Hi @dfbdfb welcome! Going from Alaska to Alabama in the summer-hooo…you are brave :).
One of my closest friends has a daughter at Mt. Holyoke right now as a freshman, and she’s very happy there.
@eandesmom ,
That’s annoying that you found out none of your DS’s colleges require writing section. I bet students are all pretty hungry and antzy about the time they have to take the writing portion!
My DD is doing ACT April, SAT May, ACT June, SAT subject June. If she thinks SAT is better, she will take it again in October. (There is no SAT in September!)
I thought about one ACT in the spring and another in September but fall ACT is too close to the beginning of the school year, I thought her brain will not be ready for the testing.
Would you believe there are exactly zero WUE schools that offer majors in both of her fields of interest? (Outside of Arizona, that is, and while she thinks she could handle Alabama, Arizona is right out—humid heat doesn’t bother her as much as dry heat.) That’s the dirty little secret of the WUE program—a lot of the bigger names (e.g., the University of Washington) simply don’t play.
And yeah, she’s definitely a LAC type—but then again, Kansas is on her shortlist (13 schools, so pending one more trim) because she said that it felt small enough for her to be comfortable there, while Miami of Ohio fell off because it felt too big. I don’t pretend to completely understand, but I’m happy to go with her gut on these sorts of calls.
Welcome, @dfbdfb. Been bumping into you on CC for some time now.
Our Ds are similar in stats and interests. You’ve probably already found these, but for LACs with a CogSci/Neuro Major or Minor (we are considering minors since D is planning on graduate school, and some more in the know than I have said specific major in neuroscience is not needed, or even suggested). URichmond, Furman, Lawrence (WI), Rochester, Baldwin Wallace, Rollins (oh, man, I wanna go back to school). Then a little bigger, look at Case for CogSci and UDel. Those are more Psych and less Bio I think. Not sure if any of these are in the ballpark, I’ve not heard of the ‘conflict studies’ twist on the major.
I wanted to have UAlabama as a parent’s choice as well, but wasn’t sure what major they could offer, since I didn’t see a Neuro/CogSci major. What would you have her study there? I’m hoping I missed something.
@2muchquan: We’ve been told that Alabama’s psychology major could be spun into a biological basis of behavior-type major by judicious use of major selectives. (My daughter’s into the systems side of the field rather than the biochem/cellular side, which I don’t think it would work for; also, she’s not interested in med school—rather, her interest is in taking a scientific approach to macro-level human interaction. Why she refuses to consider economics, I don’t know…) Really, though, the big draw there for her is the peace and conflict studies program, which falls under international studies, but is one of the few true conflict studies programs out there rather than just being a track thrown on top of an international studies degree.
Welcome @dfbdfb. Glad to have you as a 17er parent. I always appreciate your posts on the other forums.
@dfbdfb Well, it sounds friggin’ awesome…if I were to understand it. These kids today amaze me. My daughter is still not quite sure exactly what major she’ll pursue, it’s gone from BioMed Engin, to Neuroscience (more Bio-y), to Neuroscience (more psych-y), to CogSci (i have no idea the difference here). I think she’ll settle on a Psych or Bio major, and specialize/minor in something at whatever her final choice is. She is all about being able to participate in real research (outside of class), and then go into medical research in grad school, but also not interested in med school.
@dfbdfb agreed, the WUE is limited to be sure. Sounds great…until you look at what the real options are. We are lucky in the fact that for S17, a couple of them do have his area of interest whereas interestingly enough, our own flagship (UW) really does not. A few of them do have some guaranteed merit for OOS and Neighboring outside of WUE but I am not sure that it is enough to meet your needs. Semi surprised CSU or OSU doesn’t have something that would work for your D but if she’s after the LAC feel, CSU wouldn’t work anyway though it would seem Honors at OSU could.
Narrow program interest does make it challenging, we are in the same boat but without high stats.
Does anyone know if it’s possible to delete old SAT scores? My DS had to take the SAT as an entrance exam to get into his selective enrollment high school as a freshmen. I don’t want to have to report his old scores as I’m assuming when he retakes the SAT in May that his score will improve significantly. Then again, if he does well enough on the ACT we can just use those scores instead. If only the ACT would release his scores from April already!
I’ve tried checking the college board website but there’s nothing about canceling old scores.
@DOTexe, I would recommend calling the College Board and asking them. Also, most colleges want tests that were taken as part of high school, not middle school. You could call the college(s) that require you to submit all scores and ask them about this situation. It is relatively unique.
I would contact CB b/c test scores taken prior to 9th grade should not have been saved. I am surprised that CB has them listed b/c I am pretty sure pre-high school scores are supposed to be deleted if they haven’t specifically requested to be saved.
If you can’t get them deleted, I would contact the specific colleges and ask them if you have to report scores taken in middle school. (Again, lots of kids do this for talent searches and I am pretty sure those scores do not fall under the mandatory reporting of all test scores.)
My D’s 7th grade scores do not show up. I’d call (don’t email).
@dfbdfb Hi there, I have been following and enjoying many of your posts here on CC. Your daughter sounds a bit like mine (Kenyon and Muhlenberg are in the mix at present). If I see anything that fits your D’s neuro/conflict studies interests, I will pass it on. I thought Tufts off the top of my head, and maybe Brown (Fletcher/Watson) but not sure if the conflict studies curriculum is grad only or extends to undergrad and if neuro offerings meet her specifications. And no merit aid at either place. Case Western has a Policy Studies Center and also is strong in the medical and pre-medical fields, so that might be an option.
Yes, WUE is limited - especially if your D is averse to dry heat (as is mine). That knocks out a lot of options.
Ahh, I should have clarified better. He took the SAT during freshman year (it’s a sophomore through senior high school). The sat he took in middle school doesn’t show up on his account, but the one from freshman year is still there.
In that case @DOTexe I think if the school requires all test scores, it will have to be reported. That is the advantage of the talent searches in middle school. You have to cancel the scores before they are posted if you don’t want them recorded once they are in high school.
@mamaedefamilia that’s funny about the dry heat. I’ve been joking that S17 is really a vampire and we are just finding out now as he’s ruled out anything hot. Not just dry but all “hot”. He wants rain, trees, mountains and snow. Which cuts out a lot of the WUE.
Funny, S doesn’t want anywhere too cold. Prefers no snow, and as I have said before, no bugs (HA!). The bugs thing kind of puts the humid areas out. In his defense, he reacts very badly to bites like mosquitoes and gnats.
My D would prefer not to be anywhere that doesn’t get really cold and have snow. But unfortunately, when chasing money, that is one compromise she’ll probably have to make. If she gets significant merit aid, I’ll happily buy whatever she needs to stay cold year long. :)) She’s one of those kids that melts in the heat, wears shorts in 30 degree weather and we constantly fight about the temperature in the house.
We don’t have cockroaches here in Seattle!! Hooray!! I used to live in Hawaii and their cockroaches are huge! I’m pretty sure bug issues are deal breaker for some (or many) students.
Amusing commentary about bugs. I don’t think that my boys would even have thought to ask about bugs as they have lived their lives w/o bugs, other than summer mosquitos. Having lived in Manhattan, I am more familiar than I would like with both cockroaches and mice, never in the same apartment, and once you experience either of those, you know what to ask before renting the next apt.