<p>The high school doesn’t have Naviance, unfortunately.</p>
<p>Applying (non-binding) early to Northeastern and McGill, too, makes sense, along with an early application to a reach.</p>
<p>Our income is in the range that a $20K merit award alone doesn’t meet our need with private universities and colleges. We need more, whether from need-based and/or merit. </p>
<p>Northeastern would be affordable, assuming he’s NMF and gets full tuition. McGill is more of a stretch for us, financially, so if somehow he was turned down at Northeastern, he’s likely apply to another safety school. Perhaps Temple, which would cover full tuition, although evidently the neighborhood is not good.</p>
<p>Do keep close tabs on the wording of various financial aid packages/policies and how they have changed. Marquis Scholar at Lafayette used to be an incredible deal. In addition to the scholarship any left over need was met with grants. You must remember that each school that says it meets 100% need can fulfill that “need” any way they see fit. Need=more loans. If neuroscience is an interest than I would strongly consider PITT. They have a joint venture with Carnegie Mellon. PITT’s full tuition scholarship used to mean full tuition. No dollar amount was attached. When tuition goes up so does the scholarship. PITT’s tuition is VERY selective and all students with your son’s stats are typically invited but it’s the unique profile that earns those spots. But apply early, like now if your son is a senior and full OOS tuition is a likely bet.</p>
<p>I disagree with those who are recommending applying ED. If you need to compare FA packages, ED can be a heart breaker. EA is great because then your son may have an acceptance before Christmas and that really calms the nerves for many kids.</p>
<p>I would second Bluejay’s suggestion of Pitt for neuroscience. It is well regarded and the new honors college dean is a neuroscience prof, so those majors get even more attention.</p>
<p>I’m not a huge fan of the safety, match, reach approach to making a list … and I do not think your son needs to use that approach either.</p>
<p>Both my two oldest developed a list of criteria for the schools for which they were looking … size, research U/LAC, urban/suburban/college town, majors, geography, religious/not, selectivity (a floor level). Then they slugged through a college guide to look for schools that met their criteria … and ended up with lists that had 10-15 schools on them. The lists had a mix of reach, match, and safety schools … not because they were looking for them … but because it was a natural follow-out of focusing on criteria.</p>
<p>One specific school example. My second was very interested in Cornell and eventually also added UVM to his list … a school that on CC virtually never ends up on lists as a match or safety for kids looking at Cornell. But lets look at attributes of the two school … in the northeast, similar size, in funky college towns (not near cities), multiple colleges at the University, outdoorsy location, bit of hippy vibe to town/campus, etc … the descriptions are dead on other than a difference in the selectivity. </p>
<p>For my third I’ll propose he follow the same process … as long as his list as a couple safeties on it I will not be worried about the match/reach stuff.</p>
<p>PS - given the level of schools in which your son is interested I think a list of 10-12 schools makes a lot of sense.</p>
<p>Apply EA at Northeastern, then by the end of December he should have a safety admit under his belt (one where NMF gets full tuition). With his stats he might also be accepted to their relatively new scholars program (more prestige but not more money). Then in the early winter while he still is waiting for his RD decisions he can go to their accepted students or scholars day and find out about the school.</p>
<p>I am not a fan of SCEA at the Ivy’s, I think it leaves top kids with nothing in their pocket in December and does not increase admit rate. Do EA at every school on his list which has it and RD for the rest. (You should never do ED unless you have one dream school on your list which you can afford without fin aid.)</p>
<p>“You should never do ED unless you have one dream school on your list which you can afford without fin aid.”</p>
<p>Having one dream school can mean that your only question is: Can I afford it? In that case applying ED asking for financial aid may afford the best chance of acceptance. If the FA is not enough, the offer is sadly declined (but the school may ask for more financial info to justify an increase in aid, since they really want you to attend), and the search begins anew RD.</p>
<p>Remember you can back away from your ED school for financial reasons. So you can have your other apps ready to go, and if you are admitted to your ED school and can’t afford it, and reaching out to the financial aid office is not successful, you can move on.</p>
<p>I don’t think ED has to be reserved for your “one dream school”. If there is a school you prefer among your choices, you can try ED. If admitted, and the finances work, you’re done in December.</p>
<p>Another strategic tool to consider is ED2. If ED1 doesn’t work, several schools on your son’s list (Middlebury and Bowdoin) have ED2.</p>
<p>If the goal is for your son to go to the school with the the absolutely highest aid and not just “a package that works”, then it is a different story (unless one of the HYPS schools is an early choice, as they are likely to be very very generous.) But if that is the goal, you will probably be rejecting most of the reach school packages, which don’t offer merit aid. So if the goal is to go for the most aid above all else, then you are probably deciding on a “match” as opposed to a “reach” right from the start. You have to decide what the goal is. If it is a reach school with a “doable” financial aid package, do ED for the best shot at admission.</p>
<p>I would just add that having a reach-heavy list doesn’t necessarily mean that you should take some reaches off the list–it just means that you may want a couple of matches and safeties. I’m also of the school that thinks if you are interested in highly selective schools like HYP, 10 or 12 of them is not necessarily too many.</p>
<p>I wouldn’t recommend ED unless you are pretty darn sure that school is your first choice, and that you are likely to be able to afford it.</p>
<p>You don’t even have to prefer it. You just have to be 100% willing to attend.</p>
<p>Sometimes, applicants do not have a strong preference. They may find several similar schools that they would be equally willing to attend. This does not mean that such a student shouldn’t apply ED.</p>
<p>Check to see if he’d like Pittsburgh or U Rochester (based upon his major likes). If so, I think he’d be set as both are likely to accept him - Pitt will let him know VERY early - and both have good programs in his major. It’s ok to keep all the other schools if he likes them - then compare when he has acceptances in hand. He could easily get into all - or just his safeties - or anywhere in between. If he has ONE he likes and it’s affordable, you can do ED for better odds.</p>
<p>If you decide on ED, it’s important not to “waste” your ED shot by reaching TOO high. Closely study the common data sets for your ED candidates, he should be solidly at the 50th percentile for scores (he will be) but also for GPA (if provided). Consider the rigor of his courseload and his grades in those rigorous courses. These schools will be looking for demonstrated academic achievement in the most rigorous courseload available at his school. This is even more important than scores.</p>
<p>That 3.75 may be his Achilles heel at the tippy top (crazy, I know…). But I see that it still puts him in the top 5%, so that suggests some tough grading at his school. What does his senior courseload look like?</p>
<p>This is a very good strategy if the student can live with it. For example, your son’s list includes Columbia, an extraordinarily selective school. If he applies ED to Columbia, he is more likely to be “wasting” his ED shot than if he applies ED to one of the others. </p>
<p>On the other hand, if he applies ED to one of the others and is accepted with sufficient financial aid, he has eliminated all chance of attending Columbia. Some students are not willing to do things this way.</p>
<p>My daughter used her one ED shot on a very realistic choice (where her stats put her in about the 75th percentile). She was admitted. She has never had any regrets. But not all kids can do this and be happy about it in the way that she was.</p>
<p>Be careful with idea that you can get out of ED due to finances. If the idea is that you pull out when financial aid doesn’t come through and then send out other RD applications, then you may miss the window to apply for some merit scholarships at some of the RD schools. Several of the schools my girls applied to had scholarship deadlines that were the same as ED or EA deadlines even if they weren’t applying ED/EA. So if this is your strategy be sure and fully investigate deadlines and timing of when ED school will let you know about aid.</p>
<p>OP here: It so happens that his top choice is Columbia and he wants to apply early there. I kind of wondered about the timing on financial aid versus application decision. We ran the financial aid calculator and it was doable, but I don’t know how well that predicts the actual aid.</p>
<p>Re: class rank, he’s actually top 3-4%. The GPA, to the extent it’s weighted down (to 3.75uw), is due to lower grades freshman year.</p>
<p>In senior year, he has a very challenging schedule, with a number of APs. Early fall semester is also cross-country season, so he will be very busy. Luckily the season ends in October, giving him time for working on applications. Really want his Common App essay done over the summer.</p>
<p>If his top choice is Columbia, I wonder whether he might want to ease his geographic restrictions somewhat and add the University of Chicago to his list. Like Columbia, it offers a Core Curriculum, a big-city environment, and a high level of academic rigor. But it’s easier to get admitted to the University of Chicago than it is to get admitted to Columbia.</p>
<p>There are lots of flights in and out of Chicago. It’s not an inconvenient place for an Easterner to go to school.</p>
<p>Applying ED does not mean that you don’t apply to other colleges. You should. Then, if you are accepted ED and the money is OK, you withdraw the other applications.</p>
<p>Pay careful attention to any especially early deadlines for your RD schools. There may be early deadlines, for example, for students who want to be considered for an honors program or for merit scholarships. And pay careful attention to your high school’s deadline for submitting requests for transcripts and recommendations. They often come before the ED notification date.</p>
<p>If I were you, I would try to get your S to apply to Pitt by early September at the latest. He can do his best on the application but if necessary regard it as a practice run. Apply to Northeastern and the U of C EA–and anywhere else on his list that has EA-- and Columbia ED <em>if</em> the finances appear to work, with some cushion. Run the calculator using the worst case scenario figures from your point of view: disallowing small business expenses, forcing sale of vacation properties or other real estate, and so forth. (I’d go over to the FA and Columbia forums and ask if anyone can share their experience with FA there.)</p>
<p>I agree that it is appropriate for a kid with your S’s stats aiming at the super-selective schools to apply to 11 or 12. In 2008, S applied to 11 (or rather, I <em>made him</em> apply to 11 ). He was accepted at 5, waitlisted at 2, and denied at 4. With the financial need complication, it was a good thing he had those choices. We, too, were in the position where even a big merit award–say $20-30K–was not going to be enough. </p>
<p>Lastly, if he decides to apply to Rochester, they are known to like demonstrated interest, especially when selecting candidates for their big scholarship. They have adcoms who travel in our area in the fall. I’d check the schedule and set up an interview for him, if possible.</p>
). He was accepted at 5, waitlisted at 2, and denied at 4. With the financial need complication, it was a good thing he had those choices. We, too, were in the position where even a big merit award–say $20-30K–was not going to be enough. </p>