Interesting @payn4ward. Not a peep from the school here, but we are at the end of the trail. 
I always wondered about that too @DOTexe. Thanks for the heads up @2muchquan. My oldest never submitted her scores site unseen. DS isn’t comfortable doing that either.
Ahh good to know @2muchquan ! I typically wouldn’t recommend he send scores sight unseen either but this is his only opportunity to take the compsci AP exam and he’s confident he’ll do well. He’s been programming with Java for 5+ years and knows the language pretty well. Now the ACT and SAT otoh, we will wait to see his scores before reporting those!
Isn’t it sad that OOS schools can end up being much more affordable than in-state in Illinois? What programs is your D interested in? We have also “convinced” DS to go for prestige in grad school!
D got her summer trip assignment for her German language trip. We’ve spent the night doing the “google earth” thing and talking about her plans. She has zero homework (did the stars align? Or did she just get it all done ahead of time??)…either way I’ll take it! Nice to have her taking a break from ACT prep, work and studying.
@carachel2 Very cool about Germany trip!
@DOTexe My D is looking at a major in one of: Bio/Neuro/CogSci/Genetics. So she has some flexibility. She may narrow it down as she looks more closely at program this summer. I hope.
@carachel2 for honors classes our school actually only does half of a year of pre-calc and it’s fine. For part of that time they actually also do the first unit from the Calc book because the kids who go straight into BC Calc really need to have that jumpstart to finish by the AP test since our schools start after Labor Day. She should be fine but if either of you are worried there are plenty of online resources to do a bit of review over the summer.
We didn’t have any issues being denied to safety schools BUT the safest safety my son16 applied to is where he got the least amount of merit money. Someone he had worked with the year before whose grades and scores were nowhere close to his had gotten almost the difference between OOS and instate tuition. I would definitely be sure that his GC knows that the school is his top choice and that he would like help making sure that school knows that even though his stats are high that they are his top choice. GC should be willing to call or email admissions on his behalf.
@DOTexe – Re: UIUC—my CT resident CS son wants to apply there. I am having a difficult time with paying full OOS costs at other states’ flagships, but have decided to hold off on that battle until I see where he is actually admitted.
I thought I had read that UIUC’s CS admit rate was in the 6% range. My son seems to think very highly of their program along with Berkeley’s and UW’s.
And, I didn’t know that free score reports were offered with AP exams; I thought that was only for SAT & Subject Tests.
Nothing much new
OOS costs
http://www.examiner.com/article/25-really-expensive-public-universities-for-out-of-state-students-2015-16
@CT1417 You’ve given your S some ballpark figures for what you are comfortable paying for his schooling? I hated breaking it to my D that she could not just apply to any school, and we would happily write the check. She knows our budget. She’ll still apply to a few financial reaches, but if accepted and unaffordable at least she’ll know it right away. I think that’s better than waiting to break her heart…or worse, making a financial decision based on guilt that could haunt us for years.
This process sucks.
@DOTexe Welcome! With 5+ years of Java programming he should do great. The main tricks my son had to learn when he took the test were writing code with a pencil (legibly) and that they are testing a subset of the language, so there are parts of Java you aren’t actually supposed to use.
@CT1417 A while back I stalked the admissions thread for UIUC and focused primarily on CS admits over the past two years. There are a couple of very knowledgeable posters who have calculated out the CS admission rate (which tends to be the most selective program in their already selective engineering department). I want to say that the admission rate is around 15-20%, but don’t quote me on that exact figure. There was someone floating around the 6% figure, but I’m pretty sure I recall that number getting debunked.
I double checked College Board’s site regarding free score reports for AP exams: ‘Each year that you take AP Exams, you have the opportunity to send one free score report. You do this by entering the four-digit code of the college, university, or scholarship program on your first or “registration” AP answer sheet.’ So at least he gets one freebie!
I know what you all mean about the OOS costs of other state’s flagships. I flat out told DS that there was no way we were going to afford Berkeley as an Illinois resident. He can go there for graduate studies if he wants.
@Ynotgo Thanks! My biggest fear is his illegible handwriting, too! Sometimes even he has trouble reading his handwriting. I’ll tell him to make sure it’s legible on test day.
I have one that is also all over the place and starting to groan under all the parts holding it up. And it’s color coded.
I may need to step away from it. D took one look at it and was like, wow, that’s way too overwhelming, you’re going to need to make that more concise if you don’t want me totally freaking out. Actually what she said was “oh my god mom, really!?!”
I agree! <>
@Mom2aphysicsgeek those numbers are so stressing me out- D has a 218 in Georgia, so she’s going to either be in or just miss it. The more numbers come out the more she looks like she’ll just miss it. I’m sort of shifting gears to look at scholarships for girls who major in comp sci as a better source of merit aid for her this fall if she doesn’t get NMSF/NMF. Plus it distracts me from worrying about that number.
We haven’t heard anything. Or, at least, I haven’t heard anything. D may have and just forgot to tell me. She’s up to her eyeballs in tests, prom and studying right now.
Amen to that!
Here’s the thread talking about the UIUC CS admit rate if anyone’s interested.
New to this thread, with first kid going to college in fall 2017.
Just wondering, how accurate is NPC from colleges in terms of EFC? I have put in all the financial details to the best of my knowledge, and it’s pretty discouraging. Grant aid at couple of ivies (Harvard and Princeton) appears to be good, but pretty much every other top-tier school (Duke, CMU, Cornell, Columbia, UM, Caltech etc) is out of financial reach based on the NPC. Quite discouraging to find out that my kid probably has the stats and inclination to do well at these schools, but I just can’t afford for her to go there (~40-60K per year). I can’t imagine giving away almost entire after-tax second family income to pay for college. Likely, we will stick to in-state schools. I am sure there are other parents here, with similar situation.
@OHToCollege Welcome! And yes…there are many many of us in the same boat and we are rowing right along on CC. Thank goodness we all found each other and can go through this together. We’ve had “the talk” with our kid and it was hard at first but man… Now she is taking it like a champ and eager and excited for her possible choices.
Last night a friend of hers texted her and was goading her into applying at his “dream school” …NYU. I have to say it was a proud parent moment when she showed me the texts "have you run the NPC at NYU??? It’s crazy. >>$65k per year! ". Her friend texted back “it’s not that bad, u can do loans. It’s worth it.” She texted back “you can’t do that much in loans. NOT worth it!”
Welcome @OHToCollege Sounds like its time to have a discussion with your D about college financing. Many of us on this thread are merit money chasing. If your family’s financial situation is fairly straightforward (e.g., don’t own a business, no divorced parents), the NPC’s are fairly accurate. What does your D want to study?
Excellent, @carachel2 ! That’s a proud parent moment right there.
The NPC has been pretty accurate for my older two (HS classes of '14 and '15). They had very high stats and both got into a school that meets full need (Cornell). But sadly, my youngest doesn’t have the stats that those two do, and so we’re much more limited in his choices. Plus, once my middle child graduates, DS’17 will be the only student for his junior and senior years and the NPCs for those two years look difficult because we’ll lose Pell. I think we’ll be able to swing a SUNY school but just. Thankfully he’s on the same page and is OK with the choices available to us.
Hello @carachel2 - sounds like your kid’s got her head squarely on her shoulder. I think mine does too, more so than myself. She has worked so hard, all her life, to be where she is at. Nearly top of her school with 500+ kids at every grade level, inflicting further pain with all that AP course load. As parents who themselves benefited from higher education, it’s discouraging to guide her to skip on these so-called reach schools. What’s the point of going through stress of applying to reach schools, when I know financially it’s just not possible for us to send her there? It’s really peculiar, you have to be under 100K family income to even consider going to the top-tier schools, and qualify for need based aid. 150K+ yearly income appears to be a sweet spot where top-tier schools make it impossible to even consider applying there…
Another tip re: NPCs is to inquire about accuracy at a particular school’s forum here at CC.
Welcome @OHToCollege! Ah, I remember when I started on CC, and learned about the common data sets and net price calculators, I initially thought they (NPCs) were worthless, and some are. The majority of them (those hosted by CB or some C-word company ) seem to be accurate from what I’ve heard and researched, but this is my first rodeo, too.
I would encourage your D to look at schools where she can get merit, and be proud of the fact she is helping pay for her own schooling. She can possibly get some significant $$ for all that work she did. You don’t have to look too far down the ‘prestige’ list (whatever that is for you) to find schools offering merit. There are tons of schools out there, she’ll find one she loves.
We are right there with you. D will not be applying to any financial reach schools unless there is some large, competitive scholarships available…where she is actually competitive. Our safeties are schools with guaranteed merit…not even in-state because our in-state choices are limited and expensive.