Thanks for the ASU info @Aguadecoco. I think the party vibe was what turned off D21 in the Fiske write up.
And yes, Houston is humid in the summer! Beautiful now though. 
@inthegarden my D21 school is similarā¦ plus she plays fastpitch softball so that pretty much takes her out of commission for any spring visits.
We hit a few schools last summer as part of our travels for travel softball and vacationā¦ University of Delaware, University of Maryland, Miami University, University of San Diego and University of Washington. I am sending her down to Clemson to visit her sister for a few days so she can get more of a real feel of the school. Basically chasing merit at mid to large size schools that have good health science programs.
Intend to look at St. Louis University, Xavier Emory and Tulane (okay I had to put a reach or two with Emory and Tulane)
My S20 didnāt like ASU at all - he said it was too urban and very ugly. He also didnāt like that you probably have to take some classes downtown. But he loved Arizona and is going there next year.
D21 decided she wants to visit Montana State so we are going to go to one of their visit days in Feb. We are planning to visit Utah and Utah State over spring break, and Northern Arizona in early June.
A few years ago we drove through Morgan where Utah State is located and it is the cutest little town up in the mountains! I imagine itās pretty snowy in the winter but itās beautiful!
@AlmostThere2018 I think you mean Logan?
Yes, Logan!! Brain mess up!
@AlmostThere2018 lol, well you were pretty close! I had to check a map to see if things had changed since I was a kid - my dad was a professor at USU and my sister and I visited him every summer. He lived in an even tinier town - Smithfield - right outside of Logan and we used to play with a neighborhood girl, Jeannie, who lived on a farm. I have fuzzy memories of how odd her house was, in that it looked like a regular suburban house on a regular suburban street from the front, except it was really big, and then it had acres of āhiddenā farmland as its back yard. We would go inner-tubing in the canals, climb in her tree house and get grossed out by all the earwigs (some kind of icky bugs), and play with the kittens that always seemed to be everywhere.
Utah is still my happy place, although I havenāt gone to Northern Utah since childhood. My recurring getaway is St. George - the red rocks and sand/dirt always take my breath away. Part of me wouldnāt mind S21 attending USU or UoU on a full ride NMF scholarship just because I love the beauty of the land so much. However, I know odds are really low heād be interested as he wants to go to a school recognized for its engineering program and he isnāt really a mountain-region kind of a person.
Correction: I meant āmeritā scholarships at USU and Utah, not NMF. I had previously found indices on their websites showing full tuition plus fees, etc., covered for students with grades and test scores that meet minimum thresholds. Interestingly, I cannot seem to find the Utah index any more although I did find USUās and confirmed that for high test scores and GPAs, the Presidential scholarship will cover full tuition and fees. So not a full ride.
Utah is an amazing place! My grandmother grew up in Logan and her father was a professor there in the early 20th century ā which makes it even more embarrassing that I messed up the name. My D18 was a NMF and when driving through Logan she looked up that Utah State chart too! We were on our way to a family reunion at Bear Lake. My Dad still lives in Utah!
Btw, my S21 is also looking at engineering (or CS) so weāll have to keep tabs on progress!
Bear Lake - wow! My dad took me and my sister there every single summer! He ran a dive shop out of his basement called Mountain Divers and he took his students to Bear Lake to do their open water testing. My memory of Bear Lake is walking along the rocky shoreline and turning over rocks to find untold numbers of crawdads/crayfish. And of course the crazy back and forth switchbacks of Cache County roads to get there. Ugh - I always got sick.
@AlmostThere2018 where is your S21 looking for engineering/CS? And for your D18, I posted a question on another thread last night - do you have any insights into the tax implications of full ride scholarships? I read a NYT comment that anything above cost of tuition (e.g., Room/Board, travel, books, stipend) is taxed at a so-called āKiddie-taxā rate of 35%???
Thank you @sherimba03 , @AlmostThere2018 I just looked up Utah State University scholarship index and D would qualify for Presidential. I canāt tell you how bummed and down right sad I have been about D missing NMF as it was the only way she was going to be able to go āawayā to college. But this gives me hope that she can maybe go away and have the āfull collegeā experience. I looked up their room rate and meal plan, Extremely reasonable, cheaper than our local state school. We just may have to make a trip up there. You two have brightened my day!
@BingeWatcher Your daughter could also apply for the Regents Scholarship at UNM. It requires a separate application but it is a full ride. Depending on where you are in TX, it could be drivable or a short flight. I also know some high stats but not quite NMF kids who also have received generous merit at ASU and U of AZ. Donāt give up hope!
Thanks @mamaedefamilia We are a 5 hour drive east of Albuquerque. I will read up on it!
Our DD21 finally checked her scores from the 12/14 ACT: English: 36, Reading: 36, Science: 35, Math: 29 (Composite: 34). How excited should we be about these scores? Will the relatively low math score be a red flag? She did almost zero prep and math is her weakest subject. She wants to go into a STEM field (biology, biochemistry or animal science).
@Muad_dib Wow! Great result! Is there another way that she can demonstrate math ability like a SAT II subject test in math or a score for AP Calc?
@mamaedefamilia : Her only B grades have been in math and AP Calc looks like itās headed the same way. She will prep more for the SAT in March and weāll see where that goes.
@BingeWatcher If she is interested in a smaller campus in a smaller town and likes outdoor recreation, Northern Arizona University in Flagstaff is another school where she would likely see substantial merit. Her grades and admission to Honors would result in an automatic merit award that is close to full tuition and possibly more, given her amazing SAT score.
@BingeWatcher ā Yay! Iām sure your D will have many options based on her SAT score!
@sherimba03 ā Smiling about the Bear lake connection!
My S21 is looking mostly at big public engineering programs. Heāll finalize his list when he gets a better sense of his ACT. Heās got a 4.0 UW with a lot of rigor from top public HS, but isnāt a natural test taker. Heās doing test prep now and is hoping for 32/33 but weāll seeā¦
This is his list right now:
NC State (in state)
UNC (in state; CS only)
Virginia Tech
Wisconsin
Case Western
maybe: Lehigh, Pitt ,WPI?
If he gets at least 33+ heāll add some high reaches ā maybe Carnegie Mellon, Cornell, GT, and/or Rice.
We canāt do full pay so heād have to get some merit or need (weāre on financial aid bubble) at privates.
Regarding your tax question, my D did not end up pursuing NMF full ride options ā she chose a LAC.
@muad_dib that is a great score. Top 1% of all test takers. My D18 had a 32 on her first ACT with a 29 math score. Math was also not her strong suit as she actually dropped AP Calc to go to honors cal. That said She studied up and did practice tests and improved in every category including the math and got a 35 the second time.
@AlmostThere2018 what no Clemson loveā¦lol