@MotherOfDragons Congrats to your D! What a great way to finish up the year!
My DD does not fit the criteria here but I really appreciate everyone’s input and find that the info on this thread is among the most useful to me on CC. Thanks to all of you.
@jjkmom wrote
Why are you having her take those tests? Only a few very elite schools require them. If you’re on this thread, you’re not shooting for MIT…
Great news MotherOfDragons!
Dd got scores today. She had told me she completely bombed the verbal section. I didn’t even send in scores as I was sure it would be a terrible idea. From what she told me and how she acted I was thinking she was going to be in the 400-500 range! She did score slightly lower on verbal than she had on PSAT but only by 20 pts, so still a very decent score (90th percentile). Plus, she raised her math score by 20 pts. So I’m pleased as I think it’s a very decent score for a bilingual kid. I’m hoping she can bring up the scores in October and be done with it.
I still have no idea what will happen in the end, but I’m fairly certain she won’t be starting college in Fall 2018. But I’ll still lurk around here now and then. I think she still wants to apply just to see what happens. I still can’t really narrow down on where to apply for urban, warm, neuro/pre-med/heatlh, cheap OOS, and accepting of differences except for ASU Havasu City for their Exploratory Health & Sciences degree. It’s looking like her GPA is going to drop a bit due to hardhat English prof who is failing half the class (she’s got a C+ before final exam). It was 3.29 last semester and I think this semester she might drop under 3.0 – all IB + regular chemistry and physics.
Oops! Yes, I know Havasu City is not urban. But still looking for urban.
@Kardinalschnitt 90th percentile is a great score. Although it’s not urban Berea College covers student tuition and students work for their room and board. It offers nursing, biology, chemistry and another 25 majors so I think pre-med requirements would be covered. The weather is nice, and maybe the opportunity to go to school debt free would be impetus for your student not to put off college. There are always co-op and internship placements for exploring urban areas and when students are in school there isn’t much time to explore off campus anyway. I think she’d be a catch for Berea with her international experiences. https://www.berea.edu/ check website regarding financial eligibility details
@Kardinalschnitt Have you looked into University of Alabama Birmingham?
I recently met someone who has been to Birmgham and she described it as having a kind of Bohemian vibe.
@MACmiracle Yes, thank you! Seems like a great school! Not super affordable for us (26,900 COA) and for neuro they want 3.5 GPA in chemi/bio, which she does not have as she just got a C in reg chem after completely bombing the final. It looks like she might drop IB Chem for senior year. I’m trying to get her to add IB Physics in its place as she got a B in reg physics this year. She’ll also have IB Bio. Right now she’s back into going to college, so maybe she’ll listen to me.
@buckeyemom wife, etc. Berea seems too much of a reach, but I suppose she could apply. Thanks!
Hey, I don’t think I’ve introduced myself, so here goes! The 2017 version of this thread was key for helping my D17 find the right fit, and now I’m back with a shiny new S18! He is above the “3.4” but I would say he has a B-student attitude. He does well, but is not dedicated to academics. He has almost no EC’s, but will be doing senior year abroad in Germany – I guess that counts as one big EC!
His dream is to start his own cybersecurity firm after working in the field. He plans on double majoring in CS and business. I’ve been building a list based on his priorities, looking especially for schools strong in cybersecurity. He’s determined to be in the northeast, Chicago, or California and wants to be in a decent size city, definitely no rural campuses. Here’s what we have for now:
Cal. State Chico (71%)
U Delaware (65%)
U Denver (76%)
Drexel (75%)
George Mason (81%)
George Washington (46%)
Illinois Inst. of Technology (51%)
UMD-BC (60%)
UMD-CP (48%)
McDaniel (76%)
Northeastern (29%)
Penn State (50%)
Quinnipiac (66%)
Rochester Inst of Technology (58%)
Santa Clara (49%)
SUNY Albany (56%)
SUNY Stony Brook (41%)
Stevens Inst of Technology (39%)
I put the AR after each school because I’m trying to focus more on those around 50% and higher. I know from last year’s experience that these are the schools more likely to give him merit.
We’re going to do a northeast visit to some of these schools, probably sticking to the NYC-Washington DC corridor mostly. Time’s a-wasting since he leaves for the Germany orientation in early August. He may well end up in the position of having to choose a school sight unseen, which is a bit scary!
I’d love to hear opinions on these colleges, especially regarding computer security and “campus feel.” In that regard, he wants a pretty traditional 4-year residential feel with plenty of things to do on and off campus. He’s not interested in sports or Greek life.
I’m also opening to adding more colleges, especially that we might be able to add to our northeast visit.
I will tell you that S UNY Stonybrook is about an hour from Manhattan by train. It’s in the 'burbs, probably half an hour from the beautiful sandy south shore beaches and 15 minutes from the rockier beautiful Long Island Sound.
@snoozn Welcome! I like George Mason on your list, lots of connections, good for cyber security and homeland security, we lived in Fairfax for a few years and I will say that that GMU can have a communter-ish feel…
Penn State, while large is in " the middle of nowhere".
Quinnipiac is nice, almost resort like, but mildly isolated, we have 2 friends there and they love it, but both have commented on the lack of diversity in it’s student body, academically, racially, socially and economically (They did offer my DD’16 the best financial aid package).
Drexel was a favorite size, location, academics. DD even got some good merit but they still remained the most expensive.
Delaware I really liked, DD’16 & DD’18 really did not, lol.
RIT as you probably know, has an excellant reputation, my DD’16 didn’t think it felt like college and thought the campus was too small, whatever that means. My husband is from Rochester, so we had to look.
I would have added Stevens but it is already on your list…what about Worcester? College of Charleston, but that may be too far south for you.
I was an exchange student to Germany in HS. I had a fantastic experience. I am sure your son will have a memorable experience too! Good luck!
Even though it is summer, college planning is in full swing in our house. S18 just finished a college essay bootcamp at school and got 2 essays from the common app 90% done. He met with his college counselor one more time to help trim his list and a make a timeline for what comes next (they cut 2 to put # at 13 schools). We made travel plans to tour University of Tennessee next week. Signed up for college app bootcamp at the beginning of August. Signed up for the SAT in August (taking one last time).
He and DH have gone up to their little off the grid cabin in Canada to do a lot of fishing and bonfires. I would say its a much deserved break.
We finalized our trip and decided to focus on DC and Baltimore schools: GWU, GMU, UMD-CP, UMBC, and Towson. We leave in a couple of weeks! He has a very high interest in all five of these schools, so I’m hoping for a productive trip and that he’ll really like at least one (preferably one of the easier to get into ones!)
@labegg, S18 decided to take Penn State off the list – thanks for the info. He wasn’t too enthusiastic anyway, as he thought it might be too rah-rah for him. If there’s nothing else to do, that’s a no-go! I can see where the RIT campus would turn kids off. My D17 is thrilled to be going there in the fall, but she did remark that it’s “not exactly the nicest campus!” I know it’s a bit more isolated than S would like, but D will have to check out how easy getting into Rochester is by bus. He’s psyched about Stevens even though it will probably be a reach for him.
WPI is out for him due to the town, and since they wait-listed D with similar stats, I’m fine with that! Charleston is indeed too southern. This is my pickiest kid geographically, but that does make it easier to narrow the list.
@snoozn I took a tour at U of Maryland CP recently and the vibe might be a good match for your son. A traditional campus on the D.C. Metro line. We have friends with two children there- one academic and one sporty, and they are both happy. Depending on your sons numbers, it might be a reach, but worth a visit.
@snoozn, you probably already know about the U.S. Cyber service corp, but if not check it out. Many of the schools on your list participate. I’d add James Madison University while you are in DC. Compared to GMU, it has more of an undergrad focus with more students staying on campus on weekends. I’m a fan of GMU, but it is nice to compare them.
UMD-CP is the closest state school to us, but S has no interest. He’s shown a little in Towson, but we haven’t visited yet. We visited Fordham earlier today, both campuses. At Lincoln Center they have underground tunnels connecting the buildings, so we were inside the whole time. I found that a bit unsettling. The Rose Hill campus in The Bronx was nice, and bigger than I expected. They shared the median GPA (well over our son’s at 3.75) and the midde 50% GPA (in it, but not as close to, the middle of the range as last year’s). We haven’t talked to him about how much he liked it yet, but I see this one as a reach.
@snoozn
I think I mentioned this to you on a long ago thread, but Champlain College in Burlington, VT has a great cybersecurity program.
@VaNcBorder Wow! Two essays nearly done? He does deserve a break! And I want to go with! Would love to be in Canada!
My dd just got back from Paris where she visited the le Bourget airshow. She met some people from Army/Navy/AirForce and was super impressed by their friendliness and enthusiasm.
I think we’re back on for college at the moment. We’ve pretty much ditched the whole urban concept. We are just not finding urban schools that match her interests, are affordable and/or are within reach at her stats. No big deal. Right now we’re looking at Beloit, Juniata, Gustavus Adolphus, Lawrence, Coe, Muhlenberg and then bigger publics like Iowa State (I think that may be her first choice right now) and Montana State.
Her GPA did indeed dip just below 3.0 to 2.95. Her overall is 3.0. Considering four kids in her grade of 60 were expelled or suspended for breaking into the computers, changing grades and cheating on the finals, I’m just happy she’s come by her 2.95 honestly!
I’m working summer school this week, so nothing will get done.
But next week, she’s going to get starting on editing her essay. Her excellent English teacher last year assigned an essay that she knew right away she wanted to use for her Common App. So it needs tweaking, not a total rewrite. But I want it done early this summer… she’s my procrastinator.
Reading this, I realize we have to get in gear.
D has the same job as last year but is very unexpectedly being scheduled to work much more. It’s really cut into preparing for apps and SAT prep. And another job will be starting up soon. I don’t know how this is going to work.