<p>Just wanted to vent to those who understand – the wait until late March is so hard!!! Trying to keep busy and focus on other things, but this is the biggest thing in our lives. My son is handling it way better than new, btw!</p>
<p>Than “me,” that is!</p>
<p>I hear you. My D didn’t apply EA/ED because she was busy protecting her #1 ranking. When waiting for her final grades I was a wreck.</p>
<p>And now the waiting for college decisions. One thing that kept me sane was her early acceptance to USC with a possibilty of scholarship plus a regent invite from UCLA (which is “almost” an acceptance). But still.</p>
<p>Also my selfish side of me wish that she will not be accepted to an Ivy since we are full-pay. That way we don’t have to decide between an IVY or a UC. 60K or 32K.</p>
<p>@2018dad congrats on USC and UCLA! We’ve got nothing early here, so we just wait. We have the same financial consideration as you, plus we really don’t want him so far away. </p>
<p>2018dad, I was JUST thinking that. Don’t tell anyone though. And I’ve got twins. </p>
<p>@3tallblonds
Ha ha ha! Promise, I will not tell anyone. I can only imagine having twins. Stress x 2!</p>
<p>@collegetime18
Do’nt worry too much. I saw your kid’s stat and UC Davis s/b a saftey for him and UCB is a match. Good luck to HYS and Chicago.</p>
<p>I thought I was the only one going crazy with this waiting game…my DD got into USC early too and it was so exciting but now the wait to hear from the other schools is just so hard. And I know what you mean about getting into an Ivy…having an only child, you think “what if she gets into one of those lottery schools” – how can we say no. My husband turned 65 last week and plans on working for at least another 5 years. I’m 10 years younger so I’ll be working another 10 but you really have to question whether paying $240,000 for an UG degree is worth it. I don’t mean to sound whiny and I’m very thankful that she got into USC but does every parent go through these feelings? Some days I think, if she were to get into X University, of couse we’d do whatever it takes to pay for it but other days, especially after visiting my 85 year old Dad in an adult care home this past weekend, and I start looking at long term care costs, it seems like a ridiculous amount of money to pay…I guess I’m venting/rambling/wondering how it will all end up! </p>
<p>Thanks 2018dad – I’m sure he’ll get in a great school (UCD is terrific and relatively close by!) but this waiting time is so hard! We are lucky to have 529 funds for school but I have told him that if he goes private there will be none for grad school (and we’ll have to kick in by senior year) but if he goes to UC he have some left for his PhD. He was irritated that I put money into it, but it has to be part of the equation. </p>
<p>@clsof2014, it’s been on mind a lot. You aren’t whining. I’m going to try not to even think about it bc it’s not even a decision I have to make yet. Might not get accepted to any of those high priced no merit schools and I would’ve been worrying for naught. </p>
<p>I remember that wait so well. What I remember most was the day our S1 received his rejection from his #1 school. Not a good day in our household. The thought still makes my stomach flip. Ultimately he had many great options to choose from and will graduate from an Ivy this spring. </p>
<p>A couple of thoughts on the Ivy(or Ivy-like) track. For most of us, cost is a very real factor, and should absolutely be front and center during the decision. We are also full pay, and apparently quite well off, according to the financial aid counselors at my sons school. On accepted students day, as our lucky lotto winners explored their fairy tale like surroundings, the financial aid folks explained to the auditorium full of parents that yes, they were committed to meeting the documented financial needs of all admitted students. But based on their definition, few would meet the needs test. Let’s face it, they are pretty indifferent. If they admit 9%, they have 91 back-ups to go to if you can’t/won’t cut the check.</p>
<p>Stress: It’s very real. Our S was also Class Val, Student Counsel Pres, Mock Trial MV Advocate, yadda yadda. So is everyone else. And then some. The adjustment to being “average” can be daunting for most, soul crushing to some. Prepare your S/D for this uber competitive enviroment and give them as much support as you can. It really is a completely different league. </p>
<p>@initiatelaunch, was that meant to calm my nerves? Lol. Soul crushing. Ugh. </p>
<p>@3tallblonds, sorry if that came across a bit harsh, but…it happens. </p>
<p>We came away with 2 major “lessons learned” from our first go round</p>
<ol>
<li>Try not to let S/D fall in love with a school to the exclusion of equally good fits. In our case, our S1 attended a summer semester between Jr. and Sr. year and came away convinced that it was where he was meant to be. Unfortunately there were 30k or so other kids who had the same thought for 1600 spots. He still has that rejection letter tucked away in his dresser drawer. For our part, mom and dad had stars in their eyes as well, swept away by the possibilities. Fortunately, and quite unintentionally, S1 had other very solid choices. So with S2, we started the process with the intention of building a set of great options, not targeting a single school. That said, there was one school where something really clicked. Initially it was just on the list of good fits. And we are keeping the other options active, just in case.
<ol>
<li>Listen for the cultural clues. So now, while going through the process w/ S2, when we hear the tour guide say "we close our library at 3:00 a.m. because we want our students to have a life’'we now hear "STRESS!! BTW, that statement was actually made during a tour. To call a school competitive doesn’t begin to describe what your child will encounter at the lottery schools. All these kids are hard charging Alpha’s who are on a mission to change/save the world. It permeates every facet of their college experience. Forewarned is forearmed, right? I don’t want folks to be discouraged, just help them go into this with eyes wide open.<br></li>
</ol></li>
</ol>
<p>I go back-and-forth every day from thinking he should go to some competitive school where he will be really challenged to maybe a less competitive school where he might actually have fun in college. I hope sometimes he gets into the reach schools and then sometimes I hope that he doesn’t for financial and another personal reasons. it’s such an emotional roller coaster!</p>
<p>2018 Dad-I laughed at your comment because 5 years ago I was like you. DS had gotten into 9 schools all with merit including two full rides. Towards the end of March DH and I kept on saying “please don’t accept him please don’t accept him” because we too were full pay. Fortunately or unfortunately we didn’t have to make that decision because he got a no from those reaches. Now DS is extremely happy and so glad he said yes to a full ride. It made the whole college experience so much more enjoyable. </p>
<p>Also in my experience the regents invite at UCLA means a yes from UCLA (my alma mater) so congratulations. </p>
<p>Sorry to add to the stress you are feeling but now I think two of you are Calif residents on this thread so I want to give you a heads up to prepare you and your children. No UC except Merced is a safety and a match. Last year I had students with over 4.0 and SATs over 2100 not get into a single UC. All very strange. I studied the data and if you pull UC stats from last year you will see that proportionally OOS get into the UC’s at a higher rate than us Californians. This year I am getting even more surprises from our state schools. Even the Cal-States like Sonoma and Humbolt are rejecting students with gpas over 3.5 and 28 ACTs this year. We are shocked since that hasn’t been the case before. Since my dad taught it the system for 30 years it makes me very sad. It appears it is a simple case of our state institutions are simply impacted-too many students not enough space. I am hoping for the best for you but I encourage you to prepare for the worse. There are still some out of state schools who participate in the Western Undergraduate Exchange who are still accepting applications and may offer the discount to make those schools affordable for you. </p>
<p>That’s very sobering, @itsv. We are CA residents. He just got invited to apply for honors at UCSC, and it says on their website that this invite is for admittees, so that’s a good sign. He would prefer Davis, so I hope that comes through. I am concerned about the OOS stats, but know two CA kids with stats lower than my son who got into Cal last year, so I am hopeful (but cautiously so!). </p>
<p>@itsv - thank you for all that great information regarding the UC’s… before I began reading through posts on CC I thought if you were in the top 9% of your school there was a state mandate to accept a student into the UC system…I was obviously misinformed! </p>
<p>@collegetime18 - Congrats to your DS for the honors at UCSC! That’s great news! </p>
<p>Actually you are right about the UC guarantee. Since you hadn’t mentioned it I forgot to mention it too. Only thing the guarantee for top 9% at Cal High School never applies to Cal or UCLA. Usually it is Santa Cruz or Irvine or Riverside. You do not get a choice. </p>
<p>Collegetime Congrats on the Santa Cruz honors. One thing about the students with lower stats who got into CAL-they may have been athletes; EOP applicants; TAG or their high school has a compact agreement like some local high schools do with UCLA. With the UC’s one thing that matter is choice of majors and genders. Males wanting science or engineering have a much harder time getting a UC admit to schools like UCLA; CAL or UCSD. In a month the UC’s will release their application numbers and we will know more if it will be like last year or different. I was shocked when one of my students with over a 4.1 gpa (his school doesn’t have lots of AP’s so this was high for his h.s.) and a SAT over 2100 got turned down from every UC. The only UC he got into was SB and that was for his 5th choice major which he really never wanted to study. I checked around with other h.s. gc’s and they all reported the same. </p>
<p>I know it is tough waiting. In case you have other children applying in the future really try to take advantage of Early Action. My DD (class of 2014) started applying to her safeties in June; got accepted with merit by July. She did EA for every school on her list but 1. By Jan 4 she went 10 for 11-got into her dream school and enrolled on Jan. 8. I love being done since she can enjoy her senior year and I can enjoy her last months at home (she is my youngest). At her old h.s. everyone does RD and they are all waiting and very stressed and nervous. At her current h.s. everyone does EA so lots of acceptances and the kids are happier. Plus her class of 125 really cleaned up with admissions-5 to Harvard; 3 to Stanford-6 to Michigan etc. You get the picture. I lover her counseling office- they advise the students smartly and get them working on everything early. Many of her friends got into UC Riverside a month ago so that took some of the stress off those waiting for UC’s. I know UCLA and CAL in the last week or two notified their regents scholars.</p>
<p>I know it is tough but just try to relax. You son has been accepted to one UC so that should take some of the stress of. Senior year flies by fast and I am trying to enjoy each day of it. </p>
<p>Great advice @itsv. I have found that studying the admissions stats can reveal quite a bit. I am a big believer in dissecting the Common Data Set as well. I also think OOS ( full tuition) can be a leg up, as can gender. Your comment on Males and engineering is spot on. There are quite a number of schools were the F/M ratio is in the 60:40 range, so that can help anyone with a S. I know of 1 public ivy, that maintains a 1:1 M/F ratio, but their common data set reveals that the admit rate for women is ~27%, while men is > 40%. </p>