Thanks twoinandone, thanks for your advise. As we just migrate to US, there is a lot of things to consider, like relative and things need to be settled in our hometown. We need to stay in the west coast for a while, so our choice are quite limited though. If our D19 is good enough for applying USC, I really want to try as it seems to offer quite high scholarship. However, she is not that smart 
Swooping back in. S19 is still looking at a list with four schools (all of which he has seen) and Iām pushing him to add some moreā¦which he is finally open to. Wants to study business/econ at a place with great creative writing and photography classesā¦that I can afford. Hoping to do a semi local (we are outside of Boston) visit on MLK day. Probably some more during February break week. Now he just has to pick some schools.
Happy New Year, parents!
I have not managed to whittle Dās college list down at all; instead, I find myself researching more and more. Why, you ask? Well, D seems to be turning away from theater and toward environmental-type subjects. But I honestly donāt think she has a clue what sheād do with such a degree, except this whole āI wanna be a park rangerā thing. And I am not sure that would stick either. But still, it means reassessing the college list for a completely different major, and of course, half of them arenāt relevant anymore. The more I look, the more I think a big U with 37,000 majors is the only thing thatāll work for her. I also think she needs LAC-level attention, though.
Despite having midterms in two weeks, sheās done very little on break. I cannot make her do anything unless sheās hard up against a deadline. I am DREADING application season, truly dreading it.
@Gatormama Our S19 will be undecided and will almost certainly go to a LAC. There are so many schools where kids can do theater even if it isnāt their major. In fact, every school weāve visited has theater on campus. And they also all have some sort of environmental major, minor, concentration, etc. I donāt think itās limiting to go to a LAC unless the student wants engineering. Even for business, itās pretty common for kids to go the Econ route for undergrad instead of a bachelors in business.
My husband points out that, generally speaking, pretty much any major is OK at this stage. The idea is to get into college and figure it out from there. I know lots of people who are using their major in offbeat ways ā or not at all.
I am a bit confused by your status, are you planing to move to a state for your Dās senior year of HS to get her in state status?
As a washington state resident (and UW alumni), I can tell you that UW is incredibly competitive and sadly, what you state as her stats are unlikely to gain her admission. My S17 had an 26 ACT and a 3.49 UW GPA and would have been unlikely to get in, however he did not apply as he wanted a smaller school.
While I realize that the % admitted is 49% ish, her stats are quite likely too low. We know many many kids with higher stats who were waitlisted or denied this year. If going in, undeclared social science it might be worth applying if the grades are good but theater is extremely unlikely I would think. There are other excellent schools in the state that are less competitive, for social science Iād look at Western Washington University. For theater, Central Washington University or again, Western. For theater also, Southern Oregon is outstanding and has an exchange program with WA state residents that make it very attractive.
My current S19 son may apply, his test scores are likely to be higher though gpa possibly lower and frankly, we donāt expect him to get in and will be lucky to get waitlisted. I only know of 1 kid in the last 2 years that got in off of a waitlist to be honest.
@Gatormama wow your DD sounds like mine! She really wanted to major in theatre but sheās currently convinced to make that a minor. We went to Rocky Mountain National Park this summer and that made her think about Recreation & Parks Management. I could see her doing that in some capacity, but sheās not all that outdoorsy (bugs are a problem!), she wouldnāt like the security aspect of park rangering, and she doesnāt want a recreation major that is sports oriented. But she loves the mountain and nature aesthetic in theory. Honestly I think she would love to work at a historic site as a costumed historical interpreter, or running a childrenās theater program. She could work in a city Parks & Rec department. There are therapeutic recreation tracks that seem more marketable to me, but sheās not interested in that at the moment.
Recreation majors that focus on parks and nature are not found everywhere. Her current favorite school does not have it so she is considering a history major and theatre minor, or some sort of environmental science. Sheās not that into science otherwise so maybe sheāll just pick her science gen eds from that division. To me the history and theatre combo seems up her alley but again who knows what she could get a job in.
Thanks eandesmom, Its great to meet somebody from Washington in this forum. Our family migrated to Bellevue in last October, but my D19 will finish her high school in our homeland, that is 2019 summer, as it is difficult to transfer in the middle of junior. We really hope she can enroll in UW in 2019 fall. However, with her present stats and projected ACT, she might need to have one gap year for upgrading her ACT/SAT or enroll in community college and transfer two years later. We donāt know the rate of transfer from CC to UW, we guess it might need really GPA, like those in UC system.
It is fine for her applying in UW with undeclared social science in which she has no solid plan for her major and studying path right now! What is downside of applying in undeclared major during the applicant process. We do not know anything about Western Washington University and the exchange program of South Oregon exchange program. Would you mind to the websites about them or any possible path for a new immigrant college applicant in Washington? Sorry for so many questions as we have no experience or connections who is familiar with the US college application process. BTW, it cost so much in hiring the college application consultant in which Thanks in advance.
@Gatormama A similar but different problem. My sonās list is 4 schools and itās been stuck at four schools (only two of which he really is interested in) forever. During break we had this long talk about what he likes, etc. and he said he knows what he wants to do: video game marketing. (NOT video game design.) He said he knows what motivates people to buy a game and to play a game and he thinks he really understands that wellā¦and yes he is a gamer and to be fair he has talked about this before. So Iāve added some schools to the list to researchā¦but this is the biggest needle in a haystack situation Iāve encountered in a long time. But at least we finally have a direction!
So he could just do a marketing degree, @SwimmingDad. Do internships etc. to get the specialization. Marketing/communication degrees are available everywhere. If heās committed to that path, Iād go with a school in a media/tech-heavy area, like NY or SF, where the internships would be plentiful.
@Gatormama Two of his schools are in Montreal, where there is a good sized gaming community and one of the worldās largest annual gaming conventions. The kid hates NYC with a passionā¦but I hadnāt thought of SFā¦thank you. You are correct he will go a marketing routeā¦but it needs to have more of a digital media bent versus a classic marketing bent. The list building continues!
D19 returned to school today after a two week break. Over the break she got lots of sleep 
and did some work on her portfolio. She also offered a couple more majors to include in the mix (because our behemoth spreadsheet is not large enough already).
She seems to be focusing her college list on two groups of schools ā those with a strong BA in theatre tech design (not production) with an opportunity to double major/minor in digital/interactive media with some marketing courses thrown in, and a BFA program in tech design for theatre and screen, with some digital/interactive media (projection) thrown in.
This process is helping to narrow down her college list.
Weāre making forward progress! 
Kiddoās college list has been static for some time now. Iām unhappy about the number of safeties vs. the number of reaches, but that can be fixed. I promised him that I wouldnāt talk about the ACT/SAT and colleges in general until this year and Iāve kept that promise, mostly.
Iāve started the spreadsheet with acceptance rates, test ranges, due dates, majors, and costs. I really should have waited, I think. The list is going to undergo drastic changes in the next 6 months, Iām sure of it.
Ah well, a new year. Itāll be nice to hear about his friends and what they did on Christmas break.
@ninakatarina In terms of the spreadsheet (and I learned this the hard way)ā¦when a college comes off put it in a separate tab labeled something like Off List. My oldest son had a school come off his listā¦and then onā¦and offā¦and onā¦and offā¦on. Each time I deleted the data to only have to go back and find it all again.
@SwimmingDad raises a great point ā donāt toss stuff with all the associated research youāve done.
In our case, we have versions of the College Spreadsheet, labeled with a name and date. Currently we are at Danielle - January 2018. Christopher - December 2017 is still saved for posterity.
Itās tough to say how they will interpret residency in your Dās case. While the family will have met the 1 year requirement, since she didnāt go to HS in the US Iām not sure if that will impact her timeline. She may have to live with you and go to CC at full price to hit the 1 year. Iād actually try to talk to someone at UW to see as they should be able to tell you.
I would highly highly recommend having a number of alternative plans to UW. Even undeclared as a social science major (undeclared liberal arts) her chances
UW Freshman admission profile, autumn 2017 46.4%
WA Residents 59.2%
Nonresidents (U.S. + International) 41.5%
High School GPA 3.70-3.95 (out of 4.0)
Test Scores
SAT Composite 1180-1370 (out of 1600)
SAT Math 600ā720
SAT Evidence-Based Reading + Writing 590-680
ACT Composite 27-32
She is likely to be compared against the out of state pool which is more competitive. We know many kids that fit the above profile and were waitlisted. Ones under were generally outright denied. The IB may help.
The CCās have a solid record of transferring kids in, Iād suggest meeting with Bellevue CC to see what their options are but itās a really great option and would ensure the instate price if she isnāt admitted initially (or is but at out of state prices).
The downside of undeclared is a higher degree of difficulty getting classes, actually being accepted to the major and graduating on time. CC can be a better option for the student that doesnāt know what they want to do.
I would not hire a college consultant, it is not needed. Lots of resources elsewhere. We may be looking at the path for my son as he wants CS and will almost certainly be denied at application at UW but the transfer program is good. You can also look at the satellite UW campuses like UW Bothell or UW Tacoma as an option that is easier to get into. I do not know if transferring form UW Bothell is a better option than CC or not but Iād ask their admissions those questions.
WUE will only apply if she is considered an instate student but you can read about it here. https://www.wwu.edu/ Here is a link to Westernās website, you can always email the admissions counselor for your area or visit a college fair and they will give you some insight and ideas for your situation. http://www.wiche.edu/wue There are some nice options on this list to help bring costs down.
Thanks endesmom, I have sent email to UW admission office one month ago for clarifying my Dās residency status, but do not receive any reply yet. Is it possible for us to walk-in the admission office for requesting appointment with the admission officer? After checking UW Bothell and Tacoma, they do not offer theater and only limited choice of major in social science, like psychology. However, my D would like to take some class related to theater in College and interest in political science or economic. Therefore, if the choice of transferring from CC to UW is higher, its worth to do so. My relativeās friend studied in CC some years ago, but she finally could not transferred to UW and end up in U of A at Tuscon.
The HS GPA cannot be upgrade after graduation, but ACT/SAT score might be boost with more attempts and prep class. Does it worth to take one gap year and re-apply UW with higher ACT/SAT score for 2020 fall. Then, she will fulfill the residency status with staying in UW from 2019 summer to 2020 fall, even she did not graduated in Washington HS. Are there any blacklist for multiple application/attempts or apply with previous year IBDP? Sorry for so many questions!
Snow day today! D19 is working on her portfolio and was pretty bummed when the two hour delay was changed to a school closure as she wanted to use the super snazzy printer at school to print her portfolio pages. So instead sheāll get pages ready and (hopefully) bring the files in to school tomorrow to print.
Iām going to take her out later for some how-to-drive-in-the-snow instruction. Sheās had her driverās license since November but has not driven in snow yet. Next week we are driving for a college visit and Iām hoping we wonāt have to drive in snow!
What do yāall think of this? D says yesterday that sheās planning to take a ton of AP classes in senior year - Bio, Chinese, Lang, Euro Histā¦
I reminded her that none of this would likely count and could very well hurt, but she insists she wants to do it just to do it, not because she thinks itād necessarily get her more money or into a reach school. She says she doesnāt want to slack off senior year.
Sheās taking two AP classes this year; has As, but still, theyāre her strong suit.
In senior year, Chinese, with the teacher from h-ll, and Bio are definitely NOT her strong suits - she got Cs in both in freshman year.
She dismissed that concern with āMom, that was freshman year. I was so YOUNG then.ā
LOL
She ultimately makes the decision, right? 