I also wanted to comment on CC classes. Kids may not be assigned as much rigorous work/output as in some schools but you are often paying primarily for a peer group when you go to a more competitive college. Many of the profs teaching at my kid’s urban CC where he is dual enrolled are teaching at other competitive schools as well with the same texts, etc. You do need to be careful though with that if your kid wants to apply as freshman. I just think CC’s can get a bad rap needlessly. They can vary widely but there are some very good quality classes available in a CC setting.
Crossing fingers that something comes through for fall for you!
Forgive me if this sounds naive, but are you worrying prematurely? Assuming your son applied RD, WUSTL, Cornell, GA Tech, and many of the UCs have yet to release admissions decisions, AFAIK.
@“Erin’s Dad”, when a school has an acceptance rate below 35% or so (and for OOS to GTech, it would be well below that), it’s not surprising to see some top quartile kids get rejected as those schools can afford to be ever more holistic in their admissions.
Try Scottish universities. I think they have rolling admissions with the common app and I know for a fact Edinburgh and St A’s have ice hockey teams mostly made up of NE prep school kids with a couple of locals thrown in. His stats are excellent so he will have no issue on admittance. I realize abroad is not for everyone but I suspect he will have a blast and they are competitive academically and price wise.
I believe that GTech is a lot like University of Texas where they take the top whatever percent of in-state high school students (in Texas it’s 7%) to fill more than half of the spots. The misleading thing is that a top 7% student at one school can be very different than the top 7% at another school - so one could have a 1500 SAT with all AP classes and the other could have a 1000 SAT with no AP classes. But they are both top 7% in their school and auto-admit. So, when all these stats come out about the “average” GPA or test score from a particular state school, it really doesn’t apply to out of state applications. Schools like GTech and UT can be very selective about the OOS kids they take in and just because you are way above their average stats, it’s not necessarily a shoe-in. And everyone is correct - I may be worrying prematurely. However, I do know that the caliber of his essays was “meh” at best. And for schools further down his list, it may be glaringly apparent that he only applied as a safety. The more I’ve been reading, the more I feel that his essays could be his downfall. But what’s done is done and we just need to wait!
“He really does not want to go to a community college and take classes that will be taught at a much lower level than a traditional 4-year college.”
You don’t know this. It might be true that a given CC teaches at a lower level than a given 4-year school, but it is not a given that the CC classes will be slower, easier, etc.
But if he really wants to go away to college this year, live in a dorm, etc., he can start at a less selective 4-year school that has later deadlines with an eye to transferring after 1-2 years, just as he would do at CC.
In competitive majors, I have seen 1550 SAT, NMF and 3.9+ kids get denied often from top UCs unless they write good essays. Sort of unfair that great essays can trump great stats but that happens in a system which views certain range of stats as essentially equal. I knew this before my kid decided to apply to Stanford REA with 3.9 gpa and 33 ACT (but still a NMF), so I confidently told him he won’t get denied because he didn’t have perfect GPA or test scores — that his ECs, other talents, essays and luck would determine the outcome.
66. I tend to agree with the OP kid on this one. Our local CC has a deal with kids in the local district. If kids have a 2.0 for four years a certain amount of qualified volunteer hours and only missed a certain amount of days they get 2 free years of tuition. For many kids it’s a great deal. The CC gave the speech to my daughters honors biology class Frosh year. After the presentation the teacher acknowledged tothe kids in the class that no one wants to go there unless they have to. Not only that there still would be a limited amount of classes they could take.
I believe University of Minnesota-Morris is still accepting applications. It’s a small public liberal arts college that has automatic transfer to University of Minnesota Twin Cities. Minnesotans play lots of hockey.
@ClassicRockerDad, I don’t know if Edinburgh has such a program as “Freshman Year Abroad” any more (if they ever did). Many UK (and some American) unis offer Foundation year programs, but those are more for Internationals who’s English isn’t up to par or kids who’s stats/academics aren’t up to par. CC would make more sense than those programs (and possibly be more challenging).
Numerous college accept applications for winter term, so if there isn’t something available for the fall that is a good fit for him then he can consider that option. There are plenty of good schools that will consider applicants after the deadline, but it will be a different list.
But if he really wants to go away to college this year, live in a dorm, etc., he can start at a less selective 4-year school that has later deadlines with an eye to transferring after 1-2 years, just as he would do at CC. <<
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as mentioned before, UAH has a hockey team, and his stats would qualify him for an automatic full-tuition + full-housing scholarship. he can then go about applying as a transfer student without missing a year of college. with that fat scholarship, UAH might even be cheaper than community college. and there is the chance he might like it so much he might stay. in that case you can save that big college bankroll for grad school.
Guys (and gals), it’s been said before on this thread, but this kid isn’t playing NCAA hockey, so pointing out schools with NCAA hockey teams isn’t very useful.
What would be useful is pointing out schools with (not very strong) club hockey teams.
I certainly appreciate the hockey suggestions, but he will be just as happy playing in a local beer league for fun if a school doesn’t have a club team. Hockey is not a deal-killer or maker for college. Feeling more optimistic about future options and will suggest everything from CC or commuter school for a transfer to possible spring applications to gap year. If it comes to that.
He’d be an ideal applicant for the top colleges on the May NACAC list. The May list includes colleges that miscalculated yield. There are always a dozen really good options that surprise everyone but those are snapped up very quickly so he must have his common app ready to go, have his ‘why us’ template in shape, and jump on the essays as soon as the list is published (after contacting the rep whose email also appears on the list <= very important.)