Helping Dd make college decision UConn, URI, UVM

[jacksmomtobe]

So right now DD has 3 acceptances. She has decided she likely wants to stay closer to home so it is likely if she gets into the remaining 2 she will not go to those schools. She is favoring UConn however she did not get any merit money. She got significant merit money at UVM and URI which would make both $20k per yr less expensive. I’m not sure I feel that she is fairly evaluating the other two.

She has agreed to go to Accepted Student Days at all. She has been to UConn more frequently and likely has a friend attending (unless the friend gets in at another school and gets more money there). URI we did a tour but she was not feeling well which colored that visit. She did go see the campus again and was positive about it and knows the surrounding area well. We went up to UVM but she applied regular decision and it happened to be accepted students day for early applicants so there were no official tours and she was reluctant to go into many buildings due to the accepted students everywhere. Her initial take was she liked it and would go back again if she got in. DS has two friends on the soccer team there one of which is visiting us now. I’m hoping she will get to chat with him but they are ships passing in the night as she is in school and the boys are on spring break so they are catching up with former teammates. My other qualm ably UConn is that she did not get into her accepted major. She can apply in to the school later. Her field would require grad school but now she is saying that maybe she doesn’t want to do that. I would be ok with her changing course but it feels like that it is more of a justification for UConn than anything sincere. She has wanted to pursue her field since Ms and did an internship in that field and liked it. Our current financial picture is not one where we would qualify for financial aid. We live in a hcol area and are not rich but our assets are in the wrong areas. To me merit makes the costs much more feasible for our longer term financial health.

Ok sorry for the long preamble:
*any feedback on any of these schools
*any recommendations on sites with real student feedback? Tried skimming college confidential but couldn’t find what I was looking for
*is there any way to use existing merit awards to see if UConn will offer anything?
*anyone have a child who applied to health sciences at UConn after being undeclared?
*She is concerned about pot smoking rep of UVM. DS’s friend said it happens but did not consider it more than other schools.
*She hs concerned about Greek life impact at URI. I went there (no push from me for her to go there) and from what I am reading as typical with many schools it is easier to be a girl who isn’t Greek than a guy and there is also off campus living in later yrs.

I feel like dd is making judgments on surface level things and is being swayed by her friends. I also feel like since getting into UConn she is less open minded about the other 2. She is acting like she is the lone decision maker. I just want her to go to the accepted students day with an open mind. I am not pressing her in any way right now and will wait till after the accepted students days to really discuss. In the meantime I am trying to find other sources of info on the real student experiences etc.

Thanks for reading all of this!

[AmyZ]

I would recommend joining the parent FB group of each school. I think that will help you get a deeper dive. There are plenty of perspective parents who join these groups to ask questions and then leave it their child chooses a different school.

I would also join the "Paying for College 101" group, not the page. You can use the search bar to look up each school. Lots of valuable information.

[georgiegirl]

I know there’s a UVM parent here!

DD got into UVM, and she really liked the campus and the merch and Burlington. We didn’t take an official tour though. UVM is smaller than UConn though.


Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk

[chlobo]

A friend's son graduated from UVM and one of my daughter's friends goes there now. Both have said that there is definitely pot smoking at UVM. The son who graduated said it didn't interfere with his enjoyment or experience at the school (he is not a pot smoker) and he really enjoyed his 4 years there and had a very successful experience. My daughter's friend does dabble but it sounds like you can take it or leave it. She is very involved in other activities on campus so it doesn't seem like it's overwhelming. They do give great merit aid and Burlington is a great city.

[jacksmomtobe]

I would recommend joining the parent FB group of each school. I think that will help you get a deeper dive. There are plenty of perspective parents who join these groups to ask questions and then leave it their child chooses a different school.

I would also join the "Paying for College 101" group, not the page. You can use the search bar to look up each school. Lots of valuable information.

After I posted I dawned on me that I should join the parents Facebook pages. I joined for the Class of 2028 ones. Lots of complaints on the UConn one about the lack of merit. People were also having trouble joining the general parents page at UConn as the moderator was not letting anyone with a private profile join.

[Green_Tea]

I have a student at UConn. She absolutely loves it. She’s very happy there. It’s true that they offer very little merit aid. Even though we are a Bleed Blue family, I wouldn’t say it’s worth $20K more than URI or UVM.

UVM absolutely has the best location of the schools you are considering. URI is currently on my son’s short list - my only reservation is that almost everyone moves 20 min off campus to live at the beach after freshman year, and I would like him to live on campus/closer to campus. But kids seem really happy there!

Feel free to message me with any UConn questions!

[StantonHyde]

My son is at UVM--this is his freshman year and he loves it. As for pot smoking--meh, my other son is in California and it seems to be about the same. Have your kiddo select the Wellness Living Learning Community and there will be less pot smoking, no hard partying, and a good dorm. That's what we did. It's great because the school is small enough that my son really knows his professors and the faculty in his major-Anthropology. The food is bad--it's bad at my other kiddos school too. The bus is free to everyone in Burlington and there is a bus that goes to the grocery store/Trader Joes so my son gets some frozen meals to augment when dinner is really bad. He rented the fridge/microwave combo through the school--which is a great deal. He enjoys Burlington. Housing is really expensive after their two years on campus--same for kid in California. For us, coming from the Rocky Mountains, it is expensive to fly in/out of Burlington. Next year my son will have a car so we will see about having him fly in and out of Boston, which will be much easier.

Feel free to ask any questions here or Private message me. Happy to answer questions!

[cckwmh]

I could have written this post! DD is in same boat. Her dream school is UCONN, no merit aid. She did receive significant merit aid everywhere else. For her, UCONN would be around $40,000 more a year. She contacted her admissions rep who said to fill out the appeal form on the portal to appeal merit aid. He did say we would not receive an answer until late April. You can also appeal major placement or campus placement there. DD did get the major she chose, but some of her friends did not. One friend got offered the program where you go abroad first semester and transfer into storrs second semester.

DD also got into URI. We went to a rhoddy test drive day for the college of health sciences. The student panel we sat in on had 5 student's - 3 females, 2 males, and only 1 female was in a sorority. Our tour guide was a female not in a sorority and said she didn't feel like being in one or not affected her social life. But she is female, and that may be the admissions answer. I do not want to rush this year AT ALL, but I do wish a decision could be made sooner rather than later.

[mom2binsd]

I'm a Uvm grad, and still keep in touch with my professors from 30 years ago, so although my opinion is biased, I still feel it's an awesome school. Wish we were closer so my kids could have considered it, but OOS was not in the cards for them.

Sent from my SM-G998U using Tapatalk

[niccig]

Have her really consider if the extra $20k x4 years is worth it. DS decided the more expensive school wasn’t worth the extra cost. He would’ve had to take out loans to make it work. The school he decided on can be paid with his 529. There were some other factors too. He’s thriving where he is and will graduate without any debt.


Sent from my iPhone using Baby Bargains