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  1. #21
    sariana is offline Diamond level (5000+ posts)
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    Quote Originally Posted by essnce629 View Post
    DS1 and I had a great time on our 11 day mom and son college trip! We toured 5 schools in 4 different cities in the Pacific Northwest. It was basically a food and college tour!

    DS had been leaning towards Whitman College for months BUT it was way out of our original budget (like $17k a year more even after his $14k a year in merit initially). We attended their Admitted Student Saturday in person 2 weeks ago and then immediately came home and drafted our appeal. We qualify for zero need based aid so our only hope was way more merit. DS wrote a letter basically saying what drew him to Whitman (including specifics from attending the Admitted Student Saturday), told them that our budget all along was the price of a UC school but that a small liberal arts college is what is the best fit, and that Whitman was his first choice but the most expensive choice out of the 8 schools he had gotten into. We included a comparison spreadsheet of all the current colleges’ net costs and attached the aid letters of each school he’s been accepted to. We just heard back that they gave him an additional $16k a year in merit, bringing the total merit to $30k a year! That puts Whitman squarely in our budget and now he can commit. We knew from day one that we would always appeal his first choice school. You have nothing to lose and a ton to gain! Colleges are a business and in the end they need to make their yield and financial goals. If they didn’t budge in price then we could walk and they’d get $0 from us. So in the end it was a win win situation. We got the price we wanted and they are still getting money from us and another student to add to their yield numbers. I looked over their Common Data Sets from the past couple of years and saw that their freshman class from last year was significantly smaller due to Covid. I assumed they were at risk for not making their yield again (they are actually still accepting applications) and therefore we had the upper hand as the consumer. Also, most small liberal arts colleges skew very heavily female, with Whitman being 60% female, 40% male. I knew they needed more males. And in another crazy turn of events my in-laws have offered to pay for Whitman, but now that the price is in our original budget, if anything goes awry with the in-laws we know we can still afford it on our own. We are all ecstatic for how things turned out!

    I just checked and Whitman is ranked #47 for LACs in the US, so I guess he did apply to a school in the top 50, plus 2 UC schools since we're in CA. Whitman has an acceptance rate of 56%, probably due to it's location. If it was in a bigger city I think it would be much more popular. It wasn't even on our list of schools to visit last year because it was such a far drive from Seattle. It's truly a hidden gem and we probably would have never known about it if it wasn't for the Colleges that Change Lives book that I read DS1's freshman year.

    Sent from my SM-A515U1 using Tapatalk
    That’s awesome! I seriously considered Whitman College and even visited it with my parents. I ended up going to Cal because I wanted to do marching band, lol! But I loved the atmosphere at Whitman.
    DS '04 "Boogaboo"
    DD '08 "Lilybear"

  2. #22
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    Quote Originally Posted by essnce629 View Post
    DS1 and I had a great time on our 11 day mom and son college trip! We toured 5 schools in 4 different cities in the Pacific Northwest. It was basically a food and college tour!

    DS had been leaning towards Whitman College for months BUT it was way out of our original budget (like $17k a year more even after his $14k a year in merit initially). We attended their Admitted Student Saturday in person 2 weeks ago and then immediately came home and drafted our appeal. We qualify for zero need based aid so our only hope was way more merit. DS wrote a letter basically saying what drew him to Whitman (including specifics from attending the Admitted Student Saturday), told them that our budget all along was the price of a UC school but that a small liberal arts college is what is the best fit, and that Whitman was his first choice but the most expensive choice out of the 8 schools he had gotten into. We included a comparison spreadsheet of all the current colleges’ net costs and attached the aid letters of each school he’s been accepted to. We just heard back that they gave him an additional $16k a year in merit, bringing the total merit to $30k a year! That puts Whitman squarely in our budget and now he can commit. We knew from day one that we would always appeal his first choice school. You have nothing to lose and a ton to gain! Colleges are a business and in the end they need to make their yield and financial goals. If they didn’t budge in price then we could walk and they’d get $0 from us. So in the end it was a win win situation. We got the price we wanted and they are still getting money from us and another student to add to their yield numbers. I looked over their Common Data Sets from the past couple of years and saw that their freshman class from last year was significantly smaller due to Covid. I assumed they were at risk for not making their yield again (they are actually still accepting applications) and therefore we had the upper hand as the consumer. Also, most small liberal arts colleges skew very heavily female, with Whitman being 60% female, 40% male. I knew they needed more males. And in another crazy turn of events my in-laws have offered to pay for Whitman, but now that the price is in our original budget, if anything goes awry with the in-laws we know we can still afford it on our own. We are all ecstatic for how things turned out!

    I just checked and Whitman is ranked #47 for LACs in the US, so I guess he did apply to a school in the top 50, plus 2 UC schools since we're in CA. Whitman has an acceptance rate of 56%, probably due to it's location. If it was in a bigger city I think it would be much more popular. It wasn't even on our list of schools to visit last year because it was such a far drive from Seattle. It's truly a hidden gem and we probably would have never known about it if it wasn't for the Colleges that Change Lives book that I read DS1's freshman year.

    Sent from my SM-A515U1 using Tapatalk
    Congrats to your DS!! I love that he found a great fit and you all were able to make it work for everyone. Such an exciting start to his adult life!
    Last edited by carolinamama; 04-14-2021 at 01:04 PM.
    Mom to Two Wild and Crazy Boys and One Sweet Baby Girl

  3. #23
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    Quote Originally Posted by essnce629 View Post
    DS1 and I had a great time on our 11 day mom and son college trip! We toured 5 schools in 4 different cities in the Pacific Northwest. It was basically a food and college tour!

    DS had been leaning towards Whitman College for months BUT it was way out of our original budget (like $17k a year more even after his $14k a year in merit initially). We attended their Admitted Student Saturday in person 2 weeks ago and then immediately came home and drafted our appeal. We qualify for zero need based aid so our only hope was way more merit. DS wrote a letter basically saying what drew him to Whitman (including specifics from attending the Admitted Student Saturday), told them that our budget all along was the price of a UC school but that a small liberal arts college is what is the best fit, and that Whitman was his first choice but the most expensive choice out of the 8 schools he had gotten into. We included a comparison spreadsheet of all the current colleges’ net costs and attached the aid letters of each school he’s been accepted to. We just heard back that they gave him an additional $16k a year in merit, bringing the total merit to $30k a year! That puts Whitman squarely in our budget and now he can commit. We knew from day one that we would always appeal his first choice school. You have nothing to lose and a ton to gain! Colleges are a business and in the end they need to make their yield and financial goals. If they didn’t budge in price then we could walk and they’d get $0 from us. So in the end it was a win win situation. We got the price we wanted and they are still getting money from us and another student to add to their yield numbers. I looked over their Common Data Sets from the past couple of years and saw that their freshman class from last year was significantly smaller due to Covid. I assumed they were at risk for not making their yield again (they are actually still accepting applications) and therefore we had the upper hand as the consumer. Also, most small liberal arts colleges skew very heavily female, with Whitman being 60% female, 40% male. I knew they needed more males. And in another crazy turn of events my in-laws have offered to pay for Whitman, but now that the price is in our original budget, if anything goes awry with the in-laws we know we can still afford it on our own. We are all ecstatic for how things turned out!

    I just checked and Whitman is ranked #47 for LACs in the US, so I guess he did apply to a school in the top 50, plus 2 UC schools since we're in CA. Whitman has an acceptance rate of 56%, probably due to it's location. If it was in a bigger city I think it would be much more popular. It wasn't even on our list of schools to visit last year because it was such a far drive from Seattle. It's truly a hidden gem and we probably would have never known about it if it wasn't for the Colleges that Change Lives book that I read DS1's freshman year.

    Sent from my SM-A515U1 using Tapatalk
    This is so amazing!! I am so happy for you and your family!
    Angie

    Mom to
    DD- 9/09-9/09
    DS- 2011 DS2- 2012 DS3- 2015 DD-2019

  4. #24
    bisous is offline Red Diamond level (10,000+ posts)
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    Wow! Great story Latia! I'm so happy for you guys. This is just too crazy seeing these kids that I "know" going off to college!

  5. #25
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    Quote Originally Posted by sariana View Post
    That’s awesome! I seriously considered Whitman College and even visited it with my parents. I ended up going to Cal because I wanted to do marching band, lol! But I loved the atmosphere at Whitman.
    Whitman is a great school but then I am SLAC fan
    Mom to:
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    DS '05
    Percy--the wild furry child!!! 2022----
    Simon--the first King Charles cutie 2009-2022
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    "The task of any religion is not to tell us who we are entitled to hate but to teach us who we are required to love."

  6. #26
    Globetrotter is offline Red Diamond level (10,000+ posts)
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    esssnce629, wow!! I am so impressed how you appealed and got them to lower the costs. Way to go, mom! And I'm also happy that he found his perfect fit yay! We are LACs people, too, so I get it. Mine is still undecided- 2.5 weeks to go.
    "Friendship is born at that moment when one person says to another, "What? You, too? I thought I was the only one." C.S. Lewis

  7. #27
    Globetrotter is offline Red Diamond level (10,000+ posts)
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    This year was crazy for selective admissions. the less selective schools had the opposite issue and some are struggling financially. Cal states enrollment went down, except for SLO and Pomona. UCs went up by approx 30%! They were test BLIND- they didn't look at scores at all- It was very holistic this year.

    Going forward, I'm all for test optionalbut I think it's important to figure out a fair way to compare candidates- maybe give test optional folks another essay, or something, but I know that's hard for large public schools to manage.

    Selective private apps were through the roof, fueled by the same people applying to tons of places due to test optional policies, deferrals from last year, uncertainty of where to apply since they couldn't tour (people applied first, then toured where they got in), international students now feeling comfortable to apply (there was a Biden boost, too!).. So due to all this there is a ton of waitlisting going on as colleges have no idea how many will commit.

    I hope they figure out by next year how to manage the test optional boost. Popular colleges had to hire and train readers just to manage the load, and they had very little time to read the apps. And a lot of folks had pass/fail grades last spring and cancelled extracurriculars, making it even harder to compare candidates. What a nightmare of a job.

    there is also a push to recruit more first gen low income students, which is a good thing, and btw they tend to apply for free.

    But I guess what do you expect in a pandemic? It was bound to be chaotic.
    "Friendship is born at that moment when one person says to another, "What? You, too? I thought I was the only one." C.S. Lewis

  8. #28
    AnnieW625's Avatar
    AnnieW625 is offline Black Diamond level (25,000+ posts)
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    Congrats to your DS1 Essnce.


    Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
    Annie
    WOHM to two wonderful little girls born in April
    DD E, 17
    DD L, 13,
    baby 2, 4-2009 (our Tri-18 baby)

  9. #29
    SnuggleBuggles is offline Black Diamond level (25,000+ posts)
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    Congrats, essnce!!

  10. #30
    gatorsmom is offline Pink Diamond level (15,000+ posts)
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    Latia, I'm so proud of you and happy for your son. I bet the fact that you attached a spreadsheet to the essay stood out in a very position way to the application readers. Way to go, you two!
    " I object to violence because when it appears to do good, the good is only temporary; the evil it does is permanent." Mahatma Gandhi

    "This is the ultimate weakness of violence: It multiplies evil and violence in the universe. It doesn't solve any problems." Martin Luther King, Jr.

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