Match My Hardworking twin boys (High school juniors)

Chance Me / Match Me!
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Good afternoon,

I am new to this wonderful forum. I have to admit I am overwhelmed by the amount of information here. I have twin boys who are Juniors in a public school in NJ.

Demographics
US domestic

  • State/Location of residency: *
    NJ

  • Type of high school *
    Public

  • Gender/Race/Ethnicity *
    Males, white

  • Other special factors *
    Second generation immigrants, parents are Jewish from the former Soviet Union

Intended Major(s)
Haven’t decided, but technical: CS, engineering, possibly physics, bioinformatics, etc.

GPA, Rank, and Test Scores

  • Unweighted HS GPA:
    4

  • Weighted HS GPA (incl. weighting system):
    It says 7 on a transcript. I think it’s based on a fact that they have been taking only Honors or
    AP classes
    As of now, they’ve taken 9 AP classes and the rest are honors. They plan to take more APs senior year.

  • Class Rank:
    It doesn’t say on a transcript, I think they calculate it during Senior year. Very possible they both will be valedictorians (graduating class around 600)

  • ACT/SAT Scores:
    One boy - 1560
    The other - 1520
    One boy PSAT selection index - 222, the other is 217.

Coursework
APs - Comp Science, English, History, Chemistry, Calculus BC, Physics C etc. Russian language - bilingual certificate, French honors.

Awards
They are part of the school Vex robotics team who participated in World championship last year

Extracurriculars
Robotics team, physics tutoring club, bridge (tutor middle school kids in math every Wednesday), organized web design club, French honor society, English etc. They don’t play sports.
We are working on getting them a summer internship possibly with one of the professors we know.
One of the boys is coding very well and one of my coworker’s husband who works at Amazon mentored him and they created a chess game, wordle, some shooting video games. He also makes robots at home and use raspberry pie to program them. This is more of a hobby.
They had a job helping middle school teacher to move all the materials online during pandemic. They tutored kids of my friends in Python.

Essays/LORs/Other
Haven’t written essays yet

Cost Constraints / Budget
I am a divorced parent with an average ($ low 100) income and two kids who will be in college, so cost is definitely a big issue to me. In addition, their father is refusing to contribute to their education, though it is my understanding that his income will be counted for financial need purposes. I personally have around $100K to contribute to their education. Their father resides in California. We entertained the idea of them moving to California senior year to get into UC schools, but their father called UCLA admission and they said you have to be 2 years in California to be considered a resident, even if your parent lives there.

Schools
Here are need your help. They plan to apply for our local Ivys - U Penn and Princeton. I don’t believe either of them will get in. I think they should apply to UChicago and Vanderbilt - these schools don’t count non-custodial parent income. They will apply to Rutgers - I heard Rutgers has a good honors college and offer good merit to high stats students.
I was thinking Purdue - but only if they get their highest merit scholarship. My boys are very busy with all the school work, so I would like to build a preliminary college list for them to start with. Also, they are not completely sure on the majors, so I would be interested in schools that provide some flexibility to change the major if they decide.

I will be very thankful if you can help me to build a college list for them given their information/my cost constrains. Any other advise is also highly appreciated.

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You are on the right track - planning early, thinking about financials, creating a diverse list. I think two categories might be good for you to consider: stats-based full-ride places that have strong hard sciences (Alabama, for example), and the Ivies with very generous grant-based (not loan-based) financial aid (Harvard for example, though of course chance of admission is always low for everyone). Rutgers is a great option, glad it’s on the list. Is there any interest in West Point or Naval Academy? Those are free to attend, but you need to plan early since there are requirements that are different from other schools. That’s too bad about the UCs and residency - if you’re 100% sure then don’t waste too much time on those or other out of state schools that don’t have scholarships. Which brings me to my last category: take a look at the very competitive full ride scholarships at places like U Virginia - with the research projects your kids are doing, they may be compelling candidates. Good luck!

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Wonderful to see the kids excel so well both in and out of school. They will succeed at any school they go to. In terms of affordability i do not know if they can do any better than rutgers honors which will be in-state tuition. But more knowledgeable people will comment.

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Make sure the apply early to Rutgers. Honors program too.

If they’re NMSF or better then that opens doors for scholarships. Some schools offer full rides. You might want look at Southern schools.

You don’t meet the residency requirements for UC’s but what about the Cal State schools?

Run the NPC for any school you think might be an interest.

Your sons could get into any top school with their stats but the odds are slim like everyone else.

Maybe some others have advice about non custodial parent not contributing?

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Alabama would be dirt cheap with their stats.

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Rutgers deadline for early/priority is November 1st. It catches a lot of people off guard. TCNJ is also well regarded. Neither will be free but high teens each probably, after merit.

They could get financial aid at that income level, so it’s worth checking net price calculators and cast a wide net. You already know to ask if they consider non-custodial parent income.

Have them show interest by signing up for lists, going to info sessions (online counts), and visiting at college fairs. Of course in person visits. Check the common data sets to see if demonstrated interest is a factor for admission.

Some schools have robotics scholarships.

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Thank you very much for the information. Last time I checked West Point - you need to be an athlete, I think you need to have a letter of recommendation from your senator etc., so you have to prepare well in advance, not the junior year, but I’ll check again. I’ll check U of Virginia.

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I’ll check Alabama, thank you!

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I’m not convinced that is completely accurate. The UC residency policy is here:
https://www.ucop.edu/uc-legal/_files/ed-affairs/uc-residence-policy.pdf#page=11

The most pertinent exception is for kids of a divorced CA resident parent who went to high school elsewhere:
“ 4. Non-Resident Dependent of a California Resident (Condit Bill) – A Student who has a Parent who both satisfies the Residency Requirements and either claims the Student as a tax dependent or continually contributed court-ordered child support for the Student during the one year immediately before the Residence Determination Date shall be eligible for a limited-duration Residence Classification for one academic year. A Parent who relocated to California must have severed any and all ties to their former residence; refer to “Sec. III. 1./2” The Student may thereafter be eligible for a Resident Classification if the Parent continues to satisfy the Residency Requirements and the Student has demonstrated timely fulfillment of the Residency Requirements. This provision requires that Students submit a new SLR at the end of their Condit academic year per campus policy. Students who fail to concurrently fulfill the requirements will be reclassified as Nonresident which is not eligible for appeal review. Students who have lived in California for more than one year after turning age 18 are not eligible for this provision.”

I think you need to examine this a lot more closely but it is at least possible they could get resident tuition at UCs after graduating from their current OOS high school if their CA resident parent is providing child support. There will need to be continued dependency on that parent during college, so if they don’t contribute anything to tuition that will be problematic. Call and ask about the “Condit Bill” exception.

There was a similar thread a long time ago:

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One boy could potentially be NMSF, but NJ has the highest cut off for some reason. Some years 222, some years 223. I will check Cal State schools, thank you for this advice.

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@Twoin18, thank you very much! This is completely new to me. Their dad has being paying child support all these years. I’ll read the thread and call UCLA or other school right away. possibly person who their dad talked to had no idea about this.

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It sounds as though your sons are very strong students and they’re fortunate to have an involved parent who is asking the right questions.

Is there a reason why they would only apply to their local ivy institutions vs. others?

Do you know what they might prefer in terms of size? Swarthmore, for instance, would be a much smaller college but offers those degrees that would likely allow flexibility in terms of changing between majors. Have they visited any college campuses?

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I would also include Georgia Tech on your list. Top in the country for your sons chosen majors. Although it is a state school that is stingy with merit they do have a Stamps full ride scholarship given to top 1% of applicants. They also have a Provost scholarship which brings out-of-state tuition down to in-state. Your boys would be competitive for both. Only requirement to apply is to submit an early action application. A caveat about the application: Georgia Tech puts great emphasis on applicants who have had a significant impact on their community and will continue to have an impact at Georgia Tech. They want kids who will contribute to the mission statement of progress and service. Something to think about if they apply when crafting their Georgia Tech specific essays.

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@AustenNut, thank you very much for your reply! My boys don’t have any social life, they do homework all the time. I am not sure why they take so many APs, but I never encourage that. We haven’t visited any campuses yet, because I don’t have a list of colleges. We plan to do it starting January. I am also very concern about a price. There is no way I can pay $60+ a year for college. I am not fan of big student loans. They work so hard, they deserve a good college. I am already lost sleep over that. I plan to check Swarthmore.

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@Anna75, your boys are very impressive. They have a great list of accomplishments. Congratulations!

Have you checked your NPC on Princeton and UPenn’s websites? They meet full need, but they define what your need is - and in many cases it may not match your expectation. So it’s important to figure this out.

Also, what is your budget per year for each child? You mentioned $100k educational savings. That works out to $12.5k/year per son. Is that what you have in mind? And how hard is that limit? Are you able to contribute a few thousand more each year? Your answers to these questions will help us guide you more appropriately.

If you’re able to pay the NPC at the Ivies then that’s great. But these schools (and others like them) have become extremely unpredictable for high stats unhooked students like your sons. So consider them a long shot.

I think both your sons are likely to get into Rutgers honors college - and that comes with merit money. Will get your cost down below $20k per year for each kid. If that’s affordable then you have a great option. Rutgers students pick their major in their sophomore year, so that provides your sons the flexibility they’re looking for.

If mid to high teens is too high, then check out Alabama and other such schools that give out generous merit aid.

Some of the best CS and engineering schools are public schools but they’re likely too expensive.

Good luck with the journey!

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@VirginiaBelle, thank you very much! I’ll put Georgia Tech on my list. Thank you very much for the essay information!

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@DadOfJerseyGirl, I ran NPC with my income only at Princeton and U Penn, but these schools are also considering non-custodial parent income and their dad is not willing to contribute to there college expenses due to his own financial situation, though his income is relatively high. I will be able to contribute a little more a year, also I am not against my boys taking students loans, just not $100K. If they get full ride to Rutgers, I can definitely afford RB, plus they can some loans, like $5k a year.

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Uva is need blind but it is one of the most expensive OOS- around 52,000 tuition alone for most colleges but engineering is about 61,000 tuition alone. And I don’t know if they cover a lot for financial aid for OOS - may get loans as part of aid.

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There are a LOT of wonderful and good colleges in this country. And many are not in the top 50…or even the top 100. Their hard work will hopefully get them an acceptance at a school with great merit aid (Alabama has been mentioned, but you might also look at Arizona and University of New Mexico).

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West Virginia University would most likely be low cost. Drivable from New Jersey.

Once you figure out residency and finances you’ll be able to craft a list. Apply EA if you can for best chances of admission and scholarships. The great thing about engineering and CS is it doesn’t matter where you go to school to be employable.

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