^^^ I said…
Oops, I meant D20, of course (who is 16yo).
D20 took the ACT yesterday also, her first official test but did a proctored one at school last fall and several practice at home. Thought some parts (English?) were easier and others (Math?) way harder than her previous tests. Also did the essay and hopes that she doesn’t have to do that again even if she takes another ACT.
D20 took it once and did ok. She is not strong in Math or Science but is a good reader and scored high in Reading and English (33 and 30) on her first test. She was not able to finish last passage and had to take a stab at the answers. She had time to spare on the first test. Curve will be in play…i agree
Good luck to everyone waiting on getting scores!
The worse test date for the SAT is June because the test is June 1st and results come out July 10. Too long of a wait.
Need some input/info about the college finances and expected family contribution (EFC): (i) For HS 2020 grads college admissions, I guess 2018 tax returns are critical - is it possible to push the aid eligibility determination until Mar 2020 so we can use 2019 tax returns? (ii) Also, do colleges revisit the EFC every year kid is in college and change any need based calculation accordingly?
We are in a tricky situation: because of a job loss/change in 2018, our income is ‘much higher’ than normal for 2018 (one time severence package). For 2019 it will be much less. This is not great timing for DS20’s college admission cycle. I used online EFC calculators and seeing that, with 2018 tax returns it is 20k higher than that with 2019 income. So do colleges change the EFC for the second year of DS’s college - this is if gets into a meets need college.
First post in the class of 2020! Good Afternoon everyone!! parent of S of class 2020. Excited being here. Looking forward to gather and contribute details to group…
Welcome, @iclass2020 !
Thank you!!
D20 took ACT for the first time this weekend. She found the science the most difficult section. Next she will take the SAT test in May and then see where we go from there.
@hs2020dad I think you’ll find the answer to your question is “it depends”. I have heard of schools being very accommodating for special circumstances. You would probably want to call OFA at each school to see what they say. You have to submit FAFSA each year, usually, so I would think the reason for this is to adjust aid. Not sure if this is true of PROFILE? Good luck! Sorry about the job loss…
@hs2020dad Yes aid packages when meeting need are reevaluated every yr. You can ask for special judgment consideration, but whether or not they will alter your aid package is unknown. If you got full-time employment after the severance package, they may see that $$ as available for college (just like retirement contributions.)
S20 and I toured Colorado State in Ft. Collins yesterday for a Honors Program Day visit. This will likely be his only in-state pick.
The honors program seems quite robust there with lots of interesting seminar offerings as well as honors sections within other courses. They receive about 2500 applications for 500 honors spots.
Seems to be lots of opportunities for undergraduate research including a formalized program with competitive entry.
Since S19 might be interested in Neuroscience we sat in on the program session that includes a lot of the pre-professional students. S19 is NOT going that route but if he was I would definitely push for CSU. They made the point of comparing themselves to CU-Boulder for anatomy classes. CU receives 2 cadavers/year whereas CSU receives 22 which creates opportunities for much more in-depth lab work for gross anatomy classes. (This per the department and I didn’t double check for accuracy.)
Pluses for CSU: absolutely love Ft.Collins. It is a great bike-able city with lots of outdoor recreation opportunities. Lovely downtown. Campus is nice with lots of dorm options from swanky to basic. Most kids move off campus after freshman year but there are a lot off campus options that are quite affordable. (Unlike CU boulder where off campus is very pricey.) Food seems good with plenty of options. Meal plan options are available unlike other schools that force large meal plans on all freshmen students. Plenty of opportunities for driven, intelligent kids. Good reputation for student advising to help kids graduate in a timely manner. Class size is reasonable. Wide variety of majors to cover any and all of S20’s current desired majors. Merit opportunities are spelled out. CSU is also part of the WUE program for any of you OOS kids out west.
Negatives: large spread out campus so a bike is most definitely needed although they do have an active shuttle service. Still one of S20’s more expensive options - even with a 4.0uw and a 35 ACT it will be about $20,000/year versus some of his OOS options which would be less expensive. I wish it was more diverse. We are originally from the DC area and I would like college to be more representative of the real world. That being said they spend a lot of time talking about how they welcome diversity, etc. and it is definitely more diverse than our current town.
Long day and still digesting information so if I think of anything else I will pass it along.
Just a brag (Sorry). But my D20 got her ACT back today, and it was a 36!!!
Sad thing is that I don’t really think it changes much, she had a 35 already and I had told her she can stop but the school paid for this one.
I am one proud dad though!
@WasIDremin That’s awesome! Congrats to your daughter! Which test date was this? We are still waiting for my D20s test that she took at school.
It’s been a while since I’ve been here, so I apologize in advance, I just skipped about 30 pages… I feel like Thomas Jefferson coming in at the beginning of Act 2 in Hamilton. “So what did I miss?” 
D20 visited UBuffalo today and enjoyed it. Also met with a dept head of comp sci at Drexel on Monday. Two schools that appear to be sticking in the “apply” column. Buffalo is in-state for us.
@stencils, I feel I’ve missed a lot, too! ?
Went on a tour of UC San Diego. My kid is looking for a “college community feel” and UCSD was not it.
@WasIDremin Congratulations to your daughter!!!
Congratulations to your DD! That’s awesome!!! @WasIDremin
@WasIDremin Congratulations to your daughter on her perfect score! That’s amazing!
And…no need to apologize for a brag. You have good reason to be proud.
@janiemiranda she took it 4 weeks ago on the computer. She thought since it was on the computer they would get it back quickly, but it appears to have taken longer than the standard scores did. She actually doesn’t have the score report yet, but the guidance counselor did(which is how she found out her score) and her schools got them last week.