Ok, back to our original exchanges, this got me thinking. I just went and pulled my daughters applications and my sons. They applied for financial aid, he did not click the box unless it was a school that didn’t take the CSS. So here is what I noticed.
In the school specific part of the Common App - generally the last few pages of the application, near the essays, that is where you find the Financial Aid questions. It appears that schools that are need blind, block out the question altogether. So for instance, UNC is need-blind. You won’t find that question anywhere on that part of your common app print out for UNC. But a school like Michigan which is not need-blind, you will see the question asking if you’re applying for financial aid so for my twins it was yes, and my son it says no. For schools that are need blind, I believe you apply directly to the Department of Financial Aid which is why the AO’s never see that you’re applying for it. Some schools ask if you’re applying for merit scholarships, like Purdue.
Obviously there are schools that can guess if you are applying for financial aid, or if you would be taking loans out even if they didn’t give you any and you were accepted, for example if you had a sibling already attending. They know that the money is probably not going to be an issue. Either you have it, or you’re willing to get the loan if you don’t qualify for financial aid, and if you live far, you’re willing to travel. I have heard the travel is a factor AO’s are taking into consideration this year. It stinks for some kids when they really want to go somewhere, but as in the past, a phone call may not hurt.
Yes, that’s in the demographic information. But unless a college looks at that specifically they don’t know if you have a sibling attending. Some schools ask in their school specific questions, some only ask about a parent. In my son’s essay where his sister attends he wrote a one liner about her being a student there as well.
@JESmom Since VT started the mini essays a few years ago I’ve thought the prompts were terrible. They are superficial and a couple of them are poorly written. I really hoped they would fix those this year, but alas they haven’t changed.
Hm. Boston College is need blind. So is Davidson. And that financial aid question towards the end of the Common App that was sent to each of them shows D checked no.
He has not visited CalTech yet but we will definitely go if he is accepted, although I am not convinced it is necessary. We have relatives that live about an hour away so it will be convenient to see the school and them. We have traveled a lot and I am not from the US, I know there are many posts on CC where kids do not want to go to the South or X but from our point of view there are not that many differences as there are similarities. I do not mean that in a bad way at all, just it is interesting.
Did the kid who retook the classes think he was repeating material or the classes were very challenging? If a kid took Multivariable in HS but retakes it at some of the top schools, is it 90% the same or do they go much deeper? Presumably this kid your son knows would have had to retake classes at most colleges?
DS has no hooks so even though we think he is a very strong candidate, we are under no illusions about acceptances. Admissions from his HS were crazy last year and while the HS does very well with acceptances to top schools it is hard to understand much of it.
FWIW, my D18 took MV Calc in HS and got an A. Michigan had her retake the class. The class was much harder (math tests are notoriously brutal) at the college level and Michigan (and I’m sure public schools like Cal & UCLA too) spreads their final grades out where those top HS students receive A’s, B’s, C’s and lower.
I think this demonstrates that what is sent to them may not be what the AOs are looking at when they review a file. The FA question is asked for a reason (something about the admission file being matched up to FA at the end). The PDF shows at least some of what was sent to the college, but not what happens to that data once it gets there.
(Sorry I think it’s better if I quote next time. I’m just noticing that the person replied to is in gray at the upper right…)
We did the same with one email for college stuff that I can access too. I didn’t think about adding portal log-ins to the spreadsheet. I was trying to be a little hand’s off, but given that my previously relatively diligent son already has a mean case of senioritis, it would be a good idea if I could check schools too.
@kartaqueen S19 took MV as a class in high school. Bowdoin had him take a placement test and he placed out of it. Wouldn’t let him retake it even though he thought that was what he was planning. They told him he had to start in Linear Algebra. His friends at Vandy, Wash U and Cornell were told they had the choice and could repeat or not.
@kartaqueen At Caltech every student is in the tippy top for math and physics, so it’s rare (5-10%) place out of “freshmen math”. Everyone takes a placement test and is put in the right class. There are different levels of the first year math too, so everyone ends up where they will thrive. The students that opt out of math free up a slot for an elective which is almost always an academic class not related to their major that they are interested in.
Caltech’s campus is beautiful. We were surprised by how lovely it is. We expected something serious where everything had a purpose, but it’s very park like. I think the only negative is the size (950 undergrads) and the housing system. Also, if a student doesn’t like the collaborative system that would be a problem, but I think that’s a big part of their holistic admissions.
To any parent of a STEM kid, I’d strongly suggest repeating their highest year of math when they get to college. College math is a whole nother level and if they get behind it’s near impossible to catch back up.
I think it’s smart to assume everything on application matters when they’re making a decision. It might be a big deal (GPA) or it might be a small thing (FA), but they wouldn’t bother to ask if they didn’t consider it.
What’s CSS and is that different from FAFSA? My husband filled out FAFSA. Our annual contribution estimate is a joke. I know we are fortunate to have saved and invested but its not like I can liquidate my retirement savings. I’ve not done anything with the FAFSA email. S21 applied ED for Brown and I didn’t want to piss off the AO by saying we will apply for aid. The net price calculator says we shouldn’t get any but part of me wonders if we should click in yes for FA in case we qualify for anything.
@AlwaysMoving I 100% agree with you. I’m a chem engr and even with AP, I retook calculus. I 5o,d my kids to take AP because it looks good on apps, but assume they will just skip humanities and social sciences. Retake all the math and hard sciences in college. They’d get better instructions in college anyway. Our AP chem teacher isn’t great. I would want my kid to retake chem for sure.
We have no doubt that there are quite a few colleges where he would be challenged in most every math class they offer. The issue is gaining acceptance to one of those institutions.
My concern is if he is not admitted to one of the top colleges/universities and then trying to ensure he is adequately challenged. I am not a math person so I have no idea but I know I do not want to pay for him to retake a class if he knows 90% of it already. We have looked at a few colleges and it would appear there is a process to determine if you can place out but it is not that clear always. It seems he will need to look into this once he has a better idea of which schools he is most interested in attending that have accepted him.
Most of those schools grant credit for AP Calc BC, etc but not for Linear Algebra, Multivariable, etc. taken during HS. No one wants him to place out of something he has not “mastered” but as I mentioned, not too keen on repeating either. I am sure there must be many in this position?
Hi. Yes they are different. Some schools use their own enhanced version of the FAFSA. It may include other assets including home equity. Some feel you could essentially bury your outside savings into your home and a similarly situated family maybe saving for college with the same exact resources. One may receive aid and the other would not. It’s not popular but schools with a large pool of candidates may use it.
I don’t know where your S is applying but at many schools (especially private ones) you don’t get credit for math APs or higher level math. You just might get the option to place higher. S19 didn’t get any credit for BC Calc (5) or MV. Was just moved up to start in LA. He’s a math (and physics ) major.
Did you run Brown’s net price calculator? That will give you a sense for your COA, and whether you would have qualified for any need-based aid (the only type of FA at Brown). https://npc.collegeboard.org/app/brown
It’s too late to apply for FA at Brown now, as an ED applicant. FWIW they require the CSS Profile in addition to FAFSA. CSS Profile takes a more in-depth look at a family’s financial picture as compared to FAFSA.
We added the logins because it was a pain to go back and search for the login link, so we added that in the spreadsheet with the username and pw. Those all have auto log in anyway but it was more about having the link in the spreadsheet since there is so much crap to keep track of.