Parents of the Class of 2019

[StephMK]

To DD, Nebraska is the barren land that separates her from her Colorado mountains Did you like UNK? NWMSU is where I initially wanted DD to go, because it's close and as far as I knew at the time, the cheapest, and everyone seems to love it there. To her that's the "local" school and too many kids she knows will be there. I'm not pushing it anymore, because I found USD for the same price, and UNK cheaper if the merit works out. But, NWMSU is the one that has more of a park naturalist Recreation option so she may consider it after all.

We’re in Omaha and she’s right! I liked UNK for the size because DD is pretty shy. We didn’t take a tour but drove around campus and the area. She was not a fan of the weather or location. She is always cold and wants an urban school though. Before we left, she filled out an app on her phone for a college in SC near the beach and her sis. We’re trying to discuss priorities with her. Lol

Have you looked at Univ of WY? DH is a grad and has unsuccessfully tried to recruit our kids. They have good merit aid with an online chart for GPA/test scores and he says the area is gorgeous.

 

[bjscheel]

We’re in Omaha and she’s right! I liked UNK for the size because DD is pretty shy. We didn’t take a tour but drove around campus and the area. She was not a fan of the weather or location. She is always cold and wants an urban school though. Before we left, she filled out an app on her phone for a college in SC near the beach and her sis. We’re trying to discuss priorities with her. Lol

Have you looked at Univ of WY? DH is a grad and has unsuccessfully tried to recruit our kids. They have good merit aid with an online chart for GPA/test scores and he says the area is gorgeous.

I have looking at Wyoming and she would think it was cool but it looks like with the top automatic merit the tuition/R&B would be $16,000. UNK with a 29 ACT would be just under $10,000, so since it's closer to home and the weather isn't any better in Wyoming, UNK is still my best deal (IF she can get a 29).

I would love for her to go south for slightly better weather but she isn't worried about cold too much. Her top choice is USD (north almost 3 hours) and my top choice is UNK (straight west). NWMSU is two hours south and slightly more expensive than USD (maybe comparable since NWMSU provides books and laptop free). SEMO would be warmer at 7.5 hours south but the distance and no proximity to airport makes that one annoying travel wise.

Near a beach in SC sounds nice, especially if there is family nearby that helps, if it's affordable though!

 

[bjscheel]

District Speech Contest was Saturday and DD is now going to State in One Act and Musical Theatre. Yay, but that means two more weeks of practices on those events. And starting on individual speech which is in 4 weeks. Who knows if she'll get any more ACT studying done in the next 3 weeks! After the contest DD announced she was no longer interested in theater as a career, just wants to do it as a hobby. Great! We'll see if that feeling lasts now. I had started researching musical theatre majors again and still had my misgivings.

She is thinking of being a flight attendant for a few years after college is done, especially if she is unattached to anyone by college graduation. I think she would love doing it, and had the idea maybe she could live at home for that time period to save money and pay off student loans. Why pay for a place to live when you're away so much? But she probably can't live this far away from a major airport and make that work. Unless her sister moves somewhere that could work and she could stay with her. We'll see.

 

[Colleen27]

District Speech Contest was Saturday and DD is now going to State in One Act and Musical Theatre. Yay, but that means two more weeks of practices on those events. And starting on individual speech which is in 4 weeks. Who knows if she'll get any more ACT studying done in the next 3 weeks! After the contest DD announced she was no longer interested in theater as a career, just wants to do it as a hobby. Great! We'll see if that feeling lasts now. I had started researching musical theatre majors again and still had my misgivings.

She is thinking of being a flight attendant for a few years after college is done, especially if she is unattached to anyone by college graduation. I think she would love doing it, and had the idea maybe she could live at home for that time period to save money and pay off student loans. Why pay for a place to live when you're away so much? But she probably can't live this far away from a major airport and make that work. Unless her sister moves somewhere that could work and she could stay with her. We'll see.

Congrats to her! I love the flight attendant idea, too. That would be a great job for those young, unattached days right after graduation.

DD got something from Tulane in the mail and now she's thinking about changing the destination for our April college tour trip. The plan was to see Cornell, which she picked up on in 8th or 9th grade and kind of got stuck on for a few reasons, some good, some not-so-good. But after touring U of Mich. with a friend and reading all these college ranking articles that compare the two, she's not sure she is interested any more. Too big, too suburban, too car-friendly. We were planning on visiting Cornell and Fordham over break; now she's asking if I can change things up to see Tulane and Loyola NOLA instead. I think either one would be a better fit, given how the college search has evolved - urban, suited for car-less living, smaller, and in a better location for her intended major. But $$$$$! Private school price tag without the full-need policies of the other schools she's looking at... pretty intimidating.

 

[mjkacmom]

Lots of kids here apply to Cornell, it’s on dd’s list, as well as Fordham, which is very urban. Fordham is less than 30 miles from us, but it would be a hell of a commute.

 

[bjscheel]

DD got something from Tulane in the mail and now she's thinking about changing the destination for our April college tour trip. The plan was to see Cornell, which she picked up on in 8th or 9th grade and kind of got stuck on for a few reasons, some good, some not-so-good. But after touring U of Mich. with a friend and reading all these college ranking articles that compare the two, she's not sure she is interested any more. Too big, too suburban, too car-friendly. We were planning on visiting Cornell and Fordham over break; now she's asking if I can change things up to see Tulane and Loyola NOLA instead. I think either one would be a better fit, given how the college search has evolved - urban, suited for car-less living, smaller, and in a better location for her intended major. But $$$$$! Private school price tag without the full-need policies of the other schools she's looking at... pretty intimidating.

Yeah, and if you visit, you run the risk of her falling in love with them and not being able to afford. Do those schools give any merit? I'm not sure whether to let DD visit the private school on her list. It's actually not bad as far as private schools go for cost, but I don't want her to be disappointed if she thinks it's amazing on her visit and then I tell her no.

 

[Colleen27]

Yeah, and if you visit, you run the risk of her falling in love with them and not being able to afford. Do those schools give any merit? I'm not sure whether to let DD visit the private school on her list. It's actually not bad as far as private schools go for cost, but I don't want her to be disappointed if she thinks it's amazing on her visit and then I tell her no.

Quite a bit, thank God. According to Tulane's net cost calculator, her GPA and scores would get her decent merit aid and our income would qualify for a significant need-based award too. It estimates we'd be on the hook for about $15K/year (out of a cost of attendance around $72K). That's a lot more than either of her top choice schools would cost us, because she's looking at big-endowment schools with policies of meeting full need and minimizing/eliminating loans, but it is in the same ballpark as her 'safety' school and *should* be doable without loans although it would be a stretch (and would make for a couple of VERY tight years around here while DS is still in school too).

I'm more concerned with taking her to Loyola. At least with Tulane, there'd be good reasons to shell out the money - they actually have a marine biology minor and a research station on the Gulf, where most of the schools she's looking at would be environmental science/biology majors without any dedicated course or field work in marine bio. But as far as I can tell from online research Loyola NOLA doesn't offer anything significantly better than Loyola Chicago, which is her intended safety school, but would cost more both for school itself and for transportation expenses to/from. So my worry is that she's going to fall in love with the *city* and prioritize Loyola NOLA over Loyola Chicago if she doesn't get in to Tulane.

 

[MerissaAndMomLoveDis]

All this talk of schools is so interesting!! I have been following the thread--I will try to start posting more because everyone is so helpful and informative and it is just so nice to know we are all going through basically the same issues. My DD is also on the Cornell bandwagon. She loves it and plans to apply. I took her to visit in July. Beautiful campus and she liked how passionate Cornellians were about their school without it being over the top. I somewhat question how she would do in a school that gets snowy, cold weather. DD loves more than a handful of schools, and says she would be happy at any of them, and has a list of 10 she plans to apply to. There are 3 more that she is thinking about. Some are expensive private schools, some are a big reach (I'm looking at you MIT), some are Texas public universities (we are in Texas). Barring unforeseen circumstances, she will be Top 7 % in her class which means auto-admit to any Texas state public university.

We have had "the talk" re: what I can afford v. schools that are out of reach unless she receives a major award, scholarship, etc. I am a single mom, and we will get zero help from her bio dad. I told her I am willing to pay up to what it would cost to go to University of Texas or Texas A&M. What is really interesting is that I have done a number of the private schools' online cost calculators, and if I am doing them right (which I question lol), many are saying she will get BIG need based awards that would make them cost way less than a Texas public university. DD has been very level-headed about the whole thing, and will apply to probably 10 (depending on how many application fee waivers she might can get??), then see how final cost calculations compare.

 

[bjscheel]

All this talk of schools is so interesting!! I have been following the thread--I will try to start posting more because everyone is so helpful and informative and it is just so nice to know we are all going through basically the same issues. My DD is also on the Cornell bandwagon. She loves it and plans to apply. I took her to visit in July. Beautiful campus and she liked how passionate Cornellians were about their school without it being over the top. I somewhat question how she would do in a school that gets snowy, cold weather. DD loves more than a handful of schools, and says she would be happy at any of them, and has a list of 10 she plans to apply to. There are 3 more that she is thinking about. Some are expensive private schools, some are a big reach (I'm looking at you MIT), some are Texas public universities (we are in Texas). Barring unforeseen circumstances, she will be Top 7 % in her class which means auto-admit to any Texas state public university.

We have had "the talk" re: what I can afford v. schools that are out of reach unless she receives a major award, scholarship, etc. I am a single mom, and we will get zero help from her bio dad. I told her I am willing to pay up to what it would cost to go to University of Texas or Texas A&M. What is really interesting is that I have done a number of the private schools' online cost calculators, and if I am doing them right (which I question lol), many are saying she will get BIG need based awards that would make them cost way less than a Texas public university. DD has been very level-headed about the whole thing, and will apply to probably 10 (depending on how many application fee waivers she might can get??), then see how final cost calculations compare.

Do you read College Confidential forums? If not, you'd find them interesting. I'm a little obsessed. It's kind of like the Disboards of the Disney world, in that most of the posters are hard-core with high achieving children and looking at schools in the NE. Not as much info on places we're looking at in the Midwest but it's still entertaining and informational.

In other news, I would like to get DD off the emotional roller coaster that has been junior year. Her friends have not always been great, and one who cheers with her was being downright rude. Homework plus activities has been overwhelming. But she had decided to just be happy and we had a good week last week. But now her musical theater partner, a senior boy, has really upset her. She doesn't like him but tolerates him and is friendly enough and kind. But he LIKES her. At contest Saturday she started talking to a boy from another school and her partner got so upset about it (!) that he considered sabotaging their performance. He didn't, and they're going to State and now he tells the coach he doesn't want to do it, but he practiced with her anyway and acted like everything is fine. She still fears he will decide to screw up things at State. She loves musical theater and wants to perform at State but now it will be a big worry for the next two weeks. It just feels like every time something starts to go her way someone interferes. Why can't people just let her be happy?

 

[Colleen27]

DD loves more than a handful of schools, and says she would be happy at any of them, and has a list of 10 she plans to apply to. There are 3 more that she is thinking about.

What is really interesting is that I have done a number of the private schools' online cost calculators, and if I am doing them right (which I question lol), many are saying she will get BIG need based awards that would make them cost way less than a Texas public university. DD has been very level-headed about the whole thing, and will apply to probably 10 (depending on how many application fee waivers she might can get??), then see how final cost calculations compare.

I wish I could get DD to consider that many choices. So far, she likes exactly three of the schools we've visited and two of them have acceptance rates in the teens! She's a strong student and a very involved person, but still... with those odds, a handful of applications feels risky. But she is being very practical about costs, which I appreciate because getting through undergrad without loans will make grad school more manageable for her/us.

 

[MerissaAndMomLoveDis]

Do you read College Confidential forums? If not, you'd find them interesting. I'm a little obsessed. It's kind of like the Disboards of the Disney world, in that most of the posters are hard-core with high achieving children and looking at schools in the NE. Not as much info on places we're looking at in the Midwest but it's still entertaining and informational.

Thus far, I have not really looked at College Confidential. I took a quick look around about two (?) years ago, and it kind of scared me off with how intense it was. I intended to go back closer to now, but then her counselor warned the parents away from it. But now you've reminded me of it, I may have to take a peek again. I love to read and research online.

In other news, I would like to get DD off the emotional roller coaster that has been junior year. Her friends have not always been great, and one who cheers with her was being downright rude.

Sorry to hear your DD is having to deal with a mean girl on her cheer squad.

I so wanted DD to be a cheerleader, but sadly it is very lame at her school so I can't blame her for absolutely refusing in Jr High and High School. Also they don't have a football team so only get to cheer for basketball. I cheered in jr high and high school and my mom was also a cheerleader in high school and college, so when DD was little I just always thought she would be too. She was a competitive gymnast for 9 years, so it would have been great to have all that training translate into something in high school, as she did struggle at first to find her niche and become involved in activities that interested her in high school once she was no longer training after school everyday and Saturday.

Homework plus activities has been overwhelming.

SAME HERE. I don't know how she is doing it all!!!

But she had decided to just be happy and we had a good week last week. But now her musical theater partner, a senior boy, has really upset her. She doesn't like him but tolerates him and is friendly enough and kind. But he LIKES her. At contest Saturday she started talking to a boy from another school and her partner got so upset about it (!) that he considered sabotaging their performance. He didn't, and they're going to State and now he tells the coach he doesn't want to do it, but he practiced with her anyway and acted like everything is fine. She still fears he will decide to screw up things at State. She loves musical theater and wants to perform at State but now it will be a big worry for the next two weeks. It just feels like every time something starts to go her way someone interferes. Why can't people just let her be happy?

First, so cool she made it to State! Ughhhh!!! Boys!!!! My DD had something similar happen, and she had been pretty oblivious that the boy "liked" her up to that point. Can the school substitute someone else in if he can't (or won't) do it?

 

[MerissaAndMomLoveDis]

I wish I could get DD to consider that many choices. So far, she likes exactly three of the schools we've visited and two of them have acceptance rates in the teens! She's a strong student and a very involved person, but still... with those odds, a handful of applications feels risky. But she is being very practical about costs, which I appreciate because getting through undergrad without loans will make grad school more manageable for her/us.

LOL. I applied to one school back in the dark ages when I was a senior in high school. DD has had one or two change from time to time, but has had her "list" stay pretty consistent for a while. Rice was her first campus toured and she absolutely loves it there. We have visited a lot of schools since then. Mostly I've tried to incorporate college visits into our vacations or random Friday teacher work days since 8th grade. We have a full day program coming up to attend at University of Texas (where DD boyfriend in class of 2018 is likely headed), and probably will still visit Johns Hopkins and Georgia Tech, and then I hope we are done. Some are reaches like Stanford and MIT, some are selective but I think she has a solid chance at acceptance yet we cannot afford without a lot of aid (and I won't allow her or myself to go into big debt for), and some are solid Texas public schools that she will get accepted to and I can afford but aid is not as plentiful.

I agree, with those acceptance rates I would probably want her to apply to at least 5, including at least one or two "safety" schools.

 

[bjscheel]

First, so cool she made it to State! Ughhhh!!! Boys!!!! My DD had something similar happen, and she had been pretty oblivious that the boy "liked" her up to that point. Can the school substitute someone else in if he can't (or won't) do it?

Well, there's just one other boy who could be capable and willing. I don't think 1.5 weeks is enough time to get him up to speed but I'll mention it to her. I suspect her partner will actually follow through in the end but he's going to drive her nuts in the meantime. He's definitely lost whatever friendship he had with her. On the plus side, she really likes the boy she met, just hopes the two boys never meet...

 

[bjscheel]

I wish I could get DD to consider that many choices. So far, she likes exactly three of the schools we've visited and two of them have acceptance rates in the teens! She's a strong student and a very involved person, but still... with those odds, a handful of applications feels risky. But she is being very practical about costs, which I appreciate because getting through undergrad without loans will make grad school more manageable for her/us.

Definitely risky. On College Confidential there are all kinds of spectacular students that didn't get accepted at some place or another. I've learned you're supposed to apply to some safeties, some matches, and some reaches. You need to have something be a sure thing so she has someplace to go. DD is not looking at anything very selective so we won't have that stress whether she will be accepted or not. Just have to worry about cost and how much she likes each one.

 

[Colleen27]

LOL. I applied to one school back in the dark ages when I was a senior in high school. DD has had one or two change from time to time, but has had her "list" stay pretty consistent for a while. Rice was her first campus toured and she absolutely loves it there. We have visited a lot of schools since then. Mostly I've tried to incorporate college visits into our vacations or random Friday teacher work days since 8th grade. We have a full day program coming up to attend at University of Texas (where DD boyfriend in class of 2018 is likely headed), and probably will still visit Johns Hopkins and Georgia Tech, and then I hope we are done. Some are reaches like Stanford and MIT, some are selective but I think she has a solid chance at acceptance yet we cannot afford without a lot of aid (and I won't allow her or myself to go into big debt for), and some are solid Texas public schools that she will get accepted to and I can afford but aid is not as plentiful.

I agree, with those acceptance rates I would probably want her to apply to at least 5, including at least one or two "safety" schools.

I applied to two... and one was on a bet.

DD's list started out a bit more varied than it is now, even though her intended major limits the field from the start. I pushed her to see Georgetown even though it wasn't on her list because we were in D.C. anyway, and something just "clicked" with the campus, the size, and the location. That narrowed her list a LOT because she realized she really doesn't want a huge school and would like to be in a urban enough setting not to need a car (which has some monetary value, because we won't be buying/insuring a car for her during her college years - at Michigan insurance rates, that's worth $5k/year at least!).

I've been letting her take the lead on the search so far, but now that we're at the point of looking for fall-back options I think she's a little overwhelmed and less excited about the hunt so I've been doing a bit of research to expand her list just a little. She's always been a big fish in a little pond - her graduating class is 27 students and she'll likely be ranked #2 after one of her best friends - so I don't think she gets just how hard it is to get into a school like Georgetown. I hope she proves me wrong; it works in her favor that GT does in-person interviews in the applicant's area, and she comes off very well in person and her 4H background has given her a lot to use in essays/interviews, including 8 weeks in Japan next summer. But I want her to have a safety that she really likes, if not absolutely loves, just in case.

Definitely risky. On College Confidential there are all kinds of spectacular students that didn't get accepted at some place or another. I've learned you're supposed to apply to some safeties, some matches, and some reaches. You need to have something be a sure thing so she has someplace to go. DD is not looking at anything very selective so we won't have that stress whether she will be accepted or not. Just have to worry about cost and how much she likes each one.

That's what I'm trying for. It is hard when she's really not looking in-state, though. There are only so many trips we have the time and money for! U of Tampa and U of San Diego have both come up as good match schools on the search tools she's used, but getting there to see it in person... that's tough. Especially U of SD. Tampa might get tacked on to our next Disney trip, since we're driving anyway.

But I keep reminding myself that Loyola is barely selective (about 60% admission rate) and her stats are above the numbers on their freshman profile, so at least she has the one on her list that should be a slam dunk. And she did like it there.

 

[mjkacmom]

My niece graduated fro Georgetown with a degree in marine biology. I believe she is an events planner, plus teaches rowing classes. She lives in NYC and is loving life (she is 25). Dd inputted some of her stats and interests in Naviance, which said that she should be looking at schools like UB, UCONN, and UMD

 

[Lynne G]

College talk and prom. Still no real hint as to who or whether will go to prom and more eagerly talking about college. Wants to go to a medium or large school. Names are starting to be floated around. We tried to say stay in state, but I guess we'll see. She wants to not commute, but I am trying to get her to go a few hours away from home. We'll be doing college visits later this Spring and into the summer. I assume by the end of summer, the list of where to apply will be finalized mostly. Yeah, and cost will come into those decisions, whether she likes it or not.

Mid terms are almost done. She and I are both having a hard time believing the school year is half over already. Since she wants to take the AP test, and we have to pay for the test. Sigh, $100 that the school won't cover. I will pay it though, I think her scoring well on that test is not a bad thing. My older kid did not take it, but he's on a different path than her.

And a ha, ha. She's still deciding between two paths, both of which mean grad school. She thought the one had less schooling. Nope, both have more schooling after college.
But, for both, the major does not matter that much, though the one, being in some majors would be better than others.

Good luck BJ's DD, with States. A shame her partner doesn't get the hint, that she only wanted friendship. Hopefully, after States, they can go their separate ways. Nice, she met a boy she's interested in.

 

[mjkacmom]

Dd has 4 AP classes this year, I’ll pay for 2, tips. Ds19 did get credit for microeconomics for college.

 

[Lynne G]

MJK, that's what I am hoping, she gets some college credits for the classes. She's only take 2 this year, as honor classes round out the rest.

 

[mjkacmom]

Dd also has 3 honors classes, she’s taking AP calc and honors medical math, she just got a B on her medical math midterm, so she will get college credit (it’s a STEM program in the high school with Rutgers). Next semester is honors medical terminology. One of her honors classes is choir, thank goodness.

Since she’s taking AP Spanish this year, so won’t have a language next year, and can finally take culinary (practical art is a state requirement).

AP exams stink here, since they are in May. Our school year starts in September, so they have to learn a bit on their own.