<p>I would appreciate if you would weigh in, based on your experience, with selecting low reach schools for DS. He has taken all honors and AP academic courses, received As and Bs in them, but is in a school that does not weight GPA, which explains the class rank (he would have a 4.2 GPA weighted). He has a full range of extracurricular activities (competitive club sport for 3 years, elected student government position for 3 years, Model UN), substantial volunteer activity, and a part-time job. No hooks. He intends to major in either Computer Science or Mathematics/Economics and intends to go on to a MBA at some point in the future. </p>
<p>We have plenty of very good safeties and matches, including some with substantial merit aid (like University of Alabama) thanks mainly to this website. I'm trying to identify Top 25 LACs/Universities/Honors Colleges that would be worth the time, money and effort to apply to (all those essays!), in that they are known to place less importance on the GPA/class rank of a non-hooked male student who has tested well and is otherwise well-rounded. We will not qualify for need-based aid and have braced ourselves for full-pay if it comes to that. </p>
<p>Hoping to find someone here who can share his/her experience of reaching with similar stats and being rewarded for the effort. Thanks.</p>
<p>Grinnell and Oberlin both have merit aid, and if you’re talking about USNWR T25, then Grinnell is; if Oberlin isn’t i wouldn’t let that stop you, because it certainly belongs in the same category as any other “top” college in the country.</p>
<p>I think that a lot of colleges recalculate GPA to standardize their internal comparisons, so the course rigor will help there. Is that class rank one published by your HS or your own estimate? If the latter, then my guess (and this is only a guess) is that if it does rise with an admissions dept recalculation, then he will be fine, particularly if he performs well in the context of his school; but if it’s a published rank, that might be more difficult because then it gets included in “percentage of students in top 10% of HS class” and my impression is that colleges want to keep this reported stat high.</p>
<p>I also suspect that some of these schools, and I include Grinnell and Oberlin in this category, do not apply merit aid only to high stats schools, but also to attract students that meet their own institutional needs / to achieve certain goals within the composition of the incoming class. Fit is also important at these schools, too.</p>
<p>I can’t speak as to whether he would be competitive for merit aid or not, but just that these schools do offer it. </p>
<p>Also: Grinnell does not look at Writing scores on the SAT, so check to see where his CR and M stand in the admissions profile. Obviously, if those are higher than the 75th percentile, then that helps.</p>
<p>@albclemom - It might help if you listed the schools you are pretty sure he will be applying to. But I agree with SDonCC that Oberlin could be on your radar even though not ranked as high (I’m not big on rankings at all). It has a fairly unique vibe that isn’t for everyone, but if it fits then it is a great place for the right students. Grinnell is a fairly rural area about an hour east of Des Moines, so that is something he would have to be OK with. Oberlin is similarly situated in Ohio, about 45 minutes southwest of Cleveland.</p>
<p>But seeing what he has in mind already will help with recommendations and avoid duplicates.</p>
<p>Regarding class rank, it is an estimate. Not sure if school will “publish” it on his guidance counselor report - GC was vague on this when we asked.</p>
<p>He has a 1460/1600 superscore (1450 without superscore).</p>
<p>We will look into the programs at Grinnell and Oberlin for LACs, Emory and USC for Universities.</p>
<p>Current list includes a lot of large state schools including: U Maryland, U Michigan, U Wisconsin, Ohio State, University of Illinois, UC San Diego, UC Davis, NC State and University of Alabama. Also Case Western. We considered the following schools to be reaches: Carnegie Mellon and U Washington (for CS, maybe not for Applied Math?), University of North Carolina, UC Berkeley.</p>
<p>I think you have more reaches than you know on his list. Michigan is a reach. And Wisconsin may be, too. If you are looking to cut your costs, consider U of MN - Twin Cities. Relatively low OOS tuition. If he does have an interest in LACs, Dickinson would be a nice match for him, and he might get some merit aid there.</p>
<p>@intparent Thanks for the warning about Michigan and Wisconsin. I forgot to mention that Purdue is on the list as well. We will look into Dickinson. </p>
<p>Berkeley is a real reach if he plans to apply to a STEM division. UNC-Chapel Hill would also be a reach if you are not residents of NC. What about Claremont-McKenna? My son had a similar background (ie. Model UN, student government, JSA/Debating), but with slightly lower stats. He did not get in, but your son might. He might qualify for a merit scholarship at Tulane. My son was accepted, but received no aid. Other posts on C.C. indicated that people with slightly higher stats than his were awarded scholarships.</p>
<p>@woogzmama - completely agree about Berkeley and UNC-CH being high reaches. He would love to go to Claremont-McKenna - we hadn’t even hoped he could get in there. Unfortunately Tulane doesn’t have a Computer Science major or minor, and I don’t think he wants to lock into Math as his major before he decides on a school. Thanks.</p>
<p>So depending on the particulars of your son’s overall career plans, you might want to give Tulane a look. Obviously I am biased, but I also know the school better than almost anyone on here. So I am happy to answer questions either on here or in private messages, if you think they are too specific for this thread. I also should mention that I know the term “coordinate major” is a bit foreign to most, but I can shed light on that as well. My D double majored at Tulane, and one of them (her career one, in fact) is a coordinate major there. She has been wildly successful with that degree from Tulane. I would be happy to fill you in on that as well if you wish.</p>
<p>@fallenchemist - Thanks so much for sharing the great information about Tulane. Strange that they don’t list CS as a major on the website. The program sounds perfect for my son, who definitely is an “applied” rather than “theoretical” kind of guy. Coordinating CS with business/economics is his dream, and Tulane has been on his list ever since spending a week on a service mission to help build houses there. Couldn’t be more grateful for the info. </p>
<p>@albclemom - Wow, that’s excellent. I don’t know why they haven’t caught up on the web site, I will mention it to Dean Altiero. Maybe it is the coordinate major status, but they should still list it with an asterisk or something.</p>
<p>As your son and you move through the process, I would be happy to answer any other questions. Best of luck! And tell him I said thanks for his effort in helping NOLA rebuild. The city still has issues, of course, but it is better than it has been in decades in most ways. More young people starting businesses, better schools, neighborhoods being revitalized, etc. A lot of CS related start-ups, especially. And as he probably knows since he was there, Tulane is in the nicest neighborhood in the parish limits. Very upscale. Drew Brees lives next to the campus.</p>
<p>Where are you in state? I agree that Michigan high reach unless you are in state, UW (Wisconsin not Washington) could go either way if you are out of state (my kid is there, OOS, had just a bit lower gpa and felt very fortunate to make it in). The UW essays could be key for a student like yours and mine. UW is an incredible place – while known as a party school and the students’ work hard/play hard approach, the faculty is superb and my kid is getting a top notch education. </p>
<p>Minnesota is a lower cost alternative, though like Illinois, students apply to specific colleges rather than the university as a whole so for a student applying to College of Engineering rather than Arts & Letters, admission is tougher. Illinois is a nice app to get done early because they announce decisions on two dates, one in the fall and one in February so a student can get an acceptance early in the season to an excellent school. Case gives a lot of merit aid but I am not familiar with how tippy top an applicant has to be, especially for CS students. </p>
<p>If merit aid plays a bigger role, Dickinson, Wooster could be good possibilities for some merit aid – we just visited Wooster and I was very impressed. Oberlin, Kenyon and Grinnell are wonderful, distinctive places, though takes a certain kind of kid to love them. They do give merit aid. Macalester might be another possible to look at, similar to the Oberlin, Kenyon and Grinnell trio but urban. </p>
<p>Good luck, I am sure your son will have some good choices to select from next year!</p>
<p>@Midwestmomofboys - we are in state New York. I appreciate for the tips on U Wisc and U of I - he definitely will be applying early. DS prefers urban to rural, which is going to make most LACs a tough fit for him, but we’ll look into Macalester. Thanks for the well wishes!</p>
<p>My D2 had lower stats and got into Wisconsin pretty early OOS - no money though. Pretty easy application. I don’t think it’s a reach at all. </p>
<p>The combination of potential majors should put University of Rochester on the list for sure. You’ll probably get some merit aid, but they have really good departments in CS, Econ and Math. It feels like a liberal arts college though it’s a research university. </p>
<p>@ClassicRockerDad - thanks for the encouragement regarding Wiisconsin. I agree that U Rochester is impressive for what DS wants - appreciate the suggestion.</p>
<p>On UW, while OP may well get in, many mid-stat kids get postponed, especially OOS, and don’t get decision until Feb-March, after they may have some other acceptances under their belt. Tends to make OOS families crazy. Admissions at UW keeps getting crazier, even in the 2 years since my kid was admitted. I follow the decision threads there, and the super high gpa and test score kids are generally admitted early in the cycle, with many mid-range gpa kids postponed and don’t get final decision until later. For families looking for a sure acceptance in the fall, UW is probably not going to be that school. </p>
<p>My D2 with lower (3.5 GPA UW, 2100 SAT) got admitted to the engineering school in November of 2012. My D1 (4.2 UW 35 ACT) was admitted to Arts and Science in October of 2009. </p>
<p>We didn’t expect D2’s acceptance when we did but it was a nice surprise. </p>
<p>I would just fill out the easy app Sept 1, and hope for the best. </p>