We did the info sessions for Utah and Oregon State yesterday. I like how they all talk about the research opportunities and say “unlike other schools, undergraduates have a lot of opportunity to get involved in research projects, not just grad students.” But when every school says that, it’s really not “unlike other schools” 
The three sessions we did all had about 10-12 prospective students attend.
Updated transcripts and class rank was released today. S21 didn’t see any change in his rank, still sitting at 189/1096, so 17%. Solid 1Q. I’m a little bummed that this last 9 week grading period won’t be included/counted as our district is doing Pass/Fail only in light of all this quarantine business. He was on a great upward trend. Since we are on accelerated block scheduling we only have 4 classes a semester, 2 core and 2 elective. This semester his two core classes were Dual Credit US History and Pre Calc. The DC class is through the local community college, so no grade would be given until the end of the semester…he was pulling a high A in there and a low A in PreCalc (!) so we were hoping that would help inch him up in his class rank as DC courses carry the maximum weight multiplier. Oh well…it is what it is.
As of now, his GPA is 3.49 uw/4.25 weighted. That’s what we’'ll be working with. Apply Texas opens up July 1. He’s already an assured admit for UNT, UTSA, and Texas Tech so 3 solid safeties. Texas A&M will be a match hopefully as long as he hits his SAT/ACT goals this summer, I think he’ll have a good chance at full admit or Blinn Team at least. UT Austin is a reach but he’ll apply anyway.
We’re hoping his two biggest EC’s still pan out…he was selected for Boys State which is supposed to be June 7-12, as of right now they are still moving forward with it, but I guess we’ll know more in May. He’s also selected for our city’s Youth Action Council which is a teen advisory board that shadows and works with the City Council. That is supposed to be August-May. We’re really banking on the strong EC’s and a strong Essay to balance out not being in the top 10% and his lower test scores (he’s got crazy test anxiety!!!) The goal is to hit a 30 on the ACT and make it to 1300-1350 on the SAT, but I don’t know…his first SAT sitting back in November was 1120.
I hope the City programs are all back up and operating as normal by then. I serve on our City’s Planning & Zoning commission and we have switched to Zoom meetings.
Marching Band leadership auditions are also up in the air. The directors are trying to figure out a plan for video auditions. I don’t think he’ll make section leader, but he has a good chance for equipment manager.
Whatever happens will happen. He’ll do great wherever he lands. I can’t believe we’re staring down the barrel at the last year of high school!
So baseline ACT scores are in. DD got 24, pretty good considering she did not study, is now in math 3 and had not taken a math course in 18 mo prior. English and reading scores are not bad – 27-29. She has her heart set on UNC-CH. Class rank right around 15th percentile. She was hoping to get her GPA up a bit this semester but Wake County schools are looking at pass/fail. So, a total letdown for her. Not sure if it is possible to get a 6-7 point bounce on sciences with some prep work but little real school this semester. Quite frustrated.
@1dadinNC That’s disappointing. Our school still hasn’t decided how they are going to do the final grading this semester. We’re really hoping it’s not pass/fail because that’s not fair to the kids who are doing well.
Yes. I suppose everyone is having to face the same situation but perhaps they could offer the option of pass/fail or take your grade before school closed or at the end of semester. It also influences ACT prep and tests as well as internship opportunities in the summer. What a horrible situation for our kids!
We decided to be optimistic and take advantage of the low airfares and booked some trips for college visits in Sept and Oct - D wants to see Oregon State, NAU, and Utah/Utah State. Well not so much Utah but if we are going to be in the area for Utah State we should see the U as well. The flights are all on SW with points so fully refundable if we can’t make the trips. Hopefully they will all work out.
@Johnny523 I hope that does work out! It’s nice to have a plan in place.
We are still wondering what to do. For now we’re doing as many virtual visits as possible, and some of those are helpful, but it’s certainly not the same as being on campus for a visit.
We’re starting to think we may actually do some summer visits (if campuses open for visits)…we’d originally intended not to visit anywhere in the summer as we’d prefer to see places with a lot of students on campus, but if schools are having open house type events with panel discussions featuring some students in addition to the typical info sessions and tours, we figure we might do that at some priority schools. (Sort of worried that Fall may end up being busy for S21 with school and college apps and possibly SATs since he was unable to get that done in March/May/June as originally planned plus the possibility that COVID will be a problem again in Fall, so even though it’s not ideal, we may just knock a few off this summer if possible).
Hi everyone,
I introduced myself on the Class of 2021 thread, but think we fit in here as well! My S21 is a B student (unweighted, but B+ weighted). He’s got pretty good ECs (1 sport, music, leadership, part-time job, volunteer hours). He has not yet taken the SAT (he was signed up for March, which was canceled as you all know).
We live in California but he isn’t really looking to go to a UC, mainly because they would be a reach for him. We want him to stay in state for financial reasons, but if there’s a OOS private college that would take him for computer science with merit aid, we would definitely consider it!
Looks like many of you are on top of this college admissions process already, so I hope to figure things out with all your help! What a wonderful community this is! TIA
Hi @Ukares ! My S21 is a bit outside of the grade range here but we are merit seekers focused on in-state options and, obviously, private schools that would offer students like him scholarships.
We are Pennsylvania residents. I’ve already been through this process once with my S19 who had the exact same profile as his younger bro. S19 is currently a freshman at Penn State University Park. I found this counterpart thread for his year to be really helpful. Not all of us are thinking about Yale and SAT subject tests. 
S21 wants to attend my husband’s and my alma mater, Loyola University Maryland. S19 was admitted with a merit scholarship that put it in budget. So we are hopeful for S21. But we have other schools on the list, including the in-state options that are in budget without scholarships.
He hasn’t tested yet at all either. Registered for March and June SAT. Is now registered for the June ACT which I’m sure will be canceled too. The private schools on his list were test optional long before now. It’s the in-state schools that aren’t. Yet?!?!? So we’ll see happens there.
@InfiniteWaves I think Temple has a test optional option.
https://admissions.temple.edu/apply/first-year-students/temple-option
@InfiniteWaves
yeah, we aren’t considering Yale and subject tests either. Hoping to get an August SAT date. I doubt he will take the ACT, as he did well on his PSAT without prep and now he has summer to do some Khan Academy prep for the SAT. In a way it worked out for his sake that the March date was canceled because he didn’t study for it at all!
Does Loyola have legacy admit? That would be nice for s21 to be at your alma mater! I don’t know much about the school, is it a reach or a match for him?
I can’t even hope for a legacy for either of my boys since both my spouse and I went to large public universities (UF, in my case), and well, UF would be a reach for S21.
@Ukares S21 is in AP/honors English/history and “regular” math/science. His GPA is higher than the average for this thread. But he is not the type of CC student who is in all AP and dual enrollment classes with a 3.4. He has played to his strengths in order to keep his GPA up. Which is why I enjoy hanging out over in this thread.
Loyola U Maryland does not do legacy admits. It’s a match for him. And he is the type of student who would receive generous merit, as we already know because S19 did with the exact same academic profile. It’s a Jesuit school, like Loyola Marymount in CA. But its CA Jesuit counterparts would be the University of San Francisco and maybe Santa Clara. Not sure what the merit would be like at those schools.
A similar school to Loyola U MD for S21 is Saint Joseph’s in Philadelphia. He will be applying there as well. Both have been test optional for a while now.
Have you checked out the Colleges that Change Lives? S21 also has Goucher on his list. He’s into traditional campuses in/near cities.
@mommdc When it comes to our state-related schools, he’s a Pitt guy. But I am honestly thinking he should reconsider Temple because of the Temple Option. Now, if West Chester would go TO, he could skip testing altogether. The continued canceling of test registrations is causing a lot of anxiety for this kid who has yet to test for the first time.
@InfiniteWaves Thank you for the CTCL tip. I will check it out!
Actually Santa Clara is a school we are looking at for its CS program, but only if S21 can get merit, because it’s EXPENSIVE! There are other options here in CA so it’s not really on his radar right now. But it may be worth doing a tour there this summer.
Welcome @Ukares ! My daughter has a higher GPA but I like this tread better than the other one because the schools she is interested in are much less competitive.
Her top choice as of now is Northern Arizona and D just got a postcard from them that they are going test optional. But it did say that that testing can help you get more scholarship money. She wants to take the SAT anyway because she wants to beat her brother’s score Her HS said they will be doing it in-school sometime this fall, but she is hoping to take it over the summer so she can get her applications done early.
Since you are in California, you should look into WUE schools. You can get some really good deals, especially if he can qualify for merit aid. Also, if you go to a public school in Utah, you can get residency after freshman year. We’re in Colorado and our higher ed funding sucks, so most of the schools she is looking at are cheaper for her than CU and CSU. My point is that OOS aren’t always more expensive.
WUE is definitely under consideration. It is such a great program! I am frankly worried about s21 attending a California college, because every UC/CSU campus he is interested in is IMPACTED in some form or another. I have heard many stories of people not being able to get their classes.
We are looking mostly in CA due to cost, because even with WUE, OOS schools will still be more expensive and not sure what kind of merit he can get. But–and this is a big but (lol)–we gotta think about how much extra it will cost if S21 can’t get the classes he needs and has to stay another semester or year at a CA college.
I am overwhelmed at the choice of schools in the WUE. I don’t where to look really. Thanks for the Utah rec–that is a possibility! I have heard of NAU, because we actually talked to a rep from there at S21’s College Night. We are considering it too–Flagstaff is a beautiful place! Did you tour the campus?
My D21 is higher than this GPA also but isn’t going for the Yale type school either. And I get ignored on the other thread. D took SATs twice and has a decent superscore with no prep. Her plan is to study over the summer and hopefully take it in August and be done. She is just trying to bring her score up for merit purposes. We are NY and she wants to stay in state, she really likes Binghamton.
@Ukares, Welcome. I second the suggestion to take a look at CTCL. My son’s list is 80% CTCL schools. S21 is homeschooled (but not by me anymore…throughout his high school years, he’s been in what’s known as a hybrid model so he goes to the hybrid - very small school of about a dozen kids - 2 or 3 days a week for his classes, has all of his teachers and small cohort of classmates there, and then spends more time on homework than he would if he were in a more typical 5 day a week school model). I have two D23s who go to public school, so I get a feel for what the differences are in how grading works, what workload is like, etc. between what he does and what his sisters do.
S21 has fairly extreme ADHD, so keeping up with all the independent work is a challenge. He’s grown so much since 9th grade, but some things are still a struggle. His classes are, the way I see it, reasonably rigorous (no multiple choice quizzes, mostly papers to write, essay based tests, a lot of in class discussion and classes that have included reading the original works of many philosophers), but most of the classes aren’t categorized as honors -he’ll have only one AP by the end of his high school years (APUSH) and ~2 honors classes per year so the rigor on his transcript isn’t incredible. So while his GPA is higher than what is supposedly meant for this thread, as a homeschooler (so that skepticism will be applied to his GPA) with ADHD and average extracurriculars, he is definitely best matched for this thread.
He took the SAT once, last October…testing with accommodations due to slow processing speed and ADHD, he got a 1230. We were hoping he could bump it by 50-80 points but of course his tests in March and June were cancelled. Hopefully he’ll get a chance to test again - as a homeschooler with only one AP, he really needs some other data to back up his transcript, and I think an SAT score in the 1270-1320 range would reasonable accurately reflect who he is as an applicant. Even though many schools will be test optional this year, that won’t likely help S21 much because as a homeschooler with just one official AP class (and hopefully one AP test score to share - we’ll see what happens with the APUSH test next month), he’s going to need to share his SAT score for his applications.
This thread about CS at some CTCL schools may give you some starting ideas.
http://talk.qa.collegeconfidential.com/college-search-selection/2052068-computer-science-at-ctcl.html
We’ve been to visit two CTCL schools - Wooster and Denison and might be able to answer questions about them (obviously not a ton of firsthand experience). Our visits to Clark, Wheaton (MA), Beloit, Knox, and Kalamazoo for this March and May were all cancelled, of course, but we’ve done virtual info sessions at Knox and Kzoo and have them scheduled for Clark and Beloit - maybe look into some virtual info sessions/virtual Q&As ?
@nichols51 There are some other wonderful LACs here in Pennsylvania, not on the CTCL list, that are good with merit for the students of this thread. My S19 chose Penn State over Susquehanna University but it was a hard decision. We all loved Susquehanna. I can’t speak highly enough about it. They were very generous with merit.
He was also admitted to Lebanon Valley College with generous merit. And really liked Elizabethtown. For reference, he is an English/writing major.
S21 is tougher due to his location preference. We live in central PA and he doesn’t want to attend college in an area similar to where he grew up. Totally can’t blame him. But it leaves out a lot of the lovely PA LACs in small towns. He wants to be in or close to a city within two to three hours of home. Which means Philly, Baltimore/DC, and Pittsburgh.
I thought about U of Richmond, but it might be too competitive and I’m not sure he’d get the merit he’d need. But Richmond is now TO for the 21ers.
We were going to go at the end of May but had to cancel for the obvious reason. We are hoping to go in September.
Our higher ed funding is terrible so our in-state tuition is quite a bit higher than in other states, which makes the WUE schools a better deal for us.
@AndreaLynn Yes, CC is so heavily weighted towards kids applying to HSS and their parents. Good luck to your D.