I really liked ASC if yours ends up there. It was a beautiful campus and close to so many things to walk to. Highly recommend a visit if you can work it in. I think it’s a great school.
So, D22 did get some $$ at WWC now that the portal is updated. They have a full tuition scholarship you apply for, also, which she will do too, but you had to get admitted first.
Deferred at C of C. Same explanation - “record applicants”. I am going to call her guidance counselor and see if we should consider applying to a couple of additional schools. Such a bummer.
Sorry about the deferral. Where else did she apply and what are her stats? Maybe we can make some suggestions.
I am sorry to hear this. Guidance counselor and this forum may have some ideas on additional schools to add to her list! It will work out! Deferred is not rejected-they may all come through in the end!
@MAmom111 @gcmom1 thank you. These are her stats:
(We are in Mass.)
Test optional (she got 1080 so we didn’t submit unless required)
4.00W
1 AP (chem- she got a 4 on exam)
Basically half honors classes since freshman year
Varsity swimming - 4 years plus captain
10 years year-round Club Swimming
7 years tenor saxophone
Peer Leader senior year
2 entire summers volunteering at a camp (before becoming paid counselor)
School year: Part time work as lifeguard and after school care since age 16
Summers: counselor/lifeguard at a camp
Schools:
U Tampa (match)
C of Charleston (match)
Stevenson U - she got in and can swim there
James Madison (match)
UNC Charlotte - (safety)
Columbia college, SC- (safety) - she didn’t like it but we kept on the list bc they want her to swim
U of SC (reach)
UT Knoxville - (match)
USF (match)
Florida Gulf Coast (match)
I was thinking of having her add East Carolina and Coastal Carolina since her GPA seems high above the range for the schools. She does NOT want to apply to any more but if guidance suggests it, then I will push for it.
Thanks for any suggestions here. I appreciate the support.
I think she sounds amazing! 
She has some great accomplishments! What is she interested in studying (apologies if I missed this on a previous post)? That might make a difference in what colleges people recommend. We are in the metro DC area, so I know the schools around here the best, but we do have a few overlapping schools, like JMU. Maybe consider U of Mary Washington? George Mason? Roanoke? Unsure if all of these have swimming, but might be worth a look. It does sound like she has a good list.
Thank you! 
She was looking at Biochem at first and then sort of changed it to exercise science. So some schools she has biochem (because she did so well on the AP test) and then some she has exercise science. She will have an internship at a PT office this spring and guidance recommends “updating” schools in January so she will send them this information along with her Semester 1 grades.
She really wanted to go to school in NC, SC or Florida. I asked to add JMU because I kept hearing such good things and they have a club swim team that’s really organized. We did visit and the campus is awesome but it’s WAY OUT THERE. She thought she wanted to swim for a school but then realized she wasn’t fast enough to swim at the kind of big schools that she likes better! So we discovered that most big schools have great club swim teams where she can still compete but with less pressure.
We have Stevenson bc they want her to swim and she can contribute to their D3 team. We visited and the school and coach and current swimmers were so great but swimming for the school is a big commitment and she is unsure. Aside from the school being in Maryland. We loved the campus though!! And she got in!! Lol
So adding those other schools you mentioned probably won’t sell. I was thinking I could convince her to add East Carolina and Coastal Carolina bc they are in the Carolina’s!!
And my husband thinks this is all fine and SURELY she will get into some of these (I know it’s true) but I still feel like we should secure some more safeties bc this year seems to be the year of “record applications” everywhere and anything can happen.
Makes sense! I agree with your husband that she will get into many in the end but also would like for our daughters to have their choice of schools (with early acceptances and merit aid, lol)!
Because she interested in potentially swimming and exercise science, have you looked at Springfield or Merrimack? Obviously maybe too close to home:).
@overstressedMom My JMU senior S18’s roommate is a Biochem major, and my incoming S22 to JMU will be a Kinesiology major on the Exercise Science/Pre-PT track. I laughed at the “WAY OUT THERE” comment, btw. We’re from MA as well.
Yes, we live in the town next to Merrimack so too close!! She definitely does not want to stay in Mass!!!
Yes! We took a road trip and stopped to stay in Pennsylvania before finishing the car ride. I am not sure of any airports near it so I was just picturing a 9 hour car ride to visit or come home! We did love the campus though!
You can fly into Shenandoah airport(20 min. away) but the flights are all early in the morning and there are only a few per day. Other than that it’s Dulles(1hr & 45min) or Reagan(2hrs & 15min) for flights. Jetblue only flies into Reagan. There are shuttles for students from JMU to Dulles.
Ah, we are close as well, but not that close. My DD swim for Northeastern but it’s an hour away.
I think she could definitely get into ECU and it does have a good program for her studies. It’s a big school, but in a smaller town. A lot of kids from rural eastern North Carolina go there, but they get a good mix from elsewhere too. The Pirate Nation is strong and vast.
For a few more in NC you might check out UNC-Wilmington and UNC-Charlotte, maybe App State, although App might be a little harder to get into. She could also consider Western Carolina — lotta locals from western NC there, too, but it does have the NC Promise tuition plan that gives reduced tuition to everyone (room and board still the same).
UNC-W and UNC-C will have more out of state students and they are in bigger cities. UNC-W is a mid-size school a short drive from the beach. Wilmington has a lot of fun stuff to do in the historic district, esp. UNC-C is a large school in the largest city in the Carolinas. Lots of stuff going on in Charlotte. Neither of the schools is in a particularly exciting location in their respective towns, but they are not far from cool stuff and do attract an interesting mix of students. I have not checked into whether they have the programs she is looking for, but it might be worth a look.
Is there a particular vibe she’s wanting? That was very important for my D22. Happy to tell you a little more about the vibes at NC schools if that is helpful. Is she interested in Greek life or sports or does she want somewhere funky? Does she want to be able to walk to shops and restaurants, etc? Or is she fine with an enclosed campus?
We also like VCU in Richmond. They have good health sciences so it might be worth checking out even though it’s not the Carolinas.
The deferrals may still come through, though. Deferral is not rejection.
She applied to UNCC!!! It was listed as a safety and we did EA for that too since we had all the work done for the others, but won’t hear on that one until January. We did visit as well. The campus seemed quiet on that day without any hustle and bustle. Then we went to U of SC and there were so many kids walking around and music playing and she loved it but it’s a reach for her. She likes the idea of an actual “campus” but with things to do nearby or easy to get to. I saw in Charlotte you could get right on the train and go into Charlotte. But again, it didn’t seem to be “hopping” when we visited in October. She LOVED Charleston - we had never been to SC! It’s almost like a southern BOSTON, so we loved it. She hasn’t spoken about Greek life at all. She was just hoping to swim club as a way to get some exercise and meet other students as well.
I will look into UNC Wilmington. I vaguely remember noticing that it seemed more competitive than UNCC but not exactly sure.
My husband is wary of schools that are “hard to get to”, so have to look at ECU and how easy it would be to visit and fly home. Same with Coastal Carolina, I know it’s near Myrtle Beach.
I am not sure if there is data anywhere on how many deferrals actually get into the schools for RD? Does any school publish that?
Again, thanks for your thoughtful response! I appreciate it - gives me some more research to do to occupy my mind!
Have you looked at Christopher Newport? They have a club swim team and I know they have internships with a nearby PT clinic for the kinesiology majors. They also have a strong music program, including for non-majors.
https://thecompass.cnu.edu/organization/cnuswimming
(I’m originally from Massachusetts and now in northern Virginia.)
Wow. Her stats are great and her list seems to make sense. I’m really surprised she is getting deferred although it does seem to be a very strange year at Tampa. What’s her unweighted GPA? Son was just admitted to Tampa with a 3.8UW, 1310 SAT.
What about Elon? My D goes there and loves it, lots of kids from all over the country and 2 airports nearby. Or Clemson? Son applied and I know its a reach for him but you never know. App State seems like a great school although its not warm if that’s what she’s looking for. My niece went to Coastal Carolina from MA and did not have a good experience. She was a good, but not great student in HS, but felt like classes there were a joke, easier than HS. She transferred after a year.
Thanks for the info on Coastal Carolina. I will keep that in mind. I think Elon is considered a REACH for her but I’ve heard good things.
Her Unweighted GPA is only 3.1 I believe?… So maybe that’s why some of these matches are maybe not matches? But Naviance compares other students from your same school so I thought that it would be a good indicator. For example we have lots of data points for Tampa from our school and the median GPA that got into Tampa for our school was 3.6 and she has 4.00. So looking at the Scattergram, I thought she would get in Early Action. Similar at Charleston.
I will check out Christopher Newport. I haven’t heard of it!! Thank you.