College Selection advice for a friend (Carolyn et al, HELP!)

Parents Forum
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<p>Hey Y'all~</p>

<p>I can't believe I'm asking for advice again! Didn't I just do this last year?? <em>lol</em> (And will be again for my junior daughter soon!)</p>

<p>Anyway, last week I was at the high school that my son attended and my daughters now attend, and I happened to run into the chemistry teacher who was the major provider of letters of rec. for my son. He has a senior daughter who is a very good student, and I asked him what her college plans were for next year. He said that he wasn't sure....he seemed to be rather overwhelmed by the whole process (I KNOW that feeling!). Apparently, they are not sure where to start and haven't even looked into school selection yet.</p>

<p>I offered to help them out. They are wonderful people, and I owe them a serious debt of gratitude for all that the teacher put into my son's process last year. I am very worried, though, that her options may be seriously limited by the lateness of her apps. </p>

<p>I talked to the gal this evening, and she is interested in the fields of education or nursing. </p>

<p>Her father is a high school chem teacher, and her mother does daycare, I believe. They would definitely be prime candidates for need-based aid. But, she is also a great candidate for some merit aid. In addition, I would love to hear about schools which may be actively seeking Hispanic female applicants.</p>

<p>SO, I was wondering if some of you might have suggestions for interesting schools with deadlines AFTER Jan 1 (the later, the better) which have strong programs in nursing and education. She will consider all types of schools, but I think she would love a smaller school, perhaps a LAC (yay! My chance to look closely at LACs!)</p>

<p>I don't have her whole resume yet, but the stats I know are:</p>

<p>ACT: 29
GPA: UW: 4.0
She plays soccer and volleyball (not recruitable)
Hispanic female from a small town in Kansas
NHS and various clubs</p>

<p>Sorry, it's not much to go on, but I just wanted to get the ball rolling!</p>

<p>Thanks so much! ~berurah</p>

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<p>Berurah, any geographical considerations/preferences? Since I'm focused on looking in the south, the what popped into my head was Elon (NC) and Centre (KY). Her GPA is well above the average for both. Centre's average ACT is 27, and Elon's average SAT is 1169 (that's about a 26 I think). So a chance of merit money in both places. Both have strong education departments, not sure about Nursing. Elon's deadline is mid-January, and I think Centre's isn't until Feb. 1. Maybe Furman as well -- more of a match than a safety (1290 SAT average, which is right at 29 ACT), also with a good Education department and very strong in science/pre-health. Again, not sure about nursing specifically. Deadline is also mid-January. </p>

<p>Good luck!</p>

<p>EDIT: Also, I think all of the schools I mentioned are trying to become more diverse -- in particular Elon, which has spent the last several years trying to get past a "rich white kid" stereotype.</p>

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<p>lderochi~</p>

<p>Thanks a BUNCH!! Those sound like a great start! I will begin looking at the websites for those schools. She has not specified a geographical preference...in fact, she really could tell me very little about what she wanted/expected from a college. I get the idea that the prospect of even leaving the state for college is a HUGE deal and a bit beyond their original thinking. I will be talking to her again soon, so hopefully I'll have more to add shortly. Again, I really appreciate your suggestions! ~berurah</p>

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<p>yikes, berurah - dates after January 1st!!!!
I am not familiar with the programs at these school, but as far as I know they are all fine institutions in the match to likely range that are not insanely competitive. Good luck to your friend - hope this helps!</p>

<p>Beloit - rolling
Wheaton (MA) - January 15th
Allegheny College - hidden gem - wonderful new science center - Feb 15th
Hanover College - March 1st.
Lawrence University - January 15th.</p>

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<p>berurah: If heading south won't be a problem, check out Agnes Scott College just outside Atlanta. It's a beautiful campus, small, all girls school, which (I believe) has a joint program with Emory in nursing. They also have a lot of scholarships. Their RD application date may be as late as March 1.</p>

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<p>ohio_mom and jack~</p>

<p>Thank you both so much for the great suggestions. Originally I was struck with this huge sense of panic on behalf of this gal as most of the schools my son applied to last year had deadlines around Jan. 1, but I see that there are some great schools with later application deadlines and which may provide great fits for this really cool gal! I'll definitely pass this info. along to her. Thanks again, ~berurah</p>

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<p>adding to above great ideas:</p>

<p>Eckerd? Other "colleges that change lives."</p>

<p>Suffolk in Boston</p>

<p>Sweetbriar
Smith
Mt holyoke
Wells</p>

<p>Also look on last years January threads; there was one on schools with late deadlines.</p>

<p>I think the official deadline for Smith is now-ish, but last year they called my D and said they'd take her app till feb 1.</p>

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<p>Berurah, this school may be in the New Mexico "boonies" but it has a very strong reputation -at least in our area- for nursing. The word on the street is that their placement rates and internship possibilities are phenomenal. Admission would be a no-brainer with her stats, and the chance for scholarship aid real. Las Cruces is a real nice town. </p>

<p><a href="http://www.nmsu.edu/%7Enursing/%5B/url%5D"&gt;http://www.nmsu.edu/~nursing/&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p>

<p>I realize you asked about small schools, but it may be wise to check ASU because they are very generous with financial aid. If your friend scored in the 180s on the PSAT, she may qualify for substantial merit aid.</p>

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<p>SBmom~</p>

<p>Thanks for the great suggestions! I do remember someone starting a January thread in which the schools with later deadlines were listed. I will search for that!</p>

<p>xiggi~</p>

<p>Thanks for the NMSU suggestion! My friend did not indicate that she would be against attending a larger school, and the nursing program there sounds intriguing. Also, I think that area of the country may prove to be less "foreign" to her than either of the coasts, so she may have a greater personal comfort level. </p>

<p>I am not totally sure whether or not she took the PSAT. Our high school does a very poor job of alerting students to the import of that test. Many kids here think of it as just a "SAT practice test" never realizing its role in the NM competition. I do know that the girl never took the SAT...just the ACT, which is not at all uncommon here. I will try to find out whether or not she took the PSAT and if she did, how she scored. Thanks so much for the great suggestions!</p>

<p>~berurah</p>

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<p>Villanova (1/7), Fairfield, CT (1/15). Or, thinking that she may not want to go too far from home, based on what you said above:
Xavier, OH (2/1), Denison, OH (2/1) Hiram, OH (2/15 priority; 4/15 regular), St. Mary's, IN (rolling), DePaul, IL (rolling).</p>

<p>Good luck. Reminds me of when we started the process with my gS last year (on 12/29!). It worked out for us, so I'm sure it can for her as well, with your generous help.</p>

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<p>berurah,
I know it may be quite a switch geographically, but check out a small all-women's college in Boston, MA. called Simmons. They have a 2/1 deadline for apps and a fantastic nursing program and I think an excellent education program, too. It's a small, nurturing school in the middle of Boston. What could be better?</p>

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<p>Yes, Simmons could be a wonderful option. It is smack dab in the middle of all the quality hospitals Boston is known for, making it especially relevant for someone interested in nursing.</p>

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<p>B I'd like to second the suggestions for Simmons and Allegheny. Simmons would be fantastic and last year someone we know, who is a minority applicant, applied to Allegheny and got an unbelievable aid package.
Would definitely check into those schools.
andi</p>

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<p>If she doesn't mind going north, check out Luther in Iowa. Their nursing students do their clinics at Mayo's in Rochester. I can't imagine a better place to learn nursing.</p>

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<p>Dad is a high school chemistry teacher, but daughter has done little, if any, college searching, family is "overwhelmed" and not sure where to start. </p>

<p>Sounds to me like picking a college based on what is availble with late application deadlines may not be such a good idea. Maybe she is not ready to make these decisions, and needs some time to think through her options. As you note, a good student will be a candidate for need based and merit money, all of which would be wasted if she heads off somewhere because it was available at the last minute. Maybe she should take the year off, work, investigate college options and her goals. She could then take her time calmly to select a set of colleges, prepare good applications, and decide where to go.</p>

<p>No one is required to go directly from high school to college. If she needs money, then working for a year would not even raise an eyebrow in the admissions offices.</p>

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<p>jmmom, momof3sons, and andi~</p>

<p>Simmons sounds VERY interesting! I'd never heard of it before. </p>

<p>A couple of questions about it if anyone knows:</p>

<p>How small IS it, in terms of number of students. Does it have a campus-y feel to it?</p>

<p>andi~ do you know how the minority applicant you knew measured up to my friend in terms of stats? Also, was she from the area? Do you think the fact that my friend is from small-town KS will enhance her chances for financial aid?</p>

<p>Thanks so much y'all! ~berurah</p>

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<p>Since she is in Kansas, an excellent close-by choice is University of Tulsa. TU is on a rolling admissions schedule; has a nursing program; and with her 29 ACT and 4.0 GPA would likely get merit aid. TU has only 2800 undergraduates and great facilities overall. Its tuition is one of the lowest for a private university in the top 100 national universities in US News.</p>

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<p>
[quote]
Dad is a high school chemistry teacher, but daughter has done little, if any, college searching, family is "overwhelmed" and not sure where to start.

[/quote]
</p>

<p>afan~ I can definitely see what you are saying here, but in this girl's case, I'm not sure waiting a year would be beneficial. </p>

<p>I do not know a great deal about the family's background, but if I were to wager a guess, I would say that the dad (the chem teacher) was probably the first in his family to receive an education and that he went to the closest and most convenient school. His daughter is one of seven children--I think she is number 4 or 5 in the line-up. </p>

<p>I don't think this family had ever considered the notion that there WERE options other than local colleges or the flagship U's. Considering schools outside of Kansas offers opportunities that they never thought would be available to them--it's just something that they never, ever thought to consider.</p>

<p>See, in Kansas (at least outside of the KC area), very, very few kids even think about going out of state. The schools do not encourage it and many of the parents are not aware of the multitude of options available to their kids. </p>

<p>Given this family's financial means, I don't think that they would be able to support the type of gap year activity that might enhance her chances next year. If she doesn't go out of state to school, she would most likely attend one of the in-state schools which are quite adequate for what she is planning to do. I just thought I'd help to show her some of the amazing options available to her this year.</p>

<p>~berurah</p>

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<p>
[quote]
If she doesn't mind going north, check out Luther in Iowa. Their nursing students do their clinics at Mayo's in Rochester. I can't imagine a better place to learn nursing.

[/quote]
</p>

<p>scottaa~Thanks! That would be such a fabulous clinic experience!</p>

<p>lonestardad~ I will definitely put TU on the list of schools to consider. Tulsa is a VERY doable driving distance from us (we are in south-central KS, less than an hour from the OK border). </p>

<p>Thanks a bunch! ~berurah</p>

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<p>berurah,
Simmons has <2,000 undergrad women. (Their graduate programs are coed.)
At the time of application, Nursing has recently been the most popular program mentioned by prospective students. Education was 6th. Approximately 75% of the students receive some form of financial aid. There are two campuses, residential and academic. The dorms on the residential campus surround a lovely grassy "quad." The dining hall is also located on the residential campus. The academic campus is a 5 minute walk away and consists of a number of academic buildings, another dining hall, a "commons" (student gathering area), bookstore, etc. Simmons is located in the area known as "the Fens." It is within walking distance of Northeastern U., Boston U., and many smaller colleges. The Isabella Stewart Gardner museum is next door, and the Museum of Fine Arts is within walking distance. It is less than a 10 minute walk to Fenway Park, home of the Boston Red Sox. The subway stop is a 5 minute walk.</p>