Parents of the high school class of 09

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<p>Actually, I'm a guy living in Oregon. But I would estimate conservatively a third of each graduating class goes to the state public university two hours away. Your description fit our situation perfectly. (Now, though, since Oregon is so small population-wise, you can draw a circle on a map and find out where I live, but w/e.)</p>

<p>As for the typo, I could tell easily enough where the punctuation should have been placed. The abrupt shift in content made it rather obvious. ;)</p>

<p>Sorry about the gender confusion. My daughters are looking at several Oregon schools and I assume you are within 2 hours of Corvallis or Eugene but I won't resort to a map :) </p>

<p>If kids look beyond the 4 CSU campuses in our immediate vicinity, people look at them like they are from Mars. I know how that is so good for you for looking outside the circle!</p>

<p>okay D is all over the place! likes: Brown, duke ,dartmouth, middlebury, bowdoin, . maybe UVA. Weslyan is also possibility. Wants biochem, particularly tropical studies and developmental economics.</p>

<p>Great passion for studying abroud, has done some interesting programs.</p>

<p>We need safety schools </p>

<p>any thoughts</p>

<p>Hi, all. D1 is in 2009. We live in California, but she really wants to go back East. Her first choice is NYU Tisch. Second choice is a tie between Carnegie Mellon and Emerson. After that, it is all sorts of schools: USC, UCLA, Cal Arts, UCI, Juilliard, North Carolina School of the Arts, Rutgers Mason Gross, Ithaca, University of the Arts, CSU Fullerton and SF State. Which ones will actually make the final cut for application, I can't say quite yet. As you may have guessed, she is pursuing an BFA. So far this summer we have actually visited USC, NYU, Juilliard, Emerson, Boston University and saw a presentation by Carnegie Mellon when they came to LA. We are going to UCLA in two weeks. We can hit UCI any time we want (Its close.) I'm not sure when we will get to Cal Arts. The rest we probably won't visit until auditions/admissions decisions.... etc. Its soooooo expensive to fly right now we were lucky we did what we did. These gas prices have really put a damper on college tours, eh?</p>

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<p>Its fine. You can't get a sense of gender that easily through the internet.</p>

<p>As for the Oregon schools, you are right. I thank you, I guess, for not resorting to a map, but if you are bored, it might be a fun activities. Just remember that OSU is really not worth the out of state tuition; UO is much better. Unless, of course, they are looking at privates.</p>

<p>From your description, I would guess you are from Southern California. Sadly, I have a much harder time guessing exact location than you. :)</p>

<p>As for the CSU comment, yes, I am beginning to realize the StateU's are meant for average kids who aren't special in any way, don't excel in school, and have less than 100% care towards their education. It seems logical many kids apply to them, because for those kids, they are perfect fits.</p>

<p>As for the final comment, thanks. I was thinking perhaps of going to OSU to get a cheap undergraduate education, as my dad pointed out if I liked engineering, it made sense to get the basic concepts for cheap, and then to spend on a quality graduate school. Later, he and I both realized that I would probably be unhappy with the vast, vast majority of the student body there (as these normal kids are often more social and more inclined to act immaturely than I prefer). Basically, we saw it as going to college with all the kids from the few non-honors classes I had to take. That didn't form such a pretty picture in my mind. Of course, my SAT score helped change my mind. So did the generous financial aid policies of the top universities.</p>

<p>Admissions people can change a kid's mind on a school. It happened the other night. My son is attending a summer program sponsored by our state. There was a college night. All the private and public schools attended. My son was excited about applying to UVA until he met the rep. She was cold and disinterested in his questions. Then, he said that she did not know the answers to questions his friend had. He said that he plans to pocket the money he would have paid to apply there. This is not the first time we've seen this happen. The worst thing was that some of the small private schools, he said, had wonderful displays but few students looked at them. They were more interested in UVA, VT, JMU or William & Mary.</p>

<p>Just wanted to share that story.</p>

<p>^^^ Second that emotion. D went to a college night and stopped to visit with the U of ND (young alum). When d inquired about engineering at ND, he kindly explained that engineering is hard and that you have to take hard math classes. After reiterating how hard engineering is, he explained that college math classes are hard and you have to like math. He then reiterated what he had reiterated (hard math) and said that you had to take hard math classes in hs - before college. At this point, she looked at him and asked (hesitantly) "phsyics?" He suggested that she look ND up on the website and find out a little about the school; I stepped in at that point and just explained that Dad is an alum. We left. To make matters worse, about half an hour later bf asked about the same questions and AT NO POINT was hard math mentioned. He was told about a wonderful engineering program with live interactive feed - you get the idea. </p>

<p>D is about 5'2'' and weighs less than 100 pounds dripping wet. She is constantly told she is cute (Hey, I'm her mom so I choose to believe it.) That particular evening she had on a rock t-shirt. She is also a NMSF with a 2370 SAT and has been on the school engineering team since freshman year; as a senior she will be co-captain of the team.</p>

<p>Anyway the ND alum (Dad) in our house has had to defend his beloved school and all because one young alum looked at a cute, tiny hs girl and decided - well, I am not exactly sure what he thought, but I guarantee he didn't see a future engineer.</p>

<p>U of Tulsa and SLU reps did not seem to think it odd that she inquired about engineering and physics and could not have been nicer. She liked the reps so much the schools went onto a list for consideration. And in Notre Dame's defense the alum was a volunteer and not an official rep as we pointed out to our d - unfortunate experience only.</p>

<p>momreads, thanks for the feedback. From the student's perspective, they may all be flocking to the same set of schools because they want to stay with their friends. From a parent's perspective, I know we aren't considering, or encouraging S2 to consider, the privates because of the cost. </p>

<p>The people who find the cost of a private school to be competitive to a public are often those that (1) wouldn't be paying full freight due to income, or (2) whose students can get scholarships due to grades, or (3) are willing to pay up for prestige, or sometimes a combination of these factors. We don't fall into any of those categories and I suspect we have company. Being able to afford the price of private school and feeling like that private school offers good value are two separate things that have been frequently discussed on cc and seems to come down to a family-specific judgment call. With that said, we may end up paying as much for an out of state public as we would for an in-state private since our S really likes the idea of a large school with a nationally recognized football team and H seems to agree that the football team is a critically important factor. Go figure. I am not surrounded by academics in this household.</p>

<p>From what I have seen, the personalities of William and Mary, UVA, Tech and JMU are all very different. If I had to assign one word labels, I would describe UVA as preppy/jock; W&M as studious; Tech as fun; and JMU as LACish. For the strong Virginia student, who wants a small public school that is easier to get into than W&M, I have also been impressed by what I read about Mary Washington. </p>

<p>Ignatius, your D will be very popular in any engineering program she chooses to pursue. May I suggest she look at UVA? My S says there is a shortage of cute girls in his classes.</p>

<p>TheAnalyst: "Ignatius, your D will be very popular in any engineering program she chooses to pursue. May I suggest she look at UVA? My S says there is a shortage of cute girls in his classes."</p>

<p>:) Thanks for the laugh. I'll pass the info on to her.</p>

<p>So very true re: the importance of admissions staff. Some colleges have no clue--they should be paying their admiss receptionists big bucks--they are often the first (& primary) impression kids have.</p>

<p>At WPI, the cranky secretary was inattentive and brusque.</p>

<p>V-Tech was much, much smarter--at a school w/a large male population, the admissions receptionist was a very smiley, friendly cute college-age girl (& she was more efficient/effective than the crankly older lady at WPI). The tour guides were attractive blonde girls and the admissions info session leader was also an attractive lady in her 20s. Not to be superficial, but I think they were smart in their choices of personnel for the target audience.</p>

<p>D got her AP test scores yesterday. Ranged from 2 in bio to 5 in calc. I don't think there is a way to just send the good ones, so she is trying to decide whether sending a set of scores with one 2, one 3, one 4, and one 5 would be advisable. Any thoughts?</p>

<p>Analyst, when my son spoke at length about this, he pointed out why he liked some of the other schools on his list. The admissions reps/guides at Richmond, Rochester, William & Mary, Duke and McDaniel all sold their schools to him, and as a result, they are among the schools on his list. Since the football program is important in your home, I guess Mary Washington is not high on the list -- no team there. Lots of girls, but no team.</p>

<p>ChiSquare--similar question from us. Son would send one, but not the other. He's thinking of a 5 year BS/masters combo program, so it would be in his interest to be able to get college credit for a few courses, but doesn't want to send the one lower score....</p>

<p>ChiSquare and Jolynne - similar situation here only worse! when D took the tests she apparently (and unbeknownst to me) requested that her scores be sent to Pitzer, her first choice school. she got a 4 on Eng Lang but a 2 on US History.</p>

<p>(Ironically, Pitzer is test optional for her given her GPA :()</p>

<p>On another thread fireflyscout suggested that she call Pitzer and ask how AP scores are handled in the admissions process.</p>

<p>For those of you whose scores haven't already been reported, I'd suggest contacting AP Services or check out their website. I think there may be a way to withhold certain scores. </p>

<p>You may also want to check to see if test scores including AP are included on your student's HS transcript - our HS doesn't do this but some do.</p>

<p>momreads, you surmise correctly that Mary Washington isn't actually on our list at all (too small, lacks football, not to mention that S2 doesn't have anywhere near the grades/stats to get in). I mentioned it because I think it is one of those lesser known schools that might fit the kids of other posters, even if out of state. It seems to be intellectually challenging based on SAT ranges, is the size of a small LAC, yet has a very high acceptance rate. If I were looking at a William & Mary (which of course we are not), I think I would swing by and see Mary Washington as well, as a potential safety. The gender imbalance, which dates back to when it was the sister college to UVA before UVA went co-ed, makes it a presumably easier admit for male applicants, but obviously will be a turn off for some. The kids we know who go there love it.</p>

<p>Remember that your student does not have to send official AP score reports to the colleges for admissions purposes unless the school specifically asks. You only send the AP tests to the school your student decides to attend, and then only if the scores will result in some credit or placement benefit to the student.</p>

<p>Self-reporting AP scores is sufficient, and you do not really need to report all your scores (although a school may wonder if the student took the test and may assume that the score was low so not reported.)</p>

<p>AP scores generally have little effect on admissions. It's the fact of taking the challenging course and getting a good grade, not the score on the exam, that matters.</p>

<p>amciw....I am sorry to have mislead you. I adore the CSU system and there are plenty of kids who care very much about their education and success who end up at them for a variety of reasons. I didn't meant to give a snobby vibe at all sorry. In fact my own kids will have at least 2 CSU campuses on their lists and if they end up at either they wil guaranteed a great education at a great price.</p>

<p>What I meant is that within a 2 to 3 hour radius of my little Northern CA town there are 4 CSU to which the vast majority of our college bound students (I am a high school teacher) matriculate. Since our small community is made up of many people who didn't go to college as well as plenty who didn't graduate from high school they don't really know a lot about schools outside that radius. So, when I tell them that my DDs have looked at Willamette, and University of Portland I get that "HUH??" look. It's OK though because it gives me a chance to educate people about college choice and that's a good thing.</p>

<p>Good luck at your top school. I hope you will find your niche!</p>

<p>Hmmm, now if I were to rate admissions receptionists - </p>

<p>Friendly, hospitable - Missouri S&T, WPI, RIT, Allegheny
Busy, distracted (but not rude) - Stevens, RPI</p>

<p>It was amusing to note how many of the tourguides at these techie schools were female. Attractive females.</p>

<p>PRJ: The last date to cancel AP score reporting was in mid-June. To answer your question from another thread, go ahead and call, but I think I'd make it clear that D is unable to contact them herself.</p>

<p>Good info re: AP scores, thanks for that. Son got a surprising 3 on US History (high B in a very tough course though). I've heard the same -- not used for admissions, just for placement/credit. Just thought son could use it as an added advantage; but the only thing that will help will be the 4 on Eng Comp (got A in course). </p>

<p>Reassuring that the grades in the course most important.</p>

<p>D's ap scores:</p>

<p>Euro hist - 3 (sophomore year)
US hist - 4
Eng lang - 5</p>

<p>D figures that her transcript indicates that she took the AP class and so might look somewhat sketchy if she did not report the score. According to the ap data (2007) 34% of the students made a 2 or a 1 and she would prefer to have her 3 noted than have admissions not see a score at all. Hey, many students don't even take an AP course. Taking the course and following through with the exam is a good thing regardless of score. Another example: in 2007 (last year's data) only 31% of the students who took the US History AP exam scored a 4 or above. No reason to diss that 4, especially for a non-history kid. </p>

<p>For anyone curious about the ap test grade distribution:</p>

<p><a href="http://apcentral.collegeboard.com/apc/public/repository/2007_STUDENT_GRADE_DISTRIBUTIONS.pdf%5B/url%5D"&gt;http://apcentral.collegeboard.com/apc/public/repository/2007_STUDENT_GRADE_DISTRIBUTIONS.pdf&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p>