Parents of the HS Class of 2026

My D26 is very cost conscious (more so than I am - if within the budget it’s ok with me) so the in-state options are what she cares about most. Will see if that changes over time and based on the acceptances/rejections. The two state schools she really wants are Reaches for her. So I am going to keep talking up what she has on the table that is within budget :slight_smile:

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Pitt is awesome for that Rolling decision and showing the students they are wanted right away. I wish all the schools did this! We have not visited (yet) but it looks like a beautiful school with with a great reputation, so your C26 can’t go wrong I think!

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Congrats! That’s such wonderful news for her!

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Yay!! Congrats!

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Same for S26, Pitt and Binghamton both were reaches. It gives my low self esteem kid some confidence. I wish UCs and CSUs were not test blind, because I feel his SAT score played a big part in his acceptances.

I hope Boulder comes soon for your kid. Is that rolling too?

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I too wish the CA publics weren’t test blind, but it is what it is :woman_shrugging: . Also sure that’s what swung the needle for Pitt.

Boulder releases EA decisions end January. I believe some instate kids get decisions a couple of weeks before that, but we are OOS. The other EA schools also have Dec/Jan decision dates.

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I am so sorry. :disappointed_face:

I finally buckled down and did the FAFSA and CSS profile last night. So glad to have that off my list!

S26 has applied to 10 schools and already been accepted to 2 of the safeties so we know he’s going to college - yay!! Seriously though, both are affordable and I think he could be happy at either so it does take some pressure off.

We’re now in the slog of honors college and special program applications and the essays are killing us. The pattern is, I gently remind, nothing happens. I gently nag, very little happens. I get really frustrated and remind him that he doesn’t HAVE to apply to these and he needs to want it for himself more than I want it for him and then he magically produces a beautiful essay that both answers the question AND shows his unique personality. Rinse and repeat.

He’s got another 6-7 to do but thankfully the end is finally in sight!!

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C26 has been asking about Comic-Con for a few years and I managed to get badges for us for next year!!! Now I need to keep it a secret for 6 weeks :joy: Xmas/chanuka gift :white_check_mark:

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OMG! I am so envious, lol. One of these days I’ll get out there!

What a fantastic gift – lucky kid!

I go to Dragon Con every year, which has a very different feel – it’s set at several giant host hotels, and it goes 24/7 for five days. The only one I’ve missed in the last 20+ years is when my twins were newborns. :grinning_face_with_smiling_eyes:

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This is so awesome!!! Congrats to her !

That admit decision can sure change things :slight_smile:

I thought this was interesting about your C’s possible new indifference to CU Boulder. My D today had a similar response- though not the absolute top choice- It was a solid school on her list!
We were driving through Boulder this afternoon and I thought to ask D if we should schedule a last visit this next week to make sure that her current top 2 choices are actually that. (we had just got done with the Colorado School of Mines open house for that very reason)

The weird part- she was like why would we look at this school?

Um- cause you applied to it, and it has been a front runner for a long time!

She had forgotten about her interest in this school!!!

Which made us start thinking- we all complain about schools sending to much out (especially schools that our students have no interest int)

But do some schools not do enough to hold onto the interest of prospective students?

D26 has gotten perhaps one mailer from Boulder, and I am not sure she has gotten any other emails after her app was submitted. They did nothing to keep her interested to the point she kind of forgot about them.
Out of the 6 schools she applied to- 3 have sent out a lot of information (the right amount IMO). I think it makes her feel wanted by these schools unlike the ones that she gets nothing from.

Just curious how others feel about the schools that play hard to get vs the ones that at least appear to try to keep you interested in them.

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Bring comfortable shoes! we went a few years ago when the kids were young, it took us 3 years of trying before we got tickets. We bought a bunch of stuff in the halls and met a director of a cartoon my daughter was into.
I went to comic con back in early 2000s when you could just buy a ticket and it was not this crazy show now. Oh and you also want to book your hotel as soon as possible.

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Super interesting question!

So, D26 here has basically ignored most school’s marketing materials including the ones that have accepted her. She’s actively choosing not to think about it until all the decisions are in. All the Pitt emails have basically been ignored (and some, like the video with her name in it were ACTIVELY ignored, lol!) She’ll think about them when it’s time to think about them!

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Hmm, so D26 has definitely lost interest in schools, but mostly because her goals/what she was looking for in schools has changed a lot over the last couple years.

I’m not sure marketing material would sway her. She finds all the spam in her email super annoying, and she never looks at anything that comes in the mail unless I specifically point it out to her. She might be swayed by some particularly fun swag though, LOL.

Maybe it’s just that your kiddo has a couple of choices that she’s really excited about?

I know for us, the highest-ranked, most well-respected, reachiest school that mine applied to is basically in our backyard, so it seems boring to her because so many kids from her school end up there. She would rather be off having adventures (at least that’s what she’s saying today).

Maybe CU Boulder is the same for your D26?

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She still has CU Boulder in a solid 4th place on her list- and would choose it and be excited if the top 3 did not work out for some reason.
But there has been so little communication of any kind with this school- it just kind of slipped her mind (for a moment). And had us go down the rabbit hole of different marketing and recruitment strategies from different types of schools. (we have such exciting conversations in our family- lol :rofl:)

In her case – she has 6 schools ranked. She talks about schools 1,2 and 5 the most. Very sure she will not end up at school 5 at this point- but they are doing something right with their recruitment/marketing- because they have managed to keep her engaged and interested?! (we are trying to put our fingers on what that ‘something’ is)

When we were talking- we came to the conclusion that just like the schools want the students to show demonstrated interest- it is nice to have that reciprocated. So regular marketing emails- not that impressive. But targeted mail/email that is useful and pertinent to the student’s situation hits a bit different.
Just interesting (to us at least :wink:) on the different strategies that schools take and how different students/families respond to it.

ETA- She is very excited about schools 1 and 2!!!
So that is where most of her focus is currently at.

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Thanks. Yep, feel pretty lucky to have got tickets the first time we tried, and I have booked a hotel already. The prices are really loaded for that weekend, but I could partly use points at one so the $ cost is reasonable. The hotels right there are sold out already but we’re about a 15 minute walk away so that’s easy enough.

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I’m not really sure if any of the 4 EA schools C26 has applied to have sent anything since tbh - C hasn’t mentioned anything anyway. The two rolling that have admitted have sent stuff as well as to the parent email.

D26 finally got the UDub and UBC applications submitted today. Whew. My opinion is that she spent more effort on those essays than was really required…

Then at the very last minute, she added Colorado State to her common app and applied there (its early deadline was today too). This reminded me very much of grabbing a candy bar while in the checkout lane at the supermarket. :rofl:

So, I asked what inspired her to add that impulse-buy application? Well, D had thought about applying to CSU in the past, but today she learned that Temple Grandin is a professor there. OMG! So exciting! Must apply there! (Never mind that D isn’t planning a degree in Animal Sciences or pre vet etc.)

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Holy moly. I just had a look at Maia. Boulder’s EA deadline today - it’s always been a popular destination at C26’s school, but so far fully a third of the senior year class has applied :flushed_face: I hope this isn’t going to put C26 at a disadvantage…

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