Parents of the HS Class of 2021 (Part 2)

I believe that schools have a pretty good idea who is low income even without FA docs by other indicators in the app.

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Hi.
I would like to know if anyone is familiar with Pace Commercial Dance Program. My D has been put on the waiting list. Does Pace notify you whether or not you were accepted? For those who were accepted, is there a deadline they need to commit by?
Thanks for any info you can share.

I donā€™t think so. I know someone who just now was accepted to an elite school, lives in BH, attends a private school and is a First Generation. They also intentionally didnā€™t apply for financial aid until after they were accepted to any school because they didnā€™t want that to hurt their chances at being accepted if a school was need-blind vs. need aware. The kid was accepted to every school. So are you telling me from his application the college knew that kid was low income? No way!

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I think in the majority of cases yes, they can tell.

If there is a wealthy student at a low income school, they may assume the student is low income, or the other way around, but usually public schools are pretty segregated based on income.

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Also the common app ask parents job title, I wonder why?

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Profession is all optional information. And first generation parents didnā€™t go to college so that information is all blank. By definition of what qualifies I can actually qualify for medicaid, but I am not low income. So no, they actually cannot tell anything from the application. I know plenty of millionaires who have received financial aid also because they have had good asset protection, whether right or wrong. The system is screwed up is the problem, but trust me, for many applicants there is absolutely no way they can tell in many cases.

Also, my son attends a public school in an affluent area and it is in no way segregated by income. We are one of the best ranked public schools in our state and we actually have many kids that have food insecurity and a few that are actually homeless but no one knows who they are because the school does such a good job at making sure theyā€™re protected. But theyā€™re there.

I hear you. But itā€™s almost impossible to craft a loophole-proof policy given the messiness of real life (or we wouldnā€™t have so many tax loopholes for the 1% to take advantage of). I could be wrong, but I donā€™t think there are enough situations like your Sā€™s where his kids can potentially claim ā€œFirst genā€ to be of much concern.

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Over at Reddit, thereā€™s been several reports of this, not just at UT. But I really canā€™t think of a way something like race can be ā€œauditedā€ā€¦

Well, it can start with going back to the high school records and see what is marked on that if anything and if it is suspect. Also, I canā€™t recall offhand if race is on a childā€™s birth certificate, but there could very well be a way to audit in some fashion short of giving a blood test which would be a violation of someoneā€™s rights, but there are definite problems will people lying, but then again, there are cheaters all over the place. Eventually they get caught and it will bite them in the ass.

Oh thatā€™s true ā€“ the track record. I hadnā€™t thought of that. Thank you.

Itā€™s a shame though if thereā€™s enough abuse and colleges start to get rid of race-based admissions. I guess the UCs are there already. But itā€™s a shame. Representation is so important IMO.

Question for you- how is it possible to apply for financial aid after you are accepted? Am I missing something?

Not missing anything. It all depends on the schools deadlines. Some schools had deadlines into late March if not later so while Fafsa opens in October that doesnā€™t mean you have to apply then. Of course in some cases it could also be that the money available may dry up before then too.

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Thatā€™s because some people born in Mexico are decentants of Spaniards - the people who conquered and colonized Central and South America, including Mexico.

Very different feel at both. S18 is at Brandeis and loves it. More of a suburban campus. We are not Jewish and that is not an issue. There is a vibrant Jewish community but the overall feel is that students are very accepting of all. BU is more urban and bigger. It has a great reputation and is probably a bit harder to get into especially in fall term. We know a lot who got in only for midyear program in S18s year.

Feel free to PM me with specific questions.

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I read through the posts every day and am cheering folks on too, though every time I check in there are a zillion additional updates, lol. This is indeed a great group of parents!

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My D was also admitted with merit from both Bryn Mawr and Smith. While not being able to visit makes the choice more difficult, there is no bad choice, and the similarities between the two schools probably outweigh their differences. Either provides access to a larger consortium, a woman-centered educational philosophy, great alumnae networks, and the kind of individualized attention that LACs offer. Both are selective schools. We are very fortunate!

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Proud of myself this morning, the final-choice comparison spreadsheet. Added categories detailing the core course requirements for each and flexibility of major/school changing - I think these can be important factors for some situations. I think only one of the four has a foreign language proficiency requirement. Copied over the enrolled student score ranges from my other spreadsheet. Social vibe differences are harder to describe in words. Three of the four happen to have D1 football, one does notā€¦ lol. Two cold, two warm.

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If things are really close between the top contenders, you can also do deeper dives into clubs/activities, quality of the food (niche has some good food rankings), ease of travel to/from campus, etcā€¦ and then start having your student hang out on the accepted student social media pages. That can help with vibe.

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Iā€™d like to hear more about what people are putting on their spreadsheets.

We havenā€™t really dug in yet but already we have some issues with prestige / job placement vs. lifestyle / vibe. The men in my family including S21 definitely more looking at the former, but Iā€™m equally interested in the latter.

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@evergreen5 S21 and his friends are doing this. I love your list. I never thought school spirit would matter. Maybe it wonā€™t for them but I think I took for granted this. We loved our football games and all the D1 sports at the UW. But the two schools right now that S21 is debating on donā€™t have football teams. I also found this for you to add to your comp list.

https://www.usnews.com/best-colleges/compare?xwalk_id=110653&xwalk_id=110680&xwalk_id=110635

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