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How is everybody doing?
D22 is back from camp. Had a great experience and got to live in a dorm for a week. I think it did get her thinking more about college and I think she will be more receptive to talking about the Common App, etc.
Only 3 more weeks until she starts back at high school as a senior! Their first day is August 19th. They start early at her school, but usually end the year around Memorial Day.
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So glad your D had a good experience!
We have made progress over here, sheâs got her list honed to just 6, and one of those apps is complete and submitted! 
Though in fairness, that school is not her favorite and I think she just applied because they lured her with a âfree, no essayâ app. Which turned out to be an app with like 3-4 short answer questions that were ârecommended but optionalâ 
I have no idea whatâs going to come of that app, but I guess it got the ball rolling? Sheâs got the basics filled out on the common app, and her apply Texas app as well. Weâre just a bit in limbo waiting to see what classes she ends up with for the fall so we can fill out those portions. She gets her schedule next week, while we are on vacation. And, we have you beat for early start! She starts back Aug 12! I canât believe itâs come so quick! She does get out a full week before memorial day, but it almost feels like summer just started.
As far as I know she has not written a word of any essay (aside from the aforementioned short answers), but she did tell me sheâd looked at the prompts and knows what sheâs going to write about. So I figure thatâs progress.
The most âteenager logicâ thing she told me, when she told me which schools she would apply to, was that visiting Hendrix definitely helped, and she thinks actually visiting the schools helps a lot, but she doesnât need to visit any more and can make her decision with virtual visits. ?? 
?? She also knocked schools off the list because I âhadnât talked about them muchâ 
So apparently, me trying to not overwhelm her and talk about these schools all the time, has led to some good schools just getting the boot. 
But, in all honesty, Iâm not mad, at the end of the day, she can only go to one, we crafted her list such that she should be accepted to most all of her schools, so I guess this makes the end point a bit simpler? And her favs are the ones that are mostly my favs for her so itâs all good. It was just a - so youâre telling me I should have been more annoying about this stuff? - moment 
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Congrats @1822mom. Sounds like progress is being made at your house. I love that âteenager logicâ. I think I am driving D22 crazy talking about college, but at the same time sheâs not researching that much on her own so I feel like I have to do some of it. Itâs great that her faves and your faves match up!
We are having some angst over high school issues here. They are building a new building and are having issues with the timeline. Itâs got D22 and many of her classmates all upset. Hopefully they will work it out to everyoneâs satisfaction, but emotions are running high right now!
Hey, does anyone have any suggestions for Open Curriculum or less restrictive curriculum schools that work for kids in our GPA range? D22 really could be super happy if she never had to take another math class in her life. Iâve got Warren-Wilson on our list to check out, but Iâm not sure itâs a great fit for her. Asheville is great, but WW is not that close.
Her ideal school would be
- affordable (weâre in the doughnut hole and wonât qualify for need-based aid)
- not make her take math
- excellent creative writing program
- walkable to shops like bubble tea and vintage clothes, etc
- have a good study abroad program, preferably in London or elsewhere in the UK.
She is still interested in doing her complete undergrad in the UK, too, but COVID logistics have made it tricky to travel. I also have reservations about her being homesick, etc, but Iâm trying to let that go so I donât hold her back from what could be a great experience. Momâs always have those âwhat ifâ and âbe carefulâ glasses on, yâknow?
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Look at Wheaton in MA.
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A lot of schools that are not Open Curriculum have very low math requirements for certain majors. For instance, Political Science has virtually no math requirement at many schools. Here are a few examples.
UNC Chapel Hill: A single Quantitative Reasoning class is the only math requirement for PolySci. These QR classes include less math-intensive options like âMath Art & The Human Experienceâ or as challenging as âApplied Econometric Analysisâ.
George Washington U: The BS PolySci programs requires âsix courses in statistics, mathematics and computer scienceâ but the BA PolySci program lists no such requirements.
UMiami: The BA PolySci requires one actual math class (PreCalculus which reads like Trigonometry) and two/three clases that what UM calls Stem Cognate classes. Basically math-light classes like âLogic & Reasoningâ and âBiology for the Non-Scientistâ.
I chose colleges ranked higher than most kids in this thread will apply to to prove the point that even at higher ranked universities, there are majors that wonât require strenuous math classes for the math averse.
Examples of lower ranked colleges math requirements for PolySci includeâŠ
George Mason: A single Quantitative Reasoning class is required for the BA PolySci. This could be as math-lite as âIntroduction to Social Network Analysisâ to the level of âMathematics for Elementary School Teachersâ (basic math up to introduction to Algebra and Geometry) or as strenuous as âCalculusâ.
Temple U: The sample Course Plan for a BA PolySci includes a single Quantitative Reasoning class called âQuantitative Literacyâ which is very math lite.
Itâs not difficult to find majors that donât require difficult math majors, at just about any university. The important thing is for your child (and maybe you) to carefully review the requirements before choosing a major. Iâm sure many schools has similarly light math requirements, if any math, for Creative Writing majors.
Thanks EconPop. We have looked at the math requirements for the schools she is already has on her list but I was interested in hearing about schools with Open Curriculums. I think she would really like that where there are no required classes or maybe just a freshman seminar or something.
I know Amherst and Brown are not her thing (if she could get in they are probably too high stress for her) but was wondering if there are some more B-B+ schools that also do an Open Curriculum. I think that might really interest her.
Also, UNC CH does have Gen Ed requirements but looking through the Gen Ed catalog you linked (Undergraduate Degree Requirements < University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill) I do not see âMath Art & The Human Experienceâ on the list. Where did you find that? Maybe itâs an additional requirement for a Poli Sci I major? I would think they would need stats at least, but thatâs irrelevant for her because sheâs definitely looking at a Creative Writing or English major right now. Maybe I overlooked it or maybe they have updated the list?
Iâm a Tar Heel born and a Tar Heel Bred myself (though I ainât a Tar Heel dead yet) and when I was at UNC we had two maths as Gen Ed requirements. I took the âPhilosophy of Logicâ for one of my math requirements, which I see listed now as âTruth and Proof: Introduction to Mathematical Logicâ (Phil 155). Just looking to avoid even that.
The Open Curriculum seems like it could be very appealing to her.
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Thanks for the tip on Wheaton, @taverngirl . I will show it to her.
Understood, but that may be tough to find/accomplish 
I really understand. Unless she miraculously climbs the math charts, my D24 will be similar. She and I are already plotting majors with the absolute minimum math requirements.
BTW, I just read âEducatedâ by Tara Westover. Tara gave me hope going from her no-math youth to cramming for the ACT in a year and improving greatly. She didnât major in STEM, but she scored a 27-28 and got into her college of choice.
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She is just tired of being told what classes to take. Sheâs okay in math, but she really doesnât like it. Thatâs why I am intrigued by an Open Curriculum college. I just realized what âOpen Curriculumâ is recently :doh â students get to take whatever they want. I was just buzzing past it and relying on my experience with Gen Ed requirements.
Wheaton College MA that Taverngirl seems like a possibility: https://wheatoncollege.edu/academics/the-wheaton-curriculum/compass/ Not sure how D22 feels about MA, though.
Wondering if there are any other Open Curriculum schools out there for the B student?
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I donât know of any others. My D wanted open curriculum (ended up at URochester though has transferred out) but we didnât find many.
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Really impressed with the cooperative vibe on this thread. Iâve got a thread out in the âopen watersâ and there is a lot of aggression out there towards me and sometimes toward my 3.7 uw son who is really kind of a B student with some good study skills, mathiness, and aversion to reading. I share a little about his challenges in a frank way, and boy do they run with it. I mean the sharky types. I got a ton of help from others.
Just read this whole thread. Nice!
Got a S22 and D22 from a small bad high school in CA. D22 is #1, and S22 #3 of 60. With going test-optional and help from me in the application process they should not get any more of a rude awakening than anyone else on this thread and they and I are looking at the same kinds of LACs. I know less about bigger places at this point, and find most but not all OOS as completely unattainable financially. We can afford at most 14k so hoping for merit/need combos.
Some NPCs of highly recommended colleges on this thread came in way, way beyond anything we can do, while some came in nicely.
Some disappointing NPC results are in places we were really hoping for, including Hollins, Puget Sound, Whittier and Whitman to name a few of the many.
Anyways Iâm definitely here for the rest of the run of this thread, hoping my twins can get in at around a quarter of my salary instead of the almost half my salary most places seem to calculate things at.
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I agree with the friendly helpful vibe here! This is my second go around, and Iâve found this to be a welcoming and hilarious community to commiserate with!
With D19, we found Willamette and Whitman were very generous with merit. And what Iâve heard on the street (CC), University of Denver is also very generous with merit. Perhaps those schoolsâ merit could augment aid? Also we know kids at Evergreen in WA and Humboldt who are very happy - both environmental studies, not sure if thatâs what youâre looking for. But, I believe, they are more affordable LAC-types that might suit you.
Thanks for the leads. Iâm definitely looking for inside scoops on aid: all the schools you first mentioned yielded bad NPC results, but are desirable. Maybe they could stay on the list.
Evergreen and Humbolt seem way out of price range. Evergreenâs merit said it was for the first two years. Humbolt is in-state for us and so the expected cost is dependable, and way too much. A much poorer or a much richer family could totally do Humbolt though. They are both good options for green-oriented quirky students, which is my D22, the valedictorian. She often mentions botany as an alternative to pre-med.
There might be some pockets of merit from the state, regents scholarship (or is that only for UCs?), etc. that could bring Humbolt State in range, since the tuition is not that high, but with low tuition comes low merits and low aid.
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Not a LAC and I donât know if it would meet your other needs as far as vibe and all, but Western Carolina University has low tuition, even out of state. They do have fees and housing costs, but it might be worth a look. Western Carolina University - Admissions and Aid
Warren Wilson also has some special aid packages Milepost One: A Free Tuition Program - Warren Wilson College. Similar vibe to Humboldt or Evergreen.
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Thanks. Weâre over the 125k limit for the milepost one. Too bad there isnât any calculation for cost of living per state. If we lived in Kansas weâd be rich, and have our pick of colleges.
At least they should choose the fed covid relief limit. That we qualify for.
Still thatâs an interesting college.
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My now-junior-in-college daughter was offered a great deal of merit $ from McDaniel College. Might be worth a look.
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Cal states in general offer little to no merit aid. CSU aid is in the form of state need based aid like Cal grants if eligible along with Federal aid. The CSU system also assumes the majority of students will commute to their local campuses so tuition costs are usually just covered by the FA
Regents is for the UCâs and depending upon campus, the amounts vary.
For the UCâs and CSUâs, there is also the Middle class scholarship (need-based) if eligible.
UC Regents Scholarships and the amounts/year:
Amount: Awards vary by campus and are not transferable if you transfer to another UC campus.
- UC Berkley $2,500
- UC Davis $7,500
- UC Irvine $5,000
- UCLA $2,000
- UC Merced $7,000
- UC Riverside $10,000
- UC San Diego $2,000
- UC Santa Barbara $5,000
- UC Santa Cruz $5,000
yeah i suspected all that. thanks.
Cal States are definitely not made for us
This is my first post to this forum, and this thread is where my D22 fits. She has 3.54 UW GPA and very lopsided 26 on the ACT her first try, will try to improve once she is back in daily math class this fall. She was a precocious child and had top standardized test scores through middle school. At the time, I was hopeful that she would qualify for a meets-full-need college.
Well, she has ADHD and slow math processing speed. She wasnât able to keep up in advanced math and science classes. Frankly, she also didnât try very hard due to lack of interest.
Sheâs creative and passionate and wants desperately to go OOS. Iâve been battling some teenage magical thinking â the realization that sheâs academically average with middle class parental income hit her hard this summer.
Weâre looking at midwest LACS to fit her interests in the arts and humanities and her learning style. She learns best through discussion. Sheâs also planning to audition for a few theater BFA programs, limited by cost of attendance (sorry, NYU is not an option). Weâve toured or driven through some of the Ohio schools and Knox pre-Covid. We just returned from Beloit in Wisconsin.
Beloitâs required courses are very loose. The student tour guide stationed at the STEM building wasnât a STEM student, so I asked what kinds of courses meet the requirements - which are not math, science, etc. but ways of thinking. A popular anthropology course about the human animal met the science-ish distribution, and the math-ish course the guide took was similarly tangential to logical thinking.
D22 left the tour very excited and explored course options and student profiles all the way home. Highlight: discussing a philosophy of âThe Good Placeâ course with a charming student tour guide. She liked Beloit better than Knox (I found them very similar) because itâs greener and has a few hills.
We also drove through Lawrence on this trip. I didnât book a tour because I thought it might be a little out of reach academically and financially. She found the setting too intimidating, âfancy,â was her word. Lotâs of white limestone buildings tucked into dense vegetation and the river was really moving. So, too green and hilly. Good to know thereâs a sweet spot.
These schools come up a lot on this thread, and I totally agree that they seem like great places for our kids. One school that similarly impressed me was Otterbein University outside Columbus, Ohio. The NPC reflected really nice financial aid, and the town of Westerville was very cute and active. The school offers many activities and organizations that feel accessible to the average student.
Iâm excited to finally participate and glad this thread is active and welcoming.
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