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The Girl has made her choice. After a long stretch of reading profiles, attending virtual tours, juggling the order of lists, doing campus visits and waiting on financial aid packages, we finally have an answer.
She’ll be attending the University of Maryland at College Park in the honors/humanities program. As she put it, smiling, “I’ll be a HoHum Terp!”
Add that to the list of sentences I never thought I’d hear …
The combination of a discipline-specific honors program, a beautiful campus and proximity to a major city was hard to resist. And being just a Metro ride away from my brother and his family offered a sense of security; if things get ugly, she’ll have family nearby. That’s comforting.
Her other schools had their charms, though one in particular handled the process well. I have to give kudos and an award for effort to the folks at the University of Pittsburgh. They did a lot right. Their financial aid letter was, by far, the most logical and understandable one we received. They communicated early and often. They were the first to make an admission offer. Their net cost was the lowest of any out-of-state institution on her list. When we visited there, we all liked the city. As we looked at other places, Pitt moved from a dark horse to a real contender. I don’t know who coordinates Pitt’s outreach, but I have to tip my cap to them. Ultimately, though, TG had to pick just one.
TG has commented repeatedly over the last several months how strange it is that she didn’t know where she’d be in a few months. Now she does, and her relief is palpable. Now we can move from “what if?” to actual planning. She can start plotting her escape from Mom and Dad.
That last sentence hit me hard.
Some changes are supposed to happen. This is one. The faculty and students in College Park are in for a real treat. We have a HoHum Terp in the family!
