<p>I would recommend doing a tour at CSU Fullerton. They have brand new dorms that were wonderful. Long Beach and Fullerton are commuter schools which my D did not like. But Fullerton has made a big effort with their dorms and their dorm community, so they have a larger percentage of freshmen living on campus. Also, several learning communities in the dorms with resident professors. </p>
<p>I don’t know anything about their track and field reputation.</p>
<p>Hello, all! I’ve just found CC, and it’s a treasure trove of information! S is a rising senior at a rigorous college prep private school in south TX. With a 3.14 UW GPA, he’s in the bottom half of his graduating class. He finished the spring semester with a 3.85 but is still digging himself out of the very deep hole he created for himself his freshman and half of his sophomore year. SAT was mediocre (1870/2400) with no prep because he didn’t think he needed it. ACT was better (30). He has 3 APs under his belt and will add 4 more next year. He also has 4-5 honors classes and 7 years of Latin (3 were in middle school but obviously, looking at his transcript, a student couldn’t start in the 4th year of Latin in the 9th grade). He’s varsity football and track (a thrower, not a runner) but is a solid team member, not a star athlete. Lots of community service. An officer in the Latin club 10-12, member of a few other clubs. In a nutshell, he’s a good kid – well-mannered, well-spoken, well-rounded. Which will not get him into some schools nor will much merit aid likely come his way. At least according to the various and sundry online calculators. He will not qualify for any need-based aid. All this said, I’d love opinions on (a) getting in, and (b) getting merit aid at the following:</p>
<p>Hampden-Sydney (#1 choice so far)
Emory & Henry
Roanoke
Goucher
Lynchburg (campus looks nice, the town has seen better days)
Eckerd
University of Richmond (probably not a snowball’s chance here, but he’s a double legacy)
Millsaps
Rhodes (Memphis is second only to Detroit in crime rate so I’m not really comfortable with this one, but his GC thinks it would be a good fit for him.)
Trinity (San Antonio)
Austin College</p>
<p>We’ve visited H-SC, Lynchburg and UR. We all love H-SC; however, I wish we’d seen it last because the campus is gorgeous and I’m afraid all others will fall short. S really loves UR, too. We also toured Gettysburg over Christmas, but he didn’t like it. Not fond of “cold.” He likes Trinity, but it’s about 10 miles from home and may not be enough of an “adventure.” We’re focusing on mid-Atlantic states because we have family there, which would give him some place to go on the occasional weekend. Coming home to south TX won’t happen very often.</p>
<p>I agree with you about dorms at Fullerton. They also had a dining hall that looked good. And the recreational center looked awesome. </p>
<p>Got a great vibe from that school. </p>
<p>Certainly had nothing like that in my day (SDSU 1992).</p>
<p>This will be a safety school, as he really wants to go to Cal poly Pomona. They too are building a new recreational center (2014) but dorms look really aged. </p>
<p>This school also is a commuter school. </p>
<p>Any thoughts on university of Arizona, that fits the mold of a 3.0-3.3 gpa school? </p>
<p>I’m new to CC also and your post was one of the first I read. I attended Millsaps, and your son sounds like a very good candidate for that school. I’m not sure what the aid situation is, but there are several kids from my son’s school (private college prep school) who attend Millsaps each year, and I believe most of them receive some amount of merit aid. I’m also familiar with Rhodes, and it is not in a bad part of Memphis. My neighbors’ daughter currently goes there, and they feel she is in a safe location.</p>
<p>If you are looking for a Southern liberal arts school, have you considered Birmingham Southern in Birmingham, AL? It is very similar to Millsaps and Rhodes. Kids I know who have gone there say very good things about this school. Also, what about University of the South, Sewanee? Very interesting school and it might appeal to him if he liked the looks of Hampden-Sidney. There is merit aid there, especially if you happen to be Episcopalian.</p>
<p>heikedog - my guy’s stats (scores) are quite similar to yours except he goes to our local public school and those stats put him very near the top of his class. This, of course, means his GPA is better, but he also doesn’t have Latin or AP courses (our school does DE).</p>
<p>Eckerd’s online calculator gives him merit aid… Unless the GPA or rank (our school doesn’t rank) knocks your guy out, I would think it would be worth investigating. None of the others on your list match those my guys have looked at, so I can’t help with those. Personally, I think your guy sounds like a great addition to any of the schools you listed (though I agree UR could be a stretch). What major or general field is he looking at?</p>
<p>If you look at Eckerd’s prospective student page and click on scholarships under financial aid, it will give you a breakdown of merit aid qualifiers. Check with your admission counselor for your area and they can assist you with more details. If you want info about Eckerd, PM me, we have 2 children go to Eckerd.</p>
<p>buellersmom … Sewanee looks good on paper, but then I read a number of comments here on CC that it’s a big party school. That’s not S’s scene, nor do I want it to become something that appeals to him either through proximity or peer pressure. I’m not delusional enough to think partying doesn’t happen everywhere, but I’d rather not send him to a school known for heavy partying. However, we are Episcopalian so if they want to throw some bucks his way, I could be persuaded to reconsider …</p>
<p>Creekland and ECmotherx2 … also really like Eckerd on paper, but the reviews here on CC tend to be unflattering. At least the posts I’ve read thus far. Eckerd is going to be the school that is most difficult to go see for ourselves.</p>
<p>S has no idea what he wants to study or what he wants to do with his life. He’s leaning toward history /political science / law school but it’s only a slight lean.</p>
<p>We have a two week road trip planned for July, and we’ll visit the following:</p>
<p>Austin College (I really like this one the more I learn about it)
Millsaps
Sewanee (maybe)
Emory & Henry
Roanoke
Lynchburg (second visit)
Hampden-Sydney (second visit)
UR (second visit)
Goucher (maybe)</p>
<p>Dad and I wanted to add VMI to the list, but S has vetoed that. I think we’ll drive through the campus just because we’ll be in the area.</p>
<p>Of course, I’m partial to Eckerd College. Both children received an excellent education and experiences, participated in national competitions, research, heavily involved in service learning projects locally and abroad. The study abroad program is amazing, and I believe the mentor program is one of the best features of the college. They also have the largest number of Hollings Scholars in the country. I do think it is important to visit the schools that you narrow down to find the right fit.</p>
<p>Heading into the home stretch here at our house. Lots of stress with final tests and final essays next week. Add in 4 days of practices and you’ve got plenty of tension. Thank goodness there’s a Starbucks within walking distance. Bought D a special treat after school yesterday to help ease the tension. I figured it wouldn’t hurt.</p>
<p>We met her GC on Monday and he asked us to add one more school to our summer road trip tour–U of Ill. Champaign-Urbana. Yeah, it’s a reach, but it’s right on the way to other schools we’re visiting, so we’ll pop by for a quickie tour to see if there’s any interest. Brother, Illini class of '85, was happy to hear we’ll be checking out his alma mater. If nothing else, we’ll pick up a couple of U of I t-shirts and say hi from the family.</p>
<p>SAT–Thursday, June 20th, last day of school for us. Has been 19 days after test day for my son’s SAT I and SAT II. Additional info available seven days later.</p>
<p>Don’t know for AP but know that reporting will be different this year.</p>
<p>My D is also taking the ACT exam tomorrow for the first time and we hope she does better on that than her SAT. She has been studying for the ACT test and seems more comfortable with the questions and format. I think she has walked into the SAT exams discouraged before she even started, just a lack of confidence. Hopefully the fact that she feels more comfortable with the ACT will translate into a solid score. I know she would love to not have to take the exams again in the fall.</p>
<p>Does anyone know the turnaround time for results on the ACT? It has been a few years since my last daughter took them. Good luck to anyone taking them tomorrow!</p>
<p>Good luck to today’s ACT testers. My guy is not among them. We’re waiting on SAT scores from last weekend. We finished school here yesterday and it feels REALLY good to be done. It’ll feel even better Monday morning.</p>
<p>School’s been out for over two weeks here, and it’s time to get the kids started on their summer assignments that are due the first day of school in the fall (mid August). Rising senior S has whopping summer assignments in five of his six classes and even rising third grade D has a pretty intensive reading project. </p>
<p>All that aside, S also needs to get started on his common app essay(s), which are due to his English teacher for review on the first day of school, too. I was thinking about making him write all four and then his English teacher can work with him on which one is best to submit with his applications. Is this a good approach or overkill? He is NOT a great writer.</p>
<p>D will be taking a one-week college essay writing class in early July. It’s run by the school guidance and English teachers, 1 1/2 hours every day. It’s very popular with the kids who know they’ll have their essays pretty much done at the end. At $25, it’s also a bargain! She’s at ACTs right now.</p>
<p>Two more weeks of school. Every year there’s a summer reading assignment, read one book from a long list for discussion at the beginning of the school year. I have no idea what any class-specific summer assignments might be.</p>
<p>Snowme - I wish our school had a one-week class like that!!!</p>
<p>Heikedog - I’d probably only suggest picking two of the topics. Some just don’t call the student and there’s no sense fussing over that. If he has two, his English teacher will have options and he won’t feel overwhelmed.</p>
<p>I ordered summer reading books last night - all have to be read with questions/essays submitted by e-mail by the first week in August (school starts Aug 21st). Here’s his list (all for English):</p>
<p>Life of Pi
The Kite Runner
Their Eyes Were Watching God
A Thousand Splendid Suns
Beloved</p>
<p>Right now he’s off down at our camp site (on our farm, in the woods, alongside a nice sized creek) probably wishing school didn’t exist. He’s getting the site ready to do some camping with friends this coming week… I doubt English books will be part of the discussion around the campfire or while wallowing in the creek.</p>
<p>In our house, since school has just finished and K2 has taken both the SAT and ACT since finals, there are no essays being done until say late July.
As soon as we see the transcript and also the scores, we will know which schools stay on the list and we will look at any supplements etc.</p>
<p>Summer responsibilities for K2 also include a 3 week sports/EC camp, a pre calc class and a big project re the other major EC in K2s life, and required summer reading (tests the first day of school). This is all stuff K2 really wanted to do and planned…(except for required summer reading)</p>
<p>I think I need to get K2 to look at the weeks of summer and set some goals/targets because it is a lot and summer is already 10 days in</p>