I hear ya. Daughter is a strong applicant (at least by last year’s standards!) and has had a lot of disappointment so far. At times she is questioning why she took so many hard classes, stayed up late studying, poured herself into her ECs, etc. This process has been the cherry on top of an already very depressing year and I’m running out of things to say to her.
Tiny bright spot-- she got the J&J shot this morning, yay
I think the real shock in California is when strong kids are denied or waitlisted from low and middle-tier UCs. People tend to see UCSC as a super safety, and not even apply to UCR or UCM. Same with the state school - San Jose state used to be safety. Well, this year, we know strong kids that did not get into any UC, and are now scrambling. Shouldn’t be like that for in-state kids.
That was our experience too. Nearly all of the top 10% kids were completely shut out of the mid-tier UCs and higher CSUs. The kids do have some good ECs and volunteer experience and should have been competitive any other year.
The kids do feel like working so hard for 4 years should materialize with some good in-state options.
Also I would add Clemson app is test scores and grades. Optional essays but with scores and class rank I think he would be an easy admit for them. So filling out an app for them on common as is easy as can be. Obviously Clemson Not HPY, Vandy, GT, GTown, top UC schools or top LAC’s but it is a good national public university in a nice setting, good weather and obviously big time sports and school spirit vibe.
Yes, the hospitals and nursing school at Pitt are very impressive. I think her concern is that if she doesn’t spend the college $ we have for undergrad nursing, then she could use it for graduate school. We are trying to determine if the ranking and opportunities at Pitt make it worth it to spend $25k/yr there, or if it would be better to take a lower ranked BSN for free or close to free (UCF or MSU) but then have more $ available for a graduate program.
Exactly same here. My daughter says that she has been waiting for this year since kindergarten to face this disappointment.
Well isn’t it a problem to say she’s been waiting for this year since kindergarten? Something is wrong with that.
Your daughter has done great this yr and had some amazing schools to choose from. She should not be disappointed.
I feel for the juniors. Maybe they will need to apply to even more schools then we did this year. Worse this coming year because instead of volunteering with Covid or learning to bake, they have more pressure to come up with something fabulous they did somehow during the whole pandemic. Yikes.
Hi - My D21 was accepted at BMC, Smith and MH with substantial merit aid at BMC and MH, but less at Smith. She’s waiting on a few ivies/Stanford today/tomorrow (just to be completely done with the process), but I think BMC will be the winner. It will come down to being 20 minutes from Philly, with a direct flight from CA, versus Smith/MHC being more difficult to get to. She also has gotten a better vibe from the BMC chats, more “her people” and said they don’t seem to take themselves too seriously. She absolutely loves the traditions at BMC, as well as the ability to have men in her classes, in theater and chorus/acapella opportunities, while still being part of a HWC. She also loves the Quaker traditions and Honor Code, as well as opportunity to take tests where ever. She’s a city girl at heart, and worries about being so isolated in Northampton. All three schools provide great opportunities and I think she’d do well at any one of them, but alas, she can only attend one school! Good luck to everyone!
Your daughter has gotten into some fantastic schools!!! I hope she’s not disappointed?!
My D21 also is appreciating many of the same qualities of BMC that your daughter is. The more I learn about it, the more I think it would be a great choice for my D. It seems really kind and inclusive but also academically rigorous. The combination of a cozy campus with easy access to a city is hard to beat. Best of luck with the final admissions decisions!
She is so interested to go to Ivy Leagues and looks like that change is very less now. So she is upset seeing all T20s rejecting her. I am ok with her choices.
Why does it make sense that his profile should appeal differently to big publics v smaller NE privates?
I hear you. My D21 is looking at NP school after BSN so she is going to the school that gave her the most money. She liked it as well so that there was no problem there. We just went to visit for the second time last weekend and it just confirmed her commitment and we could see she was excited by her choice.
He’s into environmental / marine science hobbies and volunteering. I was just thinking that might appeal more to a large research university than a liberal arts + STEM college. I could totally be wrong about this of course. He did the research and essays but didn’t demonstrate a lot of interest. That could have been an issue for him at privates.
I received an email today that Knox College is still taking applications, has FA money, and will give an admission decision within 7 days.
Can someone who is fluent in 17-soon-to-be-18-Senior Boy please explain to me how they work?!?
Our school district has an educational foundation that awards hundreds of thousands of dollars of scholarships to Seniors each year. You fill out one application and than the foundation board chooses applicants that match the criteria for specific scholarships (all
varying amounts, anywhere from $500-$3000). Recipients get a special stole to wear at graduation, a plaque and pre-Covid were honored at a dinner banquet.
S21 got a text that he has been selected as a recipient of one these scholarships, he’ll find out Thursday which one and how much he got…great, right…he “forgot” to tell me…his exact words “oh yea, I saw the text…but then I forgot about it” I saw some social media posts from other recipients posting the text so I asked him if he had heard anything…
He forgot about it. The boy has checked out.
Same in Ireland. Study and revise with private test prep being less of an issue than in the US. There is less disparity in college admissions because your admission is based on your test score, but score thresholds are ridiculously high.
Yes, S is wrestling with the same question, weighing up applying for a cheap 1 year MPhil in the UK vs the much more expensive 2 year option in the US. A complicating factor is that doing the MPhil straight after undergrad is very typical in the UK, whereas in the US a couple of years of prior work experience is felt to be useful. We’ll see how it goes next year, winning a scholarship would definitely tilt the decision one way or the other.