@EENYMum sometimes if there is too little data from your school then you don’t get to see any data to protect the privacy of the kids. You can ask your guidance for info regarding those schools though and they might give you some insight.
Re Opem Houses vs Tours:
I’ve personally found most tours to be pretty worthless, and I’ve been to several Open House events which were great.
@me29034, we are just outside of Philly. Those 50% stats for Temple are deceiving. It varies by college and time you submit application.
The Engineering school was recently updated and is trying to grow. It is easier to get into Engineering as compared to Business school.
My HS18 son was accepted to Engineering with 29 ACT and 2.9 GPA.
Dance and some of the Art majors are very competitive. My advice is to apply NOW.
@me29034 do you think EA has any benefit over RD? I have been hoping for ED for Twin A, but now she’s indecisive so EA might be the way. I should have started touring earlier.
I think it always helps to apply early. You show interest and you are in when they still have lots of space. We are planning to do EA for all his apps. He doesn’t have his common app essay ready yet, which is his main hold up. I’m hoping that he gets it done by the end of September so he can get all apps out in early October. Our high school doesn’t send transcripts of recommendations until then anyway so there isn’t much point in going sooner than that for us.
Made reservations for husband to take Twin A to Fairfield University and Hobart & William Smith. Have not been able to make the HWS trip work so hoping the third time is the charm. After these two, we’ll be completely finished with touring (Please God). Thank you all for so much help. Feeling good about RD list and who know, maybe some merit aid is possible?
How many colleges do you think your kid will apply to?
^ This is our strategy and our status as well. They are working on essays in Lit class, but D is getting annoyed because the teacher is requiring “stories” and a certain number of similes, metaphors etc. It doesn’t really lend itself to her preferrred essay topic and she doesn’t want to write 2 different ones. She asked if she would get an A if admitted to her #1 choice and the teacher said “No”. I give her props for trying.
Also, I’ve heard that our GC’s don’t submit recommendations and transcripts until uncomfortably close to the deadline. It think we’ll be telling them the deadlines are 2 weeks early!
@TwinMom2023 We loved Hobart, which is saying lot because we looked at it the same weekend as we looked at my (and DH’s) alma mater! I actually decided to look at Hobart first so my kids would see it was nice but that our school was so much nicer. We still love our school but it turned out we all fell in love with Hobart as well! :)) The information session really helped sell it (they are usually so boring but this one gave very good, specific information) and the campus was beautiful. D decided it was just too hard to get there from FL (2 flights and am for drive.) She did say if it was just a little bit easier to get there she would have applied for sure.
@TwinMom2023 We are at 7. He has applied to two that do rolling admissions that he should get in. He has two more that are his current top two. One that is a huge reach. One is our state flagship. And the final one is another school in Montreal in case his top Montreal school is a no. And yet…I still fret about the list. Argh.
Went to Senior Parents night tonight. A lot of the info that I received was the same that I received two years ago. One pleasant surprise was the state scholarship lottery funded scholarships qualification requirements did not change. They were up for review because of changes in the uniform grading scale changes 2 years ago.
@Twinmom2023 S19 is in the 6 to 7 range but there are only so many audition weekends so I don’t know if that’s realistic. I think he’s looking at two in-state publics, three OOS publics, one OOS private and one TBD (maybe an in-state private). As of now, the greatest distance is 6 hours.
@SwimmingDad Worried about d19s list too (around 10) but mostly because the major and programs admit so few students. She would like to apply to one additional school that I am thinking is a super reach but would be delighted if she were accepted and attended. Curious what everyone thinks is a reach…and super reach.
If she majors in early childhood education and special education, she could get a job in a public school.
@TwinMom2023 we are at 5. I think it breaks out like this
Admissions
Safeties-3 (2nd choice)
Match/low reach-1 (top choice)
Reach-1
Financial
Safeties-3
Match-1 (second choice)
High Match-Reach -1 (top choice)
And as much as IL tempted all the time to mess with it and relook at things he is happy with it so I need to stay out of it at this point.
No essays yet and we need a grade fixed based on AP score before transcripts can be ordered. They will work on essays in AP Lit but it (in the past) has been a bit close to EA deadlines for my taste.
D’s list is:
2nd Choice - match/low reach
3rd Choice - match/low reach
(Top 3 have similar NPC results - I actually think her chances at admission are very good, it’s just the merit possibilities that make these schools low reaches)
4th Choice - safety and financial safety
I know its a short list, and I’m sure we will be paying a pretty penny for college, but as many ways I’ve looked at it, I do think she’ll find a great fit. (Plus working for all her spending money!).
We all love the top 3 choices for different reasons. Choice 4 is there because of safety reasons and it looks good enough on paper (only one we have not visited). I do have 1-2 RD options in mind, just in case, but D is not convinced. We will apply early to all schools and then see.
This is great. I think I need to whittle ours down a little and just focus on realistic fits, a reach and a safety. We don’t need 14 schools because I’m neurotic.
@EENYMum To me a reach is Dickinson. Pretty sure she’d get in ED, but has decided not to do early binding. Her GPA and ACT are a match, but had terrible junior year so lost the needed trajectory. Her slump makes her very iffy for RD and I imagine they’ll ask for senior grades b/f making a decision. HWS, Elon, and Fairfield seem likely and hoping northern tours resonate with her. Safety for us would be a state school in NC I suppose.
@momtogkc that is SUCH a relief to hear about HWS. My husband is less than pleased I’m sending him on an epic road trip so I have a lot invested. On paper, it seems like the perfect school for her though. Yes, definitely a pain to get to, but that might not be a bad thing for my kid with an attitude. 
S19’s list is short as well. He is at four schools. But our state flagship system (his top choice) and its various campus options count as three, so the total is six.
Admissions
Match/low reach-(1) (top choice)
Match (2)
Safeties (3)
Financial
Reach (2) (merit required)
Safeties (4)
Our state flagship main campus is his top choice (admissions match/low reach; financial safety). One of the state flagship’s residential branch campuses for the first two years (all around safety) is his second choice. We would all be ecstatic if one of these two happened.
If those were to not work out, I’m not sure how he would prioritize the other options. Would he opt to commute to the local state flagship branch campus for the first two years over four years at the other residential options? That’s a wait and see. Not sure if the state flagship would remain the top choice then.
we are only at 4. i keep wanting to add to the list , but there are really no other places above his safety
Admissions
Safety -1
match- 1 (top choice)
low reach -1
reache -1 (our state flagship!)
Financial
safety -2 (same as safety school and also reach)
reach -2 (it all depends on merit!, including top choice)
DD probably won’t apply to many, because everything on her list is an admissions safety. So if she decides on a favorite, maybe she’ll just apply to one.
I would say her list is about 7 schools- 2 Christian privates that are probably unaffordable, and 5 small publics most of which are affordable but each have their pros and cons.
Next week we are visiting one where two of her cousins go, a junior and a senior. DH suggested she live off campus with the remaining cousin if she went there. I was surprised she didn’t shoot that down because she’s into living the dorm life with a meal plan! It would save money being off campus but I still think she should do at least freshman year on campus. It’s too bad they’d only have one year of overlap. It did make me think about the savings of living off campus at least her last two years. I hadn’t been putting that in my calculations so that makes things even better cost wise, yay!
We’re in Texas and our state schools are pretty good and affordable compared to many. We have 2 Flagships; UT and Texas A&M. Plus many smaller state schools and branches at which she should get auto admission. She’s 20 SAT points away from automatic admission to A&M. I’d like to blame the June math scores, but it was her best effort!
Next we’ll look at some private schools with merit, then pricey schools with 7/6 year Physical Therapy programs. I suspect those are pipe dreams.
At least we’re breaking it down into smaller chunks!
Uggh - My D’s list is LONG. And I am the one that keeps adding to it.
The issue is she wants schools all across the country, but I’m worried when it comes down to it, the boyfriend and distance will have a great impact. This means I am trying to encourage more choices within 2 hour radius.
She is in at 3 rolling admission schools. If we had no financial cap, I know she would only be applying to 2 more. But, since one of her current acceptances would mean more in loans than we are comfortable with, we need to cast a wide net.
We are in PA and it really stinks that we have no affordable state colleges with Interior Design.