We’re from California. My son did not really want to stay in-state. He was not interested in any of the UCs, but I did ask him to apply to a couple of Cal state’s so he could at least have a CA option- but he is most definitely going to end up somewhere that has serious weather. There’s a decent chance he’s going to pick Michigan. He says he’s totally up for it, but that first winter is going to be a shock to his system 
10 Likes
Well, it looks as though S25 has kicked this stomach bug and we are a go for our trip to Greenville tomorrow. Remember when you could destroy a virus in 24 hours? Yeah, me neither.
16 Likes
Greenville, SC? Furman? If so, I’m a Gvl native and resident with a Hollingsworth Scholar in her senior year at FU. Can’t say enough wonderful things about both.
5 Likes
Yes! S25 is a Duke finalist. We’re so glad he’s feeling better because he’s very excited for the weekend. We love Greenville!
8 Likes
Best of luck! It’s an amazing school! Enjoy the weekend!
3 Likes
UW Madison is pretty good for math - which courses has he taken so far and which colleges are at the top of his list?
Hi, my son is a freshman at Caltech, and I think all you say is still true. However, I’d like to offer the counterpoint that “finding his people” has been a huge positive to attending a school like Caltech. My son really feels at home there in a way he didn’t even at his STEM-focused high school. He loves his House and already has a social membership at a second House, he works hard but also socializes, goes on weekend trips and has adapted quickly to the “we’re all in this together” mentality that many of the undergraduates seem to share. Of course, it’s still pretty early and life will change once the work really starts ramping up next year, but I’m hoping that the friendships and relationships with faculty that he’s forming this year will provide solid support moving forward.
12 Likes
D25 was also accepted at UC Santa Cruz and rejected (her first!) at UC Davis. I also thought she had a least a waistlist chance at Davis, but with 100k applicants, that makes more sense.
I know a kid with a 4.0 GPA with tons of APs who was also rejected at Davis for a non-science major. The UCs are unpredictable, which is why we too are looking elsewhere.
11 Likes
D25 skipped applying to UCs altogether. All the extra essays weren’t worth the seemingly crapshoot of admissions. Plus, she wasn’t really interested in a huge, impersonal school.
8 Likes
S25 was accepted to UVM last night (no mention of merit) and waitlisted at Gettysburg which we realized post app probably wasn’t a good match for them anyway. Maybe it came across that they were on the fence to begin with. They had applied based on the strength of the poli sci program, but before they heard that it might not be the most welcoming environment (and area) for a trans kid. We declined the WL spot. Happy about the UVM acceptance, but not sure it will be affordable so likely off the list.
15 Likes
UVM is a school that I would definitely appeal for financial aid. I think their office might take a look at it based on what I’ve heard.
2 Likes
My son’s gf got into UVM instate with 7K in merit, so they did mention merit for some.
Yes, we had heard that. Son didn’t have any mentioned so we figured there is none.
Bummer. I feel your pain. The schools that he’s not interested in gave him the most and we are still waiting to hear on the school he committed to. I hope they give you something. Are you in state or OOS?
1 Like
OOS. Rejected from our in-state flagship (Binghamton) and then accepted to UVM, U Conn, Rutgers, but with no merit or aid. Only Pitt has come through. Of course, S25 prefers most of the reachy, reach schools that we still haven’t heard from and for them are lottery tickets. Luckily, one or two smaller colleges were generous and in consideration although not the current faves.
11 Likes
I think the reputation of the UW Madison Math department is one of the most appealing things to him about that school. He didn’t love the campus or the overall “vibe” there as much, so I think that is what makes it mid on his list.
Top of his list as of right now, if he were to be admitted are MIT followed by Rice. (We was deferred at EA to RD for MIT, and applied RD to Rice). We would also really have to examine the costs closely if admitted, because NPC gave us borderline figures for our budget before applying.
Right now “Best of the Rest” is Iowa State, which I know is not a school particularly known for math, but we have a lot of personal connections there - my husband and I are Alums, our D22 goes to school there, plus there are some other long standing connections/friendships we have in the community. The price for him might be his best overall “deal” right now as well, depending on how other scholarships work out.
After that, he still has where he’s been admitted, besides Madison: U of MN Twin Cities (too close to home, doesn’t love the campus vibe there either), RIT (hasn’t visited, so pretty unlikely at this point), Michigan State (We’ve visited twice, since he didn’t get the big scholarship there, it’s lower on the list - he doesn’t like their math offerings quite as much as say, Iowa State), and Rose-Hulman (at this point, probably more than he wants to spend for that school, unless he gets more scholarships). He was deferred at WPI, but also hasn’t visited so I think something would have to happen to push him to want to visit even if he is admitted.
S25 has participated for the past 3 years in a special math program for advanced high school students offered through U of MN Twin Cities so he has essentially had the full college Calc sequence already including Diff Eq and Multivariable, as well as Linear Algebra. It’s an in-depth proof based course with a lot of long form written problems, so he will be starting with quite a few credits and a lot more experience with college level math than I’m guessing even many math majors may start with!
1 Like
And because I am so bad about technology and social media, of course I had to look up want that meant 
2 Likes
I am not so patiently waiting for my S22 to get home for spring break. We only get him for four days and I have to be working in the office for three of them. I plan on soaking up as much time with him as I can tomorrow. He’ll probably be sick of me!
Meanwhile, right now I am irrationally jealous of my husband who is driving home with him. I couldn’t take the day off Friday to drive up, and I suck at packing the car (S22 will be at his off campus term abroad for the rest of the year, so we had to pack up his room and bring almost everything home) so it made sense for my husband to go. But that’s like an 8 hour drive that they get to be together! That’s a lot of catching up time! (I also know that unless S22 is driving, he’ll have earbuds in, BUT STILL.)
I am so cranky right now that I have to be in the office and we aren’t allowed to telework anymore. Over previous breaks, when I could telework, I could take my lunch break to eat with him and it was so nice! Instead, I’m going to just see how early I can adjust my schedule in the morning so I can try to get home in time to see him a bit in the afternoon. Right now I leave the house at 6:40, but I think I can push it to 6:00. Of course, losing the hour of sleep this weekend isn’t going to help, but we’ll see…
13 Likes
Sadly, being divorced for both younger kids entire schooling years already had me somewhat used to this. Sucks though.
6 Likes
I had a feeling it was UMTYMP!
I would see what sort of credit that would get him at Iowa State, and/or see how flexible the math department is with prerequisites. From what I can tell he might be ready for 4070 and 4140 freshman fall. If the school allows this or a similar placement, they should be fine
1 Like