@eandesmom As for the H.S. ‘helping’ this week the H.S. is asking the seniors to go to one of two college planning workshops. I had to talk S17 into attending. I hope he does & he wasn’t just placating me. I explained that while yes this was going to be boring, and yes he probably would know at least 80% of it. There would be important information such as how to submit LOR, Counselor letters, deadlines, etc. That the counselors who each have more than 100 seniors don’t have the time to explain this stuff to them all individually. I think I convinced him to go.
There is a parent meeting this week at 7AM. I was groaning about the time, but it seems I need it to be that early. Have to spend the day in downtown LA and the early start will allow me to catch the last train.
On the other hand he is arguing with me about submitting an essay to UofO. Seems it’s optional, meaning there isn’t really a good place to put it on the application. (This also means he must have started the application for him to know this detail.) His argument is against is that it’s more complicated for the teacher to submit this letter since it isn’t through common app. and he doesn’t want to ask the teacher to do more work. I think he should submit it because his grades aren’t solid, and this letter is going to speak to how much he has matured in the past two years. Will have to figure that out. Maybe there is a way to send a letter of rec from the common app, to a non common app school.
@mommdc I think there is a way to do it from the common app and it sends that person a way to upload, but I’ll have to look at it more closely with S this weekend, after he asks (pretty sure he is going to). There are 2 schools in particular I think it would be good for and they both allow “other” letters so there has to be a mechanism for it, right?
@curiositycat333 hmmn. That sounds a bit like the issue with WWU. Very interesting, when I looked at our Naviance today, they had finally updated it with 2017 info. they were VERY clear in it saying that WWU, WSU and UW do not WANT letters (although WWU says you can send them if you want). I wonder if OSU’s is similar. We haven’t opened the WWU app yet to see the mechanism but given the clear statement from our school regarding the LOR’s, we aren’t requesting them. I don’t think there is a way to get a LOR out of the common app to a non common app school. We have to request all LOR’s through Naviance and I think it’s a deliberate gateway to validate whether they “think” they are needed or not.
@vandygrad87 Ohio Wesleyan looks lovely, I wish my S would consider it but I can’t get him excited about Ohio in general (or a number of other states lol). St. Mary’s looks lovely!
eandes- I loved OWU. I thought it had a really nice vibe and the students seemed happy to be there. That counts for a lot! It also seemed like a self-motivated kid could find a lot of opportunity there also. St Mary’s was a beautiful school and was overall good for my kid, but she could have done more with her time there than she did. She kind of rushed through, graduated early… and now that she is “adulting” I think she wishes she had slowed down and made more of her opportunities.
@endesmom OSU doesn’t want letters. Unless you are applying to their honors college, or you are appealing an admission decision. They say explicitly NOT to send them. UofO say not required but if you send them they will read them. (Not the same as recommended.) According to S17 it doesn’t say how to send them and doesn’t make it obvious. Thus he thinks we shouldn’t bother.
Our weekend did not really see any progress. I had planned on being ready for H and oldest D to go over D17’s essay, but I wanted her to check my edit comments first. I told her they were mostly all very simple – grammar, punctuation, too many words – and wouldn’t take long to go through. But she still hasn’t done it. So, same plan for next weekend.
She’s requested the three LoR’s (one GC and two core teachers) she wants and I’m checking Naviance every day to see if they’ve been submitted (I can’t help it!) Her engineering teacher submitted about 20 minutes after she put in the request, but nothing from the others so far. It’s only been ten days since she put in the request, so I probably shouldn’t worry. But I do because I imagine the worst – her request somehow falling to the side and now tons of other students will have requests in. If they’re not in next Monday, I think I’ll have her very politely inquire about when they might be done. Good idea or bad idea?
Three schools on her list are visiting her HS this month – WWU, OSU, and UVM. She’s visited UVM and will be visiting WWU next month, so the OSU session will probably be the most useful. But it will be nice to chat with all the reps in a smaller setting.
@vandygrad87, welcome! We have a few things in common. My D doesn’t strictly fit the GPA of the title, but it’s definitely not a hard and fast rule! Also she is my second (and middle) going through the process. However, I knew pretty much nothing the first time – keeping my fingers crossed that D17 and I will get the hoped for results this time. My oldest D is at CU-Boulder (our local flagship) and has ended up happy there even though she didn’t like it initially. And she’ll be graduating in May! We’re also looking for merit. A few NPC’s show a small amount of need, but for the most part none.
@eandesmom, you might want to start a thread in the College Admissions forum about the normal process for the “other” LoR. I bet there are some experts who will know how it’s usually handled. And also @curiositycat333, I saw the same in D’s Naviance about WWU and OSU not even allowing LoR’s to be requested. I feel like her LoR’s will be a strong part of her app, so I’m always disappointed when schools won’t take them.
@snoozn, DS attended a CU-Boulder info session today at his HS and was really impressed. What’s your take on their engineering program? How close is the nearest airport to the school? What didn’t your D like at first?
This is a new school on his list so clearly I have to do some more research. We are also OOS.
It takes about 45 minutes to get from Boulder to Denver International Airport. A student can actually get there entirely by bus or light rail, but that would take longer. And the bus is ‘free’ (believe me, you pay for it in student fees).
The CU engineering school is top notch, especially in the physics and aerospace areas (18 astronauts). This was posted yesterday on the CU facebook page:
“Go Buffs! Five of our programs made the top 30 among public institutions in the U.S. News & World Report’s undergraduate rankings for 2017, including #8 Aerospace engineering, #12 Chemical engineering and #18 General undergrad engineering.”
I think it is sad when schools don’t accept LORs. I mean, I guess for huge schools it is just more than they can manage to look at… but still- grades and scores tell only a bit about a student. Even essays, while showing more, are often edited and re-edited and such by who knows how many people. But LORs hopefully give a completely confidential view of a kid and hopefully by people who have their best interests at heart. KWIM?
My DS’s top two are USNA and USCGA. The application for USNA is absolutely insane, between that and the nomination packets required, it is like a part time job. He has had to write over ten essays just for two of the nomination packets, and he still has one to go. He is getting burned out, and he still has the civilian schools to do, not all of which take the common app.
Do we get to take a long vacation after all of this? Oh WAIT! We will HAVE NO MONEY because we will be paying for college! lol
@snoozn Partly I’m disappointed that only one of DS 8 school even wants a LoR. He has a really awesome teacher who will write him a really wonderful letter of rec. And this will really put his grades (bad grades end of freshman year) in perspective. And it’s a bit sad more schools won’t see it.
Maybe I should go look and see if there is a big UofO thread and ask about it there.
So, I’m having a mild freak-out about D17’s list. It’s full of matches and reaches, but very light on the safeties (for lack of better terminology). One of the two safeties we have is an OOS public flagship–it’s financially doable, but it will be at the higher end of what we want to pay and I’m balking a bit at what it will cost for what I perceive (perhaps wrongly) to be a not really great quality experience. D isn’t thrilled with it either, but I insisted that it stay on the list for now until we can find something else to swap out in its place. Merit aid is important for us, and I’m very concerned that the schools where D is a match are just not going to be all that interested in throwing much merit her way (she’s either at the low end or in the middle of that middle 50% on the CDS. I suspect that the NPCs are lying to me (do I sound paranoid??)–with D’s stats, why would some place like Lawrence or Beloit or Wooster be willing to throw $10-15K/year her way? Or is just assumed that no one (hardly) pays sticker price at schools like this and I’m worrying needlessly?
I suspect that safeties are an issue no matter where on the stats spectrum your kid falls, but I’m feeling very much like there’s a real chasm between where my kid’s matches are and the next tier down (as it were). The satellite/directional in-state public options where we are aren’t compelling at all (mostly commuter schools, way too close to home, etc). I keep going over the list of schools, thinking I must be overlooking something, some hidden gem, some undervalued but excellent choice, but I keep coming up empty. If one had to come up with a short list of schools that came in right under where the CTCL schools and similarly selective research universities fall in terms of selectivity, what would be on your list?
Hi @klinska, not all of the CTCL schools are equal in their selectivity. We still have about 6 of them on D17’s list, and they do vary in how selective they are. McDaniel and Juniata are two that look like safeties for my D. Have you looked at those?
Hi @kt1969, yes–Juniata is on our list (and Goucher, too–which is our second safety), and yes, I guess I did realize that not all schools on the CTCL list are equal in their selectivity, so I’m not really sure why i grouped them all together like that, but I guess I’m looking to better understand other options or what I might be overlooking.
@klinska Do I remember correctly that you are in Massachusetts? Would Clark University be an option? It’s a CTCL school that is reasonably generous with merit money and is not uber-selective.
What’s your geographical range? Are midwestern or southern schools an option? Sorry if I missed a list upthread.
@mamaedefamilia, yes, we are in MA. Clark is on our list, but I would consider it a high match or even a low reach, which makes me nervous with regard to any merit. (For reference, her GPA is 3.3 UW, but top 10% of her class; SAT [new] 600 M/670 EBRW, very light on ECs). Getting in would be great, but not so great at full pay. We are looking in the Midwest, but she’s not really interested in southern schools (too hot, too much culture shock for her). We have several schools in the Midwest on the list: Beloit, Lawrence, Ohio Wesleyan, College of Wooster. Other CTCL schools: Allegheny, Juniata, and Goucher.
@klinska Sounds like a great list. We visited College of Wooster and Denison and both are lovely campuses. Denison seems a tad more preppy/sporty and Wooster more of a mix of all kinds of students. I know somebody who teaches at Ohio Wesleyan and she loves it there. In her experience, the students are enthusiastic, hardworking and sincere. Their integrated study abroad programs sound really great too.
Is she going to try the SAT again, or the ACT? If she could bump the SAT into the 1300s or get a 29-30 on the ACT, she’d be very competitive for the schools you are targeting, I think. That rank will help also.
Good luck! I have become a big fan of the CTCL schools. D17 will be applying to College of Wooster and St Olaf. She’s not very sporty, so Denison and OWU didn’t make the cut.
Thanks, @mamaedefamilia! D is taking the SAT again in a couple of weeks, with the express goal of getting into the 1300s (a boost in her math score would be truly awesome). I think I’ll try to hold it together until we get the scores back before I really get crazy stressed.
I agree, the CTCL schools really seem to do a great job of filling a niche for kids with less than tippy top stats.
@klinska are the Rockies too far away? University of Wyoming and Colorado State would both be stats fits and I think Wyoming definitely a safety probably Colorado State as well pricewise are going to be in the right ballpark because Colorado State will give her some for Rocky Mount scholars.
I feel your pain completely and keep reevaluating our list for exactly the same reason. I spent a fair amount of time this week looking at all of our net price calculator’s and comparing it to the common data sets and I am a bit concerned (OK more than a bit), that the average non need merit aid shown in the common data sets for our schools is definitely less across-the-board than the price calculators are showing for us. That concerns me about their financial viability. I hope that the net price calculators are correct, or even understated. If they are not and the common data set average of non need merit is correct we really only have one school my child can attend.
This is why we are applying 100% EA so we have time to recalibrate if needed.
I will agree that the Beloit, Lawrence, Wooster and Ohio Weslyan all show on the lower side price wise in their MOC’s.If you haven’t, I would also look at Ohio University and Bradley University both which will fall into the safety/match and be on the affordable side of the spectrum.
@klinska I know what you mean about safety’s. It seems like anything that is a safety is a big jump down in level of school. I think all your D needs is one really solid safety. They know they can get in, it’s a school they can they themselves attending and it’s affordable. But that isn’t always an option, particularly as a school they can see themselves attending.
