@OctoberKate @ali-ice @gcmom1 you are not alone! My S26’s last admitted students’ day is April 18!! We told him he has to commit after that day, lol! One school he applied RD to just dropped their decisions last week, and their one and only admitted students’ day is on April 11. He is down to deciding between 3 schools now which is progress!
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Hi all,
My DD26 is our first child and has been a U.S. resident since 2009. Because of a long green card backlog she was treated as an international student for college applications (It’s complicated to explain, happy to skip the details).
Her current goal is Accounting → CPA → Law school, and she seems solidly set on that path right now. We can fully fund undergrad, but we cannot cover grad school (CPA review + JD).
She only applied to five schools:
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Brown (ED) — denied
Accepted: All business schools.
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Rutgers Business School (~$40k)
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UMass Amherst Isenberg (~$43k)
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Penn State Smeal (~$61k)
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UPitt Honors (~$66k)
We’re still doing admitted student visits (last one is 4/20). Right now her top choice is Penn State Smeal, and we can swing the cost, but I’m wondering if it’s the smartest term pick given that we won’t be able to help with law school later.
Looking for community thoughts on:
- Which of these programs is strongest for someone who plans to do CPA + JD?
- Has anyone gone the 3+3 (or 3+2 accelerated) law route from these schools?
- Is it actually a good idea for someone aiming for CPA + law, or does it limit options?
Any insight from current students, alumni, or parents who have been through similar paths would be really appreciated. Thank you!
What a whirlwind it’s been here! Congrats to those who made their decisions about what school to attend! I don’t get into this forum much these days, but I’ve been stalking.
The latest for us: S26 has narrowed it down to 3 very viable schools. His preferences have evolved! Initially he didn’t know if he wanted a SLAC or a large public school so he applied to both types of schools. He came to realize that while he loves the small classes that encourage discourse and getting to know classmates and professors well, he doesn’t want it all the time! He likes some anonymity once in awhile and wouldn’t mind being in a large class and fading in the background. So he’s narrowed it down to 2 schools plus 1 school in his back pocket only because this 1 school checks off everything on his list except for 1 thing.
While I’m grateful he’s starting to discover what his preferences are, we were surprised (and slightly heartbroken) that he didn’t choose this 1 SLAC on his top 5 list where we all felt he’s found his people. He said it was perfect for him academically & socially, but he couldn’t see himself in a small and very remote school. He also realized he wants to be closer to home. I’m proud of him for trusting his gut and not giving into what everyone has told him that this SLAC is the best for his major. Thankfully, the last 2 remaining schools, despite being larger public schools, will give him that SLAC feel. One school has gen ed classes that accommodate just 20 kids per class!
It’s been quite a journey of discovery and evolution for my S26! I am excited for him because he cannot go wrong with these last 2 schools for what he wants to study. April 18 cannot come soon enough (the day of his last admitted students’ day) because after then he will decide where he’ll be!
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I didn’t even realize that schools gave last minute merit increases.
A couple of comments:
– With law school in the plans, I would hesitate to spend all of my college savings on undergrad. Does the student have a compelling reason to want Penn State? Because all of the schools being considered can get them to the same place.
-Be aware that in order to become a CPA one must pass a rigorous four part exam, work in the field of accounting, and (in most states) have 150 credit hours (a typical bachelor’s degree is 120 credits).
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Boulder’s “big” admitted students day is that too - (before we cancelled) we signed up for one of the smaller admitted buff days sooner, partly because the idea was to fit it into spring break where we were already traveling, but also because that just felt way too long to me to wait.
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Yes, it does feel late, but S26 did not want to miss any school (AP exam reviews coming up) and the only options were on a weekday during school! I may lose my mind over this long wait, lol!
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Thank you for your inputs.
Penn state - mainly because she loved the campus when last visited, we have a a few colleagues and extended circle of friends who went to Penn state and are eager to connect and network with her. Penn state has been most responsive to our questions regarding AI/jobs/future and seem to at least have a 5 year plan in place. Responses from Rutgers were wishy - washy with no clear plans.
CPA - Yes we are aware of the 150 credits and DD26 interacted with Integrated MAcc students while on college visit to understand more.
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I love this, and I’m excited to see what he chooses!
My kiddo also had a similar journey of trying to figure out what she wanted and what she was excited about. She did almost a 180 from the earliest schools she was considering. 
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Isn’t it fascinating to have watched them grow in a year? I’m sure you feel relieved now that your D has reached a decision!
Thank you. I’m trying to stay calm and just follow S26 through this process. Hard to believe he’ll know in about 2 and a half weeks where he’ll be! I’m nervous and excited at the same time!
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It is interesting to me that some folks are feeling stressed and sleepless about this time when their kid is weighing their options and choosing and wanting them to make a decision quickly. For me, this is the emotionally calmest phase since this all started. The deciding where to apply was stressful. The pushing her to actually do her app work (or for me, pushing my wife to push my daughter, for reasons I’ve previously explained) was stressful. And the waiting for schools to admit her, was agonizing. But this part, where she gets to assess her options and choose by May 1, I don’t find that stressful. I want her to take the time she needs to make the decision she feels is best. Maybe it is personality driven? I often like to ponder and weigh and consider and reconsider major decisions. So the notion of my daughter taking her time once she has all the information, feels fine to me.
Also, the last minute merit thing is real for some schools. Depending on where D26 decides to enroll, we may make her wait until April 30 to push the button to see if more money comes in. One school (though not a top choice) already awarded more money unsolicited this week.
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I think that some students and families feel calm during the decision part of the process, and some do not. My daughter was really agitated with lots of emotional outbursts, until she fell in love with UBC on Monday. She told me this morning that she had been worried she would not feel this way about any school where she had been admitted. Now although she is not technically 100% decided (she is still planning to go to the admitted students days for UW and Cal Poly), she feels MUCH calmer because she knows she has a school that she loves.
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Ok, friends- we’re buckling up for the Big College Visit trip over spring break. Wish us well as I spend 24/7 with D26 in a variety of mid-range hotels and hours in a rental car. Of course, the two schools she really wanted to see have their admitted student days on the very first and last days of her break, and it doesn’t make sense to fly home, then fly back out again. We’ll be leaving on Easter, visiting Dickinson, then Smith, Hamilton and Vassar. Leaving Sunday and returning a full week later- phew!
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Sounds exciting!! I am sure that you and your D will make some great memories during that week. I would love to hear about your experience at Hamilton! Our accepted student visit is on April 18th.
I’ll let you know! If you haven’t already booked a hotel, the Bristol Center on Hamilton’s campus has rooms- we were too late to snag one but they’re affordable and right on campus.
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Weirdly this part of college visits isn’t hyped up more 
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I definitely think this is personality driven. I would be totally stressed if my daughter was still weighing her options. But she’s quick to make decisions and goes on her gut and then just runs with it and doesn’t look back. She doesn’t “ponder and weigh and consider and reconsider”. My husband on the other hand is like you. It was pretty obvious to me that my daughter had already made her decision way before she had, but my husband was making her a spreadsheet with information on all the options and pros and cons, etc. I let him do it because it made him feel better to think she was going to weigh all that info, but I knew she wasn’t even going to look at it.
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LOL yes from Disney show Jessie
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We have to go to the last admitted student day visit too for Occidental (April 17 I think?) - my daughter has a big research competition the week before. I have no idea why they put that in April of all times. Last year it was early March -which would have been so much better for us.
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