Son of AGDee's College Search Thread

[Benzgirl]

Originally Posted by AGDee

The difficulty with "Why Brown?" is that there is so much he loves about the school, he can't get it all in to 200 words without genericizing it.

So, "Because it's Brown", doesn't suffice?

[AGDee]

Ha! It should be the easiest one to write, right? The school he absolutely loves- but that's what is making it so difficult, I think.

[AGDee]

Halo has decided to drop Cornell from his list. As he was sitting down to write that essay, he realized he'd rather go to either of the schools that have already accepted him than go to Cornell. I'm fine with that. Saves me $75 and why bother if you know you wouldn't attend?

Status update:

Kalamazoo College- Admitted with scholarship- current first choice of acceptances so far
University of Michigan- Admitted- current second choice of those who have accepted him, but growing on him

Brown University- Submitted the app on the 28th- dream school- would accept above any of the others
Northwestern- Submitting the app in the morning (when my paycheck hits my bank account)- has leapt to second favorite overall on his list
Oberlin College- Submitting before Jan. 15 deadline- Isn't sure where it falls on the list right now- he'd go to Brown or Northwestern first, he thinks, but those are both lottery schools- not sure if he'd choose it over Kalamazoo or not at this point. May come down to financial aid- or we may have to re-visit some campuses to see.

Kalamazoo is appealing to him a lot because he has two friends going to Western Michigan for sure and it is right next the WMU campus. Big bonus for him there. He really, really loved Oberlin when we visited though.

[Blue Skies]

I went to high school in the Boston area, and many of my classmates went to the Ivys and the near-Ivys. Back then Brown had a reputation for being the toughest Ivy to get into. Everyone wanted Brown. Few were chosen. Brown rejectees went everywhere else -- Harvard, Princeton, Cornell, Dartmouth, Penn. Every other college loved them, but Brown was the fussbudget school. A dear friend went to Cornell and I think the cold there drove her to complete distraction.

Another friend went to Oberlin and loved it. I personally think that U Michigan would be a great experience. Michigan wasn't on my own list for potential colleges, but it should have been.

[AGDee]

Brown is definitely looking for a certain type of student and I don't know whether my son was able to effectively express that he is that type of student through his application. I think he'd be successful there and contribute to their community, but whether that shows in his app, I don't know.

My gut still says Oberlin for him, if he doesn't get into Brown. We may need to re-visit some places for a decision to be made. I think I'm going to need some vacation days over his Easter break to re-visit Kzoo and Oberlin, if he gets into Oberlin.

[AZTheta]

Oberlin was my dream school, Dee. Even more than Stanford. I did not apply because I knew that my parents would never ever let me attend a school so far from home (in CA) and the financial piece was tricky. My father did not want to fill out any applications for aid and divulge that information. He was very proud that he could send us to college on the money he made. And the University of California system was affordable at that time. So that is where we all went.

Halo has some amazing choices to make. Wherever he ends up, he will get a fine education.

[AGDee]

Oberlin is probably the most unique college I've seen. He's taking the risk with that essay that he decided not to take on his Brown essay. I think he should've taken that risk with Brown too because I think they would have appreciated it, but I am just trusting that he'll end up where he's supposed to be, like Hypo did.

[GammaGirl1908]

Originally Posted by AGDee

Brown is definitely looking for a certain type of student and I don't know whether my son was able to effectively express that he is that type of student through his application.

Heh, that reminds me of a funny story. One of my dear friends who went to Brown said that her class was the most random collection of people she'd ever encountered. She swears that they piled up the applications of the people who were qualified, threw them down the staircase (yelling, "wheeeee!"), and offered admission to the first 1600 from the bottom.

I didn't bother trying to convince her that there just is a very unique intersection of the people to whom Brown appeals, the people who apply to go there, the people who get in, and the people who accept and attend.

We've been out of college for 15 years and she still sticks to her staircase theory.

[Munchkin03]

Originally Posted by AGDee

Oberlin is probably the most unique college I've seen. He's taking the risk with that essay that he decided not to take on his Brown essay. I think he should've taken that risk with Brown too because I think they would have appreciated it, but I am just trusting that he'll end up where he's supposed to be, like Hypo did.

My joke is that Oberlin makes Brown look like Brigham Young.

Did Halo have any issues with the Common App this go-round?

[AGDee]

Oberlin app was submitted last night and we managed to get through it all with very few Common App issues. The school we had decided not to worry about finally downloaded the rest of his materials so I guess they're back on the ball now.

The cool news though, is he competed in Business Professionals of America regionals today and he placed for Extemporaneous Speech, Advanced Interviewing Skills, and Parliamentary Procedure. So, he's going to States again this year! Last year he ended up qualifying for Nationals and went to to Disney World. This year, Nationals are only in Indianapolis- not nearly as exciting. As President of his school's chapter, he's quite proud that 18 of the 21 kids who competed today from his chapter qualified for states. He believes they were more organized and did more prep work in advance this year.

So, he's going to email the admissions folks from his most competitive schools and ask if that information can be added to his application package. Anything to keep his name on their radar, I think.

[AGDee]

Halo's Court of Honor is tomorrow. He is sharing his Court with two other boys who started out in my Tiger Cub den in Sept. 2000. I'm exhausted from the prep- we have had 135 people RSVP and know of at least one other family who is coming who didn't RSVP. It will probably be closer to 150. Now that the prep is done, the emotion of it all is setting in.

[KDCat]

Originally Posted by AGDee

Halo's Court of Honor is tomorrow. He is sharing his Court with two other boys who started out in my Tiger Cub den in Sept. 2000. I'm exhausted from the prep- we have had 135 people RSVP and know of at least one other family who is coming who didn't RSVP. It will probably be closer to 150. Now that the prep is done, the emotion of it all is setting in.

This made me tear up a little. How do they all get so big so fast?

[AGDee]

I really have no idea. I think the whole place was in tears when Halo gave Hypo his mentor pin with a very nice speech about what a role model she has been to him. He was getting really choked up and cut it off, but said later he knew he was going to start crying so he had to wrap it up. Hypo was misty eyed through the whole ceremony and she really lost it when he said her name. He went through this whole list of things this person had done before naming her. It was a very touching moment. Through the rivalry and bickering, my kids DO love each other and are very supportive of each other's achievements. One of my best "Mom" moments ever.

It was a great event. There were, indeed, about 150 people there. Our troop has never had 3 Eagles do their Court of Honor together. There were two brothers who did theirs together before, but never 3. These three started Tiger Cubs on the same day and received their Eagle badges on the same day.

[Munchkin03]

Originally Posted by AGDee

I really have no idea. I think the whole place was in tears when Halo gave Hypo his mentor pin with a very nice speech about what a role model she has been to him. He was getting really choked up and cut it off, but said later he knew he was going to start crying so he had to wrap it up. Hypo was misty eyed through the whole ceremony and she really lost it when he said her name. He went through this whole list of things this person had done before naming her. It was a very touching moment. Through the rivalry and bickering, my kids DO love each other and are very supportive of each other's achievements. One of my best "Mom" moments ever.

You should be proud! Your kids sound awesome.

[MysticCat]

Congrats to Halo on his Eagle! And congrats to his mom—we who've been where Halo is know how much credit mom deserves!