High School Class 2013: Picking Colleges..Check in Here!

[js]

Ugadog99, DD 's number one choice this week, is Shenandoah U, with American and Desales right on it's heals.

We visited Drew, Muhlenberg (briefly, have to go back to the Jr. open house in the spring), James Madison and Wagner. Have this year all planned out on my calendar.

That being said, DD just came back from the acting coach and coach had a "come to Jesus (as Oprah would say) talk with her. For years, DD has been asking me to get her headshots and allow her to go on auditions. She has said that she wants to be on Disney or Nickelodeon. I have hesitated because I knew that once she was bitten, there would be no turning back and she may not want to go to college because heck, if she's already getting gigs, what would she need to go to college for?

Well that's exactly what she portrayed to me today, after her coach said that she needs to rethink everything. DD doesn't feel the need to study theatre in order to have a good foundation if she's already getting parts. UGH!! She said that she knows that I want her to go to college, but if she's working on a show (or movie, etc.), there wouldn't be time for college. UGH x2!

Now don't get me wrong, I absolutely know that you don't need a theatre degree to be an actor, but I did explain to her the college experience itself would give her so much more to prepare her for life, especially if she wants to be an actress and would want to be marketable to do other things during the down times.

Well, I'll be getting her pics done and send her on some auditions and either 1. - she'll book stuff and I'll see that she's better than I thought at this stage or 2. - she won't book stuff and will realize she needs more training or 3 - she'll forget the whole things and decide to be a veterinary technician (like she wanted to be years ago).

Ah, the drama, pun intended!

My dd is finishing her first semester at Muhlenberg and loves it.
The school is bascially split into sciences/theatre (she is a bio major).
She said everyone is very friendly and all get along regardless of the major.
I was worried the school may have been a bit too small for her but she never has complained. She received the tuition exchange scholarship, which we knew before she applied since they did an early read on her, so it was a no brainer, we applied ED and she had her acceptance about 2 weeks before Thanksgiving last year.

Good luck to everyone! It's a fun and stressful time!

 

[Tinijocaro]

DS has applied to 10 schools, a few more than I think he needed to but dh wanted him to. Some heavy hitters such as MIT, Harvard, Carnegie Mellon, Cornell..and some mid-range schools-U of Rochester (NY), U of Michigan, and some safety schools-U of Buffalo, and SUNY Stonybrook.

Case Western school emailed him and waived the application fee so he applied there too.

We have not heard from one school yet and it's making me crazy. He will hear from MIT (which is his top pick) this Saturday. Don't think we'd be able to afford it but I'd love for him to at least be accepted. Saturday could be a great day or a bummer day. I think he'll take it in stride either way.

The waiting is killing me.

 

[BuzznBelle'smom]

Did anyone else get news over the weekend? My DD got into Hofstra--it's choice #5 for her, we haven't even visited it yet, but she's 3 for 3 on acceptances, so that feels good.

She was also offered a place in the Honors program at La Salle. It means harder classes, the nicest dorm, and a few other perks.

 

[Christine]

Did anyone else get news over the weekend? My DD got into Hofstra--it's choice #5 for her, we haven't even visited it yet, but she's 3 for 3 on acceptances, so that feels good.

She was also offered a place in the Honors program at La Salle. It means harder classes, the nicest dorm, and a few other perks.

Congratulations!

My son did get his acceptance to George Mason University. It is a safety school for him. So he's been accepted into both his safeties. We won't hear from the other schools until March/April.

I don't know much about Hofstra except that, I swear, my son gets one e-mail a day from them.

 

[Tinijocaro]

DS got an acceptance from U of Michigan and a deferral from MTI. I guess that beats an all out rejection from that school.

 

[Christine]

DS got an acceptance from U of Michigan and a deferral from MTI. I guess that beats an all out rejection from that school.

Hey, you bet a deferral from MIT beats a rejection. I think to even be in the running for MIT is an accomplishment--even if it results in rejection. Congrats on the U of Michigan acceptance. How does he feel about that?

 

[krcit]

My dd has recieved acceptances from Siena, Scranton, Elizabethtown and Hofstra. Hofstra has offered her 23,000 so it has moved up the list a lot, lol.

 

[BuzznBelle'smom]

Hofstra "only" offered my DD $22k! I still don't think she'll wind up going there, though.

 

[MerMom60_94]

Hi everyone! I haven't had a chance to check back in a few weeks and wanted to see how everyone is doing. Looks like some more acceptances have come in. Congratulations to you all! DD got her first acceptance yesterday from Framingham State. It is a relief to know she has at least one acceptance. Hopefully more will follow!!

 

[mom2travel]

Hi everyone! I haven't had a chance to check back in a few weeks and wanted to see how everyone is doing. Looks like some more acceptances have come in. Congratulations to you all! DD got her first acceptance yesterday from Framingham State. It is a relief to know she has at least one acceptance. Hopefully more will follow!!

Congrats! Isn't it a great feeling to have an acceptance in the door?

DS has 2 acceptances in and one EA deferred

 

[PrincessKsMom]

Does anyone have any firsthand knowledge of Rowan University or The College of NJ?

 

[Ppufi]

I was accepted to my SCEA school! SO excited!

 

[donac]

Does anyone have any firsthand knowledge of Rowan University or The College of NJ?

Ask away. My ds is a graduate of Rowan this past May and is still there as a grad assitant. He loves it. He is a civil engineering student. He has had a great experience. He has traveled to Africa twice with their chapter of Engineers Without Borders, He has worked on campus every summer except his first one.

I teach AP Calc and a number of my students have chosen TCNJ and love it. I think last year I had 3 in my highest level class pick TCNJ

 

[princesspumpkin]

Does anyone have any firsthand knowledge of Rowan University or The College of NJ?

Very familiar with Rowan (I live 15 minutes away from it too). Rowan is a popular local school around here, and mostly attended for either education, engineering (one of their engineering programs is among the top in the nation, they said), and music. Although its a state school and "affordable", there isn't a lot of merit money for those that aren't at the tippy top of their HS class.

Many of the area school teachers have their undergrad or masters from Rowan.

I toured Rowan as part of a college counseling program that I was in ( as well as pre-scouting it for DD) and wasn't overly impressed with the campus itself, although they have a fantastic renovation going on right now. Many of the academic classes (and I specifically toured the theatre and music departments) are older, but the engineering and residential areas are quite new and impressive.

It is not a top choice for DD because so many kids from her HS attend (so lots of kids feel its just an extension of HS), but she will use it as a safety since it has her major/minor and is affordable and commutable if finances are a problem.

From reputation.only, TCNJ is one of the top state schools that kids apply to, whether they actually want to attend or it's the second choice after their number one out-of-state option didn't work out. I haven't visited because it doesn't have DD's major, but have heard that it's a lovely campus and I know a few graduates (who are extremely bright and driven). It's a little more expensive and admissions is more competitive, and it has a much higher 4-year graduation rate than Rowan.

That's about it for me.

 

[LisaR]

Curious how other state colleges around the country award scholarships versus our state. Every private school my DD applied to sent her an acceptance letter with a scholarship. Every state school has just sent her an acceptance letter. We assumed there weren't any scholarships. Months later, she is starting to get scholarships from our state schools. Is this the norm with all state schools? She had already ruled a few of them out since she didn't get any money, but now she is receiving some nice surprises in the mail the last few days. I wish they would have told her the amount she would receive when she was accepted.

 

[ugadog99]

I hope everyone had a peaceful and restful holiday! We left for WDW the day we got out of school, December 20, and returned on the 29th. It was nice to have that period of NO college talk.

Since we've been back, though, I've been plagued with worry and doubts. I guess my D receiving those 2 rejections in the same week right before break did it. I know those were her super reach, lottery type schools, but it was deflating. Of course, now I'm worried if she has picked the right schools, do we need to add anything, will I be able to afford it if she is theatrically accepted, and on and on. It got so bad that I just didn't push anything college since we returned. However, it's time to get back on the ball, I guess. I have a feeling this will be a stress filled semester.

 

[BuzznBelle'smom]

Happy New Year, everyone! Has everybody done their FAFSA? Dh did ours last night. I guess it didn't go too badly. We have to do the CSS as well, but I thought DD and D had enough quality togetherness last night--another round would have resulted in bloodshed.

For those first-timers who dread doing it, it only took my meticulous husband a couple hours, and that includes pulling all the paperwork together. That's why he did it--he's the guy who reads every word of a contract, and won't sign until he understands it. I figured it made no sense for me to do the work, then him to re-do it to his satisfaction.

No other news on this end of things, except DD seems to be getting the full-court press from La Salle's Honors program. We got yet another letter today, extolling the virtues of the program. She'll definitely do it, if she chooses La Salle, but we have a few more schools to hear from yet.

 

[marcyinPA]

We have not done the FAFSA yet- but we will do it within the week. We have to get our paperwork in order, and we will have to estimate, since there is no way we will have our taxes done- even by the end of January.

What is a CSS?

 

[Tinijocaro]

CSS Financial Aid profile. It seems certain private colleges require it. Check the CollegeBoard site to see which schools require it. You can check by state.

 

[marcyinPA]

CSS Financial Aid profile. It seems certain private colleges require it. Check the CollegeBoard site to see which schools require it. You can check by state.

Thank you! Learn something new every day! I am grateful that I have you all to go through this with- there seems to be so much I don't know!