@MuggleMom no the final list isn’t done yet but I think we are in good shape. D20 has 2 favorites that I would call low reaches depending on how the grades end up this semester (too many classes still at that B+/A- border for my taste atm). Anyway, she wants to ED1 to one of them and ED2 to the other if the first doesn’t pan out, and then right now there are another 5 I think that she’s visited and liked (one is a safety, one is a reach, one is a low reach, 2 are matches), and then I think we are going to do one more set of visits in June to 3 more schools that are near each other (I think one is a reach and 2 match? Or maybe one reach, one low reach, and one match, something like that). And then also apply to another in-state safety that we have just decided to not visit (were going to visit after high school got out but now are going to wait and only go if none of the others work out). I don’t know… maybe we need to think harder on the safety end… or maybe see how the grades pan out first…
I’m kind of “that” parent. S20 has taken the SAT (wasn’t happy with his score) and the ACT (34-happy with this one) and is going to sit for the SAT one more time and we’ve been on ONE college visit. He just won’t talk about it.
Hoping this summer he’ll be willing to do a couple visits, but I will not drag him to schools. If he doesn’t want to go, that’s fine, our community college is there for him.
@bigmacbeth
S started on his Coalition App a few months ago. Aside from Bama, all of the schools on his list do Coalition App, but not Common App.
@MuggleMom I am an obsessive planner, and my S20 takes after me! So yes, it’s all planned out.
His list is pretty final: five schools. He has visited them all, some of them twice. It’s all admission safeties and matches, but a couple are reaches financially. Pitt may come off the list if he doesn’t bump his ACT up next month. He has a 33, which is a fantastic score, but not fantastic enough for merit at Pitt. He has a clear favorite, UofSC, but I keep expressing the importance of having Plans B and C.
He plans to submit that first application to Bama in early July!
@bigmacbeth At our school, the guidance office hosts ‘classes’ to open the accounts with the students. They do Common app and Coalition. They do this together to make sure the info is correct. I had D open a ‘test’ account that can’t submit (parents can open accounts like this) so she can poke around and get comfy with the website. Nearly half of her schools aren’t on Common App, but I thought playing with it for a bit would take the fear out of the process.
@washugrad Sounds like a solid plan. I’m getting nervous but its all working out. The not visiting (you have the same thought) is a little worrying to me. I woould rather have a baseline for each school, but I complletely see where it makes sense to wait. It just goes agains my personality.
Now to get D to start her essays. LOL My older two were much more last minute kids. This D is really on top of things when she needs to be. Of course, she’s much pickier too. We will see how it all plays out.
Regarding research. There has been so much great info on here. My 2 college kids (both juniors) have different experiences. My D has done no research and is fine with it. Its not at all interesting to her. My S applies for small grants at school and uses the money to fund his own research. They go to an undergraduate only college so there isn’t any grad students to hang with. The professors do some research, but not a whole lot of publishing happening. One professor told my S that REUs were mainly for under represented minorities and he’d be wasting his time if he applied. He ended up with one last summer and loved it. It was a great experience.
I can’t believe that its May already. Onward and Upward!
@redfraggle You are NOT that parent. LOL. You’re here. You’re informed. And your kid has already tested with great scores. Having an uninterested kid is tough with this process. But you’re still making things happen.
@ShrimpBurrito I’m an obsessive planner too. Hubby doens’t understand why I’m so into the college app process. Well… we are talking about a minimum of a $150K investment. I think that deserves some forethought. Best of luck getting scores to where Pitt will give you merit. Pitt is a great school, but I had to take it off our list because she’ll never qualify for merit and its unafforable without.
My D’s first school opens July 1. I don’t know when we’ll be ready, but I’m not sure that her top choice schould be first. I’m highly considering letting her make her mistakes on some others before that one is complete.
Just looking for some opinions. My daughter got a 33 ACT (with a 26 science). Today she got a 1450 on a mandatory SAT test ( live in Illinois). She hates the SAT but wants to retake it. She already is retaking the ACT. Is there any point retaking the SAT?
No, if I were her, I would triple down on the science for the improved super score. A 33 = 1460/1480… She already has a better ACT than that. She needs to focus on 1 thing (ACT science), not 2 different tests.
My D went from a a 25 in science in February to a 32 in April. Practice practice practice. She can do it @Nicki20
@Nicki20 looks like according to the latest concordance tables a 1450 is the same as a 33. If she hates the SAT, I think she would be better served just prepping more for the ACT. My d20 had the same SAT and ACT scores as your daughter and took the ACT one more time and got a 34 on the subsequent ACT.
S20 has his list pretty set. He keeps adding to it, nothing ever comes off, except the ones I removed for cost. We’ve visited 6 schools, and have 2 more visits planned this summer. Seems like they’re all safeties or reaches. There is really only 1 match, not sure why it’s coming out that way. He also wants to take the SAT again in June, so maybe that will shake things up.
I am so, so lost on her list.
Especially on if she should or needs to apply to any instate safeties as she has solid OOS ones. Argh.
@bigmacbeth Not yet. Just trying to get through AP exams and crawling to the finish line of junior year. I guess soon after 5/15 she will start tackling that.
Does anyone know if the Coalition App is open as well?
@MuggleMom The final list is not done here yet. I think we are going to go for one more round of visits and head back up to the NE (from Florida) in June or July. Although visiting when school is in session is ideal, we have done a few summer visits that were helpful in eliminating some.
@Nicki20 I would say it depends on what schools she is targeting. Congrats to her on great scores!
Wow. There are some great scores in this crew. That is really exciting. Congrats to everyone who is done, or close to done with testing.
Wow, class of 2020 parents thread is picking up steam! 
We have not finished the list, currently there are way too many reaches/high reaches and not enough matches/safeties. Questions: 1) how many matches/safeties should we have? 2) other than visiting the schools, what else could you do to show demonstrated interests to matches/safeties?
Glad to see that I am not the only one here who worries about weather of potential colleges. DS (who loves summer) thinks (extreme) cold weather is not a factor in college applications.
We have a common app account, DS had sent emails to three “candidates” for LOR, all three have agreed.
I had thought that DS’ school no longer participated in the NHS, but DS got invited to two this week, other than meeting the minimum GPA requirement, he didn’t need to do anything (he didn’t even know they existed prior). We are glad he got them but really don’t believe they could add much if anything to the college apps.
D20’s list still in a little flux. She has 2 reaches, 4 matches, and 2 safeties. There are 4 additional schools I’d like her to consider, including 2 “foundation” (safer than safety, near guaranteed admission). I’m hoping 1-2 of the current 8 fall off the list (I don’t think she truly would want to go to all of them) and would like to stay at 8 or max 9 schools. She’ll EA where available and may ED to one reach or 1 match.
@ShrimpBurrito What’s current knowledge about ACT threshold for merit @ Pitt? And what’s more selective there - honors college or merit? D20 has 33 ACT, we are in-state.
@washugrad REUs are research experiences funded by the National Science Foundation. They are meant to allow students to experience different research than is being conducted on their home campus. https://www.nsf.gov/crssprgm/reu/reu_search.jsp The typical stipend is $5000 plus housing and food for about 10 weeks of research. Astrobites has good information on applying to REUs: https://astrobites.org/2013/01/05/so-you-want-to-apply-for-an-reu-heres-how/
@MuggleMom The URM reference for REUs is definitely not accurate. I think it is in the mission statement somewhere, but that was not our ds’s experience at all at his REUs. (He is not a minority and most (definitely the majority) of the other students were also not minorities.) At his REUs, he was surrounded by kids from MIT, Stanford, Notre Dame, Cornell, as well as schools like Wooster, your avg state flagships, etc. All of the kids were very high performing students. He actually met his fiancée at one of his REUs. 
@Itisatruth
I’ve been following the Pitt board off and on for a few years, as my D18 considered Pitt as well. Merit seems to start at 34 ACT, although it is certainly not guaranteed with a 34–essays really matter, too. Merit awards seem to vary from year to year and are very unpredictable. My D’s good friend got a full tuition scholarship to Pitt (and is loving it there!), but he had 36 ACT and 4.0 with full IB diploma.
It looks like Pitt is restructuring their Honors College. I really liked the less-commitment, flexible model they had, but I think it will be a tougher admit from here on out, and more of an all-in experience. I haven’t checked the Pitt board here in a few months, but I recall lots of people surprised with denials from the HC this cycle. More and more competitive. That’s the trend, right?
You all spurred me on! I printed out an old list of schools we collected last year that are ranked for poli sci and put an invite on our calendar for next Wed a college discussion, which S20 accepted. Maybe we can run some NPC’s, look at possibilities, and start a list. We live in MD and S20 is the first of 4 and, unfortunately, we are likely full pay. His scores are great, but had a rough year that the counselor will speak to. We are going to have to be fully aware of cost. He’s also thinking Econ and I think, right now, his goal is to get into UMCP. Tough call whether he will or not since his scores are great but grades are not. It tends to be a tough admit in our area.
No college talk here until after girl scout event, APs and then prom. She’s a wreck right now.
Definitely not done with the list - we’re not doing any college discussion until after AP/IB exams. She has enough on her plate!