Ds is stressed. And that is a rarity for him. It is difficult to watch, even though I know he will be fine no matter his choice. Choices are Carnegie Mellon and Columbia. Very different schools. He felt clear about it being CMU until admitted students weekend at Columbia. He was torn about The Core (which I would LOVE btw) until he found out that Engineering School students have a Core similar in requirements to CMU. Major: Math, with the intention of double majoring in (theoretical) Computer Science. Goal: Artificial Intelligence Safety. The students are different at each school. CMU students seem more focused and driven in a certain direction. Columbia's students are more varied in their interests. They seem to enjoy intellectual conversations about many things. He likes that. But CMU students, in general, are more like him. DS is spending hours looking at research opportunities, professors and their fields of interests, courses etc etc etc. His professor at UPenn told him that Columbia has added some new theoretical CS professors. DS says that CMU has a number of teaching professors. Is it enough to limit his research opportunities? Do any of you have personal insight that may help make things clearer? I told him that he is missing the human element. He must reach out and talk to these professors. But what do I know? This is way out my league. Feel free to PM me.

I know nothing about Florida Virtual School. Do you have any experience with it?

DD loves Great Courses. This may be a good supplement. I am assuming there is not enough for an AP course. Thank you for reminding me.

Alright - I'll throw this out there, but it's not rigorous like AoPS. DD will be using Derek Owens Geometry in the summer. Very independent. You don't need to be involved at all.

This is for 9th grade dd. She prefers a lot of structure and really enjoys outside teachers (hmmm). I am happy to create the course, but I thought I'd check to see if there are any new resources or classes available.

Exciting times! So happy that decisions are made and everyone is looking forward. No decision here, although ds is fairly certain which school it will be. We are at an admitted students weekend now. I am not sure if it will change his mind, as amazing as this place is.

Yes - these road trips are a wonderful experience in so many ways! I am sorry you missed out on Bryn Mawr. Special place.

Making my way through it now. Thank you.

No chance at merit for her. And we would need a lot! Thank you, though!

Sandwiched in between Carnegie Mellon and Columbia admitted students weekends, I am on a road trip with DSD. We started with more local schools - Bryn Mawr and Goucher. Then we moved to Mt Holyoke and Clark. We are now at U of Rochester and will continue on with Oberlin (to say hi to DS), College of Wooster, Denison, and possibly Earlham, Kalamazoo and Allegheny (not sure which ones to choose). This isn't a trip report; rather, it is a place for me to say... Have you seen Bryn Mawr College? Oh my. It is dreamy and magical (and improbable for DSD). The campus is stunning. The environment seems welcoming and engaging. Maybe it's because I've never checked out a woman's college before. It blew us away. Now - if only I could find an environment like that for her whose students have lower scores. Sigh. She is intellectual and passionate (and hipster-like), but execution is just not there yet. Back to Bryn Mawr (and Mt. Holyoke). For the right girl, these places seem wonderful!

8, It is certainly something that has crossed my mind. It is frightening, because we usually depend on merit. I don't like the feeling I'm having. It kept me up all night last night.

Weird. Why have we had the opposite experience? CMU gave us more than anywhere else. Hmmmm...

It's a great reminder - playing this game is very humbling and very full of welcoming and unwelcoming surprises.

Sorry, Sue. I was trying to avoid using a specific percentile. Many people would say that you should be in the top 25% for it to be considered a safety school. I would not use that as a gauge to determine merit aid chances. That is dependent upon the institution. Some give lots of merit to lots of kids, so in that case, being in the top 25% can be a good indicator. But then there are schools who give merit only to the 5%. There is no black and white when it comes to merit, unfortunately. Some schools tie financial need to merit. Look at common data sets. Look at Kiplinger's Best Value College lists. Read College Confidential Merit Aid threads. A quick look at Rhodes shows they give a lot of merit with an average $20,000. Having a 32 on the ACT is very promising indeed!

We loved Live Lingua. With Live Lingua, you are assigned one teacher and are scheduled regularly. With HSA, we could never get scheduled with our favorite tutors and there wasn't much connection. DD stopped Spanish to concentrate on Latin. She will be doing Lukeion in the fall. Just an idea for you...

DS just told me that the acceptance rate for CMU theatre is 3%. Yowza. There must be crazy-talented students here! OP, I know nothing about applying to Musical Theatre programs. That's a whole different ballgame, on top of figuring out finances. Sounds like a fun ride, though!

My oldest two knew that they were only allowed to apply to schools that I vetted as being well known for giving GREAT merit aid. If you will not be getting financial aid and cannot afford these schools, this is one way to approach the process. 8's approach is another way. Two pieces of advice: One, make sure you are upfront with your dd about the amount you can afford and that certain schools are immediately off the table. Don't talk about them. Don't visit them. Two, make sure you are applying to schools where she is in the top percentile for SAT scores, AP scores, grades, etc. If you don't know about those scores yet, don't talk too much about schools that may not happen. I am actually at CMU right now - for admitted students weekend. For this ds, my financial situation has changed dramatically. He received no academic aid from CMU (we weren't expecting any), but he did receive the best financial aid from them in comparison to other schools. We are extremely pleased! Gratia: Important point about casting a wide net - a very wide net. You will always be surprised, in good and bad ways, by how much a school offers.

DS will be staying with students on campus, so it will be just me using the hotel room. We use Airbnb and vrbo all of the time. In fact, my wedding will be at a vrbo property that we are renting for four days. I didn't even think of it for this occasion. I booked Springhill Suites. :thumbup:

Yup! It is between CMU and another school. I am rooting for CMU, even though I have never been to either! It seems to me that CMU has the nerdier kids; he likes that! Playing board games is his idea of of a good time. I am excited to visit. I am not excited for the six hour drive, when I just got home last night from a four hour drive. I was up for hours last night, so it doesn't bode well. Oldest went to Oberlin, which is 7 1/2 hours away. Yes, good audiobooks is an absolute must. You know, the really long ones you would normally avoid...

Thank you, Pam! :hurray: Off to check out Mattress Factory... ETA: Was your son accepted to CMU?

An additional thought: I wanted to make sure dd was rock solid in Algebra, so she is going through Derek Owens Algebra in 12 weeks. She likes it so much (of course she is sailing through!) she is going to continue with DO geometry and Algebra 2.

Ooh. Another question. Is it worth an extra $60 dollars (over three nights) to stay at Bakery Square?

Thanks Poppy!

HUGS to all of you. I know how difficult it is. The first sign for my stepfather's early onset alzheimer's was forgetting how to get places that were right down the street. This week, he was permanently kicked out of day care for slapping nurse's butts and throwing a glass of orange juice in someone's face.

I have two choices. I don't know the area at all and could use your help! I will be by myself much of the time, so I would like the hotel to be in an area I can enjoy. I will be there for three nights, while ds sleeps on campus. Hampton Inn - University Center Springhill Suites in Bakery Square Thank you!!