<p>Score choice is another thing we didn’t give two seconds thought to. My daughter was happy with her scores and didn’t retest. This blog post is interesting–seems score choice has complicated things for admissions people:</p>
<p>[The</a> Admission Game - College Planning Blog](<a href=“Errors error404 - Best College Fit”>Errors error404 - Best College Fit)</p>
<p>S2 got his first two acceptances! WPI and Lewis and Clark. In our assessment, these were “low reaches” for him, so he feels great that he got into both!</p>
<p>He still has a few more applications to submit (his #1 and #2 choices) but he and I are both pleased that now he has these options. His grades and scores are not the best (including one F and a D), but he does have a strong E.C. commitment to debate and similar activities. I think both these schools looked at his record holistically.</p>
<p>We got News! S was accepted into Central Connecticut State and Western New England - getting the news so early really relieves some pressure! I think these early letters are the best Christmas presents for all of us in the college process!</p>
<p>mom2sons - congrats! If you don’t mind me asking, did the report card sent to colleges include the grades you mentioned?</p>
<p>PepsMom - Congrats to you too - I know what you mean about relieving the pressure.</p>
<p>Yes, full transcript (minus Sr. year grades) were sent to all EA schools. EA was a bit of a risk, since his first semester Sr. grades were expected to be better. He sent an “unofficial” mid-semester grade report to WPI. L&C never requested it.</p>
<p>S2 also wrote an explanation for his poor grades in Spanish. (The discussion is way back in this thread, but CC advice about discussing his LD was very helpful - thanks, all!) I don’t know if GC discussed the grades in her rec.</p>
<p>Thanks for the heads up on Lewis and Clark mom2sons. I made my D check her e-mail and she got accepted too. She’s pretty jazzed, even it if isn’t her first choice and she’s never seen the campus.</p>
<p>qialah - The L&C campus is gorgeous! One of the prettiest we visited. It’s situated on an old estate. The admissions office in the “manor house”. That’s the pic on the acceptance email. There are many different housing options, and the campus is easy to get around.</p>
<p>Very friendly student body - kind of “crunchy” and outdoorsy, but definitely intellectual. Portland is a great location. My son felt like it was a good fit for him, but we are waiting to see how the rest of the list (and the $$) pans out.</p>
<p>I did enter a visit report, so you might want to check that out.</p>
<p>Regarding FA - I have read on CC and other places the reasons to apply -</p>
<p>And I was going to fill out the CSS Profile today and the FAFSA in Jan. (2 of S’s choices require the CSS for FA.)
Went thru the EFC calculator with the following results:
2 Colleges are below the EFC
1 College was above, but they offered merit, now they are below it
3 Colleges are only 3-6k above the EFC.</p>
<p>I have emailed the schools to ask if filling it out has any bearing on merit - we are savers and planned for college.
While waiting their answer - can anyone advise on whether this is worth applying for?</p>
<p>Mom2sons - We visited WPI, loved it - but S didn’t feel that it was the place for an undecided major person - but Dad and I would not have had a problem if he had chosen it. And oh yes - I know all about Spanish problems from our s…</p>
<p>Pepsmom, the advice I’ve been given is to file the FAFSA for this year. One, it preserves your child’s ability to apply for the small unsubsidized loan available, should you decide it would be useful. I am thinking about using those as incentives for D to get focused on life after college. Perhaps I’ll pay them off as her graduation gift. Just a thought. Second, from what I understand, the FAFSA is a simpler process for subsequent years. Further, and I am just speculating here, but I wonder if filing it might help the chances for an on-campus job one day. Like, “we didn’t give them any need-based aid but let’s find the kid a job if she wants one” type thinking . . . .</p>
<p>I asked this question at Gonzaga and the answer was “Oh, you’ll want to file it this year.” Something was going unsaid there, I don’t know what. Like you I have wondered if it was used in some way for merit aid, but we have two offers here without having filed it yet. Could they get better? Unlikely with our EFC. With the CSS I have heard of colleges asking for it before issuing their admissions decision. That could mean many things, but you may have to do it just to get through the process.</p>
<p>For anyone interested in Seattle U’s merit methodology, we were directed to this web page in recent days: [Seattle</a> University - Undergraduate Admissions - Scholarships](<a href=“http://seattleu.edu/admission/undergraduate/Inner.aspx?id=37010]Seattle”>http://seattleu.edu/admission/undergraduate/Inner.aspx?id=37010)</p>
<p>Holy cow…out of nowhere, my son finished all his applications this weekend and just hit the submit button. He has an arts supplement to complete and send along, which he’ll work on over Christmas break, but other than that, he’s done. Phew! I was preparing for things to go right down to the wire.</p>
<p>digdig, thanks for the reply…
I just hate going thru the rig-a-ma-roll (did I spell that right?) and cost of filing the CSS, and if I’m not filing that for the colleges that req. it, why even bother with the FAFSA? </p>
<p>Like you, we have received an acceptance along with a merit offer. And they stated that if we file for FA it may reduce the merit… That has me worried - Better to get all merit than have it reduced with a student loan - although I agree with you totally that some burden should be on the student.</p>
<p>With us being so close in costs to the EFC…well, I’ve been dragging my feet on filling it out, and with the new acceptance letter with merit offered, I’ve been questioning - Do we really want to go there…</p>
<p>I did contact 1 school previously and they did say that work student programs are offered if you do FAFSA…but I don’t want to mess up merit - I think once on campus, if a kid wants to work, there will be opportunities…
Or maybe I’m wrong…</p>
<p>It is ridiculously murky, isn’t it? If you have an acceptable offer in hand I would say don’t mess with it. Can we simply count on the colleges that want more info to ask for it?</p>
<p>And yes, the CSS cost is obscene. College Board needs to get out of the business end of the business.</p>
<p>nightchef, nice feeling, isn’t it? Two more to go here.</p>
<p>mom2, peps and qialah, congrats!</p>
<p>dig, I think secrecy based on competition concerns is largely an east coast issue. With so many selective schools in driving range, it is common for 50 kids from the same HS to be looking at, for example, Penn/Columbia/Cornell/Brown/Dartmouth, or Amherst/Williams/ Wesleyan/Haverford/Swarthmore or Carnegie/Lehigh/Lafayette/Bucknell–and to be having trouble picking a favorite.
Knowing that, say, a max of 4 will get in ED and a max of 3 more RD at any 1 Ivy, a kid who thinks Penn is the greatest place is not guilty of hubris in not telling anyone about it–he/she simply does not to do anything which might tip the scales for kids weighing ED applications to Cornell, Columbia, Brown, etc to switch to Penn and raise the already formidable odds. This year, more kids than usual applied ED to Duke–and less kids than usual got in, with some of them figuring, rightly or wrongly, that the influx hurt a lot of kids’ chances.
The same thing happens with popular Ivy safety schools—in 2008, all 9 applicants to Tulane were accepted; in 2009, it became a popular safety school and 25 kids applied–but only 12 were accepted and parents of some of the unlucky 13 felt many of the lucky 12 had no intention of attending, whereas their kids did.
This does not happen with in state public schools, where everyone knows 70 kids are applying and 75-80 would make no difference or distant schools, where a significant number of added applicants is unlikely.</p>
<p>Generally, colleges do not require the FAFSA or CSS for merit scholarships. But you should double check to be sure. Personally, I believe that finacial aid questions are a legitimate reason for parents to call the admissions office. Most FA offices are very helpful.</p>
<p>I would file CSS at schools only if you expect your EFC < COA-Merit, or if you think the institutional methodology works in your favor (due to family situation). </p>
<p>FAFSA is required for federal student loans, and is worth filing in case you ever want to take advantage of the loan. There is no fee. S1 has a modest loan, and S2 will as well. Since we parents are paying for the cost of a private education, I want them to have some “skin in the game” too. </p>
<p>At S1 school, they did not reduce merit scholarship with the loan. Work study is only available for kids whose EFC < COA. The availability of non work-study work varies by campus. There is not a lot available for under-classmen at S1 school, but he was able to pick up a few hours of grading.</p>
<p>Hi all, this is my first post but I’ve been looking for quite a while, particularly this thread. MY D’s first choice school is also her big stretch school. She has her app in RD but still has time to change to ED if that would help her chances. I believe that ED admits are usually the best qualified, something that she is not. I think her only chance is RD, after the school is done with ED when she could possibly get in depending on how many more kids they need to approve to get their yield. Am I way off base here?</p>
<p>2010, welcome! AT some schools, at least, I respectfully disagree with your view that ED admits are the best qualified. If your school uses Naviance, you can compare the stats of ED and RD admits (there may be other sources as well, plus you can ask the school). I believe you will see many schools where the ED bar is set lower, because those schools receive many applicants who use their school as a safety.</p>
<p>Remember, too, that ED kids are basically saying they will accept whatever aid is offered. Accordingly, ED kids boost a school’s yield of accepted applicants and may cost less per student in aid (although schools usually deny ED kids are treated any differently for aid purposes).</p>
<p>Certain schools–Muhlenberg and Franklin & Marshall, among others–fill a very large percentage of their slots ED.</p>
<p>I also believe, although others may disagree, that being deferred ED would not be an RD kiss of death if you were in the general RD ballpark, so ED may give you 2 chances, rather than one.</p>
<p>So check that school’s stats as soon as you can. </p>
<p>Finally, you of course need to be comfortable that your child will thrive at a major reach school.</p>
<p>Best of luck.</p>
<p>Thanks for your advice. If she did apply ED and was deferred to RD that would give her two chances to get in and not make the wait any longer than it already is. I will check the Naviance stats as well, appreciate that tip. Also she is a legacy at this stretch school and we have always supported the college but in a consistent fashion not necessarily a financially generous fashion. And financial aid isn’t needed.</p>
<p>As far as thriving, her problem has always been that she excels in English, History, Social Sciences etc, but struggles in Math related areas, bringing down her GPA and Math SAT scores. I suspect that will continue in whatever college she goes to.</p>
<p>Good luck. I believe it is also common at schools to favor legacies ED–some give them nonbinding ED. You might check, if you have not already, with the alumni relations part of the website or the alumni relations office–they may disclose legacy ED stats or give you advice if you call. Note that some schools require ED kids to interview.</p>
<p>Your GC might also know their ED vs. RD level of difficulty.</p>
<p>You can also contact admissions and ask–I think they have no incentive not to tell you the truth (and suspect they will encourage ED if it is her clear first choice).</p>
<p>I am obviously no expert on an unnamed school (or probably even named schools), but I will be very surprised, given the legacy status being in the picture as well, if she does not have a better chance ED than RD.</p>
<p>Good luck.</p>
<p>thanks, will contact the Alumni Relations dept and keep all posted on her search.</p>
<p>OK, I’m a little confused about the whole merit aid and how it affects FA. If my son has received a $15,000 merit award, and qualifies for $10,000 in FA, will he get an additional $10,000 or will they figure it is covered by the merit $$$?</p>
<p>warriorboy–unfortunately the answer is generally (B). The details vary somewhat, but as it’s been explained to us at most colleges, need-based aid will only be offered up to the point where your calculated need is zero. So if your need was calculated to be less than or equal to $15K, then the $15K merit award would reduce your need to zero and you would get no need-based aid.</p>