Thanks! UVA would have been cool, but my general opinion is that undergrad matters less than grad school for so many subjects (and the hard sciences is one of them as long as you get research opportunities, which he does at Tech).
Tech is also like $8k/year cheaper.
I’ve really liked your posts on this forum, they’ve been a lot of help narrowing things down.
He will thrive at Tech! My S is a sophomore in engineering there now and my 18 year old is also hoping for an acceptance this month. I’ve eaten on campus numerous times and the food is great!
For engineering - UVA, Va Tech or name your school - ranked or not - likely won’t make a difference.
Even for grad school in engineering - likely not.
From what I’ve seen but I don’t know in full - but some companies don’t want grad school - too much $$.
They want you to do it while you’re there (where they already have you and then don’t have to pay you more) or another discipline like business. There are definitely jobs that want grad school but it appears most don’t. Just an observation - right or wrong.
I don’t think it matters where you go but I also don’t think Va Tech takes a back seat to anyone.
My son is a 3.7 student with a 30 ACT. No honors, IB, AP classes until his senior year. He is taking 2 IB classes now. Decent EC’s (involved in run crew for theater, plays in band outside of school, good community volunteer activities). He has been accepted at Baylor, Fordham, Emerson, Elon, Drexel, Loyola Chicago, and Belmont. Still waiting to hear from NYU, BU, LMU, Pepperdine, and DePaul. Probably will only get into Pepperdine and DePaul. He is planning on Film/TV. Got merit to many of schools already. Good student, but nothing crazy and he is getting into solid schools.
D24 and I are working on her list. She’s also interested in film, and it looks like we have some overlap in schools.
Did your son receive merit from Fordham? D24 is obsessed with Fordham, but I’m wary of their rising tuition. She likes Pitt as a second choice, which is much more affordable.
I think posting results on CC is good practice and helps future families. We’re done now too so I’ll try to add to the mix
D23 has a 3.6-3.7 UW and applied everywhere test optional. She has good ECs, Varsity Cheer Captain, Track, Leadership, part-time job. 6 APs.
Accepted everywhere she applied with merit everywhere. If anyone wants numbers or anything I’m happy to share.
Baylor
Furman
Southwestern
Sewanee
Creighton
Elon
Hope
Butler
Trinity U
Miami (Ohio)
ETA She’s down to Hope, Butler, and Trinity U and waiting on scholarship info for a final decision
Yes, got 19.5k to Fordham (Lincoln Center). Got zero merit to Emerson. It will likely come down to those 2 schools for Film. He loves New York, but he is not 100% sold on Fordham for Film. Any insights would be great.
I hope this helps future applicants:
DS applied early action with 3.7 unweighted and 2 IB classes (2 years each). Test Optional.
Admitted with merit Trinity University
Admitted with merit OOS Colorado School of Mines
Deferred University of Wisconsin electrical engineering major
Deferred USC Viterbi
Rejected University of Colorado Boulder computer science
Congratulations to him!
For Fordham, we thought the film studies classes looked great - many interesting options. She’d like production within the context of a liberal arts degree…She’s fallen in love with the Rose Hill campus. Each campus has a few production classes, and I think she’d take some at each. I’m a little concerned that transportation between campuses would be a bigger pain than she realizes, and I’m not convinced the production classes fully scratch her itch. She loves New York, and I really think she sees Rose Hill with rose-colored (haha) glasses.
Fordham does have a new chapter of the New York Film and Television Alliance. Focus is on the industry, networking, career paths, etc. https://nyftsa.■■■■■■■■■■■/nyftsa/fordham
I’d like to take her to visit Loyola Chicago as a safety - any insight on film or the school in general? (It will be a $$$ trip for us)
Thanks for information on NYFTSA at Fordham. We have not toured Loyola Chicago so can’t offer much insight there. I hear you on Film in the context of a Liberal Arts Degree. Emerson appears to be much more hands on.
It seems like just yesterday kids were able to attend Fordham for about $40k to $45k. I think it was actually closer to seven years ago, but I recall putting it on my radar screen then. Sadly, even with merit I can’t see Fordham working out for my younger son. He’s looking for an urban, diverse school, so if you have any suggestions, please let me know! Thank you.
DePaul (IL) is likely to be less than $40-45k, if that’s your budget, and it has a diverse student body with an urban campus. Can you tell us a little more about your son’s background and interests, if you’d like additional suggestions?
S23’s stats 3.7 UW 1260 SAT 4 AP Decent Extra curricular
Needs Merit child #3 in college within 5 years.
Accepted Schools
Coastal Carolina - 13,000 per yr merit
FGCU - 10,000 per yr merit Honors offer to apply - did not apply yet
Florida Southern - 23,000 per yr merit applied TO Honors offer to apply - did not apply yet
Roanoke - 20,000 per yr merit Honors offer to apply - did not apply yet
Rowan - 6500 per yr merit Honors offer to apply - did not apply yet
St Leo’s - 17,450 per yr merit Honors offer to apply - did not apply yet
University of North Florida - OOS Waiver + 4500 merit per yr accepted to honors
University of Tennessee - 6000 per yr merit
University of SC - no merit offer applied TO
Deferred Decision
University of Tampa ? Still not sure why seemed like a great fit. Applied early, visited twice and was very high on his list.
Still deciding but he was very impressed by UNF Honors and their offer so far is the best. Time will tell for sure. Still have a few more visits to do. Also something to note, a few schools did not offer grants or work study to come close to EFC. This was very different than our older two.
Hope this helps some looking for next year. I know I’ve said it before on here, my biggest piece of advice…APPLY EARLY!
My son’s results are 90 percent in at this point, so I’ll share them as well. ~3.65 uGPA when he applied, 1550 SAT, more than a dozen AP/post-AP courses. Also a National Merit Semifinalist (and likely a Finalist), but I’ll leave off any automatic NM awards on this to make it more useful.
All colleges applied EA if it was available.
ACCEPTANCES CS:
Alabama: $28k merit
Arizona State: $15.5k merit
Iowa State: $15k merit
Maine: $18.5k merit
Michigan State: $15k merit
Michigan Tech: $17k merit
Minnesota: $10k merit
Missouri S&T: $18.5k merit
Nebraska: $20k merit
Rutgers: merit released in March
Stony Brook: $11k merit
Utah: no merit
Also accepted to Tulsa, UCF, UT-Dallas, and Washington State, but never found out what scholarships would have been there before National Merit awards.
U Tampa may be the major or may be that they overenrolled last year and they had the big housing crunch and maybe they’re resizing the student body. I know two who got in this year but they have stronger #s and it may just be the resizing. Deferred doesn’t mean rejected. I like that you have moved on tho. But maybe it’ll come through.
Thank you for your suggestion. I have it on the list. I think it is almost too early to ask others though because he is only a HS sophomore and doesn’t know what he wants to study.
