<p>I’m definitely going to try to convince my 11 yr to play the tuba :)</p>
<p>I just ran a school the Duckling is considering through several “chance calculators” - the results are at opposite ends of the spectrum. </p>
<p>CC Supermatch - 100% match
Princeton Review - Reach
Parchment - 1% chance</p>
<p>It’s Bryant University, which is test optional. Her GPA is slightly lower than the published average on their website, but certainly not at the bottom of their 2009 CDS. Her SAT/ACT scores would be about average for the 2009 data as well (they no longer publish the data).</p>
<p>Why would there be such a discrepancy?</p>
<p>mamaduck–what criteria do each of those use for their matching? On CC Supermatch if you don’t add information, you can still get a 100% match so if you didn’t add GPA and test scores and just matched based on major and location, for example, you would get a 100% match. I personally like Cappex for the scattergrams. It gives you a good look at what stats other kids had when they applied. I know that people discount that because the information is self-reported (you put in the numbers) but I don’t understand the issue. If someone has a 3.0 and a 22 ACT and is trying to chance themselves, putting in a 4.0 and a 35 doesn’t really help any :D. You do need to register but honestly, I like that site. You get a lot of emails about colleges that are interested in you but you can turn that off too. We’ve found a few schools that way.</p>
<p>I put in ONLY GPA and test scores. No major, location, size information.</p>
<p>I’ve used cappex too. She’s slightly lower than middle on acceptances using their scattergram.</p>
<p>mamaduck, this is old information (one of my sons graduated hs 6 years ago), but my son was accepted to Bryant. At that time, this school offered my son the least in terms of aid. Bryant was a safety for my son, and the school was on our radar since I noticed at that time that 25% of their students received merit aid. The more we looked into it, the more we liked this school. </p>
<p>My son did not get a dime in merit aid, and not a cent in FA grant money. They only offered thousands of dollars (more than the standard sub and unsub Staffords) in loans. This was the only private school that did not offer my son a penny in either merit aid or FA grant money. I don’t think that this is the usual scenario, but I wanted to let you in our experience. FWIW, my son did show A LOT of interest at Bryant, and I wonder how that might have factored into the lack of financial/merit aid.</p>
<p>Editing to say that perhaps you can disregard if your husband’s employment means that you qualify for tutition exchange…I just read a couple of your past posts indicating this might be the case.</p>
<p>northeastmom, what did your son like so much about Bryant? How friendly is it? </p>
<p>Currently it’s not in her “favorites” section, but we haven’t visited. She would get tuition exchange there (see post 637 for details), but they only cover partial tuition. It would cost about $17k/year including room and board, which is still expensive compared to other schools on her list. On the other hand, tuition exchange is not competitive there, which is a rarity.</p>
<p>My husband had a coworker who has 2 sons that are Bryant alums. The coworker spoke to my son about how much they enjoyed it and how successful they are today (I still don’t know if Bryant had anything to do with their success). </p>
<p>My son was pretty easy to please. I told him not to fall in love with any one school bc we needed to compare all packages. I told him to only apply to schools where he felt that he could be happy and “make it work”. After that I told him that the packages are what we would need to look at very closely. </p>
<p>I don’t think my son was more “in love” with this school more than another. They offered a one day program to shadow another student, sit in on a class, eat in the dining hall, etc. That program worked out for my son in terms of his hs schedule, so he went. I feel doing this, interviewing prior to being admited, and corresponding a couple of times with admissions, and touring twice (prior to the day he shadowed another student) might have added up to " too much interest", but I will never know. He had a good day when he shadowed someone else and that made this school rise on his list. The minute we got the aid package, this school came off the table.</p>
<p>mamaduck, I just sent a PM to you.</p>
<p>Been lurking here for a friend who has a 3.0 kid. Wanted chime in about Bryant. My D who is going into her 2nd yr at Lehigh (4.0/2050/31ACT so not the subject of this thread) initially had Bryant on her list as a safety. We visited 2x’s but only once officially. We really liked Bryant (it wound up 3rd on her list and may have went higher if they offered more FA). Very impressed with the cirriculum, job placement, size, location (can’t remember exactly but it’s like 10 miles outside of Providence), facilities, etc. It seemed to be really focused on preparing students for business careers. It’s too bad there is no dedicated forum on CC for Bryant. As I recall, my D was offered $18K in merit aid along with the normal fed loans. I also recall that they have D1 athletics, the US-China institute, several business related initiatives and good study abroad opportunities. My feeling was that it’s a school on the rise. It may not be for everyone but I think for a kid who wants to major in business, Bryant may be worth a look.</p>
<p>I visited Bryant with my youngest when he was a Junior in HS. We did it with his cousin and my SIL since they were also looking at colleges. It was the only college that all four of us didn’t like, and we saw about 6 colleges together. Beer cans in several spots on campus, kids hanging out the window. Best line of our college visits was when our tour group was passing a dorm and this guy leans out and yells, “No more dudes!” We all cracked up. Our impression was that it was a kind of preppy, jockish school. You’ll notice that this is all about feel, so that’s very subjective. The buildings were all very nice and the faculty did a great presentation.</p>
<p>Hey kathiep, I always love your college reviews! I had Duckling look at Champlain’s website, but she says it’s too far north and too small a town. I think if we could visit she’d like it - but our college travel budget is dwindling rapidly. Oh well.</p>
<p>Too small a town? But it’s a college town! Way different then the average town with cookie cutter stores and Burger Kings! I mean Ben and Jerry’s was started there! And it has an Amtrak station! (That really impressed me.) Kids! What’s up with them having opinions about colleges anyway?</p>
<p>Mamaduck - If you really want her to consider the school, I really think a visit would do the trick. My son fell in love with the place and all of the things there are to do in Burlington within walking distance. It really is the quintessential college town. And Montreal is just a stone’s throw away. It even has a Megabus stop.</p>
<p>I have 2 neices and 2 nephews that went to UVM/ St. Mikes. I love Burlington, sure it’s cold in the winter and the kids do the “Burlinton Shuffle”, but it’s a great college town. Many of the kids don’t want to leave once they graduate which does not help their employment options DH wants to retire there so he can fly fish in the summer and ski in the winter (we’ll see about that ). Is your daughter outdoorsy or more the mall shopping type-no malls closeby.</p>
<p>kathiep I love your college reviews too, any more insights?</p>
<p>SteveMA Thanks for the tip on Cappex, I like it much more than parchment, it seems like the student reviews are very honest</p>
<p>She’s not a shopping mall type, but not particularly outdoorsy either. She likes cultural things, like museums and theater, hence the preference for a city. Her social life is getting together with a few friends and going out for ice cream or a movie. I have seen no indication of partying - in fact, she refuses wine if I offer it to her for a special dinner (at home of course). She’s pretty geeky with the computer too (and is moving toward a major in web development or digital arts).</p>
<p>mamaduck
She’d love Boston, have you looked at any schools here?</p>
<p>reeinaz
I noticed that your son took both the SAT and ACT. I’m not familiar with ACT test at all but it is offered in early September at a nearby school. I’m going to ask DS if he wants to take it, any insights?</p>
<p>Rubytuesday - My son preferred it to the SAT because he felt the questions were much more straight forward but he did feel pressed for time. The reading passages are long and there are lots of questions. He did minimal prep for it. All he read was Crash Course for the ACT and did untimed sections on the practice ACT in the month leading up to the test. It is different than the SAT so I wouldn’t advise going in cold. The science section tends to be what throws people for a loop</p>
<p>reeinaz
Thanks, I’ll ask him to try a practice test and see what he thinks</p>
<p>Just want to comment here - I was definitely a HS student in this range. I highly encourage parents and students to look into the CTCL (Colleges That Change Lives) list - the individual attention is amazing, and supportive and collaborative campuses are very valuable for students that fall into this high school bracket. I pulled around a 3.0 (unweighted, weighted was higher but I would’ve gotten the same grades no matter which class I took, since my problem was with finishing assignments and mild ADHD) in high school, now I’m getting around a 3.5, getting ready to apply for grad schools, and have had research experience and amazing letters of recommendation from professors that know me by first name.</p>