<p>AvonHSDad, congrats to your DD for induction into NHS. It’s a breath of fresh air that her school went to great length to ensure fairness in this process.
My DS also got inducted into his school NHS. It was not blind process per se but one of criteria is that the list of all applicants was sent to all faculty members for them to voice their opinion about any of the applicants.</p>
<p>I saw “Admissions” this afternoon. Perfect if you are a fan of a certain website. Dh is a little behind on the college talk and had two questions.
What was our sons SAT score?
And how is the student (character) going to pay for college? Dh wasn’t aware of good financial aid for need since I constantly preach “don’t expect any” </p>
<p>Haha</p>
<p>I forgot that movie was coming out this week. I want to see it when I get back in town.</p>
<p>Avon-congrats on NHS! It’s interesting the different criteria that is used at different schools. I think at DS’ school you only have to have a 3.5 GPA and not be a delinquent! Good to see some schools actually screen the students.</p>
<p>Re: Vanderbilt…very nice school, but not sure it will be a fit for DS. I can see it being a wonderful school for anything medical related - biomedical engineering, designing artificial limbs, etc., but not for my DS who wants to design cars! I really think he would enjoy Nashville, though! Oh well!</p>
<p>we head to JMU and Elon at the end of the coming week. S2 and I visited Elon last summer, DW wants to get a feel for the campus, even though they will be on spring break.</p>
<p>I have been lurking on the 2014 HS threads, watching the results come in and knowing from experience the angst they are all feeling. One lesson we learned during our first go round - Your kid may love the school, but they may not love him/her. This is particularly true in the more competitive schools. Einstein test scores and Mother Theresa EC’s are the norm, and with 35,000 kids applying, its a crap shoot, absent a killer hook. If I have one thought to share, discourage the ‘head over heels’. There are so many great schools, so many wonderful ways to take the Next Big Step. It all works out in the end. 
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<p>We met with DD’s GC this week and when we mentioned Elon (which we visited last summer and DD really liked) she also suggested High Point and if test scores are high enough, Wake Forest (which we also visited last summer and two years earlier for DS-2011), as they are all in fairly compact area. Right now JMU is a maybe visit for next summer and William & Mary is a definate visit. For some reason, D likes the schools in that part of the country. The Elon campus is lovely and they go out of their way to personalize your visit and to do everything and answer anything that comes up during your visit.</p>
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<p>On the HS 2011 thread we just called them lottery schools! All a 4.5+ GPA and 2350-2400 SAT or 35-36 ACT gets you is that you are qualified to buy one of their lottery tickets and hope to be exceptionally lucky. :D</p>
<p>Lottery schools: S1 got a letter from MIT that basically said “your test scores are good enough that we wouldn’t laugh our @$$es off if you applied”. We knew he didn’t really have anything beyond the scores, but he did apply, and they did reject him 
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<p>I agree with trying not to let them fall in love before the acceptances and financial aid/scholarship packages are in, if possible!</p>
<p>Avon–am just going to pass along anecdotal comments from friends, so take these as not much better than worthless!</p>
<p>Elon offers both EA & ED and like other schools that do, they seem to practice a bit of yield management with these early options. For example, a lower stat student who applied ED will be accepted while the higher stat EA applicant will be deferred and subsequently rejected. (Observed the same thing at Colorado College.) It makes me wonder if it is a mistake to apply EA to a school that also offers ED. It also makes me question why schools offer EA & ED at the same time. Do they only offer admission to the EA applicants they really want to woo? I do not have an answer here—just lots of questions.</p>
<p>Wake–fairly popular at my CT HS (20-25 applicants/year out of class of 300.) Their Ad Com sat on a college panel at our school last fall and spoke about their admissions process. They have rather unique and numerous supplemental essays and are known for asking some quirky questions in interviews. My notes from the presentation say that their interviews are 25-30 min long, conducted by Ad Coms, and are evaluative. Can be conducted via Skype if needed. School is test optional so more weight on interviews.</p>
<p>I would be surprised to see the same student applying to High Pt and Wake. The average SAT scores of accepted students from our HS differ by 400 points between those two schools, and .8 on a 4.0 GPA scale. </p>
<p>I have been reluctant to look at the NC and VA schools both due to all the competition and fearing that my son would never consider a northern school once he experienced the weather in the south. Do love reading about all the visits though.</p>
<p>love to hear all of your input…</p>
<p>thanks CT1417 re: the weather alert, definitely bringing the down jacket</p>
<p>beady–we may also visit Vanderbilt, what was the vibe of the school? students seem happy/friendly?</p>
<p>hope everyone has productive visits</p>
<p>AvonHSDad, I wish it were only so simple as a lottery - I would be Ok with that. But AdCom’s “build” their perception of the “perfect class”, and, sad to say our kids are not all equal in the AdCom’s eyes. </p>
<p>High Point is a bit of a head scratcher for us. </p>
<p>Elon is a good solid LAC option. Solid mid-50 percentile scores re admissions, good academics, nice size school. Liked the town. Downside: 60:40 f/m ratio. the 2012 frosh class was 70:30. My S2 saw no problem. :rolleyes:</p>
<p>Here is an issue: women as a % of applicants are outpacing men. How does this fact influence your college search? </p>
<p>By way of example, look at the William and Mary Common Data Set for fall 2012
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[William</a> & Mary -*Common Data Set](<a href=“http://www.wm.edu/offices/iae/institutional_research_reporting/cds/index.php]William”>http://www.wm.edu/offices/iae/institutional_research_reporting/cds/index.php)</p>
<p>4928 men applied, 2005 were accepted. (40%)
8732 women applied 2389 were accepted. (27%)</p>
<p>Another variant - a state like VA mandates 2/3 of students be in-state, yet provide only a fraction of the true cost in state subsidy. Does your out of state, full tuition S become very attractive to the AdCom’s??</p>
<p>just wondering since several of you had great organizational ideas, anyone have a college visits checklist to use while visiting to insure consistency in evaluating schools? I would put campus, friendliness of students, dorms, area…</p>
<p>avon - our d is getting inducted tuesday in nhs. I’ve had 2 experiences with this - at first school where my son attended some kid asked him when he was hanging out in study hall if he wanted to join. For my daughter it’s a completely different game - must be nominated, have a 3.5, volunteerism, leadership, involved in something else at school, write an essay, be voted on by teachers. Her getting in was clearly a way bigger deal. </p>
<p>Our strategy with the imbalance is to look at schools that have a closer ratio. I think College of Charleston is 70% female! Girls are at a huge disadvantage over boys at lac’s. Boys are at a disadvantage with stem schools. I think RPI has 70% males. </p>
<p>How did Elon personalize a tour for anyone who went there? We just got the generic tour by a person so snobby and boring it turned my d off instantly. He said - our school colors are VERY unattractive, but we prefer jackets and ties anyway. My d practically sprinted to the car. I didn’t see any kids out and about, in the middle of the day when the day before at Clemson students were milling about, booths set up, clubs going on, lots wearing the orange t’s, etc. It made it look like Elon had 0 school spirit. My nieces went there - definitely the sundress southern sorority kind of vibe there. They loved it, my d just couldn’t see herself there.</p>
<p>People suggest Elon and High Point in the same breath but they are so different I think the only reason would be location.</p>
<p>lindz126 - here you go </p>
<p><a href=“http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/college-search-selection/1354422-ultimate-college-campus-visit-checklist.html[/url]”>http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/college-search-selection/1354422-ultimate-college-campus-visit-checklist.html</a></p>
<p>eyemamom- I guess we lucked out on our Elon tour - of our group of eight, two had already taken a tour, and four were there for a soccer tournament and had to leave 20 minutes into the tour for a game. We ended up with a personal tour from a young lass originally from our home state. It was nice. We were there during summer session so the campus was less than vibrant, but I didn’t come away with an Uber prep feel like some southern LAC’s.</p>
<p>Initiatelaunch–LOVE that visit checklist. Thanks for posting. (Love your screen name too.) </p>
<p>My little college spreadsheet includes M & F % admit and yield. As the mother of a boy not interested in STEM with middling grades but excellent SATs, I am looking for any tiny clink, full knowing that the process is still a casino game. I wish our Naviance data points identified applicants as ED vs RD as our HS has a significant recruited athlete population.</p>
<p>I will need an entirely different spreadsheet three years hence when the math/science son goes through this process.</p>
<p>Interesting to read about the NHS differences. My guy is getting inducted into ours. He had to be nominated and fill out an app that went through review, but I’m not privy to how much review. I just know he’s in.</p>
<p>As to M/F? One school my guy is interested in sent a brochure which had about 20 F and 3 M in a group circle. I pointed it out to my guy. He looked at it and said “I’m definitely going there!” So now I guess it’s decided… ;)</p>
<p>What’s with this snow coming on Monday? We’re usually planting our garden by now (or have it planted)! We can’t have another snow day without pushing the end of our school year later… UGH! Will someone else volunteer to take the stuff?</p>
<p>I think the list posted by initiatelaunch is interesting, but going a little overboard. And I think the same is true for the myriad list of spreadsheets. IMHO, its just making things a little more complicated than they need to be. Having a basic list of thing important factors, such as FA, school size, the strength of the major, gender balance, etc., is important, but it should be a relatively short list. Do any of you really have kids that will go through that kind of list, checking off the pros and cons, adding up the ones and zeroes, and decide on college based on the tally in a column?</p>
<p>The problem with this exhaustive list is, first, it just isn’t the way most kids think. Most kids will walk onto a campus and get a “feel” of it, and love it, hate it, or feel indifferent. Second, if you walk along on a campus tour with your nose stuck in your list checking things off, you will miss much of what is going on around you. I am sure many of you can relate to an interviewer who questions someone from a set of specific, written out questions. The interviewer is so focused on the questions (like a list) that they often miss what is said. And compare that kind of interview with a conversation-interviewer like Barbara Walters. Yes, she’s done her homework, but she goes with the flow.
If a kid, or a parent, approaches a college visit in an overly pragmatic, list-oriented way, they will miss out on so much.
So, yes, have a basic list of things that are truly important, deal-breaker like things, but do you really want to measure dorm rooms (which many campuses won’t let you see anyway because of “safety” issues) or do you really want to compare libraries?
To all these smaller issues are kids will adjust. But if they don’t love it, that is a much larger hurdle to overcome. And to insure they “love it” they need to immerse themselves in the visit, without any “list” distractions.</p>
<p>Anjin, I agree that it’s too much for us. What we have done is after the trip, I asked my S to tell me what he liked and didn’t like about the school, and typed it up in a file. I also transcribed anything interesting from my notes. Our “trip reports” are a few paragraphs long and say what we liked and disliked and what we learned that seemed different from everywhere else. The point is really just to help us remember which school was which.</p>
<p>I think that is a great idea! I’ve done the same thing. I keep my own notes on every school. My kid is also an athletic recruit so I keep list of contacts, all the correspondence, etc. I did the same thing when she applied to BS. And what I foresee, as with BS, is that I will pretty much stay mute throughout the process to see how her interests develop. And as the decision deadline approaches I will reference my notes to see that they are aligned with her previous perceptions.</p>
<p>Oh, one other thing, and I think this is important. By saying that I stay “mute,” I don’t mean to suggest that we don’t talk about things. But I “mute” out my feelings, so it is very much a kid driven process. After all, we are dealing with teenagers. So if I were to push against a school, that may very well become the favorite! :-)</p>
<p>When I say “after the trip” I mean after each school. If I waited until the end of the whole trip it would already be a blur!</p>
<p>Hi Packing today–</p>
<p>On the lists of things to consider at the schools - we used a very short list for K1</p>
<p>Academics:
Majors: (dual programs?)
Computers:
Size of classes: First yr vs 2nd, 3rd, 4th.
Freshman Classes taught by professors or TAs?
Computer Access? (wifi etc)</p>
<p>Student Life:
Instate ? %…
Weekends empty?- students head home?
FAC (Fellowship of Christian Athletes)
Students allowed vehicles?</p>
<p>Housing: ? Guaranteed housing on campus?
Substance-free housing?
Board/Dining: quality</p>
<p>EC: specifics.</p>
<p>We will also look at travel (getting to/from campus/airport) to home state.</p>
<p>I try to be quiet and then to ask open ended questions of my kiddos…
what did you like/not like etc…and WHY…
hoping they are looking for proper fit for themselves…</p>
<p>Good luck and best wishes for safe travels to all.</p>