Frustrated

Parents Forum
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<p>You may really like schools in the south. My D also graduated from a top HS in WA state, most likely the same one you attend and she loves the south. While it is different, she loves the cultural differences and student body that has really different life experiences. She is at a small LAC.</p>

<p>Please don’t discount the UW. I know it is not that appealing to most local students because it is in your backyard but it is a great school. Particularly if you want a big school, sports loving campus.</p>

<p>I would implore you to visit campuses. That is when my D decided what her top schools were. Had we not visited she very well could be somewhere else.</p>

<p>Best of luck to you!!</p>

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<p>Check into the Western Undergrad Tuition Exchange program:
[Western</a> Undergraduate Exchange (WUE) | Western Interstate Commission for Higher Education](<a href=“2017 Program: Western Academic Leadership Academy - WICHE”>Save On College Tuition | Western Undergraduate Exchange (WUE))</p>

<p>If you are accepted, your out of state tuition is no more than 150% of instate for certain states. Not all eligible students are accepted to the program, apply early.</p>

<p>D had a clear favorite…once that big packet arrived, with generous scholarship, the decision was made…but there were several others she liked and would have been happy attending. Keep an open mind. Visit campuses, ask questions on tours and on the various message boards.</p>

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<p>No more quoting for me since my computer has been prone to shutting down lol; wrote some long replies (on another of my threads) and they were never submitted…</p>

<p>@ mamita: Great advice. Where is the “visits” section on CC? The only book I’ve looked at for college research so is Fiske’s but I found it pretty dry - it’s obviously not going to tell me if Berkeley, as I read on some CC thread, has a shady, druggie filled, campus.</p>

<p>@ SlitheyTove: Can you tell me a bit (or everything, I want to know as much as possible lol :D) about Tufts? What did you and you daughter like/not like? I know nothing about it but a lot of kids on the “3.6 and Applying to Top Schools” apparently went there and ended up happy.</p>

<p>What other schools did your daughter look at? </p>

<p>I’m thinking that my match/safety right now could be McGill ; one of my parents went there, but my parents were poor immigrants, worked multiple jobs and I was just born so they didn’t have a normal college experience. </p>

<p>@ MiamiDAP: Nice that that she had full merit, and that things worked out.</p>

<p>My parents: “You doctor yet? I send you to school to be doctor, come back when you doctor.” They don’t really talk like that but you get the point. Ironic b/c they don’t know anything about doctor stuff except that med school = expensive, but will net you a job.</p>

<p>What drove your D. to med school? And was the workload harder or easier than she expected? What type of person do you have to be in order to get to med school and be successful? Again, I know very little but feel like I should be able to inform my parents on what the actual costs/benefits are instead of their just saying that med school will work out.</p>

<p>Some people at my school got into John Hopkins, but, upon reading that everyone is a cutthroat nerd studying at the library, that school might not fit me.</p>

<p>@ ohiobassmom: I’m guessing that your son visited the campuses? In addition to the financial aid, what was the biggest factor for your son in deciding on his college?</p>

<p>@ mommamocha: I’ve only been to Dallas, that’s the extent of my Southern experience lol. More researching for me then, thanks for the advice. Speaking of research…</p>

<p>@ Mom2M: Awesome link, I’ll apply. Someone else mentioned local/national scholarships - not sure how they really work. Do they just give you the money for college if you’re selected?</p>

<p>I’m technologically inept so I’m curious as to how you CC parents researched potential colleges… are there any “go-to” websites for researching? Hoping for some shortcuts lol b/c there are too many sites out there; I’ld love to (more like prefer) visit some campuses but that’s not a possibility atm.</p>

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<p>He visited some before applying, some not until he auditioned which is after applying (he applied to several music schools).</p>

<p>For him a vibrant music scene (if not his music major) was important. </p>

<p>Location - he didn’t want to go more than about 5 hours from home and he wasn’t interested in really big cities.</p>

<p>He wanted fairly small schools (not big Us on his list at all unless a music school/conservatory within it) but rejected a couple that he felt were TOO small. Most were between 2K-5K. the one he chose has about 5. The preference for smaller LACs was in part my own, I think he needs the attention, not having TAs teaching him, no hundreds of kid classes…just better off in a smaller place with lots of support.</p>

<p>Finally, he had a lot of impressions of schools from older kids he knows and where they went. In some ways this was helpful and in some not.</p>

<p>We used a handful of sites to do the preliminary research:</p>

<p>Naviance - if your school has it it’s got all the info in one spot and very useful info as to how many kids from your own HS applied and got in to various colleges.</p>

<p>Cappex</p>

<p>Forbes</p>

<p>this site (of course)</p>

<p>and when the list was narrowed down somewhat, individual college web sites, youtube for tours, ratemyprofessor, etc.</p>

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<p>Well, they’ve got not-so-great sports teams and not sunny weather. :wink: :smiley: Sorry, couldn’t resist!</p>

<p>The biggest problem: it’s an expensive school, with a COA of around $60k :eek: which is more than your family can afford. They do offer need-based aid, but people do not always get good packages. If you’re going to consider the school at all, remember that it’s one of those schools where you’d have to get in AND score a good aid package. </p>

<p>Here’s a start to intrigue you about Tufts: [EPIIC</a> (Education for Public Inquiry and International Citizenship) | Institute for Global Leadership](<a href=“Programs | Tufts Global Leadership”>EPIIC | Tufts Global Leadership)</p>

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<p>Here’s the thread from a few years back where I laid out D1’s stats and asked CC parents for suggestions. <a href=“http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/parents-forum/860298-flawed-yet-rigorous-transcript-where-look.html[/url]”>http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/parents-forum/860298-flawed-yet-rigorous-transcript-where-look.html&lt;/a&gt; Her final list included UCs (we’re in-state), UMaryland-CP (applied early looking for merit), George Washington (National Merit money), Macalester (ditto), Muhlenberg (good merit), Wesleyan, and Hail Mary passes to Brown and Yale. Strongly considered but ultimately ended up not applying to Rice, Pomona, U Oregon, U Rochester, Pitt. Since she applied to Tufts ED, she didn’t apply to most of these schools, and withdrew apps from those where she’d had to apply early to meet deadlines.</p>

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<p>Go to the college search section of College Confidential, that is an excellent starting point for information. </p>

<p>There is an excellent thread on merit scholarships, read it. You will need to check individual college websites for current information, but the thread has a lot of excellent information.</p>

<p>Go look at the Univ of Alabama, it looks like you may qualify for the full tution scholarship, if you apply by Dec 1st. The application is very simple, and they have rolling admissions. You can apply, send your transcript and test scores and have an admission result with scholarship information within a month. They have an excellent honors college with a lot of “perks”. Check the University of Alabama thread under the colleges section.</p>

<p>And apply to the WUE asap, just in case you decide on a more “western” school.</p>

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<p>USC sounds like a viable choice. Hot weather and sports.<br>
Also perhaps The University of Texas at Austin.</p>

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<p>Appreciate the advice but my parents are fine with paying 30K per year at a top 40 or so school (it needs to fit me of course but I’m just using ranking for the context).</p>

<p>You need to find out if you’d QUALIFY for more aid. You say that your parents are “middle class”, but we’ve found that kids often think that when in reality their families are upper-middle class/lower upper class. And, if your parents have substantial savings/assets, then you might not qualify for any/much aid. </p>

<p>Have your parents do a Net Price Calculator on a few schools’ websites. Don’t use HYPS because those will be misleading. Try UChicago’s or Cornells or Johns Hopkins, etc. Then try some OOS publics.</p>