<p>Hello,
I've never posted here before, but I have a question for which I'd truly appreciate any answers or opinions. There seems to be such a wealth of knowledge amongst the parents on this board, so I'm hoping you all can help me out!</p>
<p>My dd is the following:
16yo, junior
homeschooled military child
African American
ACT: 32 composite (35 English, 33 Reading, 32 Science, 29 Math)
SAT: (taken sophomore year, will retake)
Writing: 730
Reading: 690
Math: 690
SAT subject tests: Math II (670), Literature (690)
AP Biology (taken sophomore year - 4)
This year will take: AP Stats, AP Govt, AP Economics
Also will take: Biology and Physics subject tests
GPA: 4.0 unweighted. 4.4 weighted
Lots of Honors classes, as well as AP classes. More than half of classes were taken from outside sources (Florida Virtual School...not "mom" grades)
Extra curriculars:
3 years Cheerleading (this year Varsity Captain)
2 years volleyball (Varsity Captain this year)
Competitive figure skater for years (no longer competes due to ankle surgery)
Debate club
Science club
Library Volunteer
Military community volunteer
church volunteer in many areas</p>
<p>My questions:
1) As we are beginning to compile a list of potential schools to visit/apply to next summer, what types of schools should we be looking at based on her stats above?
2) What do you think her potential is for scholarships/merit aid? (We are not low income...but we are not in a position to pay much toward college).
3) She has taken the ACT twice (once sophomore year, once this year in Sept). Her sophomore year she earned a 31 composite. This year 32 composite. Should she retake? Would the risk of possibly going down a point outweigh the benefits? I don't know that she could raise it much higher...obviously struggling with the math scores. (UGH!)</p>
<p>Any advice you can provide is great! She is our oldest, and I'm struggling to navigate this path toward college.
Thanks in advance.
Monk</p>
<p>What are her areas of interest regarding majors, and what geographical area are you looking at. Also any preferences as far as big vs. small schools, or other requirements?</p>
<p>Make sure she takes the PSAT this year. With her test scores and grades, she has a good chance of being a National Merit Finalist, which would qualify her to attend many good universities for free or nearly so.</p>
<p>She would prefer anywhere along the East Coast, from Massachusetts down to Florida, or Texas.</p>
<p>Her areas of interest are the sciences, with the goal of entering med school upon completion of undergraduate studies. She is interested in obstetrics and has spent time shadowing a physician in the L&D unit (can this be considered an extra-curricular?)</p>
<p>She would be in the running for Harvard, Yale, Princeton and Stanford, which would only charge you 10% of your income if it’s under $180k and you have typical assets.</p>
<p>Just an observation, but her math scores are lower than the rest of her scores. Not by a lot and they are not bad. Might want to try and strengthen that area. I see she is going to take AP Stats. What about AP calculus? Also, for physics, the AP physics is calculus based while the regular track is not. Physics is truely calculus based and you are shortcomming the subject somewhat in the regular track. Work the math area and she would be a very strong candidate for just about anywhere she chooses.</p>
<p>She might be a candidate for the full-tuition scholarship at the University of Pittsburgh. It’s not exactly East Coast, but not too far. Pitt is strong in the natural sciences and has lots of pre-med students. My daughter is there and likes it very much; we are from New York. She is a psych major, but one of her roommates is pre-med. UMPC is one of the best hospitals in the country, and the pre-meds have opportunities for internships there.</p>
<p>I know that Pitt, like many colleges, wants to increase diversity, and has scholarships devoted to that. If your daughter wants an urban campus, it’s worth a look. Pitt is located in a nice area of Pittsburgh called Oakland. Right next door is Carnegie Mellon University, and the area has a nice student vibe. Lots of things to do in Pittsburgh too. Best of luck to your daughter!</p>
<p>^Yes, women’s colleges might be a good fit, especially if she’s been homeschooled she might want a smaller, more supportive environment vs. jumping into a large university, and many of the women’s colleges provide that while still having great science programs. Smith is the only women’s college with an engineering program, but really pretty much all of the Seven Sister’s have strong and highly respected science programs. </p>
<p>Financial aid will be the kicker. She might well qualify for a research/merit scholarship from a women’s college, but they definitely don’t offer as much merit aid as some other schools might. If you think your financial need is likely to be calculated as low (not the same thing as your need being low. remember, schools that meet full need only meet it as they calculate it, not as you see it), then you should bear that in mind as you’re looking at private colleges. Good need-based aid, often thinner on the merit aid, but still some good opportunities.</p>
<p>I’ve begun compiling a list of schools to research. We will be checking out the schools you all have listed. I’m not so sure about Harvard, Yale, and Princeton, though. I surmise her math scores will be too low for Ivy League schools.</p>
<p>DD is not at all opposed to women’s schools. The problem I forsee has to do with lack of merit aid. I know we will not be considered low income by any means. So, I’m sure need-based aid will be limited. </p>
<p>As far as math scores, these have become the thorn in her side. She has received all A’s in her math courses (all honors) and never seems to struggle, but she just can’t seem to achieve a high score on SAT or ACT Math. Not hopeful for much higher in that department, but she will keep plugging along with test prep, etc. </p>
<p>Thanks for your responses.
Any other ideas?</p>
<p>The CSS Profile is more difficult to judge, because each institution determines which other factors will be included. Both of these websites have CSS Profile calculators, but I have no idea whether the numbers that result have a meaningful relationship with the calculations used by any of the colleges or universities that require it.</p>
<p>When you know your FAFSA EFC, you will be able to determine whether your family is able and willing to come up with that kind of money. If yes, how much more can you come up with? If not, then what is your real family budget? Find that figure, and you will know which places your daughter can apply to.</p>
<p>Wishing you and your daughter all the best.</p>
<p>"She would be in the running for Harvard, Yale, Princeton and Stanford, which would only charge you 10% of your income if it’s under $180k and you have typical assets. " - I think I heard that was for tuition, but still full charge for Room & Board (which can total over $15K/year). Not sure, but it’s worth checking.</p>
<p>Harvard does not charge full room and board if you are on financial aid. In general, it is covered in the same way that tuition is.</p>
<p>Top colleges don’t always care if one subject’s scores are off. They recognize that different people have different talents.</p>
<p>Would add Tufts, Clark University (Worcester MA). Kind of random given the number of schools on the East Coast, and many more could be suggested.</p>
<p>With more information on large versus small, city versus not city, areas of academic interest, extracurriculars etc. people could be more helpful.</p>
<p>"Per the home schooling, check with other home school parents and related threads. They will likely have hints about how to back up the GPA. "</p>
<p>Thanks. As I stated in the first post, more than half of her high school classes were taken from outside sources, so they are not “mom grades”. They were mostly taken through Florida Virtual School, considerred by many to be the number 1 virtual school in the country.
I feel pretty comfortable with this, as all her FLVS courses were either Honors or AP and she has all high A’s.</p>
<p>“With more information on large versus small, city versus not city, areas of academic interest, extracurriculars etc. people could be more helpful”</p>
<p>In the original post, I listed her extracurriculars.
In post number 4, I explained her areas of interest (sciences).</p>
<p>As far as location, she is comfortable with either city or suburban settings. As a military child, she has lived all over from big city to small town. She can adapt easily to pretty much any locale. She does, however, prefer a smaller school (less than 15,000 if possible, less than 10,000 would be ideal).
The main concern is the best school for her area of interest that will potentially offer the most merit aid/scholarships based upon her stats listed in post #1.</p>
<p>I did the EFC last night (thanks to the link provided in one response) and it came out to $12,000. HOW is that possible? We are certainly not wealthy. </p>
<p>I truly appreciate the advice/information. Please keep it coming!</p>
<p>She should take the ACT one more time in June. My D went from a 32 early sophomore year to a 35 in June of her junior year. I think it was a game changer. There is little risk of going down because they will use the highest scores. </p>
<p>Your daughter has great grades, decent test scores, Varsity Captain of two sports and African-American, which simply puts her in a different demographic pool with fewer competitors that have her stats and her ECs. The 25%-75% ACT range for Yale is 30-34. She’s right smack in the middle. Frankly, I wouldn’t underestimate her chances. </p>
<p>There is no private school in the nation that will not take her application seriously. If she gets in, the top schools will make it possible financially for her to attend. If she wants to go to medical school, I would seek out those schools that offer a lot of academic support to their students and might avoid the super geeky grade-deflationary schools like UChicago, Johns Hopkins, MIT, Cornell and Swarthmore because those schools tend to work their students to the bone and med school requires terrific grades. Her AP scores, the rigor of her course load, and the SAT II scores indicate that she may have more difficulty excelling at the more academically competitive schools I mentioned. On the other hand at a place like Princeton, I’ve heard that if you’re having trouble, somebody will often give YOU a call to help you out. The top ivys take a special interest in making sure that their students do well. So do the top liberal arts colleges. That’s not to say that these schools are not rigorous - they are; they just don’t seem to have the same propensity to destroy the dreams of the weaker students (not that your D is necessarily weaker, it’s just that she might be). They use their massive endowments to provide a level of support that few others can match. </p>
<p>Finally Boston University, and there may be others, has serious grade inflation - almost unreasonably so IMO, and I would avoid it as a pre-med. </p>
<p>If you really need the merit aid, is she eligible for Florida Bright Futures? There are some top schools like Duke that occasionally offer merit aid. If she can get her ACT up a little, UPittsburgh would likely offer her a full ride - potentially including room & board. I’m not sure what the cutoff is these days, but 32 was at the lower end of the range where they offered full scholarships. Rochester and Brandeis would also likely offer her merit money. </p>
<p>I’d apply to some of the top Ivys, top LACs and also a few safer bets like Rochester and Pittsburgh. Good luck.</p>
<p>Thank you so much, ClassicRockerDad, for taking the time to respond in such depth!
Your post was incredibly informative and helpful.
I think I am going to encourage dd to focus sharply on improving math throughout this year. It could make a huge difference, as all the other categories are above 32. If she improved her math just one point, it would push her to a 33 composite.
Her 4 in AP Bio was her first (taken sophomore year), with literally no study prep (she just finished the course the week before the exam). I’m hoping her AP scores this year will be 5’s (we will see!).
Yes, she is eligible for Bright Futures, and has that in her back pocket (the highest award since she meets test, GPA, and community service requirements…full in state tuition to one of the state schools). The problem is the state schools are HUGE, and she would really prefer a smaller, perhaps private, school. Even so, it is something we are aware of.
Thank you for your list of schools to check out. We will be sure to do so.</p>
<p>Would she consider the USMA (West Point) or USNA (Annapolis)? For all the reasons noted above, she’d be an ideal candidate, given her leadership positions. School sizes (< 10,000) and location (on the east coast) are matches. Plus an African American woman, with those test scores and ECs, looking to study science? Please - she’s exactly the kind of person this country would be proud to see attending any of our military academies. Oh, BTW - the price is right, independant of your EFC.</p>