I was just reading VT threads this weekend b/c it’s on my S21s list. Lot of kids reporting WL, esp. very high stats kids so I think they’re doing some yield protection. I’m sure they will be conservative b4 drawing from the list. No one wants those headlines again!
Engineering, business and some science programs are the ones that overenrolled so that’s where the WL decisions are coming in.
@AlmostThere2018 I was watching those VT threads too since that’s one of S21’s top choices. Fortunately, he’s not aiming for those overenrolled programs (wants to apply as a statistics major) but still it’s a bit concerning that they look like they are starting to yield-protect. S21’s GPA is just a bit above their median but is a great test taker so has a really high SAT. Annoying that it could actually hurt him at yield-protecting schools!
We’re going to their open house in March and I’m hoping he’ll get to spend some time with a friend’s son who is a freshman there and get a really good feel to decide if it truly is his #1 choice. Because if so, he probably should apply ED (we don’t need financial aid).
Other than that…big weekend here - S21 got his driver’s license! So weird to watch him drive off on his own.
UVM hired a new admissions director a couple of years ago and I am under the impression a serious effort is now underway to increase yield. Which probably means rejecting anyone that looks like they might be trying to use UVM as a safety. Visiting and answering that “optional” essay question may help decrease the chances of a high-stats applicant being cut. Perhaps choosing the “Why UVM” question for that optional essay would help even more (there are choices). Just speculation on my part of course.
@JanieWalker that’s good to know. When we were at Boston College, I asked the dean of admissions what the effects have been from switching from EA to ED. He said that, last year, they got 16,000 EA applications and honestly had a hard time getting through them and figuring out which kids were really interested. Of course, switching to ED has helped them with that. I understand their problem but it just throws a ton of those kids who would have been EA into RD even if they are super interested but have good reasons why they can’t use ED. It’s just impossible to know if a student how much of an advantage the EA kids really had in EA and if that same strong student who fits the school and shows interest will still get in RD. What is true, now, is that there will be fewer spots left in RD and, if a student doesn’t fill a hole they need, they are less likely to get in. It’s so frustrating.
My daughter also “has the I’m not going to school in Ohio” mantra. We have spent a lot of time there at softball tournaments so she somehow has formed some opinion of how Ohio is “uncool.” Never the less she has agreed to apply to Miami and I am planning a trip at Xaiver and UCinn. Chasing merit money and all three seem to do pretty well with it for out of state students.
Personally I have found Columbus to be pretty neat place with lots to do. The only downside is the traffic around the downtown area and the seeming never ending road construction around the city.
I was way more closed-minded than my S21 in looking at colleges, so I have a hard time criticizing him for writing off certain options categorically, but I’m delighted that he would look at schools in OH. They clearly want to attract kids from all over and offer generous merit aid. Plus, the travel is easy, people are friendly, and the cost of living is generally lower. And, 4 years goes very fast, and you don’t have to stay there forever!
+1 for spring break in Ohio! Kenyon and Denison are perfect additions to my D’s list. I sense the anti-OH bias around here as well (in both my town AND in my house), but there is so much to like about those schools on paper. Can’t wait to see them.
Can’t wait to hear if the Ohio reviews match our impressions. S19 and I thought the schools near Columbus (Kenyon and Denison) were near darling, historic towns and the drive between the two schools was so fun! Tons of beauty with pretty trees and rolling (and I mean rolling) hills. I did speed up a bit and flew over a few. S19 got some good videos. So, it did feel different than Illinois where it’s boring and flat!
@janiewalker I respect that you want to preserve the privacy of your children. Thanks for the info on UVM.
I’ve been suggesting Ohio for my NJ kid, but he doesn’t want to get on a plane. Happy to drive 7 hours south though - grrrrrr.
LOL. Not really the same thing but I have friends who say “how could you let your daughter go to school so far away?” She’s in southern CA and we live in DC/Baltimore area. These are people whose kids go to southern schools. We know several kids who go to UGA - it takes just as long for their kids to get to school (flying to Atlanta then driving to Athens) as it does for my daughter to get to her school (direct flight then a 10 min drive to campus).
My son is one of the few who doesn’t seem to think OH is a big deal. He wants to look at Dayton and Xavier. More than likely he’ll end up somewhere on the East Coast but he hasn’t discounted Ohio for some reason. While he hasn’t toured Dayton or Xavier, he did a drive by of Dayton while on a road trip to the Midwest last year with Dh. Also did a drive by of Butler and has that on his long list. My older two had no desire to look anywhere but east or west coasts (well, California).
@mamaedefamilia , it was reports of pervasive drinking I had read here and there, and another heads up from a mother who pm,d me but I really hesitate to report that as I don’t personally know if it’s any different from any other LAC. I don,t want to spread misinformation so everyone take it with a grain of salt. It was just enough to give me pause to leave it out on a short trip when we will only have time to really look at a couple of schools. If we had a little longer I’d probably visit anyway. Maybe we’ll squeeze it in or go back if we feel the need. I really feel a little irresponsible passing on something that may or may not be true. It’s mostly that I really predict that, if my D likes any of these schools it will most likely be Denison anyway and I want her to have enough time to linger there if she IS drawn to it as opposed to rushing to fit in one more school.
My D ideally wants a LAC that is well over 2000 students (Denison is, and I believe Wooster is not quite). Denison’s campus is a little roomier and gorgeous. Wooster’s looks pretty too but maybe a little less room to spread out. Also, the little town of Granville should appeal to my D
a lot. She adores Chapel Hill (where my lucky sister lives) and has been longing for something cute like that to walk to from campus. I think Denison is a very good school but not too cutthroat or intense, and I believe my bright, capable D would fit in there academically while having time to nurture her more moderate personality. Also, if we find that the commitment to diversity is genuine there she might do well as an Asian-American applicant and student. I also like how close Denison is to Columbus for internships, etc., or maybe occasional visits to cultural events or maybe Ohio State events if she want to see what that’s like.
She has lived in a small town in a pretty isolated area all her life so proximity to a larger city (without having to live in it) would be nice.
ACT score reports coming out tomorrow! We’re curious and excited but really not stressed because we’re still regarding the SAT as D’s most likely test to end up with. She felt that she probably did about the same on the non-math sections. Though she was able to finish everything in time, she felt that ACT Math was harder for her than SAT math even though it’s reputed to be more straightforward. So she’s not expecting better results for the ACT than her current SAT. That’,s O.K as it was just a trial thing to see which test she likes better. The clarity will be a gift either way so she can focus and move forward. I know a lot of you are also waiting!
Kinda surprised at the dislike for Ohio, since I live in Ohio. That said, I get it. D16 is in college in Massachusetts, and S21 wants to go anywhere outside of Ohio. I have spent a fair amount of time on the campuses of Kenyon, Denison, and Wooster - and like all of them very much. S21 has attended a lot of tennis camps at each of these campuses and could not picture himself at any of the campuses, which is a shame.
Speaking of ACT scores, anyone know if they are they posted after midnight, or can I just wait to check in the morning?! ?
No idea! I did wait up for D’s SAT scores but they didn’t come out until morning.
The ACT site says they come out on a rolling basis and an email will be sent when scores are available.
@carlson2 , I feel the same! I transferred to Miami U after living in the south all my life and it felt terribly exotic and special to me, lol. I didn’t distinguish the Midwest from the NE in my mind, really, I was just thrilled to be going NORTH! The weather cooperated to fulfill my fantasies…record snows that year and I was over the moon trudging through knee-high white stuff my first semester (so much snow it often wasn’t,t cleared ). It was a magical time and place. Didn’t hurt that I got a super-friendly roommate and my very first boyfriend in the dorm next door…and the whole hall of girls was like an endless slumber party. Miami is a very Greek school but I was so happily placed I found I didn’t need that. The stars aligned?
@inthegarden That’s funny - when my D17 applied, Denison had the reputation of being more of a party school than Wooster! I can’t say if that’s true or not. We did get the sense that Denison was a bit more sporty/preppy/politically moderate, slightly more competitive for admissions, and was a bit more diverse. Wooster at the time still drew largely from OH and neighboring states, although that may have changed.
Granville is undeniably a very cute town - it had a New England vibe to me. Wooster, on the other hand felt more like a small city that had fallen on some hard times but was recovering. The revitalized downtown was nice but at a bit of a remove from the Wooster campus as compared to Denison/Granville. We also felt like Columbus was reasonably close to Denison and Kenyon but Wooster did not feel particularly convenient to either Cleveland or Columbus. I think Akron was the closest airport.
Good luck to all of the ACT takers!
@mamedefamilia, my D LOVED the quaintness of Maine when we visited in summer so a cute New England vibe in Granville would be nothing but a plus. We already live in a “seen-better-times” kind of town so the town of Wooster likely wouldn’t, be any kind of a draw in comparison.She would definitely like prettiness over ” realness” or grittiness in her surroundings. She identifies as liberal/progressive but in the scheme of things is fairly moderate herself (is honestly taken aback and a little afraid of heavy SJW activity at this point in her life so something like Oberlin would be definitely too much) and likes to dress kind of preppy-lite, lol. I mean, she was thrilled when I found her a Vinyard Vines pullover at our local TJ Max?
Our community is so very conservative overall I think any moderate LAC will feel refreshingly progressive to her in contrast. Unless Denison turns out to be a huge party school after all or the Ohio bias proves stronger than I think it is, I think
Denison will become a strong contender in her mind. Can’t wait to find out.