Some happy news
I have been mostly absent from LJ these last months, but wanted to pop in and share some good news. Since November, Dove has been in the process of selecting and applying to high school. We did a lot of scoping out during her 7th grade year, and she narrowed her choices to three schools, all of which are about a half an hour away, and all of which offer the Engineering track that she is interested in pursuing. I'll call the schools St. Kateri's, Our Lady of Consolation, and Cardinal Shehan High.
St. Kateri's is a very small all girls high school, about 300 kids, where I went to high school in Baltimore. Pros: very warm and friendly, nurturing faculty who seem very invested in the girls, lowest tuition and easiest commute to get her there. Cons: maybe too small, less club and activity offerings, and enrollment has been dwindling for several years...some concerns about the school staying open long enough for both my girls to get through.
Our Lady of Consolation (LC) is a large coed high school of about 1250 kids. Pros: most AP offerings and academically very challenging, a lot of extracurriculars, terrific theatre department and good scores from the engineering kids, has the most extensive elective classes. Free lunches. Pay bus service if you need it. Cons: most expensive tuition, as in out of our range expensive. Commute is medium, some traffic. More kids = less personal attention?
Cardinal Shehan is also a large coed high school of about 1100 kids. Pros: impressed with the engineering class and teacher. Good theatre department. Cons: Worst commute, mid range tuition, and I was wholly put off by the admissions director, who definitely had the snob factor. Also a concern was finding out that if Engineering track kids wanted to take any electives, they had to do so during their lunch period, and eat their lunch during homeroom. What?! Essentially, with the way their schedule worked, STEM WAS their elective.
Dove applied for every possible scholarship she could think of that she had a potential shot at. Wrote innumerable essays, got reference letters, put together application packets, etc. - it was a heck of a lot of work and stress. She auditioned for a theatre scholarship at St. K's. She auditioned for a theatre scholarship at LC, and made it to call back interviews with the theatre director there two weeks later. She got a letter from Cardinal Shehan that she was an academic semifinalist for a scholarship there, and had to attend an essay writing competition with about 40 other kids. She had a call back interview from the LC Engineering director and had to interview with him. Then it was the waiting game.
St K's and Cardinal S are both Baltimore diocese schools. They send out their packets in mid Feb. LC is a Washington diocese school, and they send their packets a week later. The first one to come in was from Cardinal S. She was accepted into the honors program and the Engineering track, but no scholarship money. She was extremely disappointed, but Cardinal S had been moved to her last choice school, and we thought that we might still be able to swing the tuition if we stretched.
The next to arrive was from St. K's, and wow, what a difference. She got a very personalized and extremely welcoming packet, with all kinds of bling, personal note from admin, a welcoming email from a fellow student there, and three scholarship offers: a $2000 academic scholarship, a $500 legacy scholarship award, and a $500 theatre scholarship. She was really happy about those, and it made a nice dent in the tuition. St. K's is a small school, and that is the top amount that they offer, so we were thankful. She was also accepted in the Engineering program and honors track there, so that pretty much kicked Cardinal S out of the running.
The big wait was for her #1 school, LC, whose admissions packets were due a week later. Last Friday, her good friend and classmate Mag got her admissions letter from LC - she was accepted but no money or financial aid. Dove watched the mail the next day: no packet. We thought surely it would come on Monday, and I watched for the mailman, but again, nothing. I got worried that maybe we missed it or that it got lost in the ads/circulars, so yesterday I called LC's admissions office. Apparently the packets were mailed the previous week and hers is either lost or delayed in the mail, but the very kind lady in Admissions asked for her name and when I said "Dove K" she said, "Oh, yes, Dove! You have a very talented young lady there. I know she's been accepted, let me grab her file." I thought that was a good sign, and when she came back to the phone, she said, "We usually do not discuss student admissions over the phone, but since it looks like her packet is so late getting to you, I will tell you that she has been accepted into the Honors track and the Engineering Program. And we are offering Dove our top scholarship for $7000 a year, plus an additional $1500 theatre scholarship."
I was so happy I could have cried. That $8.5K scholarship puts LC's tuition equal to St. Kateri's, and now we CAN afford to send her to either school, so Dove can choose. Thank thank thank the Lord! She has been invited to a Scholars Breakfast at St. K's tomorrow, and we are still waiting for the LC packet to see about their welcome schedule for incoming freshman. Dove will not have to make a final decision on her high school until the first week in March, so she has time to really weigh the two schools. They are both so different. Three of her good friends have been accepted to St K's, and one has also been accepted to LC. I think she is leaning to LC, which would have been out of the question were it not for the scholarship, but we'll see. I am just really proud of her hard work and happy that she's been accepted. :)
St. Kateri's is a very small all girls high school, about 300 kids, where I went to high school in Baltimore. Pros: very warm and friendly, nurturing faculty who seem very invested in the girls, lowest tuition and easiest commute to get her there. Cons: maybe too small, less club and activity offerings, and enrollment has been dwindling for several years...some concerns about the school staying open long enough for both my girls to get through.
Our Lady of Consolation (LC) is a large coed high school of about 1250 kids. Pros: most AP offerings and academically very challenging, a lot of extracurriculars, terrific theatre department and good scores from the engineering kids, has the most extensive elective classes. Free lunches. Pay bus service if you need it. Cons: most expensive tuition, as in out of our range expensive. Commute is medium, some traffic. More kids = less personal attention?
Cardinal Shehan is also a large coed high school of about 1100 kids. Pros: impressed with the engineering class and teacher. Good theatre department. Cons: Worst commute, mid range tuition, and I was wholly put off by the admissions director, who definitely had the snob factor. Also a concern was finding out that if Engineering track kids wanted to take any electives, they had to do so during their lunch period, and eat their lunch during homeroom. What?! Essentially, with the way their schedule worked, STEM WAS their elective.
Dove applied for every possible scholarship she could think of that she had a potential shot at. Wrote innumerable essays, got reference letters, put together application packets, etc. - it was a heck of a lot of work and stress. She auditioned for a theatre scholarship at St. K's. She auditioned for a theatre scholarship at LC, and made it to call back interviews with the theatre director there two weeks later. She got a letter from Cardinal Shehan that she was an academic semifinalist for a scholarship there, and had to attend an essay writing competition with about 40 other kids. She had a call back interview from the LC Engineering director and had to interview with him. Then it was the waiting game.
St K's and Cardinal S are both Baltimore diocese schools. They send out their packets in mid Feb. LC is a Washington diocese school, and they send their packets a week later. The first one to come in was from Cardinal S. She was accepted into the honors program and the Engineering track, but no scholarship money. She was extremely disappointed, but Cardinal S had been moved to her last choice school, and we thought that we might still be able to swing the tuition if we stretched.
The next to arrive was from St. K's, and wow, what a difference. She got a very personalized and extremely welcoming packet, with all kinds of bling, personal note from admin, a welcoming email from a fellow student there, and three scholarship offers: a $2000 academic scholarship, a $500 legacy scholarship award, and a $500 theatre scholarship. She was really happy about those, and it made a nice dent in the tuition. St. K's is a small school, and that is the top amount that they offer, so we were thankful. She was also accepted in the Engineering program and honors track there, so that pretty much kicked Cardinal S out of the running.
The big wait was for her #1 school, LC, whose admissions packets were due a week later. Last Friday, her good friend and classmate Mag got her admissions letter from LC - she was accepted but no money or financial aid. Dove watched the mail the next day: no packet. We thought surely it would come on Monday, and I watched for the mailman, but again, nothing. I got worried that maybe we missed it or that it got lost in the ads/circulars, so yesterday I called LC's admissions office. Apparently the packets were mailed the previous week and hers is either lost or delayed in the mail, but the very kind lady in Admissions asked for her name and when I said "Dove K" she said, "Oh, yes, Dove! You have a very talented young lady there. I know she's been accepted, let me grab her file." I thought that was a good sign, and when she came back to the phone, she said, "We usually do not discuss student admissions over the phone, but since it looks like her packet is so late getting to you, I will tell you that she has been accepted into the Honors track and the Engineering Program. And we are offering Dove our top scholarship for $7000 a year, plus an additional $1500 theatre scholarship."
I was so happy I could have cried. That $8.5K scholarship puts LC's tuition equal to St. Kateri's, and now we CAN afford to send her to either school, so Dove can choose. Thank thank thank the Lord! She has been invited to a Scholars Breakfast at St. K's tomorrow, and we are still waiting for the LC packet to see about their welcome schedule for incoming freshman. Dove will not have to make a final decision on her high school until the first week in March, so she has time to really weigh the two schools. They are both so different. Three of her good friends have been accepted to St K's, and one has also been accepted to LC. I think she is leaning to LC, which would have been out of the question were it not for the scholarship, but we'll see. I am just really proud of her hard work and happy that she's been accepted. :)