Worth it (for the cocktails and dinner!)
Thanks for sharing!
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I hate the cold with the passion of a million burning suns. I used to wear a blanket at work and my boss HATED it; when he designed the space in our new building, he put baseboard heat in my office only.
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My S26 really wants 4 seasons / cold weather. He has been raised in the Bay Area (born / first 2 years in NYC) so weāll see how he fares when he has to live day in, day out in a truly cold climate. We have taken vacations to cold places (the Arctic Circle in February) and he said the cold was great. But then, a week spent fully outfitted for the sub-zero temps and searching for northern lights and riding dog sleds isnāt exactly a great parallel for university life ā¦ unless he goes to school in Norway or Alaska!
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I believe MA winters are getting milder. That said, the lowest monthly average temperatures for us are in the 40s (often overnight) with the highest monthly temp averages in the 70s, so I suspect your definition of mild is wildly different than D26s. Neither hot nor cold is really an issue here. Almost nobody has AC, walls of older houses often are not insulated, and the heaters in many houses are less than impressive. We are soft here when it comes to temperature ranges.
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Growing in NJ and dealing with shoveling drives ways and driving up hill with a stick shift car I couldnāt wait to go somewhere warmer. S26 has been to Tahoe for skiing but has no desire to be anywhere cold. And his definition of cold is anything below 65 degrees. Suffice to say heās looking at campuses with palm trees, UCSB and UCSD being his preferred choices unless something crazy happens.
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I wholeheartedly agree with others who have mentioned that it is not as cold up here in the Northeast as it used to be. I grew up in MA and have also lived in PA, DE and CT. I havenāt worn a coat in at least 5 years, maybe longer. In fact, my husband and son still have the AC blasting at 66 degrees every night because they insist that it is just too hot. 
I also lived in NC for a number of years and really missed the seasons. They are glorious.
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The Minnesota winters certainly can get very cold. FWIW, the trimester schedule at Carleton allows for long (6-7 week) winter breaks.
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So D26 just got a cold call from Baylor University asking her if she would consider applying. Um what??? She wasnāt really sure what to say but then just said āIām already committed to a schoolā. I could hear the caller through the phone. He was like ācongratulations thatās great. Good luckā. And that was that. But how strange.
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That is so odd! I didnāt know colleges did this?
Thatās bizarre. Had she ever considered it at all? Iām curious how they even got her number.
ETA: Iām surprised she answered. Pretty sure no one would ever get my daughter on the phone. Sheād let them leave a message and then (maybe) call back.
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Same! My D26 doesnāt list her cell phone number on anything if she can get away with it. Where she was required to for a campus tour, she actually listed mine (with my permission) just to keep the spam at bay. She even said no to getting calls about her applications. Strictly e-mail only.
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Weāve received cold calls from a couple of schools with Full Sail University in Florida being the most persistent. I give my cell instead of D26ās most of the time so Iām the one that got the call.
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Well, the ONLY reason she answered was because she was sitting at the table eating dinner and doing homework (it was around 6:30 ET) and when her phone rang it startled her and caller ID said āBaylor Universityā, she was like āshould I answerā? And I said āYESā. Very weird.
ETA: I think maybe her sophomore year she might have filled something out online- she canāt remember, but she quickly took them off her list when she realized Junior and Senior year are spent in Dallas at Baylor Medical and NOT on the Baylor campus.
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So, D and I learned today that UMass Amherst seems to be yet another of those schools that auto links itself to STARS. D went in and checked to make sure nothing was messed up in there after the auto linking occurred.
Just FYI.
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If your daughter is admitted, you can message me and I will happily share my daughters CV stats - so you can inquire about a similar Seton Hall Scholarship offer for your daughterā¦as mine will not be using hers 
Thanks! She actually decided not to apply. I donāt think the scholarship offer would help either, lol.
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So D26 got some really exciting news 
with a sprinkle of anxiety inducing bad? news 
.
She received her acceptance into University of Limerick!!! And the top amount of merit that they give for her program (which is not much- but we will take anything that is offered!! 
)
This is the first acceptance that she has gotten for her current 3-way tie for top school!!!
(gotten a couple of safeties back)
The anxiety inducing part- they apparently only give 30 days to accept or not after the offer is made!!! She/we had no idea and would have waited at least a few more weeks to have submitted the application if that was known!!!
So, she has to make a decision on this school before the other 2 top choices put out their decisions 
She is very familiar with Colorado School of Mines and we are going to an Open House event in a couple of weeks for one final visit. So she has all the info she needs about this school (just will she be accepted or not??!! I would be very surprised if she is not- but there is no guarantee 
)
We are supposed to go to the RIT open house this weekend- will we make it with the airlines cutting back? - I have no idea!?- but I sure hope so!!
That way she can at least have more solid info on this school before she has to make a choice on Limerick. (Though will she be accepted or not? I am pretty sure she will be- but again, no guarantees)
Oh well- it is what it is- I feel so bad for D26 to have a timeline like this for a decision.
Whish us luck making it to RIT this weekend!!! We will need it.
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First, huge congrats on Limerick! Thatās so exciting! And with merit aid, too!
But egad, 30 days to decide is brutal. 
I think after seeing RIT, and visiting Colorado School of Mines one more time, sheāll prob have a pretty good idea of which way sheās leaning?
Especially because it seems like each of these schools has a couple characteristics that make it distinct from the other two. Obviously location for Limerick, the co-ops and NTID and art/tech mashup at RITā¦and Iām not very familiar with School of Mines, but I get the sense that itās close-ish to home for you?
So I would probably advise D26 to rank them in order of preference assuming all three are acceptances. If Limerick is not first choice, then you can revisit the likelihood of her getting into her first choice. No point in worrying about it right now!
When does School of Mines release decisions?
I will cross all fingers and toes that you make it to RIT this weekend! My older one flew smoothly from Houston to NYC and back for fall break, but that was very early in the shutdown. We have since heard that there are several-hour security lines to leave Houston, even at the smaller of the two airports that she flies from. And my D26 is supposed to fly out of Atlanta to go to DC on a school trip the weekend before Thanksgiving. That flight leaves at 7:40am (and we live an hour away from the airport). Guessing weāll just get there the night before!
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Good advice
My short-term plan is to get through this weekend and see if RIT has the right āvibeā 
for her.
Besides addressing the elephant in the room that a decision is approaching- no discussion of choices until at least after this visit. That way all required info (besides actual acceptances 
) will be available.
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Congrats and - what? Is that normal for Irish Unis??