What is KickStart?
?? @GoatMama it apparently is a program for the college application process. DSs school is using it. The extent of my knowledge is that it takes your student’s stats (I’m not sure which ones) and guides them in the college selection process. At least, that’s the tool from the program DSs class is using now. DS got a D+ grade on his preliminary list. So that’s why I’m asking the question. I’m not really sure how it works or what’s being considered when it “grades”.
Oh ok. https://www.collegekickstart.com/kickstart
My problem with it is that it’s totally high school agnostic - it doesn’t take into account whether your grades are from South Podunk HS or PEA. What to speak of BS kids not having a weighted GPA or class rank. E.g., my D had a very balanced college list yet the app thinks it’s a total dud. SMS CCs should be able to balance college lists of SMS kids much better than that app because they know the admission history of their students. Anyhow just an opinion.
So, after talking with DS last night, I got a wee bit more insight. The program seems to be relatively new and there’s refinement to be had. It currently takes into account ACT/SAT, unweighted GPA from freshman and sophomore year, intended major if specialty like Engineering or Architecture; your high school’s past placements/acceptances and one other thing…I can’t remember so it couldn’t be too significant.
DS had already tinkered with it and found flaws. For instance, GPA factored in by the quarter point…so a kid with a reported 3.74 was weighed exactly the same as a kid with 3.51. If that kid adjusted the GPA from 3.74 to 3.75, suddenly his list went from D+ to an A. Unlikely schools, which the program said to consider removing from your list, suddenly became reach schools.
If a region of the country was checked as non-preferred, some of your schools would not even get scored or they would be “unlikely” and you would get a lower score for your overall list. For example, take the pacific region. DS absolutely ruled out California schools but would consider Utah or Arizona. So, any school DS may have listed that the program includes in the pacific region are impacted by the selection of non-preferred for the region. It’s weird.
Another strange thing, of which we haven’t figured out the reasoning, is the program told him Georgia Tech was Unlikely and he should remove it from his list, but yet Dartmouth was a target. We are still scratching our heads on that one.
It also does not consider URM, legacy, sports, ECs, courseload, etc which all factor in to an application’s strengths. So, it’s definitely rudimentary. It is only being used as such a tool by the school, though, and the CCs are definitely giving overruling advice where appropriate. DS seemed to think it was more for those whose current lists were extremely long and random.
It did help him look at a few things in a new light and we had an extensive conversation (through several texts and emails throughout the day & via over an hour FaceTime last night) about upcoming college visits and how he may approach them differently.
That sounds very complicated. But maybe as you say helpful to a kid who is all over the place and needs some basic direction (maybe that explains the name).
On a different note, this winter term has been the longest ever…I can’t believe they have another 10 days. Our fall and winter terms this year are in fact longer than prior years’ and spring is shorter, so it’s going to fly. But geez it’s been a long time.
@CTMom21 i think that’s exactly why it’s called KickStart. It makes sense, I guess, it’s just that we are a bit beyond the true initial list. DS was very clear about his wants and criteria for narrowing things down. He does say he has several classmates that have absolutely no idea of any wants for college, including major.
And this winter term seems it will never end…I agree. Especially while I sit shivering in 20 degrees in TEXAS. ?
I am so glad that DS started the process early for sports (and that that gave him some parameters, which were consistent with his personal objectives). He too has friends who are just starting and have no clue. I would be in a total panic. Now I can just save my college energy for nagging over the summer about writing essays 
Why are BSs using Kickstart anyway? Sounds more confusing than useful at this point. At least Naviance is comparing apples to apples and US News can give you similar insights and is highly sortable. Hmm.
@chemmchimney this is in addition to, not in place of, SCOIR/Naviance
@buuzn03 Why is your son so anti-Cali?
Is your daughter still considering California boarding schools?
@CaliMex I wish I could tell you…but I have no clue. We’ve been multiple times and driven/stayed practically everywhere from San Diego to San Fran to Tahoe.
And yes, Thacher is still #1 on DD’s list.
It would make your life so much easier if you could visit both in one fell swoop!
Has he visited UCLA, UCSB, or any of the Claremont McKenna colleges? Harvey Mudd has a great engineering program, no?
I have a high school friend who’s tenured at Harvey Mudd. I’ve tried to get him to even consider a few schools in California. It’s an absolute no. Which that’s fine. He has to go, not me. So, he needs to feel comfortable wherever he is. I’m having similar resistance to Colorado. It is just as far for me to travel to Rice (same state) as Colorado School of Mines. It’s just not happening. Oh well. He has his reasons.
@buuzn03 Would be nice for him to share his reasons, though 
@buuzn03 our kids felt the same way about CA schools. We did the whole road trip/ tours from NoCal to South- and they did not feel connected to any of the schools. Even our older daughter when she was accepted to transfer to USC- went with aa arguably lower ranked east coast school.
Having had 4 kids attend college, I can say that once again the nebulous “fit” category is the most important factor in college success.
If you get your son interested in CO school of mines - my sons would be happy to speak with him. (He graduated undergrad in 19 and earn his masters in May)
@vegas1 Thank you! I think the school checks almost all of his boxes…There are just certain places he really doesn’t want to be. He may change his mind. We’ve been to Colorado several times. We’ll see.
@buuzn03 sounds good.
Our son has loved his time there. Also keep in mind that it is a relatively easy application (little to no essays) and if he submits his application in the “golden window- something like before Oct/Nov, he will get a response pretty quick and it is nice to have an acceptance in hand. They also give decent merit aid (even with deflated BS GPA’s) Best of luck!!
Well…we made it back from a very busy and very chaotic, unpredictable tour!
We only had one school cancel on us, Vanderbilt, which was our last scheduled stop. I have both family that works there and coworkers (whom we stayed with) that are alum. So we got a private tour. That being said, it still was not the same. Luckily, a Vandy student sat on the plane next to my husband and answered a ton of questions from DS. That made all of the difference in the world. Wherever that young man is, he’ll never understand the impact he had on DS and his impressions of Vanderbilt.
Duke was a ghost town, but the information session completely changed DS’s view of the school. He went to the visit very reluctantly and with skepticism. He came out with Duke very high on his list.
We self-toured NCState as requested by the CC. Super nice facilities, but an automatic no. He knew that before going, but visiting campus just confirmed it. There were surprisingly still a lot of people on campus when we were there.
Poor Georgia Tech. We all tried to keep an open mind, but everything was off from the minute we pulled into our hotel that bordered the campus. In addition, this was the day they started talking about closing state-state travel and DH had already panicked so many times, I was about to leave him in Georgia to fend for himself. So, we decided early the next morning to cancel our appointment and head to our last stop, which was TN. I felt somewhat bad about that, but there was no way that DS could see himself there for any amount of time, no matter how good the program.
Florida Tech was a good fit (no pun intended) and definitely had a lot to offer. The facilities were nice, the people extremely so and they took a lot of time to provide information. They are definitely experiential learning focused and have unbelievable job placement. The curriculum is very STEM focused and they pack a ton of higher level engineering classes into the schedule. It made the final list.
We also fit a BS visit in for DD. The campus was closed but the visit was amazing. And we were surprised to discover two families from our town had kids there. One of them was DSs old classmate.
The BS process definitely prepared us for college visits…in looking for what’s different and finding fit. Colleges seem more varied due to course offerings/structure. The trip was somewhat stressful with all that has been going on…my husband almost became an orphan numerous times throughout the week- but it was definitely beneficial. I’m sad for those who had plans during upcoming weeks that had to be canceled. I feel these visits not only helped narrow our list, but opened DSs eyes to what he truly wants in a school.
Gosh I think you’re fortunate that you were able to see so many schools and travel far and wide, @buuzn03! General anxiety aside, it sounds like an extremely productive trip. I have had a number of (non-BS) friends say that ALL their college visits have been cancelled, and they are panicking a bit about when they’ll be able to visit.
Our last visit was a month ago — in a different lifetime, it seems!! I honestly don’t know if we will end up visiting any more schools. DS may have got his limit, and I think he has realistic options. Now it seems that even the summer is very uncertain. Enjoy the rest of the “break”!
Yes! I do feel fortunate we got as much done as we did! Plus we had a day at Disney World before it closed. BONUS!