I really wish I’d spent MORE money sending my daughter to camps and tournaments. Some of it was coming up with the actual money, but a lot of it was her finding the time to go to them. Daughter had said, as a sophomore and even as a junior, that she didn’t want to play at college so I just signed her up for a local club team (which did play in some of the tournaments) and her high school team. She announces late into her junior year that she wanted to play so we got a very late start to recruiting. If I had to do it again, I would have insisted she go to the tournaments and camps the summer between sophomore and junior years, ‘just in case.’ Time did get away from us.
It all worked out and she found a school, with a team, she’s very happy with. If she had wanted to, she could have gone to the schools you listed above but she would have had to start the process a little earlier and perhaps taken the ACT a time or two more, just to get every last point.
If your EFC for your S1 was 4K then you definitely need to be looking at schools like Bowdoin–sounds like the perfect school for him-- that have excellent need-based FA. I often find that CC parents tend to concentrate on merit, not understanding those of us who cannot afford the remainder left behind by even a very large merit award at a private LAC. Some of us really need the true meets-need schools.
Definitely run the NPCs.
I think your preliminary list has a pretty good selection for this phase. A lot will depend on 1) His SAT 2) whether he is recruitable for soccer. You really should pursue that, following the advice of the people here.
To be a NMSF, he would need a top 1% score in his state. In OR in 2016, that was about 208, I think. 97th percentile is great, but it doesn’t qualify. The likelihood is that he will do better next year. It is good that he got the practice as a sophomore.
Do not overlook taking a couple of SATIIs. If possible, he should take one this year in order to lessen the testing burden junior year. If he is taking an AP or honors science, and doing well in it, that might be one to pick. Make sure to get a prep book that includes a review of the material–the Princeton Review is good–and make sure that his class has covered all of the material on the test, and if not do some prepping. (Honors Chem, for example, doesn’t necessarily cover everything on the Chem SATII.)
I know it’s a reach, but he should consider Dartmouth, if his SATs are high. It is really like a large LAC, and fits his criteria.
“Add my vote with those who recognize that your student is not an average top student.”
This is completely wrong!!
U.S. high schools have 3.5 million seniors each year. So the top 1% by stats is 35,000 kids. The top 15 schools enroll collectively about 25,000 kids a year. About one third of those will be kids with various hooks (sports, URM, etc.) that put them outside the top 1%.
So the 35,000 top 1% kids (the “average excellents”) are pretty much competing for about 15,000 seats a year.
For this kid, D-3 soccer looks like it could be the hook into a highly selective LAC. Other than soccer, the kid’s lottery ticket would be a strong (meaning also as weak) as any other average excellent kid playing the same lottery.
Since you need a lot of money, and a lot of the schools on your list don’t give merit, you may want to look at D1 schools in less competitive leagues as he could possibly get money for soccer. (Patriot League comes to mind). But to do so, you will need to get to some showcases or recruiting camps this summer.
Has your son indicated what academic areas he’s interested in studying in college yet?
How much of a strong identity does he have as a soccer athlete?
This really depends on the academic strengths of the flagship state U and its honors program/college. Not all flagships or honors programs/colleges are created equal. Very YMMV.
In terms of boys soccer and being noticed by colleges, your S should think about changing teams and playing, if talented enough, in the US Development Academy League. D3 schools would live to “pick off” these players, instead of them going to a D1 school.
In the PNW, I believe the main academy teams are the development academy teams for the Portland Timbers and Seattle Sounders. There he would be able to travel to face other academy teams from the MLS and elsewhere.
Also, there are opportunities to be seen by various college coaches, if your S’s current club team can qualify for various prestigious tournaments, such as the Surf Cup, Dallas Cup, Nomads and other “invite only” (teams apply) tournaments around the country.
Another direction is to video his current club and HS games, if you’re not doing it already, and then edit a highlight reel video, which you can then send to various colleges your S is interested in. Colleges prefer club games, since these are typically played at a higher level with more talented players.
“Not all of those kids will have NMSF-ish test scores.”
OP says the kid was top 3% on the PSAT. NM Commended is top 4% – about 50,000 kids a year.
NMSF is more like top 1% or less. And even that is 16,000 kids a year.
Those stats are the very definition of “excellent average.” They could get you into a top school, but they could not either. Which is why we’d be talking about making the soccer thing work. Or being a male applicant to a place like Vassar. Or other potential hooks.
Folks, like the OP, are quite wise to realize and plan with the knowledge that their valedictorian unique snowflake really isn’t all that special or unique from the perspective of the schools. They see tens of thousands of snowflakes year after year after year. There’s 36,000 high schools in the U.S., and every one of them has a Val and a Sal…
I like his list now. Note that Dickinson says they meet 96% of need (so if you are struggling with finances, they get pretty close to meeting need – not all of the schools on your list do).
Wow, such great advice! Keep it coming! @sushiritto, you mentioned:
In the PNW, I believe the main academy teams are the development academy teams for the Portland Timbers and Seattle Sounders. There he would be able to travel to face other academy teams from the MLS and elsewhere.
He plays for the Timbers development academy, and they do go to the invite-only showcase tournaments (usually Vegas and Portland). Unfortunately, since he’s still pretty young, we haven’t paid as much attention as we should to the potential recruiting at these showcases, but we will now!
@cobrat he really doesn’t know what academic specialities interest him yet. When I ask him as a sophomore, he says probably history or English, as he likes literature and writing, but people who know him are surprised by that answer, since he’s very strong in math. He’s definitely liberal arts minded as opposed to STEM/engineering minded (much as his dad would like him to be an engineer!), but that can change.
@northwesty I hear what you’re saying…I was trying to articulate the same in my OP. I know there are many, many talented kids out there. It’s terrifying and pretty darn impressive.
As far as seeking schools with strong merit aid, given our limited financial resources, shouldn’t we first aim for LACs that say they meet 100% need, with merit aid a second choice? My only point of reference: DS #1 is able to go to his chosen LAC thanks to a very good merit aid package, but we are still contributing all we can (comfortably) and he will not be loan-free. I am hoping DS #2 can get into a school that meets need (usually schools with 40% acceptance rate and lower, in my research). We ran some NPCs today just to get an idea, and the schools that claim to meet 100% need spit out numbers that seem to reflect that.
To clarify, I don’t mean that ALL schools with a 40% or lower acceptance rate meet 100% need. I have done my research to determine which on my list are in that category.
Well, there’s your hook! He’s a development academy player playing at the highest boys soccer level in the US.
He doesn’t need to attend summer ID camps, state cup, etc. The US Development Academies play around the entire country all year long. College coaches are everywhere at these games and tournaments. Depending on his playing time and positions needed by the college coaches, a D3 offer is well within the realm of possibilities.
He’s not too young being a junior this year. This is prime time for college coaches to take notice, if not this past Sophomore year. You’ve got to get out there and “press the flesh” if you’ve received no interest so far.
@sushiritto I think I misspoke: he plays for his regional Timbers academy, but it’s not the main one that plays directly under the professional team (when you said they play across the US, I knew we were talking about different things). He is NOT at that high a level. He’s playing all over his state, but only across the US when they go to showcases. So, not quite as hooky of a hook.
True, not quite the hookiest of hooks, but between his excellent stats and these college showcases, he can still catch someone’s eye in the Northeast. If it were me, then starting now, I’d start meeting coaches at these showcases and sending videos.
Also, math is more important than most people think in some of the non-science liberal arts, particularly the social studies where statistical analysis is heavily used. Philosophy, music, and some arts have relation to mathematical thinking.
Consider both schools whose NPCs indicate affordability on need-based aid alone*, and those where merit scholarships would make them affordable. For the merit scholarship schools, assess reach/match/safety based on the needed scholarships (e.g. automatic for his stats = safety, competitive = usually reach). It is possible that his first choice could be in either category.
*Again, don’t make assumptions based on promises to “meet need”; use the NPCs to get estimates since each college defines “need” differently.
I know he has enough reaches on his list, but the OP’s S sounds more like an Eph (Williams) than a Jeff (Amherst) to me. I’d also suggest Middlebury as a reach. Neither give merit money; however, based on the OP’s post, I think going for “pure” financial aid may be the better route than looking for merit money. As an athlete, I think he can get a better early read than just the NPC. Another less selective college which is need only is Franklin & Marshall. It’s got a good soccer team and I think it would qualify as a match.
All of this will be easier to figure out after he has a “real” PSAT in hand and he’s played another season, so the colleges have seen him.
There are a lot of schools that do not promise to meet 100% need, but do fully meet need for many students, and may combine merit aid with need based aid. Lewis & Clark, where your older son goes, is a good example. They can be very generous with high stat students, but they do not promise to meet need for all. But as you fund, they offered a package that was affordable for you.
When you get a school that follows that approach - they are leveraging their aid dollars to attract the students they want the most, and they can often be more generous than the so-called 100% need colleges – which each have their own formula for determining “need” – and may tend to be more strict in adhering to their formulas precisely because they meet full need for everyone. Colleges that combine need based with merit aid also have the ability to create more favorable aid packages, such as using their college merit scholarship to replace self-help (loans and work study).
That brings to me to another misconception – another poster suggested a college that “meets 96% need”, apparently mistakenly believing that the stat reflected a uniform policy --that all students would have 96% of their need met. That is never how it works – those stats mean that some students get 100% need met, and some get nothing, and some get something in between — and it all averages out to 96%. And that percentage can be misleading because it is a very different thing if a student with a $30K EFC gets 100% (or 96%) of their need met as compared to a student with a $0 EFC. You could easily have a need-aware college pump up its stats by admitting a lot of low-need students, whose “need” could be fully met with federal loans & work-study, or very small grants.
For the applicant, it means digging a little deeper to get a sense of which colleges can be generous with need-based aid, and applying to colleges which seem to meet need for many students where the applicant will also be on the upper end of the applicant pool (or be hooked in some way). So don’t shy away from schools just because they don’t always meet need for all of their students – all that matters in the end is whether your son gets the aid he needs, not what happened with other admitted students with weaker stats or without the soccer hook.
soccer - the comment above about making a video is a great idea. my d had zero visibility beyond the vid she put together. then she went to the school sport site and clicked on the 'get recruited' link and submitted her info with the link to her vid. some coaches were interested. others weren't. It might be good to get an impartial opinion on your kid's soccer aptitude so you can go in not expecting more/less than you should.
Also, not all schools value sports the same. some will actively pursue top athletes, some will let the coach pick one or 2, some may say, ok you like this kid but we have the final say. look at the records of the schools in scope and you'll get a feel for what their approach is. my d ended up at a school that does not earmark athtlests - but she's able to play - which is a big plus. as you can imagine, their record reflects this.
safety - be sure to not to ignore this. if OSU is a school he likes and you'll be able to afford, then you're good. But affordability is key. Often, the safety can be the most difficult piece of the puzzle for low-EFC kids. Make sure safety is almost a sure-thing for admission (over 50% admitted and in top 25% of stats), is a school you can almost certainly afford, and is a desirable school for your kid. You may not know all of these things without a doubt, so be on the lookout for EA schools that will give you a December (or earlier) decision.
paying - I agree with you that with a low EFC you are safe targeting the 100% meet need schools, at least from a financial stand-point (but fill out NPCs to be sure). But be careful about admissions and remember that admission won't be a sure thing. So look for the merit schools too (like Alabama or similar). There are lots of LACs that will give merit, but they may not come close to meeting your need. the comment about meeting 96% of need is right on; schools that are in that 90-96% meet need range can vary quite a bit - don't count on them, but don't rule them out either.
