We didn’t know the rankings of any of our kids’ schools when they applied. That wasn’t one of their criteria. But in the end…DS went to a university ranked 52, and DD went to a regional university ranked second in its region.
In both cases, the schools were great choices for them…for many reasons.
I agree that the application should reflect a knowledge, appreciation and eagerness for a school. Kids weren’t shut out of schools because they didn’t show love, they are shut out from too many kids applying to schools like those that claim to throw money at them in merit scholarships and over marketing to get lots of application dollars. With common app and colleges desperate to raise their profile by claiming “we had 60,000 applications” kids feel a need to apply to 15-20 schools now, that is crazy. There are those on here who obviously work for universities and those trying to learn from other parents and not be sold a bill of goods. It’s a shame the promotion of the university is coming at the expense of young people.
@blueskies2day it really depends on the school. Many schools now (not top 20) are focused on yield to improve their USNWR rankings, so any interest you show them may tip the scales in your favor. If you don’t believe me go check out American’s acceptance thread this year - it was a bloodbath for high-stat students who did not show interest.
My S forged some “relationships” with several of the regional admission counselors, and I am pretty sure it helped. You don’t need to visit the school 5 times, but even just emailing a few questions to your counselor, having them help you meet department heads, professor and students during your visit, shows interest, that you are taking the time to go beyond the tour and info session (which are largely BS). Plus, I would recommend going to college fairs and events in your area when the schools come out to chat with the reps, even for 5 mins. At least half of his admission reps knew my son, at least by name, by the time he applied, and I would find it hard to believe when they’re looking at thousands of apps that it didn’t make a difference for him. Just my opinion, based on this year’s application process.
Michigan State’s James Madison Residential College might work for you as a safety. As an OOS NMF, you’d get: Free room and board, in-state tuition and $4,000. As part of the Honors College, you would also get a $2500/yr Professorial Assistant job the first two years. MSU is located next to the Michigan state capitol in Lansing.
There are also other scholarships available and they have been good about finding them when we told them they’d have to be cheaper than some of our other choices.
“There are those on here who obviously work for universities”
All the college reps who post on CC are identified as such. Who then are you referring to? :-/
“Kids weren’t shut out of schools because they didn’t show love”
And you know this how? :-?
Please enlighten us, since you “obviously” know something we don’t from your extensive experience on CC…
Uh, that’s a feeder school.
The definition of safety is you would be HAPPY to attend. If you’re not then it’s not a safety but a waste of application $.
Lexington, VA would probably be considered rural, but your son seems like he’d be very competitive for the Johnson Scholarship.
However, be careful about American University, since it considers “level of applicant’s interest” to be “very important”. Meaning, it probably does not like being used as a “safety” behind Georgetown and George Washington, and he has to figure out how to “show interest” to its satisfaction.
An actual possible safety candidate in DC would be Howard with an automatic full ride for the given stats.
The actual mistake here would be not finding a safety that one likes. A school cannot be a safety if one does not like it. Don’t make the “safety” a last-minute throw-in – the actual safety should be the thoroughly-researched first school to put on the application list.
Another way to do it is to select a few EA schools that are either safeties, low matches, or even matches, and get your apps in for EA. This way, you can eliminate others before the January deadline. My S did this (2 safeties, 1 match), got into all 3, and cut 3 other schools off of his final list b/c he decided that he could be happy at all 3 EA schools.
Actually, as a follow up, I would apply to ALL schools on your list that have EA, b/c why not? Then you know in time to make adjustments by January.
@ ucbalumnus “The actual mistake here would be not finding a safety that one likes. A school cannot be a safety if one does not like it. Don’t make the “safety” a last-minute throw-in – the actual safety should be the thoroughly-researched first school to put on the application list.”
It seems to me that most people overestimate their chances, and think that the numbers don’t apply to them. They don’t accept that they may not be accepted at any top 20 school. Because of that, some of them do not put much effort into the backup plan.
You also want to put in a few EA applications. Having acceptances in place early takes some of the pressure off.
Yes, if you get admitted to affordable EA schools, then you have safeties and can eliminate schools that you like less than those newly found safeties. But if you do not get admitted EA to any of them before the deadlines of other safeties, then you still have to apply to those other safeties.
He might look at Macalester. It’s smaller than he is targeting, but in a lively urban area (Minneapolis/St. Paul) and well known for its international focus. It would be a middle match or even a safety and the likelihood of merit is good.
http://www.macalester.edu/academics/internationalstudies/
http://www.macalester.edu/financialaid/about/merit/
Cameron. The student needs to check the list to,see if any have SCEA or REA…I think they might. If that is the case, they can’t apply to all of the EA schools on the list.
The Love thing might be different from high school to high school. Maybe if you come from a well regarded high school they want to see Love since they assume that for sure you have more options? We come from an average urban public and I do not see that phenomenon much. There is only one (maybe two colleges) that you have to be careful with that they are known to wait list our vals and sals. For good reason though because in the history of our high school our val and sal never went there. So I guess parents might have observed this phenomenon completely differently depending what high school their kids go to.
Re: #55
If that is a concern, check whether the college considers “level of applicant’s interest”. If so, the student may have to play the “showing interest” game with that college, particularly if the student appears to be “overqualified”.
http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/college-admissions/1626043-ways-to-show-a-high-level-of-applicants-interest-p1.html