<p>I think you are making alot of assumptions about how your sister feels, how she might feel as a consequence of her actions. As a parent, I would say offer some suggestions of colleges for her to look at then back off and let her lead her own life and I mean that in a kind way. You and your sister are unique people and her approach, outcomes etc may not follow a path that you and your approach and outcomes might have produced. My brother had a D and a C on his high school transcript, I graduated at the top of my class. He shot for the moon and got into a top 10 school. He preferred large school, I preferred small schools. He consistently outperformed me on every quantifiable measure after high school. He is unique. I am unique. We are siblings. You cannot on any level predict what will happen to your sister next year or in twenty years.</p>
<p>Some other schools that are not LAC’s (she doesn’t seem to actually like those) and that are urban, or located in exciting college towns:</p>
<p>U of Toronto
McGill
U of Wisconsin
U of Maryland CP</p>
<p>You know, she sounds like someone who would do well to be allowed to take a year or so off from the linear high-school – college – job progression. Any chance of interest in a gap year?</p>
<p>Barnard certainly seems like a good addition to the list, but don’t underestimate the competition there. Even though the admission rate is much higher than Columbia’s, Barnard still turns away more than 2 out of 3 applicants, and most who apply are “qualified.” I’ve seen a number of young women disappointed because Columbia was high on their lists, and they viewed Barnard as something of a “Safe” choice.</p>
<p>What do your parents think about this? I think it is fine to apply and keep her hope high. Hope for the best and prepare for the worst. I guess your concern is whether she has prepared herself for the worst. First thing to do is to make sure she understands reality. It is hard to change her views on reality when she is all excited and hopeful, and you may not want to dash that positive attitue which may be her big lever for Columbia. It is a balancing act. Have your parents weigh in on this.</p>
<p>You can invite her to look at the Columbia decision thread on CC. Tell her if Columbia is really her school, she owes to herself to know more of about what kind of students Columbia seeks. I’m pretty sure as she goes through the posts, it will dawn on her that she may be reaching a bit and when that happens, it is time for the safety/match discussion.</p>
<p>if anything, our parents are enablers, taking her on college visits to columbia, penn, brown, princeton… but only giving a passing thought to safeties or matches. neither of them went to school in the united states (we’re european immigrants) so i’m not sure they have a realistic idea of what to expect.</p>
<p>complicating the issue is that we’re not american citizens (though we’ve been legal residents for almost a decade), which means state schools are basically out of the question, as are schools that don’t offer financial aid to noncitizens (boston university is one).</p>
<p>barnard definitely isn’t a safety, but it doesn’t seem totally out of reach, and i think it could be a great fit for her (academically oriented city school with small, close-knit community). i’m spending fall term in the city for an internship, so i think i’ll look up their tour schedule for this weekend and ask her if she wants to go together to check it out.</p>
<p>thanks for all the advice and suggestions!</p>
<p>I guess I question if people are actively searching this or any other website trying to ascertain who a person is on here. I read the facts and don’t try to guess. Seems to me there is a world of difference between attending school in NYC and somewhere like Podunk, Iowa. But still… if everything has to be so veiled and cryptic, I thnk the value of this forum in more than a general way will be lost.</p>
<p>This said, there is nothing wrong about aiming particularly high, as in Columbia. NYU is a completely different school entirely and I can well understand a hesitation to apply there when the dream is Columbia. The dream may have less to do with NYC in particular and wanting more of a urban environment in general. So… why not think about Boston College? Tufts? I think what will be important for your sister is applying to schools that care to look at the WHOLE picture as I am fully convinced that it is not just grades and scores at a lot of excellent schools.</p>
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<p>That is a very good point since Barnard, despite its lower ranking, is easily one of the most selective all-female schools. However, it might be beneficial to explore if Barnard has similar statistics as Wellesley and Smith for the ED rounds where they admit almost everyone who is competitive. </p>
<p>The backdoor to Columbia might be wider for candidates that are willing to make Barnard their first and only choice.</p>
<p>Here are the numbers:</p>
<p>THE CLASS OF 2013</p>
<p>Applications 4,174
Admitted 1,295
Admit Rate 31.0%
Matriculants 575 </p>
<p>Early Decision Applicants 409
Early Decision Admitted 212
Early Decision Admit Rate 51.8%</p>
<p>OP - Do you mean that you are legal residents on visa, or permanent legal residents? It makes a huge difference in FA.</p>
<p>the former. it’s an unfortunate situation. she’s attended american schools since fourth grade, but our parents have work visas, not green cards.</p>
<p>And how much financial aid do you need? That should be your first consideration. She will have to reach extremely deep to find a safety.</p>
<p>a lot. i pay a little more than $20,000/year at dartmouth (that is, over half the cost is covered by financial aid), and i’ll still be over $70,000 in debt by graduation (parents are barely helping). we’re eligible for government-subsidized loans from our country of citizenship at <3% interest for 25 years, but we’d need about half of the cost of attendance in aid in order to pull it off.</p>
<p>i fully expect to help her out financially when i graduate and get a job her sophomore year, and am mostly ok with this.</p>
<p>Ummm, it’s stuff like this that set jonri off. The OP’s family’s situation is pretty unique, and anyone who knows them and read this thread would probably identify them instantly. As those of us who love her (virtually) know, the OP does not place a high value on her own privacy, but that may not be the case with her parents or sister. (I would guess that the OP is in the bottom nth percentage of human beings in terms of personal privacy needs.)</p>
<p>I have felt uncomfortable in the past when I have seen people I know come on CC and say things that they would not want circulated to their friends (many of whom are on CC), and that the posters probably didn’t understand were specific enough to identify them instantly. There was a situation recently where a kid was telling friends one thing and the kid’s parent was saying something very different here, and there were probably dozens of people who knew it.</p>
<p>yeah. that’s exactly why i didn’t include this information in my original post. it does make me uncomfortable.</p>
<p>Using the information provided by the OP, it took me less than two minutes on google to find out her sister’s name, the name of the school she attends, and several photos of her–most of which were taken by the OP and posted on a public website for photos. </p>
<p>Having done so, let me assure the other posters here, that her sister attends a private high school in NYC which offers excellent college guidance. If her sister is being unrealistic about her odds, I’m sure the college advisor there will tell her so. I’m also sure that the college advisor is better able to determine which schools will be reach, matches and safeties than anyone on this board. </p>
<p>A kid can choose to post her own info publicly. But posting a SIBLING’s scores and grades is to me just plain horrible. To do so with so much detail that someone who doesn’t know this family in real life can find out her identity is to me completely inappropriate. I’m sure that her classmates and/or the parents of her classmates will recognize her immediately. </p>
<p>I don’t know this family at all. But I do live in NYC and I am somewhat familiar with the school in question. Believe me, the guidance is excellent–there’s no need for anyone here to make suggestions.</p>
<p>Please note that I’m NOT claiming that people usually do what I just did–google to find out the name of someone who has been described in great detail on this board. I do think though that students at this school and their parents DO read this board and will instantly recognize this young woman. So will students at many other independent schools in NYC. </p>
<p>So, I just feel it is wrong for the OP WITHOUT ASKING HER SISTER’S PERMISSION to post all this info about her.</p>
<p>wow. i hadn’t realized we were that googleable. that was a wakeup call. i have asked the mods to remove this thread. thanks.</p>
<p>jonri–report it to the moderator. I did this with a post with a kid whose friend had posted her name and personal information and it was removed within the hour.</p>
<p>by the way, thanks for reminding me of that flickr account. i hadn’t used it since high school & had forgotten it existed. i’ve deleted the account and removed the reference from my old cc name. i’m a complete idiot.</p>