Thank you! Yes Vassar is a true contender. Planning to tour there over our spring break. I will think of some specific questions to DM you with- first off I’m curious about your D22’s major.
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Heading back home after our Carleton tour. I was expecting S25 to have no interest, but he seemed to be open minded and wanting to like it. Which was a shame because I thought the day was disappointing and not organized as well as it should have been. Macalester’s tour on Monday was so much better in every way.
One bright spot was the CAMS (Cinema and media Studies) dept. Met with a rep and my son was very intrigued by it.
Admin seems to be lacking though. The presentations were dull, stiff and we had an encounter with an admissions associate that felt almost rude. Definitely not the warm, fuzzy feeling we got at Macalester.
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We were at the Mac Day on Monday as well and I completely agree with you that they did a great job from start to finish. Definitely left us with a warm feeling and it seemed to persist throughout the college, starting with admissions and continuing with instructors, support teams and students. It’s really hard not to like and have confidence in Macalester from a parent perspective, but we are in a similar situation where S25 seems to be favoring a large state school at this point.
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I truly hope she finds a place she loves! She can not go wrong with any of her choices.
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We were on spring break this week. Hundreds of posts to catch up on. Congrats on all the commits!
S25 has been set on Ole Miss all year. No question about where he was going. We received his official merit scholarship offer in the mail today. Much to our surprise, when he went online to accept, there was another significant scholarship listed that we were somehow unaware of. Such a nice surprise! He’s over the moon!
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On the eve of our college tour, Trinity is taking some nice steps to woo my kid. They sent an email waiving the deposit fee. Then, the head of the poli sci department sent a personalized email to S25, introducing himself and asking if he had any questions.
Meanwhile, Emerson still hasn’t sent us our financial aid package. On Monday, they sent an email saying a document was missing. We called to say they were mistaken, and on the portal it says submitted. They looked into it, and on Tuesday, they emailed to say everything was complete and the aid package would come Friday (today). Well, nothing came today, so we called. They AGAIN told us that a document was missing. I explained that we were told they had everything on Tuesday and that we wouldn’t visit Emerson during our break if we weren’t sure we could afford it. They replied that someone would call or email us by the end of the day, but the end of the day came and went. Crickets. S25 is ready to decline.
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Here’s my unsolicited 2 cents. I think kids in these situations tend to think a big school is their answer. My opinion is that a well curated small school is a better choice, in fact, if the fit is right, it amazing. My kids love that now there are kids like them everywhere they go, they don’t have to go looking for like minded kids. That’s why I think fit, not just academic, is important.
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That’s what we’re working on! But it’s proving hard to find. 
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Would it not be accurate to say that fit—regardless of size—is the most important attribute? Our top 2 criteria this entire time have been fit and cost, not necessarily in that order.
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That sounds so frustrating. Good for Trinity to woo your kid. Boo on Emerson. We had a similar situation with D25’s second choice (maybe) school. I’ve called twice and they have no explanation for why they haven’t processed aid.
Did they visit Conn Coll yet? I hope they’re wooing him too. As I recall it sounded like it might be the better fit between there and Trinity.
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So excited to see the kids finding their places! We are on vacation finally! And not only is it lovely to be away from home, it’s great to see S25 really letting some of the stress of needing to make a decision go. He’s been a happier guy in the last 48 hours than the weeks before this.
That is tempered, somewhat, by the fact that he didn’t get enough third quarter work done while at home… so he brought the laptop. We just had breakfast and husband is going out to get some Euros (a handful of shops only take cash, which feels weird) and I’m sitting here finishing my coffee, looking at the water, and waiting for S25 to get some work done. If it was just that he’d get C’s I’d even let it go, but I think he’ll fail the lab part of chem (a separate grade) and photography - both for not turning in assignments. Sigh. Unless miracles happen in the fourth quarter I think this quarter is going to definitely make a difference in his end of year grades. Which is ok, if he can pull this quarter to Cs his year end won’t be bad enough to lead to a withdrawal, but I don’t love that he gets that pass. This isn’t for lack of comprehension, it’s just not doing work. On the other hand, he’s worked hard all year, and I know he’s feeling some burn out, and I don’t want to pile on unnecessarily. But darn it, we don’t get to just ignore things that aren’t fun. Sigh. I’m going to just let him do what he can and let it end where it does… and turn around so I’m not looking at him anymore and instead looking at this…
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There is a lot of research that shows the advantages handwriting information over typing for improved understanding and memorization.
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Wow! That view!!
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Well, I guess if Emerson going going to be like that for your kiddo, then it is a good choice to decline. I hate that you have to deal with wish washy stuph, though.
Glad to hear Trinity was reaching out. And I hope the visits go well . Good luck!!
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I am super excited to hear about how the visits go! As for Emerson, I find lack of replies from any school at this stage in the process is a bit of a red flag, especially with respect to financial aid. I would worry it means this will just be how things are for the next 4 years. Not a bad thing that schools give you a reason to cut them. Good luck!
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Not the same level of wooing. Spring break just started, and we are visiting Trinity, Conn (visited once, but it was during the summer) and Clark for admitted student days. I thought Bard was eliminated, but S25 came home from school yesterday and said he wanted to keep Bard as a fourth option until after he visits the other three. So pre-visits his ranking seems to be Conn, Trinity, Clark, Bard.
I am so sorry you are having the same financial aid issues. Even if Emerson came through with significant aid, it’s definitely a sign that their office is not functional or helpful.
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I agree with this 1000000%.
I don’t know why but two of my Ds friends supposedly had terrible visits for accepted students day.
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Gorgeous view!
It amazes me that colleges can’t get their act together on what is probably the biggest day of the year for admissions.
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