help for my sister!

Parents Corner
1

<p>Hi everyone-</p>

<p>My little sister is just starting the college application process, and she's less of a go getter than I was when it came to the application process. I'm trying to help her out as much as I can, so I was wondering if you guys thought this seemed like a balanced list for her...</p>

<p>A little about her - she's a wonderful person (at least I think so!) who's VERY dedicated to community service - not just for college apps either! (She doesn't believe in recording her hours for this very purpose, but I'm sure she has well over 1000, just from freshman year on). She's very active in our school's YCS program, and has been an officer for the past two years. She's a great writer, and has been on the school magazine for the past two years (longest you can be on). Now she's the business editor, which entails a lot of work and dedication, and she always puts it in. She managed to sell 8 ads last year alone, making over $2000 for the magazine (the minimum students have to make is $600, most barely reach that). She's been a Girl Scout for the past year (to help a friends dwindling troop from disappearing into nothingness), and she's on her school's yearbook committee. In addition, since last summer, she's held down a steady 20hr/wk job at an ice cream parlor. Last summer, she was almost full time, while also taking Econ in summer school. She's very interested in Spanish (took the 4AP test last year, and received at 3 due to a poor teacher, almost no one in her class received a 4 or a 5), and spent a month in Spain two summers ago.</p>

<p>Now I know that to most of the incredible CC kids who won a Nobel prize at the age of 2 for their work in nuclear physics, but to me, it seems like she does a LOT. She has a very strong work ethic, and a lot of times when I would give up on my homework and crawl into bed, she would stay up til well past 3 finishing up those last problems. She has a strong 3.75UW GPA (her high school doesn't weight GPAs or rank), and SATs in the mid to high 600 range (she plans to retake and is confident she'll break that 700 mark; she's not much of a standardized test taker). She took the SATIIs, and received a 780 Spanish and 650 Math 2C, 660 Math 1C.</p>

<p>She's looking at some UCs (in state) and some schools on the East Coast, looking to possibly major in business and go into advertising eventually, or perhaps in psychology. She wants a bigger school, and isn't interested in anything rural. Ideally, she'd like to apply to 7 or 8 schools, and what she's looking at so far include:</p>

<p>UCLA
UCSD
UCSB
Tufts
NYU
Columbia (major reach, we know, but she really wants to go there - any advantage to applying ED? That's her plan now.)</p>

<p>The list is a bit top heavy, wondering if anyone can help me out with a few suggestions for her/evaluating her chances at these schools.</p>

<p>EDIT: Forgot to add, nearly all her classes are honors/accelerated, and her schedule for senior year looks like:</p>

<p>Yearbook
Magazine Journalism
AP Environmental Science
AP Calculus AB
AP Psychology
World Classics 12H
Creative Writing
Work Experience</p>

2

<p>It's very nice of you to help your sister out. For more "match/safety" schools, I would suggest University of Oregon on the west coast and Northeastern on the east coast. Both have excellent business programs; Northeastern, in particular, has a well known co-op program in business, with students getting internships in prominent east coast companies. With all your sister's get-out-and-go, I'm wondering why she's not more actively exploring colleges herself and whether something is holding her back. It's not unusual for kids to drag their heels because the idea of leaving and going to college is pretty overwhelming. Sometimes a visit to even local schools can be helpful in inspiring some enthusiasm for the process. Good luck to you and your sister.</p>

3

<p>P.S. There's almost always an advantage in applying ED IF - and it's a big IF - the student is very sure that's where s/he wants to go. Your sister might also want to consider applying to Barnard if she's interested in Columbia.</p>

4

<p>She's VERY sure she wants to be at Columbia, and I'll definitely pass on the info re Northeastern and University of Oregon. Any idea about her chances at any of the other schools?</p>

5

<p>Colombia is going to be nearly impossible unless she has some very unusual "hook". There are just too many kids from Calif who apply to Colombia with better stats. Even if she were to apply ED, she would be competing with tons of Calif kids who also are applying ED. (To get acceptance to an ivy, a student is often competing against students in their own states since these colleges like to get a few kids from each state.) Now, if she was coming from some state that has few applicants.... </p>

<p>BTW... if she applies to any pricey school ED, is your family prepared to pay "full freight" or are they confident about how much F/A they will receive?</p>

6

<p>You are very kind and loving to help your sister out.</p>

<p>A couple of big questions: How much are your parents willing to spend for her education? If what they are willing to pay is less than any need-based aid that she may get (and if she will need financial aid, she needs to make sure to apply to colleges where she's likely to get it), then she will need to either take out loans, possibly big ones or apply to affordable places such as possibly state Us or apply where she's likely to get merit aid, which is probably colleges where her stats would put her in at least the upper 20% of their applicants.</p>

<p>The other big question: How far away are your parents willing to send her?</p>

<p>Make sure that she gets firm answers to those questions because it would be a shame for her to get into a dream school only to find out her parents won't allow her to go.</p>

7

<p>My family can pay full freight (god, this sounds snobby, but cost isn't a big issue for us). We know Columbia is going to be REALLY tough, and I'm really hoping she can pull those SATs up, she's taking courses and doing weekly practice tests, and she says she's averaging 2100 on them. As for how far - well, I'm in Maine for school, so I'm betting my parents are fine with anywhere in the continental US :-) My parents just want us to be in a location where we'll be happy.</p>

<p>As for Columbia, I'm crossing my fingers on the "strange" admissions decisions that occasionally happen - after all, I got into some top LACs with about a 3.4UW, dropping two courses my senior year, etc etc. So I'm crossing my fingers for her - I'm going to hate when decisions roll out and she gets disappointed, because I can't think of anyone who deserves an Ivy education more!</p>

<p>My parents are a little... name-school obsessed, and they're big on prestige. (They don't say it that way, but it's definitely true). So I'm trying to find a good fit for her that my parents think would be "worth it"</p>

8

<p>Columbia is definitely a lottery ticket school. I think the idea to apply to Barnard is an excellent idea. Barnard is part of Columbia University, and once you are there, you are essentially a Columbia student. My good friend's D goes there and finds that there isn't a big distinction, or one at all. That will up her odds there. Tufts is not a big school, but is a big reach with her stats. Northeastern or Boston U may be more realisitic choices. Cornell's school of Hotel Management may be a good addition to her list.
As to being "name obsessed" that appears to be the name of the game these days. With schools that have the name in your own state at in state prices, it is certainly a consideration for most parents whether tripling or even quadrupling the cost is worth the price unless there is an over riding reason. There are many excellent business programs in Out of state flagship unis, but the cost will be higher, the transportation difficult and the name status advantage dubious over CA schools.</p>