<p>It is said (love that phrase) that ACT measures more accumulated knowledge, and SAT measures more thinking ability.</p>
<p>Pikabhu,</p>
<p>With your son’s grades, I don’t think you need to do early decision. My son went ED, only because his heart was truly set on Stevens and he wanted to put the whole applications thing behind him as soon as possible.</p>
<p>As of December, when he knew he was in, he became infected with senior-itis. It’s not much of an issue, because he’s always been a strong 90’s student, but everything except calc has fallen into the high 80’s. He’s very unhappy about still being in HS. All his friends are the same way, now that they all know where they are going. It’s like a couple more months of High School will kill them.</p>
<p>In retrospect, I probably should have had him go regular decision. First, because we never got to play one school against another. They claim you get the same amount, but what’s the incentive for them to really do that? Second, because I think it would have postponed the onset of his senior-itis.</p>
<p>Quote from today’s news release from Stevens:</p>
<p>“Yesterday, CBS News reported Payscale.com’s 2013 rankings of return on investment of a college education, and Stevens was ranked #9 nationally among all colleges and universities for 30-year net return on investment. The university climbed an impressive 15 spots from 24th in the 2012 PayScale college ROI ranking. With the latest Payscale.com ranking, Stevens joins an elite group in the top ten, including California Institute of Technology and Massachusetts Institute of Technology, and the placement puts Stevens ahead of prestigious institutions like Stanford University, Harvard University and Princeton University.”</p>
<p>I have been reading how the interview is very important. My concern is my S is very shy but has good grades. He is going to be a junior but has already showed a lot of interest in Stevens. Can anyone let me know what the interview process is like and what kind of questions they ask you and how long does it usually last.</p>
<p>“I have been reading how the interview is very important.”</p>
<p>My son thought it was low-pressure. If I remember correctly, they asked him what he likes to do outside of school, who was his favorite teacher and why, what his SAT and GPA were, what clubs he might be interested in joining- typical stuff. </p>
<p>I think it lasted about 45 min to an hour?</p>
<p>If your son really wants to attend Stevens, that should come through in the interview. </p>
<p>I have met many of my son’s friends and some are very shy while others are very outgoing.</p>
<p>btw if he is going to be a junior next year, I wouldn’t interview until late in his junior year or very early in his senior year.</p>
<p>Thank you. Someone told me during one a tour we took at Stevens that attending the summer programs can possibly help you because you get to know people on campus. Has anyone taken those programs and do you feel if it helped with admission.</p>
<p>My son attended ECOES. He enjoyed it very much and the interview process was done during his session there. The interview was done by Shane Topping, Director of Admissions</p>
<p>Whether your son attends ECOES or not, I recommend you and your son attend an open house and/or make a point of meeting the admission officer for your region. Make an actual appointment. Ask if it can be in the cafeteria, where it won’t feel so formal. It will probably put you son at ease a bit.</p>
<p>We did an open house a few months ago and Shane was one of the speakers. That’s when I became interested in the summer program but since my son is a sophomore I contacted the person in charge of the programs and she said the majority of kids are juniors or seniors so I was thinking of waiting till next summer. Do you feel that you were at an advantage going to the program and did he know anybody? What do you mean about finding out your admission’s officer in my region? Are there certain people assigned at the school or off campus? We live in central NJ. We are planning on going for another visit since there were too many people to get to see the dorms or inside classrooms.</p>
<p>Stevens, like most schools we visited, has admissions officers assigned to regions of the country. You need to find that person and establish a dialog. Let them know your son’s keen interest in the school. They are very happy to hear stuff like that and will be glad to sit down with you… as long as you don’t pick one of their very busy seasons. </p>
<p>It’s hard to describe my son. He’s rather quite, preferring to let others speak. Although I would not define him as withdrawn at all. He was a little nervous about attending ECOES. He didn’t know anyone going into ECOES, but he had friends when he came out. In fact, he’s rooming withone of the kids from ECOES. They reached out to him and suggested it. My son, even if he wanted to ask someone to room together, would probably never do that on his own. </p>
<p>Getting admitted into ECOES is like mini-admissions. Your son will need to submit his grades and a letter of recommendation from a science/math teacher.</p>
<p>We were told the kids getting into ECOES had a distinct advantage over the general population, especially if they also applied ED1. Stevens feels it shows a keen desire to be part of Stevens and they take that into account… even though they officially down-play that angle.</p>
<p>As I said, my son interviewed during ECOES, which was good. He was comfortable on campus for awhile and felt like part of the family already. Shane said his interview went very well, which I was surprised at. I kind of expected my son to just sit there and say very few words. But I’m sure these guys are adept at getting shy STEM kids to talk. :-)</p>
<p>Just to complete the picture, my son had a 3.83 unweighted GPA, 6 APs, and a 31 on the ACT. He received mid teens$ in merit and was offered the 5 year masters program, which he took. I just means his merit will extend into his masters program. He just missed being accepted as a Stevens Scholar. If he maintains a 3.8 in his first semester, he can get into the program (any kid can). That would mean a free masters degree, among other benefits.</p>
<p>I took a bit of a different approach when it came to looking for colleges. My son and I visited campuses often… checking out most of the on-campus recruiting events. We established a dialog with the admissions people early, telling them about my son’s performance, asking what changes or suggestions they had to make our son more appealing to the college. We started this in the Summer between his Sophomore and Junior years in HS and continued right into the Fall of his Senior year. This approach went over phenomenally well. I don’t think many people make the effort to forge a personal connection anymore. We essentially knew who was going to accept my son well before we applied. One Ivy in particular, which was an academic and EC reach had a spot for him. They called us when they didn’t see his application assuring us that he shouldn’t worry and told us his application would be “very well received”… repeating and emphasizing the phrase “very well received” and adding the application would not at al be a waste of time. It was a blatant “wink, wink, nudge, nudge” moment. 
He felt torn turning that one down, and he’s been told by some family he should have pursued that, but he really fell in love with Stevens and feels he “fits” there.</p>
<p>So the moral of the story is reach out out personally in this day and age of faceless e-mails and texting. Sit down and discuss stuff over a cup of coffee with the admission person. Ask your questions, then listen more than talk. Show you value their input and try to incorporate the changes they suggest. Your son will be rewarded in the end.</p>
<p>Hi again!
Here is the SAT update.
730 Reading, 770 Math, 610 Writing (thank goodness they don’t look at this one)
Below is my previous message…
Any advice for my son and me? He is a junior this year and knows that he really wants to go to Stevens. I have one in college now and we really need merit aid. Here are his stats:
ACT 34 composite/Math 36 Science 35, PSAT 217
GPA 4.0 unweighted, 5.17 weighted.
This year: AP History, AP Statistics, Honors Pre-Calc, Honors Physics, Honors Latin
Next year: AP Calc BC, AP Physics C, IB Economics, AP Chemistry, IB Computer Science
Works part time same place for 3 years. Last summer: Internship with the town Engineering Board. Peer tutor.
We will need at least $30k in merit aid and hopefully Stevens Scholars. He would like to apply Early Decision, I don’t know if this hurts or helps.
Thanks for any words of wisdom!</p>
<p>Applying ED generally helps, assuming you’re willing to “take it or leave it” without seeing if offers from other schools would cost net less.</p>
<p>maikai…Thank you very much for your informed response. Your son sounds exactly like mine. I will call and start the conversations rolling. I did talk to Shane during our tour but there was so many people there it seemed like everyone was asking the same questions. Also, maybe since he was a sophomore he wasn’t taken as serious. That was another one of my goals for the summer program was to establish a friendship since he won’t reach out unless you are talking about certain computer/video games, or golf. Next week he will take his first SAT’s so we will get to see what he needs to work on.</p>
<p>Pikabhu, Those are great stats for Stevens. I’m sure they will entice your son to attend. </p>
<p>You should meet with admissions and let them know your needs before applying. It’s best to know if you’re on the same page with them as early as possible.</p>
<p>Good advice above. Also make it clear that Stevens is a top choice rather than a safety.</p>
<p>^ Yes! That’s of paramount importance for any school you visit. For the time you are there, make sure everyone knows this is the school you dream about. </p>
<p>Put the shoe on the other foot. If you were in admissions, what would you want to hear from a student? What would make you work your hardest to help that student?</p>
<p>Don’t think for a moment that any school is going to salivate over any student’s stats. Stats are important to get in the front door, but after that, it’s up to you to make them want you… and that’s usually done best by showing how much you want them. </p>
<p>There are threads on this site all the time from students with fantastic, over the top, stats who were not accepted by a school they felt they were qualified for. They couldn’t get it through their heads that these schools get more great kids with great stats than they can shake a stick at. … and they can shake a stick at a lot of students. ;-)</p>
<p>I am very happy that my son decided on Stevens, however, I just ran into a mom who told me that her son applied to Stevens this year, not early decision, and they only offered him “mid teens” in merit aid. He was offered Stevens Scholars. She also told me that his composite ACT score was 36!!!
He decided on Northeastern instead. Your take on this?</p>
<p>Well… Stevens Scholar essentially gives the child his Masters for free, so to discount that kind of savings is kind of silly. At the current cost of about $62K per year, that’s another $12K per year on average.</p>
<p>There are other factors, besides the ACT 36. What was his GPA? Did he interview and make it known Steven was a top choice (hopefully #1).</p>
<p>Also, I’ve heard rumors they took a much larger number of early decision kids this year. There was a change in admissions management and it seems the new guy apparently values “desire to attend Stevens” more than the old gal did. But that’s just a rumor I hear. I have no data.</p>
<p>Stevens is a small school and they have time to look at each student as a total package. Just because a student has a high ACT does not mean he gets the most merit. Many students applying for technology programs have high standardized scores. They are looking at the whole student.</p>
<p>Hi everyone!
Well, my son has applied ED and now we wait. He did interview this summer and that went well. Took the ACT one more time and ended up with a 35 composite…36 in Math, Science and Reading.
5 in AP US Hist and Statistics.
SAT Subj tests: 800 in Math & History and 770 in Physics
We ended up not sending in his SAT scores of 770 Math & 730 Crit Reasoning.
His guidance counselor recommended that he also apply to Rutgers, just in case.
Really sweating the Merit aid though!
Fingers are crossed!</p>