@acdchai – Congrats on that amazing ACT score!! There has been wide speculation that CB intentionally put out misleading percentiles for scores and used a “national group” as a reference – many students who would not even take the PSAT. The concordance table are supposedly going to be updated in May so we’ll see if they come clean about all his but hard to have confidence in what’s been reported so far by CB o the PSAT.
@itsgettingreal17 yep, I love Rice but nobody else in the family does, so I doubt she’ll even apply. The youtube vido makes me drool over it. But I tend to lead with my emotions rather than my thoughts, so if she says it’s not right for her, she’s 100% right.
That’s so aggravating. Actually what aggravates me the most is the huge time gap between taking the test and finding out if they’re NMF, NMSF, etc. Over a year for NMF, if I understand it correctly. That’s a ludicrously long time to wait for something that has so much riding on it.
Older D went to prom last night, had a great time, and made it home in one piece. I’m happy!
I have my Spanish final tomorrow. I am procrastinating wrt studying. Some things never change…
So I thought I would share a couple of things we learned at DS’s college fair yesterday. We spoke to the adcom rep from UIUC regarding admissions specifically to CompSci (the most difficult major to get accepted into). At UIUC, you apply directly to your major by listing a first choice and then a second choice major. However, because of the competition, you cannot list CS, Mechanical Eng, or Biomedical Eng as a second choice if you are not accepted to your first choice major. The admissions statistics for this past year’s cycle had 4000 applicants to CS for 180 spots. Of course, that figure doesn’t take into account how many acceptance letters went out to fill those spots, so the acceptance rate is likely quite a bit higher than 180/4000 (4.5%). If you guesstimate a yield of 40%, that would bring you to an acceptance rate of 11.25%; a yield of 30% would give you a 15% acceptance rate. Draw your own conclusions as YMMV.
Another cool thing I learned at the college fair was that Emory and GaTech have a sort of dual enrollment partnership program specifically for students wanting a broader education than just ie., engineering. So the student would apply to Emory and complete the first three years doing liberal arts followed by two years at GaTech completing degree requirements for chosen engineering or science major. It’s a five year program but you graduate with two bachelor degrees; one from Emory and one from GaTech. DS was interested as he would like to do CS but wants to also study East Asian languages of Korean and Mandarin. Just thought I would share in case anyone else is interested.
If you’re looking at doing one of the 3/2 programs, Emory/GT’s would be one of the best. Since both are in Atlanta, when you make the switch to GT, you don’t have to leave your friends at Emory. Also, several of the schools in Atlanta area allow cross registration, so while you’re an Emory student, it’s possible to take classes at GT.
A lot of folks in the engineering forum are not fans of the 3/2 program, because they see the 2nd degree as a waste of time and money. However, if you can afford the extra year, and it’s a subject you love (and you’re NOT going to bail on the plan, when it’s time to switch to GT), then go for it.
Additional reason against 3/2 plans is that co-oping is definitely to a student’s advantage. (Our oldest cooped with a student from GaTech, so their engineering students are definitely taking advantage of the benefit.) Cooping usually is for a total of 3 semesters (alternating fall/spring/summer). So a 3/2 can turn it into 6 yrs without any real advantage unless the 3/2 plan is something the student strongly desires. Basically if I was helping my student choose between 3/2 or Cooping, I would definitely encourage cooping over the 3/2.
@Mom2aphysicsgeek I would definitely not recommend taking 6 years to complete the bachelor level, no matter the reason! Regarding co-oping, we also sat in on the talk from the adcom rep from USC who explained that traditional co-ops where students take a semester and a summer or a year off school to intern for industry are going by the wayside in place of internships that can be completed over summers and/or during the schoolyear itself while still taking classes. Obviously, this only works well for schools such as USC that have ample industry resources in close proximity. Rural schools would not easily be able to do this for obvious reasons.
Another thing to consider with 3/2 programs, is that students you are going to join in your 4th year at, for instance, GA Tech, have been taking engineering classes…where? At Georgia Tech. It’s going to be very tough to compete if you haven’t been taking the same rigor of classes (even if you take ‘some classes’ at GA Tech).
I guess I’d go into it eyes wide open, and ask admissions how many kids have completed the program vs. how many went into freshman year thinking about it. It definitely would be easier doing it at Emory/GA Tech than some of the other programs I’ve read about.
@DOTexe I do not believe that traditional cooping is going by the wayside. My oldest ds has been actively involved in recruiting coop students for his corp, a top global company. I suspect that is more that university’s stance. Some schools like Vanderbilt do not allow for cooping. But many univerisities actively promote it, as well as the American Society of Engineering Education. http://ceed.asee.org/index.html
Co-ops are formal arrangements between universities and corporations for building essential engineering skills. Students are full-time paid employees typically put in charge of a project. Fwiw, our oldest made approx 2/3 of his post-BS income during his coop yr. (He cooped for 12 straight months. His Corp also provided full-benefits which he was able to keep until graduation. He was also awarded a scholarship from that corp.)
FWIW, I would imagine that the experience gained cooping would be hard to replace via part-time or summer internships bc the expectations are typically different.
I’m speechless ^. Poor kid!
@payn4ward : How did the CB tweak the percentages? I wondered what the “National” score meant.
I really hate being this way, but I’m skeptical about everything stated by a representative of the schools we are visiting. It’s kind of like the campus tours where they show you the double with a shared bath that is nicer than a Marriott. The ones your C can’t get into for 2 years, if at all. I just smile and nod my head, then try to do some fact checking later. In the beginning I just wanted to believe everything! (Oh just apply, we have lots of money to help you make it work! -sincerely WUSTL)
@2muchquan Absolutely agree! Remember the mantra…Colleges are businesses. Representatives are really just salesmen! Verify. 
Well this is my first time at the rodeo, so it’s all new to me. I agree that colleges are selling their product, and I am a skeptic by nature. I can’t speak to the truthfulness of what the reps say. I have found that some schools promote co-ops much more aggressively than others. I really think it depends on the program, the school, their location, and resources. For example, the USC rep mentioned that their aero-astro students have interned at SpaceX. Obviously, that’s geographically reasonable but if a student wanted to intern at NASA, not so much.
@Mom2aphysicsgeek It sounds like the co-op system worked quite well for your child!
Right there with you @2muchquan. By nature I am a skeptical creature so my eyebrow is always lifted half way to start. I’m tempted to make bingo cards for our next round of tours. Included will be:
We meet full need!
The food is delicious!
Our library is the best, because we have special loan (insert x library here) agreements!
Campus life is so great, you’ll never want to leave!
I have been putting together notes for a free talk that I am giving in about a week for local homeschool parents on the college admissions process. My notes are pretty generic info and only a few of the points are homeschooler specific. Would any of you be willing to look over the main handout and see if you think there are any key points I am missing or critique it for helpfulness? I would have to email it as an attachment.
@Mom2aphysicsgeek sure. I’ll pm you.
Thanks, @itsgettingreal17. I sent you an email.
@Mom2aphysicsgeek you might want to ask @SouthFloridaMom9 , she homeschools her kid and is pretty savvy, might have some good tips.
@Mom2aphysicsgeek I’ll pm you my email. I’m always interested in what you have to say.
(For the others reading, Mom2 and I have “known” each other from a homeschooling board for some time. She was the first person to push ddYoungest and I over to the “follow your own path” way of homeschooling, shortly followed by the “chase guaranteed merit, not prestige” path. We owe her so much )
@payn4ward, thank you for your post #3454 and #3462.
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