<p>planner03, there is a Missouri Synod Church a few blocks from USC in Los Angeles- food for thought?
[Grace</a> Lutheran Church-Mo Synod Los Angeles, CA, 90037 - YP.com](<a href=“Grace Lutheran Church-Mo Synod - Los Angeles, CA 90037”>Grace Lutheran Church-Mo Synod - Los Angeles, CA 90037)</p>
<p>OMG!!! </p>
<p>I got very derailed and sucked into reading the “We’re picking up the pieces, but what went wrong?” thread linked by ucbalumnus - who happens to know where andi’s S ended up??? I did some looking at her posts - maybe Hamilton because she made some posts directly to Hamilton threads in 2007, but it hadn’t been mentioned previously.</p>
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<p>lol, I mentioned USC to him, but he just can’t get beyond the distance…</p>
<p>Thank you all for the googling and the advice. I have been cross referencing churches from the LCMS site, but the provided links are more efficient.</p>
<p>We really need to see some of these colleges, but when and how I’m not sure.</p>
<p>Andison ended up at MIT, a college he hadn’t applied to the first time around. I’m not sure his second list had any real safeties either. However he was basically a bright well rounded white kid with no hooks. He’s a cautionary tale, but I’m not convinced he’s really relevant - except to the extent everyone should have a safety unless you are fine with a gap year.</p>
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<p>URM status won’t turn a non-safety into a safety.</p>
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<p>That is precisely why he is relevant – every college applicant should have a safety*. But he got lucky the second time, since his second application list did not have any safeties either (the less selective schools on the second list were “level of applicant’s interest” schools).</p>
<p>*If the safety is an open admission community college, or a guaranteed admission and affordable school with a late deadline, then it may not be necessary to apply to it in the first round. But such a safety has to be planned for in advance, rather than being something one only looks for after being shut out.</p>
<p>URM status almost certainly makes some schools safer than they might be for a white kid. Just like women get into RPI more easily, or my younger son got into Vassar while a young woman with his stats might not have. The trouble is that the stats aren’t generally published so one rarely knows how much of a bump to give oneself. I never felt that the safety had to be one with guaranteed admissions - we had access to Naviance at our school and it was very obvious for both kids that many schools were definitely safeties even if they say they look at “applicant interest” and the like. BTW Syracuse was going to be a safety for my younger kid. He was a B+/A- student, though in the top 10% of his class. Great verbal score but math was 690. I think OP’s son is a shoe-in based on his stats. Since said son got into a school he liked better EA he never ended up applying to Syracuse, but the people I know who attended liked it very much.</p>
<p>When did RPI get so expensive, it was the second lowest in tuition (of the schools he applied to) when my oldest applied!</p>
<p>So the suggested list at this point:
Cornell, Harvard, Yale, Brown
MIT, Tufts
Stanford, USC
University of Maryland, College Park
St. Olaf, University of Minnesota
University of Chicago
University of Rochester, Syracuse University, RPI, SUNY Binghamton</p>
<p>No one likes Penn State? How about Dartmouth?</p>
<p>My problem with Penn State is its size, football culture (I realize a serious plus for many) and its reputation as a party school. (Note Syracuse is in this year’s list of top ten party schools too.) My best friends two kids are both at Dartmouth and love it. My impression from the rest of your son’s list is that he wouldn’t be happy at a school in a small town in northern New Hampshire. It’s great if you like winter sports and many people like its smaller size. The Dartmouth plan (you have to do one summer on campus) could be considered a plus or minus.</p>
<p>With his SAT scores, I’d hold off on a list until you see how he did on the PSAT, I think results come out in about a month. National Achievement is almost a certainty unless he had a very off day and National Merit is a real possibility, both of which would significantly expand the merit money available and would change the financial side of the equation. When combined with his grades and other stats, he could write his own ticket to many of the colleges that offer merit aid. Not many of the tippy tops do, but a lot of the next level would be happy to offer your son some significant assistance. I don’t know if this is a huge consideration, but money is money and what you don’t spend now is money for graduate school or a down payment on a house or even early retirement for you.</p>
<p>S thinks he likes Dartmouth, but I agree with you mathmom; I don’t think it is a good option. </p>
<p>He has been to Penn State for a weather camp, and overall he liked the campus and the town. He found the school spirit to be over the top, and then there is the party culture, but I think the real reason he is not seriously considering it is because he thinks he can do “better”. I just keep going back to the strength and breadth of their program and think that for his intended major it is a solid choice.</p>
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<p>WHY must the process take so long? I just hope that when his score comes in it is decisive one way or the other.</p>
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<p>Dartmouth’s D-plan also means that students should not expect to have four fall quarters on campus. It likely exists as a load-balancing tool – fall is usually the most heavily enrolled quarter (consider students who graduate early or late), while summer has the lightest enrollment. So getting some students out of the fall quarter and into the summer quarter allows the school to avoid overflowing its capacity in the fall while using otherwise-unused capacity in the summer.</p>
<p>Some other schools load-balance by offering spring-start admission to some of the students who applied for the fall semester. Examples include USC and Maryland from the list above.</p>
<p>Is there a Lutheran church right in the tiny, isolated town of Hanover?[ where Dartmouth is located]? If not, and if your DS is NOT into the idea of joining a Frat and drinking each weekend, I’d write Dartmouth off the list.
DS visited during accepted students weekend and was turned off by the overwhelming frat student culture. He also would have wanted to have a car if he had gone there, but we realized that there was no place to park one if he didnt live in a Frat House. YMMV.</p>
<p>"but he just can’t get beyond the distance… "
well its just as far to USC as it is to Stanford…</p>
<p>glad to see its still on the list.
make SURE he completes his application to USC no later than DEC 1, so he can be considered for the numerous scholarships they offer.[ applying early will NOT prevent him from applying early to other colleges, if he chooses to, since an early application there is required for scholarship eligibility] And be a SURE he states Geology as his desired major, as that can be a tip at a school like USC which DOES distribute their top scholarships across different colleges. [He can change his major later if he finds another subject that captures his attention] The Geology dept does NOT have nearly as many applicants who declare Geology to be their intended major, unlike the Engineering School, Business School, Music School, Cinematic School, etc, etc.
DS was the first declared Geology major to win a Trustee scholarship, and because he knew what he wanted to study from the get go, was able to plan out his required classes early and work in both music and physics minors.
Most Geology grads make the decision to major in that area after they have discover their interest from taking some courses.</p>
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<p>I just consolidated a list of every suggestion that had been made to me so far-it is not a list HE is necessarily on board with. He shot down USC immediately because of the distance, and he said Stanford isn’t a consideration either. Same response to MN, St. Olaf and UC.
I’m not sure why…I do have concerns about the cost of airfare and shipping baggage and missing parent’s weekend perhaps, but even if he was only 2 hours away I wouldn’t expect him to come home except for Thanksgiving, semester break, and spring break so I really don’t understand why it matters if it is 2 hours or across the country…maybe it is just the thought the he “could” come home, or that we “could” visit. Frankly I would like for him to experience a different part of the country, plus the opportunities just aren’t here post graduation.
You are a great advocate for the school and I will keep on him to take a close look.</p>
<p>As for Dartmouth, I looked it up a while back and am pretty sure there was a church. He is attracted to small town USA but I think it is too secluded and too small. And then there are the frat/drinking/depravity allegations…I have no words for that mess.</p>
<p>I would be careful about discarding possibilities so easily. For instance, Hanover NH is a great town and Dartmouth has many sides, not just what makes the news. I don’t have any kids there but I have spent time in that area and love it, personallly :)</p>
<p>[Frequently</a> Asked Questions](<a href=“Home | Office of Residential Life”>Home | Office of Residential Life) says that “Around 50% of all undergraduate students are members of Greek Letter organizations.” This is a relatively high percentage.</p>
<p>USNWR lists the percentage of male students in fraternities at 48% (10th highest overall) at [10</a> Colleges With the Most Students in Fraternities - US News and World Report](<a href=“http://www.usnews.com/education/best-colleges/the-short-list-college/articles/2012/12/04/10-colleges-with-the-most-students-in-fraternities]10”>http://www.usnews.com/education/best-colleges/the-short-list-college/articles/2012/12/04/10-colleges-with-the-most-students-in-fraternities) .</p>
<p>If I recall correctly, you were thinking your son might like a liberal arts school. My son is at RPI, and I usually highly recommend it, but it is definitely not a liberal arts school. They take engineering and science very seriously, and it seems like they are doing well with their business school, but their liberal arts courses are pretty lacking.
UMD, on the other hand, especially if he gets into the honors program, might be a great fit. I know several people who turned down highly ranked schools, including MIT, to go to UMD. (unfortunately, my son wasn’t one of them - he wanted to go AWAY from home).</p>
<p>compmom,
As I said, he is interested in Dartmouth, and since “we” are not going to college, he will make the final decisions as to where he applies. We live in a small city surrounded by small, rural communities, and I would like him to experience a more urban environment during college, thus my opinion that Hanover is too small and isolated. As for the social scene, I can only go by what the general consensus seems to be, and although that might be great for many, I don’t think it is right for him.</p>