Then you should be fine. Now if it was an end of sem paper…then…
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It could only come up in the - tell us about a time you faced adversity. I think that’s U Miami’s question - if I remember my daughter. Not saying you should do it - but I can see it as a positive. I think a lot of the “specific” additional questions - many kids bs their way through as they don’t have experiences. Something like this would come off as authentic and truthful…if they even read these. I am neighbors with a Vandy prof on an admissions committee who said very few essays are read - the schools say otherwise - but I think she means, there’s just certain kids by the #s they can eliminate.
I would say U Miami is a target/safety for you - like in between - and you would get a $25K merit if it were this year.
Not a cheap school though - at full pay that still puts you over $50K.
My daughter turned it down - as well as W&L, American, UF, UGA for her best fit…and as it turns out after the fact…more $$ came after enrollment…but as it turns out…her cheapest school. College of Charleston. It’s ranked 16th of the 17th admits she has (only U Tampa lower).
So don’t assume you have to go to a top school.
My son goes to Alabama - and the quality of the top quartile of students will blow you away.
Why do they go??
$$$$ - very aggressive as is S Carolina, Arizona, Florida State, and others.
I think you need to not worry about your GC. I don’t think they write a recommendation…it’s more a school profile…how many APs are offered and other stuff.
I think you’re fine - and you need to move forward. If you apply to the write basket of schools, you will have many admittances and if aid is desired, many scholarships.
Not to worry - IF you apply to the right basket of schools.
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thanks for this advice
Honestly I get where you are going with this whole “you dont need to go to a top school”. Sometimes I have moments where im like “oh ye it doesnt matter since the education is basically the same everywhere” but sometimes I think about the prestige and connections some school offer especially for finance/business.
The education is not the same everywhere. In our experience, top schools have a much harder work load, for one thing. Another thing to think about is that some top schools have star lecturers with grad students teaching discussion sections and doing the grading, versus, say, LAC’s with professors who do all the teaching. Don’t go by prestige: find the best fit for yourself.
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Thanks for the input. How do I find a good fit for myself? I want some school with prestige that is in a warm area and has a decent social life.
You could try for some of the UC schools. Maybe San Diego, Santa Barbara, Davis, and maybe, for a reach Los Angeles…
Could you tell us what your intended major is?
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- it it’s your only offense then you’re fine. Don’t discuss it anywhere. It’s not on your transcript and you basically got a warning.
- if you do it again, consequences will be more severe, being closer to application time, being a re-offense, and you being older/hopefully more mature, and then college are likely to be appraised of it by your GC. So, don’t be stupid.
- prestige is over-rated because what’s prestigious to a HS student may not be prestigious to the neighbor down the street may not be prestigious to a recruiter or a grad school… As a result, look for a university or college with decent offerings in your major that your family can afford and that you can see yourself attending.
- buy “princeton review’s best colleges” and find at least 10 colleges you’ve never heard of. The colleges in this book represent the top 10% colleges in the country so all are good academically.
For these 10 colleges, run the Net Price Calculator (NPC, just look up “Z College NPC”) and see with your family what’s affordable from current income and savings (WITHOUT loans).
5° Run the NPC on your state universities (flagships, local…)
6° Nearly all residential colleges will have a decent social life: put together hundreds or thousands of young adults, you can be sure there’ll be social opportunities, fun, entertainment, of all sorts.
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Thanks bro I will take this advice seriously and really look into the book. Appreciate it for real
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Prestige is an understandable criterion but honestly is the opposite of what I mean by “fit.” For prestige you can certainly look at “little Ivies” (google that). Think about schools like Davison, Emory Pomona, Elon, and many others that may be good options (thinking about weather here as well as reputation.)
Finances are important to consider before anything else.
The Colleges that Change Lives website is a good resource. And of course those big college review books like Princeton Review as suggested above.
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Thanks for giving me hope for the UCs! I am trying to do something like finance or business. I heard LA and Berkeley have really good programs for that. I also heard social life and San Diego is not good though
thanks for this input. I will look into these resources
If you want San Diego and social life => SDSU 
Problem solved!
UCD is very residential and thus has “student life”.
If you’re looking into top UCs, Chico Honors would be a safety and is pretty social.
If you are in CA, UC’s are a great option. Not sure what you have heard about UCSD social life. If you want to do busijness, UC’s or state colleges might be a good choice.
USC, Pomona, Pitzer, Lewis and Clark, are on the West Coast. But many LAC’s don’t have business.
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U Puget Sound has an excellent Business school, is on the West Coast, and is pretty “social”.
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Oh funny I had that on my list and then lost it in an edit. Good addition!
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“To all admits: if you want a traditional college experience, don’t go to UCSD. We don’t rally around sports games, greek life doesn’t have houses (so not many parties other than kickbacks), and many people here are too academically focused to randomly hang out. Most of the “traditions” tour guides tell you about are really only celebrated by freshmen.”
Found this on reddit about UCSD
Well, it does mean freshmen do celebrate traditions and do have fun… it just doesn’t necessarily apply for upperclass students. But then again, juniors and seniors who aren’t focused on their goals shouldn’t be in college.
But yes as I mentioned SDSU is more fun than UCSD (also, nicer campus IMHO). If you’re considering top UCs, SDSU (+Honors at least the 1st year) should be a no brainer.
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ill look into it
What are your stats?
(I’m assuming you’re in CA).
Run the NPC on all the colleges listed on this thread and show the results to your parents: what’s affordable for them out of pocket, from current income and savings?