@snoozn Oberlin is not only likely to reject, it’s very very likely unaffordable lol. He does have some rigor and a relatively solid junior year and ok EC’s but I would think your D’s dance is pretty nice too. It’s a reach.
Just not quite as much of one as Reed. Except for the quirk factor at Reed. S scores high on that scale and his essay for Reed, with their prompt, could deliver. The difference is…Oberlin has the music. Still, likely not worth applying.
@eandesmom he is uncertain at this point, but is interested in psychology. Unfortunately we are not WUE but he is interested in Western schools. NAU and SUU look like good bets that likely fit our budget, and the proximity to family is nice. UNLV would be in-state for his dad (contributing non-custodial parent); we discussed the option of starting there, getting NV residency, and transferring to a WUE school. I’m not so keen on UNLV for him. I’m so curious to know what he thinks after he’s seen these schools!
@notinoz I’ve heard good things about Northern Az. I tried to get S17 to look at it but too hot for him to consider. From a cost standpoint, at those stats, Linfield is likely to be the most generous on the LAC side in Oregon. I’ve actually eliminated them all from our list due to cost. All will offer $$, but other than Linfield, it wasn’t enough and S doesn’t like the location of Linfield and I felt for that amount of $$ he had better options. There are some though we didn’t look at at all (Univeristy of the Pacific, Concordia, a few others). Still, run the NPC’s on them before you make the trip and I would look at the jesuit schools if he would consider those, U of Portland is gorgeous.
Have you looked at Colorado State or University of Wyoming? They have nice out of state scholarships outside of the WUE. I think Idaho does as well.
@notinoz I found taking S17 on college tours helped a lot more than I would have thought. He seemed quite uninterested until he took a tour, and we got a lot of information we could extrapolate further. I bet your son will have more opinions that you think. I can’t get him to even look at Arizona. He really wants somewhere with trees & less hot. We went to Oregon over spring, but S17 didn’t like the one LAC we looked at and now is reluctant to look at more. But he does like Oregon State & UofO.
As for EC’s, a part time job is an EC. Particularly if it’s one he’s had for a while. S17 doesn’t have a many EC’s but for the type of schools that are on his list (mostly large state schools) I’m not concerned. Particularly as they are EC’s he has been doing all 4 years & a few are a bit unusual.
@notinoz I would echo @snoozn and @curiositycat333. Actually touring some schools made a tremendous difference in my S’s level of engagement. It concerns me only in that we cannot tour the bulk of schools on his list pre-application and I really wish we could. It will be interesting to see how that impacts applications.
@eandesmom Northern Arizona (NAU) in Flagstaff has an elevation of almost 7,000 feet. It is mostly pine forest with a very temperate summer climate. I was interested in that school for my D16 but since we’ve visited that part of Arizona in the winter, her concern was it’s too cold with snowy winters! (Average low in Jan is 11 degrees with the average temperature in August of 78.) Arizona is a very diverse state geographically, Flagstaff is quite different than Phoenix weather wise.
@2launched I know lol. However convincing my son of that is a totally different story. He shuts it down at the word Arizona. He does have other reasons than perceived weather but I am not sure they are valid ones.
Yup. My son is just the same. D12 & I took a trip to AZ two years back in Spring & it still quite cold in Flagstaff but convince my son of that. I figure it’s a win I’ve gotten S17 to consider Colorado schools.
Thought I’d ask a question here I’m also posting on the Parents of 2017 board. Any one here considering hiring a easy ‘writing’ tutor. I went so far and to collect names of possible tutors, but S17 didn’t want me to call. He just needs someone other than mom to bounce idea’s off, set some deadlines, and edit. Essay writing for him is like pulling teeth particularly if it’s personal like these essays are supposed to be. Any suggestions? At least some of the schools (Cal States) don’t require an essay.
@curiositycat333, I definitely think there’s value in having someone other than mom read/edit the essay (someone the kid can feel will be objective and not push buttons), but not sure it needs to be a tutor. Is there a trusted family friend that could do it? A teacher? D17 was going to be taking honors English next year, where they spend time in the fall working on their essays, but the school is dropping one of the AP classes she was going to take and her schedule right now will only accommodate AP English Lit, and I don’t know if there will be any focus on the essay in that class. We used a tutor to help study for SAT/ACT, and she also offers services for essays, so I’m going to keep that in my back pocket, depending on how it goes this summer.
My sister helped a friend’s son. He was a top student, his parents are well educated but just wanted another set of eyes to look at the essays. He was admitted to ND, Dartmouth, Georgetown so it must have worked.
I’m rethinking college tour trip this summer. American University values demonstrated interest, but it’s a reach for D17 (but also a school of high interest with her major-as-of-now of political science). Wondering if it makes sense to schlep from MA to DC in the summer heat to look at a school where she is just at or below the 25%tile for GPA and test scores (hoping for better when June SAT scores come in, but probably not anything that will move the needle that much). As mentioned before, her ECs are weak. I don’t want to communicate lack of faith in her abilities, though (she’s already had to adjust her sights downward a bit, and while she seems OK with that, she also plays disappointments pretty close to the vest). But maybe it’s worth the trip (looping in other schools that are closer matches) and build in some sight-seeing/touristy DC things to take the full focus off AU. Thoughts?
DC in the summer is hot. Hot. I would not drive 8-10 hours for one school. Depending on where you live, it might be cheaper to do a fall weekend in DC rather than adding 10 hours and a few days this summer.
@klinkska I’d do it if D is interested and it’s not far out of your way to other schools. Although DC is a fun place to visit. (Although summer heat & crowds ugg.) But I wouldn’t make a special trip for it. The first school we visited was that much of a reach for DS. But we were already traveling in the area and I didn’t realize how much of a reach it was till we were in the info meeting. This was last summer we did get a lot of information out of the tour so it wasn’t that much of a mistake. Did open up S17’s eye’s to the whole process.
@klinska if you want your child to show interest without driving all that way, look into American University’s webinar events. They have recordings of past webinars up right now. Have her email the admissions office to find out when the next freshman one is scheduled. They may not have one scheduled but at the very least, her email signals interest. Good luck.
@twoinanddone @curiositycat333 @SlackerMomMD – thanks! The webinars are a good idea–will check them out. While AU does have special preview days for students and their families during the summer, the other colleges we’d be looking at in the area appear to be pretty sleepy during this time of the year–only one (a match/safety) seems to offer info sessions/tours, but it’s very small and likely to be deserted, which won’t make a good impression on my kid who seems to be leaning toward midsized and larger schools. I don’t want to make a tactical error and have her totally discount it because she saw no signs of life on campus. it may be better to wait until fall and school is back in session for actual visits.
@klinska Don’t tour a school when it’s doesn’t have an official tour & it’s summer. I made that mistake once. Took D12 with S17 in tow (he was only in junior high at the time ) to a SUNY school in the summer between sessions. The place was DEAD. Nothing was open except for one cafeteria & the bookstore. There was a major renovation of the grounds going & the only sign of life was a dance summer camp we bumped into at one point. The only redeeming part of that visits, was the door to the department we were looking at was open so we did poke around and there was practically no one there so we did manage to see something. It wasn’t high on our list and that was the only time we could go. We would have been better off just skipping it.
We visited the school my daughter ended up at on a fall weekend. We got there on a Saturday at 1, and it was very busy as there was a robotics tournament in the student center and several other activities going on (but they really were high school students we were seeing). We stayed over as she was meeting with the coach on Sunday morning at the same student center. DEAD campus on Sunday. Nothing. No one. We did see one guy heading into the library with a case of Mountain Dew (excitement!).
She thought it was wonderful. Everything was neat and clean and that’s how she likes things, without a lot of messy students around. She could see all the nice symmetrical buildings, which she likes. Even when we re-visited during the year on a Friday, it was pretty low key. Students, books, a few bicycles.
@curiositycat333 I’m horribly behind on the 2017 thread so will respond here. We are sort of using someone. In the sense that my child is acting as a practice student for someone studying to be a college counselor. She will nag and prompt him along on the essay and common app. We will however pay for some essay review/edit/feedback from her H who owns the test prep company we use. He respects him, will take his feedback and it will get done on time at minimal cost so I think it is worth it but who really knows. I do know that she got him at least to review the prompts and come up with a topic already, as well as working on resume/brag sheet and I know for a fact he would NOT have done that if I were nagging.
I am not aware of any in-school review so this seems the safest approach for us. Not all of our schools require essays either and some can be repurposed. I think S will take his common app and rework it into 2 separate answers on the OSU one, and use much of it for WWU as well so it’s good to have the other eyes and ears (and voice lol).
@klinska we did the same thing. I had tenatively planned a Philly/NY trip and when I really dug into how high (or not) the schools were on S’s list, the “fit” program and cost wise, compared to the cost of the trip…it just didn’t make sense. It would have been a lot of fun to be sure but…I’m spending that money on a new couch instead.
Summer is nice as they are out of school but I do agree that tours while it is in session is better. And, the summer weather there plus a reach…I would look at other ways to show interest.
@klinska Visiting from the 2016 3.0 to 3.4 thread - My nephew attends American U and got in ED from a Newton, MA HS with a 3.0 and a 31 ACT. Unless you are aiming for merit awards, it might not be as much of a reach as you think it is. The fact that nephew is a male might have worked in his favor, but he had just OK ECs and doesn’t play a sport. It has a very nice campus - I met my husband there when we were in grad/law school.
An 8 to 10 hour drive is always terrible - we have family in Boston and can usually find cheap flights from the DC area (one time it was $44!)
@eh1234 Wow! AU ED at $61,101 would be nerve racking. Not sure if he was ED and close to full pay…which may have helped him.