Parents of the high school class of 09

<p>Treetopleaf--that's exactly what someone I know who lives in Urbana said. Given the rigor of that major....little time for partying. Son hasn't been a big 'partier' during HS (nice group of friends, just not a lot of big social gatherings). Hoping the new novelty of that in college isn't overwhelmingly enticing. :-) Have to trust his maturity, though.</p>

<p>klenn - your son will not have time to party if he decided to swim Varsity. My D. has been a competitive swimmer since she was 5. All of her swimming friends quit or never started college swimming because of time commitment. I am talking about kids who never knew their life without year around swimming including 2 practices/day during summer and who consistently placed at States. Your S. does not need to worry about "fun" place if he is planning to swim at college.</p>

<p>yikes^^^^^^^^</p>

<p>Glad my swimming in college was limited to IM innertube water polo ;)</p>

<p>We visited West Virginia University (WVU) last week and the whole family fell in love. I have had a hard time getting over the academic reputation, but am starting to reach a place of acceptance that S2 is going to become a Mountaineer Maniac. </p>

<p>Right now, S is leaning toward the Biometric Systems Engineering program, which gives him in-state tuition of $5,100 through the academic common market. I have emphasized that this program will be A LOT of work. His attitude is that as long as it's math, it's all good. He also takes comfort that his brother is a systems engineering major, enjoys it, does well, and still has time to have fun. I take comfort that the program is meaty so he is sure to learn something useful regardless of WVU's overall reputation. </p>

<p>He should hear from WVU by the end of September. I think acceptance into the program is virtually automatic. He needs math SAT >620; total SAT >1110; and unweighted GPA >3.0, all of which he has. They don't require essays, recommendations or even a list of ECs. Just SAT and high school transcript.</p>

<p>He has agreed to send in an application to Virginia Tech, but he prefers to go to WVU even if accepted at Tech. The only upside to Tech is major doesn't matter in terms of tuition. There is no question that he is picking the major to allow him to go to the school of his choice as cheaply as possible (he pays 10% of the cost). He doesn't feel strongly about any particular major, but similar to S1 is drawn to math oriented classes. I was imagining him taking a relatively easy major since he doesn't like to study, but he sounds ready and willing to step it up if it means going to WVU. I know he is smart enough to do the work and probably would be too embarrassed to flunk out, but I don't think he has any idea exactly how much work he is setting himself up to do.</p>

<p>H has already committed to going to every home WVU football game. (He hasn't missed a UVA home game since S1 started, but S1 will be in Brazil fall of 2009 so H stands ready and willing to transfer allegiances.) I don't like the drive through the mountains, so told him my visits will be much more limited. My mother, however, lives in West Virginia so I could see her and S2 in a single trip.</p>

<p>TheAnalyst--neat that your son found a school he really likes (& the whole family does, also!). Biometric Systems Engineering sounds so interesting.</p>

<p>Wondered, you said " have had a hard time getting over the academic reputation" --- what type of academic reputation does WVU have (couldn't tell if it was tough/not-so-tough)? </p>

<p>Our son looked at VTech too and loved it (the beautiful scenery and buildings I think had something to do w/it). OUr son would also be (accord to the stats you mentioned) an admit at WVU (& since admission being something we are angsting over, that would be great news...). </p>

<p>Curious to hear more about WVU if you wouldn't mind....</p>

<p>I have always thought of the academic reputation at WVU as below average, in part because they accept 90% of applicants and only 26% graduate in four years. The kids who go there from our high school seem to be from the bottom half of the class. At the same time, the overall stats don't look that different to me than VCU, which has become a very popular school in our area but doesn't appeal to S because of the lack of football. </p>

<p>The reality is probably that some percentage of kids at WVU work really hard and get a great education while a lot wash out or party their way through--although we know plenty of kids who party their way through Tech too. Everybody we know who has gone to WVU loves it and we were extremely impressed by the tour. No sense of pretension but plenty of pride; the students we met seemed hard working, genuine, down to earth, with an emphasis on warmth and reassurance that people would be there to provide support and help to students every step of the way. I think this campus is used to meeting the needs of underprepared and scared kids. This is not a campus where you will see expensive cars in the student parking lots or kids with money to burn. Morgantown has a population of 28,000, which is equal to the college, and has a funky, safe college town feel. The campus is a little spread out but has free buses and little PRTs (unmanned personal rapid transit rail cars) that made it feel like Disneyland to me. The brand new $34 million student recreation center, huge student union, and spectacular mountain views added to the pleasant atmosphere. All college sporting events are free to students, along with things like free breakfasts from midnight to 2:00 a.m. in the student union after movie nights.</p>

<p>Academically, WVU has a wide range of choices. Their forensics department is apparently one of the top in the country, but I admit that I'm not really sure how to judge academic reputation by program. Because they serve more of an at risk population, their stats are lower but the facilties are state of the art and I expect the teachers are equivalent to those at any school. Our son isn't an academic powerhouse anyway. He needs a supportive atmosphere but wants a big school. At first, I thought it would be a step down to go to the same school where lots of kids with lower stats could get into, but this school really feels right. The fact that he will have an acceptance in hand with no angst by the end of September is just icing on the cake.</p>

<p>Thanks, The Analyst, for that detailed explanation. That school sounds like it has a lot of advantages and if it's a good fit for your son (with lots of support to students) then good for him! I think finding a supportive atmosphere in a big school format can be a challenge. I'd like to find that for my son (ideally, at NJ, in-state tuition prices!) but not sure if we'll be able. The smaller, more traditionally 'nurturing' schools seem to have price tags of between $40-$50k plus.</p>

<p>Good luck to your son!</p>

<p>I just checked the WVU website and they're OOS cost of attendance was around $26K, their best OOS scholarship (unless you're a NM Finalist) was $10K per year, which would bring the cost down close to instate range.</p>

<p>TheAnalyst - thanks for your posts about WVU. We are in a similar situation - D loves Indiana University-Bloomington because she has several friends there, has visited often, etc. I have similar concerns re: quality of academics and party reputation, in addition to my gut feel that she would be better off in a smaller college environment. I hope that our visit will result in similar positive feelings, because it would be great to have an acceptance in hand early at a school we all love :)</p>

<p>TheAnalyst: Thank you so much for such a great and candid review of a "lesser known" school. The way you describe WVU is how I would describe Cal State Monterey Bay. Its goal since its inception is to serve a poplulation that is academically underserved and to accept the majority of its applicants. And, it has some excellent programs. Like WVU, the majority of the clientele don't finish in four years. However that is a reflection of many factors the majority of which may be totally unrelated to the educational opportunities offered. </p>

<p>Like you and PRJ it has at times made me feel like attendance there would somehow be "settling" for my high achieving daughters. It is refreshing to hear someone approach a school with prestige blinders in place like you did. It helps to know that there are others , like your boy, out there who for a variety of reasons are open to choosing a great school with programs that fit regardless of the selectivity of the campus. So glad that it seems this will be a decision pleasing to everyone!</p>

<p>PRJ, I have a former student at I-U Bloomington: She loves it!</p>

<p>thanks, jaf1991. $16k is surely a good price, and $4k less than the instate, sticker price for the main NJ school.</p>

<p>Wow, that's pretty steep for in-state tuition. U Washington is closer to $15K, even including books. (I never include personal expenses...I'd be buying her toothpaste and shampoo even if she lived at home.)</p>

<p>Yes, it is. And, when I looked through the collegeboard book on "paying for college" it seemed to say that -- w/financial aid--you can sometimes end up spending the same amount, out-of-pocket, for a seemingly expensive private school as for a state school, at the end of the day. </p>

<p>But, since all that (fin aid) is an unknown (& possible bad news!) I'm trying to keep at least a few, reasonably-priced schools in the mix, to be safe.</p>

<p>We are not applying for any need-based financial aid, that's why I'm hitting the internet so hard researching merit scholarships. Since UDub is so reasonable, we can afford to pay for it out of savings and earnings and D is willing to help out, too. Any other schools are going to have to offer enough to bring the price tag down to that range.</p>

<p>Son has now completed and submitted 2 out of 6 applications! Of course, these were the ones that didn't require any essays, but yay!</p>

<p>Congrats! My D agrees that it needs to be done, but she doesn't do it. :o</p>

<p>Congrats, fireflyscout! </p>

<p>Son has sent in a a 'background' letter to his HS guidance counselor, so hopefully she'll send in the required info (transcripts, letter of rec) this week, as he's applied online to one school & is in the process of applying to one more (even sent in essay to first school!).</p>

<p>Crossing fingers that GC is on the case. She's been 'less-than-entirely-on-the-case' in the past; which is making me slightly nervous, since timing is so very much key w/rolling admission. </p>

<p>Crossing fingers (again).</p>

<p>jaf1991--could you share what UDub is? Tried to find out & couldn't. Is it strong for your daughter's major?</p>

<p>My current struggle---researching good merit aid (as you have) is a parallel track w/researching good schools in my son's major. Hours & hours spent on each, and they don't always overlap.</p>

<p>Just curious--did you do merit research separately from research in your D's major?</p>

<p>UDub is University of Washington (dub being short for double u).</p>

<p>One of my friends had an interesting idea - she made it her daughter's summer job to research and prepare applications for scholarships. I think she wound up ahead of where she would have been had she worked.</p>

<p>Thanks, fireflyscout! I definitely wouldn't have found that by googling it! :-)</p>

<p>This has been a productive summer for son, college-prep-wise (taking college course, visiting schools, bumping up ECs). Haven't fit in the scholarship research, but hopefully we can do that together soon (my summer job!)</p>

<p>Yay for fireflyscouts S!!!!!</p>

<p>Today is the first Sunday of the mandatory "listen to me about college for 30 minutes one day a week" regime.</p>

<p>I am going to tell them that this week they need to:</p>

<p>Look at the common app/register if they haven't
Come up with preliminary lists and resume's
Really examine a couple of websites in depth</p>

<p>Next week: apply to any rolling school on list not requiring an essay and start looking at scholarships</p>