He has 8 schools right now, I’d like him to add 2 more, preferably not reaches. We’re looking for very generous merit aid (although the NPC’s for FA at many schools have been generous too. We’ll have three kids in college for the next couple of years.And then the older two will be in graduate school, not sure if that counts.)
He wants to eventually go to grad school to study genetics, right now he’s looking at Biology or Chemical engineering for his undergrad.
He has a 3.87 GPA, 35 ACT and several school leadership/state level competition EC’s ,nothing earth shattering, but solid enough.
His current list, in no particular order, except the first two are his safeties:
University of Alabama Huntsville (accepted with full tuition scholarship)
University of Alabama (applied for Chemical engineering dept, so will get full tuition plus $2500)
Vanderbilt
Stanford
Duke
Emory
Yale
Cornell
I was thinking maybe Clemson (they have a genetics undergrad degree, but not sure if it’s a good idea to specialize this early on).
Homestate TN, no preference as to geography urban/rural etc. Doesn’t want a school that’s “too small” (whatever that means ) because he thinks there may a lack of opportunities for research etc.
Yeah, I realize it’s safeties and reaches, although I think Emory’s probably a match (at least according to his guidance counselor). It’s been difficult to come up with actual matches, technically with his stats most schools seem to be matches , at least on paper.
I really liked Rhodes when we talked to them at a college fair (son did too), but for some reason he’s decided it’s not for him. He didn’t particularly care for Atlanta when he visited there on a class trip, so it took some convincing to get Emory on his list. He’s a very mellow and easy going young man and will adapt wherever he ends up, but I personally think he’s a Southern boy at heart LOL.
If Wake Forest is in the running, contact them now about getting an interview.
What about Tulane? If it’s an option, check to make sure he hasn’t missed the deadline to apply for scholarships. (I don’t think he has, but I’d check.) Also, he will need to show that he’s truly interested, as they will waitlist kids if they think they are being used as a safety.
Why do you need more schools? He’s already been accepted to two with large scholarships. Is he not completely happy with them or is there something missing that he’s still looking for? 8 is a reasonable number to apply to. My D is only applying to 7. It seems like you think that something is lacking in his current list, but I’m not sure what. It would help to know why you are still looking and what specifically you want.
He’s definitely happy with his safeties, if those are the only schools he’ll get into he’d have a hard time choosing. They both have pros and cons. But, as I mentioned, since we’re looking for merit aid, I was told to “cast a wide net”. A good friend went through this process last year and was able to negotiate larger scholarships because her child had been accepted to several schools.
We’ve agreed that 10 would be a good (albeit admittedly arbitrary) number of schools to be able to manage the applications for.
My kid (with slightly lower stats than yours…but with a good “back story”) received good aid from Boston Universtiy, UMass, Northeastern, and Rhodes. She received zero from Vanderbilt and zero from UNC Chapel Hill.
Rice and Georgia Tech, although he did not embrace Atlanta.
He would be eligible to try for full scholarship at Trinity U in San Antonio, too. Very strong in Chemistry and Biology, and have undergrad general engineering. Might be too small?
A couple of places come to mind, in addition to the ones listed above by @mommdc:
Miami University in Oxford, Ohio (they have a honors program, plus a college of engineering, and fairly generous merit aid for OOS students). The University of Cincinnati, which has a well-regarded college of engineering, a university honors program, and good merit aid for students with your son’s qualifications. The University of Tulsa also has a good college of engineering, and is fairly decent with merit aid for OOS students. Clemson (which you mentioned) would also be a good choice, both for engineering and general biology/science.
Trinity University in San Antonio, Texas has both liberal arts as well as a general engineering department; and similarly Lafayette College in Easton, Pennsylvania.
If your son wishes to do the science (but not engineering) route, there is Sewanee – The University of the South in Sewanee, Tennessee; Furman University, in Greenville, South Carolina; and Truman State University in Kirksville, Missouri, which is a public liberal arts and sciences university.
I don’t know whether there are application deadlines to be considered for merit aid at the above schools; that is something to look into on a school-by-school basis.
If you are a Tennessee resident, what about the University of Tennessee - Knoxville, which has an honors program, as well as strengths in both engineering and sciences? Granted, it would be another safety school.
Thanks for all the suggestions! I really appreciate the help.And we DO realize that Stanford, Yale etc are super reaches. Not holding our breath that he gets accepted there, but if he doesn’t apply in the first place, his chances of getting in would be 0% (instead of the 0.1% they are now LOL).
I would look at Gettysburg. On a side note I am concerned by the way you asked your question. You said that YOU would like to have him add two schools. The college search process has to be driven by your son. I don’t know you or your son and I am not accusing you of anything but parents who try to take control of their kids college choice never ends well. On the other hand it is certainly your right and responsibility to step in if you think your child is going in the wrong direction or just to give him advice. Good Luck and God Bless.
3.8 GPA is rather low for all 5 of his reaches, which makes them even more of a reach. Stanford is really only about 5% acceptance rate after you take out recruited athletes and URMs. That will be the same for all of his reaches. Most of the top #20 schools applicants will have 4.0 GPA and if not, then 3.9.
I agree he needs more match schools unless he’ll be happy to go to Alabama. It’s not really the number of schools that you apply to that is important, it’s the mix of them. Look at some of the schools with at least 25% acceptance rate, it would probably be schools ranked in the high #25’s to #30’s. Those would be a match for him.
ichiro, perhaps I worded it incorrectly, but HE is deciding where to apply, WE pay for the application fees (and tuition), so TOGETHER we’ve decided to settle on 10 schools. One of the best pieces of advice I’ve taken from someone on this site is to have a meeting once a week with your child. That’s what we do, we both make notes of whatever draws our attention during the week and then we discuss it for about an hour once a week. I’m guiding him a bit, but he’s 17, so obviously he knows everything.
@txmom16, he’s this-close to a 3.9, I think he’ll have it by the end of this semester. The reason he doesn’t have a 4.0 is because he took two high school classes in middle school. A new program at the time that had some hiccups in the beginning. He ended up with B’s in them. Hopefully the schools will be more interested in his straight A’s in 9th-12th than the B’s in 8th grade. But, who knows.
And yes, we realize the majority of his schools are reaches (for just about everyone), but, nothing ventured, nothing gained. He’s just fine with the two Alabama schools, but another “match” school could become a nice surprise eventually.