<p>If you haven’t already thought through your college budget for your children, that is another thing to work on. One good book to start with is “How to pay for college without going broke”, and one good website to read through is [FinAid</a>! Financial Aid, College Scholarships and Student Loans](<a href=“http://www.finaid.org%5DFinAid”>http://www.finaid.org) The Financial Aid Forum here is also a good source for advice. Once you have your head on straight about how much you can put toward your daughters’ educations, it will be much easier for you to help them choose a financially realistic list.</p>
<p>AP tests can be taken without taking a formal AP course and the score is just as valid as for those who take a course. However, it doesn’t sound like your HS has rigorous courses such as the honors courses some HS’s offer instead of the AP version. Don’t worry about your child at a secular college- by now they either have incorporated your values and will retain them or won’t. btw- people of other religions or no religion may share the same core values that Christ was trying to teach (in other words, Christians are not the only decent, moral people). State U’s reflect the values of their populations- Minnesota values all over are likely similar to yours.</p>
<p>WIS75 Thank you! I agree with you 100%. One of the reasons I would prefer her not to go to a small Christian college is the chance to meet people of different faiths.</p>
<p>Because of the agreements between MN and WI, as you probably know, she can get the equivalent of MN in-state tuition at the UW campuses. One of the most attractive campuses for many in-state students in WI is UW-Lacrosse. The city is located on the Mississippi River. You might want to take a look although admittance is not easy. Not sure how diverse the school is though. </p>
<p>I wouldn’t write off Twin Cities until you see her standardized test scores.</p>
<p>Newfaith–I’m glad you found this site, as you can find a lot of excellent advice if you have the time to do so. I have several comments for you that I hope will be helpful.</p>
<ol>
<li><p>Admissions counselors evaluate applicants in the context of their schools, as some have pointed out. Most high schools provide colleges with a profile of the school that lists the AP courses offered and the grading scale, among other things. If your school doesn’t do this, it will at least indicate the grading scale on the transcript. Two other opportunities to explain that your child’s school doesn’t offer AP courses and grades on a 94 - 100 scale for an A are the counselor’s recommendation and the “additional information” section of the common application.</p></li>
<li><p>I agree with those who commented that standardized tests become more important that usual for your child due to the fact that they are standardized. There is a lot of info on the SAT/ACT forum on this website. My brief advice is that your child should prepare using the official practice books (the “Blue Book” for the SAT and the “Red Book” for the ACT, which are called that because of the colors of their covers). Also, my children both took the SAT in October, days before taking the PSAT, so they could study for both at the same time, which I think contributed to their high PSAT scores. My D was a NMF and my S will be a NM Commended Scholar. My D’s boyfriend studied hard for the math portion of the SAT after receiving a disappointing score the first time, and raised his total SAT score 200 points when he retook it. </p></li>
<li><p>Please take the comments about “many Christian schools…” with a grain of salt. What matters to you is what your child’s specific school (whether Christian or not) does. It seems that there are always people who are quick to denigrate the policies of Christian schools, which may or may not apply to yours. In contrast to the Christian schools others have described on this thread, my children’s Christian school works hard to prepare students for college, teaching them about the Christian faith as well as about other religions. When my D chose to apply only to secular colleges, I was confident that she was well-prepared. She has thrived as a freshman at a state college. Sometimes on CC you might find that the anonymity of contributors leads to situations where people feel free to criticize Christians, Christian high schools and Christian colleges as a group based on one experience with them. If Christians were as hateful as sometimes described on CC, I wouldn’t want to be one either.</p></li>
</ol>
<p>Feel free to PM me if I can help in any way. With a college freshman D and a high school junior S, I have learned a lot in the past three years!</p>
<p>Replace “Christian” with “Catholic” and you have my situation. So no issues with the Christian part of the school. But when I read “small, private” school of any sort, unless the school is the college prep sort of school with an unwritten mission to get their kids into selective college, parents have to be more than usual proactive in the whole process. Even those sort of schools will miss the mark on students priorities if they do not mesh with that of the school. For example, some of my kids went to top prep schools, and the excellent college counselors were useless when it came to state schools and financial/merit aid issues. That’s not their focus. Where my youngest is now in school is a great place to be if Catholic college in the NE is what you want. If you are eying Stanford, or many LACs, the independent school that my other kids attended would be more helpful. </p>
<p>Look at where the graduated kids end up at college. Those schools that show up the most are where the school counselors can be the most helpful in terms of advice.</p>
<p>Though this blog comes from a Jewish perspective you might find it of interest. [Faith:</a> Lost and Found ? Changes in Students’ Religious Attitudes in College | Her Campus](<a href=“http://www.hercampus.com/dormlife/faith-lost-and-found-–-changes-students-religious-attitudes-college]Faith:”>http://www.hercampus.com/dormlife/faith-lost-and-found-–-changes-students-religious-attitudes-college) Hopefully your daughter has been around those that are not religious or even anti-religion. She will surely run into that at a secular institution. For me it strengthened my spiritual side. But for others it will have the opposite effect. I am sure your daughter will find the best school for her. Best of luck.</p>
<p>My kids went to a tiny Christian school, although they had about 60 in their graduating classes. They did alright in their college searches, but they were not typical of the kids you see on CC (although I may be a somewhat typical parent). I am in a hurry right now, but I think the biggest disadvantage is the limited number of “rigorous” classes if that matters for your child. I think my D especially, was at the top of her class, in some of the most rigorous class there, but I think she still fell shy of what most kids she ended up with were exposed to.</p>
<p>One “harbinger” was how much better she did on the SAT’s than the ACT. I seems this is not very common , and I think it was related to the quality of the academics at her school. Her brother was similarly behind in his math skills for his SAT’s.</p>
<p>The other thing is having to devote a certain number of classes to Bible classes that often don’t count in admissions, at least at the University of California.</p>
<p>The fact the school had no clue about PSAT timing is a huge red flag. I would be extra vigilant about test dates for aps, sats, act, etc. I find it sad they didn’t know such a basic fact that could have hurt your daughter.</p>
<p>I disagree with the poster about the PSAT and NMF. If your daughters 10th grade score on the PSAT put her in shooting range of the the NMF cutoff, it would definitely be worthwhile to study for it. There are many opportunities for NMFs. (And I’m basing this comment on S’s experience 2 years ago, not my own. Things have changed)</p>
<p>I agree with looking at the WI state schools. LaCrosse is a great option, Eau Claire is as well. Also, there is a Midwest Consortium that has MN, WI, MO, NE, and IL I think, maybe IN too? Anyway, at participating schools in these states, students from other states pay 150% of in-state, putting the costs between in-state and out of state–and at many schools that cost is LESS than the instate tuition in MN. Since you don’t really want her at a Christian school, have her look at U of MN- Morris. It’s a pretty small town but an excellent school. Obviously it doesn’t have a religious affiliation but she will find that most of the kids there are Christian and practice their faith because of the general demographic of the school.</p>
<p>Wow I hope your right about Il., I see a couple of schools on the outskirts of Chicago that I think she would love. Also we have relatives in Chicago so a little saftey there. I love the idea of U of W schools and have 2yrs to sell these wonderful options. Right now I’ve gone from feeling like she won’t get into college to “wow” there are a lot of choices out there. I feel like we already have about 3 safety schools, Moorehead State, St.Cloud State, and Mankato State. The information here is so good! Out of State my daughter likes the look of Ole Miss, I caution her that going from such a little school to a big one she’ll really have to manage her time. A school I never heard of before that looks good is Flager in Florida. Also Bowling Green looks good. Have any of your kids applied to a school without visiting? We will try to visit as many schools as we can but there is no way to visit all the ones that look good.</p>
<p>Don’t rule out any of the MIAC colleges. Most of these are nationally renown and all are in MN. Carleton, Macalester, St. Olaf, St. Thomas, Gustavus, Concordia Moorhead, St. John’s, Bethel - I’m missing some. The professed Lutheran or Catholic affiliated ones, hardly touch 50% of that definition in their student body. They strive for diversity of faith and experience.</p>
<p>D is graduating from small private Christian (Lutheran) school in Minneapolis this spring, and received VERY generous FA packages from the MIAC schools she applied to. Putting our final cost at or below that of the U of M Twin Cities, and one well below our EFC 
which happily is on D’s shortlist.</p>
<p>Good luck - and like everyone says… take the ACT and take it often if necessary. > 28 is bonus $</p>
<p><a href=“http://www.mhec.org/MSEPDescription--found[/url]”>http://www.mhec.org/MSEPDescription--found</a> the website–participating states: Illinois, Indiana, Kansas, Michigan, Minnesota, Missouri, Nebraska, North Dakota and Wisconsin. Not all schools in those states participate though. Bowling Green is on the possible list for DD. Not sure if we will get a chance to visit though. We are trying to visit all of their top possibles but they will probably apply to some schools they haven’t visited. Both of our kids really liked Eau Claire. The campus is really nice and within walking distance to downtown. It’s an easy day trip from the Twin Cities area if you live near there.</p>
<p>^ this is a good program, but MANY of the participating schools limit the number of students they accept under this program, or limit the major/concentration they can take.</p>
<p>I was excited about it when I first ran across it, but D’s potential choices got screened out pretty early. Worth a look though!</p>
<p>giterdone-I did not know that they limit the number of applicants. Good to know. I agree with the MIAC schools. They are all very good schools, even if people on CC don’t know about them 
and merit aid is outstanding.</p>
<p>You should not worry about her going to a state school. It sounds like she is in a great high school and that is going to be a huge benefit later on in life. She is getting the attention that she needs from teachers right now and is learning good study habits, among other things. I would think that the experiences that she is getting in that school will be something to brag about on a college and job application.</p>
<p>It is a good idea that you are looking at state schools instead of the private Christian schools that are too costly. Those small private schools have a lot to offer but also have a much smaller amount of diversity for her to learn about. She will have the chance to meet so many people from a multitude of backgrounds, and that is a learning experience.</p>
<p>I have heard good things about Flagler in Florida. It is in a nice location and has some good programs that i know of. Maybe you should make a point of visiting those schools that she might go to once you have narrowed it seriously down to just a few. Traveling all over the place can be very expensive, so waiting until you have a good idea of just a few particular colleges is a good idea.</p>