My son picked Mechanical Engineering I think. Lots of discussion over which to pick, lol. He likes programming and does that for his robotics team, but wanted something different. We’re just in Michigan, maybe a 6 hour drive, so not bad at all.
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One week until D’s first crack at the SAT. She took a practice test today and has a few easy things to review this week, but is feeling ready. Fingers crossed that the test center remains open! We took her for her first campus tour on Friday to Lafayette - had live tour guides but could not go in to buildings. She really had a good impression and college is starting to feel real to her!
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My daughter is class of 2022. I am struggling trying to figure out what colleges she would have a chance of getting into. She goes to a top 30-ish public high school in Massachusetts. She is a B student. She has been club swimming since she was 8 and is on varsity in high school most likely being captain as a senior. She also has a job and will be a peer leader as a senior for the school. No SAT yet, but got 940 on PSAT. She would like to swim in college but her times would not allow her onto “most” swim teams and then the teams she would be on will limit her college selections, so we have now started looking at club swimming. She wanted to go somewhere a little “south” so it would be a warmer climate than up here in Mass.
Some schools she likes are U Tampa and U of South Carolina. Does anyone have any insight as to whether she has a shot at either of these? She has an appointment with her guidance at the end of the month but thought I’d see if anyone has any information they could share here.
When they take the PSAT they usually provide a projected range for SAT. You can use that as an approximation in looking at sites like n i c h e . c o m to gauge how her stats fare in comparison to average students at her target schools. Also be aware that most schools will remain test optional for our kids, so the grades, extracurriculars, essays, and recommendations will carry more weight.
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I do look on NICHE as well as Naviance which looks at the placements for students at our actual high school. But it seems to be all over the map. Like the Naviance will show U of SC as 68% acceptance rate and it “seems” like she can get in (when comparing her GPA and scores from other students from our same high school) and then I read some thread somewhere about kids with handfuls of AP classes and HIGH HIGH stats wondering if they will get in, and I then doubt my daughter’s chances. I was hoping someone may have some additional insight.
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My D19 was a recruited athlete. Definitely DO fill out the recruit questionnaires on the athletic websites of schools she’s even remotely interested in. Register with the NCAA Clearinghouse. Don’t limit it to just D1 schools. My D19 is at a great, very competitive D3 school, having turned down D1 schools.
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Thank you CREAKY. We have been filling out the recruit forms and a handful have actually written back. She has swim times that could “possibly” get her into a D2 school - definitely not D1 - but for D3 schools, many I “think” are an academic reach for her. So she has the double problem of getting onto the swim team as well as getting into the school, since many D3 are more competitive academically. Trying to find the right school with the right swim team. I know the guidance will have some insight but wondered what other parents thought. Thank you.
I would trust the published stats and not sweat the obviously very qualified people worried about getting in. Sometimes I think these folks just like to brag about their stats to hear how good, smart, and talented they are. That or they should have the screen name overstressedXXX !!! 
That said, every applicant is unique and there is no such thing as a sure thing, but if she fits in the middle of the pack, she has a fair chance of acceptance.
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Hey there. My daughter is a year round competitive swimmer as well and we’ve dabbled a bit at looking at schools for swimming. We are in the same boat. She can swim at schools she isn’t interested in attending, and can’t swim where she wants to go, so club it is! She also struggles a bit with test scores and has take two rounds of test prep which have definitely helped!
Looking at Naviance will help for sure, but also this years acceptances seem like such a crap shoot! I’ve seen kiddos get into places I didn’t think possible, and deferments from safeties! Prepare with safeties, matches, and reaches and I am sure she’ll be fine!
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D just received her psat score and did very well. So now we wait for Sept to learn the national merit cutoff. Next up is the SAT this Saturday…
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We received my D22 PSAT score too. Now we wait until September… Our state usually does not have highest cutoff score, so seems like she has a pretty good chance. Unfortunately, schools she is applying to not giving away much for NMF, so would be good for resume only purposes. But I am going to read more about it now!
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Everything helps and NMF certainly would not hurt especially in current environment. Our S was in the same position several years ago - he was NMF but it did not result in any $$ as far as the colleges he applied to.
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Not sure how worthwhile PrepScholar has been for my S22. His five practice tests went 1370, 1340, 1390, 1420, 1380. So we have a sense of his range, for sure, but no sense of consistent improvement. Hope he has a good day on Saturday, but he might not end up with a score worth submitting.
His school has a big virtual college fair on Wednesday, so he’s forced to make some decisions about at least preliminary interest. So far he’s planning to “visit” NYU, Cooper Union and I think Syracuse; we’ll pin down a couple more tomorrow. I’ll be interested to see if he remains interested in architecture as he learns more about the particulars of the programs and requirements.
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Hi all! Excited to join this thread (also a first time CC user!). I have a son Jake who can’t make up his mind about coasts and so we’re going to tour both the California schools and New England schools in the summer.
By the way, wanted to see if anyone has heard of this service. My son Jake just signed up for something called Sharely (website is just joinsharely then dot com). They’re supposed to help make the essay writing process easier, and let people like us / teachers / tutors / family friends easily collaborate. Since Jake is applying to literally 12 schools, we’re going to check it out but let me know if you guys have heard of it too
either way, excited to be part of this community!
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Welcome! And thanks for the essay writing tip.
Excited to join this thread! I have a Class of 2022 daughter. We are starting college tours in a few weeks to get some schools in that are in session and get a feel for large versus small. I can’t believe it will be application time before we know it!
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Welcome!! This community has great information and support.
Because it is college confidential, we don’t use any real names. So you can refer to your son as S22 - S is for son and 22 is for his high school grad year.
Touring the coasts and campuses will be fun! We will do that, too, and are also holding out small hope that we can do some tours in September when students are back, hoping the campuses are open. My D21 chose her ED1 school without visiting but we don’t want to do that with our S22 because he is less sure what he wants.
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Welcome!! Yes it is coming on fast! My D21 wrote her main common app essay last summer - which is right around the corner! - and I hope my S22 does the same. It is very nice to have that done when the hectic school year starts.
Hope the tours go well - lots of talk on the Parents of 2021 thread about the challenges of following local covid test regulations for each state and finding open campuses. What a year.
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I am praying my DD can take all of her AP exams in-person. I don’t trust the stability of any CB testing platform. It was a mess last year, and sadly, I only expect a mild improvement this year.
D is taking the SAT on Saturday. For experienced parents, how accurate have the practice tests been in comparison to the real deal?