Any college acceptance letters?

[thinze3]

I just read an article on Yahoo about college acceptance letters going out, and it got me to thinking. Both of my DD's were lucky enough to get into the colleges of their dreams, one last year and one four years ago. I remember what a special moment it was for each of them (and the parents) when the letters/notices arrived.

Has anybody had any such special moments lately and care to share them?

 

[stmartinfan]

My daughter's a freshman, so we had that experience last year. The good news from our perspective - she seems to have chosen the right school to attend from the several places she applied and was accepted. She says she likes the school and her friends, and seems to be doing fine.

So just wanted to assure parents going throught the process now, that sometimes those kids do end up making the right choice, despite their having to struggle with the decision!

 

[Luanne]

Dd heard from 3 of the 4 schools she applied to. She got a letter (only) from one and emails, followed up by letters from the other two. She visited three of the four over her Spring and Summer breaks last year and is going to visit the last one tomorrow. Right now the choice is between Lewis & Clark in Portland, OR (her top choice) and Eckerd College in St. Petersburg, FL (the school she's visiting tomorrow).

 

[AKE]

Its interesting that kids today seem to have the resources to go and look at schools across the country. When I was ready for university (almost 40 years ago) the choices were what was available locally - no one dreamed (or afforded) going far away. Out of the 30 kids in my high school class, none of whom could even dream of attending an out-of-town university or college, never mind one across the country, 6 became doctors, 2 became dentists, 3 became lawyers,1 became am NHL star, and the rest became engineers, teachers, accountants, etc. and this is despite the fact that we didn't attend the 'best' schools, which seems to be a high priority today. Our class may have been unusal in its achievements but surprisingly we were all from blue-collar (and often immigrant) families who had to work for every penny.

Now I am not criticizing those that do attend schools away from home, as not every city has a college or university, but I am questioning the requirement to go to a ''good school'' as good is often equated with pricey (and who sets the criteria for defining a good school?). I have 3 degrees and no-one has ever asked me where they are from - the only questions for employment have been 'do you have a degree' and what is it in?

 

[Harvey and Lin]

Its interesting that kids today seem to have the resources to go and look at schools across the country. When I was ready for university (almost 40 years ago) the choices were what was available locally - no one dreamed (or afforded) going far away. Out of the 30 kids in my high school class, none of whom could even dream of attending an out-of-town university or college, never mind one across the country, 6 became doctors, 2 became dentists, 3 became lawyers,1 became am NHL star, and the rest became engineers, teachers, accountants, etc. and this is despite the fact that we didn't attend the 'best' schools, which seems to be a high priority today. Our class may have been unusal in its achievements but surprisingly we were all from blue-collar (and often immigrant) families who had to work for every penny.

Now I am not criticizing those that do attend schools away from home, as not every city has a college or university, but I am questioning the requirement to go to a ''good school'' as good is often equated with pricey (and who sets the criteria for defining a good school?). I have 3 degrees and no-one has ever asked me where they are from - the only questions for employment have been 'do you have a degree' and what is it in?

Wow, That really puts a damper on this seemingly "feel good" thread.

 

[Egret1986]

I don't really agree with that.

Wow, That really puts a damper on this seemingly "feel good" thread.

That gives encouragement to those that can't afford to send their kids to the "best" schools or across country. The fact that someone can get a degree and that their success in their future career isn't necessarily predicated on what school that their degree came from.

Congratulations to the OP and his daughters, and thanks for sharing and starting the thread. I have two high school freshmen, and all this is of interest to me. One has started talking of medical school, which is different from what he was talking about a year ago and could definitely be different from what he'll be talking about next year. The other one doesn't talk about college, although he definitely plans to go.

 

[AKE]

Maybe there should be a reality check with kids today. Parents often go into debt way beyond their means because their child wants to go to a 'good school' which almost always seems to be thousands of miles away from home. (So if all the kids on the west coast go east, and all the kids on the east coast go west, what does it tell you about where the 'good schools' are located?)
Given today's economic hardships, kids should be happy that they can afford to go to college at all, and even happier if parents can contribute some amount BUT in no way should any child assume that its a given that they will go to an ivy league school at their parents' expense, and especially when significant travel is involved. I often question whether it is more a bragging issue for parents that their children are attending school 'X' than that the child themself wants to go there. Schools are also to blame as many market extensively both to parents and kids - maybe even here the money should be better spent on the school facilities and not on marketing (everyone has internet access and can readily search for schools and even visit them in cyberspace).

 

[Harvey and Lin]

Maybe there should be a reality check with kids today. Parents often go into debt way beyond their means because their child wants to go to a 'good school' which almost always seems to be thousands of miles away from home. (So if all the kids on the west coast go east, and all the kids on the east coast go west, what does it tell you about where the 'good schools' are located?)
Given today's economic hardships, kids should be happy that they can afford to go to college at all, and even happier if parents can contribute some amount BUT in no way should any child assume that its a given that they will go to an ivy league school at their parents' expense, and especially when significant travel is involved. I often question whether it is more a bragging issue for parents that their children are attending school 'X' than that the child themself wants to go there. Schools are also to blame as many market extensively both to parents and kids - maybe even here the money should be better spent on the school facilities and not on marketing (everyone has internet access and can readily search for schools and even visit them in cyberspace).

Thanks for all your pontificating. My daughter just was accepted at 2 great med schools and I wanted to brag about her because she took the very hard road to get there. So I think I will pass because you have ruined the whole idea that the OP originally presented to make your pitiful points!

 

[Egret1986]

Man, can't anybody share a personal opinion without being criticized?

Thanks for all your pontificating. My daughter just was accepted at 2 great med schools and I wanted to brag about her because she took the very hard road to get there. So I think I will pass because you have ruined the whole idea that the OP originally presented to make your pitiful points!

Do you and the OP know each other so well that you can speak for the OP? I don't believe AKE has done any of the things that you have accused this person of. I see more damage being caused to this thread by your personal attack on this poster. Go ahead and brag; you have the right to do that and many would love to share in your glory and pride in your daughter's accomplishments. But don't take AKE's opinions so personally. I doubt if others have done so or maybe I'm missing something here. Everyone has opinions. They don't have to be yours in order to post.

 

[thinze3]

Congrats

Thanks for all your pontificating. My daughter just was accepted at 2 great med schools and I wanted to brag about her because she took the very hard road to get there....

Yahoo!
This is exactly what my original post was all about! It is very difficult to get into med school nowadays, so your DD should be very proud of herself.

My neice just got accepted into nursing school (she is a junior). She is a good average student, and it was beginning to look like she would not get in. But when she did, boy were they (and we) happy. She is a hard worker and will most certainly do just fine.

P.S. - Great job Mom and Dad.

 

[cerralee]

Congrats on your college acceptances parents!! Its always good to have options and to be able to let your kids follow there dreams. Just a side note..my daughter applied and got into the college of her "dreams". Now you need to know that my daughter is a bit of a free spirit and applied to Antioch college which WAS a liberal arts college that had a different philosophy on learning. She was awarded a nice schloarship which basically pulled the school into line with several other more local public universities that she was accepted into. It still seemed a little radical to mom and dad so we told her she had to go to state university first then we would reaccess after a year or so. She had no choice as we were willing to foot the bill. Now the college has closed. Its a good thing she didn't go as I don't know which schools of higher learning would have accepted the courses from there as they were on a much different learning curve than your average school.

 

[AKE]

I think that my point was just proven - getting into a "good school" is at times more for the parents than the kids. A child gets into college on their own - through hardwork, study, and even luck (being in the right spot at the right time). I don't know of any parent writing their child's exams or spending hours doing research projects, or writing the SATs, but it is the parents that brag about the 'good schools' that their kids attend, almost at times like a contest. Interestingly I have yet top hear a kid brag about what they did to get into college or what college they are attending. BTW, I have 3 kids, some with multiple degrees and they all did it on their own. I have never bragged about where they went or what they studied - what I am proud of is that they succeeded and that they did it on their own (and this is what a parent should be proud of, not the name of a school or how it ranks on somebody's scale).

 

[Mosca]

University of Pittsburgh Honors College and College Misericordia both came back quickly. Notre Dame, Cornell, Holy Cross and Villanova all told us up front that there wouldn't be any answer until early April.

Yeah, she's smart. Scholarship money will definitely play a part in where she goes. For the record, I voted for Star Beauty Academy (she got mad at that one though).

 

[UWSurfer]

Twin sons...one has been accepted to the computer engineering program at Cal State U. Northridge, the other plans to go to cullinary school at LA Trade Tech.

Our oldest is now taking the one class he needs to graduate the local community college and is talking about moving out and get going on his life this summer. He's not interested in going on to a 4 year school, nor is it right for him right now.

Now if I could just get them all working and contributing I'd be a much happier parent. (sigh)

 

[SueDonJ]

Ooooh, college acceptance time - it truly is the best and worst of times. Good luck to all the kids out there who are waiting. I don't blame parents at all for being emotionally as well as financially invested, and there should be a great deal of pride in a child's accomplishments. Here's mine.

Our son graduated Stonehill College in May, 2007 and then did a year-long internship and passed the state exam for Nursing Home Administration. He's happily working in the same facility that offered him the internship and has no immediate plans for grad school but it's on his list.

Our daughter graduated UMass Amherst May, 2008 and will be taking MTEL exams this year in preparation for UMass Boston part-time grad school beginning September, 2010. Her undergrad degree is Communication Disorders but through courses and part-time jobs while in school she also earned her pre-school teaching certification. Her grad school ambition is Early Childhood Education, and she's also happily working at an infant/toddler pre-school daycare facility.

One thing about travelling long distances for college that really stuck out during the student workshops offered by our high school's guidance department is, you can't know in advance if or how much home sickness you will suffer and travel costs may limit your visits home or your parents' visits to you. During one particular session the guidance head asked the kids pointedly, "How will you feel when you are only able to come home at Christmas on break, but you're sitting in a half-empty dorm at Thanksgiving knowing that all your friends are back home catching up?" My daughter thought she wanted to go halfway around the world, but her head sure snapped to attention at that question.

 

[swift]

Everyone has a right to their own opinion. Whether our children go to a school more well known or one that is just fine but lessor known is a celebration of our right to choose. Lets not bicker and just be proud of our children for each of their successes.

 

[thinze3]

My experience for DD's acceptance to TCU:

DD applied early (Aug-Sept) to multiple colleges but had only a desire for one, Texas Chistian University (TCU) in Fort Worth. She checked the mailbox every day as soon as she got home from school looking for "the" letter. Come November she started getting worried because although she had received most acceptance letters, she still had not heard from TCU.

One weekend in November we (three of us) went to visit TCU - DD's second visit, my first. During one of the sessions we asked the provost when we could expect to hear an answer on my DD's acceptance. He assured us that the "first" letters wouldn't go out until mid-December. DD was very discouraged by this information.

After spending 1-1/2 days there at TCU we went to buy some trinkets at the bookstore before heading home. I was waiting for DW and DD outside the restroom, when they both came out with watery eyes. DD said, "Dad, I don't know what it is, but this place (TCU) is calling my name." trying to convince me to allow her to attend school there.

On the way home on that Monday night, it was dark, and my DD was sleeping in the back seat. I glanced over and out of the corner of my eye, I saw my wife crying in silence. I asked her what was the problem. She stated, "Nothing. It's just the thought that I know my daughter will be 5 hours away." Of course I had to look away to keep from crying myself, as this was our first born you know.

We stopped at grandmother's to pick up our other two kids. By now it was about 10pm. At home we were all upstairs putting the youngest down and getting ready for bed ourslves when all of a sudden, we heard SCREAMING coming from down below. Terrified by this, I just about jumped down the stairs. By the time I/we got down, my oldest DD was holding this beautiful TCU acceptance letter that she had just pulled out of the mailbox - yes, the one that wasn't to come for another month.

She was jumping up and down saying, "Now do you believe me? Now do you believe me?" Of ourse we had no choice but to believe her. I was decided right then and there that she would be going to TCU. She is now in her forth year there.

Here is the link to my middle DD's experience from last year. She is a Texas A&M Aggie.

 

[Karen G]

She is a Texas A&M Aggie.

I think I may be an Aggie, too. My college degree is from Texas A&I in Kingsville, but it was absorbed into the Texas A&M system some years after I graduated. It's now Texas A&M, Kingsville.

I'm proud to be an Aggie, by the way.

 

[Elan]

Thanks for all your pontificating. My daughter just was accepted at 2 great med schools and I wanted to brag about her because she took the very hard road to get there. So I think I will pass because you have ruined the whole idea that the OP originally presented to make your pitiful points!

How incredibly rude and classless!

 

[Egret1986]

Thanks for sharing your acceptance letter story!

My experience for DD's acceptance to TCU:

DD applied early (Aug-Sept) to multiple colleges but had only a desire for one, Texas Chistian University (TCU) in Fort Worth. She checked the mailbox every day as soon as she got home from school looking for "the" letter. Come November she started getting worried because although she had received most acceptance letters, she still had not heard from TCU.

One weekend in November we (three of us) went to visit TCU - DD's second visit, my first. During one of the sessions we asked the provost when we could expect to hear an answer on my DD's acceptance. He assured us that the "first" letters wouldn't go out until mid-December. DD was very discouraged by this information.

After spending 1-1/2 days there at TCU we went to buy some trinkets at the bookstore before heading home. I was waiting for DW and DD outside the restroom, when they both came out with watery eyes. DD said, "Dad, I don't know what it is, but this place (TCU) is calling my name." trying to convince me to allow her to attend school there.

On the way home on that Monday night, it was dark, and my DD was sleeping in the back seat. I glanced over and out of the corner of my eye, I saw my wife crying in silence. I asked her what was the problem. She stated, "Nothing. It's just the thought that I know my daughter will be 5 hours away." Of course I had to look away to keep from crying myself, as this was our first born you know.

We stopped at grandmother's to pick up our other two kids. By now it was about 10pm. At home we were all upstairs putting the youngest down and getting ready for bed ourslves when all of a sudden, we heard SCREAMING coming from down below. Terrified by this, I just about jumped down the stairs. By the time I/we got down, my oldest DD was holding this beautiful TCU acceptance letter that she had just pulled out of the mailbox - yes, the one that wasn't to come for another month.

She was jumping up and down saying, "Now do you believe me? Now do you believe me?" Of ourse we had no choice but to believe her. I was decided right then and there that she would be going to TCU. She is now in her forth year there.

Here is the link to my middle DD's experience from last year. She is a Texas A&M Aggie.

Man, I can hardly wait to go through this!

 

[Janis]

We are in the midst of the whole college waiting game. AFter hearing all of the horror stories of bright kids not getting accepted into the schools of their choice - and that so much of the admission process is a guessing game and you never know how it's going to turn out.....

Well, you could say we overdid it a little bit. My son applied to 14 schools. Oh yes, you read that right - it's not a typo. That's fourteen.

In our defense, those darn schools made it just too easy to apply! You see, for those of you who haven't been involved with the college app process since the 70's...things have really changed!

First - there's the Common App. Oh, those of you who have college bound kids have to know about this - It's a wonderful thing. Basically, you fill out one application that can be used for 100's of schools. From UMass to Siena to Quinnipiac to just about every darn school you can think of.

All it takes is a little click, $50, and BANG - you've applied to another school.

The downside: lots of money and lots of time writing personal essays for each college.

The upside: WE have gotten a lot of thrills with the acceptance letters! So far, he's gotten into 10 schools, been deferred at 2, and we are still waiting to hear from 2 others.

We are happy that he has choices - and he is happy that he has choices - and getting those GREAT BIG envelopes is a huge thrill!

It's good to have all of this joy . Because when I start to think of how much I will miss him next year...well, let's just not talk about that anymorel....

 

[Karen G]

It's good to have all of this joy . Because when I start to think of how much I will miss him next year...well, let's just not talk about that anymorel....

Guess what? Sometimes they come back sooner than you thought they would. Our son got into his first choice school & had a great time his freshman year. Unfortunately, he didn't devote much time to his studies & his grades revealed that.

Now he's back home, working part time, and attending a good local community college. We're loving this in-state tuition & having him home again! He's saving us a boatload of money!:whoopie:

 

[3kids4me]

We will be going through this next year. My son just got his January SAT scores back and we were thrilled. (I only wish his grades matched his scores, but he doesn't put out as much effort as he should.) He's been very active in high school (treasurer of class, varsity football, working a part time job, some other stuff) so I know he will need a school where there is a lot going on, and we will need a school that is reasonably priced. So...the search begins. I'm not really looking forward to the whole "push him to write the essays" thing, I do remember how wonderful and exciting going away to college was for me, and I do look forward to that experience for him!

Sharon

 

[Patri]

The acceptance letter was never a big issue with our kids. We assumed they'd get in wherever they applied and they did. We just needed it so they could make the housing deposit.

 

[m61376]

Well, to paraphrase what my DH said to our younger daughter when she recently completed her long haul: "We [as in the parental "us"] studied hard, we worked hard, and we deserve our accomplishments." :hysterical: In that vein, kudos to all the parents on their kids' acceptances.

And, yes, while I do agree to some extent that where you go is not as important as what you do with it and that sometimes the import on the "where" is for parental ego, to some extent certain schools "fit" the child and, if they are in an environment that they like, they will likely flourish both academically and emotionally.

Oh- btw- my hubbie kiddingly made those comments to our daughter when she passed the NY Bar ; I guess I'll have to include myself in those bragging parents.

Seriously, though, the best advice I can offer is to encourage your kids to avail themselves of internship opportunities. It is their last opportunity to dabble and see what direction they'd really like to follow. Both my daughters went to the same university that had amazing opportunities for internships, being located in NYC. One took advantage of it and the other chose not to. They both found their way professionally, but the one who explored her chosen field in college always had a clear direction while the other floundered for a few years after graduating. I really think that the emphasis many colleges place on internships today, unlike when we went to school, is a really good thing.