It honestly couldn’t have gone better. Informative, fun, and lots of activities and options. They had a tour of various freshman year dorm room layouts. They gave us a list of 30+ classes we could pop in to as opposed to being assigned just one to visit. They had an academic fair and a residential life fair and had a million questions answered. We took a walk through the arboretum and spotted cardinals (a big deal for a city kid.) The trees were all in bloom and showering petals everywhere. The kid kept commenting on how everyone seemed happy. Then we met the official Admissions Office snuggly, sweet dog (!) and that was it. Sold.
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Congratulations to your son!
Congrats! I hope to hear from Saint Joseph’s University (SJU) with a similar message! Still holding off…and looking for any info on their recent awards. If anyone has seen a post about this, please let me know!
Hoping, hoping to hear from more Jesuit schools doing this. Gonzaga sent one out, waiting for St. Joe’s and Marquette.
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We are still in the weeds of decision making here. It’s our spring break and we are touring 3 schools: Vassar, Smith, and Mt Holyoke. (Williams and Middlebury are still in the running- we’ve already visited them).
I can’t believe she only has 9 days left to make a decision. But I also can’t believe it was less than 3 weeks ago that all the decisions were in.
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It’s very common here to send graduation announcements – we sent them for D22 to our whole holiday card list (about 150 people), and we’ll do the same for S25. I created one on Shutterfly using senior pictures.
The only text I used was the name, high school name, graduation date, and where they planned to attend in the fall with what they planned to study.
My D22 did get some cards and gifts – but only from close family that would have sent gifts anyway.
I feel like it’s odd to say “no gifts please” on an announcement unless you’re inviting someone to an actual party. And I have gotten tons of grad announcements over the years where I have not sent a card or gift – just happy to get an announcement like I would a holiday card.
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I am happy to announce that we have a decision- she chose Colorado School of the Mines! After getting waitlisted at Cornell, UChicago, and Georgetown last year- and not getting in and deciding to take a gap year- this year was a much healthier approach to applying to right-fit schools.
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S25 committed to Rice University last night! 
We had made a decision to have him deposit at what seemed like his most likely choice a couple months ago, so we had to “undo” that one first. I had been feeling very equal about either decision, but had very mixed emotions at him declining the “safe” choice of Iowa State (where D22 attends, and where my husband and I both attended, where we have tons of local friends always willing to help if D22 were to need anything), for the “unknowns” of Rice, a school much further from home where we don’t know anyone. But I’m so excited for his new adventure at Rice all the same and hubby and I stayed up late considering flights and other logistics.
S25 didn’t share all his decision making process, but all along he was intrigued with the small size, the residential college system, the feeling of a collaborative environment, and the opportunity to easily double major and pursue a variety of interests. He decided he was ready for an unknown adventure rather than an easy/comfortable choice of a place he’s been to many times. I think had his last department visits at Iowa State been more impressive, he might have been swayed differently, but in the end, especially his primary major department didn’t “wow” him enough to have that make a difference.
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So happy and excited for you all! 
We just got back from our Denison and Oberlin visits and D25 is now contemplating. Was very nice to visit to our alma mater (Oberlin), but it was not a perfect fit for our kid, which didn’t surprise us. She liked it but didn’t LOVE it. Her Denison visit, however, was EXCELLENT (we were really impressed with the campus, academics, and the visit setup, and whenever she’s reached out to students online with questions about dance program, etc., response has been immediate and awesome; also, the weather was AMAZING, which can make everything seem picture-perfect, haha). So now it is down to Denison and Skidmore, which are neck and neck. Denison was a wow, but is in Ohio, which is much further away, and there are some state legislative issues with higher ed there that are very concerning (SB1, etc.). Denison also has a bit of Greek life and a very strong athletics culture, which is definitely not D25’s thing (but not necessarily a negative – well-rounded schools often have happy students in my experience). Skidmore’s endowment is lower and their investment in infrastructure and faculty/curriculum seems less. Plus their housing is not great for first years. But D25 really liked it when we visited. Unfortunately, we missed a few things at our Skidmore visit that we now know are key (i.e., visiting on a weekday so you can go to a class and see and visit with lots of regular, non-admissions students), plus we didn’t really see most of the campus because the weather was terrible. This means my D25 and I may have to make another quick visit to Skidmore early next week 
. Luckily it’s D25’s spring break, but still, we are TIRED! 
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Congrats! One of the smartest people I knew in grad school went to St. John’s (the books, not the basketball one!). They are now a prof at Univ of Washington.
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Sounds busy but helpful! I am not familiar with Denison, but we love Saratoga Springs and the Skidmore campus. We lived in Albany years ago and would go up sometimes just to sit in the park and watch the ducks. Such a beautiful region. I wanted my son to apply, but I think he just didn’t want to add more schools at that point. Best of luck!
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My son did an overnight at USMMA. They offer to anyone, prospective and admitted. The other service academies invite certain kids, even juniors who have not opened apps as a recruiting tool.
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Congratulations!! Sounds like a good fit.
Question about undoing the
Previous commitment. We are in the same situation - S25 deposited at a school for logistical reasons (to hold his spot in a particular LLC). Looks like that school has dropped out of his top 5 so we need to contact them. Did you just email admissions? I know we will lose the deposit, which wasn’t a small amount 
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Sometimes the option to withdraw is in the portal, if not I would have the student call and email! If you also put down a housing deposit, that can take a different call/email to withdraw from (sadly.)
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Thanks! No housing deposit thankfully.
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Congrats! I have an older child at Mines and it’s a great school! Let me know if you have questions!
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Thank you! We are psyched!
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Meant to respond earlier about overnights! I remember this being a ‘thing’ back in the dark ages when I was college searching. It didn’t take any dorm room space away from current students, you were expected to bring a sleeping bag and camp out on the floor of your host. Funny story, I was planning to ED to Amherst but had a negative overnight experience & changed my mind, ending up at Williams. Turns out some of my fellow Williams students had the same experience/reaction & rumor had it that Amherst gave the best rooms to sophomores who agreed to host-- maybe not the best way to choose ambassadors for your school!
I was wondering if overnights just became less popular over the years or went away during Covid.
D25 is doing an overnight at the only place it was offered, Smith College, later this week. Will report back on how it goes after the trip.
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For us, it was in the admissions portal. There was a spot to “decline admission” and we will get back all but $60 of the deposit. (I’m not sure exactly how the refund works…it definitely wasn’t instantaneous, but we will keep an eye on it!). I googled “Decline a previously accepted admissions offer at [name of school]” and was quickly able to find a page on the school’s website that explained the process.
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D25 committed to University of British Columbia!
Now we just have to obtain a study visa, figure out how to get her and all her stuff to another country, banking through a different country, and how she will find housing for the three subsequent years. And hope that there are no immigration issues that rear up in the next 4 months. 
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