Class of 2018 acceptance thread

[wapiti]

3 minutes ago, Attolia said:

I thought your DS applied ED to MIT?  or was it single choice early action (do they have that at MIT)?

I believe MIT only has EA, nonrestrictive.

[Ann.without.an.e]

5 minutes ago, wapiti said:

I believe MIT only has EA, nonrestrictive.

That makes more sense!  :)  It was never on DD's list so I have no idea.  It is, however, her dream grad school!

[lewelma]

It's nonrestrictive.  If we had know he was getting in, he wouldn't have done all those other applications.  But with the Southern Hemisphere academic calendar, ds had to get all of his applications done in October.  In hindsight, we believe that he wrote about the wrong thing on his common app essay that was send to Princeton, Harvard, and Stanford (not MIT).  He did that one first, way back in June when he had time.  It was about his love of math and what he had learned about life through math.  It was a good essay, but simply not the story that he ended up writing about for MIT.  MIT's prompts were so helpful in drawing out what he really wanted to say about himself.  He wrote about how he had outpaced his peers in math by age 12 and that there was no math community for him in our city.  That his community came from music, and how those quirky kids taught him how much he loved collaboration.  That when he came back from the IMO, he realized that he had the knowledge and skill to create a math community here, and how he organized and has taught a year-long math olympiad course for the top students, giving them the peers and mentor that he never had.  Harvard, Princeton, and Stanford did not see any of that story.  We thought about rewriting the common app essay, but simply ran out of time.  I would say 'lesson learned', but I doubt I will be going through this process again!  Younger ds wants to stay in NZ. :-)

[Ann.without.an.e]

4 hours ago, lewelma said:

It's nonrestrictive.  If we had know he was getting in, he wouldn't have done all those other applications.  But with the Southern Hemisphere academic calendar, ds had to get all of his applications done in October.  In hindsight, we believe that he wrote about the wrong thing on his common app essay that was send to Princeton, Harvard, and Stanford (not MIT).  He did that one first, way back in June when he had time.  It was about his love of math and what he had learned about life through math.  It was a good essay, but simply not the story that he ended up writing about for MIT.  MIT's prompts were so helpful in drawing out what he really wanted to say about himself.  He wrote about how he had outpaced his peers in math by age 12 and that there was no math community for him in our city.  That his community came from music, and how those quirky kids taught him how much he loved collaboration.  That when he came back from the IMO, he realized that he had the knowledge and skill to create a math community here, and how he organized and has taught a year-long math olympiad course for the top students, giving them the peers and mentor that he never had.  Harvard, Princeton, and Stanford did not see any of that story.  We thought about rewriting the common app essay, but simply ran out of time.  I would say 'lesson learned', but I doubt I will be going through this process again!  Younger ds wants to stay in NZ. :-)

 

I think these things work out this way for a reason.  At the time of applications, dd had very little interest in Duke and only applied because it was a need met school close to home.  After she submitted the app, she said “oh snap, I took some risks and just submitted my strongest application to Duke”.  Haha.   But it worked for good because by May 1st she decided that her favorite school was just too far from home, her second was possibly smaller than she could stand, and her third wasn’t communicating with us, she visited admitted student days, fell in love, and then was offered a full ride.  So it all works out.  It keeps the options simple and your ds will be better off at MIT for math anyway <3. 

[Ann.without.an.e]

On 4/7/2018 at 8:52 PM, KarenNC said:

Congrats! My niece is at Western and really likes it. My daughter decided today on UNC-Wilmington at their accepted student day, so we put down the deposit. They were the only state school to give her any real merit aid ($5K renewable), and they added a small grant we hadn't expected. I was really surprised that she had no trouble getting accepted and into the honors colleges at the other state schools where she applied, but no aid (UNCC did offer her a small one year only scholarship). One of her privates came very close (Catawba), and was cheaper than some of the other state schools, but in the end it was just a bit smaller than she wanted. It's more than if she lived at home and went to UNCC, but we all really wanted her to live on-campus if possible. Now if she can manage to get an RA position after her first year, she'll be golden, as I heard today that covers room and board plus a monthly stipend.

DS wants to look at Wilmington, Western, and Charlotte so inbox me if you have my opinions or takeaways that you gained along the way that might help in comparing these options <3

[C_l_e_0..Q_c]

On 3/15/2018 at 9:22 PM, Corraleno said:

I remember the super stressful wait that you had a few years ago when acceptances didn't come through until just a few weeks before school started. :scared:

We're expecting the same again this time around, as my daughter didn't submit to McGill early enough. At least we know !

[JanetC]

@GoodGrief1 Any luck with the appeal to Yale?

[GoodGrief]

3 hours ago, JanetC said:

@GoodGrief1 Any luck with the appeal to Yale?

Thanks for asking! He has spoken with the office by phone and they want to have an in-person meeting next Tuesday while he is there for the accepted student weekend. He has his letters from supportive mentors (that clarify his personal situation) to bring and present at the meeting. I do believe he will make a positive impression.

His initial financial offer from Yale was generous, considering that his father makes close to $180,000/year. They were granting him $22,000 per year. BUT, $51,000/year remains, which is way more than he can come up with on his own, with little help from Dad.

In the meantime, I've been encouraging him to consider Univ of Alabama as a financial backup since they improved their National Merit offer. I believe he put in the application there. He had a couple other National Merit schools as backup plans, but the UA offer is superior to those.

[JanetC]

Good luck to him! I'm glad he has back-up plans, too. 

[yvonne]

Both DSs applied to most of the same schools, primarily LACs because they aren't positive about majors, because they both prefer smaller class size, and because we were looking for merit aid. Neither has made a firm commitment, yet.

Accepted with merit aid:  Hillsdale, Willamette, University of Puget Sound, Whitman, Grinnell, UC Irvine (Regents')

Accepted: Bates, Colby, Bucknell, UC Santa Barbara

Waitlisted: Williams, Middlebury, Baylor, Washington & Lee, WashU, UCLA

Denied: Swarthmore, Pomoma, Claremont, UCSD

 

[Roadrunner]

14 minutes ago, yvonne said:

Both DSs applied to most of the same schools, primarily LACs because they aren't positive about majors, because they both prefer smaller class size, and because we were looking for merit aid. Neither has made a firm commitment, yet.

Accepted with merit aid:  Hillsdale, Willamette, University of Puget Sound, Whitman, Grinnell, UC Irvine (Regents')

Accepted: Bates, Colby, Bucknell, UC Santa Barbara

Waitlisted: Williams, Middlebury, Baylor, Washington & Lee, WashU, UCLA

Denied: Swarthmore, Pomoma, Claremont, UCSD

 

Yay Yvonne! I have been cheering and thinking about your boys! 

[GoodGrief]

31 minutes ago, yvonne said:

Both DSs applied to most of the same schools, primarily LACs because they aren't positive about majors, because they both prefer smaller class size, and because we were looking for merit aid. Neither has made a firm commitment, yet.

Accepted with merit aid:  Hillsdale, Willamette, University of Puget Sound, Whitman, Grinnell, UC Irvine (Regents')

Accepted: Bates, Colby, Bucknell, UC Santa Barbara

Waitlisted: Williams, Middlebury, Baylor, Washington & Lee, WashU, UCLA

Denied: Swarthmore, Pomoma, Claremont, UCSD

 

What great options! Are the merit aid schools all affordable for your family? The young man I've been discussing above had high hopes for UPS, and he got a large merit scholarship there, but not the competitive full ride scholarship that he needed. It's such a beautiful campus. My oldest daughter was accepted to Grinnell and visited there, but it was not her best option for her major in the end.

[yvonne]

2 minutes ago, Roadrunner said:

Yay Yvonne! I have been cheering and thinking about your boys! 

Thank you!  It certainly is nice to be on this side of the admissions cycle. First semester was so stressful, while they were filling out the apps and then waiting to hear.  I remember when the first acceptance came in, I said something about not having to worry anymore about not getting in somewhere. One of my boys asked, "Was that a real possibility?" I told them no, of course not.  I would never have admitted that, yes, I was genuinely afraid that they might not get in anywhere. In hindsight, that wasn't realistic, but it sure seemed realistic at the time. 

[yvonne]

4 minutes ago, GoodGrief1 said:

Are the merit aid schools all affordable for your family?

With the merit aid, yes, we should be fine. Grinnell would be the biggest stretch, financially, but a couple of the options came out to be less than/equal to UC Irvine w/ the Regent's scholarship. We've been saving for college & don't qualify for need-based aid, but we'd have had to take out a bunch of loans to cover 12 years (4 years for each of three children) of college at full price.

[mirabillis]

Yay yvonne!!! Very excited for you! And the first Board UC acceptances, I think! 

[quark]

Good for your boys yvonne. I have been thinking of you as well. It was a very tough year for UCs. So cool to see they were accepted to all these great schools. Awesome! Congrats!

[Roadrunner]

My friend’s solidly A kid (not a superstar but a very hard worker with good scores and over a 4.4  GPA) got either waitlisted or rejected from every single UC and she didn’t even apply to UCLA or Berkeley. A very tough year indeed.

[yvonne]

I’ve heard that UC admissions for CS and engineering were really difficult this year.  Was she applying for one of those majors?

Back in the dark ages when I applied for colleges, my high school had everyone apply to at least one UC as a safety. Times have changed.  

[Roadrunner]

47 minutes ago, yvonne said:

I’ve heard that UC admissions for CS and engineering were really difficult this year.  Was she applying for one of those majors?

Back in the dark ages when I applied for colleges, my high school had everyone apply to at least one UC as a safety. Times have changed.  

She applied for premed. I can’t even imagine the poor kids applying for Engineering. 

[mirabillis]

On 4/20/2018 at 7:58 PM, Roadrunner said:

My friend’s solidly A kid (not a superstar but a very hard worker with good scores and over a 4.4  GPA) got either waitlisted or rejected from every single UC and she didn’t even apply to UCLA or Berkeley. A very tough year indeed.

 

is this a fellow homeschooler or b&m student, roadrunner?

[Roadrunner]

11 minutes ago, mirabillis said:

 

is this a fellow homeschooler or b&m student, roadrunner?

 

b&m

[mirabillis]

well then let's hope for our sake that we homeschoolers can find a bit more success! 

[GoodGrief]

Update on the young man accepted to Yale: his mom was excited to buy tickets to take him out for the accepted student days and they just got there (it's a major expedition from our location, but I'm so glad he got to go.) She posted on Facebook about stopping at a racetrack during the layover and losing significant money on her bets...ack, especially after she tagged him in the post (he wisely removed the tag.) He is supposed to meet with financial aid tomorrow alone and tell his story. Hoping that he speaks candidly and that they feel compelled to help him. The racetrack anecdote is typical and there's really nothing he can do about her ongoing poor judgment. Dad is super frugal but is resolute in his lack of willingness to provide much financial support.

[8filltheheart]

1 hour ago, GoodGrief1 said:

Update on the young man accepted to Yale: his mom was excited to buy tickets to take him out for the accepted student days and they just got there (it's a major expedition from our location, but I'm so glad he got to go.) She posted on Facebook about stopping at a racetrack during the layover and losing significant money on her bets...ack, especially after she tagged him in the post (he wisely removed the tag.) He is supposed to meet with financial aid tomorrow alone and tell his story. Hoping that he speaks candidly and that they feel compelled to help him. The racetrack anecdote is typical and there's really nothing he can do about her ongoing poor judgment. Dad is super frugal but is resolute in his lack of willingness to provide much financial support.

Based on the above scenario, I am not sure why you think they will give more FA. Are the parents divorced with mom having sole custody? Does Yale not require the CSS? Did they try to discuss this over the phone before spending the $$ on the trip?

If the parents are together and the income is $180000, I would be shocked if they made a significant adjustment. Small amt, maybe. We have lower income, our kids could walk in and say we are resolute in our unwillingness to contribute financially to their college educations, and colleges would most likely shrug(or that is what I would expect, anyway. ) If he were facing severe physical abuse with CPS interventions, it might matter. Otherwise every MC kid with parents unable to afford/unwilling to pay their EFC would be asking for the same consideration. 

If they do increase his aid, he needs to confirm it will be for all 4 yrs.

[catz]

I just wanted to say there can be a lot of good reasons why a family of an income of $180,000 cannot pay for an elite college like Yale.  20% of the students at Yale are from families in the top 1% of wage earners (> $630,000/year).  I'm not sure what their EFC is, but plenty of people cannot actually afford their predicted EFC even at "meets need" school.  The school gets to determine what your need is.  There is a reason they have such a large percentage of families from the top 1% attending school there.  

I'm not unsympathetic to a kid without an supportive family.   Although, if a parent took him for accepted students weekend he must not be without support? On the other hand, I have a high stat kid that lives with a high on paper income family and is full pay and we cannot likely afford schools like Yale while we continue to fully fund retirement.  My husband is 10 years from retirement and we have another kid coming from behind we need to give the same opportunity for college.   My kid could tell a similar tale to a school, but I fully expect he would be turned away.  I am working hard to find opportunities for my kid to get merit and he has a couple good flagship universities that are an option too that we are lucky enough to be able to afford.  Attending a very expensive private school is a luxury item.   Picking an affordable college should be a family affair.  

I hope he still has his NM full scholarship option in his back pocket, because it seems pretty unlikely he's going to get more money at Yale just by saying his parents are lame.  Many students have parents unwilling and/or unable to meet their EFC for college.  

[Grantmom]

I am sure we can't know all the details, as no one else knows what is going on in anyone else's family, but I don't see how that is any different than a student whose family wants to pay their EFC but can't afford it, for whatever reason.  It's just a decision.  Some may decide to take out more loans and others will opt for less debt and go where the money is.

[GoodGrief]

2 hours ago, 8FillTheHeart said:

Based on the above scenario, I am not sure why you think they will give more FA. Are the parents divorced with mom having sole custody? Does Yale not require the CSS? Did they try to discuss this over the phone before spending the $$ on the trip?

If the parents are together and the income is $180000, I would be shocked if they made a significant adjustment. Small amt, maybe. We have lower income, our kids could walk in and say we are resolute in our unwillingness to contribute financially to their college educations, and colleges would most likely shrug(or that is what I would expect, anyway. ) If he were facing severe physical abuse with CPS interventions, it might matter. Otherwise every MC kid with parents unable to afford/unwilling to pay their EFC would be asking for the same consideration. 

If they do increase his aid, he needs to confirm it will be for all 4 yrs.

No, parents are divorced, and there is a stepparent involved too. Complicated family dynamics and the young man is caught up in the middle of it. Abuse of all sorts happening on both sides for years and years. I should not detail here. Some of the siblings are estranged from the dad, some are estranged from the mom. He is only one who has maintained a relationship of sorts with both.He was with mom until mid-junior year when he reluctantly went to be with dad because that became the best of two bad choices. He has been making the best of a situation that is far from ideal, and has so much to offer the world, that I can't help for rooting for this dream to come true for him. Yale may not work out, but there is a compelling story there (when one is free to share all the details) that I hope they will hear. He has letters from mentors that know his family situation that he is presenting that will validate the story. Otherwise, he has a backup plan. We'll see what happens. :-)

Editing, because I just realized there was additional replies. He does not have reliable support as far as college. Mom is currently excited about Yale (and talking it up on social media), but she is in and out of jobs and is simply not emotionally stable. She came up with the money for the tickets in the midst of that excitement...but again, blew money on gambling on the way there, knowing that financial aid was a major topic for the trip. And dad has said $2500/year from him for school, period.

And, yes, there are certainly similarities to many kids' stories and dreams for their higher education and future. I know this kid though and the difficulty of his circumstances, so he is the one I'm rooting for currently :-)

[GoodGrief]

Well, for those of you following the Yale story, it is playing out in a way that is exceptionally concerning.

The young man did meet with fin aid at Yale this week, filled them in on his situation, brought letters validating the story. Ultimately, his aid was not changed, which was not unsurprising, of course. But disappointing.

The concerning bit is that, instead of going to the backup plan of the full ride Nat Merit school, he is accepting the offer of admission from Yale. His mother is strongly encouraging this and says she will come up with the money somehow. Knowing her like I do, I don't see this going well, and he will have lost out on the full ride options. But they all have stars in their eyes about Yale.

Not my circus. I sure hope for good things for this kid though, and that my mental predictions prove to be wrong.

[daijobu]

Wow, I sure hope this kid goes into investment banking or something where he can pay all those loans.  

[GoodGrief]

5 minutes ago, daijobu said:

Wow, I sure hope this kid goes into investment banking or something where he can pay all those loans.  

 

I don't even think he can get enough loans, though perhaps Yale offers their own loans.

[JanetC]

1 hour ago, GoodGrief1 said:

I don't even think he can get enough loans, though perhaps Yale offers their own loans.

 

I am so sorry. They probably think dad is bluffing and will pay in the end.

Remind the young man that if he starts at Yale and mom doesn't magically come up with the money (or takes it to the track), he's the one who will be unable to get a college degree. Yale will not let him continue to attend without paying, and he will be unable to transfer somewhere else until the past due bill, which will be very high, is paid off. His name will go in a database that is shared among other universities.

[GoodGrief]

11 hours ago, JanetC said:

 

I am so sorry. They probably think dad is bluffing and will pay in the end.

Remind the young man that if he starts at Yale and mom doesn't magically come up with the money (or takes it to the track), he's the one who will be unable to get a college degree. Yale will not let him continue to attend without paying, and he will be unable to transfer somewhere else until the past due bill, which will be very high, is paid off. His name will go in a database that is shared among other universities.

All true, and he knows. He’s naively believing in his mother at this point. A potential disaster on many levels. I can’t say anything more to them now though. Extended family politics at play. I really thought he would be sensible and go to the backup plan if Yale didn’t come up with the money.

[GailV]

4 minutes ago, Margaret in CO said:

Is there a list view of acceptances this year? 

I seem to remember a Final Decisions thread, but I don't recall seeing a list view.

[obsidian]

37 minutes ago, Margaret in CO said:

Is there a list view of acceptances this year? 

 

List view.

[C_l_e_0..Q_c]

Second acceptance for our youngest:
Concordia University in Montreal, Biology major. 
no financial incentive, but at 3K a year, they're not needed. ?

[GoodGrief]

Dragging this thread up one more time because there is an update to the Yale financial aid story. The young man got word today that he will be considered independent and aid will be granted based solely on his income. His bill for the first year is $1600.

This will be life changing for this young man, and allow him to remove himself from a truly toxic family situation. I have no doubt that he will take full advantage of this opportunity and give back to society to his fullest potential. I did not expect this outcome but I am thrilled that it played out this way.

[amathis229]

4 hours ago, GoodGrief1 said:

Dragging this thread up one more time because there is an update to the Yale financial aid story. The young man got word today that he will be considered independent and aid will be granted based solely on his income. His bill for the first year is $1600.

This will be life changing for this young man, and allow him to remove himself from a truly toxic family situation. I have no doubt that he will take full advantage of this opportunity and give back to society to his fullest potential. I did not expect this outcome but I am thrilled that it played out this way.

That's amazing! Never, never, never give up!!!

[daijobu]

15 hours ago, GoodGrief1 said:

Dragging this thread up one more time because there is an update to the Yale financial aid story. The young man got word today that he will be considered independent and aid will be granted based solely on his income. His bill for the first year is $1600.

This will be life changing for this young man, and allow him to remove himself from a truly toxic family situation. I have no doubt that he will take full advantage of this opportunity and give back to society to his fullest potential. I did not expect this outcome but I am thrilled that it played out this way.

 

Hallelujah!  Will he have any student loans?  

[GoodGrief]

3 hours ago, daijobu said:

 

Hallelujah!  Will he have any student loans?  

 

No, assuming he can raise the $1600, which seems doable with a summer job and perhaps school year employment.