@snoozn I found the weighting, it’s in the common data set.
@oldbrookie thanks on the EC’s. For the right school they may mean something, or they may not but honestly all I care about is they keep him busy and happy. They aren’t cookie cutter and maybe that counts somewhere.
Hi @eandesmom ! My S17 is definitely interested in schools in WA and OR, and I know you are from the area. We are planning on a trip to the area this summer to look at schools. Unfortunately, no time before that to go. What do you think of the LAC’s in the area. We are thinking of visiting Puget Sound, U Seattle, Willamette, Lewis & Clark and maybe go out to Spokane to see Gonzaga. I never heard of Whitworth, out there, but do you know we should visit there too?
S would be fine at a larger school too, and he esp liked what he read about Univ of Washington, but I think the OOS tuition at schools in both WA and OR are too high. I think already both commented about Whitman, on the regular Class of 2017 thread. Unfortunately, S’s grades will keep that school out of range for him. We are will need some aid to make any PNW school work, but with S16 also in school, we should finally meet “need aid” requirements. We are in that financial donut-hole of having income high enough to not qualify for “need,” but not enough to afford $45-60K per year, esp with 2 in school at the same time! I appreciate your advise, whenever you have time. Thanks!
My daughter considered Willamette last year (it made her top three). When we visited it for an accepted students event, I talked with several parents. There seems to be a cluster of five or six schools the kids all applied to - I think you have most of them: Puget Sound, Willamette, Lewis & Clark and Chapman (in CA) were the ones I remember. Whitman may have been the fifth college. Reed may be the reach school of this group (mentioned as the school that rejected some parents’ kids; D never applied because it would have been unaffordable as well as a reach school)
Whitworth is a private Christian college - that wasn’t something that interested my daughter so it didn’t get on our list.
@morningside95 I’d also take a look at
SPU (Seattle pacific university)
PLU (Pacific Lutheran)
And then in the greater Portland area
Reed
Linfield
University of Portland
Whitworth is good, if you are checking out Gonzaga you’ll be in Spokane anyway.
I agree, Chapman is big with the same group of kids.
I am in the same donut hole, it’s ugly.
UW would be a reach for an OOS 3.4 kid. A reach instate as well but better odds.
Lewis and Clark and Reed are on our list but both are reaches, as would be willamette. Not sure they are great program fits though. What are you looking for program wise?
Thank you for the information, @SlackerMomMD! BTW, your screen name makes me smile! So did your D visit any of the other WA or OR schools you listed? Since she was admitted to Willamette, do you mind if I ask if they offered any aid? Did she apply to Univ PS, Lewis & Clark? We have S16 starting at an LAC here in the Midwest, and we are definitely on the hunt for merit aid. S17 will have good test scores and some decent ECs and other good things on his application, even if he transcript is not particularly great.
Re: Whitworth, I went to LMU in CA, and I think my non-Catholic S17 would be comfortable in a Jesuit atmosphere, like Gonzaga, but not a traditional Christian college.
Thanks, again, for your help!
@morningside95 - D did get aid. She had applied to Willamette and Puget Sound and was accepted to both. We didn’t know about Lewis and Clark or Chapman until we visited Willamette and found out other kids visiting the schools were also visiting those schools. There may have been a Colorado school mentioned as well but I don’t remember its name. At Willamette, I met a Puget Sound professor whose daughter was considering Willamette. After talking to him, I kind of regretted not asking for more merit (just to see). It sounded like a great place and would have been a good fit for my daughter.
D had a 31 ACT and a 3.1-3.2 unweighted GPA and 3.7-ish weighted GPA. She was in a STEM program so she had mainly honors and AP classes. She took 2 AP classes in 10th grade, 3 AP classes in 11th and then 4,5 AP classes her senior year (her Calc class was double period - which is why I have the 4,5). Puget Sound only gave $14,000 or $15,000 / year so it was unaffordable to us. Willamette gave either $19,000 or $22,000 / year and it was affordable. That $5000 made a difference to us.
Both Reed and Whitman were considered reaches for D and when I ran the NPC, they were both unaffordable. I thought Lewis and Clark was a high match. It seemed harder to get in than Puget Sound. I don’t think D would have received much merit from L&C - maybe that’s why it was dropped?
My daughter ended up at Cornell College in Iowa. She really likes the One Course at a Time system. It’s a bit far from home (MD) and in the middle of nowhere but that doesn’t seem to bother her as much as we all thought. She received $22,000 / year there; the tuition is lower so the net COA to us was lower than Willamette.
Good luck!
My D has a 3.3 and SAT of 1840, and was accepted to Willamette ($11k merit aid) and U of Puget Sound ($16k) so I think they are not much of a reach. She does have a lot of theater EC’s and geographic diversity, though I don’t know if that counts for much. Other schools we found generous were Beloit ($20k), Lawrence ($17k) and Pacific University outside of Portland ($17.5k). We have yet to visit any of them…but that’s another story…ugh
Thanks, @eandesmom. S17 is up in the air. Decided not to follow dad into Engineering, even tho he likes math and science. He considered something in the medical field, like PA or PT, but is not sure he’s up to 6 more years of school, after HS. My guess is that he’ll end up in something like communications, English or business studies. He’s very outgoing and poised. One if the reasons he does well on his Spoech team. His primary interests are Speech, Theater and playing trombone w/ the regular band and jazz band. Mostly, really wants to find a career that does not have him sitting in a cubicle at a desk, and puts him out working with people a lot. An adult co-worker at his Starbucks job told him he should go into politics! To which he said, “no thanks!”
Thank you very much for sharing your students’ info, @SlackerMomMD and @Reckless (both great, funny names!). It is very helpful for S17. I have gained so much great insight in this whole process from the many parents who are willing to share info.
My S16 was accepted at Beloit and Lawrence and both were very generous ($22k @ Lawrence and &25 k at Beloit, w add’l $2k to fund an independent research project, if he chose to do one). He has higher stats than S17 and is a N M Finalist so that helped boost his application. Both L and B are great schools but S16 got into his top choice, Grinnell College, (also in Iowa, like Cornell) so he headed there. G did not offer as much $ but we are lucky in being able to swing it, esp since he’ll qualify for add’l aid when S17 is also in college.
S17 is smart and tests well, so it looks like he might have a chance at aid at several of the Pacific NW schools he is considering. One last question - did you find the Net Price Calculators to be fairly accurate?
Again, thanks for sharing!!goid luck to both of your daughters!
@oldbrookie, yes, my shepherd here just forges through it – she will not be stopped! The other dog rolls in the snow and then leaps around and then rolls some more. I need a good action shot of her.
I’m hoping my D’s serious commitment to Brazilian jiu-jitsu will look good. She’s been going since she was 8 and she takes 4.5 to 5.5 hours per week (which includes some other training as well). Of course from what I hear of parents of kids who do hs sports or marching band or so on, they spend way more time practicing. Back and forth and back and forth. I love the way you’re rethinking the definition of leadership. That sounds like a good topic for the kids and I to discuss in the car tomorrow morning!
@SlackerMomMD, reading your post was making me think also of how the rigor can make the gpa appear to be higher or lower than it might be. My D will only end up with 3 AP classes (Chem, Physics and CalcBC). She’s taken all STEM classes at highest rigor. But then classes that lots of kids (at least around here) take as AP, she’s just taking general, like US and World History, geography, government or whatever’s on that huge list of AP’s… I guess the only STEM exception is that she’s taking an advanced LA class (but not AP). I guess that will all come under “rigor of classwork.” What will her lack of “full rigor” mean to adcoms? There’s too much here for my brain to process!
@eandesmom, I’ve only been in Reno once when I was 10. We were driving back from the west coast to the south and stopped there. I was really sick and just remember the horrid greasy smell of food and loud obnoxious sounds from the gambling machines. I don’t see D in Reno, but perhaps that is my own bias. I will show it to her though. Oregon State definitely looks too expensive and I don’t think she’d want to switch campuses in the middle.
We’ll be headed to a visit at CSU a week from today. It’s specifically about competitive majors, honors program, and undergraduate research, all three of which we’d like to hear about. I seem to remember you and your son already visited, so we’ll have to compare notes. I’d be glad to send you D’s full list of about 20 schools, some with notes attached.
I’ve seen Lewis and Clark mentioned a few times. That seems to be popular school to head off to from here in Colorado. From talking to other Moms, most of the students who go there really seem to love it.
And I think the list of schools that accepted my D11 might be useful here. I think her gpa was around 3.3 or 3.4. Her school also had no weighted class or rankings. So these colleges had to be thinking outside the box.
That list: Goucher, Ursinus, Beloit, Hampshire, Sarah Lawrence. The first four all offered merit, ranging around $8,000 to $20,000. Sarah Lawrence doesn’t off merit, so in our case she only applied because we were clueless.
Oh one more thing @eandesmom, not too surprising it was in the cds I suppose. I had looked there previously for other info but never noticed this section. Things look pretty good for her top school since they only list ED’s as “important” and all the “very important” items I think she’ll have covered. I looked up a few more and it’s interesting how they are actually not all the same. Her top school also mentioned (in the info session) that they don’t expect kids to do every AP and are more interested in seeing which areas a kid is especially passionate about. So, she applies and we hope for the best!
Is your S still back and forth about what major he’ll apply as?
@snoozn - to be honest, I’m not sure how much “rigor” matters. It may have bumped my daughter a bit but I see your D11’s 3.3-3.4 GPA equivalent to my daughter’s 3.1-3.2. D felt going to a place like URochester or Reed would be too stressful and too rigorous. We looked at the same schools as your D11.
Your younger child may “only” have three AP classes but she has the three of the hardest, most rigorous ones. I don’t think she’ll have a problem with rigor.
What I’m trying to say is the grade one gets is what people see first unless the student is taking something extraordinary - like Linear Algebra. A in honors and B in AP may be equivalent but 4.0 looks much better than 3.0.
@morningside95 My S17 is also a Trombone player. Whitworth has an outstanding Jazz band, that much I do know, it was the thing that had my S originally interested in the school. It has mostly fallen off simply due to lack of program fit. I didn’t get the impression it was overly pushy on the religious aspect but haven’t really looked all that closely to be honest. My S would like to continue to play in college if it makes sense as a non music major so we will be looking to see what the opportunities are at various schools though that will not be a primary driver. A nice to have versus a need.
@snoozn We are headed to CSU on the 21st so not quite yet. It will be CU-Bo/CSU on the 21st and then U of WY on the 22nd. CSU is a program visit but not honors. S is just short of honors at most of his schools and while he might end up with stats that are there, right now I’m leaving it alone. We will see how spring semester and the June ACT goes. Western Wa will be in May. Pretty funny on Reno. The town itself…yep, that’s what I recall. But Heavenly is…heavenly. My S won’t consider it either but it will be interesting to see if our free “counselor” suggests it. I’ve added Hampshire to my list on the LAC side. He is still back and forth on major, it’s a general interest right now. I am hoping the 3 visits will help with that. Right now we are looking at Environmental Engineering (preferably ones that have a minor in Energy available as well or some related minor/dual major outside of just the environmental aspect, Energy Engineering (sustainable/renewable/alternative…ideally mechanically based) and then a mix of Environmental Studies, Environmental Science and Environmental Policy Programs, as well as some Energy Resources Management ones. Some of those are offered dual with Business or Poly Sci. I think between the 4 schools we will see in April, even if none are the right school, it will help with program choice.
He really thinks wants energy though so…we will see. He doesn’t want general EE though so finding what it is he wants, for undergrad, is just a bit more difficult and may well steer him more towards policy. It think it will be hard for him as I expect him to like the LAC’s better…even if he prefers engineering…
I really liked seeing that info in the CDS. I was looking at Hampshire who doesn’t take any of the test scores at all! It is helpful to know what might “count” at a given school, and is something I’ll dig into more as we head towards applications. I would love to see your lists!
@snoozn - I’m sorry if you already listed this, but would you mind sharing where your D11 ended up attending?
Thank you again, for your sharing information and insight. S17 is definitely interested in Colorado too. Looks like CSU is the only one that has an OOS tuition that might be affordable. What is the campus atmosphere there? Niche.com gives it a good rating. Is anyone here looking at Univ of Denver. Or would it be considered a reach school for this group?
Thanks!
@snoozn: I’m not sure all schools are that interested in specific ec’s unless it’s down to a tie breaker or maybe more $. My cynical self believes they act solely as a gate keeping mechanism. And it’s the unusual that they remember.
DD14, who is now a sophomore in college, had the usual litany of school related ec’s: sports, NHS officer, school ambassador, club president, a ton of community service. She was also a 3rd degree blackbelt, competed nationally was on a U.S. junior team, was the alternate on the U.S. adult team, competed internationally, was involved in 4-H since she was 5, won a ton of awards, including state level.
But we’re known as the goat family because she raised and bred pygmy goats. She was even in their newsletter. I suspect the outcome would’ve been the same if she’d only raised goats.
I have an older child who is at CSU and D16 applied there too. The campus atmosphere is very nice, and Fort Collins is a great town - have breakfast or lunch at The Silver Grill if you have time. Lots of nice kids and lots of outdoor fun. My D is not in the honors program and her only complaint is that some of the kids aren’t serious enough about school, but she is a bit of an intellectual snob. She does love her classes though. D16 was accepted there and the longer we wait to respond the more money they offer - up to $10.5k per year now, making it extremely affordable. Unfortunately it’s not making the top of her list because other schools are stronger in her major.
Thank you for the information, @Reckless. It’s nice to be wanted! S16 got 2 offers to fly to colleges for visits, which had already offered generous merit aid, but unfortunately, his heart was elsewhere and he’s willing to help cover the “slightly” larger cost, by working on finding good summer work. Since we have 2 students in a row, we feel strong need to stay equitable with both of them, regarding our parental budget. :-SS
Do you know if CSU extends any merit aid to out of state students. It looks like the OOS tuition is creeping up!
Best of luck to your D on making her final choice! Sounds like your D16 and my S16 had several school in common. He talked to Willamette and Whitman, but only applied to Whitman. It will be fun to hear where your D lands, once her decision is made!
Thanks for all your, and others, help!
@morningside95, my son is leaning toward UPS. PM me if you’re interested in the specifics of his stats, but suffice it to say they’re consistent with the thread title. They offered him $18K in academic merit and a $4K music scholarship, which brings it down to the mid 30’s (being full pay and from clear across the country were probably helpful). Anyway, he loves the school, and is, in fact, headed back for an accepted students day this very Thursday. Like your son, he’s a music and theater kid (along with computer science). Finding a school where he could continue to pursue music at a high level was a key search criterion for him.
The School of Music at UPS is outstanding. It’s one of their flagship departments and among the top dozen or so LAC programs nationwide. The wind ensemble and the jazz orchestra are both excellent (there’s also a concert band for kids who are a bit less serious). I’ve spoken at length with the wind ensemble conductor and he’s terrific. We also watched a rehearsal and loved his positive energy and musicianship. And check out this video of the jazz band with Delfeayo Marsalis – very cool: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YXh_Vv2gT8k
@morningside95 My D16 is attending CSU in the fall. They offer OOS students automatic merit scholarships of $6,000, $8,000 and $10,000 depending on GPA and ACT/SAT score, and they have to maintain a 3.0 to keep it. My daughter got the $6,000 with a 3.4 GPA (the lower cutoff). For us, it was just enough to make the OOS tuition affordable. There are probably some other scholarships that my child was too lazy to apply for.
@morningside95 we are oos for CSU also.