<p>Wow, jmmom did get off! :confused:</p>
<p>Anyway, sorry that I hijacked your thread, DrDrewsmom. You are a fast learner, though;)! I have not even mastered lists yet:o.</p>
<p>No problem yemaya....on my other BB I'm the hijack queen :o</p>
<p>DrDrewsmom, I remember what it was like when I decided it was time to take the college bull by the horns. The acronyms, the choices, the stress -- it's quite overwhelming. I think you'll get good advice both general and specific on this board.</p>
<p>First off, I would second Intereddad's comment: Take Stanford (and Harvard and Princeton and Yale if interested) and just put them to the side for now. Definitely apply, but consider them the cherry on the sundae. My best advice -- which sounds contradictory -- is aim high and love thy safety. Locating and visiting safeties is the hardest and most important part of the college search process. Everyone loves Stanford. You and your son need to learn to love a school at which he's guaranteed admission (and that doesn't make you feel queasy). If he doesnt have a good safety -- he only needs one -- then you're going to have a lot of sleepless nights between December and May.</p>
<p>The guidance counselor can be a good source of information, but is not the end all and be all. Parents really need to be advocates in this very complex process. No one knows your kid as well as you do. </p>
<p>What you and your son should do now is make a long list of all other colleges that sound good. You can divide them up however you like -- reach, match, safety, by geography, by sports division -- it doesn't matter, just get a list of about 30. The next step is to research by reading, talking etc and get to a visit list. Maybe plan to visit 15 or so. Then after you've visited and have a clearer focus, your son can zero in on 8-10 to apply to. Since he's going after some super selective, I'd say 10 is more appropriate.</p>
<p>Your son has some very good things going for himself: Baseball, Idaho, #1 rank, SAT Math, GPA. The weak verbal at this point is a weak link. He's got some time to work on that. How are his writing skills otherwise? From his GPA he must be doing okay in English and Social Studies as well as math/science. If that's the case then perhaps his recommendations can explain and compensate for the lower verbal as demonstrated writing ability is important to selective colleges. Has he taken the ACT? Some kids find they do better on it than the SAT. I believe most colleges accept either (but please verify).</p>
<p>Coincidentally, one of my son's suitemates (a female) at Williams happens to be an athlete from Idaho. Williams is strong in baseball. They don't offer engineering (though they do offer a 3/2 program with Columbia) or architecture degrees per se, but many students go on to graduate school in these fields. I believe that your son would be very appealing to many LACs.</p>
<p>Welcome and good luck.</p>
<p><a href="http://www.naab.org/cal_cat1724/cal_cat.htm%5B/url%5D">http://www.naab.org/cal_cat1724/cal_cat.htm</a></p>
<p>This is the link for the agency that accredits schools for architecture. As Susan stated in her posts some schools have programs that are accredited for licensure and other schools have majors in architecture. If you major in arch as an undergrad in a program that is not the B of Arch than in order to practice a student must complete a graduate level program that is accredited. </p>
<p>Both of these programs (B of Arch and Masters) are on the website. Just check the type of program wanted and the list will pop up for what schools have the programs.</p>
<p>My DD (the senior) unlike Susan's DD who is at Brown studying arch wanted a 5 year program and pursued those schools. She also applied to some schools who did not have the NAAB program but had arch as a major same as Susan's DD because she really liked the school and the arch curriculm they did have. Not every arch curriculm is the same, they can vary significantly. And some do require portfolios and have much earlier deadlines than the school as a whole.</p>
<p>Also if your son does want to play DI or DII ball he needs to register his senior year with the NCAA clearinghouse. Their website gives clear instructions on how to do it.</p>
<p>My son the junior also had a lopsided SAT, same as your son, high Math lower verbal. He had a 600 V and re-took a month later after some prep from the 10 Real Sats and went up 70 points. He is keeping 670V and his 750M. He too is also ranked 1/474 with 7 APs this year, 3 last year and I have no idea for next year since they are running low on supply!! He is just not a great test taker as far as verbal but scored a 4 on his AP USH last May. I don't think he wants a social science major but with him everything is in the air.</p>
<p>The other posters have been right on with all their advice, no you are not too early to start searching and if your son has other interests that should also be noted. My oldest DS is a college freshman at a D3 school (LAC) and plays football for them. He was recruited to play D1 ball but did not want the committment, pressure or bruises and is thoroughly enjoying himself at his school. He too had a very high math SAT and lower verbal, but as a physics major it did not seem to have an impact on his admittance ability nor scholarship packages.</p>
<p>Kat</p>
<p>The combined SAT score is important....cause it can "influence" the pile the app ends up in. </p>
<p>My DH is very pragmatic...and when our child's first round of SAT scores came in, he had a 1490 total, hubby was quite adamant that it wasn't enough for any of the top schools, that a kid needs 1500 period ... I was really surprised by the strength of his opinion about 10 pts, such an arbitrary line if you will. So, we added SAT books to the AP book stack, paid for a class at local HS....had a few random vocabulary drills whenever we felt we could risk DS's ire.....ultimately, verbal went up 20 pts, and he got his 1510. Hubby was immediately done with his concern....and the focus moved to other components of the application package, ie essay. In hindsight, I wish I had understood the arbitrary line better...so much of the college admission process is personal for us as parents, and quite the opposite for the schools. </p>
<p>The parent who commented that all kids want to go to Stanford is right on target, do whatever you can to broaden your child's list.....not that he can't get into Stanford, but the competition is fierce. There are sooo many ways that kids distinguish themselves, all is takes is the First Horn player to be another Idaho kid and your geographic diversity advantage is shot. I continue to say, "love all your choices, hope you get into 3 so you have a choice." </p>
<p>CC is an incredible resource...great voices here, tons of experience, perspective and humor too. You are not too early in your exploration. Best wishes for next 14 mos..... which should get you thru graduation!!</p>
<p>Kat,
Just curious, you said that your son was going to keep the last SAT score of 670v and 750m but your son is a junior. Are all the colleges he's applying for going to accept the old SAT? And if he takes the new one, will they take the best verbal and math scores from the old and new one?</p>
<p>DrDrewsmom--Welcome to CC. H and I lived in Moscow, ID, for a couple of years and loved it there. Are you in northern or southern ID?</p>
<p>Little Mother: We live in a city right next to Boise. Were you at U of I?
We have been here almost 5 years and I really hope we don't stay in Idaho forever. It has advantages, I guess (lower housing costs, less traffic, less crime) but I prefer Seattle, rain and all. I always joke that we moved from the Evergreen state to the Everbrown state :rolleyes:
Also, I had a great job there which I gave up when we moved here for DH's job. That of course affected my attitude ;)</p>
<p>DrDrewsmom--Yes, we were Vandals (H was in grad school and I worked part-time and took courses part-time). Southern ID's climate and topography is totally different from that of the panhandle. If you travel up Moscow way, you'll find your Evergreen state again!</p>
<p>Yep, already been to Moscow a few times. I actually grew up in eastern WA so we went to Coeur d'Alene all the time. IMO, CDA and Ketchum/Sun Valley are the only "pretty" parts of ID. McCall is nice too :)</p>
<p>DrDrewsmom,
My husbands first cousin lives in Boise. He and his wife met while attending college at Boise State. Their middle daughter graduated last year from a college in Seattle and their youngest is now a HS junior. We visited Idaho a few years ago and thought Boise was just beautiful. We tubed down the river - I have never been so cold in August in my life. For years they had been asking us to come out and visit and we were really glad we did. We had driven up to Boise from Colorado, where my in-laws live, and the scenery in between was pretty boring but once we got there I really liked it.</p>
<p>DrDrewsmom- Welcome! One of the CC posters, Patient, has a son at Stanford who plays baseball and caseyatthebat has a baseball player at Dartmouth, I think. You might want to check out their posts on the old forum for their insights on the college admissions process. Good luck!</p>
<p>Kathiep-
From the schools son has looked at they wanted either the new SAT or the old with the SAT II writing. And some said either was fine. And as soon as he explained that the SAT fee waivers were for two fee waivers only and those were used (2 for SAT I, two for SAT II) the adcom reps he spoke with said no problem. DD#2 (a senior now) ran into the same problem, and when she told them that was it for taking the test, that was it.</p>
<p>Son is signed up for the SAT II (it was supposed to be in January but was postponed due to weather here in NC until this Sat.) Son needed to take his SAT I early (his sophomore and freshman years) because the summer programs he has applied to and attended needed SAT scores.</p>
<p>And getting him to take the SAT was like pulling teeth! He was fine with his APs, and he is fine with his calc tests but SAT...that was another story. His two older sibs refused to take it more than once, and they refused to budge. It has seemed to work out for the best, both are at schools they love, studying what they love and are on full scholarship. So I can't complain now, and the younger ones use that to their advantage. </p>
<p>He has some ideas on where he would like to go, based on programs and interest and then he has some he will not consider. Like I said, he is more of a loose cannon then his older sibs.</p>
<p>Kat</p>
<p>I have been in contact with Drdrewsmom privately, but want to add to the Idaho portion of this thread: a good friend of mine and her husband own a FANTASTIC restaurant in Sandpoint called City Beach Bistro. And the lake is really fun in the summer. An interesting state, Idaho.</p>
<p>Kat - gotcha. I remember last fall there was a thread asking who's junior kids would be taking the old SAT and who's were just going to take the new SAT. Xiggi came on and said something like it would be best to take the PSAT in the fall, then the old SAT in January and the new one in the Spring. Or something like that. Well, yeah, it would best for my son to study for the SAT everyday and take one of the practice tests every week. However, unless I can somehow sneak SAT prep stuff into World of Warcraft, it's not going to happen. He's going to take the March SAT and the April ACT.</p>
<p>Not that you've asked for any suggestions but have you thought about having your son take the ACT? In case he wants to look at colleges between now and applying time he may well come up with a college that will not accept the old SAT. You could probably get a fee waiver for that and from what I've read, the ACT follows the HS curriculum more and minimal studying would be needed. Just a buttinsky suggestion.</p>
<p>"My best advice -- which sounds contradictory -- is aim high and love thy safety. Locating and visiting safeties is the hardest and most important part of the college search process."</p>
<p>Ditto. The safety is always the most important school on the list, and, surprisingly, after all is said and done, there are many applicants that end up preferring their safety to the more selective schools to which they are admitted. (And in your particular case, the "safety" may be the one where your son is assured he can play! What would be so "wonderful" about riding the bench at Stanford? - I can hardly imagine anything worse for a committed athlete.)</p>
<p>And on the Idaho thread, I teach my little day care kids where various states are located on the map. They think it's fun, and it looks impressive to the parents. Anyway, each state has some fact attached to help the kids remember it. And every kid I have can find Idaho because that's where they make the French Fries :)</p>
<p>Peg</p>
<p>"However, unless I can somehow sneak SAT prep stuff into World of Warcraft, it's not going to happen."</p>
<p>Unless you change the credit card number that pays for the subscription(s), that is a hard battle to win. Most people have no idea how addictive games like WOW or Everquest truly are -I know first-hand! It is almost impossible to control the online time, and contrary to CC, the games are not good candidates for multitasking. The only way to reduce the time is to quit cold turkey and delete the game from the computer. I wish I was joking!</p>
<p>With S and his friends (and even his AP calc teacher!) it's all about Halo/Halo2...</p>
<p>Anyway. thanks kissy and everyone else who's given so much info. I never realized how much I didn't know about this whole process until I started reading these threads.
Idaho and french fries, huh? When we moved here I was thoroughly laughed at for not knowing who JR Simplot was/is :rolleyes:</p>
<p>patient, you are right about Sandpoint! It is a very nice place...but quite far from where we are (although closer to where I grew up). Unfortunately, it is much closer to where the neo-nazi types are :eek:</p>
<p>I had a distinctly creepy feeling driving through Hayden Lake on my way to Bonners Ferry. I thought someone was going to take a potshot at the rental car. As it turned out, I did get a chip in my windshield in Sandpoint.</p>