Chances my 1470/4.0 daughter won't get in anywhere she applied?

Hi Lola, thanks for your perspective! I agree, very different. I’m really curious, are your twins boys or girls? And are you currently in the South?

I’m having a hard time trapping an independent and free-thinking girl in the South right now…. When I can afford not to.

Also - I really appreciate everyone’s concern about the financial aspect of it. Believe me, I am also worried about that. But also: I would NOT be deferring retirement savings while paying for either kid’s college, or anything like that. Would it mean no fun vacations or home remodels? Oh, yes. Deferred retirement or getting into long-term debt? No.

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You may not even have to decide if it is worth it-the decisions may be made for you by the admissions officers. The good news is she is in some great schools, and she can probably transfer after frosh year if it really doesn’t work out.

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Very true. But gap year is also an option. She’s 17, has a job that pays better than many adults in Austin get after graduation- we have time.

That would give her a chance to redo her applications with a different set of schools that might be better than her initial set. Gap years have good points and not so good points-is she interested in working now?

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Yes, there’s an assumption that gap years are all good, but for some, they never return. She’s in some very good programs and will likely add more to that list. The big question is what would a gap year change?

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Yes, she loves her job, been working since she was 15 and promoted several times, and it’s related to what she ultimately wants to do (coaching kids now, developing curriculum ultimately).

I have twin girls. We live in south carolina but hope to retire in fl one of these years. My kids have lived in fl, maryland, new york, and now SC so none of us are ‘southern’ especially me with thick eastern european accent. But we love it here. People are so open, friendly, weather is awesome. Lots of people go to church but no one judges others who don’t go. My girls have attended catholic schools since kindergarten and even though they’ve been raised by me, one of them is a conservative and the other one you would think bernie sanders is her grandpa. So, very different independent thinkers. I have always told them you can wish and work toward whatever goals and dreams you have, and then I need you to come back to earth and make the best decision for yourselves. Both of them have researched plenty of colleges and applied to (upenn, vanderbilt, notre dame, boston university, uva etc), but none of them as ED. Right now, alabama is in the running bc it’s the most affordable. One of my girls really wants uni of florida so we are waiting on that one to make a final decision. For graduate school, they can apply and go anywhere they want and i will most likely pay for that. Not for undergrad. Connections are made in graduate schools and for those degrees it will matter which college they go to. Not for undergrad.

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So why did they apply to all the schools if you aren’t paying for college? Besides being reaches for most if not all students, those schools are super expensive.

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It sounds like she might benefit from picking up a teaching certification as well. Those can be useful even in non-teaching jobs like school psychology and counseling, and are state-specific.
It is hard on some students to watch their friends go off to college and independent living and for them to be stuck at home working a job they have had since high school, but others do not mind. Perhaps she would move out as well. Lots to consider

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In many states one needs a masters degree to be a school psychologist.

Im assuming your comment was addressed to me: they’ve applied anywhere theyvhave wanted to bc they can always finance to attend those schools if they decide they want to. They have the scores, gpa, varsity sports, natuonally ranked tennis players, smart, bilingual. So why not? Apply and then see what you want to do. They know how much I will pay for an undergrad degree and the rest, if they want to incur loans, they can do that freely.

Yes, and in some states one needs both a masters and a teaching certification.
I would suggest OP hire a college counselor. The initial list was very odd.

I can speak to my state only. One needs a department of health license (which requires a masters) and then needs to get state department of education certification as well.

But this student wants to do some product development and that actually might necessitate a PhD.

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She doesn’t want the be a school psychologist. She wants to work for, or own, a company that develops alternative learning programs (in-person and online) that she helped create, for young kids who need more than standardized learning. That goal might change ten times over, but for now it drove her school list - which I know looks weird to so many people who commented.

So let me just say one more time — the school list is HER LIST because each of these dissimilar schools had a specific program she likes. She researched A LOT. There might be schools she overlooked, but I promise the schools that made it are there for a reason. She started with a hundred and cut down from there after hours of looking up those schools.

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If your daughter did a lot of research making this list, I’d say trust her. She has been accepted at 5 out of these 14 and will definitely get at least a couple more. The thing to remember is that she should be happy enrolling at any of the colleges in her list.

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Well, ok, that must mean she would be happy at a tiny LAC or a giant state school, in the middle of a city or in a very remote rural area. Still confused why so many southern schools are on the list if she really wants to leave the South or why if it is her list, she doesn’t want to attend any of the 5 schools she is already in. In any event, her goal is very specific for one who hasn’t yet studied neuroscience or college level psychology, so it very well might change as she gains more exposure to those areas. Good luck with your journey and let us know where she ends up.

I respect the work she put into the list, but she made some typical teen mistakes, like thinking Michigan was a target and not having safety schools she actually wanted to attend, and perhaps not applying ED if appropriate.

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good luck! maybe with being nationally ranked tennis players they can play in college.

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Yes, i found out loans are taken on parents name which i would do that if they decide on one of those schools but as of right now, like i said, with honors and merit and programs, alabama seems to be in the running. None of them have reached out to coaches for tennis. If anything, they will do walk ons and see if they can handle schoolwork and tennis. It was a difficult decision for them to choose one not both but realistically it’s difficult to get a good degree and play college sport.

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Yes but you have to qualify. Only the 27k is assured. Bama. Arizona. UAH. Ms State and more can all be inexpensive plus u have U of SC, Clemson, Charleston, Coastal in state and don’t forget about Academic Common Market for SC residents. Sometimes you find a gem. Sometimes !!

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FYI - re: college athletics recruitment -
There’s a whole formal & defined process for this with the NCAA. It might be a little late to have that be a factor in her admissions, but I’d recommend to do some quick research on that if it’s something your daughter wants to pursue. There are strict rules which college athletics coaches must follow re: when they are and are not allowed to respond back to an applicant’s emails and phone calls.

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