@Gumbymom we are actually redoing her list right now and have taken UCLA and UMich off the list.
@merc81 thank you for that. It’s very encouraging. I really would love Bowdoin for her. They allegedly have great aid as well. I think most people are missing the point. She just wants to be in the northeast. You can be almost anywhere in the northeast within driving distance from a city no matter how “rural” the school campus is. Living in Texas now, we have grown to appreciate how you can literally drive through the northeast in a few hours because you can drive for 12 hours and still in TX and still be in TX.
@collegemom3717 we did run some NPCs last year (I think Princeton and Amherst) and my out of pocket was pretty low, I think 12k or so. I am surprised that FAFSA is estimating 41k. Also, haven’t heard of Berea before. We will research tonight. Thanks for the advice.
eh…Texas is vast and the NE is compact, but…Dallas is bigger than any NE city other than NYC, and the roads in Texas are big and fast. I just spent this past weekend driving between colleges in NH & VT- 2 tiny states. The roads are also small, and driving is not as easy as jumping on the expressway for a few hours! Not a reason to go or not go- just tempering your enthusiasm (esp if your daughter won’t have a car & is getting around by bus/train).
@salma45: If your daughter appears interested in undergraduate-focused colleges in the Northeast, then she should consider all the NESCAC LACs as well as schools such as Vassar and Haverford.
Your daughter should be aware that a lot of the more selective schools won’t have a marketing major. Marketing is usually a branch of business, and many of the elite schools don’t offer business. (There is no undergraduate business at Harvard, Amherst or Williams, for example.) At many of these kinds of schools, the closest she’ll get to marketing is economics.
I really encourage her to check out the NE women’s colleges, particularly those with good merit aid (Bryn Mawr, Mount Holyoke, Smith). If she has some social doubts and insecurities around dating, etc., that might actually be a good environment in which to focus on studies, friendships, and extracurriculars, with plenty of opportunities for socializing with men at nearby schools.
@merc81 Where are you getting those Bowdoin numbers from? On their website for the Class of 2022 enrolled students, it has the 25th percentile as 700 verbal and 710 math. OP has a 1370. That can’t be 80 points higher than the 25th percentile mark.
Maybe it’s just that I haven’t followed every detail with respect to finances, but based on post #20 it appears that costs for elite schools are still currently uncertain, and have been estimated at both $12 thousand and $41 thousand annually.
@wisteria100: Bowdoin appears to report its scores in stages. In early data, only scores submitted for purposes of admission seem to be included. However, on its most recent CDS (2017-2018), which seems to be comprehensive, the listed 25th percentile SAT scores total 1290 (650 EBRW, 640 M).
@wisteria100@merc81 Bowdoin is also a test-optional school. Will it benefit her to submit the scores?
@Sybylla I don’t know if I should say fortunately or unfortunately because it’s blessing but yes, that’s only with my income; although the numbers aren’t an accurate picture of my finances.
@katliamom she wants a liberal arts degree. Economics definitely may be an option.
You don’t look at the 25th percentile, she needs to be up at the 75th. As Bowdoin says mid 50% EBRW 700-750 and M 710-790, it means roughly a combined 1510. Otoh, yes, they’re test optional.
OP, you and she need to decide whether to submit scores. They vet seriously for all the other qualities they expect. You need to learn what that is, for Bowdoin or any other competitive holistic college. This is more than “any NE college that offers her major and aid.” She has to have a reasonable chance of the admit. She has to make the presentation that they look for.
As the NPCs are not accurate for divorced families, I wouldn’t assume the 12k figure is right.
Why? How about the hundreds of students at Bowdoin right now with scores of 1290 (its 25th percentile) or lower? If for no other reason than the OP’s daughter’s perception of what her score (1370) might indicate about her academic preparation, the 25th percentile represents an important point of comparison.
Out of 511 enrolled, 25th percentile isn’t hundreds. More important, Bowdoin has a 10% admit rate. It’s no shoo-in. You want to be as ‘on your game’ as you can, not compare yourself with the bottom quartile, many of whom may have other extraordinary accomplishments, have pursued their drives, may have connections, even maybe fill an institutional need like sports or music or geo diversity or an interest in a major in an undersubscribed field.
On CC, we nearly always say, be around the 75th percentile.
Test Optional has an affect, of course. But OP’s girl needs to present her very best and know what that translates to. In addition, have a solid answer to Why Us questions. Test Optional means they carefully vet her full presentation, other than scores. She can apply where she wishes, but the colleges do the choosing.
The big thing is have her really sweat on ACT prep and maybe she will pull out a great score. Science is mostly reading comprehension so google strategy for those questions, and as she is in calc, tell her to look up math ACT prep as it is way back math that is killer for kids in BC calc. Some of it is elementary school stuff. Have her sit and do some timed tests this week if her test is at the weekend. Successful test takers often work at it and start prep before jr year. Strategy and familiarity play a massive part for less adept test takers, she can do a lot this week. She should have been in some test prep classes for ACT really. She is not bad as her scores are fine for most scenarios, just not so much for her reaches.
IMHO every school on that list is a reach, some very heavy reaches and one might add impossible. I’d pick one or two of the most affordable and throw the rest out. You need to find another 4 or 5 match schools and another safety (UT is one of them right?) With an EFC of $42,000 she may well end up at the state school if you can’t meet that cost. You need to determine your budget. You also need to start the judicial ball rolling to continue her child support until at least 21, if not until she graduates from college. $3600/year for school will be a huge help. You both have a lot of work to do here and you’re late doing it. Best you hit the ground running at this point and be more realistic.
I think her scores are fine, our high school has plenty of URM acceptances to Ivy colleges with scores below 1400 and no other hooks. That said, the large publics and some of the private won’t be offering much in the way of aid. UT has several excellent honors programs she would enjoy will permit exploration of different majors.
