@OrangeFish one of S17’s BF’s is there. Ok gpa (guess 3.6 maybe?) but not high stats, middle of the road test scores (26-28 act I think) medium rigor.
He received a decent amount, I don’t know how much and do think he also received nice FA (they own their own business) so the overall package was good. I believe he is a theater major so can get more info if you’d like. I chat with the mom semi regularly and S17 is meetings up with him back east over thanksgiving.
I may look at it for S19.
Thank you @eandesmom! It’s good to know an ok GPA has a chance on admission and merit.
D messaged one of her friends who is attending Muhlenberg now and asked about merit $. (She also asked about the PE requirement. :)) ) Looks like it is high on her list.
We have a plethora of nearby LACs on our list: Muhlenberg, Allegheny, Ursinus, Dickinson, Gettysburg, Susquehanna, Westminster, then a couple farther afield: Baldwin-Wallace, Otterbein (which is technically a U but it only has 2,300 students, so I view it as an LAC).
D seems to love the larger U vibe, but I’m determined that we should apply to a couple/three of these LACs, just to keep options open. But I’m having a really hard time distinguishing among them! I know Dickinson is the most selective. Other than that, nothing is standing out to me.
We had several of those schools on our list, @Gatormama, but then D dropped some off after looking at course requirements for majors (plural) she is interested in. For example, one of the schools had a required minor, and she was concerned she would not have enough flexibility to select her own minor in addition to the requirements.
We have some nice in-state liberal arts options, too, and (IMO) it makes sense to apply to in-state schools for the $ factor.
@OrangeFish I don’t know his exact stats but I do know they were not “high stats” especially in the test scores. We didn’t’ look at it as the NPC indicated merit, just not enough, and a larger grant that combined made it outside the range I wanted. It might have been livable for 2 years but if that FA/grant went away with only 1 kid in school, it really wasn’t. However I do know that the kids were close enough that at a different school, my S was offered a larger merit award which still made it unaffordable for us, and was unaffordable for them as well.
So I am thinking the combined offer was much better but do suspect there is an FA component. What does the NPC say? It’s interesting as if I run the NPC for S19 it gives me the same total $ as it did for S17, but for S19 it’s all scholarship and no FA and S17 showed up as FA and Scholarship so there is a meets needs EFC factor definitely in play. In S19’s case, if he is interested I will have him apply as if it falls more into the guaranteed $ bucket, it’s much more doable.
Update on S19
Not necessarily a happy one. He’s just one tall cranky hormonal not so fun kid a bunch of the time right now. I think a few things are in play. His BF has moved to a DE program for everything. His previous XC and jazz band carpools are gone this year either due to kids graduating or to kids having a license but not being able to drive others. These seem to have limited his social interactions outside of class, which we expected but I think combining that with the loss of his big brother to college he’s just become more solitary.
He isn’t exactly an introvert and can be quite social in any setting but also has low social needs and is good with 1 or maybe 2 close friends. He is still close to the BF, they just don’t have classes together. At any rate, I do think that is spilling over a tad into work ethic issues. Which also, aren’t new. As has been his pattern, for as long as I can remember, he is not turning in HW. And still testing well.
Sigh. He has identified that his phone is a major contributor and he is easily distracted. He will now turn it “in” after school and not get it back until the next morning. On Sunday we identified 8 missing assignments across 3 classes. During that meeting he expressed the desire to drop down to regular USH, while admitting that the work itself was not an issue…him completing the work (that he finds long and tedious) is. It is too late to drop down or changes, it would be viewed as an WF which is not an option. And even it if were, frankly, he’s as likely to blow of turning in the HW in the “regular” class.
He also said he didn’t want to go to college. He followed up that statement immediately saying that he of course will, knows he has to (not because we are making him but because the kinds of jobs he wants will require it) but that he just doesn’t want to at all right now. Which I get. The idea of more tedium to him, sounds torturous.
I reminded him that DE can be an option, though I don’t know how that would work for 2nd semester with 5 AP’s. He has been charged to set up a meeting with his counselor but I know he has not done that yet and likely won’t move on it till prodded. I may do some research on my own on his behalf. Not sure it solves the issues either, and it becomes complicated to get him to classes but anything is doable.
He didn’t turn in the check for the PSAT, so did not take it. He “thought” it was too late (it was not) and then the "lines were too long (it was HC week so that’s quite true I am sure). He didn’t go to the HC dance this year which made me sad (has always gone with the BF) but again, not surprising. However, there is a practice ACT at the HS in December and he wants to do that, which should be a nice jump start as he will start prep class in Jan for the Feb test.
We went to a college fair at the HS monday night. I made him go. Largely because he had to be there anyway for pit rehearsal so why not check it out. I’d never gone to it with S17 as at that point in junior year he wasn’t really looking yet and by the same time sr year, he was in the middle of apps. To me it seemed an odd time to have it!
Anyway, it was a bizarre mix of schools. CC’s, art schools I’d never heard of and a mix of local public and privates with almost no rhyme or reason to what was there versus what was not, maybe 20 schools in total. We hit 4 tables, Central WA a local regional that for some reason he wanted to stop at the table, Seattle University, Seattle Pacific University and then…Macalester.
One of these things is not like the others. He liked… Mac.
Which will be a reach if it stays on the list. I have zero hope that a reach school will inspire him but you never know. He does start back up with the therapist next month but due to XC and then the pit, he’s been on hiatus with that, which hasn’t helped. Once we get back in the groove I need to not let it slide.
And then asked me again if we were going to visit any schools in So Cal in December. Which I wasn’t bringing up. The kid who doesn’t want to go to college sends really mixed signals! We will see on that one. Of the schools of interest for that trip we have
USC -reach in every way, not sure I see the point and self guided tour only
Redlands - Sat tour avail
Occidental - no tour avail. They do Sat tours but they stop the weekend before our visit.
LMU - would have a full tour but he’s really not keen on visiting a Jesuit school at all (I plan to force him to visit Seattle U though, he knows that).
So. NACAC College fair is this Sat, I hadn’t been looking at it but maybe we should, we could go. A lof ot schools he is interested in will be there, including Redlands which could determine (maybe?) if it is worth the drive while down there or not.
@eandesmom Ugh. What an update! I think so many juniors are all over the place right now. Junior year is stressful. I’m betting lots of them say things like “I don’t want to go to college”. Plus, teenage boy hormones are all over the place and that makes for moodiness. Last night after dinner, our S19 was happy, laughing, and engaging in a heated discussion with my husband about his wonderful APUSH teacher. One hour later, he was a completely different kid - his shins were “killing” him from running, his calc teacher is “crazy” for giving this much homework, and he wanted to know when he’s ever going to get to sleep again. Then, he started yelling at his sister for breathing too loud. I can’t keep up with the shifting emotions. Hang in there!
S19 visiting Mac tomorrow. I’ll post about his trip this weekend. 
@OrangeFish: As for Muhlenberg’s PE requirement, my D17 is taking hers right now. It’s a half-unit course (Muhlenberg uses the system where a regular 3-credit course most places is a single course unit), and honestly, my D17 finds it a bit of a waste of time. (For my part, it requires her to not sleep in too long one morning a week, and oddly, she tends to get a lot done that day. So I’m not willing to call it a total waste, you know?) Her course covers “health and wellness”, and apparently the first half of the semester was wellness education (several seminars and lectures on wellness issues, basically), with this past week being the transition into the “health” side—so my D17, who had previously never done anything with workout equipment, was on an elliptical for a half hour yesterday morning. (Apparently, she’s now required to spend a half hour a week using the fitness center’s equipment, her choice of what to do.)
Overall, I think it’s a good requirement, and honestly I wish more colleges had one. It does create a small but meaningful timesink for first-years adjusting to college, though.
@eandesmom – thanks for the FA/merit info on Muhlenberg. When we ran the NPC (ran it again this week and have run it before) there’s no FA component and pretty decent merit (I am guessing based on her ACT score). The NPC does not include talent awards, which possibly could run $1K to $4K per year. When we ran the NPC, there would be a $5K gap (which D19 would need to cover). So I would call it borderline.
Your S’ situation sounds rough. But maybe his differing responses means he is starting to turn a corner? I think your idea of visiting the NACAC College fair on Saturday is a good one. Let’s him “be in charge” and maybe add some other enticing schools to the Macalester-led list.
Breathing too loud. That’s it in a nutshell at this age. S17 almost killed me. Still does actually. Yes, all over the place and total normal and…exhausting.
With the exception of APush the grades aren’t horrid but I really hate having to ride him like this on the HW and does cause concern for college. I suspect we may find ourselves in a situation of a number of schools he can get into (but at the upper end of our price range) and with his habits, I’m not sure I want to spend the upper end of the budget. I’d like him to get it together enough for me to feel good about that.
We will see. As I look through the list, much as I don’t care for college fairs…it may make sense to go. 11 schools that he could hit at once.
Thanks for the “PE requirement” details, @dfbdfb. Your description makes it sound nice for my D19. She is not a gym-fanatic (e.g., “theatre is my sport”) but could tolerate the health requirement of using some fitness center equipment, especially for “just” 30 minutes a week. 
I think she hears health and wellness, and memories of high school PE class resurface.
My kiddo loathes PE in high school, but when he found out that dance class at one college could cover the PE requirement he was all excited about college dance classes. Now he looks at the dance department course list wherever we go, even though most colleges don’t have PE requirements any more.
If he’d asked for dance classes 10, 12 years ago I would have been thrilled to take him, but I guess that was not the right time in his life.
@eandesmom I hear your pain. My oldest is in his first year at McGill. My youngest (a high school junior) decided two years ago on our first visit that McGill is his number one. First two years of HS were rough but he survived. (High pressure public HS is not a great place for a kid with anxiety.) But last year he said push me along to make sure I hit the minimums for McGill. (They literally based admission on GPA and ACT/SAT. Nothing else for the main programs.) So this year I am doing what he said with the occasional battle usually when I am doing what he told me to do.
The problem? He only has one other school on his list, U of Vermont (OK…two actually…because I told him he has to have an in state public school on his list…U Mass Amherst). Beyond that, I can hardly get him motivated to look at anything. Otherwise he has a bad case of the “nahs”. Syracuse? Nah. Anything in NY state? Nah. Anything in DC? Nah.
Thank goodness he is just a junior. If this were senior year I would not be able to sleep!
@SwimmingDad My son has a similar case of the “nahs” except there is nothing on the his list at all. Anything suggested gets a “nah,” an eye roll, a quick exit from the room, etc. I asked him if he wants to look at Naviance now that he has a test score (nah, I’m good).
I know it’s still early but for a kid whose grades are up in the air (thought he might study for tests this year with more honors and AP classes, but nah), has no clue what he wants to study, and has no idea what he might be looking for in a college, I feel like it does make sense to try to get a grip on this stuff before next September.
@eh1234 With my oldest, we focused on “let’s learn type of schools”. So we looked at big schools, small schools, college towns, cities…always saying “we are not looking at American University, we are looking at a medium sized school in a big city”. Not sure if that approach will work for you…worked for us (on the first kid).
3 can be a scary number, it just depends on how they fit. If one is a safety both admissions and financial well then may it’s ok.
My S17 (also in this range) hated the fact he applied to 7 and got into all, he felt that ended up being too much choice and stressed him out.
I forced him to do more so we’d have financial options. No idea how s19 will play out.
For a kid who said he didn’t want to go to college he now wants to go to the nafac fair this weekend where 11 Schools on his list will be.
I figure if nothing else, the badge scan shows interest.
When we visited Denison, our tour guide told us much of his college application journey. He got into all nine schools he applied to. Many were matches. Sounded like only one was a reach (but it was a big one and he got in) and two were safeties. He said it was awful. He couldn’t make a decision. He was spending crazy amount of times at over nights trying to decide but liked all of his choices. He advised our group to avoid that situation if possible. I think it’s entirely possible that we could end up in that situation but I just can’t bring myself to believe it would be awful. It would feel like the only time that S19 wouldn’t be in control of the situation and I wouldn’t think having choices would be a good thing! One might be sad to let some favorites go but, if good research was done up front, then maybe there’s just no bad choice to be made if multiple schools are still in the running come April of senior year.
My D16 applied to 7 schools, but she ended up visiting only one of those before applying. She did a visit to one of them after acceptance and made her choice without looking at the others (decided three were too far, one was too cold and one was too expensive). It really was very easy. I knew when we visited in the summer before senior year that she would end up at the school she ultimately went to. It just felt like the right place. I really hope that happens with S19, but I don’t think it will. D16 had a better idea of what academic program and campus vibe she wanted.
So I feel like S19 should apply to more schools, but I don’t know if he actually will. I’m focused on public schools with engineering for now but I have no idea if he will want to major in engineering. If he wants to do something else, a smaller school might make more sense for him. If he wants to do music, there will be more uncertainty about whether anyone will take him. If he’s still undecided when it’s time to apply, I feel like he should keep his options open until, gulp, April 2019.
Correction: “It would feel like the only time that S19 WOULD be in control!” Early morning…no coffee yet…
Except they really aren’t in control. Or they don’t feel like it. Mine didn’t anyway. It was too much to process, very overwhelming.
There is a lot of other factors for most kids. Ease of travel, comparing programs, attachment maybe to someone they interviewed with but not the school, loving a program but not the school and of course, overall cost.
It’s a funny thing. You will see people who judge kids who apply only to safeties and matches and others who judge kids who go reach heavy or for schools they can’t afford. It is a personal and stressful thing for all involved I think.
My S17 has seven largely because only ONE of those was a financial and admissions safety. He had zero reaches because all reach schools were unaffordable. We needed the 6 additional options to be able to compare offers and they did vary quite a bit. We also chose not to visit schools that were very far away until after acceptance and offers. One school ended up not being visited at all based on the offer and I think S17 is still a tad cranky about that. I do think he got far more out of those visits than had they been pre-application as he had a vested interest in really getting to know the schools and understand the differences.
So while overwhelming and stressful for him, I still think it was the right strategy. For all 3 of the kids so far to go through the process we were able to know accepted schools and plan by February which made for a nicer 2nd semester overall, though 2 of the kids drug out decisions until April/May. Unfortunately I suspect that will not be the case for S19 as at least one doesn’t notify until around 4/1.
My goal for S19 is that he has 2 admissions and financial safeties that he would love to attend. I require a minimum of one but would be a lot more comfortable with two. I don’t know if that is feasible yet or not. He will have at least one reach but it’s an affordable reach (and likely not the best fit anyway). He could end up with a larger or smaller list. Right now it’s ridiculously huge and it’d be nice to cull it a bit.