If she ends up having to stay instate due to financials, don’t forget about NSE (National Student Exchange.) Ramapo belongs to it, but Rowan and Stockton don’t. It’s a program of 200+ schools across N. America, mainly in the US, but also a few in Canada and the Caribbean etc. You can do up to 1 year exchange at any of the participating schools. The credits transfer automatically and the best part is that you pay only what you have been paying at your home school (and scholarships apply.) It’s a deal!
Some cool schools including schools in Hawaii, Alaska, UMass Amherst, a little art school in Newfoundland, 2 terrific private LACs in Minnesota (Gustavus and St. Olaf.)
My own kid (D25) will probably stay in-state for practical reasons. But this is a way she might be able to experience the OOS experience too.
I have a ADHD kid without IEP who scored about the same on the ACT. His older sister, (also ADHD) who also scored about the same is now a junior in an Architecture program with a 3.7 GPA. She will be applying to grad school next year. Don’t let the scores stop them. Grades are a much better indicator. Through numerous tutoring sessions, pre classes, etc… They were never able to pull those test scores up. people get too hung up and spend tons of money on 1 test, and really it does nothing to prepare them for college. He will definitely get into college and get merit. Also, don’t waste your time on the writing test. No one requires it anymore and when you send those scores, the writing will be included. I would recommend calculus over stats if he has not completed it yet, if he has then stats is fine. Gen Eds will require some sort of math classes and a placement test for those math classes.
Could you share some details about Kent State? Are classes small enough to get to know professors? Are dorms and food ok? Is there a town to walk around in and places to enjoy the outdoors?
Yes, downtown Kent has been completely revamped in the last 20 years and has a wonderful relationship with the university nowadays (historically a very rocky relationship). There are little festivals and activities almost every weekend, either downtown or on campus. Follow both on Instagram to get an idea. Kent has excellent student programming. The area is super safe and the locals are some of the nicest people you are ever going to meet. It is hard to comment on class sizes, my DD had to suffer through the online and covid. As a junior studio is around 20 per instructor, and major classes are 10-20. Gen Eds were much bigger, but not huge like my other DD deals with at Arizona. Maybe upwards of 50. I don’t remember any class that was so large it affected my student. My Dd has always got to know her professor, and I believe she mostly had professors. She did have a Grad student for her College calculus and analytic geometry who was excellent, she ended up with an A in that 5 credit class. She seems to love all of her teachers (maybe a couple she didn’t). When I was listening to them while she was home and online, they all seemed to have a lot of personality and were fun even in the online environment. I know she is always telling stories or showing pictures of fun things they have done. Her one Arch. professors has an Instagram account I follow and he is hysterical. The dorm she is in, is fantastic, 2 per room and private bath, newer. She will be in it all 4 years. I feel most of the kids have been very happy with their dorms there. The food is excellent. The food plan is unlimited swipes, 2 main cafeterias, and many little “fast food” type joints. With scholarships, it was actually cheaper for us to send her there than stay in the state in Virginia.
Since you asked about Kent, my DD’s scholarships are stepped there. She loses some if her GPA falls below a 3.0, some more under a 2.7, a little more under a 2.5, and all if below a 2.0. Knowing that really helps with the stress.
We walked around University of New Mexico today. Interesting duck pond on campus. If one is part of WUE (but out of state) and meets some minimum requirements (980 SAT, 2.8) then it is about $23k a year all in, slightly less with better grades/SAT.
Not sure if she will apply, she wants to stay close to home albeit is about a 2-2 1/2 hr flight. Has a nice variety of majors and felt good size but not huge (12k students).
We went to the college night organized by DS23’s HS last week. Mostly in state schools with a smattering of OOS large publics that get a lot of students from the RDU area. Son was initially semi-interested but after speaking to UNC-Charlotte, seems to have set his heart set on that school. This is a huge positive for us. It is a solid match for someone like him and affordable with an easy 2.5 hr drive from home.
Some of the OOS schools intrigued him as well. However, I am concerned about whether it is worth the drive OOS to visit these schools as they will likely not be affordable (target is no debt). NC State will be our hail Mary.
So far list looks like this:
Major – Civil engineering or construction engineering/technology or undecided/exploratory (if the school does not offer those particular majors)
Reach – NSCU
Match – UNC-Charlotte and UNC-Wilmington
Safety – UNC-Asheville
Looking for a couple of other reach options – perhaps OOS. Budget is $25K, no loans. He will likely end up with a 3.5-ish UW GPA. SAT is 1320, will retake twice more. Hoping for 1370-1400. Any private options that you guys can think of?
Do you have a plan for SAT re-takes? I’m planning on two more as well. My D took the digital SAT study a week ago and can decide to keep the scores or trash them, butI didn’t realize we might not get the scores until August. I would like June but I doubt she will have time to work on the math between now and then.
My older daughter with good stats got her lowest score in August, so August makes me a little nervous. December of senior year her score shot up. She decided on her own to give it another try and I was glad she did. She had already sent in apps but her GC contacted the schools where we thought the new score could make a difference.
This time I don’t really want to wait until December, and I have the reservations about August…so what am I left with September and October… if they are scheduled then?
What state are you thinking of in terms of private colleges. Pennsylvania has some small colleges with Engineering that might come down to your budget with scholarships… or close to it. I’m not sure if they have civil, but there’s York College of Pennsylvania and Grove City College (Christian if that’s ok with you). There’s also Elizabethtown and…Geneva???
@1dadinNC My DD20 goes to UNC Charlotte. She loves it! We also went on a tour to UNCC last week with my DD23 and she loves it as well. We also went to tour Queens University in Charlotte. Beautiful school with a high price to pay. We live on the south end of Winston-Salem so it’s an hour drive from my house to my daughter’s apartment.
The strategy for us is to work on SAT prep this summer and try August. He is taking it in May as well but we have written that one off due to limited prep.
I do know that August is hard with so many seniors taking it. Maybe the curve is not as generous? But then again, we are looking for a few points here and there. We have not decided on a tutor or any such. Probably make that decision after Aug scores come out. The good thing is that he is over the 75th percentile at UNC-Charlotte already (their SAT range is ~1100-1280). With his GPA, NCSU will be a tough sell no matter the SAT score. So, I am not terribly stressed out about it.
We are also big believers in EA applications. Had good success with DD21. If by some miracle, he gets deferred by NCSU then we can send in another SAT score (assuming it is improved) in early 2022 along with fall semester final grades.
OOS – I am familiar with York. A friend teaches there. Not so with the other two. Will look into them. Religious schools might be a deal breaker for him. But it is good to have options. Thanks!
That’s good to hear. We are staying away from NC privates. Can’t afford them without loans.
The UNCC rep seemed to be very organized and attentive. Asked a lot of pointed questions and was very forthcoming about admissions requirements. She literally told my son – “You are in great shape. Finish the year strong and come see us this summer.” He won’t admit to it but I think it made a huge difference to him and boosted his confidence. He has had a rough year with a very heavy load and a particularly difficult teacher.
I personally liked University of Alabama a lot but it might be a bit far for us and he did not seem too keen. Once again, the AO was very nice to him and is local. So , we shall see.
@1dadinNC I agree, I told my DD23 that private is to much and we just can’t do it. She really likes UNCC so I can see her going there. We also visited App and she took it off of her list which makes me happy, she’s not interested in the cold. My DD20 began her college career at UNC Wilmington during COVID so she spent 3 weeks in a dorm and was sent home. She finished Fall semester at UNCW online then transferred to UNCC spring semester. This is her first year actually at UNCC and she lives off campus with sorority sisters and is doing great! She has classes on campus and is on campus a lot so I don’t feel like she’s missing out. My only suggestion, if your son has to take chemistry, take it at a community college. Their chemistry dept. is terrible. Other than that it’s been a great experience.
If he likes it and admission and costs are realistic, why muddy the waters with more options? I guess that’s my feel after seeing kids have too many to choose from and parents stressing over costs. My kids have two realistic ones that they like and will apply to early. And they’re okay with being done and having less stress senior year. I told them we’ll throw another in state school on the common app to be extra safe, but . We’ve visited both schools and researched them- majors, minors, honors, extracurriculars, dorms, surrounding areas, special programs…
I am familiar with Mercer and York. Not with the others. Will look into those.
@Mombbg23 Just to give him a couple more realistic options. I do get your point. That is why we are pursuing EA with 3/4 of the listed colleges and go from there. Also, merit is hard to come by for us in NC. Would be nice to see if that happens OOS and makes a difference.
UA is pretty upfront with a lot of their merit. If their automatic merit for his GPA and SAT makes it less expensive than NC, I’d say visit. Otherwise, they have some steep OOS costs. I’d compare probable net costs and decide based on that. Also, if he plans to rush, UA is expensive. Like $6-10k expensive for a year.
We just got back from our visit and they do a great job of recruiting. They make it hard not to like.
. We’ve visited both schools and researched them- majors, minors, honors, extracurriculars, dorms, surrounding areas, special programs…