Also, because fewer international students are applying.
1 Like
Hence the low low acceptance rate. That and not including students starting at non-Boston campus as accepted!
Yep. And they send just about everyone to the alternate campuses. Very few people are accepted to start in Boston. They have done a masterful job at things though. Iâll give them that. So many people at my daughterâs school want to go there. Theyâre all about it.
1 Like
Wow, $1k in app fees is a big number. Only 3 of the 10-13 schools on D26âs list have app fees so we are only spending $200 on fees. Ironically the three with app fees are some of the only ones on her list that also provide little to no merit aid.
1 Like
Yeah, the decline in birthrates should really not have much impact at all for the HS class of 2026. The birth numbers for 2008 are pretty similar to 2006, which was a record year at the time. It is only a âsignificantâ drop off compared to 2007 (some of whom are actually HS seniors still this year anyway). For context, 2006 had 4,265,555 births compared to 4,251,095. So a drop of less than 15k births when 2008 compared to 2006. Nothing really. The cliff is coming, but it is not really here yet
1 Like
Yep.
Thus far D26 has 11 EA apps in, a couple of the schools required test scores to be sent directly to them now, others say only if you are accepted then send them. All in we are at around $1200 for the 11 schools.
This is another reason why weâve saved the campus visits (other than our locals UNC, NC State, Duke and our vacation/family trips Purdue, Indiana) until after we start seeing acceptances/declines. I hope she gets into everywhere sheâs applied (doubtful), but even if that miracle does happen, sheâll likely cut her list to 3 / max 4 schools almost right away. When my D22 was accepted to UT Austin, we dropped about $ 2500 for her and her mother to visit for 4 days⊠I donât need to do that for â11 schoolsâ 
4 Likes
Even if they just say something like minimum SAT or ACT math score of x required, which equates to what they expect a normal high school grad to know. That takes the rat race/$ spent on tutoring/privilege effect out of it while confirming a basic level of math is known.
5 Likes
Same with my S26. Of the 13 schools on his list, we paid for only 4 (all in-state public schools offering little to no merit aid). The rest of the schools on his list we either got an app fee waiver or there were no app fees.
1 Like
ok glad I am not the only one shocked by the cost, I wonder at people applying to 20+ schools, thatâs a lot of fees.
2 Likes
I agree that $80 per UC campus is a big bite, especially because it hits all at once. Like others here, my D applied to 7 of the UC campuses. But most of her list outside the UCs wasnât very expensive. She had fee waivers for about half of the OOS schools she applied to.
Yes. D26 is high stats kiddo and is applying to about 20 schools and has sent her scores to each school. Plus paying to send the CSS profile. Brutal. Feels like close to $2k just to apply and send scores.
1 Like
Oh, the CSS profile money wasnât included in the $200 I mentioned earlier. Still doesnât get me anywhere near the numbers some of you had to shell out, but I totally forgot about that racket!
2 Likes
I know!! Itâs terrible. The College Board should at least offer a Black Friday deal or something - lol. 4 AP tests this year at what $100 per test. Last year there were 8 between 2 kids. Plus the CSS, AP scores and SAT. At least my NMSF doesnât seem to have to pay for that in any way - a small win! The real kicker was last year D25 had a 3 AP score we were going to have to pay $15 to withhold on top of the cost to send the other scores. So she ended up being 100% test optional which worked out great for her. But seriouslyâŠ.. With D26 we just sent all of her scores so we wouldnât have to keep up with it. Seems kind of overkill but again with the 20 schools we just went ahead and sent them, did the CSS and IDOC right away so itâs not constant portal requests.
3 Likes
They all required official scores to be sent? Most of my Dâs schools allowed self reporting.
Did you have to send in a qualifying SAT score to the NMSF application? I feel like we paid for that official score report to be sent, but now I canât remember.
Mine applied to 7 schools, but we had fee waivers for 2 â so it wasnât a huge amount in fees. But yeah, plus 3 AP exams at $100 each, plus a couple official SAT reports, blah blah.
We just today finished the FAFSA but havenât tackled the CSS yet because only 2 of her schools use it â and those 2 are at the bottom of her list, lol. So thatâs a later problem. But oy, more fees with that? I canât remember from my D22.
Youâre right. We did send the SAT score to national merit. I donât know if we paid for it or not at this point. Ugh. Yes, you pay to send the CSS for each school. Last year we did everything as needed by school and this year we just sent it to all of the schools on her list that use it. So much to keep track of.
1 Like
About a third required them separately and it was recommended to her to send them all. Iâm not going to say we arenât trying to save money where we can but at this point, I just want to be done. I was fine to just send the scores.
All the parenting today, lol. D22 is applying to 10 schools plus one leveling program for grad school. The first two applications are due on Monday. She had a personal statement written, and she adapted that for one school, so I helped her polish that today. The other school required SIX essays. No, really. So she wrote those, and Iâm about to look at them and give her some feedback.
Sat on top of D26 to get her lyrical etude in good shape for district auditions, plus be able to record it tomorrow so she can complete the arts supplement for two schools. (Later deadline than the actual application deadline.)
Completed FAFSA for D26, and made sure she completed her part.
S25 had to create an 8-minute video for a final project, so I watched it several times and gave him feedback as he edited. He still has a pile of work to finish in the next couple weeks.
S25 is also on the mend from an aforementioned health issue, but he broke out in a horrible rash today after completing a course of antibiotics. Ugh. Heâs already allergic to another antibiotic, so this is not good. Heâs supposed to drive back to school tomorrow, so Iâm watching him to make sure it doesnât get worse. Otherwise it may need urgent care and a steroid or something.
D22 also has ALL the work to finish this week and next â a physics paper and presentation to give, a couple exams, who knows what else. Oh, and she is stage managing a show next semester, and auditions for that are next week. She flies back to school late tomorrow night.
SO, tentative plan is to go see Wicked tomorrow morning if the kids can swing it with all of their stuff! Stranger Things got pushed off until they all get back home for the long break.
Oy. Isnât Thanksgiving supposed to be relaxing? We did enjoy a lovely dinner and have been eating yummy leftovers the last couple days (theyâre almost gone). And The Outsiders on Wednesday was fabulous.
Okay, Iâm off to read six grad app essays, lol. At least S25 and D26 have no plans to go to grad school! 
6 Likes
We had to pay $120.00 per AP exam here in a bay area high school.
3 Likes
APs are $110 at our school; families who canât afford it will get subsidized by the school.
C26 applied in total to 8 schools, 2 of which are Cal Polys that I donât think will go anywhere (Iâd expect a second choice admit at CPP) and 6 OOS publics (2 admits and waiting for 4). One fee waiver. I donât remember exactly what each charged but probably around $500 app fees total plus a couple of SAT score sends. One upside of all publics is not having to think about CSS. I donât think C26 is likely to get merit at their top choices and not planning on doing FAFSA unless they do and itâs one of the schools that requires it for all awards.
Itâs still hard to really wrap our heads around how expensive college is in the US. I see some posts of people from low income backgrounds wanting to be doctors, vets, lawyers and it makes me sad how stacked the odds are against them. I donât think itâs âeasyâ anywhere with those goals but in a number of other countries I can think of, at least the funding is easier if itâs needed.
4 Likes