College Suggestions for Junior

Parents Forum
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I’m a little unclear on the messaging actually! I’m fairly new here too. It looks like there’s a tab and you could enter my screen name?

She had 3 people write letters for her - her dual credit precal teacher from junior year, the political candidate for whom she interned (he knew her well by the end of the summer), and a science professor who oversaw her student research trip to Costa Rica last summer (It was through an organization that sends students there for a week to work in a field lab and study leafcutter ant habitats). So quite a diverse range there, which is what she wanted. Almost all schools took all 3, if I recall correctly. I believe UT’s were optional but she also applied to an honors program there so she wanted them to be seen for that reason for sure.

I totally get being nervous about the counselor letter. I was too! But in the end, it’s like my favorite thing ever. I love it. It’s 3 pages (I know, some would say too long) of my daughter’s journey, in eloquent detail. I worked and worked on it and got feedback from others, until finally I felt it was just right. I really wanted to strongly “sell” her best attributes. And I think I did. When she interviewed at Southwestern, her interviewer had just read it a few days before. She told my daughter that it was the best rec letter she had ever read! I took this as an extreme compliment. I made sure that I gave concrete examples of ways she has driven her education and set herself apart from her peers.

I now feel like this is a prime opportunity that we have and we should be very thoughtful about its power. I also wrote course descriptions and a school profile (which I agonized over). I probably went overboard there but my thinking was to assume that the person reading it was unfamiliar with (or possibly even skeptical about) homeschooling. So I wanted to really explain the how and the why of our approach. I included all credentials of anyone involved with her education, which is probably pretentious but oh well.

So it was a big packet of info we sent to each school - transcript, course descriptions, counselor letter, and school profile. I didn’t do a separate book list but you probably would want to.

Be thinking about essay topics and who you want your recommenders to be. Maybe someone at Y&G would be great. (That was going to be an option but then the particular advisor who knows her best there is a bit flaky and we were afraid to rely on her keeping up with the requests through the various portals.)

Think about the story you want to tell about your son’s educational life: past, present, and future. Then think of this application is a big tapestry of his strengths, abilities, experiences, goals, passions. And then start thinking about how each piece of the application will weave together with the others to showcase him as a student this college will surely want on their campus.

I’m not an expert. This is just the vision I collected reading a bunch of blogs and forums over the past few years. And it has seemed to work out well so far.

It’s really exciting to see it all come together!

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Thank you so much for your detailed reply. I appreciate it tremendously. So how many schools did she apply to in total?

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My son is a homeschooled senior, and we’re in Texas, too. Planning to major in business. His stats were lower than your son’s (1380 SAT, no AP classes, sports EC), but my son is in at:

Texas A&M
UT Dallas (w/merit)
Texas Tech (w/merit)
U of Oklahoma (w/oos tuition waiver)
U of Arkansas (w/oos tuition waiver)
SMU (w/merit)
U of Houston (w/merit)

Still waiting to hear from UT, but it’s a long shot for him with his stats. Should be getting additional merit at some of the schools so still waiting on that.

I was nervous about being his counselor (making transcripts, etc.), but everything went fine. He asked for letters of rec at the end of junior year (from a co-op teacher), worked on resume and essays during the summer, and completed all of his apps in August. The Apply Texas app makes things really easy. You submit the app, then you are sent an email giving access to the school’s portal where you upload transcripts, resume, and letter of rec. SMU had some additional forms for homeschoolers, but they were fairly simple. Don’t stress or overthink it! I kept the counselor letter and course descriptions simple. No pages and pages of documents.

I am SO GLAD ds finished almost everything before the school year began. It was nice to have everything done and just wait on the acceptances to come in, although now I’m getting antsy waiting to see what the final financial packages will be.

With your son’s stats and the schools you are considering, you are going to have an AMAZING college application process! I am excited for you!!!

Your son will be auto admit to Texas A&M Mays. Apply there early before it fills up.

With a budget of $25,000, you can afford UT, A&M, and SMU might come into range with scholarships. Those would be my top picks for a go getter like your son who is interested in investment banking. Your son could apply to business honors at all three.

Was your son a National Merit Finalist? If so, that means full-tuition and possibly full ride at UT Dallas and Baylor.

Also consider TCU and Trinity.

Rice is pricey, but a good friend’s daughter who went there said it paid off big with post graduation income.

Read each school’s website carefully so you can apply for all of the scholarships that are available. Some have separate applications, and some applications don’t open until later. One of the one’s my son applied for didn’t open until Jan. I kept a checklist so I’d remember to look for each of them.

Texas Tech and U of H are good schools that my son may end up at, and your son would get good merit there, but with his stats and your budget, you have better options available. Their applications are easy, though, so I guess they’d be good safeties. I don’t see why you’d need to look out of state with so many great in state options.

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I suggest you look at poets and quants undergrad b-school rankings. Then look on each school’s website that sounds interesting to find their scholarships. The less selective schools usually have set amounts of merit based on just stats. You can easily determine if you would hit the 25k mark their. Other schools will have full tuition and even full rides for lesser # of kids, with a holitistic

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Oops, continued: review. His best bet might be further away, where he stands out. One I know of is U of Richmond. They have a full ride for 25 kids. With his stats and ECs and geography, he just might become Richmond Scholar.

Good luck!

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If he took the PSAT and becomes a national merit finalist, there are many schools that offer automatic scholarships to those kids. There are many threads on this site about that.

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Miami OH and Pitt could be options with his stats should get him within budget.

I would have him apply to some elite schools with the understanding that in the end they have to be within budget if he does get in. Notre Dame has a good business school.

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Congratulations to your son for all those acceptances. It must be a great feeling!

Good to know that Apply Texas isn’t complicated. He will be applying to honors programs at UT, A&M and UH. He has been toying with the idea of UH mainly because he thinks he can save on room and board by staying home. We will see.
Rice would be lovely, but seems like a reach even with his stats. I have added SMU and Richmond to our list of schools to look into.
Thank you for your encouragement!

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How much is the ranking of a business school important as far as job prospects go? On poets and quants, for instance UT is number 11, A&M - 40, and UH is 53.

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@gpo613 Thank you! We have decided that he can apply wherever he likes, but ultimately we have to be able to afford the college.

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You need to have posted 15 messages to send a personal message, so @gollycollege, just post two more and you can do it.

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If you need cheapest and quickest degree then pick UTD but do question why a school is throwing money at every one with decent SAT/ACT scores and yet a sizable majority turns down their free lunch?

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UTD was given a lot of money by the McDermotts to grow the school by attracting high stats students using scholarship money. The school has also invested in its campus and dorms, and its reputation is continuing to get stronger. It was one of my son’s favorites after he visited. It is a good school for strong students who need financial assistance.

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@gollycollege My son was admitted to UT Austin on Friday, and it was the only school that requested course descriptions. His course descriptions, transcript, and counselor letter were each one page. The course descriptions basically stated the materials used for the course and indicated which courses were outsourced, co-op, or community college. UT requests a detailed resume so his resume was 2 and a half pages. Hope this helps!

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Not sure if this was answered already–Rice does stack need-based and merit :slight_smile:

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I met a bunch of of bigwigs from some top financial firms this weekend at a CFO’s dinner and they emphasized that accounting is being taken over by computers and doesn’t have a long term future.

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@jazzymom did you also have letters of recommendation for UT? It’s not clear to me if they require it or recommend that homeschooled students submit one/two recommendation letters. Congratulations on your student’s acceptance.

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@meadow530 would you share where your daughter is choosing to go?

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@gollycollege My son submitted 1 letter of recommendation from a co-op teacher. She did an excellent job and described him accurately and well. Make sure you choose someone who knows your son well AND has good writing skills.

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Ok thanks! Congratulations once again! Has he decided on a school yet?