Well ...
If you know me, you knew that Chantel and I started the "checking out" process in her sophomore year of high school. I didn't want to be rushed or pressured into squeezing visits in here and there around the many other things we have going on. So we took our time. We went to California a couple of times. Back to MA and CT a couple of times and stopped in between.
BTW - I would recommend to anyone looking at colleges that you start in their sophomore year of high school. We had fun on our trips and we weren't pressured to make a decision one way or another just whether or not the school was a possibility.
So after taking the SATs and the ACTs we narrowed it down to schools we both liked (after all, I get a say in the matter). Boston University was THE favorite, followed by UCONN, and then Pepperdine University. After that three others were just jumbled into a pile of "yes they're nice schools but we REALLY want the others".
We looked into all of the schools and found out when the application deadlines were, how much the application fees are and what do they need for paperwork (recommendations, essays etc). Chantel had a book we bought a B&N that we kept track of all of this (again highly recommended) and then set a budget in place because some of the application fees are over $100 (EEK!).
In mid-October Chantel cracked down on writing her essays for the schools and I did background checks on them (safety, drugs, alcohol, Greek Life etc). I have to admit, the essays were tough. A lot of thought and draft after draft went back and forth. One of the schools even asked her what is one thing they would think was really funny to know about her. Thanks to her cousin Deo and some M&Ms we nailed that one!
We started sending applications into two schools BU and UCONN in mid-November because they were both early decision/action schools. Then came Pepperdine, Coastal Carolina, Mount St. Mary's and Stony Brook.
We waited
and waited.
February 1 finally came and we finally heard from BU and were told that she was bumped to regular admission. What a devastating blow!
We waited
and waited. They have until April 1 to tell you.
Mount St. Mary's - accepted
Coastal Carolina - accepted
UCONN - wait listed (damn it!)
Pepperdine - accepted
BU - declined (damn it!)
Stony Brook - accepted
Then came the choices -
Mount St. Mary's is a good school in Maryland, but she didn't want to stay here AND there wasn't a program she wanted to study. So that was out the window;
Coastal Carolina is an ok school (we knew she could get in) however, I wasn't liking what I was reading about it;
Pepperdine is a fantastic school in Malibu, CA (near her god-fathers) however, it has a monstrous price tag and I would have to live in a cardboard box in order to send her there;
Stony Brook is a great research school on Long Island that is huge and we never actually went to visit it; and
UCONN - damn it!
Then came the scholarship money from the schools-
Mount St. Mary's - $30,000 (but again - she didn't want to stay here AND there wasn't a program she wanted to study.
Coastal Carolina - ZERO
Pepperdine - NADA
Stony Brook - ZILCH
UCONN - damn it!
WTF?
My advice to you - start their college resume in middle school, make them keep their grades up starting freshman year and have a good time during the beginning stages of the process, because the end is tough and full of hard discussions and tears from everyone involved.
So here we are - April 16 she's going to Stony Brook. The last visited school, the one we didn't hear about until they contacted us and the one she will spend the next 4 years as a Seawolve.
Unless - UCONN pulls her off the wait list and admits her (DAMN IT!)
But that's another decision for another day in May right before graduation/Memorial weekend.
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