a robust visit for us in September, including an individualized tour and discussion re: his major and that sub-college, that I can’t imagine a visit now will add much. The other two, well, I’ve just been dragging my feet because we don’t have the Spring sports schedule and I don’t think he’s that interested in those two and I’m really waiting to hear from VT. If JMU and Clemson would put out their merit aid amounts a little earlier, then it would be easier to plan for things.
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I thought the same about this part too. It was the only part of the article that I thought a bit silly. But aside from that, I found it useful. Hopefully others can get some use out of it.
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We haven’t actually toured the majority of schools our twins applied to — formal tours at three, walkabout visits to two, and five where we haven’t even been to the campus — so the admitted student days over spring break will be clutch for us.
I suspect that a few of the schools that we haven’t visited yet — should the kids even get in, and should the schools be affordable — won’t be a good fit, but it just didn’t make sense to visit beforehand … they’re either reject-y, isolated, or logistically difficult/expensive to get to, or all three.
I’m looking forward to seeing how it all shakes out, though! I think it’s going to be a good spring break.
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We’ve only signed up for one admitted student visit for now. We want to hear back from some other colleges before we sign up for more, so we can have more control over the schedule. I also want that list narrowed because it’s such a hassle to get anywhere from where we live.
She finally got some swag! Stickers from one college and a scarf from another.
And to distract me, I’m trying to plan a trip for just me and D using airline miles. The only time we can go is July and the options are slim given the airline and timing. We’re probably going to end up somewhere hot, but hopefully cheap. 
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My initial post about this was just about conversations in our house, about declining offers that my son is 100 sure he won’t attend. That’s it. No one should feel bad about taking their time and making decisions that are right for them.
I am in no way implying people are being impolite.
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Sorry, I was just responding generally. This topic comes up this time of year every year, between now and May 1. Kids who were deferred or waitlisted, or their parents, sometimes plead for others to withdraw from schools. Sometimes AOs do it too.
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I appreciate the follow up.
For us there are clear ‘no’s’ already and we’re starting those conversations. I think it will help reduce the emails from some schools too once he declines the offers (hopefully). Clearing out the extra communications will help focus on the ones that matter.
It’s awful that kids are pressured to decline offers -especially from other parents/counselors etc. I wasn’t aware of this - did not have that experience with my oldest.
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S25 doesn’t want to attend the Rose admitted student day, because he says he already knows that he wants to attend. I still think he should attend, but I’m not going to argue over it.
I’m eagerly awaiting the NMF announcement with the hope that S25 can finagle a little more money out of Rose. He was at the lowest end for the merit scholarship, and I’m hoping the NMF award along with some documentation showing the other scholarships that he’s received will some leverage to at least request a little bit more. Is it better to wait until closer to the decision deadline to request or to do it as soon as he hears about NMF? I’m not holding my breath that he’ll get much but even a little more more would make the cost easier to swallow.
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if he makes it through this week with no denial letter from NMF he should be good to go. I read that if the kids don’t get it they hear in Jan if they do get it, in Feb.
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I’ll add here that I appreciate your kind words here, not judging how folks do what’s right in their own situations. It was hard reading different and less kind words on other threads here, so I’m sorry my posts on the Parents of 2025 thread conflated sentiments expressed elsewhere.
I so very much appreciate what is shared here. You’ve been a very helpful and thoughtful community in an uncertain time.
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I wish these colleges would all have a decline button. D25 doesn’t have the mental capacity at this point to email a bunch of places declining their offer. She just emotionally can’t right now. Luckily the schools she doesn’t want to attend are not low acceptance rate places and she never applied for their top scholarship because she knew she wasn’t going to attend there and didn’t want to lower the chances for someone else to get that.
I really wish this part was done.
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NMF updates should be in their NMSC portal on 2/10.
If your child is waiting for a U.S. Presidential Scholar candidate nomination, have them check their email.
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She heard back from UPS saying it was an error and that her FA isn’t ready yet. I hope they get it out by their own deadline of end of January. If it’s affordable I’ll plan a trip out there during spring break since we’re probably going to Portland but if it’s not I won’t bother.
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Drat! That’s disappointing. I hope we don’t have to wait too long for FA info. Back to the waiting game.
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I am happy to have missed this particular discussion elsewhere. I think I’m going to let myself remain ignorant and remember that this is the hard time when folks are starting to panic – so much of the EA/ED cycle seems to be about reaches and safeties and March feels awfully far away. It’s also too late to change course now for most folks – the cakes are in the oven and we’re having to wait and see if we actually forgot to put sugar in or used one too many eggs, or if this recipe that Naviance fed us will actually taste good at the last dinner party we ever host. (how’s that for a desperate metaphor?)
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This had me laughing and I appreciate the bit of levity and willingness to just sorta stick my head in the sand.
S25 is done- his ED worked out and he pulled the EA applications before he heard back from the 5 EA schools. Thrilled for him as he worked so hard on his applications over the summer, overcame academic challenges and put together a really super profile that felt really well rounded. Sure we had lots of angst and panic about application strategy, do you ED or not, is the list of schools balanced enough, what happens if you aren’t in ED blah blah blah… It was a journey but he really did what was best for him and fit.
D25 was shut out at her ED (‘twas an Ivy and despite thinking she was likely to get a defer, it was a no and thanks for applying) and boy oh boy that was/is a bit of a heartache and rollercoaster. She is the super duper high stats, academically gifted, strong ECs, leadership etc- but that doesn’t make it any easier- so many factors. Alas the winter break was spent working on essays and adjusting her application list. She ended up with applications in at 12 schools and will have to wait until towards end of March/April 1 to hear back from most. The wait is long, the weather is cold and the days are dark early. I suppose the bright spot is she will have the nice two week spring break to enjoy without having heard from schools and can keep on waiting for the cakes to bake!
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