Looking for ideas for my daughter, HS class of 2024
US citizen: lived whole life abroad but educated in the US system
Bi-lingual, dual nationality French-English
Private International School with good reputation
Hoping to play basketball D2/3 but okay with strong intramural program or club
Major
Elementary Education or Physical/Ed Coaching
Unweighted HS GPA: 3.6
SAT 1200-1250 projected based on practice exams. (Did not take PSAT because it was on paper on SAT in March will be digital.)
Will have strong letters from teachers who know and care about her.
A dedicated student; but does not perform at her best level for tests (stress): mid-terms and finals tend to be lower than class work averages.
Coursework
AP Lang 11th
AP Seminar 12th
AP Stats 12th
AP Environmental Science 12th
AP Exam & IB French SL/HL 11th-12th
IB Psychology SL/HL 11th-12
Extracurriculars
Basketball at highest level league; playing for 12 years in same club year round
Volunteering at her basketball club (referee, coach for little kids) and at a summer camp
Co-President of HS Club that supports refugees (sports tournament on weekends, distributing food/clothing etc)
Assistant Coach for Varsity Girls Basketball at her high school. Organising games between local French club and her high school’s team.
Yearbook
Cost Constraints / Budget
EFC: around $17000
We will have two in college (first is in a LAC that is meeting 90% of his demonstrated need - CSS profile)
Colleges that fully count primary residence as assets are out of our price range…and home equity loans are not a thing here. Our home is our only significant asset.
Schools
I estimate that these might be matches:
SUNY Cortland
Muhlenberg
Connecticut College
Bishop’s University
Concordia University Montreal
She would feel more comfortable in a college with smaller classes. She needs a place where there is a vibrant social life beyond drinking…she does not like binge drinking culture. Ideally a college with strong racial & economic diversity.
We would rather she attend a college in northeast or mid-Atlantic so she can get to us in France on a direct flight and to my family in NY/NJ. Quebec is good for us with tuition benefit for French citizens but Concordia is really big (50,000 students) and Bishop’s seems remote in terms of transportation.
Where does she anticipate she will want to teach (i.e. in what state/province/country?) For future teachers, it is much easier to attend college where you plan to teach, because each location has different requirements.
We toured Bishop’s both before and after a daughter was accepted there. We liked it quite a bit. Concordia is of course quite a bit larger and was a bit large for my daughter also, although it is also a good university.
Bishop’s is very close to Sherbrooke (I am not sure whether or not Lennoxville is now officially part of Sherbrooke). Thus there will be plenty to do for someone who is fluent or nearly fluent in French. In my experience Lennoxville appears to be fully bilingual.
Lennoxville is about a 4 hour drive to Boston, or about 6 1/2 or 7 hours to New Jersey or New York. I would probably mostly drive if it were up to me.
I am assuming that to get there from Europe you would fly to probably Montreal and then I am not sure what the best way would be to get from Montreal to Bishop’s (it is just under a two hour drive). I am assuming there is probably a bus but we have not looked into it (we live in the US but close enough that we would just drive to any of the 3 English language universities in Quebec).
Concordia is probably worth seriously considering in spite of its size. It is right in the middle of Montreal with a great deal to do in the area. It is quite close to McGill (we stayed at a hotel between the two and walked to both for tours on subsequent days).
I think that meeting the US$17,000 budget in the US might be a challenge. I would expect that you would get close to this at either Bishop’s or Concordia, particularly if the Canadian dollar stays weak. I am assuming that this is in US dollars.
I do think that @fiftyfifty1 has a good question regarding where your daughter wants to teach after graduation.
If for financial reasons she does end up at Bishop’s, keep in mind that it belongs to National Student Exchange. NSE is a consortium of ~200 schools mainly in North America. You can do up to 1 year of exchange at any participating school, your credits are pre-approved for transfer, and best of all you only pay what you are paying already at your home institution. A lot of fun schools participate: https://www.nse.org/exchange/colleges-universities/alpha-location/
Paging @DadTwoGirls who is our resident Canadian school expert and might have some suggestions and insight with respect to those.
If your daughter is recruitable, then I would suggest posting a thread in the athletic recruits area, as you are likely to get much better advice there: Athletic Recruits - College Confidential Forums
Then, if we think about U.S. schools, these would all be likely admits for her. The challenge is knowing which of these will hit the $17k price-point. I suspect several would, but I would run the Net Price Calculator and research what kind of scholarship opportunities there are, along with the deadlines. Although not near your family in NY/NJ, the midwest is considered “flyover” country for many and offers siginificantly more aid than their east coast counterparts. With flights to France from Chicago especially, but also Detroit, I thought these should be included:
North Park (IL): This Chicago school has about 1800 undergrads and is classified as a residential campus. There’s a 10:1 student/faculty ratio here. Historically, Chicago’s also had direct flights to Paris.
Elmhurst (IL): Another Chicago-area school that’s classified as a residential campus, but only 51% of first-years live on-campus, so I might investigate the campus feel further. This one has about 2900 undergrads with a 13:1 student/faculty ratio.
Frostburg State (MD): This residential campus in Maryland is not close to the D.C./BWI airports with their direct flights, but if your D was able to get an out-of-state waiver or similar this could be a financial contender.
Hope (MI): I’ve read several very positive comments about people’s experiences with Hope here on CC, so although it’s not in an ideal location for trans-Atlantic flights, I think it’s worth mentioning.
Millikin (IL): This school with about 1800 undergrads is in the middle of Illinois, so far from direct flights to France, but there is an airport in town which could hopefully get one to Chicago, Detroit, or other locations with direct flights. There’s a 9:1 student/faculty ratio here.
Olivet Nazarene (IL): This school has about 2600 undergrads. I’d check with the school…since it’s about 90m from O’Hare, it may offer shuttles to the airport at major school vacations. There’s a 15:1 student/faculty ratio here.
Rider (NJ): This school of about 3200 undergrads has a 10:1 student/faculty ratio. It’s not by an international airport, but seems to be about halfway between Newark and Philadelphia.
Russell Sage (NY): About 1200 undergrads with an 11:1 student/faculty ratio.
St. Bonaventure (NY): About 1800 undergrads with an 11:1 ratio. Will need to investigate transportation options to get to international airports.
St. John Fisher (NY): Has about 2600 undergrads with an 11:1 ratio. Rochester has an airport to catch flights to the bigger international airports.
SUNY Fredonia: About 3500 undergrads with a 13:1 ratio. Transportation to an airport might be challenging.
U. of Detroit Mercy (MI): This Jesuit school has about 2900 undergrads with an 11:1 ratio. It doesn’t have as many education majors as the other schools I listed, but Detroit may also have still have direct flights to France.
Some schools that are classified as commuter campuses that you might still want to consider are:
Felician (NJ): This school would have great access to Newark’s airport, and the other New York airports obviously have lots of direct flights available. There’s a 14:1 student/faculty ratio at this school with about 2k undergrads. 45% of first-years live on-campus.
Marymount (VA): 67% of first-year students live on-campus. With a location in Arlington, VA there is so much stuff to do and great access to direct flights back to France. There’s a 14:1 student/faculty ratio here.
Saint Peter’s (NJ): If your daughter follows the men’s NCAA tournament, this school was the Cinderella story a few years ago. About 2100 undergrads here with an 11:1 student/faculty ratio. Close to NYC and all the associated international airports. Only 26% of first years live on-campus, though.
Saint Xavier (IL): This Chicago school has about 3100 undergrads with a 16:1 ratio. 46% of first years live on-campus.
ETA: I was in drafting mode so long that I didn’t realize DadTwoGirls had already posted. Sorry!
Where does she want to teach? Given that SUNY Cortland is on the list, she should look into the other SUNY colleges (Oneonta, Oswego, New Paltz, Plattsburgh, etc). The larger universities (Binghamton, Buffalo etc) do not have education as an undergrad major (unless things have changed since I last checked) but they do have a combined BA/MA program. Keep in mind that NYS gives teachers 5 years to get a masters.
Thanks so much for these questions and responses. People are so generous with their time.
She is not sure where she will want to end up living, so certification is tricky. She mentions coming back to France and teaching at an international school like the one she attended. I have been teaching in international schools for most of my career (certified in New York) so it is a world we know well.
Thank you so much @fiftyfifty1 for the information about NSE.
And @AustenNut for that detailed list to consider.
@DadTwoGirls: I am glad to hear that Bishop’s held appeal as in terms of budget, it is a safety. We looked and there is a bus from downtown Montreal to Sherbrooke. I am trying to imagine her managing getting from the airport to the bus, then from the bus terminal to the university…all this after a long international flight and possible delays, missing the last bus, etc. It sounds potentially stressful. Not a deal breaker but something to consider. McGill also looks interesting but she has a C+ in a course that I fear disqualifies her according to something I read about B or better in all English courses. I will check with our college counselor once she moves on from the 2023 grads to the 2024. Our high school sends students to these anglophone universities in Quebec every year so they will have a strong sense of whether she has a chance.
@MarieCee - My D19 is currently a Special Ed Major at Manhattan college and if you would like I can send you our spreadsheet that details all the teaching colleges in NJ/NY/PA area (and some CT/DE/DC) schools. It includes things like pass rates for certification, number of students in each program, etc.
Certainly the SUNY schools are a great value, there is a HUGE teacher shortage in NY and the state schools are making a push to bring in OOS students (even in 2019, Cortland was the least expensive option). Also be aware that standards vary by state. When you get certified for elementary ed in PA it’s K-4, in NY it’s 1-6.
My at a glance views on some good options in each state
NY - SUNY (Cortland & Geneseo), Manhattan College, St Johns, Marist
PA - West Chester, St Joe’s, Penn State, Scranton, Millersville
NJ - TCNJ, Montclair, Seton Hall, Monmouth
Yes, thank you very much I would be happy to see the spreadsheet. I did not realise there is a teacher shortage in New York. I saw a billboard in NJ last summer that was trying to recruit high school students from NJ to SUNY. Maybe that explains it!