D21 journey

College Search & Selection
1361

Been following along and agree that Wake sure seems like the bomb for your D21. If she is really sensitive to the partying issue, maybe she should take another look at some of the small LACs, especially Davidson and Carleton. Carleton in particular is pretty sedate when it comes to parties.

I went to an Ivy way back when, and a guy across the hall would put his trash can next to his bed before he went out on weekends. He also strategically set up the trash can when he and a few friends stayed in the dorm to play Russian Roulette with a bottle of Mezcal. It happens everywhere, although maybe some places more than others.

1362

Enough with the discussion of Tulane. Deleted two posts. Move on.

1363

Some of you who follow the class of 2021 thread may already know these updates, but here goes-

Aug SAT already cancelled for D21’s location. Nope, didn’t hear that from CB but I noticed that the school where she’s supposed to take it will be all remote this fall so I called their principal. She told me they gave notice to CB just the day before and won’t hold the test. It’s been about ten days since that phone call and still haven’t received a notice from CB. I can’t switch her seat, either, as there aren’t any seats within a 75 mile radius and we are just not looking farther than that. D had two friends drive to Indiana and stay the night before their ACT test there only to wake up to a note on the high school door that the test was cancelled. I’m just not doing it. I’m not going to some far away test and have it cancelled on her. So, still signed up for Sept and Oct test but we will see how it goes. Many high schools around here are moving to all remote so that’s not a good sign.

She is moving on her apps though! Common App info all ready to input, personal statement and activities’ descriptions. She’s done with Wake, Richmond, Vanderbilt supplements. One short one left for Davidson. Boston College first draft done and looks pretty good. That leaves Colgate, Tulane, and Santa Clara supplements. Denison doesn’t have one.

I still feel like she needs to decide on more safeties. Maybe LMU. Maybe Miami OH (which doesn’t have any supplements). Maybe even Boulder just to give her a big school option. We have family near Boulder who she knows and loves and we know she really likes Denver. Another closer safety would be good too but we have time to figure that out.

No ED. We decided against it since looks like school visits aren’t a thing for fall. That’s a bummer.

We are closely watching how the schools on the list do with the virus and what kinds of decisions they are making.

1364

I would add one or two safeties that are close to home. Even a nearby match or reach.

Who knows how school will look for the next 5 years. Having an option to be near your support system might be necessary.

1365

Ugh I know. S19’s closest safety was a four hour drive. And it wasn’t even really a safety. It was Grinnell. We felt confident because of Naviance but it was still a nail biter. I’ll have D think about it.

1366

I just reread the original post in this thread from December, 2019. The list of target schools hasn’t changed much.

The original list included seven schools of which five (Denison, Davidson, WFU, Colgate, & the Univ. of Richmond) are still under consideration.

Of course, after reading this thread for over seven months, I would expect a Congressional investigation if your daughter does not end up at Wake Forest University.

1367

Thanks for the update! It sounds like your D is really on the ball with her supplements. That’s great progress.

1368

Just a small update. D21 is really, really liking what she’s seeing from LMU. She’s watched two student panels and said she wants to be friends with every one of those kids. Lol. She’s still saying CA isn’t too far and thinks flying to CA or VA or NC is all the same thing. Indeed they are all direct flights so I guess she’s right. We have family there and not in the other states so that makes SoCal a little more comfortable for us.

We are looking into Dayton as a safer option in the midwest. I’m a little a concerned about how Catholic is it but, after some asking around, it seems the student body is pretty split down the middle politically and hits a lot of her wants (happy kids, school spirit, mid-sized, nice dorms (haha)). I don’t think there’s an app fee or any supplements so it would be an easy add. Thinking we might be able to visit Dayton and Denison this fall somehow.

Wake is also having visitors if you have sent in your app. I don’t really want to go all that way unless we can also see some other schools so we will wait to see how the next two months go with Covid on campuses.

Her high school was supposed to be hybrid and go back this Monday and reversed course yesterday. Now all remote. Illinois changed some Covid guidelines and the school needs to see if they can make some changes to meet them. I don’t think it’s looking good but they are saying they’ll work on a new plan. So, no Aug SAT (cancelled), likely no Sept SAT (since that school is all remote and there are no other seats to be had within 150 miles) and our GC told me that, if school is remote in October, they won’t host the Oct SAT. We are pretty much over it. She does have a Nov seat at a private school that says they are going back so who knows.

Husband putting a little birdy in her ear to apply to Northwestern since why not at this point. I’m going to have her watch some student panels from the college of arts and science, communications, and journalism and see what she thinks. It’s a long shot even though she’s a double legacy. They get turned down all of the time.

If she adds Dayton and NU, she’s at 12 schools. Pretty reasonable. Four safeties, four matches/high matches, four reaches. She’s likely to get some merit (I think) at all four safeties which was a goal when making the list.

She has 14 essays done, five more to go. Then we just have to wait to decide if she takes an SAT and/or wants to send it. Needs to sign up for interviews. She’s got four schools that do them.

Nothing like applying to schools across the country - California to Virginia, New Orleans to Boston. Good thing we have a Southwest card and rack up the miles every month!

1369

One of mine almost ended up at Dayton - our impressions:

  1. they give a ton, TON of merit
  2. we looked at quite a few Catholic schools, and Dayton actually seemed the most religious (tour included a long tour of chapel, school logo is of the chapel for starters)
  3. we didnt perceive it to be any more intellectual than Miami (Ohio), which I think your daughter thought was too much of a party school.
  4. it seemed very prominently focused on students from chicago area. That may be a drawback if your d wants more of a national draw.
    The school is very pretty, housing opportunities unique and enticing (school has bought almost all the houses surrounding campus) and recreational facilities plentiful. We all liked the school, just wasnt the right fit here! Good luck!
1370

@Massmom10 Thank you! Yeah, we still have a lot of questions about the religious aspect. Someone told us that the tour made them think that Dayton was indeed very Catholic but that their D’s time there didn’t pan out like that. She didn’t feel like kids were all that religious and, with 10k kids, there were definitely kids who were not religious but appreciated the community service aspect of the school.

It still makes me a little crazy that mid-sized schools that aren’t super hard to get into all seem to be some version of Catholic! D has spent time with LMU and Santa Clara (as well as BC which is more selective) and wasn’t turned off by anything she heard. She’s ok with the core requirements that include religion and philosophy. She just wants to make sure that her liberal views aren’t a big outlier. (She’s not a SJW but knows her stuff and definitely leans liberal.)

As a safety for her, I don’t think she expects the school to feel stressful academically. Isn’t that the point of a safety? She could be a big fish. She’s not sure how she feels about that but she’d have to evaluate that option if it comes down to that. Miami is a place too many kids from our school go. Dayton not so much. That’s helps Dayton’s case for her.

1371

I agree - so many mid sized schools that arent tippy top are Catholic (we have a bunch out East too). I do think you are right about the religion thing - it translates more into a community service aspect than a religious aspect. All the people we know that go there absolutely love it, which must count for something!

1372

@homerdog I am so impressed that your D has so many essays completed. My S is overthinking his CA essay and has written 6 different drafts and has spent countless hours. He is really stuck and putting so much pressure on himself. I think once that is done, he can focus on the supplemental essays.

I have a good friend whose nephew is a sophomore at Dayton. He came from a Catholic high school. I’ve heard great things about Dayton but am not sure about the religious aspect. Typically it is what you make of it. Those schools usually have a range of students religiously.

That is a bummer that your school is all remote, especially switching at the last minute. I’m just waiting for ours to go fully remote.

As far as the testing, I’m convinced the schools will truly be test optional. It’s unreasonable to expect kids to turn in a test with so many cancellations. I’m having my S just focus on what he can control.

1373

When DS studied abroad, there were a handful of LMU kids in his program. He really enjoyed them, and if they are representative of the schoool, it’s the social vibe your D wants.

1374

If you are concerned about Catholic school populations being a little too conservative for your daughter, then I would focus on the Jesuits who are typically more liberal in their thinking. That said, my daughter is a liberal, non-practicing Catholic attending a Catholic, but not Jesuit, university and she has had no problem finding people who share her views. She went to a small Catholic high school where families tend to be pretty conservative (I was an outlier among fellow parents there) yet all of her friends, even those from conservative families, lean liberal.

Honestly, unless you are looking at a pretty small Catholic school like Franciscan University of Steubenville or a school whose reputation is strongly Catholic (Notre Dame) I think your daughter would find that at most mid-size Catholic universities, she will find plenty of kids who are not religious and/conservative.

1375

@homerdog you had mentioned looking at how colleges are handling Covid and I’ll give a shoutout to Colgate as I believe they are doing a good job (a friend of mine is one of the Deans there so i have heard details). Colgate is entering its 3rd century (!) so they have a lot of experience. In a nutshell, the university is starting back August 27 and its going to be 100% in-person. They’re taking all of the now familiar precautions that every college has announced but what i like about them is a sense that they’re all in this tonight and they’re asking every student for a personal pledge. (“And we do this because we prefer to be 6 feet apart, rather than thousands of miles apart.” ) . It’s worth reading > https://www.colgate.edu/colgate-together

1376

@SouthernHope D21 has really liked all of her communication with Colgate and their virtual panels etc. I think it’s a really good match too. I’ll look at their plan. :slight_smile:

Thanks @4kids4us. I think that’s true. All schools on her list have pros and cons of course. I just want her to have choices in the end. She might end up with some smaller schools and some midsized schools and some closer to home or farther away. She can only go to one school and there’s no harm at this point in adding more. With S19, I feel like he had too many choices in the end it was a mad rush in April to get back to schools to visit. Unlike S19, D will have some answers in Dec and Jan. And can at least narrow down a favorite from the early round and then wait for March for the rest. So, adding Dayton (which checks a lot of boxes for a safety) is an easy decision right now. She won’t have to go there as I expect she will have other options but kids’ opinions can change over time and, who knows, maybe she will want to save the money for grad school and go somewhere less expensive and stay closer to home! One thing is for sure and that’s that we all have a lot of uncertainty right now.

1377

@homerdog I have family members who graduated from Colgate and I also see it as a good fit for your D.

1378

@twogirls the only downside I see to Colgate is traveling there. Not near an airport. I know kids do it though. I really, really hope she gets in there because I think the fit is practically perfect. Our high school doesn’t send a lot of kids there. The last two years they’ve taken one and they were both recruited athletes. She’s doing her best to show a lot of interest. Not many kids apply from our school so it’s really unknown how that one will go.

1379

D20 is off to Colgate next week! President Casey will be quarantining in a dorm room for the first 2 weeks, just like the students. I was tremendously impressed with his leadership when I listened to a Colgate podcast that interviewed him and I feel he is doing a great job. They have also chartered busses from Syracuse and Utica, several trips per day over a few days to help students get to campus.

D fell in love with the school at first sight and decided early on it was the place for her. Please feel free to PM if you want info about her experience or their plans this fall.

1380

“Husband putting a little birdy in her ear to apply to Northwestern since why not at this point. I’m going to have her watch some student panels from the college of arts and science, communications, and journalism and see what she thinks. It’s a long shot even though she’s a double legacy. They get turned down all of the time.“

I like this strategy for several reasons:

  • test optional this year.
  • high GPA (3.8, top decile?)
  • ED acceptance rate 25%+
  • trend of less ED applicants
  • double legacy will help

A few questions:

Do you think many of her classmates will be applying ED?

What about her profile will make her standout from the crowd?