Help - Quirky kid

Parents Forum
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<p>Next year our 3rd son will be applying to colleges. We're middle-class, so substantial need-based aid will be non-existent. We're in Florida, and he'll have 100% Bright Futures. I'm guessing that his SAT M/V will be 1450-1500 range. Weighted GPA will be around 4.25 (on a A=4.0 scale)</p>

<p>This is our different-drummer kid. Actually, I've always said he doesn't march to the beat of a different drum; he strolls to the tune of his own lute. He's one of the funniest people I know. He excels at math. He wrestles. He speaks French pretty well. He currently has no idea of what he wants to major in. He actually would like to make a career out of being funny, and he may have the talent to do it, somehow.</p>

<p>All this doesn't translate well in the traditional college searches. I'm open to suggestions of where to look. If we go private, it will have to be a school that would provide a whopping big merit-based scholarship.</p>

<p>Any ideas?</p>

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<p>What about the New College of Florida for a financial safety? He sounds like he's a good candidate for Grinnell--unlike some of the other top LACs they offer merit aid. </p>

<p>I think there are several threads devoted to "schools generous with merit aid" around..pull them up and make a list of the liberal arts colleges. Extra points for ones who have more than 60% female enrollment--your son will have an edge as schools want to achieve gender balance.</p>

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<p>Has he taken the PSAT or Plan? What do they predict? Does your school rank? If so, what rank? Are his EC's as quirky and fun as he is? Does he have community service ? Does he shine in interviews and essays and would he do well in scholarship panel discussions, roundtables, things like that? And can he pull it off extemporaneously? Does his school rank? Where is he ranked? Will the GC check the "the most challenging schedule " box?</p>

<p>Those will give me a better feel about his competitiveness for the big money private school merit awards. </p>

<p>Remember it's going to take a bit to defeat UF Honors and New College of Florida.</p>

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<p>Yes, New College will definitely be on his list, as well as some other public universities in Florida. Your info about Grinnell and applying to LAC's with higher female percentages is exactly the kind of advice/info I'm looking for.</p>

<p>We'll be going to the National College Fair in Tampa early next spring. We've always gotten good info there before. My older two were far more "typical" in terms of direction and abilities, I think, and they are both extremely happy in their colleges. I'd love to find a great fit that we can afford for my baby.</p>

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<p>You should find bethievt and PM her--her son was interested in LACs and she knows a lot about them. He's at Grinnell.</p>

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<p>-Has he taken the PSAT or Plan?
He just took the PSAT. We'll get the scores in Dec.
-Does your school rank? yes, but I don't know where he ranks yet. It's a magnet, with 100% college bound, so hopefully the colleges understand that when they see his rank.
-Are his EC's as quirky and fun as he is?
Well, he'll be an Eagle Scout before he applies, and along with wrestling, French Club, French Honor Society and Academic Team he films and teleprompts for the school's TV show that airs every Saturday on our local Fox affiliate. He'll audition to anchor next year.
-Does he have community service ? Yes - volunteering at our local elementary school's science camp, along with all the Scouting activities</p>

<p>-Does he shine in interviews and essays and would he do well in scholarship panel discussions, roundtables, things like that? Essays - not so sure. I think he would come off well in roundtable discussions and interviews, as long as the interviewee "gets" him, if you know what I mean.
-And he pull it off extemporaneously? Yes.
-Doe shis school rank? Yes, but it's a magnet. Not sure of his rank... I'll check.
-Will the GC check the "the most challenging schedule " box? Yes. 4 AP courses (AP Calc AB, AP Computer AB, AP English, AP US History) this year, 5 (AP Calc BC, AP Statistics, AP Physics, AP Literature, and AP Psychology or Econ) next year.</p>

<p>Those will give me a better feel about his competitiveness for the big money private awards.</p>

<p>-Remember it's going to take a bit to defeat UF Honors and New College of Florida.<br>
I know!</p>

<p>THANKS!!!!</p>

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<p>I like to say that my son marches to a different oboe--and he definitely found the rest of his marching band at Grinnell. He is getting a good-sized merit scholarship from them. Other wonderfully quirky schools where he was offered good merit $$ were Goucher, Lewis & Clark and Oberlin. How whoppingly big would the merit scholarship have to be? Oh, another quirky, affordable option is Evergreen State. If you want his stats I'd be happy to send them by pm.</p>

<p>Haha I cross-posted with Mombot.</p>

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<p>


Yep. I'll second this one, too.</p>

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<p>A word of caution about Evergreen: Two of DD's very good friends went there. One left after a month; one is leaving at the end of the term. One had a seriously crazy roommate, both girls said they could not see how Evergreen would help them achieve their goals.</p>

<p>Be very, very careful and make sure you do your research before sending any 18 year old to that school. Their retention and graduation rates are very, very low. JMO but I think it is a very rare 18 year old who has the perspective and life experience to thrive in Evergreen's VERY different environment.</p>

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<p>Well, we'll have three in college, and retirement looming for DH, and 100% tuition and books at a Florida public. Realistically the merit aid would need to be nearly 100% of tuition (especially since room and board at a private tends to be pricey too) to keep a school in the running.</p>

<p>Of course, if we find a dream of a school that simply shouts that it is the ONE PLACE that will make DS#3 reach his potential, we'll probably do what we have to do to make it happen. Sigh.</p>

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<p>In our experience mom2three, room and board is more a function of local cost of living. UC's had the highest that we saw; rural schools, or schools in depressed communities, were not as bad. The differences were pretty minor anyway. </p>

<p>Also don't forget your EFC is based on your ability to fund education, not fund per child, so with three in college you may be eligible for need based aid that you would not receive if you only had two in college. When I ran the numbers a couple of years ago I realized we might actually qualify for need based aid the year #3 starts, as we will have three in college.</p>

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<p>Keep your research going, and I hope you find merit awards to cover some or all tuitions in worthy schools for a worthy boy.</p>

<p>I'd also be thinking about how many sacrifices you and H can make at your lifestage. It's one thing if that means "no more vacations"; quite another if your considering another mortgage, selling your home, and more.</p>

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<p>Ha! I saw bethie's post...your son has fabulous stats mom2three and I second bethie's recommendation of Lewis & Clark. Portland is a fantastic community for the quirky. L&C is a great school--it is far more laid back than its crosstown rival Reed, which does not award merit aid. </p>

<p>You might also look at Kenyon (not sure about merit aid there).</p>

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<p>No full-tuition awards at Grinnell or Kenyon ( last time I checked). Edit: I checked again.;)</p>

<p>Types</a> of Financial Aid - Scholarships</p>

<p>Kenyon</a> College - Academic Scholarships</p>

<p>Both truly excellent schools but........</p>

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<p>Just remembered that my first CC post also said "help," with the title "quirky kid"</p>

<p>Oberlin appreciates humor and a unique view of the world; they give merit and need-based aid. They have many constituencies they want to attract. As one of the few places that includes need-based aid for internationals, they do try to spread their resources to attract many kinds of students. Ishmael Beah is a recent graduate, and as a child soldier in a Third World country, I assume he took some of their need-based aid. So my advice there would be to research the school extremely well and write a meaningful "Why Oberlin?" essay, because that is extremely important there. They need students who understand and would be happy at their school, hindered by its location but nothing else. </p>

<p>PM BethieVt for her S's list of schools, too. Her kid is thriving at Grinnell.</p>

<p>Amherst and Wesleyan have recently dropped student loans from their scene, and I think PRinceton did a while ago, but if they only assign need-based aid then I don't think that will help your situation. </p>

<p>Use the searchword "middle class" on CC Parents forum. There were some older threads exploring this topic last Spring.</p>

<p>I have a feeling you're going to end up squeezing in from several directions. Your S might expand his appreciation for many kinds of schools where his gifts could be nourished. You might have to decide which financial sacrifices are still possible with so many others in college and your H near retirement. (Second job for mom or is that already happening...you don't have to answer). </p>

<p>Also explore his talents; I don't know much about merit aid but can he be on a wrestling team? Although nobody will pay him for being funny and there's no Seinfeld U (yet), his humor could be something that helps his academics stand out and he's not a "drone," I'm thinking if he could market his academic skill through the lens of a powerful, critical, humorous persona, they might enjoy having him as a student so the merit might go his way if weighed nose-to-nose with someone of identical statistics. </p>

<p>Encourage him to find teachers whose LOR's can interpret his humor as an academic asset. For those who understand, it truly is. He might be able to tell you which of his teachers seem to be able to work with his humor in the classroom.</p>

<p>He sounds delightful and I wish you every good luck.</p>

<p>EDIT: check out Carolyn's outstanding website, AdmissionsAdvice.com
A good article at this moment for you might be "building a list from the bottom up"
because once you have your academic and financial safeties in mind, you will feel more comforable considering the match and dream/reach schools.</p>

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<p>Maybe he should find a college with a good standup comedy club nearby!</p>

<p>The following is from IMDB about Brad Garrett who plays 'Robert Barone' on 'Everybody Loves Raymond" -

[quote]
Standing 6 feet 8-1/2 inches tall, Garrett grew up in Woodland Hills outside of Los Angeles. His father was a hearing aid specialist working in geriatrics and his mother was a housewife. Garrett spent a whopping six weeks at UCLA before going into stand-up comedy full time. He began performing his act at various Los Angeles comedy clubs, getting his start at the Ice House in Pasadena and the Improv in Hollywood. In 1984, he became the first $100,000 grand champion winner in the comedy category of "Star Search" (1983)...

[/quote]

Brad</a> Garrett (I) - Biography</p>

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<p>Ok, since he will be applying to UF, which is a big U, you may want to look at USC[ Southern California], particularily if his PSAT's are high enough to insure he will be a National Merit Semi Finalist. USC offers 1/2 tuition scholarships automatically to NMF's, and the opportunity to earn a full tuition scholarship with an interview. In addition, USC has very generous financial aid, so with 3 in college your costs could be very low. My son, a college sophomore this year, sounds very much like your son. Initially he was going to apply to LAC's only, but as he did more research he realized that U's, in many cases, offered him more opportunities for advanced studies and research opportunities in his particular area of interest than LAC's.
You have gotten great advice from others veteran parents posting on this thread as well.</p>

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<p>Vassar is a great place for a quirky (and funny) kid, but they do not offer merit aid. With three in school, however, you may qualify for a very nice financial aid package; we have found them to be quite generous.</p>

<p>Have you run your financial aid numbers? Try an online calculator, you may be pleasantly surprised. (Note: Once the other two are out of school, the numbers will change.)</p>

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<p>The winner of last years' "Last Comic Standing" was a graduate of Evergreen State College in WA. He was VERY funny without resorting to gross-out things:</p>

<p>Search</a> Results | Seattle Times Newspaper</p>

<p>Not sure if ESC would be a good place for your son, but my point is that "being funny" can lead to a great career.</p>