People were saying the same about UVM except it was a longer drive. And if the kid was a skier forget about it. Deep discount Smuggler's Notch season tickets for UVM students.
OT: My Son Is Accepted To Rutgers!!!
- Thread starter Bleed_Scarlet
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People were saying the same about UVM except it was a longer drive. And if the kid was a skier forget about it. Deep discount Smuggler's Notch season tickets for UVM students.
That’s what I told my kids. They can go anywhere they want but there is a short list of schools I’ll pay full boat. They are responsible for the difference between where they want to go and RU in-state tuition
BU has ties to their med school with that program. For that SPECIFIC program go BU. Just like I'm sure Rutgers has some specific programs that top what you could get at a higher rated school.
And MIT is in a class by itself.
BU is overrated IMO. The "prestige" comes from the sticker shock.
I can totally understand that.
For us (my ex wife and I), we were relived that, for undergrad, our kids eventually choose RU. Mostly because we knew they would wind up in grad school which basically made their undergrad choice less important. And RU was lots cheaper than most of their earlier leans.
One of my kids, for example, was leaning towards Northeastern for a while because, no kidding, "the cafeteria food was amazing". WTF? LOL. Meanwhile RU was throwing money at her while NE was dragging their feet on scholarship offerings.
I have to say, the RU Accepted Honors Student Day they ran, where all the HS seniors and their parents could visit and spend a day among honors faculty and graduating RU honors students, was eye-opening and went a very long way towards convincing my kids to go.
The thing that most convinced them was listening to like 30 RU seniors, during lunch, who went down the line listing their destinations after graduation. It was a recital of some of the most prestigious graduation programs in the world. The only people NOT going on to some great grad school were a couple kids who'd already started their own businesses.
Also, if not for us going to RUFB games with them, I don't think they would've even ever considered RU at all.
In the end, they could've chosen wherever they wanted (from those schools to which they'd been accepted, I mean). It wasn't going to be their money after all. But they ultimately settled on RU and I'm pretty sure, if asked, they'd say they were really glad they did so. For whatever that's worth.
Get into MIT and do well and you can write your own ticket for the future. So yes, if accepted there, screw the cost and just go. Maybe JHU is similar for the specific interest your son has. The rest, eh... not so sure it would matter that much if he's going on to grad school. But what do I know.
Boston is great. I have never not had a great time when in Boston. If he gets into MIT, I'll go visit with you. I know some great drinking spots (not that I drink much anymore, sadly).
I see.
Along those lines, our kids absolutely refused to let their mom or I participate in, or look over, any aspect of the application process. We never even saw their essays, the little brats.
I recall when the second kid was still in HS and we met with the guidance counselor. She started explaining the app process, then stopped herself and said, "oh, but you guys already know all this from your first kid". And we were like, uh, nope, you'd think so, but the kid forbade our involvement at any level (beyond funding, of course).
We raised them to be independent. But I have to say, in hindsight, it worked a bit too well. 😃
I'll take you up on that, especially since you are willing to be Designated Driver :)
The conversation should've ended at cafeteria food. That's literally the last reason to pick a college. I'm honestly shocked how much freedom people give their kids to make a choice when there are finances etc involved.
Acceptance rates of 7% aren't uncommon these days - schools like USC and UT Austin (out of state) are around there...
We had a very similar experience. I think one of our kids showed us one essay but only because they were a little unsure that it was a good response to the unusual question.
Each of our kids went to schools that we thought would have been their second or third choice. And they all thrived, in large part because they knew themselves well and where they would do best.
If you want film studies go to USC. The accounting program at UT Austin has a great rep. But nobody touches MIT for STEM except possibly Cal Tech.
Agreed 100 percent .. I more put those numbers out there just to show how insane it is
USC accepted 2400/40600 early action applications - 6%
My son was advised to apply there by his advisor and I was baffled as to why.. he is a STEM kid and I couldn’t think of a single reason why that school would be better than any other school he applied to (and I don’t only mean Rutgers).. especially when you factor in cost.
In my view, those are all great options and he can’t go wrong with any of them. I wouldn’t “worry” unless finances are a huge concern. By the way, my daughter was accepted to BU but went to Rutgers. I was happy about that but would have been fine with all my kids’ options. As an aside, the BU a presentation to parents was absolutely outstanding and not the usual BS. Be happy he has great choices!
I didn’t think it was anything special. Maybe it’s the students they use. Our guy was so so.
For us a large part of the presentation was a role playing discussion about the causes of WWI that involved both students and staff. It was awesome.of course they also covered the usual topics on why to choose BU, etc. As a history undergrad at RU, I was extremely impressed. My daughter ultimately chose RU (as did my son after one year elsewhere), which made me happy.
Now I feel like I got short changed. We got the usual BS. They try to impress us with their last incoming class credentials. My daughter thought NE did a better job. Mom took her on that one.
Congrats, you just saved a ton of money 😂
All I know is that there are plenty of people who didn’t go to college that I know who are absolutely killing it - plumbers and electricians , for example. It’s just a different path.
I wonder how many applications would have come in if you had to prepare a completely different form for each school you apply to.
But you know, an AA degree would benefit many of them. But that's looked down at in some quarters.
She’s going to college.
I was just saying her main goal this month is where she will find a Chipotle once she is there. (I’m exaggerating..kind of)
I am very willing to be a DD but you might not like how I drive. 🙂
Trust me, we made fun of her about it. But she was a very good student, worked really hard at it, and was totally self motivated. So had she chosen a more expensive school, we’d have happily paid it because she’d earned it. If it would’ve been a financial burden for us, then it would’ve been different.
In the end, she made a choice she knew would cost us less, knowing we would’ve been okay with the costlier choice. Which, IMO, showed that we probably handled the whole thing correctly.
My kid that’s joining the military, my youngest, is a smart, but not academically oriented kid. Hated school, although he likes learning. Kids take different paths. He likes helping people, likes challenges, and is a thrill seeker.
What’s your kid love to do?
I used to ride in a tank, I think I can handle it 😜
actually I am a terrible passenger, or so my wife says…..
The USC application actually involved more work than just the common app
There were schools my son applied to because it was basically click a few more buttons - USC was not one of those
They have a whole host of stupid questions like
- Describe yourself in three words.
- What is your favorite snack?
- Best movie of all time.
- Dream job.
- If your life had a theme song, what would it be?
- Dream trip.
- What TV show will you binge watch next?
- Which well-known person or fictional character would be your ideal roommate?
She doesn't even have good taste in food :-)
I'm sure she will find her way and do well
All-time best. A classmate answered a short answer question:
"What's you strongest personal characteristic?"
Answer:
"My thighs"
Can you imagine an admissions officer who's reading hundreds of these? You're in or you're toast. Obviously got in.
We’ll sure, after all, tanks can drive through buildings without harming the tank or the tank crew. What’s to worry about, especially if nobody’s shooting at you?
You've obviously never been in a tank with an 18 year driver fresh out boot camp who knows he can drive through buildings.....
:)
The fact that RU doesn't use the Common App is such a pain. My son had nothing but complaints about it. Though I think I heard RU is moving to Common App next year?
True. I can imagine that could get a little hairy sometimes. I would be problematic driving a tank for sure, even now, let alone at that age.
My tank commander buddy has a bunch of great, usually hilarious, stories from his many years in tanks. Was regaling us just a couple weeks back about how they would, uh, defecate, without getting entirely off the tank. And about a minor mishap that occurred with that. 🤮
Tankers never get off the tank, nothing good ever happens off of the tank.
Of course that isn't true, unfortunately you have to get off the tank all the time, but the part about nothing good happening off the tank is indeed true....
When you can step directly from the turret top to the ground, you know you are in trouble... though even this one self recovered with a bit of maneuvering
Yes, it’s confirmed for next year! Very excited over here - tired of walking nearly 300 kids through some of the poorly worded questions on the Rutgers app.
Look for this love to also increase applications from OOS students. An application increase is typical of schools that move to Common App.
