Just realized I was reading Naviance incorrectly. So UCSB is more a reach than a fit. 
I have to keep my GPA’s straight. Our school lists’s 6 different GPA’s on the transcript. Total GPA (Weighted), Academic GPA (Weighted), 10-12 Academic GPA (Weighted). The 10-12 Academic Weighted is the UC GPA. But Naviance Weighted is Academic GPA Weighted, and I have to compare Apples to Apples. My son’s GPA hasn’t been updated for the semester & the SAT incorrectly so I’ve been comparing it by hand.
@curiositycat333 Fall is tough for travel, I can definitely relate. Our strategy has largely turned into apply, and then see if really worth a trip. 6 GPA’s sounds crazy complicated. I can see why they would show the non UC GPA as that’s what other colleges would use to make it apples to apples but that is confusing! I am a bit surprised that our naviance already updated with year end GPA, as of today technically report cards don’t go out until tomorrow. Sorry about UCSB.
Ours had an interesting note in there, they are changing the log in late summer and it also says not to put your LOR requests/named in the common app or it will lock things up, it has to go through naviance. UGH.
@eandesmom I’m spending way too much brain on trying to figure things out. (I have other things I SHOULD be doing) DS is out of town for a month & I’m playing with numbers. DS did say before he left that he would put U Colorado Boulder on his list.
It’s just frustrating because his high SAT/B- GPA doesn’t match to the graphs well. From what I can figure out exce[t for SLO, all Cal States seem to be safety’s. UC Riverside & Merced would be safety’s, and UCSC a match (thankfully it’s also a good fit) and all other UC’s & Cal Poly a reach. It’s like there is this huge jump with not a lot of schools in the middle. Thus despite his much higher looking UC GPA we look out of state, for fit reasons as well.
Any good suggestion on how many reaches to put on a list? Right now Cal Poly is the only definite reach on his list. And I think it’s a high reach. I may push UCSB anyway for that reason. (I know two students who just graduated UCSB, one who only got in off the wait list, who have done extremely well there.)
We have gone through this before but it was very different types of schools. I have a D12 who just graduated from a private regional LAC on the east coast. She was tricky as her GPA/ACT were both low, so for her she had two safety schools (Channel Islands & a Penn state school) and almost everywhere else was up in the air. She went to her top choice & graduated in 4 years. It ended up being a good fit for her. So part of me knows, if she could get in somewhere she likes. D17 should be able to get in as well. But I can’t help feeling that he shot himself in the foot freshman year, and he will be paying in the long run.
@curiositycat333 That is so subjective and I think varies with each kid and their own stats. With a lopsided kid it seems a wide net would make sense as long as all are affordable. For Cal Poly I would make sure that he does have the required classes for admission as they are quite a bit more than the Cal State/UC standards. I do think that one is a high reach and a poor choice for the undecided but it’s a great school. I’d personally push UCSB far more than Cal Poly based on what you’ve described, it’s a reach but not as high as SLO and a better fit it seems.
I have noticed the same thing on the UC’s, not much in the middle at all. Kind of depends on how many in total you want to apply to. If Riverside and Merced are safeties, then you have OSU, U of O, UCSC and CU Boulder as matches. Boulder may be a low reach but the SAT helps a ton. UCSB, Cal Poly as reaches, in order of reach? Is he focused on state schools only or are LAC’s in play as well?
What Cal States does he want to apply to?
I can relate. I am having a hard time finding reaches that meet his criteria and my wallet. I am not thrilled with the full list we have at the moment and keep revisiting/visiting new options. Of course I haven’t reviewed any of them with him yet. Right now we don’t really have a true reach, maybe a couple of low matches but nothing super reachy. I’d love to have at least one that we both loved that I could afford. The good news for your 2017 is that at least the UC/CSU schools won’t look at that freshman year. I often wonder how significant or not it is to schools and whether mine shot himself in the foot simply due to spanish. If you remove spanish from the equation, all years, he looks pretty good. Sigh.
@eandsmom That is why I’m trying to push to get him to add more schools. Yes the UC/Cal States won’t look at freshman year BUT they aren’t as good fit’s for other things he wants in a school. I’m basing my safety/match/reach conditions on Naviance numbers from S’s school. U. of Colorado @ Boulder looks like a safety BUT my info says Engineering there would be out of reach. Of course in being lopsided anyone who does a more holistic approach may just not appreciate him. The Cal States are really the only predictable schools. Besides Humboldt not sure what other Cal States I’m trying to get him to apply for at least one more. IDK maybe Chico, maybe our local default. IDK yet.
I’ve had a hard time finding any LAC’s that he is interested in. We looked at one and his thought was ‘not in the real world enough’. I’m wondering if he might like Colorado College. Not enough info on Naviance to get a good idea if he has any likelihood of getting accepted. He does wants to stay west where there might be LOTS of good LAC’s that would like him. Plus while I can afford most state colleges, 60-70K full cost for many LAC’s a bit out of budget. (D’s LAC wasn’t that expensive.)
I guess what I’m trying to do is muck around and see if I can’t find something else that will just pop up and seem interesting I can suggest to him. I’m curious about Canadian Schools like University of Vancouver Island. I would assume these are hard to get into as a US citizen.
@curiositycat333 I’d look at Seattle University, Gonzaga and University of Portland. Jesuit private universities that gladly take agnostics and atheists lol. Solid schools, generous with aid, have the full gamut of programs including engineering. I would love it if my S would consider them. I think he is missing the boat to be honest but he is firm. There are a lot of LAC’s that can get into the 50’s/40’s even upper 30’s. Ones to look at that could be in that range would be University of Puget Sound, Linfield, Willamette, Seattle Pacific, Pacific Lutheran. I know Chapman is generous but not sure if that would be a reach or not since S won’t consider anything warm I’ve not looked south of Humboldt although Redlands sure likes to send us mail! Have you looked at Western Washington?
What does he want besides west/west coast?
@eandesmom Thanks for the ideas. Jesuit is fine. Not interested in Lutheran schools… Considered looking at Santa Clara. But S17 really wants more outdoors, not a big city, and not S. California. I was supprised that he’s considering Riverside. That’s why Oregon and Colorado.
A RL friend has a D going to U. of Puget Sound and gave it rave reviews. S17 looked at it online and wasn’t interested, and it’s a bit of a reach. We also looked at Willamette online a few months back and neither found it very interesting. Too liberal arts, not enough science maybe? Will look at some of the others particularly Gonzaga.
Just got off the phone with my mom. S17 just stayed with his grandparents for a day, and she was trying to give me advice for the college search. Her advice seems to be 2 generations off. Couldn’t figure out why I didn’t suggest touring Stanford and applying as a reach. Headdesk. I’ve been trying to expand S 17’s list, and show him there are lots of options without suggesting schools that he has zero chance at like top 20 schools.
@curiositycat333 from what I understand Santa Clara isn’t as generous…likely due to the destination lol. Gonzaga is the one I really wish my S would consider. U of Portland, even though it’s in the city is kind of an oasis but Seattle U is definitely urban, as is Seattle Pacific.
Surprisingly my S loved University of Puget Sound, it actually seemed to inspire him academically more than any of the others we toured. Funny story, we toured in May on the Monday after classes has ended and move out. I had thought they were still in session when I scheduled it, it was an in service day for us. We pull up, drive around a bit and are still early so go have coffee. S tells me it looks like a place where everyone wears Patagonia. I wasn’t sure ifthat was good or bad and he said it wasn’t either, it was just a thing. Meet our tour guides and…their school logo tour guide gear is…Patagonia. Great tour all around and the campus is stunning, S’s favorite campus by far. The science building is stunning from the outside. We were both very impressed and will be back for program tour, interview and music audition when school is in session. He is definitely applying, at the moment it’s tied with Western Wa for his number one spot. The real question is will it be affordable and is there enough meat in the program for him. What I loved about it was the support, no way would he fall through the cracks there or not graduate on time.
I like Willamette on paper but S won’t consider Salem and it doesn’t look affordable enough to push it. I’d rather keep UPS as that financial reach since the music money chance is real.
Ugh. Stanford. Really??? I applied to all of 2 schools back in the day, Stanford being one of them. I can’t imagine putting my kid through that unless there was at least a statistical chance. Top 50 is a reach, maybe top 75 for my S. I think his highest ranked school is 79 lol. Not that I put all that much into the rankings. Statically he’s a chance at UW. A long shot but a chance. Zero interest though.
Hello @eandesmom and @curiositycat333 (and waving frantically to all the lurkers!) :-h
I’ve been interested reading the long and winding roads we all seem to be taking to get there from here.
D will visit Gonzaga and WWU in October, so I can get in a nice trip report on those (maybe with some magic sprinkled in so @eandesmom’s S will agree to at least look!) But this week is Rochester, NY to look at RIT (seems like a good target to me) and UofRochester, which seems like a very good school, but I don’t think the stats will be there for merit. But that’s fine – they’re only about 15 minutes apart.
As far as number of reaches, I’m back and forth not only on how many to have, but what exactly is considered a reach as opposed to “I just have no idea what could happen here.” Northeastern is D’s reachiest and I don’t think it’s a good fit. But she’s bull-headed and I guess I’m trying to pick my battles. I guess we’ll see what happens to UofR after this trip. I just hope RIT stays. The other real reach for her is Case Western Reserve. But she’s really excited about several of their programs, so that definitely stays on the list. Unfortunately her first choice, Smith, is not exactly easy to get into either. I think she has a pretty good chance as she and Smith seem like a great fit together to me. I don’t want to imagine the scene in which she gets in full pay and we can in no way afford it.
At this point I don’t see any schools getting on (or back on) the list unless there’s a really good reason. And I don’t see them falling off unless we visit and she doesn’t like the tour guides flip-flops. (Has anyone else been reading those threads about silly reasons students take a school off the list? – Luckily D’s reasons aren’t quite that bad!)
:-h
Yes! Waving to all lurkers, please hop in!!!
@snoozn Rochester looks absolutely lovely…and sadly out of my price range. I found a reach yesterday that I really love, likely out of range as well but still may explore it with S. I’ve been struggling with his LAC’s not having enough meat in the ENVS area so keep exploring in general in that area. I also keep wondering if the strong junior year means that we should really push a reach or 2, versys so many matches and safeties. I would love another state school option as well but have about given up on that end. 42 is the magic number. Everything costs 42! I can’t pay 42…
Current LAC’s on the list are: UPS, Ursinus, Beloit. Muhlenberg keeps coming and going for a variety of reasons, price being one of them.
I am considering adding/swapping: Allegheny’s, Hiram, Oberlin. UPS will stay regardless but as he digs into the other remote LAC’s more…I think we may need to look at these as well.
4 out of the 7 will be at the CTCL event though I am not sure how impactful that will be. A bit concerned bout Allegheny’s financial rating. Oberlin is a reach, academically and financially but there is a lot I really really like about it. S is at camp and I’ve not had him look at a thing yet.
I ran NPC on Clarkson again and don’t see it working.
There are definitely some silly reasons kids take schools off! S hasn’t been that bad yet on a tour but certainly has online. Ok maybe not at the flip flop level.
15 isn’t a lot by CC standards. If she applies to 15 well yes, that’s a bit much for me just based on time and app fees but if she’s up for it, why not! We are at 10. My gut says he will apply to 8 tops knowing him but it really could be more or less. At the moment I think there are 3 solid apps but there is a lot of time between now and “submit” even if it’s not as much as S thinks as we need apps in early for merit chasing.
eandesmom, I wouldn’t take Muhlenberg off the list for simply financial reasons. Muhlenberg gives very generous financial aid. If you like everything else about the school but are afraid of the cost, wait to get the financial aid package before deciding. It came down to Ursinus and Muhlenberg for us, and in the end Muhlenberg had the much better package. Best of luck to you!
@beentheredoneit we will not qualify for any financial aid, it will all be merit based and in all the scenarios I have run, Muhlenberg falls short. Looks like a max merit of 10k which leaves a COA of 52k and that will not work at all. Ursinus appears to come in significantly lower/significantly more merit.
^ Muhlenberg tops out at 18k merit, or possibly 22K if one gets an Honors or music/dance/theater supplement of 4K.
http://www.muhlenberg.edu/main/aboutus/finaid/prospectivestudents/merit.html
Hopping back in 
S is leaving Saturday to visit his dad and see UNLV, Northern AZ Univ, and Southern Utah Univ. I’m excited for him to start visiting schools, but I know there’s a very good chance he’ll just shrug his shoulders and say “They’re all fine.” He is pragmatic to the core and resists looking at anything other than cost, no matter how much I encourage him to think about what he wants and might enjoy.
I’ve been planning a trip to Oregon in August to see half a dozen LACs there, but really want to meet with the GC first to discuss whether it’s worth the time and expense. S has a 3.38 GPA and 32 ACT, but no ECs other than part-time work. I’ve failed in my attempts to get him to join anything–he’s a deep-thinking introvert who wants to hang out with this friends and his dog. Any point in looking at private LACs for him? I feel like he could really benefit from that kind of environment but don’t know if they’ll have any interest in him.
@mamaedefamilia sorry, I meant that S17 tops out at receiving 10k…according to the NPC. Even if it were at the 18 + 4 for music money (and music money is possible) that’s out of range. At the full 22k…still pushing it. Ursinus is showing quite a bit more. Of course that doesn’t mean it would really be offered.
@notinoz what does he want to study? If you are WUE, the ones you’ve listed will likely cost quite a bit less than any OR LAC but there are lots of lovely ones. For some his stats are good/match, for others definitely a reach. I would think an introvert would be more introverted at a large school and have a harder time meeting people so I can see the appeal of an LAC.
^ Thanks for the clarification - interesting that they estimate merit money in the NPC - that’s not too common in my experience. I wish more places did that. I have heard good things about Ursinus.
@mamaedefamilia Most of the NPC’s I have run do include merit. Not all, but more often than not. However I still go check against published merit guidelines and validate the tuition noted as not all have the most recent numbers and things do change.
It can also get sticky if an NPC asks for rank and your school doesn’t rank or wants a weighted gpa and your school doesn’t. But, in general most of the information seems out there and in looking through accepted students threads, the awards seem to back it up. I think what can be very confusing is some schools are very generous in their definition of need and need based aid. Combine that with merit and it can be a great package. The school get a reputation for being generous with “aid” as a whole but the reality is that some of that aid would never be available since there is no “need”.
From a program standpoint, Mulhenberg is likely a better fit but…it is what it is!
@notinoz , it may be that for your child, the schools would be just about the same and if he doesn’t care, money might be the controlling factor. After my daughter had been in school about a year, she decided she would have been happy just about anywhere, that calculus is calculus, that dorm food is dorm food. She was originally unhappy that one high school friend was attending the same school and happy that another was, and the ‘happy’ one left within a month and the ‘unhappy’ one is fine and they are sort of friends (they are on the same team).
My other child is about the same too, likes her school but probably would have made any other school work just as well. Some kids just aren’t that hard to please.
@notinoz, Since these are your S’s first visits, perhaps he will surprise you and be engaged! Absolutely your S should apply to LAC’s if they appeal to him. My oldest D had no EC’s except for dance and D&D Club at school! Her GPA at the end of senior year was 3.7, but that was after all A’s senior year, so not what colleges saw (and her school had NO rigor). SAT was 2050 (comparable to 31 on ACT). I didn’t know what I was doing at the time, so we went too reachy. Despite all this she was accepted to five nice LAC’s, waitlisted at one, and rejected at five. If I’d been smarter we would have gone for more schools where she was near the top of the stats than the middle and I’m sure there would have been more acceptances and more merit.
@eandesmom, Oberlin was one of the schools that rejected oldest D, but who knows, maybe they need a trombone player!