<p>Please help us newbie parents with pointers and tips............about your childs college selection and even better if you have older children happy at their choice of college.</p>
<p>I am starting out now with son a rising senior at an international school. We cannot visit many colleges as we have a 20+ hour plane journey coming up. Getting into Houston to see Rice, Trinity, UT and Texas A&M, then off to LA and looking at some 2nd tier there and then driving to SF.</p>
<p>DS is a B student with high SAT so makes it very complicated. Wants to avoid cold weather.</p>
<p>Would love to know from experienced parents if your kids are happy where they are and what really matters in the end is that they are safe and happy. If you dont mind sharing which college they are at.</p>
<p>My son is a graduating senior with a high ACT (33) and a B+ average, so somewhat similar to yours. As you are probably aware, the 2009 graduating class is the largest ever, but 2010 will exceed that. Plus the economy has messed up the school’s calculations (this may be fixed for 2010). Based on my son’s results, I would say this was a weird year.</p>
<p>What that meant for my son is that he did not get into any of his reach schools (Umich Out of state -waiting list, UNC OOS, UVA OOS, William and Mary OOS waiting list, and Duke). He did get into honors programs at schools that were matches for him (American, Rutgers, Maryland College Park, Northeastern). The only college he got into that he didn’t get honors was SUNY Binghamton (which doesn’t choose honors until the class has accepted).</p>
<p>At the American accepted students day, I heard patterns of acceptances which were odd… like I said this was a weird year.</p>
<p>He choose American and I think he will be happy there.</p>
<p>Yes, this year seems really hard on these kids and its not getting any better. We are so removed from the scene that its even harder. Our HS is good but teachers are really tough and getting an A is very hard.</p>
<p>DS is bright - very sharp but hates the slow life and how one subjects takes the entire year to learn! He is good at math and has taken a few AP courses so far. We will be OOS everywhere and to pay 50+k for a so-so college will not be fun!</p>
<p>Wondering if his 209 PSAT score int’l will qualify him for merit aid for 2nd or 3rd tier colleges, where education is still good minus the prestige perhaps.</p>
<p>We are looking at colleges strong in Engineering and CS.</p>
<p>PSAT itself doesn’t really count towards merit aid but it is a good indicator of what the eventual SAT or ACT score will be that does count. My son got good merit aid from American and Rutgers. </p>
<p>The way it was explained to me, use the SAT middle 50% range - if your son’s score is in the top 25% then he may qualify for merit aid. Then check the percentage of freshmen who get merit aid for that school. But they also may have some hard and fast guidelines.</p>
<p>For example, he got into Pittsburgh (in the top 25% and got honors) but missed the cut off for merit aid (it was an ACT of 34 and his was 33)</p>
<p>Thank you Katy, I remember reading that post once. For DS, I am quite worried about finding a good match for him. We have moved often, left NY when he was 4 and now 12 years later have moved 4 times.</p>
<p>Having no family nearby, no uncle aunts and cousins to interact with has been hard on him. He has had to make new friends and for boys its not that easy…but he has survived.</p>
<p>Main goal now is to find a new home for 4 years for him, where he will thrive and be happy. He wants to go right into CS courses, has learnt a lot on his own. He is forever on the internet reading up and is very excited to go back to the US. The colleges he thought he could get into are high reaches for him such as UCLA, UCB. USC seems like a reach also. We are not sure how Cal Poly Slo acceptance rate this year.</p>
<p>Anyone out there can suggest schools with good CS programs…</p>
<p>pixeljig- you said “DS is bright - very sharp but hates the slow life and how one subjects takes the entire year to learn!”- check out colleges that have the “block plan”- meaning you only take one class at a time; each class is only a few weeks, but very fast-paced. Two to check out are Cornell COLLEGE (in Iowa I think?), and Colorado College (my dad went to Colorado College and loved it!).</p>
<p>pixeljig,<br>
As S is interested in Engineering and CS and given his B average, UCLA and UCB are probably far reaches, but there are some other UCs that are well worth considering.</p>
<p>UCD is another one to consider. S2 is currently in their college of engineering. UCD offers a real ‘college town’ experience.</p>
<p>Our California state university and college system is one of the best, but given our state’s financial crisis there are bound to be significant cuts in state funding and increased tuition costs over the next few years</p>
<p>Thank you, I will read about those colleges online. I would be a bit worried about the drinking/pot culture of UCSC. UCD was on my list, but I have read here that it is difficult to get in nowadays…though it seems like an excellent place for my son.</p>
<p>He would love to be in Calif because he wants to eventually start up his own company in the valley. He has a good plan set up and is working towards it already. If he had a choice he would skip college and go straight into his own.</p>
<p>UCSC’s reputation as a party school is out of date. There are a lot of very good students doing CS at UCSC; there are also students whose main interest is in the arts. It’s representative of the UC schools generally: diverse, with high-achieving students who want to be at a UC, but would easily get into another school. There many, many opportunities for students who want to do CS, and sciences generally. Good luck!</p>
<p>pixeljig, there are plenty of excellent engineering/science schools out there that are relatively easy to get into. Purdue, Georgia Tech, Illinois and Rose-Hulman provide a better engineering/science education with higher acceptance rates than the UC’s and Cal Poly</p>
<p>Pixejig…my important tip is to see as many schools as possible while they are ‘in session’. My daughter was clearly more interested in those schools that we visited that were in session. Got more of a feel for campus life and how lively a school was. Though I don’t know much about computer science programs, I would look into U of Arizona…with good SAT scores he may score some scholarship money. They take a look at the “whole applicant” rather than just going by a score or chart, so the B’s shouldn’t be an issue. Definately a fun college atmosphere, football games, fun town, lots and lots of clubs and activities…not cold (sorry Mollie above…Colorado is too cold for me!). Dorms are nice though housing is limited. Visits are so important. My DD turned down some of her early acceptances in the midwest after making a January trip to see them…reality of cold weather finally set in. Good luck! We’re here for you!</p>
<p>re: UCSC’s reputuation as pot smoking/party school.</p>
<p>There is pot smoking and partying at practically ALL, if not all, colleges and universities. I don’t think you can completely discount the reputations. It is not to say that there are no serious students at UCSC, (I’m an alum with degrees in Math and CS) it is just at some schools it is certainly more the norm, so can present challenges. UCSC for pot smoking. UCSB for drinking, UCD for cows and not much going on, UCB for cut-throat competition etc.</p>
<p>If OP’s S really wants to be near the valley then San Jose State is another option. That said, my 2c for OP’s S is to go to the best school for his interests, and worry about the valley later.</p>
<p>Santa Clara sounds like a good match for him and is located in Silicon Valley. It’s also the type of school that gives decent ‘merit’ aid to get kids who can pay most. I can’t see paying $45K for a UC now given the budget crisis. In many cases you need to plan on it taking five years to graduate.</p>
<p>Sorry but the budget crisis was mentioned. Virtually all the state schools are impacted. That means you often can’t get classes and now can’t even get in to the school. SJSU for engineering is a valid choice but not worth the effort for out of state folks. They just cut their enrollment and their staff for budget reasons and are accepting out of state folks last. Since so many people are looking for less expensive alternatives, the school is pretty much swamped out.</p>
<p>UCD is the hidden star in your list. Kind of out in the boonies, but well recognized for CS. </p>
<p>All schools are party schools if you’re looking to party. UCSC has an excellent rep in the fields listed earlier and is another hidden gem. </p>
<p>But again, if you’re hoping for California, apply way early to even have a shot.</p>
<p>I appreciate all your comments - and yes, there is going to be smoking and drinking at ALL schools. Kids have to learn to handle it eventually.</p>
<p>I looked at UCSC website and it looked suitable. Haven’t researched U of Arizona/ASU/SJSU as yet.</p>
<p>I thought Gtech acceptance rate will be difficult but yes thats on his short list although we will not be able to visit since I am not too well and not sure whether DS will go without me! I may just do TX n CA schools with him.</p>
<p>He wants to go to school where it will be fun yet offer him opportunities to learn what he is interested in rather than history, modern language etc. he says he has had enough of all this already in HS.</p>