Does the student need Kosher meals? Is a campus with an active Hillel organization preferable?
no on the kosher or needing hillel. Its more that I doubt their son would want to take religious studies or attend a school that focuses on that.
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Ole Miss might be an option as well. Has about 10,000 students, I think. Good out of state merit scholarships.
What’s the target $ amount per year that the student’s family is hoping to pay? Also, what major(s) are of interest?
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For mid-sized schools that might interest your friend’s kid:
- Christopher Newport (VA): About 4400 undergrads. Many students who don’t get into William & Mary end up coming here.
- College of Charleston (SC): About 10k undergrads
- Elon (NC): About 6300 undergrads. This thread talks more about it: Elon Got "Hot". Why?
- Georgia College & State: About 5300 undergrads
- Mercer (GA): About 4900 undergrads.
- U. of Tampa (FL): About 9600 undergrads
If Trinity (TX) with about 2500 undergrads was a contender in terms of size, then some other potential schools to consider might be:
- Florida Southern: About 2700 undergrads
- Furman (SC): About 2300 undergrads…might be a little reachy, but not unreachable
- Rhodes (TN): About 2k undergrads…might be a little reachy, but not unreachable
- Rollins (FL): About 2600 undergrads
- Stetson (FL): About 2600 undergrads
- Wofford (SC): About 1800 undergrads
Thanks! . Some of those schools are going n my radar. Btw for some reason I thought he was a Senior but still a junior.
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D24 said yesterday that she signed up for the U of A info session that’s happening at her HS later this month during a school day. Counselor gave a mini-lecture to everybody on proper etiquette expected for such sessions…basically the equivalent of “don’t be an arrogant butthead.”
D24 has loaded all of her classes & grades from her HS transcript into the Common App. Is also resisting my requests for her to work on essays…kid says, “Ms. ___ is gonna have us do that later! Come ON!” Ok, fine. 
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Those optional “use this space to tell us anything else you want us to know not obvious from your application” are super annoying. He wants to use the space to add more but hadn’t suffered any COVID hardships that caused low grades, nothing stressful or major to talk about. But it does not feel optional. Oh and the other part of that question says “ and why this would make you a good candidate for success at our school “. Thoughts?
While many things that say they are optional on applications really are not optional, last year the discussions I heard around this question were that it truly is optional. Only use it if you actually have something that you think needs to be covered that has not already been said in your application.
ETA: I reread your post and I think I may be talking about a different question. I’m talking about the optional “anything else” Common App question. But maybe you are talking about one that is school specific?
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Yes this is a specific school “additional questions”
Is there anything he wasn’t able to fit in somewhere else on the application? If so, this is where he could put that info.
But if he feels his application is strong and complete without that optional space, I don’t think he should feel it necessary to fill it. Sometimes knowing when and how to edit/ignore space made available is just as important.
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At my school anyway, optional means optional. I queried an admissions officer directly on that; they have always been straightforward with alumni interviewers. The AO dean even ran workshops for us on exactly how they evaluate applications, so while it’s ultimately a subjective process it’s also a transparent one.
I can’t say for sure what the thinking is for this particular school, but one way to interpret their words is
"Tell us anything else you want us to know that’s not obvious from your application. But not literally anything. This isn’t the place for you to ramble on regarding your thoughts on World Peace. What we’re interested in are any other specific things which speak to why you would be a good fit at our school.“
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Anyone else’s kid starting to freak out about this whole college thing? S24 admitted to me a couple weeks ago that he is feeling really sad about “leaving everything he knows” and heading off to college. It has been making him feel sad, anxious and overwhelmed at times. He is super outgoing and says he is not worried about not meeting people or making friends, he just is sad about leaving his home and friends and things “never feeling the same”. Today we worked on his activities list for a school that has extra questions on the Common App. He also spent time on one of the supplementals where he has to pick two majors and then write about why those two majors. He told me he has spent the entire summer questioning if he even still wants to do political science and feeling like he has no idea what he wants to do and seemed really in the dumps about all of this. I reassured him that most kids do not know what they want to major in, even once they are at school, and that a lot of these schools ask for majors in their applications to get a sense of numbers in each school, so they do not end up with 75% of admitted students in the same program. That nothing is set in stone or permanent, etc., etc. I know he is exhausted from football starting (they are up at 5am daily for a 5 hour practice), summer work for AP class, college stuff, etc. Everything is worse when you are tired. Anyway, just wondering if anyone else has a kid who has expressed these types of feelings. I know it is all normal and I am trying to just let him feel how he feels, but also do not want these feelings to prevent him from getting his apps done- the longer he waits the busier he will be. Classes start September 5 and once they star he will have no time for anything.
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S23 college counselor said to definitely use this space if there is something on your application that may stand out (in a not so good way) or if you want to explain something. She says " make sure you write the story and don’t let them fill in any blanks". If this is not the case for your son it is okay to leave it blank as it is truly optional
This, however, is something you should definitely answer. If it’s part of the first question, spend time researching the website and all of the programs and opportunities the school offers. Especially if they have unique offerings that resonate with you although even something like a residential learning community you are interested in is something you could address as “something you should know about me is my interest in…” and how they could contribute to that. Addressing this question shows interest, that you’ve done your research and you’ve thought about becoming a contributing member of their community. (S23 used the word “community” a lot when answering these types of questions).
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He is not alone. This year is going to be different and hard on so many different levels. Just take baby steps.
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S24 got home from camp yesterday. Preseason begins tomorrow. He had a lot of class of 23 friends and most left for college while he was away. Glad they had a last hurrah in July.
We haven’t done any college related stuff as he’s been away. I’m letting him enjoy the next week and then we’ll dive in. The biggest challenge right now is girlfriend is leaving for college. He’ll have more time after that. I’m not looking forward to those few days after.
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Houston, we have an essay!!! 
S24 finished his common app essay this afternoon, and it is really good. I’m proud of him. I helped him come up with ideas to shorten the 888 words to 650- he is definitely wordy unnecessarily. Now into the supplementals…
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our update…
We just got back from a quick trip to look at schools in upstate NY. We looked at Binghamton, Syracuse and RIT. Overall feeling from all of us (including D24) was we liked them all and think she could be happy at any of them. Of all 3, I would rank Syracuse the lowest, as it just seemed less impressive overall (save for the stunning campus architecture and proximity to a cute strip of shops and restaurants). But, it would be “fine” I think. D24 will only apply there if the Tuition Exchange ends up being an option (my employer only offers export applications to 5 employees, it is a lottery system). Otherwise, she won’t bother, as it is too expensive and not worth trying to make it work.
I loved both Bing and RIT. Was absolutely blown away by RIT, actually. I just wish it was a little closer to home (Bing seems ideal distance).
D24 has decided to take Delaware off of her list, and to add the university where I work…“just in case” she doesn’t feel ready to fully launch at this time next year. We are going to look at TCNJ in a few weeks and then it will be go time. Assuming TCNJ looks good, I think her list (with my thoughts on her chances) will be:
Rowan (safety)
My employer (safety)
TCNJ (target)
Binghamton (target/reach?)
Syracuse (target)
RIT (target/reach)
Stevens (reach)
At the Binghamton admissions presentation, the speaker talked about the importance of having a strong essay…D24 is still really at a loss as to what to write about. I would like to suggest a few of the small writing exercises @sbinaz had her D work on, to get her juices flowing, but D24 is currently mired down in getting her summer work for her 3 AP classes finished. School starts two weeks from tomorrow. It’s getting real now!
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Is there a place on the Common App to upload a resume? If so, where? We can’t find it. A couple schools require it and that is listed separately, but the general Common App doesn’t;t seems to have a spot, or we missed it.
No place in CommonApp to upload resume.
It’s school-specific. Some colleges allow resumes to be uploaded.
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D24 got a job offer today at Taco Bell!
The school counselor has told the seniors to not work on their common app essays yet, so I’m cooling my jets w/the kid and I’m backing off.
Counselor told the seniors today that in last year’s senior class, 1 of the seniors was a TA during 1 period for a 4th grade class. And on the ‘senior walk’ day in Feb (last day that the seniors have class on campus in person before their senior projects start), all of the kids in that 4th grade class made home-made signs for the senior and cheered for him as he walked past them in his cap and gown. My eyes get sweaty with respect just thinking about it!
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