My Advice to CC Parents (take it or leave it)

Parents Forum
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<p>This is backwards. Harvard and Yale (and Stanford) currently have SCEA. Penn and Princeton have ED.</p>

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<p>Loved the Aunt Gladys & Uncle Sol bullet. At least three times a week S mentions how obsessed his classmates are with the prestige schools. He applied ED to a college that actually was a safety school for him...because after a visit, he fell in love with the school. He has no regrets. And I wonder how many of his friends will be admitted to Stanford and the like. All the EA applicants to Stanford from his school were deferred...even a two sport varsity athlete with a 5 point GPA.</p>

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<p>I love this board. Without it, i would've never heard about Williams college (where i will be going this fall!!). I was in frantic search looking for college that is just a bit easier to get in then HYPSM, which has great financial aid for international students.</p>

<p>This board taught me that.. colleges aren't all about prestige.</p>

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<p>Congrats hopemanj - but I don't think it will be long before you find that Williams has plenty of prestige.</p>

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<p>digmedia, great advice!!! I would only propose that an EA option be added to the rolling admission point because it accomplished the same thing. I have been suggesting similar things for many months here but you have condensed them into a single, well reasoned post.</p>

<p>Our son will graduate from RPI, a well respected science/engineering college, with no loans and money in the bank which he may then use for grad school, a dream car, a startup business, a trip abroad or some combination thereof.</p>

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<p>I agree fully. Education at most private schools has become a buisness. Brandname carries a lot . If indeed you have money to spare for your kid's education at one of these brand name school, make sure you are getting your money's worth. Check out the Faculty/student ratio, look at the class size and above all check who teaches the freshman classes (grad student, lecturer or adjunct faculty!).<br>
Most of the universities are known for their graduate school. The last degree you earn always stands out. So my suggestion is to get an affordable undergradte degree at any college or univeristy without getting into heavy debt and then pursue graduate studies at a well known university. If you are a science or engineering major you will get fellowship to pursue MS or Ph.D.</p>

<p>Be smart and invest wisely in education!</p>

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<p>Some additional thoughts; if you want to assist in having your child realize there is a big world out there...having them take the PSAT as a sophmore (Maine paid for every sophmore to take it this past year) and check off that they want to receive information from schools, while they then get deluged with brochures, it is very helpful in raising the bar a bit, and having your child start thinking about different regions and realizing what it might take to get into most of the schools that have a budget for major mailings. College brochures coming in the mail to a sophmore definitely reinforced our message that effort mattered and it was nice to have it come from someone other than us parents. </p>

<p>Additionally, try and line up the SAT and SAT II schedules so that you have a shot at taking all you will need by end of junior year, this way you know approximately where you stand and then you have a lot of time to go for add'l testing and or expand the subject tests for best results if needed. Our HS val took his first SAT I the month after the PSAT junior year and since he did well, it freed up a lot of the 2nd half of junior year for SAT II tests and end of year AP tests. That then frees up the fall of senior year to focus on early app and getting other apps done early. </p>

<p>For me, as a parent, once all apps submitted by mid-December, the hardest thing was the limbo, not knowing what was going to "happen" to my child. So, what we did was we took the approach of loving something about each school that made the final application list...by being excited about each and every option, in other words they were all matches from our vantage point, even though they were different, some city, some rural, there was something to want about each school. Sometimes the discussions could then be about silly things like "it will be so easy to take the bus to get back and forth to School Y?" or "if you go here, you will be eating food that is rated # 1 of all colleges" or "I miss that deli in Town X." My point is to love every option because it makes it easier to survive until you know where your child will be. Keeping it light is not easy but if you can do it, it is a gift to your child, your spouse and the rest of the family. In the midst of getting a t-shirt at schools we visited, we got our younger child a t-shirt at Hot Topic that only said COLLEGE on it. I still think that one is my favorite t-shirt of all.</p>

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<p>
[quote]
ED ----- Early Decision ---- Hravard or yale
SCEA ----- Single Choice Early Action ----- UPenn or Princeton
Rolling - Anytime till class is full ---- Non elites

[/quote]
</p>

<p>That's kind of cringe-worthy. You switched ED and SCEA but I think soozviet explained it all very well.</p>

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<p>Super ideas, OP. We are, of course, waiting with excitement to hear from the upper level schools that deferred my son and the RD ones, but the rolling admissions school has already chosen him as a finalist for their major merit awards, for which he has an interview date. NOT a "prestige" school, but who knows where he'll go to grad school--and then it might not matter, but having the money he might otherwise have spent on an undergrad degree would.</p>

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<p>For applicants with elite-level credentials, in many states one's flagship state school is often a good rolling decision choice. Not only is admission likely to be a lock, merit money and honors status can sweeten the deal. It's a great feeling to have a quality acceptance in hand before the apps for the ultra-selective schools are even done.</p>

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<p>originaloog-
Want to adopt a kid or two? :)</p>

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<p>LOL jmmom, thank you very much, and I am learning how prestegious and good Williams College is by talking to knowledgeable teachers and professors :) (getting happier with my choice everyday). It's just that my Asian parent (Dad only) and people around me looked down on the LACs, and emphasized prestige so much that I myself once believed that colleges are all about prestige and bragging right.</p>

<p>Many asian friends around me still apply to all 8 ivy leagues without even visiting them, and I am very glad that I didn't end up that way.</p>

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<p>Oops! I made a colossal error. Courer , Thank you for correcting it. :)</p>

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<p>jym626, while I am sure your children are delightful, my wife and I plan on retiring in a few years so I'll have to pass on your generous offer! </p>

<p>However OP's suggestions will get you very far in making broad, rational choices when it comes time for your family to make college decisions.</p>

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<p>originaloog-</p>

<p>Awww shucks.... </p>

<p>Seriously, we are right there with you. I'd love to have retired yesterday. My h. plans to work until they plant him somewhere. He thinks its "fun". We've got one in college (freshman)-- Some merit money, no loans. He's got money in the bank, saves it at the best interest rate possible, has a credit card earned with his own credit- pays his balance off in full every month. Hopefully he'll be in your son's position in a few years.</p>

<p>The other one is a HS freshman, so we will address that as it comes. Being debt free is a very comfortable feeling.. I remember with glee the last payment I made on my graduate student loan..many years ago... </p>

<p>But seriously, my kids are delightful They are quite handy at fixing computers (as is your son, I imagine)-- The older one took a breakdancing class for fun last semester, and is taking a gourmet cooking class this semester (in between all his physics and engineering classes). So, in your retirement, he can provide you with food and entertainment :) Think it over before you decline this opportunity ;)</p>

<p>Dig has some very good ideas, and his words of wisdom should be guideposts for many.</p>

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<p>Curmudgeon, Grinnell is worth all those Cornell??? comments. Couldn't have found a better fit for our D who was there from 1998 to 2002. It is interesting that by 2002 we got far fewer such head scratchers - as Grin became more nationally known. But it shouldn't matter - it's a great choice.</p>

<p>We are now dealing with a similar situation as S seems to be picking a school that is in a city some feel is dangerous and that is only lately becoming more known for its academic rep as opposed to other things. Still, we are concentrating on the fit and trying to ignore such comments.</p>

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<p>digmedia, great list. I have a corollary to add to 'Do not take over the process from your kid. which is 'When you are obsessing over the process, surf on CC rather than directing your stress at your kid'</p>

<p>(and how did you get the bold font in your post?)</p>

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<p>avoidingwork-</p>

<p>check out <a href="http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/misc.php?do=bbcode%5B/url%5D"&gt;http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/misc.php?do=bbcode&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p>

<p>As for your corollary, that's so true...</p>

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<p>When my wife and I paid off our student loans, I suggested we stamp "paid in full" on our diplommas.</p>

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<p>Great thread and great advice. </p>

<p>My S and I get the head scratching when mentioning his college choice (he got in ED1 to Reed next fall) but I was also surprised at how many folks in the NYC metro area have also heard of this small LAC across the country. </p>

<p>D is a HS sophmore and is 'determined' to go to my alma mater (St Mary's College in CA- not hugely competitive, but beautiful setting and wonderful Great Books style program) She much more of an "average" student academically than S, but is also more 'well-rounded' than he is IMHO.</p>