We all have our challeges with our HS and GC situations regardless of whether you are in a poor inner city school or a small private one. As I have shared before, one of the big ones I deal with is that we have 4 counselors for 1600 students, and they cover all aspects of counseling, not just college. So 10% of their time is spent on college, and 90% of that is getting kids to consider community college or maybe the local directional. A handful of kids (probably less than 10 based on what I have seen and what my kids tell me) apply to selective schools every year, and they are pretty much on their own.
D21 had her first (and only) meeting to discuss post-graduation plans with her GC this week. Actually the only meeting with the GC she has had or will have in HS. GC told her that she was incorrect in understanding how EA works, and she could not apply EA/ED to more than one school. D explained that EA was different that ED. GC was pretty sure D was wrong, but said she would double-check. Iām hoping she actually does and I donāt have to get involved.
I did a Richmond virtual admissions session today (visited with D19 two years ago) and didnāt realize how affluent it is thereā¦only 39% of the 3,200 undergrads receive need-based aid. That is less than some of the NESCAC schools that are widely perceived to be very affluent. Surprising.
(Note that 61% of the students are not necessarily full pay when you take into account merit and athletic scholarships that sometimes go to those who have no financial need).
Quick question ā if applying to a college test optional, should the applicant mention in the Additional Info section info about cancelled tests? I assume not, but just wanted to check.
I just looked at our HSās Naviance for UNC-Chapel Hill and see that last year 43 applied from our school and none got in. Year before 47 apps/5 accepted. I donāt know if thereās an issue with our data ā thatās the only year that shows any acceptances. This year already 28 have it on their app list.
@3SailAway i see that you have mentioned that all 7 students that have gotten acceptances at UNC applied EA. How do u find that out? Is there any way in Naviance we can get that info if students got in thro EA or regular?
@JESmom same scenario for our school Naviance too for UNC. It just lists the number of students applied each year but only for 2019 it lists the students accepted. For rest of the other years , doesnāt say any info on acceptances , I think itās a glitch? Considering yours display the same too ?
Whoever (usually college/guidance counseling dept) is loading Naviance would have to load that type of detailā¦our school does not load round of admission detail. Definitely limits Navianceās usefulness!
You can see where this yearās seniors are applying? We canāt see that. Iād love to see that! The closest we get to good info is when D goes to virtual visits with AOs for her high school and she can see who is on the call. That doesnāt likely include everyone applying but gives her a sense of who in her class is interested in that school.
We can see if there are current year applications to a particular college from our school if we click on that collegeās information in Naviance. Itās just not clear if the application has already been submitted or not.
@dadof4kids I think you will have to get involved.
Our Naviance shows applications that have been submitted for this cycle when you look at scattergrams for any school.
Question regarding financial aid forms: if a student will be full-pay, is there any reason to fill out/submit FAFSA or any other forms related to finances?
I think Naviance is showing the number of students who have put the college in their ācolleges Iām applying toā list, not that the apps have already been submitted. Naviance doesnāt necessarily track app submission unless the student manually indicates such in their Naviance account.
I canāt believe I never thought about this before. Both Naviance and Common App give colleges a decent estimate of how many RD apps they can expect, and from exactly which high schools. Theyāll already have a pretty good idea of RD numbers as they make their ED/EA decisions. Thereās probably an algorithm extrapolating from weekly updates or something. (Not that this affects anything; I just find it interesting. Not to mention a little adrenaline-producing, to see how many are planning to apply to certain colleges vs last year, which ones may be more or less popular.)
@homerdog I may be remembering wrong but I thought yours did? Weāre referring to the purple bars, the one for 2021. (There needs to be a minimum number before it shows up. Check a college that would have very many apps from your high school to see if a bar for 2021 is there)
Some colleges require it even for merit. I wrote the financial aid offices of each college D21 is applying to, and each said they do NOT need the FAFSA or the CSS Profile for merit aid, so Iām off the hook (my D21 is a full pay student too). YMMV though, so check with the colleges.
We were surprised that one of the LACās on Dās list does require the FAFSA. Itās to verify information for a flagship tuition match program they have (Not for merit). Definitely worth a few calls/emails to confirm either way.
Just catching up. Re, Richmond, they do have a shuttle still running to Careytown. Lots of kids there have cars (parking isnāt an issue), and our S, who doesnāt, never has a ride problem. Iām happy to answer questions on Richmond via pm. I really love the school!
I checked out scoir and hardly anyone gets into UNC-CH from our school either. Years ago I think I heard itās much easier to transfer in because they donāt have the instate quota issue.
Thanks for your amazing reviews @momtogkc! H is taking S to see Duke next weekend.
I have a question. Should S submit both his SAT and ACT scores? His SAT is 1520 from last Dec, with 800m/720Erw, ACT is 35 composite from July, but with only 34 math. (Heās applying engineering). My thinking is yes, because it shows he can get a high math score. And, this could be wrong, but I always think top schools like seeing both. Heās going to send 2 subject scores too, M800, Physics770. I know this year scores wonāt matter as much, but if he does apply to Duke, we already know 3 ED kids, and theyāre just from our kidsā small circle, so itās possible many more are applying ED as well! (So weird bc this hasnāt been the case in any other yr). Thanks!
