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onceinvincible315
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Posted: Sat Jan 5th, 2008 09:40 pm |
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Canadian and Carolyn- thanks for the congrats. Elizabethtown College's acceptance is all the more exciting considering my best friend also got accepted today.
Anyway, Carolyn, maybe it was my proximity to the campus that got me deferred, I will ultimately never know. I was going to talk to my admission counselor at Drew about why I was deferred but I decided against it. I told my guidance counselor about Drew, he was surprised. Then, I told him about Allegheny. He was even more surprised that I got into Allegheny, especially with a scholarship, and was deferred by Drew. He said Allegheny was "two times harder to get into" and "twice better of a school than Drew." I have to visit Allegheny, it really has been growing on me since the acceptance.
I hope all is well with everyone!
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CarolynLawrence
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Posted: Sun Jan 6th, 2008 12:13 am |
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Your guidance counselor is right on the money about Allegheny. Really, it is a wonderful school. (Full disclosure: Allegheny was "my dream school" way back when but I didn't get in. It has only gotten better since then).
How neat that your best friend also got good news from Elizabethtown today! 
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Northeastmom
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Posted: Sun Jan 6th, 2008 02:59 am |
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| onceinvincible, I do think that the Drew deferral has much to do with coming from NJ. I really think if you applied as a resident from one of the New England states you would have been accepted rather than being deferred into the RD pool. Congrats on E'town and Stockton.
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onceinvincible315
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Posted: Sun Jan 6th, 2008 04:10 am |
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carolyn- my best friend and i, with our "crew," were planning on going bowling today... it then turned into a celebration. we also ate at this pizzeria in hoboken known for having the largest slice of pizza, ever. it was pretty huge. today was a wonderful saturday.
i think out of all my accepted schools, if i had to choose one right now, it would be allegheny. everyone keeps telling me how amazing it is. i feel as though it is very much a hidden gem i am not sure why people have not started to investigate.
northeastmom- thanks for the congrats on e'town and stockton. do you have any additional information about stockton? i applied as one of my in-state safeties, my other is ramapo which is looking better and better even though the admissions threw me into a loophole with needing SAT scores and 1st m.p. grades last minute. i applied to richard stockton because it was a public LAC, their english department seemed like one of their strong departments, and it was near the shore. i am worried though about the commuter campus, and also the campus itself. basicially, if i am not mistaken, it is all one gigantic building? i am very much into the classic looking LAC's with the ivy and such. do you have any comments? also, how is the rep with richard stockton? as being from northern jersey, i really have no clue about stockton's rep here.
ahh, good morning. it is now 12:09 am. hope everyone has a beautiful sunday.
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CarolynLawrence
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Posted: Sun Jan 6th, 2008 04:44 am |
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Actually, Allegheny is gaining a lot more attention, as demonstrated by their ever dropping admissions rate.  Please try to find a way to visit if you can.
Glad you took some time to have some fun with your friends - you deserve it!
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Canadian
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Posted: Sun Jan 6th, 2008 06:22 am |
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| Do you know the book Colleges that Change Lives? Allegheny is featured in it.
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Northeastmom
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Posted: Mon Jan 7th, 2008 12:26 am |
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| About Stockton, sorry I cannot help. I am nowhere near Stockton either. I did read that it is all in one building. Son's GC did not have much to tell me about it, which is crazy since she is a GC for NJ high school. Sorry that I don't know anything about it.
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onceinvincible315
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Posted: Mon Jan 7th, 2008 12:50 am |
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northeastmom, that's okay about stockton... however, forgot to tell you, the last school i applied to was (drum roll) ... HARTWICK. i revisted their website and from all that i gathered, i felt hartwick should get a chance to be a potential college for me.
i read colleges that change lives in its entirety. i wish loren pope would cover more schools rather than a select forty.. there are hundreds that should be recognized. the stigma with prestige in this country has increased so much. instead of finding fits with a school, many of my classmates only gloss the names.
anyway, hope all is well with everyone!
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Northeastmom
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Posted: Mon Jan 7th, 2008 03:00 pm |
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| I agree with you about the "select 40". Have you heard from Hartwick yet? BTW, did you take their alumni interview for students from NJ? They sent numerous letters to us to let us know about alumni scholarships available from our area (don't know if it is for all of NJ or not, but I do think that you might fit into the same category). They keep writing to us and to my son. Did yu get the little blue nylon sac with Hartwick's name on it? They sent this to my son, even though I told them several times that he is a sophomore in hs, LOL! Have you looked at Hartwick? I do like their J term. I am just nervous about their endowment and financial situation. It is a very nice campus, not too far away from home and across from SUNY Oneonta.
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onceinvincible315
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Posted: Tue Jan 8th, 2008 12:50 am |
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| they sent me the nylon bag... and a t-shirt. i thought the t-shirt was nice. it makes me wonder that their endowment is fine if they can send out free t-shirts and bags to all that on our their mailing list. i just recently applied this past weekend. i did not do the alumni interview. i was unsure of hartwick while contemplating it. i really like the j-term aspect. i heard the campus is majestic yet hilly. i live on an enormous hill, hills do not bother me. i think i find out on my birthday, or around my birthday, if i get in. hope all is well!
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CarolynLawrence
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Posted: Tue Jan 8th, 2008 03:15 am |
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onceinvincible315 wrote: northeastmom, that's okay about stockton... however, forgot to tell you, the last there are hundreds that should be recognized. the stigma with prestige in this country has increased so much. instead of finding fits with a school, many of my classmates only gloss the names.
You are a very wise young lady, Once. Even many parents aren't able to look beyond prestige and name to see the right fit for their children.
In fact, I think your line above is one of the best observations I've read in a long time, so I am naming you  for the day for being so eloquent.
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Northeastmom
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Posted: Tue Jan 8th, 2008 11:11 am |
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Yes, glossing names of schools are how some students pick schools. They also rule out good schools based on the opinions of one or two classmates.
Hartwick's campus is small, hilly, and beautiful. You will definitely burn calories just by walking to to class, LOL. I got a workout touring the campus that day. I guess the t-shirts are reserved for their applicants, because my son did not get one of those. Maybe they mailed the bag to him because they had a few left over. Don't believe that their endowment is fine, because they spent some money to recruit you. I would definitely contact them for an alumni interview (there must be an alumni interviewer who lives within 20-30 minutes of your home). I think it would be worth it for the NJ scholarship (hopefully, there are still some available). I forgot, but I think that the scholarship is for 7 or 8 thousand dollars, and I am fairly sure that one of their letters said that you will get it, if you are admitted and interviewed (not 100% sure, but fairly certain).
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onceinvincible315
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Posted: Tue Jan 8th, 2008 10:23 pm |
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carolyn, even though i am not a young lady... i am a young gent, your comment made me extremely happy. i feel as though i have learned so much about myself during this process. i truly had to investigate, and i still have to, trying to figure out a potential home and future for me.
northeastmom, i really enjoy hills (kenyon was intense with hills!) and am excited at the prospect of being accepted and visiting hartwick. one of my really close friends is applying to suny oneonta, so it would be awesome if we both wound up in the same town, surprisingly. i received the hartwick shirt a long time ago, i think during september. i missed the alumni interview deadline for the scholarship which is okay.
i hope all is well with both of you!
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defyingravity1
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| Joined: | Mon Jan 7th, 2008 |
| Location: | NYC |
| Posts: | 75 |
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Posted: Tue Jan 8th, 2008 11:32 pm |
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| Once- You have a really good list of schools there and I think any of them would be a good place for you. Have you visited any yet or are you waiting for accepted students day?
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CarolynLawrence
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Posted: Thu Jan 10th, 2008 06:01 am |
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| LOL, I am sorry for the gender mistake, Once. It is part of the mystery of the internet.
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onceinvincible315
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Posted: Fri Jan 11th, 2008 08:44 pm |
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Today was a long day at school but it's now the WEEKEND!
Anyway, Elizabethtown College offered me a 12,500 Provost scholarship. It's nice but right now, I prefer Allegheny, Ursinus, and Knox a bit more, in that order. I really do not know how strong their English department is at Etown. I know Etown is very solid in Music and Occupational Therapy? Umm, what else. I might visit Etown on their Accepted Day in a month, maybe. Anyway, Hartwick application has been received in its entirity, will hear back in early March (around my birthday!) So the more I read about Hartwick, the more I really think it would be a good match for me, almost in the same vein as Drew. I think the area is attractive, the programs solid, and I could nail a solid scholarship. Hope all is well with everyone! Have a good weekend!
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CarolynLawrence
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Posted: Fri Jan 11th, 2008 09:09 pm |
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Once, you've received several merit scholarships. Here's a tip: don't let your head be swayed by the dollar amount of the scholarships themselves. Instead, take the total Cost of Attendance (including travel expenses, if there are any) for each school and subtract out the merit scholarships they've offered. Often, a smaller merit scholarship at a school that costs less to begin with is a better deal than a larger one at a more expensive school.
And, I personally think that merit scholarships should be kept in context. If the difference between attending a school you love and a school you are so-so about is a few thousand dollars, it often is best to find a way to come up with the difference and head to the better school.
Of course, if you will also be applying for need-based aid, you will have to see how that works out as well. But, again, it is easy to be dollar wise and pound foolish in terms of looking at the bottomline. (Of course, if your family really can't afford a school, this doesn't apply)
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jocelynDAD
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Posted: Fri Jan 11th, 2008 11:13 pm |
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Merit Scholarships are wonderful for the Ego and the pocketbook, but as Carolyn indicated they must be considered within the totality of the costs etc and the school.
Now if your family is not eligible for any need based grants, you have a simple calculation, Total costs - merit scholarship = your family's bill.
Ah but there is a catch, Merit Scholarships at most schools require that the student maintain a certain GPA to have the scholarship renewed.
While a few schools (Wooster + others) require that the GPA be a 2.0 (or a C average) most require the student to maintain a 3.0, some higher even to a 3.5, others lower (Elizabethtown's Provost requires a 2.75 GPA be maintained).
So if the courses you select are academically difficult, you could find that scholarship to be non-available in subsequent years.
Now if your family is eligible for need based financial aid - now you have a decision to make. Normally, if granted a merit scholarship and eligibility for need based aid, the merit scholarship award is counted against the need amounts. Example follows:
Total Cost is 40,000; Merit scholarship is 10,000; Need assessment is 25,000
Now the college financial award will look like this:
Total costs $40,000 - Merit award of $10,000 - need assessment of $15,000 =
family bill of $15,000
Now if the merit scholarship is lost due to GPA problems, the need assessment would still be $25,000 (assuming the family situation remains stable), but the award of aid in subsequent years might include loans to fill in the gap left by the lose of the merit scholarship.
Better if the student refused the merit scholarship with the GPA tie and get the need based grant of $25,000 - the family contribution remains the same and the subsequent years renewal would be smoother without the GPA threat hanging over the student (and family's) heads.
BTW: in many schools the higher the Merit $ amount = the higher GPA rquirement
So if they offer $13,500 with a 3.25 GPA requirement, but have available a
merit scholarship of $11,000 with a 2.75 GPA requirement, it might be the better solution to accept a lower scholarship offer with a lower GPA.
Remember getting all B's in college = a 3.0, all B's and one C = 2.75.
As experienced horse traders knew, you have to look at the horse's teeth to gage the quality/age of the animal. Quite similar to scholarship offers from colleges, you got to look at the possible consequences or as we lawyers tend to do, consider the worst case scenerio, 
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outwest
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Posted: Sat Jan 12th, 2008 07:00 am |
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Great post, JocelynDad that pertains to many of us. Thanks for reminding me.
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CarolynLawrence
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Posted: Mon Jan 14th, 2008 01:58 am |
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| I agree JD, great post. Thank you for sharing your experience and wisdom.
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