<p>Case Western, Pitt, Lehigh, Lafayette, Lawrence, Muhlenburg, Rhodes.</p>
<p>There are a TON of colleges not in the top 30 where your son would have a shot at good merit aid, and would get a great college education.</p>
<p>P.S. If he is big into volunteering, look at some of the Jesuit schools…Santa Clara for example.</p>
<p>Thanks for all the suggestions!</p>
<p>As Consolation brought up SAT IIs, let me ask something about this. Nearly all of the schools on the list don’t require them if the student has taken the ACT. He has and got a perfect score. So, if he only applied to SAT II optional schools, should he bother taking them?</p>
<p>I’ve been thinking it would be better for him not to, as he’d devote time to studying them. Then he could better focus on his essays plus everything else he has on his plate - and not work all the time.</p>
<p>@ecouter11 and momfromme</p>
<p>Historically at McGill financial aid is difficult to obtain and merit aid is pretty competitive (mainly because it is already so cheap for Quebec residents). However the university just completed a major funding drive (Campaign McGill) and pulled in over $1billion in donations, of which about 75% is being funneled into student programming including financial aid and scholarships, so they should be able to be a bit more generous starting next year.</p>
<p>momfromme, this is what I would do. Have his score reports sent to the schools. Register for the October SATIIs. Pick two subjects that you think he would do well in, preferably ones he studied last year. Say Math II (not Math I!) and French or a science or history. Have him run through some practice tests to see how he does without prep. Pick the two best and get the PR prep books. Have him run through them between now and October. That is not going to take a lot of time. Take two tests. If he scores well; that is, at least 700, send them. If not, don’t. In general, it is wise to view all “recommended” things as “required” in the admissions process at the most selective schools. And yes, there are kids who have gotten in Yale without submitting the SATIIs. But I think they are a minority.</p>
<p>As an FYI, my S got scores on 3 of them ranging from 730 or so to 780 without doing any discernable prep, except in Chem where his teacher went over some additional material with the kids who were taking it. He never prepped for any of those tests.</p>
<p>BTW, he took the ACT with writing, I assume?</p>
<p>Lafayette would probably give him their Marquis Scholarship, which is good for $20k/year in merit aid.</p>
<p>Consolation,</p>
<p>Yes, it was ACT with writing. After he got back his SAT score, he thought that maybe he’d skip the ACT. But we said, well, we already paid, so just take it. And then he got that 36.</p>
<p>Sounds like a good strategy for the subject tests.</p>
<p>I was going to suggest Gettysburg as a possible safety with good merit aid.</p>
<p>Your son has almost identical stats to my daughter (2340, NMF, salutatorian, music, cross-country). She had no idea where she wanted to go and only applied RD everywhere because she didn’t want to make a legal commitment when she didn’t have a clear first choice. I think this was a huge mistake, as was not doing an arts supplement. Although she is glad she is going to Wellesley in the fall, I do know she wishes she’d applied ED to Stanford, where she was denied. Maybe that would have helped, maybe not, but the acceptance rate to top schools is higher if you apply ED.</p>
<p>She also received merit aid offers to other schools (we are full pay), but ultimately thought Wellesley was a better fit. She did not apply to UMass (we are in state) because she said she’d rather do a gap year than go there. A safety should be a school you wouldn’t mind attending if it was the only one that accepted you. Her safety was Furman, where some of her friends go.</p>
<p>Have your son do one of the matching surveys on this site or somewhere else to get a list of schools that might be a fit, and then let him research them on his own.</p>
<p>And no matter how burned out he is from submitting his NMF application (this will happen in October, after he is named as a NMSF), AP classes, sports, etc., insist that he do an ED application somewhere. DD really regrets not doing this, because it sometimes does make the difference between a deny/waitlist at a top school, and an acceptance.</p>
<p>Stanford doesn’t have ED, they have SCEA which is a different animal, she wouldn’t have been obliged to go there. ED usually gives a bigger boost than EA, but if comparing offers is important I wouldn’t do it.</p>
<p>If your kid is miserable at the idea of U Mass, he should find something better.</p>
<p>I think this kid might do really well at some of the former women’s colleges – I’d look at Wheaton (Norton MA), Connecticut College, Vassar etc. </p>
<p>My son got into Wheaton, with lesser stats and received a significant merit money offer. I was very impressed with Wheaton in terms of the available opportunities for good students.</p>
<p>But the application for EA at Stanford is due earlier than for RD, and it was the timing that was the issue for D. (I also think that if she’d gotten in, she would have felt like she had to go there, so that may have been an issue, too.) The other schools that she liked did have binding ED, so she opted to apply RD to all of her schools. It worked out fine, but I think if you have a reach heavy list (she didn’t), you should apply ED somewhere.</p>
<p>And you should always have a safety. The largest group of applicants in history applied last year and will continue to do so for the next several years.</p>
<p>Northeastern is his safety. I’ll eat my laptop if he doesn’t get in, unless he slugs the alumni interviewer or something. :D</p>
<p>A little off topic…but sometimes it APPEARS that there is an edge if you apply ED…but really when you consider that ED applicants often include recruited athletes, legacy applicants and the like, the “edge” for the regular applicant is not much.</p>
<p>Stanford has SCEA…a great choice for an early application. No binding obligation to attend. All early applications have an earlier deadline than RD applications.</p>
<p>I like EA better than SCEA, but that’s me. For me the best thing about pushing my kids to apply EA to the schools that offered it was that they got the bulk of the work for their applications done by October. They still had plenty of supplements and polishing - my son saved his Tufts application for last because they had the latest deadline and there was an optional essay he’d been looking forward to writing. He could afford to dilly dally because the rest of the application was set.</p>
<p>I agree Northeastern looks like a safety to me, but it’s nice to have a second one just so that there’s some semblance of a choice in April. Maybe something like one of the many LACs that have been suggested - a contrasty place in case small and intimate seems like a good idea come spring.</p>
<p>I have a slightly different opinion than some of the others here. My son’s profile was very very similiar to your son’s profile. At the time, I had all the insecurities and fears that you do, and was afraid that the process would be totally random.</p>
<p>With stats like your son’s, I think the “game” is a little different and that it is based on probability and statistics. If your son is satisfied with McGill as his safety (and you can use the link provided earlier in this thread to be sure that his grades in selected subjects meet the criteria), then I think you can be very confident about McGill (his scores already far exceed the admission standards for US high school students.)</p>
<p>I think your son should do one of two things:</p>
<p>1) choose a favorite and apply ED (The ED boost is very real); or</p>
<p>2) apply to Yale or Stanford SCEA</p>
<p>If he is not admitted to his ED choice (1), he should have a list of 10-14 rd schools ready to go. Yes, 10-14. At his level, unless his essay or recommendations are a disaster, he should be admitted to at least one of them (and maybe a few). So he needs to apply to enough schools to let probability work in his favor. This is very important. If he only applies to 5 or 6 schools regular decision, that will not be enough to give you a comfort level that he will be admitted at one of them. If everything goes awry, McGill is his safety.</p>
<p>If he goes with option 2 and is not admitted to his SCEA choice, the same plan as above would apply. If he is admitted to his SCEA choice, his rd list can be smaller and consist of only those schools that he might want to consider alongside his SCEA choice.</p>
<p>If he is admitted to any of the HYPS schools, the need-based aid will likely be very generous.</p>
<p>Another strategy that your son may wish to consider is to include one or more early action schools such as UNC or UVA. There are a few advantages to this. One is that he will have a few applications under his belt before he submits his SCEA or ED application. This frequently results in improving the essay or the presentation of activities in the common app. YOU CAN CUSTOMIZE THE COMMON APP so don’t be reluctant to make changes after that first application goes in. The second advantage is that he will hear in about the third week of January, about the same time the McGill decisions start coming out. So if ED or SCEA doesn’t work out, there could be some good news in January that helps manage anxiety during the wait until April RD decisions.</p>
<p>Emory (not in the northeast I know, but I thought I’d mention it) has a very generous Emory Scholars merit aid program for which your son would be very competitive. The deadline is usually November 1. Finalists are notified in January so, if he is a finalist, it is like getting an “early write.”</p>
<p>Your son’s profile is deserving of admission to a top university or SLAC. Strategize, use ED or SCEA, apply to enough schools and he’ll get there.</p>
<p>Try for two good match/safeties that he’d feel good about going to. It really does take a tiny bit of the sting out of a string of rejection/waitlists, and my D had plenty of those with stats similar to your son’s.</p>
<p>Acceptance rates have gotten crazy. The difference in the 5 years between my youngest 2 was dramatic. That 5% at Harvard isn’t 5% of all high schoolers, it’s 5% of very qualified students. That means lots of kids getting lots of rejection letters. And when most of the schools on your list are accepting less than 25% nothing is a sure thing. Interest and fit seem to matter, but what that means can be nebulous. People who are talking about their kid’s experience from 3-4 years ago are describing a different experience.</p>
<p>I also wish I had pushed my D to apply somewhere early. It may not make a difference at the 5-10% admission schools, but I think it does a the next band.</p>
<p>PS. And neither her essay nor her recommendations were “a disaster”. She was just one of many smart accomplished young women applying to college.</p>
<p>oh gosh no ^^^^ please accept my apologies! I did not intend to infer that if someone is not admitted, his or essays or recommendations are a disaster!!! I only meant to say that if a well-qualified student applies to enough reach schools, which is probably somewhere around 14, the statistical odds are that he will get into at least one or two.</p>
<p>My experience is based on one kid 5 years ago (the demographic “bubble” year) and one kid this year.</p>
<p>I wouldn’t apply ED with his stats unless he was really sure he has a first choice. If one of the schools he likes has EA, definitely do that. I wouldn’t want him to commit to a school he isn’t sure is his favorite, even if it gives him a slight edge, as itt seems very likely that your son will have several good options from his list come admission time. BUT…have a slam dunk safetly and make it one that he can live with. </p>
<p>I sort of agree with the poster who said your son’s list really isn’t all that reachy, considering his stats. With Northeastern and McGill on the list, I think he’s probably fine, providing he’d be happy at either of those schools, if that’s how it plays out.</p>
<p>If none of the reaches on his list are a clear first choice, try to find an EA, SCEA or rolling admissions school that is acceptable financially and to your child (so…NOT UMass!) Getting an early acceptance will make a huge difference. </p>
<p>Not getting an early acceptance will also make a huge difference…and may make some of the less appealing schools look better!</p>
<p>Does your school have Naviance or another tracking system? It could help tell you what might be a “match.” (For high performing kids in our HS, Univ of Michgan is a match…although it might not be for high performing kids from another HS.)</p>