High School Class of 2016/College Class 2020

[MomofKatie]

So I'm currently on a college visit trip with my junior in high school and at one school, the admissions guy at the info session said they had a 70% increase in apps this year. That explains why DD was waitlisted at one place she should have been a shoo in and another where she was dab smack in the middle of listed stats.

Same. DD got waitlisted at a school that, based on her stats, should have been a slam dunk for her. They said they had a huge uptick in the number if applications they had this year.

I think it has gotten crazy, the sheer numbers of schools kids are applying to. DD applied at 7 schools, but most if her friends applied to 12, 15, even 20 schools. That is just crazy- at $50-80 a pop, their parents are spending over $1000 just for application fees!! Seems like a lit of these schools are starting to rank level of interest pretty high. Just applying tends to get you a waitlist or rejection- the kids who visit, interview, email, and call the school seem to get a "second look".

 

[punkin]

Same. DD got waitlisted at a school that, based on her stats, should have been a slam dunk for her. They said they had a huge uptick in the number if applications they had this year.

I think it has gotten crazy, the sheer numbers of schools kids are applying to. DD applied at 7 schools, but most if her friends applied to 12, 15, even 20 schools. That is just crazy- at $50-80 a pop, their parents are spending over $1000 just for application fees!! Seems like a lit of these schools are starting to rank level of interest pretty high. Just applying tends to get you a waitlist or rejection- the kids who visit, interview, email, and call the school seem to get a "second look".

I'm one of those parents, lol. DD applied to 17 schools. She also showed interest in most of them. The school where she was waitlisted and she was in the middle of the stats, she visited, stayed overnight, and interviewed.

ETA: a lot of the apps were free also.

 

[MomofKatie]

I'm one of those parents, lol. DD applied to 17 schools. She also showed interest in most of them. The school where she was waitlisted and she was in the middle of the stats, she visited, stayed overnight, and interviewed.

ETA: a lot of the apps were free also.

I wish we had had more free apps! DD only got one exemption. I would never tell anyone they shouldn't apply to as many places they are interested in, but we don't have the $$ to spend on them. DD really tried to narrow her search to only those schools that she was a good match for, had her major, had decent financial aid, and she would be happy attending. Many of her friends seemed to apply to a lot of schools they had no intention of attending, just to say they got accepted at School X and School Y.

 

[punkin]

I wish we had had more free apps! DD only got one exemption. I would never tell anyone they shouldn't apply to as many places they are interested in, but we don't have the $$ to spend on them. DD really tried to narrow her search to only those schools that she was a good match for, had her major, had decent financial aid, and she would be happy attending. Many of her friends seemed to apply to a lot of schools they had no intention of attending, just to say they got accepted at School X and School Y.

That's just stupid. DD was interested in every single school she applied to. She was just scared about getting in because she had some "interesting" circumstances.

 

[zoemurr]

I really hate this. DD worked like crazy for 4 years. 9 AP classes, GS Gold award, tons of community service. She is 9 for 9. She really wants to go to a tech school where everyone is as passionate about learning as she is. She did get some great merit, but her top school is 67k (doesn't give merit) and her next one is 50k after 15k merit. (she missed National Merit Scholar by 2 points). The other schools she really isn't that excited about. Her father told her tonight that he's not comfortable paying more than $38k a year. It's understandable but she's pretty crushed. Most of these other schools she could have gone to without all of the stress and work. How do people afford this?

 

[Aliceacc]

I think it's time to bite the bullet and send in the deposit to his #1 choice, even without the numbers. (I figure they should arrive right after I send in the money, right??)

Based on his acceptance letter, he has $5000 in aid. If he takes out a $5000 loan, that pulls the cost down to $27,000 per year (including tuition, fees, room and board, books, transportation, the works.) If we can talk them down another $3000, it will mean $24,000--- pretty much what we would have paid at SUNY, and $2000 per month. I'm hoping that's doable.

Of course, we'll have to hit LOTTO if either of his sisters want to attend college, but we have 2 years before we have to worry about that.

It was right in the middle of the pack in terms of the 9 schools to which he applied; their annual costs range from $22K - $44K. Anything more expensive than that, or at the upper end of that range without a good reputation for financial aid, simply didn't warrant an application.

 

[mjkacmom]

Same. DD got waitlisted at a school that, based on her stats, should have been a slam dunk for her. They said they had a huge uptick in the number if applications they had this year.

I think it has gotten crazy, the sheer numbers of schools kids are applying to. DD applied at 7 schools, but most if her friends applied to 12, 15, even 20 schools. That is just crazy- at $50-80 a pop, their parents are spending over $1000 just for application fees!! Seems like a lit of these schools are starting to rank level of interest pretty high. Just applying tends to get you a waitlist or rejection- the kids who visit, interview, email, and call the school seem to get a "second look".

Absolutely! If you are really interested in a school, make sure to visit, call, and email - admissions do keep track.

 

[Pea-n-Me]

Okay - after waiting and waiting for financial aid info from DDs #1, we found out that she was missing a form. I did send the form in with all the other info, in the same envelope, but it was apparently lost. I called the school and verified what I needed, faxed it there Tuesday and had the numbers back on Friday. I think I'll be able to write a check for the whole thing without DD taking any loans. She does have a savings plan that will specifically cover tuition and fees - then the federal grant and a merit scholarship from the school along with a small need-based grant. We are fortunate.

Her school is about 2hr 45 minutes away - but only about 45 minutes from my sister. It has one of the best programs in the state for her major and she got accepted into the honors college, which has some of the nicest dorms I have ever seen. We were on the website tonight looking at menus from some of the dining options. She's excited that they have a fancy tea shop in the library and two Starbucks. It's getting real!!

We had something similar happen. DH took care of the FAFSAs right in early January. We got a financial statement for DS's school but not for DDs. Waiting, waiting. Then the other day something came from FAFSA with her name spelled incorrectly. DH said when he turned it in, it was correct. I have no idea what happened but apparently it's screwed things up. Kind of bummed out, too, because the delay may have caused her to miss out on merit aid. Ugh.

 

[Monykalyn]

arrggh- is today the FAFSA rant? DD checked with her school she is likely going to see why we haven't heard anything-FAFSA submitted Jan 9-she checked mid Feb to make sure had been sent to her top schools. So this school replies back that they didnt get it??!! submitted in January (confirmed and resubmitted just in case in Feb)and they STILL don't have it?? Explains why she only got the letter for the small scholarship and no merit or financial aid package but AAGGHH I hope this doesn't mean she is too late for any merit! She got into Honors College, we have had a dorm deposit down since October, We attended an invite only Honors invocation...good gravy! I hate to bug her too much this month as she is super stressed with the presentation of her Lunar Research team coming up this week, she has a couple Grammar and Comp papers due this week and she basically misses a day every week for either tutoring special things or science competitions or band competitions. Hopefully these are wrapping up for the semester and she can enjoy the rest of her senior year.

 

[Aliceacc]

Our deposit is going in TODAY.

 

[goofy4prez]

We are finally pretty much done with the whole process. But with that I can't come on here and say my DD scored a 32 on her ACT, has a 4.5 GPA, is the president of the debate team and is choosing between full scholarships at Harvard, Yale or Rice University. This is no attack on anyone here with a high achieving son/daughter who's choosing between some of these great educational institutions. But I am very proud that my DD had to work so hard over these past 4 years to earn a 3.60 grade average and had to take the ACT three times to get the score up to 24... I'm proud of her.

I'm proud that she passed up Ohio State (no scholarships) and Kent State (some aid) along with several other schools and has decided to attend an excellent Division III private school in the University of Mount Union (best DIII football team in the nation) and the very nice package she received in scholastic as well as music scholarships. We have paid the entrance fee and accepted the schools offer. She is going to leave college with about 20K in student loans since mom and dad can't foot the entire bill, especially since my wife has just been diagnosed with breast cancer in the last month. We have saved and can afford to pay the other 60K of her education. She is not going to be a biochemist, brain surgeon, or nuclear engineer but instead is pursuing a dual major in Business Management and Japanese along with a minor in music... We are still so proud of her and are very happy that she has decided to be a Mount Union Purple Raider.

 

[punkin]

Goofy4prez, I think your DD has accomplished a lot and you should be proud of her. Sounds like she made a great choice. BTW, a 24 is a perfectly good score, above the national average. Good for your DD.

 

[dragonflydoll2]

We are finally pretty much done with the whole process. But with that I can't come on here and say my DD scored a 32 on her ACT, has a 4.5 GPA, is the president of the debate team and is choosing between full scholarships at Harvard, Yale or Rice University. This is no attack on anyone here with a high achieving son/daughter who's choosing between some of these great educational institutions. But I am very proud that my DD had to work so hard over these past 4 years to earn a 3.60 grade average and had to take the ACT three times to get the score up to 24... I'm proud of her.

I'm proud that she passed up Ohio State (no scholarships) and Kent State (some aid) along with several other schools and has decided to attend an excellent Division III private school in the University of Mount Union (best DIII football team in the nation) and the very nice package she received in scholastic as well as music scholarships. We have paid the entrance fee and accepted the schools offer. She is going to leave college with about 20K in student loans since mom and dad can't foot the entire bill, especially since my wife has just been diagnosed with breast cancer in the last month. We have saved and can afford to pay the other 60K of her education. She is not going to be a biochemist, brain surgeon, or nuclear engineer but instead is pursuing a dual major in Business Management and Japanese along with a minor in music... We are still so proud of her and are very happy that she has decided to be a Mount Union Purple Raider.

I also can't say those things about my daughter. She took the ACT 7 times to get her 29 and for that she felt like a failure. This was a long drawn out process full of tears and sometimes fits. She is an excellent student (4.2 GPA) and is involved in clubs and student government with leadership roles. I think she is just now taking time to breathe and have some fun senior year and it's almost over. I feel for all of our kids...the amount of pressure they are under and the standards that they are held accountable to are incredible. All I want for my daughter is for her to be happy and maybe not have so much debt. She will be studying Psychology and plans to work for a non-profit.

 

[punkin]

My DD may have made her final decision. We still have some schools outstanding, but she has a clear favorite.

 

[Monykalyn]

Decision times! Nice to see the kids hard work paying off! My DD took her ACT 3 times as well-got up to a 31-was going to try again and decided this is it. I am hoping the school she chose will allow some of her college credits from local state university to transfer (she has a 4.0 with 13 credits at Missouri state University) and that may cut down on time and money. Think she has settled on University of Arkansas in Fayetteville-has her roommate set up and housing choices for the Honors College starts 2 weeks before other incoming Freshman.
FAFSA update- Turns out this school doesn't have her social security number on file-she will call today and admissions said she should have her financial aid package within a few days-hopefully with some merit aid in addition to small scholarship she has.

Picked up her senior portraits today...

 

[crazee4mickey]

How have I missed this for 4 years??!! My DD who is the last of our 4 kids is graduating and we are so proud of her but gosh I am going to miss having kids in the house!

She has now been accepted to 3 universities in Canada and one in the US....she is under a lot of stress with which one to choose!

She applied at her first choice thinking she may not get in as it is a top university so applied to 3 others as "back ups" but ended up getting in to all 4!

Problem is, her first choice university is 18 hours away and we have no family or friends there who could help her out if she needed it. For her first year away, it would be nice to have her closer but we are not saying anything to discourage her as we do not want to influence her final decision...however, we have talked about the reality of her being there all by herself and that we cannot get there at the "drop off the hat" if she needed us.

The second university, she has been accepted in to the Bachelor of Psychology Sciences program, is 5 hours away which is "doable" but she is not sure on psychology anymore.

The last two (one Canadian and one US) are only about 2.5-3 hours away.

The US one was looking like it might be on the radar as a contender (only because she has an American boyfriend) but man, they don't make it easy! To get an "I20" form for out of country students they needed our financial records but then they said we didn't make enough! Not trying to sound like I am bragging but we make a very comfortable living so this was confusing.....I told them we would be paying with cash for her entire schooling but they said that doesn't matter because the school needs this form just to show she is financially capable to be there and won't be a burden to the US.

When I said we clearly make enough money, they said that for the I20 form, they took our salaries converted it to USD and then divided it by 4 and the formula is showing that nope, she isn't financially secure!! What the heck?! I understand the reasoning behind the form but my gosh, all you need to do is look at the numbers and know she is okay to go on the money end.

As for the ACT she had to write for the US university, her score wasn't outstanding, not anywhere close to her true academic successes but we found out after she wrote she could have applied for more time since she has great difficulty with reading and comprehension. She also struggles with anxiety which didn't help matters.

So glad Canadian universities don't require this kind of testing, gosh, the stress is crazy!

As for scholarships, if she did go to the US school she would lose all her scholarships from up here....

 

[mjkacmom]

Hmm, I think ds is a slacker compared to some. He took the ACT once, was happy with 30, filled out one college application, was accepted, chose to major in business because it's one of the harder programs to get into, so it's easier to switch later on if he ever decides what he really wants to do.

All in all, pretty boring!

 

[MomofKatie]

Hmm, I think ds is a slacker compared to some. He took the ACT once, was happy with 30, filled out one college application, was accepted, chose to major in business because it's one of the harder programs to get into, so it's easier to switch later on if he ever decides what he really wants to do.

All in all, pretty boring!

But no drama! I wish DD's process was a little more "boring".

It is looking more and more like she is going to end up at the first school she heard from- it would have been so much less bother if we had just stopped right then. At least the decision would be made, and the stress and anxiety these last 5 months could have been avoided.

 

[Hikergirl]

Hmm, I think ds is a slacker compared to some. He took the ACT once, was happy with 30, filled out one college application, was accepted, chose to major in business because it's one of the harder programs to get into, so it's easier to switch later on if he ever decides what he really wants to do.

All in all, pretty boring!

My dd never even took the SAT or ACT, didn't really apply anywhere either just started taking some CC classes in highschool and registered. Talk about boring

 

[luvsJack]

Hmm, I think ds is a slacker compared to some. He took the ACT once, was happy with 30, filled out one college application, was accepted, chose to major in business because it's one of the harder programs to get into, so it's easier to switch later on if he ever decides what he really wants to do.

All in all, pretty boring!

Yep, that sounds like dd. Her "decision" is made which was pretty much "choir scholarship" OR "choir scholarship + Mom's employee scholarship"! She still has her stress filled moments getting ready to graduate in a bit over a month but all this waiting around for some school to say yes sounds horrendous!!