Trying to add to our visit list. Already visited or scheduled: Duke Chapel Hill NC State Oxford Emory Furman Wake Forest What about Wofford, Sewanee, Presbyterian, Anderson - any thoughts on these? any other schools we should consider? She wants to stay as close to Charlotte as possible, with a 4-5 hour max range ;) She's considered expanding that a tad for Vanderbilt.

I've really struggled with this. Sometimes I want to throw dd's scores out here for feedback on which colleges are a reach. At the same time, those are her scores and not mine. I am not sure I am at liberty to post her scores in a pubic domain? Tough.

Thank you. That is one in my Amazon cart already, but I wasn't sure about ordering it so thank you so much.

We are in the full ride category for the Ivy type schools too, but we are not putting all of our hopes and dreams into that basket. DD has considered applying to one or two Ivies and Duke, but those acceptance rates are so low that they are required to turn away amazing people. I've heard of kids with perfect test scores not making the cut. Only 1/10 of 1 percent of students make a perfect ACT score - and even they aren't guaranteed admissions. I would love for dd to get into a highly selective school because it would be much cheaper for her. We are on the search for good schools with more reasonable acceptance rates to apply to as well.

To get into a top tier school, I would think that academic standing would be extremely important. Period. At the same time, when so many wonderful students apply with high stats, schools can only be so "need blind". They need families who are able to pay retail price. I imagine the best situation for a student is both - high academics AND the ability to pay full price (or close to it).

It is going to require a college degree to fold clothes at Old Navy. Wait...I know several people with college degrees already doing that :/ It is all kinds of complicated, in my opinion.

I have kids on both ends of the spectrum and in between ;) I think this helps me to see this site for what it is...moms seeking help, advice, and encouragement. It is difficult to know how to make good decisions for kids who struggle with either academics/motivation, but it is also difficult to make decisions for the "rocket scientists" or "high achievers". Both sides come with their own set of difficulties. Many of the moms are not intending to make anyone feel bad, they are simply seeking advice and help for what is best for their own child's situation. I have had threads going at the same time concerning two different kids - one with a "help me motivate this child" sort of title and the other with a question about dd potentially making National Merit next year.

Dd will be a Jr in the fall. She would love to read a book or two over the summer to make her feel more comfortable with the interview and essay process. She doesn't want to read a million resources or over-prep for this, but she does desire a resource or two to make her feel more prepared for the process. Did you invest in any books? Which ones were helpful and which ones should we skip? Thanks :)

Good to think about. At this point my dd is head over heels for Wake so I don't see us applying ED to Duke anyway. Even if she loves Duke too, I can't imagine her wanting to completely close the door to Wake altogether. We'll see.

Do you think that more kids are applying to colleges and this is why? I was reading Wake's admission's office blog and they were overwhelmed this year. 2,000 more applicants than normal, dropping their acceptance rate down to 28% :(

This is probably a completely stupid question and I apologize for my ignorance. I hear that you shouldn't apply ED unless you don't need aid. Do you think this applies to a school like DUKE, since I've heard they truly do meet full need?

No, I really don't quite understand. I understand that many schools will not meet all need and there will be a gap. Schools that claim to meet all need though...will those also have that large gap? This process is so confusing to me. So dd should not look at schools like Wake Forest if we cannot afford a huge family contribution (we can't)? Should she limit herself to state schools? I have been led to believe that the private schools which are heavy on need-based aid are better options for us. I guess I am wrong. If it helps, when I run the EFC calculator it comes up with $4500 with one calculator and $5200 with another. Honestly, we can't afford that though. We were hoping that some miracle would happen to cover most of it or that dd would only need to have a loan of around $7,000 or less per year as her total. Am I completely off-base :/

I love this story. We have had a difficult time finding schools that will allow dd to sit in on classes or talk to a professor :/ Your DS contacted them directly? Maybe that is our problem, we need to contact the professor directly! Thanks so much

Yes, I felt that way too....I want to go here, haha. It is an expensive school but I don't expect our EFC to be too high anywhere. We will have an EFC, just not really high. That is life with 4 kids and a tight income ;) Thanks for your thoughts.

this is exactly why I am asking ;) That just seems like too much pressure. I hate that this is such a "game".

Is there a way to fill it out so that schools cannot see the other schools where you are applying (fill it out multiple times, etc)? Just curious ;)

Funny that you say this....we just visited Wake Forest. It wasn't seriously on our radar. We visited only because we've heard they have great aid. DD is in love. She would have signed on the dotted line if they'd asked her, haha. She has lots more visits to go though so we will see.

This is all great to know. I wondered if dress is important. I want her to dress comfortably. Great to know about the thank you notes. Who would you address such a note to? general admissions?

So how do you go about such things? Especially when she doesn't know what she wants to major in :crying: She's torn between several options...she loves it all, haha.

Thanks for the great info and advice. I've already told dd to google and read some blogs about what to look for in college visits. I told her that I would drive her there and possibly pop in with a question or two when appropriate since I am her guidance counselor but for the most part this is all her.

We have three visits scheduled in April. We are doing a whirlwind tour of NC State, Chapel Hill, and Duke. We've never done this before. This is just us checking out the campus, right? They should in no way be making notes on us or dd at this point, correct? Thanks ETA We've added a second tour to Furman, Emory, and Oxford college. Different week. Each time we only have one night in each location to touch base with all three schools. We just can't afford multiple nights. Hopefully we can squeeze everything in :/

Wow, look at the awesome reviews. Man, I'm gonna be broke. There is nothing like a few new books to cure the March blues though, right?

What "other" book. It is dangerous, but I must know :drool5:

Thank you for posting because I was sitting here dying to know what book was so awesome :drool5: Yes, this makes you even more of an enabler :thumbup1:

Thanks for sharing. DD loves killgallon materials.