I second UMinny-Morris and also LACs like Lake Forest College where you would automatically qualify for big merit awards.
How much can your parents afford beyond the college fund?
As an online high school student, I would ask your regional admissions rep, which you can find by googling or going on the wesbsite of the college, for permission to include a couple of non-academic references. The references are all about providing an insight into your character. It’s hard for a person who has never met you to provide a good rec. Your grades are just a stat, they want to see the person behind the stat. I think you might want to go on the homeschool or non-trad student forums and ask how to best approach this. My concern is that leaving it for another year is going to make it very difficult for you to get any decent academic recs at all.
Meanwhile, before you to give up the idea of going to college this fall (you did post asking for help, after all,) get in touch with some of the colleges on the NACAC list as MYOS described. Explain that you are an online student, and ask about FA if you need it, etc… If those colleges are still looking for students, they will be more than happy to help. Your app will certainly be expedited and you should get a very quick response.
One issue you may have run into was your online classes. While you did well and have great test scores you have not shown that you have the potential to do well in a live classroom and the schools you applied to have small class sizes with participation expected.
I do some college counseling with homeschool charter students including online students. I had several admission officers express concern over online students who have no classroom experience on their transcripts. Classroom experience can be at a community college for dual enrollment or any kind of organization where you are working in groups. One of the admission officers I spoke with was from Reed, where you applied. One suggestion I received was making sure there was a letter of rec from someone who can vouch for your performance in small classes or group work. For an online student this can be through clubs, church, scouts out other activities that show your would do well in a classroom.
It might be worth finding someone in your community who can state that you would be successful in a classroom.
Another possibility to look at would be a postgraduate year at a prep school. This would allow you to ease into a residential education setting with a younger peer group and more structure and support. You could take advanced coursework that would likely net you some college credit, without jeopardizing your freshman status. And you would gain a college advising staff that would help strengthen your application.
I don’t know what deadlines typically look like and what prep schools might still have space, but just something to consider.
Great suggestions from @aquapt and @LKnomad . Did you show interest, by the way? Did you visit any of the colleges, request interviews, attend college fairs, or sign up for emails? Did you contact any admissions reps for advice as an online student? Those colleges like interest.
Almost all colleges have a Common Data Set. Just google name of college, and CDS. Look at section C7. You will find all relevant details about statistics of admitted applicants, as well as a list of what criterai a college considers. For example, Reed considers both the interview and interest as Important. If you didn’t express interest or interview, that could well be why you didn’t get in. Reed considers the essay as Very Important, but talent is only Considered. Some categories, such as state of residence, are not considered at all. Every college prioritizes what is important to them.
Thanks for the advice! I did go to a traditional high school in my freshman year. I got 2 Bs first semester because I had a lot of trouble adjusting (I had just moved and didn’t know anyone, etc.), but second semester I got all As. Do you think that shows my ability to succeed in a traditional classroom?
I couldn’t visit several of the colleges I applied to due to them being out of state, but I did visit Carleton and Macalester. I also signed up for emails for every college I applied to and contacted the admissions counselors of a few to ask questions. I didn’t do any interviews due to the anxiety issue, but I would definitely do them when possible next time around.
Not visiting is okay, they understand that people can’t just hop on planes. You need to do interviews. It’s something you will have to do in life anyway. My daughter has always been very shy. She dreaded the thought of interviewing, but once she had done the first interview, she realized they weren’t anything to be afraid of. She ended up doing nine I think. It was good for her, even if she didn’t really like it. She got into some great schools.
You definitely have to find a way to cope with and manage your anxiety. You will have a very difficult time accomplishing things if you don’t. Ask your parents tonight to help you find a therapist and make an appointment asap. Good luck.
I have had a therapist for a few years, but I rarely see her. My parents and I are in the process of looking for a new one. I’ve also tried a few meds and am still trying to find one that works for me so I can relieve the anxiety a bit. I will be doing interviews if I end up applying to new schools. Thank you for all the help and advice you’ve given me.
This is a safe place to share your struggles and get advice from seasoned parents.
I encourage you to keep coming back to this thread in the coming months. So much wise counsel and encouragement.
I am glad you are pursuing help for your mental health. A strong mental health will be a great foundation for starting over during your Gap year. You obviously have the intelligence and work ethic needed to succeed in life. Once you have settled in with the right meds, the college application process might seem less daunting.
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At many/most of the schools that give large merit for stats, taking even one class after graduation and before applying would ruin their chances.
@newnightmare - I think that the suggestion of looking at the NACAC list is a very good one, and Whitman would be a great school for you. I’d also encourage you to look into the New College of Florida. It’s a public honors college with fewer than 1,000 students and they are still taking applications.
Other suggestions from that list might include Beloit, Elon, Goucher, Guilford, Hampshire and Juniata. Many of these, like Reed, Whitman, and the New College of Florida are on the Colleges that Change Lives website and are very good colleges. You also might want to reach out to some of the reps for schools on you list to get a sense as to why you might have been rejected. Was there something that raised a red flag? Was is yield protection? Did they think that you did not show enough interest? You don’t want to be in the same place this time next year, so it’s best to sort it out now and figure out how to make your application stronger or what strategies to employ next time.
I also would be happy to take a look at your essay if you want another opinion. (pm me - do NOT post it online. Ever.
If you really want to go to school in the fall as the title of you post implies, I’d consider some of these schools. Otherwise, make the best use of your gap year through volunteer work, travel, or a gap year program and try again with a well thought out list for next year.
I don’t recall your mentioning it – what is intended major?
Thank you for the suggestions!
I will most likely end up taking a gap year, and I’ll be spending time thinking of a better thought-out college list and will be sure to show interest in any way I can. Not sure if I can even do this, but I am considering contacting the schools I applied to and asking them if they can tell me why I was rejected. (As for the title of my post, I think it was somehow edited because I did not write that as my title? My title was simply “In need of help/advice”)
Also, I am interested in majoring in Classics or Chemistry, but I would love to double major if possible.
“I will most likely end up taking a gap year, and I’ll be spending time thinking of a better thought-out college list”
I think that this is a good plan. Also, this gives you some time to see if you can make progress on your anxiety issues. Depression and anxiety are very common, and seem to be more common among very smart students. Sometimes it takes several tries before the right medication and right dose can be found. Life is not a race and there is no hurry in terms of graduating four years from now versus graduating five years from now.
A gap year might also give you more time to visit schools while they are in session. One thing we have found over the past year is that high schools breaks are often at the same time as university breaks, so we did a fair amount of visiting while there were no students there – better than not visiting at all but not as good as visiting when there are students.
Best wishes. I expect that you will get this straightened out and do very well over time.
Not to harp on the prep school / boarding school point, but there are summer programs you may still be able to get into. This could be a way to show your readiness to go away to school, and get some recommendations from teachers who have worked with you in a classroom setting, before starting the application cycle in the fall. For example, since you are interested in Classics and Chemistry, the Upper School summer program at Exeter is still taking applications, accepts postgrads, and offers classes in Latin, Greek, Chemistry, among many other subjects. A strong recommendation from a classroom teacher in one of your areas of interest could help a lot, and success in a five-week program such as this could be a great confidence-builder. https://www.exeter.edu/exeter-summer/how-apply-exeter-summer
Hi, you asked about whether your old guidance counselor could write on your behalf. She knew you as a student in 9th grade and you have stayed in touch so I think it would not hurt to contact her and ask her what she thinks about that. Also your orchestra leader can write on your behalf, as he/she sees you with others.
My heart goes out to you, because I know how hard anxiety is to live with. I’m not sure whether you live in an area with lots of therapists to choose from, but if you do, see if you can find someone trained in CBT. You can google it, but it’s a form of therapy that has proven to be very affective in treating anxiety. Also, if possible incorporate physical activity into your life. Running and yoga are especially good and minimize symptoms of anxiety. In fact exercise has been known to change your brain chemistry for the better. I don’t know much about meditation personally, but I have known people who said that it changed their lives. I don’t know if it’s something you can find in your area or something you can teach yourself. Also, watch your sugar intake. Sugar influences your mood in a huge way. Finally, good meds can do wonders, so keep on looking until you find the right combination.
You received such thoughtful and helpful suggestions from my fellow parents. We are all here if you need someone to bounce ideas off of. If you want more suggestions for schools just ask. Whitman sounds great. If you want to be in the midwest you might like nurturing schools like Earlham and Beloit and College of Wooster. Maybe avoid schools with a big Greek life. Best of luck.
@newnightmare I personally don’t think that it would be enough. You spent your last 3 years online. But showing the ability to participate is not limited to a classroom setting. Anything that shows you can participate in group discussions and activities would help. If you plan to still apply or take a gap year, find a reference who can speak to you ability to work with others. The fact that this was specifically stated by two admission officers at two totally different schools (Reed and Claremont McKenna) without my asking about online students tells me this is important.
I would also recommend any class you can take - community education, even high school summer classes. I’d consider adult education (‘community education’) first since the students are, by definition, more mature than high school students and thus should be easier for you if you have anxiety.
There are lots of very reputable colleges that don’t require any letters of recommendation. The better ones among these tend to be large public universities. So, (1) calm down (2) do some research on which don’t require letters (3) get a job (4) re-apply for Fall 2018…your employer and previous teachers can write recommendations if u need them (5) learn a lesson from this. Good luck!
You are unlikely to get anywhere with asking why you were rejected. Colleges are not in the habit of answering those requests. And not trying to be harsh at all, but I think to most people here, it was probably a combination of factors that meant you only had one option. You probably had very neutral recs, though they might have seemed fine to you. You didn’t express enough interest (requesting interviews is one excellent way to do that.) Your app probably lacked something the colleges wanted to see, as @LKnomad hit on. No one knows what your essay said, but it’s very possible it wasn’t strong enough for the reach schools you applied to. And you probably applied to too many reaches and not enough matches or safeties. The reaches are the very ones most likely to weigh all the other factors.
There is probably a silver lining for you, though it isn’t obvious to you yet. I do think until you can manage your anxiety better, taking a gap year is probably best. But if you do feel that you would like to enroll for this fall, the suggestions in post 51 by @LovetheBard are great. And wow, what an opportunity to sneak into Whitman if they are still accepting apps. Not that they are guaranteed to accept you, but if they are and you feel able, jump on it. I also think Hampshire could be PERFECT for you, however it is all women. It is part of the Five college consortium in Massachusets and you could take clssses at the other highly regarded colleges there.