<p>First I would like to say thanks to all the parents on this forum who willingly
help other parents as well as students. With that said, I am hoping you can
help D and I in our initial broad search of schools that may work for her.
Things to know
Current Senior
GPA 3.8ish uw 4.1 w
mostly honors classes up until this year (sr yr 2 Aps, Calc and English)
5 years math, 4 english, 4 science (not because she likes math and science but because she had to compress her schedule and focussed on core classes)
no foreign language do to a change of schools and scheduling.
So far only ACT - 28 (34 reading) is retaking this month hoping for at least 30
one EC - Nationally ranked athlete in an Olympic but non-college sport.
Traveled to over 7 countries representing the US at competitions.</p>
<p>Now just starting to think of college and is pretty certain she wants either an
urban or suburban college in either Boston, Chicago or New York. She will enroll as undecided.
Just thinking in a broad sense right now of the following.</p>
<p>Boston
Tufts- Reach
Boston College - Match?
Northeastern - Safety?</p>
<p>New York
Columbia or Barnard - Reach
Need more for New York
University of Rochester - not NY we know but interested</p>
<p>Financial aid will play a major roll in selection.
All will be OOS
D is really hoping not to attend school in her home state. Of course she
will apply to a couple of schools instate as back ups.</p>
<p>Would really appreciate any comments on the current list and also suggestions of schools to add.</p>
<p>D sounds like a strong applicant, but she will need to explain the lack of foreign language as most colleges list it as a "requirement" in high school. The nationally ranked athlete (even in a non-college sport) will be a nice hook. </p>
<p>Where do you live? It might help for the northeastern schools if you are from another area of the country (but not California - it's the 4th most popular state at BC).</p>
<p>For the Boston Schools, Tufts is probably a reach/match, as is BC. Be careful considering Northeastern as a safety. Their admit rate was a shockingly low 33% last year, they are a really "hot" school right now (15 years ago their admit rate was 80%). BC's admit rate was around 25%.</p>
<p>I think you're right in assuming that Tufts and Northwestern are her reaches. </p>
<p>She should re-take the ACT and try to get a 30, at the least. Has she tried the SAT? Sometimes kids who do okay on one do very well on the other.</p>
<p>In NY, consider Fordham.
In Boston, think about Brandeis.</p>
<p>Did she have to compress her schedule because of the Olympic sport? That might be a good enough excuse for the lack of language. Did she ever take a language?</p>
<p>thanks everyone
o.k. more information
Freshman and sophmore years, rural school in MI 175 or so in her class.
School was not her focus so not real rigorous H English 9 & 10, College Prep
Alg. I, II & Geometry, American History, H Biology and Anatomy and physiology plus required electives in PE, Health and Social Studies.
Junior year and now Sr. year large public in a suburb of Chicago. (lives with host family so primary residence is still MI) She was really surprised when she tested into the school that they placed her in all honors classes Trig, Chemistry, H English 11, H Media, H American Legal Systems plus P.E.
Sr. year, AP Calc, AP English, H Physics, H Russian History, H Political Science, H Philosphy.
Yes she has a compressed schedule due to training and just couldn't work the foreign language in. She has been self studying Russian (Rosetta Stone) for the past year and feels she is making progress with that.
As of the end of her Jr. year she was ranked 150ish out of 788. I was
told that they don't factor in her first two years of school since the
grading is different from school to school. Hope this helps</p>
<p>I suggest an on line language course from a reputable college. If her athletics schedule prevents attendance, she could still have grades on material. If she has truly made progress in Russian, would be the one to consider, but something more accessible, like Spanish, would be a good idea too.</p>
<p>Barnard, in particular, cares about languages, though of course her athletics success make her very attractive. Barnard has very intense academics and very intense distribution requirements.</p>
<p>If you could tell us more about her interests I could be more helpful. I think Boston has more of the colleges you are looking for.</p>
<p>If money will play a major role, you need to have a couple of financial safeties that your daughter is happy to attend (I'm assuming she doesn't want state U, as you said). Everyone's case is different, but in general I was shocked at how much colleges expect you to pay. Our EFC (FAFSA) was about $15,000, but a couple of colleges, including the University of Rochester, expected us to pay $25,000 a year. The other financial aid was loans. I personally don't count loans as fin aid.</p>
<p>I would recommend reading all you can on these boards about merit aid. Several of the parents are quite knowledgeable (such as Curmudgeon) and are very generous in sharing information. Your daughter may have to expand her parameters in order to find a school that the family can afford. There are many strategies that might be appropriate for you to consider, such as considering a school in the second or third tier. If you need merit aid, you have to cast a wide net. Some of the schools already named (such as NYU) are known NOT to give good financial aid. Of course the goal is to make sure your daughter has some affordable options when April rolls around. </p>
<p>Also, Boston College is one of those schools that is harder to get into than you would think because it's very popular. I think the location has a lot to do with it. So I don't know if I would consider it a match. Maybe other parents will have had direct experience with BC. Best of luck!</p>
<p>My D had similar requirements for college (urban, Chicago/NY/Boston) and similar stats (slightly lower GPA and slightly higher ACT) but no Olympic-caliber ECs! We've visited and researched most of the places on your lsit.</p>
<p>I think you're spot on for most of your safety/match/reach categories, but listen to LurkNess and LafAlum: Northeastern would be more of a match and BC more of a reach. DePaul sounds like a safety; Loyola Chicago placed a lot of emphasis on languages during our info session, but if you could explain the lack of such, your D could get merit money (they start giving it with a 3.5 UW GPA and a 27 ACT.) Stats for Loyola were slightly higher than those for DePaul. Plus, in the info session, DePaul stated outright that they don't really consider class rank in admissions "unless it helps."</p>
<p>What kind of campus atmosphere does she want? We found a big difference among these schools and even among the different Catholic universities. </p>
<p>Just a note: If you're using Loyola as a safety/match, they're rolling admissions and they're reading applications now. The earlier you apply, the better the chance for merit money.</p>
<p>Also in Boston - did you consider BU or Emerson? The latter may be too specialized for someone who's undecided, though.</p>
<p>Oh, and weenie is also spot on - make sure your D is interested in Northeastern's 5-year coop program! It's a good school and a great program, but it's definitely not for everyone...</p>
<p>Since she has been really busy with training and such, I have done most
of the research. Can't say that it's has been exhaustive but somewhat
substantial. NYU is not on the list precisely because of poor financial aid and
Northeastern is on the list because of the LAMP program for undecided majors. I do know that Northeastern is a co-op school and I see that as a plus but we will talk about that and hopefully visit this fall. Of course like everyone else she is hoping to get into a great school with good aid but we
are also realistic that she may end up at a CC for a couple of years and then transfer into a dream school. But we have to start somewhere and I thank you all for the input. I've also started searching for outside scholarships thanks to CC.</p>
<p>My niece got into Brown w/ $ because she was an internationally-ranked ice dancer! (Providence is not Boston but is close/urban). She didn't meet every requirement of theirs because she attended h.s. part time and practiced six hours every day, but I think they liked her focus. The right EC counts for a lot, so go for it!
P.S. Lost her partner just before freshman year and never skated again, immersed herself into college life instead and did well with that same drive and determination.</p>
<p>If she is going to be continuing this sport, you might want to look at schools that have less rigid core requirements. Does she want campus or center of city?</p>
<p>If merit aid is an important factor, she is going to have to look down a ways on the prestige scale IMHO. After all, merit aid is popularly perceived to go to kids who are in the upper part of the applicant pool.</p>
<p>This may lead to some compromises. For example, my cousin's kid, a HS football player with a good but not stellar HS record, received generous merit aid from Illinois Wesleyan and Knox college. And he was not recruited for football.</p>
<p>So she might want to consider schools with less of a national name.</p>
<blockquote>
<p>I think BU would also be a good match and i think it gives out a lot of good merit aid.>></p>
</blockquote>
<br>
<p>I'm not sure I agree with this. First, BU requires two years of foreign language study in hs, and recommends three or four. You would have to have a VERY good reason for not having met that requirement. Also, BU does have some merit aid, but most of the scholarships do not come close to meeting the cost of the tuition at BU. There are some highly competitive scholarships (MLK, Presidential, Trustee) that require separate applications. I'm not sure this student's stats would support one of these awards...but you could try. </p>
<p>Not related to BU...but a question...will this student be continuing this non-college sport while in college? Will it be possible to do the training and such with a college schedule? Would the student consider other urban areas because if so, I would suggest Pittsburgh and schools in the DC area.</p>
<p>thumper1: We think the same. I was about to suggest DC. American and GW seem in the right ballpark and even though its sticker price is shocking, GW gives a lot of aid. Washington is more reasonable to begin with.</p>
<p>Olympic hopeful I knew went to Elmira to keep training. Obviously, not a city.</p>
<p>SUNY Buffalo and SUNY Albany might be better than CC.</p>
<p>CUNY (City University of NY), in this case Hunter, might be a possibility. Tuition is extremely reasonable.</p>
<p>If ACT goes up, Wellesley is right outside Boston and might be intrigued by sports background.</p>