Yes, it’s a great piece.
To me, it’s unconscionable that College Board…with its long history of non-transparency, poor study and test designs, frequent data manipulation, and sometimes erroneous data interpretation…is so influential in the college admissions industry.
I do think it’s interesting about the significant score drops on the PSAT this year and the percentage of juniors who scored at or about 1400. I think the number of juniors scoring in that range this year was a little more than 51,000 and last year, it was more than 70k. On the bright side, commended status goes to the top 50k juniors, so most of those who scored 1400+ will at least be commended. Then, the semifinalists are usually narrowed down to the top 16000 or so. So, if your kid scored 1400+ on the test, the odds of making semifinalist are a little better this year than last, at least, depending on your state.
@AlmostThere2018 that story about your son forgetting to turn in the assignment…ouch. Hope he’s able to put it in perspective, but it’s tough, I know - so many of these kids work so hard.
Tks @nichols51 !! I appreciate your comment.
He bounced back yesterday. Good to see some resiliency kick in – that’s a good life skill. I asked a couple questions about whether he heard anything from his teacher, and he didn’t want to discuss. That’s okay; as long as he’s mentally moving forward in positive way, I don’t need to know the specifics of any follow ups.
Last night he came down and watched the Super Bowl with us while working on an English paper. He was in a good mood. That’s what matters to me! 
Interesting to hear the overall consensus that PSAT was more difficult this fall. That is certainly consistent with my D experience. She got a 1390 on PSAT 10; Then 1360 on PSAT and then got 1450 on SAT
@burghdad yeah something’s not right there. Supposedly the PSAT they take as juniors should be close to the score they get on the SAT as juniors. Great score on the SAT! Remind us again where your D is looking!
@homerdog chasing merit at schools with a range of 6000-30000 undergrads. Thinking right now is she wants a BS in nursing with looking to go to grad school for nurse Practioner. Her having this kind of major focus is the exact opposite of D18 who applied to colleges as undecided.
So right now thinking about Clemson (she is going to spend a weekend with her sister at end of February so I will be interested to see what she thinks after that) Udel, Miami of Ohio, Saint Louis University, Xavier, UK…If she decides against nursing then University of San Diego and Tulane would be in play. Although Tulane is moving more to need bases aid and take about 50% or more of their class with ED which we would not do as we need to have merit money to make it make sense.
@burghdad How did USD get on the list? Have you visited? Looks like a beautiful place. And, yeah, Tulane is such a puzzle. EA resulted in so many deferrals this year. I saw one student on CC who flew down there to visit in November just to make sure they knew he was serious and he did get accepted but ugh. I do not like the games. Why have EA if the school is going to protect yield? Just get rid of it and offer ED.
As to USD we were there for a vacation last summer. It is absolutely beautiful and does give merit money. It was the only place were my D actually took pictures and seemed ver engaged.
Yes the Tulane thing is somewhat silly. I am going to a conference next week so I am going to take a look around do a tour and see what all the buzz is about.
@homerdog Tulane does an ED1 and ED2 and EA. I saw the thread on CC about the kid who went on a visit to show interest. The really manipulative thing is deferring the EA applicant and then recommending that the change from the deferral to ED2.
@burghdad Report back on Tulane! It’s so hard for us to justify flying to New Orleans to see one school. I think it will only come into play for D if we don’t hit upon another school she wants to ED to. If she ends up all EA and RD and really wants to consider Tulane then I think we’d have to head down. So crazy! I have an email into our GC, too, to see if she will share how Tulane EA went with kids who applied from our high school.
I just read Art’s blog. I didn’t know that the October 2019 PSAT had a harsh curve. I thought my 2021 did fairly well, especially in comparison to the test taken sophomore year. Thanks for the reference here.
@burghdad wrote:
I know you are a Clemson family, and not new to college admissions, but make sure to get the details on any direct admit nursing program and admissions rates…these rates can be much lower than the school’s average admissions rate, and the admitted students often have higher than average stats.
I just visited Clemson in November, and the nursing program was a hot topic with our group of counselors. Nursing is one of Clemson’s most competitive majors taking only 176 students/year. And part of those ultimately do clinicals at the Greenville campus.
They didn’t tell us what the nursing admissions rate was, but said it was lower than engineering and CS (both of which are around Clemson’s overall admissions rate!). Here it the nursing info:
https://www.clemson.edu/cbshs/departments/nursing/students/prospective-students/prospective-freshmen.html
Please, let me know what you think! I need an outsider’s opinion. My daughter and I watched a couple of videos yesterday (recent campus/dorm tour and day in the life stuff) and it looks like they have so many new buildings and have renamed all the old ones: so much so that I barely recognized campus. Of course I also got a postcard reminding me it’s my 25th reunion year, so there’s that LOL.
Anyway, my daughter liked the videos and seemed to be really intrigued by the nearness of Audobon Park and Zoo (the guy we were watching volunteers at the zoo - that caught her it attention really quickly and she said - I want to do that!)
@3kids2dogs ha! I watched that video too! How great to ride your bike in the nice warm weather to go work at the zoo…especially for these kids growing up in cold winters!
@Momof3B I’ve heard that three attempts are the magic number, but it depends on the student and when they start testing. My son, who is a Sophomore in college, ended up taking it four times. The first time was to get his feet wet. He got a 28, then a 29, and a 29 again. He decided to switch his study strategy for the last test and ended up with a 32. My D21 also chose that approach and took it in October even though she was nowhere near ready for it but wanted to try. She’s hoping that four will be the magic number for her too. Good luck!
Hi Everyone. I am a new poster here. I have an S21 but I am posting because my D17 is at Tulane, a topic of conversation. She got in EA with great merit without visiting, but Tulane has received so many more ED applications in the last few years that she might not get in EA if she applied today. That said, I believe Tulane understands if families can’t visit in person. You can go to an admissions event in your area, email your rep, or do many other things to show interest. Most importantly, you have to write a compelling “Why Tulane” essay, Meanwhile, I don’t blame Tulane for encouraging EA applicants to change to ED. With more and more high stats kids applying to 10, 20 or even 30 schools, Tulane wants to be seen as more than just a safety. And guess what: they are making that happen. (Also, the campus is great, there is so much to do in the area, and Audubon Park, which really is just across the street, is absolutely beautiful. Confession, though: my husband and I have always loved New Orleans, so we are biased).
@Mwfan1921 Yes all the school I listed have more difficult admissions for BS nursing than the general population as they are restricted majors with very limited slots each year.
Argh!! We have yet to do a formal college visit. Had to cancel last Friday when S21 got a concussion Thursday night (mild, but brain rest for a few days. Not convinced a college visit would tax anyone’s brain.)
Then last night my husband decided that poor S21 needed a fun trip over spring break (as opposed to a dull college visits trip) because S19 is doing a fun trip over his college spring break. Forget the fact that S19 spent his junior year on college trips, not Disney trips.
Can you sense who in the family manages the whole college app process?
@sammijo i told my daughter she can apply to a school that we don’t visit before hand. I told her if she gets accepted and it’s a contender then we will go look.