Yes @Gatormama that would make sense but DC is too far from home for him to consider, at least right now. He may change his mind later. Also the big three schools (Georgetown, GW, and American) are all out of reach stats wise. Catholic is, well, too Catholic-it is one of the more conservative Catholic schools in the country and really not S’s cup of tea. I have thought about George Mason which is across the river in Virginia but don’t know much about it and now we are getting even farther from home. It was a stretch to get him to consider Philly.
I used to live near George Mason and I have several friends who went there or have kids who went there. It’s got a very strong poli sci department. My good friend’s daughter is about to graduate from Mason with a concentration in Russian studies and intentions to enter the diplomatic corps. She seems to have gotten a good education.
But if it’s too far, it’s too far, and I like that feeling of having whittled down the list.
OK…I’m in. Just got through the process with my oldest (he is in his first year at McGill) and beginning with my youngest. Like an earlier poster, he had a rough first two years of high school. Off the charts intense public high school…not a great fit for a kid with ADHD and anxiety. Ended sophomore year with a 3.3, all college prep classes. Will take ACT next month.
He is a dabbler. Big into photography. Creative writer; is getting into poetry. Works during the school year. Probably will add other interests this year…we just go with the flow. Fascinated by the video game industry.
His heart is set on McGill though he knows he is close to their minima. Visiting U of VT tomorrow. Has already seen U Mass (he didn’t like it that much but understands as our in state school it will be on the list). He wants to see Loyola and DePaul in Chicago; Catholic and American in DC; and Wisconsin. (Most of these are on target for his HS with the exception of Wisconsin.)I consider his list to be very fluid.
And so another journey begins!
@SwimmingDad post about your Vermont visit when you return. A rep is visiting our high school tomorrow and S19 is going to the presentation. I don’t know that we will be able to visit, though, before applying. It’s a big plus for us that they consider applications EA. One of the few schools on his list that does. It’s kind of a wild card for him as all of the other schools on his list are LACs but I’ve read great things about Burlington as a college town and about VT’s honors college so I think it could possibly be a good match in some ways. Plus, he’s leaning a little bit towards environmental studies and I know they have a strong program.
At our school, the colleges visit and they are scheduled for around lunch time but so far D hasn’t been able to go to any because they conflict (she has this maddeningly complex block schedule this year). Grr.
@Gatormama I hear you. Our college meetings are all day every day so S19 missed Calc to see one admissions officer. And he cancelled on one because he had a French test during that presentation and didn’t want to miss it. In the case of the second one, we had visited that school this summer and the rep sent S19 an email asking if he would be at the presentation. I made sure he sent an email back to him explaining the conflict. I didn’t read it before he sent it, though, and found a small grammatical error when I looked at it afterwards. Note to self: read S19’s emails before he sends them. Ugh.
We are visiting Christopher Newport U on Friday (it’s a student holiday here). D will be meeting with the head of the program she’d like to major in, we’ll tour the theatre facilities with both faculty and some students, and we are registered for an information session/campus tour. She plans to meet up with some students she knows there, too.
I did take D on a tour of GWU last week since it is so close by (and I’m an alum) and it is not a fit. Works for me as they have received enough of my $$$. :))
@homerdog Will do. When we visited two years ago both my boys loved it. The school is a nice size…doesn’t feel too big. Burlington is one of the best college towns in the Northeast. Stay tuned!
@OrangeFish right! And isn’t GW the most expensive school in the country? I thought I read that somewhere …
@Homerdog I thought I had read Bennington was the most expensive, but GWU is waaaaaay up there.
ETA: I searched US News and they list Columbia U as the most expensive school, followed by Vassar, Harvey Mudd, U Chicago, Trinity, Franklin and Marshall, Tufts, Amherst, U of Southern Cal, and Sarah Lawrence.
@me29034 check out Penn State Harrisburg
https://harrisburg.psu.edu/public-affairs/political-science-and-public-policy/bachelor-arts-political-science
@me29034 – any interest in Providence College? Has politics, not-too-conservative-Catholic, basketball, and in a city.
Hello All, new poster here!
I have S19 who is a mixed bag–all the brains and talent in the world but intermittently resistant to authority and direction. We don’t have any test scores yet but are hanging out at around a 3.3. I’d guess ACT in the 28-31 range. Like I said, bright kid with questionable effort at times.
He’s a state ranked discus thrower, but not sure whether he wants to pursue that for college. He’s also running cross country and playing basketball, middle of the pack there.
He’s leaning fairly hard toward the medical fields, nursing to CRNA, PA, or perfusion. He’s well versed in what all of those entail as I am an NP (both practicing and teaching at university) and father is a doc. He has joined his high school health care association and is looking forward to some of that.
So far we’ve been very casually looking at schools, because he has “no idea” what he wants from a school. UMN-TC was a hit, as was UM-Duluth (no healthcare stuff there though). College of St. Scholastica allows for living in Duluth (and nursing) which he loved, but I think he was neutral on the school. In WI, UW Madison is a contender though I don’t know that he’ll be a contender there. UW-Lac and UWM are also possibilities, though UW-Lac does not have a nursing program. UWM very strong in nursing. Carthage is beautiful and looks to be a hidden gem with tons of opportunities, but he’s not enchanted with being near Kenosha.
He’s interested in Appalachian State, having to do with good hills (is a longboarder). Outside of that he’s not had tons of initiative in researching far away schools.
Overall I’m well into the process of looking at and matching schools but he is not and he does better without a ton of parent hovering<----understatement. At any rate, here I am and it’s good to be here!
@me29034 Your son sounds a little like mine, who also doesn’t like school that much, but certainly wouldn’t consider NOT going to college. I feel like he just hasn’t had the right classes, teachers, experiences yet, but things will fall into place sooner or later.
For anyone looking at American U., it’s pretty easy to get in if you are male and apply ED. My nephew got in with a 3.0. Of course, then you have to pay for it…
@OrangeFish S would love Providence College but Naviance says there is no way that is happening.
@mommdc Thanks for the suggestion of Penn State Harrisburg. We’ll check it out.
Welcome @brickkicker! You are in the right place and look forward to hearing more of yours (and others) college search travels.
@eh1234 I don’t mean that to sound disparaging but the reality is, he just won’t be competitive in a sea of other white boys, It just is what it is, and if he wants CS…well…again, it is what is is. He’s a wonderful amazing kid who makes me proud every day but the odds are not in his favor. His brothers who had lower stats were a bit more pointy and less traditional and I think that helped them for their fields. He will be a different ballgame.
@Gatormama too funny. I am married to an engineer, and work for an engineering firm but am not one myself. However my job is to translate what they do into layman’s terms. Which would imply that I get it. That may or may not be always accurate!
@me29034 I personally believe that schools would far rather see a kid with one EC that they gave their all to, than 10…to fill in all the lines in the common app. Passion and true interest is far more interesting than checking boxes. Welcome!
@SwimmingDad welcome! I have a freshman at UVM so happy to answer any questions I can.
I hear you on fluid!
@homerdog EA is a great option for UVM, highly recommend it for merit reasons if nothing else.
@brickkicker welcome!!! I’ve heard very good things about UWM for nursing and know a few kids at some of the others though they are outside my personal area of expertise.
“The final outcome list for the class of 2017 can be found here. They rocked it!
http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/discussion/comment/20605533/#Comment_20605533”
This is through the V’s. The rest of the 2017 list is here: http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/parents-forum/1871275-parents-of-the-hs-class-of-2017-3-0-to-3-4-gpa-p268.html
Again, great job @eandesmom
I’m in as well! I was also on the 2017 version of this thread (thank you @eandesmom) and look forward to joining some other members of that thread here. My S17 is a freshman at WashU in engineering/CS, but S19 is not interested in engineering or CS, and in many other ways is a very different so I feel like I’m starting all over again. S19 is very interested in physics (astro or theoretical), but the path from this thread to that seems daunting from where I sit. He also has an interest in law and politics. He doesn’t have may ECs, but is in concert band, did 2 years of marching band, and is in debate (though not all in). My other son was a late academic bloomer, so I am hoping for the same for S19 so that by college acceptance time he will look like a much better candidate than he does now. He did pretty well on the practice PSAT last year, and will take the SAT with the rest of his class this fall. Since he’s currently in Algebra 2/Trig, he’s likely to wait for the Spring ACT.
My feeling is that S19 is likely to focus on schools in the West (but he doesn’t want hot weather). But for now all areas will be contenders. I don’t see him at a large public school, but who knows in the end. I need to educate myself on small to mid-size schools with a good physics department, that is supportive. For his part, he is still tired of the college talk from last year, so he’s not anxious to get started on the process for himself. Luckily he was on a number of the college visits with his brother, so he has at least seen some schools at this point.
@Hankster1361 - ack, The concept of math reasons to wait until spring has triggered my anxiety all over again. Today is the deadline to register D for the October ACT, which I’m planning to do, but you are reminding me that there is much math knowledge to be gained between October and spring, and she’s doing poorly already on that section. (Geometry this year; has taken alg 1 and 2).