For those who have been waiting, the 2021-2022 Common Application is now open.
If your child had a previous account, there are a few questions after logging in to transfer existing data to this year’s application.
8 Likes
Thanks Rich, gonna check it out. Here we go!
1 Like
OU places particularly well in Dallas, Houston, Oklahoma and Kansas. I think they look at weighted GPAs for scholarships. Not sure if they’d go TO.
Here we try to go…
CMU and Maryland both say "The questions for this college are not yet ready. Thank you for your patience as we finalize this section. "
and UIUC, which is supposed to available via the Common App, is nowhere to be found.
and Penn State Schreyer essays are missing what are on the Schreyer web site.
I guess my D22 can start on the others.
3 Likes
Could you share your thoughts on JMU, App State and College of Charleston? I have them on my list for S22 but he hasn’t shown much interest although I think they may be great fits, esp App State. We are also from MA and not sure how an OOS student would fit in at these schools. Thanks!
We are touring JMU with our OOS D on Tuesday. She is not interested, but her list is too reach-heavy and she needs more safeties/likelies. Will see what she thinks. My son just met a NJ boy who loves it.
We noticed the CMU and UIUC problems. Maybe they’ll get their act in gear on Monday!
There are also a couple schools who changed their essay prompts (WashU and Carleton). My son has been writing essays and these were the only two changes from last year’s prompts. He will have to rewrite WashU.
1 Like
I’m not @ga19tex but I can tell you a little about App State since we are in NC.
It’s in the small town/city of Boone at 3333ft elevation. It is much cooler in the warm weather and gets a good bit more snow in the winter than other parts of the state. Great hiking, great sustainability program on campus, decent snowboarding and skiiing. It’s a great school for the eco-minded kid.
As with all UNC system schools they are mandated to take no more than 18% OOS students. I think it has been a bit discovered by OOS kids, but the vast majority of kids will be in-state. We toured two summers ago (grandma has a vacation cabin in Boone so we are usually up there several times a year) and our tour guide was OOS from Tennessee.
I really wish my D22 would apply because I think it would be a target school for her, but half of her small graduating class goes there and I think it is just too familiar for her. I think it’s a great school. The only downside for App (besides being too familiar for D22) is the diversity is not that high. It’s pretty white.
They do have a really good and popular Division III football team (national champs a time or two I believe) and a huge football spirit in the area. Lots of students attending games, etc.
Boone has some fun shops and restaurants near campus on King Street. Boone is a regional center for the mountains and has most things you would need, but not everything (there’s a Walmart, but no Target, for example). It’s the “big city” compared to the other small villages around. Tourism is a huge economic driver for the region. I would guess that App State is the single biggest employer. It’s the kind of place where Bluegrass (Doc Watson) and Country Music (Luke Combs) and Alternative Rock (Rainbow KItten Surprise) meet.
3 Likes
Dont need any of the optional stuff for BAMA. All you need is name and address and stats. If you have the stats you are in and will get the merit money they set out on their website
2 Likes
My D loves JMU. If it were direct admit
Nursing, she’s be sold. The campus is lovely. I know some people don’t care for the “split” campus with the highway down the middle but it didn’t bother us at all. She loves that the stadium is in the center of campus. The mixed architecture, the size, Greek housing, the beautiful arboretum, downtown area, clinicals etc. Depends on what you’re looking for but her other schools if interest are also larger D1 “big schools” and this fits the bill for her wants.
3 Likes
What happens when a university has too high of a yield? Hope this gets figured out by next year @ Purdue
1 Like
@NJWrestlingmom has visited all three and they were all in consideration - haven’t seen her on here in a while but maybe she will see this and will share.
I think UIUC app will open on September 1. At least this is what they have on their website.
2 Likes
Here I am! @smiles2122 thanks for the tag! I haven’t been on here much at all but, yes, all three were in the final hunt for D21, who starts JMU in a few weeks!
CoC - D decided she couldn’t do the heat and sun (she is super pale and burns all the time). She’s also not a city girl - there is a nice contained campus, but it’s right in the middle of the city. The honors dorm is 1/2 a block of the main tourist shopping drag, King Street. Just too much for her, and felt it kind of took away from the traditional campus life she really wanted. Nice merit. I want to say $19k max for OOS? It brought it down to high $20’s I think?
App State - I loved it. I would love to Boone if I could, I think! Beautiful campus, awesome little downtown. If your kid loves the outdoor, it doesn’t get better! It’s NC, but you get the seasons, hiking, skiing, etc…For us, it’s pretty hard to get to and I think that’s what finally dropped it. I think that’s probably why they don’t pull a lot of OOS kids. Every student we met there was awesome - so friendly and helpful. Lots of school spirit - football is actually D1, but FCS so they don’t play the ‘bama’s of the football world. Stadium is right on campus, walkable from all the housing and all the sports are free. D was able to join an online class and was accepted to the Watagua Residential community, waitlisted to honors. No money, which also hurt.
JMU - D will be living in the honors dorm, which is on the other side of 81. That’s the only thing she’s a little worried about - she really wanted to be on main campus, but decided to do the honors housing and see. I’ve never heard anyone say it ended up being an issue. JMU has the rep of no money, but in the end they came thru for us, which is why she picked it over Miami Ohio. Everything so far has been great - priority registration for honors college so she got all her no problem (does seem to be tough for the first semester). She’s met a great groups of kids and so far likes everyone she’s met. NJ is the 2nd most represented state behind VA. The most OOS kids of any of the schools.
Let me know if you have specific questions!
6 Likes
Thanks for the correction on App State football. As you can tell I don’t really follow sports that much but I knew they were good in whatever division/league/whatchamacallit they played in 
I can tell you over 50 students from MA are heading to JMU this fall. My son is there now and I can’t say enough good things about the school.
2 Likes
@Sweetgum , @tumagmom , @NJWrestlingmom thank you all so much for the informative responses. This is really helpful. I feel like App state might be the best fit as he does want sports but he’s also an outdoorsy kid and loves to ski. But the difficulty getting there is definitely a negative and I’m always nervous that with state schools, a lot of kids will already know each other when they get there and it can be hard to meet people. But I constantly read that it’s a very friendly place so maybe that’s not an issue. Not sure if CofC would be a good fit as I think he wants a more defined campus. JMU we need to look into some more.
I think App and Boone are super friendly. I don’t think he would have any problem making friends. Folks aren’t very cliquey there that I can tell.
I also don’t think it’s hard to get to, but we are in NC. For us it’s a straight shot up I-40 to 421, takes about 2.5 hrs. 421 is a good road, 4 lane divided highway most of the way. There definitely is mountain driving in Boone so if you or your student is worried about “scary roads” that’s something to be aware of (people from Florida on TripAdvisor and other forums are always asking things like, “how can I get to Boone without driving in the mountains?”). There are some twisty-turny roads, but that’s part of the fun.
The skiing around Boone is not as good as up North or out West, but it is probably as good as it gets in the Southeast. There’s an up and coming pro snowboarder named Luke Winkelmann from neighboring Blowing Rock (15 min from Boone) who learned his sport on the ski mountains in the area.
If he’d want to fly the nearest airports would be Charlotte- CLT (big, about 1:45 away), GSO (Piedmont Triad International Greensboro, also about 1:45 away, not as big) and Tri-Cities in Tennessee. There is a shuttle service (the Hickory Hop) between Boone and CLT. Not super cheap, though, but if he was going home for the holidays or whatever I’m sure there would be tons of students going home to Charlotte who might be able to drop him off at the airport.
1 Like
@MAmom111 I just took a screen shot of this on Facebook. JMU kids are all friendly and helpful. Things like this happen all the time.
11 Likes
UNC Asheville might be another place for your outdoorsy son to look at.