Middlebury

Elsa and I made one very last visit to one more school.

We had to see Middlebury after Elsa received notice that she was invited to be a Posse finalist. This was something that we had not expected, and when we had to guess about the odds of this happening for her, we guessed that she had better odds at being accepted to her top choice school ED1 than she had of becoming a Posse finalist. So we applied to her top choice school ED1.

Of course, we guessed wrong. She was selected as a Posse finalist on a Monday and the decision to Posse had to be in by Friday, 5 pm. Talk about stress!



Legally, we could not accept the Posse offer because in doing so, one is applying ED and we had already done that. Why? We did it because we believed it was Elsa's best chance of acceptance to a school that she loves along with a place on the soccer team.

But, because the Posse is such a generous scholarship and could have really helped our family, I insisted that we go to Middlebury for a visit. First, I called the Posse Foundation and explained our situation to them. They were very receptive and honest. We were told that we had to make the choice by Friday. The catch is that if Elsa accepted the offer, she would be competing with 21 other students for 10 or 11 spots at Middlebury. It wasn't a sure bet at all. But, had we known of the timeline of deadlines in advance, we could have applied to her dream school EDII and accepted the Posse in the interim. If we accepted Posse and she got it, and she was selected by Middlebury from the 21 applicants, we would have had to send her. We would have been committed. So, we needed to see the school first.



Middlebury is magnificent. The only drawback is the location-far from NYC. Otherwise everything was PERFECT. I loved it. I instantly worshipped the school. I wanted Elsa to accept very badly. Everything was going well, except for our meeting with the soccer coach. We dropped in on him unexpectedly, with no appointment. He was amazingly gracious. He's a lovely man and most likely a very good coach, but he was clearly not interested in Elsa as a potential player at all. He knew nothing about her! Accepting the Posse would have meant Elsa giving up soccer, or playing JV. After so many years of training and preparing, this news was a huge and insulting disappointment and one that Elsa chose not to accept. So that was it.



We passed on the Posse.

It is unbelievable to me as it could have meant four years of tuition paid at a terrific college that specializes in languages and foreign study. Posse even helps with graduate school scholarships!

I loved that campus, the best of all that we have seen.

I called Posse before we left Vermont, to tell then our decision, but the woman I needed to speak to was busy. I decided not to call back because I didn't know how to explain our decision at all. On our way back to NYC, Posse called Elsa to find out her status. Very sweet. She thanked them kindly and declined.

There were mountains surrounding us the entire time we were there.




I cried all weekend.

I love the dream school, but I loved this school more. But, Elsa didn't and that's what counts.

PSAL Girls Soccer Final

Beacon lost. The score was 0-0 through the regulation play and two sudden death overtimes. The games went to PK's and Beacon scored 4, Bronx Science 5. It was heartbreaking. But soccer is sometimes.



Congratulations to the Girl's Soccer Team. The girls lost yesterday's championship game in penalty kicks to Bronx Science, but dominated play through 100 minutes of beautiful soccer. This was Beacon's 3rd straight year in the championship game and it was the leadership of Elsa Hardy and Hannah Collyns-and the other seniors-Caroline Quigley, Dalia Sharps, Isabel Weiner, and Christina Angione that carried the team through another undefeated season to get to the championship. Thank you to all of the team for another exciting season and for representing Beacon so well.

Thanks also to the hundred plus students teachers and parents who came to Randall's Island yesterday to watch and cheer. Your energy and enthusiasm for the game helped push the team right up to the very end.

Next year-back to the finals!

Kevin Jacobs
Coach
.

Beacon Girls Advance to Finals Against Bronx Science

Okay, so I broke my promise not to write about soccer. But today was so exciting for us, I just had to post. Elsa's high school team is 15-0 this season. And in the post season, they have won every game decisively. Today they beat last year's PSAL champions, MSIT 2-1. The winning goal was scored by freshman Tyler Sloan off of an assist delivered by Jenny Angione. MSIT beat Beacon last season in PK's-it was a heartbreaking loss. As a senior, this win has major significance for Elsa. Beacon will play Bronx Science, an old rival (who beat Beacon earlier this year in a non-league game resulting in Beacon's placement as the number two seed in the post season,) for the PSAL NYC Championship. The game is this Sunday at Randall's.

Check out the video of the winning goal:

Pushing the SUBMIT Button!

Most college applicants apply RD (regular decision) and their applications are due January 1st, January 15th, February 1st or later. Some schools accept applications until March or even April 1st. Students applying Early Decision, ED, submit applications as of November 1st or 15th. These students will be notified of their acceptances by December 15th or so. Many schools have something wonderful called 'Early Action" which allows students to apply early, to be notified early, but to not have to commit to just one school early.

Today, Elsa completed her on line applications and pressed the submit button to apply to three schools: two early action and one early decision. If she is accepted to her early decision school, she must withdraw her early action applications. In that case, she will be done and will not need to submit any further applications to any colleges. If she is deferred or rejected to her ED school, she will apply to four or five additional schools. We will hope for acceptances to her EA schools in the interim. My friend Heather's daughter already has one acceptance under her belt. It was from a school with rolling admissions. These schools accept or reject students as the applications roll in. When they have enough acceptances, they simply close their registration for the semester.

We are nervous, excited and a bit in disbelief that the official process has begun!

For more information on rolling, early action, early decision and regular admissions, check out collegeconfidential.com, discussion, parents. This website has been of enormous help to me!

Good luck to all applicants!