<p>As my name suggests, we are going through this process for the third time. </p>
<p>The first was 10 years ago, second child was 4 years ago. Both have been very successful. For all three we are looking at small, private, liberal arts schools of which we are paying full tuition with the exception of a small amount of merit pay. No financial aide, no large scholarships.</p>
<p>We have noticed that the schools have become more selective and the whole process is much more stress inducing since our first experience 10 years ago. We noticed this 4 years ago, but notice it even more now. It seems the colleges have become extremely competitive, much more so than in the past.</p>
<p>We are wondering if the "typical college experience" has become out of reach for the average to just above average student. </p>
<p>Need specifics; there are thousands of schools around the country for “B” students…there are at least 5 threads on the Parents Forum for parents of “B” students…</p>
<p>Is that what you mean by average??..</p>
<p>In terms of your last question…No, the typical college experience is not out of reach for the average to just above average student; just depends what criteria you are assigning to the “typical college experience” IMO</p>
<p>Depends on your definition of average and typical. There are colleges in every state that will take 2.0 kids either remedially, on probation or out right acceptance. There are plenty of perfectly fine colleges and universities that happily take 3.0 students. I started the college search process with out oldest in mid-2005. Maybe it’s crowded at the tippy tippy top, but I’m not sure my experience has mirrored yours once you get out the lottery school level but then I don’t have any reference point for what you consider “average.”</p>
<p>If by “typical college experience” you mean going to a four year public college in your own state, then I don’t think it’s changed much. The price has certainly gotten higher but it’s not out of reach.</p>
<p>Since the typical college experience involves commuting to a community college or a local state university, it is not likely to be out of reach (since community colleges are usually open admissions and many state universities are not that selective).</p>
<p>The small private liberal arts schools are extremely atypical college experiences.</p>
<p>It’s not out of reach at all. A good education is possible just about anywhere, if you know what to look for. My S1 is a rising junior at a fourth-tier no-name whose pocket of excellence happens to be in his major. He was accepted at a couple of more prestiegeous (sp?) schools but chose this one for the fin. aid and reputation in his major. He’s had opportunities he would never have had anywhere else, is doing fantastic academically and couldn’t be happier. Lots of kids thrive at non-brand-name schools, and in-state publics tend to be more supportive and forgiving of less than stellar high school stats.</p>
<p>I disagree – where I live, only the top 10% of the local high school classes can reasonably expect to get admitted to the top three state schools, and even the next 2-3 state schools down require at least a 3.7 weighted GPA from our local schools. My sister is a B student and is unlikely to get in to any of the top 5 or 6 state schools due to competing with the kids in the part of the state where we live. And as a B student, she is not likely to get any financial aid at any private schools.</p>
<p>If California, there are 32 state universities, so students who would not get into the top 5 or 6 (in admissions selectivity) ones should be able to get into some of the others.</p>
<p>Don’t know where you live, but in the Midwest, there are a lot of private schools that will give financial aid - some of them significant financial aid - to B students. They’re not the places whose names make the prestige-seekers’ eyes light up, but they’re solid schools where a motivated student can get an excellent education.</p>
<p>I agree that the climate for admissions has changed dramatically - and not necessarily for the better - in the past decade. What this means, in my view, is that you need to put in more work on the front end, researching schools that you may not have heard of, being open to “no name” or “lesser name” schools where the average student may be in line for significant merit aid, focusing more on fit than prestige. I’m not saying the OP did anything wrong the first two times around, only that in my experience you have to do even more of these things than you used to.</p>
<p>I dunno … here in West Virginia, if you’re a state resident with a measureable pulse, you’re in. Not necessarily with merit aid, etc., but you’re in, at least provisionally. Whether you get to stay or not, that’s another matter.</p>
<p>I agree that merit aid can be found in the Midwest. For B students with few APs this year I saw merit aid from Valaparaiso U, DePauw and an A- student get good aid from Earlham and Hanover (and those are just Indiana colleges).</p>
<p>If anything has changed since i start in 2005 with S1, it’s cost and merit…it is my opinion that merit is decreasing --a $10-$15,000 discount is good…there were lots and lots of $20-25,000 merit awards anecdotally floating around in 2005-2008 it felt like – and costs have gone up. I am not convinced that the acceptances rates have changed all that much except that more kids apply to more schools so school accept more students ergo the percentage accepted looks smaller. If you look at yields plus the changes in stats they seem only perceptibly influenced once all the outliers are rejected or decline admission. Perhaps the adage that kids end up where they belong makes more sense.</p>
<p>What kind of small private liberal arts schools are you looking at? Have you checked out the Colleges That Change Lives website? And do look around for the Colleges for B Students discussion thread in Parent’s forum.</p>
<p>Check out a variety of colleges on c-a-p-p-e-x-d-o-t-c-o-m. Chances for acceptance are generally poor for the sub 3.0 student … and not all that favorable for the 3.0 to 3.4 student.</p>