@Momtoatrio Not sure if your DS18 has considered them yet, but the South Dakota schools (USD, SDSU) are really affordable for MN residents. They’re in small towns and pretty far from any bright lights, but if he likes the vibe they’ll certainly be affordable.
YAY!!! She hit SUBMIT and the Common App is done!
That must feel good, @bjkmom. Our son has everything finished and says we can send everything this weekend. He’ll be 9-10 days early.
Yay @bjkmom!
I spoke to the rep at her #1 choice state school a week or so ago. (College fair, and my daughter got called in to work that night.) The school is absolutely a reach, given last spring’s SAT scores. (October scores not out yet.)
The rep strongly encouraged an EA submission. He said that doing so would give them more options-- maybe wait for midterm grades, whatever.
Somehow it was always in my mind that EA was for the top students, but apparently I’ve been wrong.
Congrats @bjkmom ! We might be on a rollercoaster but at least it’s moving now, right? 
S submitted his EAs late last week and there are reaches, along with matches and safeties, so we’re hoping your D’s rep is correct too.
S finished up the last of his supplementals last night, so he’s done, other than edits and tweaks. He decided not to submit anything other than the EAs though, as he wants the option to fiddle with the supplementals…
@Kardinalschnitt, we went to visit UWEC again today. It’s definitely near the top of the list. “Affordable” even without a great deal of aid because of reciprocity. We went to an advising session for the psych department which answered some questions. Our goal for this weekend is to get the rest of the applications out the door. Still waiting on a rec for UW Madison - but the rest should be done. I tried to get DS to look a LaCrosse, but he’s had his fill of touring Wisconsin schools!
U Manitoba is a decent school. Mid to large sized (24,000 maybe?), campus in the city but not too urban feeling. More dorms than U Winnipeg (which is VERY urban). They’re a research university - similar in feel to UMD, maybe to UM Twin Cities. Great study abroad opportunities. For a MN resident they are extremely affordable - $4400 tuition per year in CDN (currently about $3800 USD). Room and board is obviously on top of that, but still not bad at all.
I have a friend whose husband teaches at U Wyo, she speaks highly of the German program. Researching it, it seems that they have an actual major and several options for study abroad and internships abroad. (As does Manitoba).
Need some Cali help! Job change means we are moving from NC to AZ and want to include some west coast schools to our applications. Of course, we know nothing about them, since our search was concentrated (and in good shape!) on mid-atlantic/south. We’d love to have him closer than the east coast. Also, both of us parents are familiar with big engineering schools – son wants small to medium LAC or university. He’s graduating 2018, but this thread has been so informative, I thought I’d ask here.
His stats:
GPA hovering around 3.0 unweighted, 3.48 W from highly ranked small private high school. Will have 6 APs, 2 with B’s, others TBD
ACT: 34
And therein lies the dichotomy of this child – very bright, nerdy, loves politics, history and philosophy, wants a service type career, but ADHD and can’t seem to turn in his homework. He should be around other inquisitive intellectuals, but we also want him somewhere where he can succeed that offers some type of support.
What we’ve found: Occidental & Santa Clara – out of reach or reach
Chapman, LMU, USD – reach to maybe
Redlands, Whittier, UPacific, USF – probable, but could surprise us with a “no”
Of course, merit aid could also be a determining factor. No need-based aid will be available, but who wants to spend $70K a year when there’s other great options? He understands this as he’s probably going to continue with a masters.
We’d appreciate your impressions & input!! THANKS!
Depending on where you’ll be living in AZ, the San Francisco area might not be closer than your old search in the SE… NM pubic schools have engineering but aren’t as big as ASU or AZ.
@twoinanddone Sorry to confuse, we are not looking for engineering schools. Parents are engineers, oldest son at engineering school… this son is Liberal Arts all the way. New territory. AZ to SF is a direct, common 2 hour flight. AZ to east coast is 4-5 hours & fewer flights. I agree, though, probably won’t be driving! LA area is more desireable for that reason. We looked at U of A – too big but beautiful campus.
@eahaz I’m in SoCal and my D is looking for LACs as well. You’ve done your research well and found what’s here! Of those on your list my D really likes Redlands and Occidental (though Oxy has come off her list due to finances). We’ve visited Redlands twice and it just has a very nice vibe to it, very homey and friendly, seems like the kind of place where people look out for each other. I would say it’s a bit more on the pre-professional side, but still heavily invested in an LAC curriculum and model. Oxy, we never got a chance to visit, but she loved it on paper.
Another one for you to consider might be University of Denver. That should also be a pretty short flight from AZ and is similar in size and vibe to Chapman we thought.
My D is also looking up the coast at OR and WA schools, Willamette and Univ of Puget Sound are the two that stayed on her list, so if you think stretching north a bit might be OK check those out as well.
Finally her safety is Northern Arizona in Flagstaff, a big school for sure, but they have an honors college which is getting a brand-new LLC building this fall, and Flagstaff is an awesome little college town.
Best of luck with your move. We have a potential move in our future as well, but it’s very uncertain at this point. D decided she liked her list as it was and didn’t want to add any schools in or near the new state.
I highly recommend Redlands. My older daughter went there and loved it. If you have questions, feel free to ask here or PM me.
@eahaz What about Colorado schools? U Of Colorado-Boulder, Colorado State -Ft Collins, University of Denver? University of San Diego or University of California - Merced?
Is this a safe place to submit a chance me, lol? DD just finalized her list and after today will have five submits. Has to work on supplemental essays for most of the remaining ones, which are all RD. Anyway, here goes. Would love any feedback on these as well, though this thread already has feedback on some of them.
Allegheny
Dickinson
Franklin & Marshall
Gettysburg
Hamilton
Lafayette
UMaine (possibility for Honors program?)
URochester
Siena
St. Lawrence
Susquehanna
Washington & Jefferson
Has visited most, reached out to several admissions counselors, will interview at all. Undecided but thinking Environmental Science/English double major or major/minor combo.
Stats:
3.7 wGPA, mostly honors and AP, only 3 or 4 advanced through the 4 years, competitive Catholic HS–counselor indicated she’d probably be top level for rigor
30 ACT, retaking next weekend
3 Varsity sports all four years (all academic 2 years and received several coach’s awards)
Peer Minister at her church, helps run the Youth Group and Confirmation programs
STRETCH leader (volunteer organization) for her school
Jr & Sr Executive Board
Jr & Sr Mock Trial team
2 Years honor roll, C last year in AP bio kept her off 
Only C in hs career, on track for honors this year
Part time job running camps and birthday parties at a local children’s bookstore
Should have excellent counselor and teacher recc’s–she cultivates close relationships with her teachers
Have run NPC on all and they’re all around the same (URoch outlier but applying anyway)
Thank you!!
@taverngirl, has she looked at Messiah?
@mommdc: she has not, but it may be more religious than she’d like.
@taverngirl, Hamilton will be very difficult with those stats as the bottom 25% ACT is a 31, and that’s typically a hooked applicant; I think Rochester will be equally difficult. F&M, Lafayette are likely matches, with the rest as either string matches or safeties.
While most of my daughter’s applications are tied to a BFA dance program we asked her to toss in a few choices that have dance minors, just in case she changes her minds about the BFA. She received her acceptance to West Chester University yesterday with an offer to apply for merit scholarships. She was so happy and really likes West Chester!
My daughter got accepted to West Chester yesterday too
@mprit4 Yay…congratulations! Is it a contender?