Parents of the HS Class of 2016 (Part 1)

Parents Forum Class of 20xx Community
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<p>@petrichor11 why does the school miss giving both your kids bus privileges? Do they determine that by their schedules and think that one wouldn’t need the bus? Very interesting!</p>

<p>Was at Bryn mawr college this week at a summer camp with my youngest D. What a gorgeous college! It looks like what I think Hogwarts would look like…lots of stone buildings, loved the campus center with all the fitting quotes painted on the walls, yummy food, beautiful trees and walkways, etc. we never thought of the college because D14 did not want an all girls school so it never came up on the radar, but I could see lots of happy people there I bet! I heard they had an honor code about not talking about their grades to compete with each other but rather they keep that to themselves and only compete with themselves. It is considered bad form to talk about grades. I thought that was interesting and could be very helpful for non competitive people.</p>

<p>I bought a shirt :)</p>

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<p>Hi @carriemc95 You’re going to love it here!</p>

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<p>@cakeisgreat: We are on the very edge of bus service and not-bus-service. Nearly as I can figure, my son’s bedroom is about 20 feet closer to the school!
Serious answer: my daughter is on an IEP (long story) and it stipulates closest street corner bus service. Because we are on that border I mentioned, usually they decide we are scant meters inside the “this kid can walk” area. So they’re stuck giving my daughter a ride (which is good, because honestly, I don’t see her successfully crossing a busy six lane highway at pre-dawn hours and on foot), but feel S16 can fend for himself. So every year I have to beg sibling privilege, and the kids who are across the street are denied altogether. And then there are other kids who have to walk past our corner, where there is a bus stop, to get to their assigned stop three blocks from their house. It’s kind of insane.</p>

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<p>Hopefully this is ok in posting trip reports. </p>

<p>We visited five colleges this summer. I know the best way to visit is during the school year, but we wanted just to get a look and see size and scope before actually see the amount of students. </p>

<p>We visited CMU, University of Pitt (ready, set, Pitt day), Penn State (spend a summer day), UCLA and UCSD. </p>

<p>I could answer any question some may have if needed, but to be quick my sons ranked them:
UCSD
CMU
Pitt
UCLA
Penn State</p>

<p>We were looking at dorm life, academics, and overall feel when comparing. </p>

<p>UCSD is BY FAR the best looking campus to us. UCLA was grand, but the city took away done of the charm for us. </p>

<p>Penn State’s dorms like like a prison. I mean the tiny rooms and 7 foot ceilings made you feel like you were being punished for being at the school </p>

<p>U of Pitt had a really nice layout. The security of the dorms, the bussing options, the food and the athletics were all top notch. Just S1 intended major of engineering is lacking, but S2 has this as close 2nd choice with a possible pharm major. </p>

<p>CMU academics and nice smaller layout was appealing. But this is going to be a reach school for S1. </p>

<p>UCLA seemed to be just about the money. EVERYTHING is ala cart. We looked at each other when the lady told us that if a student didn’t use all their food options by end of semester they lose them. Plus the school store wanted to charge us for a bag to put the shirts we purchased at the book store. It just seemed very greed oriented. </p>

<p>I could go into detail of any visit if someone wanted. </p>

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<p>@fflmaster – The trip reports are great!! Thanks.</p>

<p>We are in northern CA, and UCSD was on S14’s list. We felt it had a lot going for it academically. Weren’t so sure about the different ‘colleges’. For some reason we were a bit underwhelmed by the campus. Maybe it was the fact that we toured on a Saturday in November, and the campus was empty. You could have shot a cannon through it and not hit a student. We recognize that there’s a lot to do in San Diego on the weekends, but it did look like the kids had all chosen to escape the campus, even to study. It ultimately didn’t matter, as S14 was wait-listed (and didn’t take them up on the wait-list offer).<br>
Are you in-state for the UC’s? I can’t imagine paying out-of-state tuition for a UC. </p>

<p>Pitt was on our radar also, but my son didn’t apply. Pitt has a good honors college, can be generous with merit aid, and the kids who go there tend to love it. If you’re in-state it’s a great deal. S16 has made it clear that, at least for now, he’s not going to consider cold-weather schools, so it is probably not going to be on our list.</p>

<p>BTW, you’ve got a great head-start on this whole college choice thing – With S14 we didn’t do any college visits until well into his junior year, and even then he wasn’t truly engaged in the process. Maybe it’s because he’s a bit of a knucklehead. That said, tonight is the last night that he’ll be sleeping in his bedroom until he comes home from school in November, and I am absolutely bereft over the thought of him being gone. Although he’s spent much of the summer ensuring that he won’t be missed, he’s been an absolute angel as we’ve been shopping for school, packing up, etc. And despite all the teenage-boy bluster, he’s quite fragile. Still my baby, and I’m going to miss him horribly.</p>

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<p>Unfortunately, we are from PA. </p>

<p>So OOS tuition could be a killer for us. </p>

<p>Not like Pitt or Penn State offer much to in-state. Sucks to be from PA. </p>

<p>My kids really want OOS. They had enough of our cold weather. </p>

<p>I know it was during the summer schedule, but UCSD did seem VERY quite at night. We actually stayed in the dorms (east village) for much of the week. So we got a great chance to see a lot of the campus day and night. </p>

<p>The six college option is interesting. Have to say I rather liked that part. Made a large campus feel like a smaller one. </p>

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<p>We also visited CMU this summer - it was my kids’ least favorite because the students, even the tour guides, seemed unhappy… I love hearing everyone else’s perspectives! BTW wrt Pitt being beloved by its students, in fact the high point of our CMU visit was the Hillel that is shared with Pitt, where the [Pitt] people were incredibly friendly and happy. :)</p>

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<p>@fflmaster‌ and yes, California is very green oriented. We have to pay for bags at the store that is why we use reusable shopping bags.</p>

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<p>Seal, that is what my wife said. However, only UCLA wanted to charge. In PA we GIVE a .03 credit for not using a bag. TO ME, any charge is a money play with the excuse of being green. Any credit to the bill is a true green play. There should be no gain to the store for being green. The gain should be to the customer. </p>

<p>Just my opinion. </p>

<p>Being green is very good, and my wife makes sure our family does our job. </p>

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<p>@fflmaster – I’m sure you already know this, but if your kids want to go OOS you may want to do some homework on private schools that offer signficant merit aid. I don’t know your kids’ stats, but you might be surprised at how generous some schools are w/ merit aid. I’ve posted this link before, to a list of private schools in decreasing order of the percentage of kids who get merit (‘non-need based’) aid:
<a href=“http://www.kiplinger.com/tool/college/T014-S001-kiplinger-s-best-values-in-private-colleges/index.php?table=prv_univ&state_code[]=ALL&id[]=none&sortby=non_nb_aid_p&sortorder=DESC”>http://www.kiplinger.com/tool/college/T014-S001-kiplinger-s-best-values-in-private-colleges/index.php?table=prv_univ&state_code[]=ALL&id[]=none&sortby=non_nb_aid_p&sortorder=DESC&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;

<p>There are some schools on there with pretty decent engineering programs, and even if the programs are not as prestigious as some others your son might be considering, the advantage of being a relatively big fish in a small pond should not be overlooked. On that site you can also link to Kiplinger’s list of ‘best value’ public schools, which can be ranked for OOS. Some of those public schools have good engineering departments, and have OOS tuitions far below the UC’s. And hoping that I’m not stepping on any toes here, the UC’s are not the schools that they once were, given the budgetary issues out here in CA. </p>

<p>Is ‘FFL’ something to do with flag football?</p>

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<p>Thanks asleep for the link. </p>

<p>Stats are not complete by any means, but here is what we have do far. </p>

<p>S1 PSAT-183 (need some work to hopefully get an approx 1350/1950 single sitting. 1400/2010 super score)
SAT 2 Math Level 2- 730</p>

<p>S2 PSAT -169 (hoping with work he can get a single sitting of 1260/1800 and 1300/1900 super score)
No SAT 2 classes yet. </p>

<p>Both will have around 7-9 AP classes after senior year. </p>

<p>So we can’t expect a ton of merit money for big name schools. </p>

<p>I know Ohio State has good aid for OOS. </p>

<p>Does anyone know some other options for students with the above stats?</p>

<p>Oh my name has to do with Fantasy Football. </p>

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<p>S stats back tomorrow, frustrating summer, but hopefully he will catch on. I couldn’t get him to study for the PSAT. I told him if he can keep straight A’s this year I will give him my car. I had him take the “easier” AP classes (at my school) this year because UC’s look at sophomore and junior year. I figured senior year he will have a shorter school day which means more time to study. </p>

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<p>@fflmaster – I think you’re correct in that it will be hard to get merit money at ‘big name’ schools, especially for S2 unless he can get those scores up above his targeted range. But even with a 1300 M + CR there are ‘non-big name’ schools that might offer him some money. Are you familiar with ‘The Colleges That Change Lives’ book/website? There are a lot of intriguing schools there. S14, who originally was interested in marine science applied to Eckerd College in FL. I cannot overstate how impressed we were with all sorts of aspects of Eckerd, both the school and how they handled the whole admissions process. If you look on their webpage regarding merit awards, you can see that S1 is very much within their range (at least SAT-wise – don’t know about his GPA): <a href=“http://www.eckerd.edu/admissions/finaid/aid.php#tablink.scholarship.academic”>http://www.eckerd.edu/admissions/finaid/aid.php#tablink.scholarship.academic&lt;/a&gt;
I’m only using Eckerd as an example because it’s a school with whom we’re familiar. I’m sure there are others.</p>

<p>If S2 can get his scores up into the range you’ve targeted he’d qualify for merit aid at quite a number of schools, again depending on his GPA. At Miami, a school that made into S14’s final four, if S2 can get that 1400 and if he’s got a GPA of 3.8+ and is in the top 7% of his class he’s in the range for a $10K - 15K merit award. Miami’s private, so even with that award it’s still not cheap, but it would compare favorably to UC OOS. Miami has a very solid engineering dept, and in my mind is a real up-and-comer school – Donna Shalala has really improved the academic rigor, and they’re attracting (through merit awards) a lot of smart kids. It’s no longer Suntan U., but one still gets the Division I football/basketball school spirit sort of thing. And it’s somewhere warm!! . . Again, just using it as an example.</p>

<p>BTW, even though S14 hasn’t arrived on campus yet he’s already in a fantasy football league over there. A bunch of guys on the Facebook admitted students page set it up. His roommate is the commissioner.</p>

<p>@Mysonsdad – We used the car bribe on S14 his junior year. . . He’s not happy that S16 is inheriting it without having ‘earned’ it.</p>

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<p>@AsleepAtTheWheel where did your S14 end up going?</p>

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<p>@fflmaster I’d love for you to go into detail on CMU and Pitt. Thanks!</p>

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<p>@fflmaster : What about Embry-Riddle?</p>

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<p>@3scoutsmom – Ben will be going to Emory. All through the college search and admission process we were told that the kids end up where they’re supposed to be. Well, I’m not one to believe that there are a lot of fairy-tale endings in life. In movies maybe, but not in real life. That said, although it was a VERY imperfect process for us (despite his having attended a fancy-pants prestigious private high school that prides itself on the quality of their college counselling) we (parents and child) are thrilled with the end result.</p>

<p>I learned so much over the past year. The most important lesson is one that most parents on this thread have already figured out: You have to do a lot of homework. Turn over a lot of stones. A corollary is don’t (fully) trust the experts – I can’t believe how much bad college counselling advice is dispensed by those who are getting paid to do so. Read college guide books, websites (college prowler, etc.), threads here on CC. Finally, read exhaustively on the websites of the schools themselves. But again, I suspect that most CC parents are already doing all this.</p>

<p>I guess another general lesson we learned may be relevant to this thread, given that it’s a year before our kids will even be applying. Have a fluid game plan. I get concerned when I read notes on this thread that make it appear that kids/parents are already getting too focused on certain schools/choices. As late as March of this year I would not have guessed that S14 would end up at Emory. Some of that had to do with who he is, a bit of a knucklehead, and may not be applicable to many of the kids here. But it wasn’t until all the admissions decisions were in, and we then did our round of ‘accepted students’ tours that it became clear that Emory was the best ‘fit’ for him. At least we think it is.</p>

<p>Long answer to a short question, but we were up at 4 am this morning so I could get him to SFO for his flight back east, so I’m feeling a bit pensive about all this. He flew to Maine to meet up with my wife, who travelled out there earlier to visit our grown kids. We’ll all re-convene, and move him in next week. But he’s officially gone from home. Fingers are crossed.</p>

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<p>Found out today that my son’s AP Euro teacher called college board and told them something must be wrong with their scoring process. Not one student got a 5 and she said there is no way my son got a 1. It didn’t help, but at least she tried.</p>

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<p>Great stuff @asleepatthewheel! I’d also like to chime in on something I learned…not to close the book on any college…see it a few times if it has enough of the things on your list you are looking for. D14 and I visited rutgers during her college search and liked it enough to apply but grew more and more not to like it during the process for various reasons. She ultimately picked another college that fit her 100 percent. But now d16 has started college tours and rutgers again went on the list for her specific major. I figured we were doing the perfunctory tour and she would hate it…but lo and behold…she loved it and it is her top choice! I was shocked but it made sense for he with her different personality and her major is small and at a nice campus.</p>

<p>I also agree with the person that suggested looking at oos private schools…the college my D14 chose was oos private…Quinnipiac university…and they were the cheapest oos including other oos state schools. </p>

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<p>D just got notification that she earned her first AP Scholar Award. Are those awards good for anything?</p>