My dad is well intentioned, but...

College Search & Selection
1

<p>… just loading on the stress here. I originally planned to apply to these schools:</p>

<li>Washington U in St. Louis</li>
<li>Syracuse</li>
<li>Carnegie Mellon</li>
<li>George Washington in D.C.</li>
<li>U Rochester</li>
<li>Some top ten school, just for kicks</li>
</ol>

<p>I researched them to some degree, I mean I went through the whole College Search thing by location, size, etc. and these fit pretty well. I visited Wash U and didn’t really feel anything about it - I could see myself there, not happy but not sad either. When I rattled off my list to my dad, though, he said I should be applying to much more competitive schools. He’s got his M.A. in Business (from Wharton), and I wanted to do something creative but also secure, so had told him previously that I was considering advertising as a major. Advertising apparently = business, so most of the schools he chose were those with strong business schools but great overall. (Duke, Georgetown, Northwestern for communications, his alma matter Penn, Berkeley, etc)</p>

<p>I hate chance threads, but after all these talks with him I need some help. It’s not that I’m letting him dictate my future, just that he makes sense in a lot of his arguments, so I want to find a happy medium between the two of us.</p>

<p>Female
Asian (chinese/filipina) not first generation</p>

<p>GPA: UW 92.6 W 98.5 on a 100 scale
School doesn’t rank or send UW scores to colleges</p>

<p>SAT: 1340/2040, which I know isn’t the greatest but gets me at least 25th percentile for some of My Dad’s schools
ACT: taken twice, 32 then 33</p>

<p>I was in AP Spanish, but that class was a complete waste of time and cost my family extra money for the credit hours [private school] so I dropped it, and now I really regret that. But I mean, honestly? I had the same teacher for junior and senior years, Spanish 4 and AP, and I didn’t learn ANYTHING in Spanish 4. In AP, the class was such a joke that kids would have the answers on the floor next to their desks, on the desks themselves underneath the test, or they would just mouth answers to each other from across the room. If it was such a joke, why’d I drop it? The only thing the teacher cared about was doing work for other classes, and early in the year I was juggling all my other classes, cross country after school, and a part-time job, and so knew my time would have been better spent in study hall so I could actually start working on college apps too. ANYWAY.</p>

<p>Right now, as a senior, I’m in pre-cal honors because I couldn’t beat the flow chart, so there are two math classes above me, calc AB and BC. Other than Spanish and Math, then, I’ve been taking the most rigorous classes my school offered.</p>

<p>EC’s:
Track, sophomore, junior, and senior years
Cross country, junior and senior years
Improv comedy club, freshman, sophomore, junior years
Spanish club, four years
National honor society, two years</p>

<p>Part-time job at Old Navy, averaging 12 hours a week during the school year and 18 during the summer.</p>

<p>Community Service:
56 hours over sophomore and junior years, varying between a nursing home and other miscellaneous things like helping out at the community carnival and a friend’s Eagle Scout project.</p>

<p>Like I said, I was generally thinking about advertising as a major, but have been listing communications and humanities on the common app, too. I want the school to have 4000-15,000 students, but don’t really care about location. I know I want to study abroad in college, but by now most universities offer that, so it’s not a determining factor. </p>

<p>I know compared to other CC’ers aiming for the top schools I’m way out of my league, but where do I have a chance at?</p>

2

<p>what were the top ten schools you wanted to apply to originally? You need to show your dad your stats and the average stats for admitted students from some of these schools. Tell him to be reasonable in the amt of reaches you apply to because they are usually 3 essays each and are really difficult to get into, especially wharton at Upenn. If he picks 2-3 I’d say go with those, but make sure you research. Your ACT scores put you in a good range for all schools it’s just perhaps your EC’s and GPA and course rigor.</p>

3

<p>Lack of calc will make Wharton pretty much impossible but I have seen them let special cases take it the summer before freshman year. As a legacy they might entertain this. Did you take the mathII SAT? A good score might make it negotiable. Call them.</p>

4

<p>I think your original list was very good. Syracuse has a very strong communications/advertising program. GW has a select communications program. Carnegie Mellon has a wonderful design program and WUSTL has advertising . I think you did your research. Parents don’t ALWAYS know best. I would just pick 2 reaches to add to your list just to keep him satisfied. Add Northwestern and UPENN, they have communciations and business, respectively. The other schools like Duke and Georgetown don’t even have the programs you’re interested in!!</p>

5

<p>33 on the ACT is stronger than a 1350/2050 on the SAT. I would use the ACT.</p>

6

<p>Where, exactly, on your list is your SAFETY? You’ve only listed matches and reaches here. You (and your dad maybe) need to take a good hard look at the public universities in Illinois and figure out which of them will admit you based on your test scores and your GPA. Chances are, at least one of them has rolling admissions and would accept you tomorrow based on your stats.</p>

<p>You also could throw in a less-famous Illinois private college/university that offers Advertizing/Design. There’s got to be at least one somewhere in Chicago!</p>

<p>The big question though to ask your dad is this one: “Dad, just exactly how secure is my college fund? How are we going to come up with $200,000 to pay for these four years at a private university?” It’s really nice that he’s a Wharton grad, but there are plenty of Wharton grads out there who are barely clinging to their jobs due to the current world-wide economic melt-down. You owe it to him, and to yourself, to make sure that he really does have the money issue sorted out.</p>

7

<p>Excellent points happymomof1. The OP should definitely apply to the UIUC and to a couple of less selective privates, such as Loyola, Depaul, Lake Forest etc…</p>

8

<p>I’d want to know why her dad is picking her major? or schools?</p>

9

<p>^ Well, he’s going to be the one fronting the money and tuition, no? I don’t know why you sound so surprised.</p>

<p>I’m sort of taking courses at college that my parents want me to, and not necessarily what I want to (though I do take courses that I’m interested in).</p>

10

<p>The 33 on the ACT compares to a 1470/1600 SAT. That would put you in the range of schools that your Dad is suggesting. Asian students make up large proportions of the student bodies at those schools, but your ethnic background might make you an especially attractive candidate at a school like Vanderbilt.</p>

11

<p>I agree Gadad. And the OP should describe herself as Filipina rather than Chinese. Although Asians are overreprestended, most Asians come from China, Taiwan and the Indian Subcontinent. Filipinos are not as well represented, which could make a difference. Quite honestly, I don’t think the OP need answer the question of race. Most Filipinos have Latin names, so they may assume she is Latina. That could actually work in her favor.</p>

12

<p>My safety school is the University of Dayton, and even though Rochester and Syracuse are out of state, I thought my scores would be high enough to assume I’d get into one of the two…</p>

<p>Money is definitely a factor: my sister’s at Marquette right now (Students Graduate with the Most Debt school #10) and so I’m avoiding schools that don’t offer good FA programs. I’m not sure, then, if I should go to a better school with bigger endowments or somewhere not as good, who’ll offer me more for my test scores.</p>

13

<p>Apply to Penn ED, as a legacy, as a Filipina, send the ACT scores and no SAT scores, and you would have a decent shot.</p>

<p>Oh, and apply to SAS, not Wharton, because Wharton has calc as a de-facto prerequisite, and SAS is by and large an experience more likely to satisfy your creative side, and you can still dabble in relevant Wharton courses (marketing, etc).</p>

14

<p>If money is definitely a factor I would not apply ED to Penn. If you get in you are stuck. U Dayton is a good safety and you should get good merit aid.</p>

15

<p>1340 on the SAT is avg in many of the best schools. Its below avg at the TOP schools. It likely will get you a REJECTION at WashU. Their cutoff is 1400 and they stick to it. It works for URochester, Syracuse and George Washington. </p>

<p>Go where you will be HAPPIEST. That is where you will SUCCEED, and that is MORE important than the prestige of the school.</p>

<p>Your father should understand that. He wants you to be happy and succeed, not be unhappy and wanting out.</p>

16

<p>I think Washu and Carnegie Mellon are reaches for you.</p>

17

<p>Don’t apply to Penn ED, especially since it seems you’re only considering it because of your father.
If the first six schools you listed are the only six schools you could see yourself attending, then only apply to those six. Go where you’ll learn best.
Regarding your dad’s schools, however, I wouldn’t apply to Northwestern, since I’ve heard they’re very stingy with aid.
Good luck!</p>

18

<p>Syracuse is probably safe; Rochester is known to give merit scholarship for applicants with good stats.</p>

<p>My only concern is that you have taken no AP classes (how many does your school offer?) What about SAT Subjects?</p>

19

<p>Oh no, I’ve taken APUSH, APLAC, AP lit, AP Euro, and AP bio. Junior year the only AP’s you could take were APUSH, APLAC, and a science if you took summer school and had an extra period and extra $400 [private school] This year, I’m not in calc BC and dropped Spanish…</p>

<p>I’m not sure if I should take the subject tests. At first I thought, Screw it, I’ll just use the ACT, I’m sick of standardized testing. But now I’m not so sure, given my lower SAT score. Plus my GPA is good but not outstanding for HYPSDCP etc etc, so the SAT II’s might show I do actually know subject matter.</p>

20

<p>While some schools allow you to take the ACT in lieu of SAT I+SAT II (e.g., Brown, Duke, Penn and Yale), others are very specific that you must take SAT I/ACT plus SAT II (e.g., Harvard, Cornell, CMU and Northwestern). More of the elite schools are in the second group.</p>