Welcome to the gang!
Your list is great and your kid sounds great too – but I’ll just point out that if your son doesn’t want “middle of nowhere,” you should probably skip Susquehanna and Juniata. They’re fine schools but definitely not in happening areas.
My kid also wants a school in a city, so your list is really speaking to me
I’m curious what he didn’t like about Emmanuel in Boston, and why he liked Umass and Suffolk?
We also may visit the Atlanta schools you list, so I’ll be eager to hear your trip reports!
Florida - hmmm, USF or Eckerd? Both in the Tampa-St. Pete area.
And you should def. check out FSU - while it’s got rah-rah sports and Greek life up to your neck, and is really an inferior school to GO GATORS UF, hahahaha, it also has a great First Year Abroad program where you pay ~$40k flat fee (probably gone up since I looked at it during the 2019 cycle) and study abroad (including a location in Spain) for the first year, and then you get in-state tuition back in Tallahassee for the rest of your FSU study.
(I joke about the inferior school thing - UF is the #1 school in the state, but FSU is completely respectable.)
Stats would be great for any of the usual suspects with auto-merit - Alabama, Mississippi etc. A quick search here for schools with automatic merit, or schools with great merit, will yield a bunch more ideas.
We have done a few visits already (about half dozen that don’t require travel) and will do many more on spring break. My experience with my older kids taught me importance of visits particularly while school is in session, and those are hard to fit in…
Welcome! Sounds like you have a great kid and doing all the right things. Just FYI, the overreaching College Board program now is the national merit recognition program that honors top 10% of all AA, Hispanic, NA, and rural scholars. I do not think there is a standalone Hispanic recognition program moving forward.
Also for more competitive schools, merit scholarships are very hard to come by. Your estimated financial contribution will dictate how much the tab will be. Good luck!
Have you looked at Fordham in NYC? The Bronx(Main) Campus is more traditional. They have a full tuition scholarship for NRP. They also have an interesting Honors Program.
Ok so I’lll have my son look into USF, Eckerd & FSU. Gotta love those college rivalries! Lol. His aunt lives in Orlando so he has gotten a taste of the nice weather and is tempted for sure. He absolutely loves Rollins but would need major merit $ to make that work. We were intrigued by Florida International University (over 50% Hispanic and lots of international students-forgot to mention he’d like a diverse college.) It’s huge but they have a great honors college and I think give $ (or maybe in-state tuition) for Hispanic Scholars or some kind of minority scholarship (although I guess he would not be a minority there. Lol) These huge schools don’t SEEM like a great fit for what he wants but some of these honors programs (depending on how they are set up) have potential to change the dynamic.
As for the Boston schools, he was not even going to consider Emmanuel because he is insisting on a BS in psych (he’s a very math/science kid) and Emmanuel only offers a BA but said he’d take a tour and try to be open minded. In addition to not having a BS psych option, he just wasn’t feeling the vibe there. Our tour guides were great and they had a beautiful campus (traditional campus like he wants) and nice dorms but just wasn’t for him. Sometimes it’s hard to put your finger on what they don’t like (seemed perfect in many ways and they even give nice merit.) To be clear on Suffolk, he took it off the list because it had that “neighborhood school” feel as opposed to a traditional campus feel and it’s known to be more of a commuter school. He liked their study abroad and very nice housing with great views. UMASS Boston was a surprise. We did an open house and, while it’s very big, the day was filled with personal touches and interactions that seemed unusual-in a good way-for such a big school. A professor in the drama department was chatting with my son about his percussion playing and said he could probably have a regular gig playing in a jazz band for dinners that professors host, earning $200 per gig, little things like that. The honors professors and students really impressed us. Honors students are placed in a Living Learning community freshman year (about 120 students) and they try to assign classes with those students so you form friendships and ease the transition. Study Abroad & research opportunities within the honors college were impressive and small classes were highlights. They have a lower price tag than most Boston colleges (even out of state) and offer scholarships for OOS that would bring the price into our comfort zone so great Financial option if he wants the excitement of being in Boston. The down side was that most students live off campus after freshman year (and also has rep as commuter school) but they do have student apartment options right across the street which are popular. They are renovating the campus to have more of a park-like feel (should be done by Jan 2023) So the benefits of a top research college but possibly a small college feel.
He fell in love with Northeastern. When they showed the average SAT scores, I had a panic attack but my son took it as a personal challenge and would love to attend a school with such rigor. The student conversations I overheard were very academic-dare I say nerdy-since it was 5pm on a Friday night and shouldn’t they be discussing weekend parties? Lol. But those are his people I guess.
*both UMASS Boston & Northeastern definitely have that diversity my son wants
And point well taken on Susquehanna & Juniata. They both come highly recommended and have great reputations for his major and as great small schools (and I believe both give decent merit) but I am hesitant to even visit knowing their location. He was very turned off by our entrance into the Potsdam area, greeted by lots of farms and cows and also our visit to Hamilton college which was a flop. The only reason we might still visit is that he has a gymnastics meet not too far from them in January. I’ll keep you posted!
He has no interest in doing competitive gymnastics or even band in college (wants to focus on academics) but would consider if they offered as club sports or just for fun.
my oldest did competitive tumbling through age 14. level 7 maybe? i will say walking on his hands across the room, and back tucks make for fun tricks with groups.
Most schools don’t have men’s gymnastics, but if he ends up at a big school and they get word of his gymnastics ability, I’m sure they’d try to recruit him for cheerleading. He’d probably never do that, but would be great. He also has great running ability (ran a few 1/2 marathons) but limited team experience.
Well, thanks to this thread I now understand why I was waiting so long to pick up my son from his ACT. He went in blind (no prep) so maybe he didn’t even know he had an experimental section. And can I say…I don’t like that. The test is long enough, and I was one of a parking lot full of parents waiting, waiting, waiting, in the awful windstorms that were tornados elsewhere…The ACT is a business and we are paying customers; do your product research on your own time or get volunteers or pay people to do it! I just don’t think it’s right at all to throw that in as a surprise at the end of the test, for scheduling and other reasons (OK, off soapbox, thx for listening)
I am surprised to read about mask mandates lifting, I didn’t even know this is happening. The timing seems so strange with the new variant on the verge. I guess getting struck down by the courts is a different issue, and/or the lifting preceded omicron. I wouldn’t feel comfortable if my kids’ school or ACT was maskless. He’s having enough problems with illness and absence that I really want to minimize exposure.
@2plustrio , our school doesn’t have Naviance and I don’t think does any type of tracking. We are a small suburban district and the counselor is very old school. I used niche for scattergrams for admission chances with my older son and it gave good results based on his grades and scores.
Fordham was not on our radar but he’s been getting lots of email & mail from them recently (mostly after he took the PSAT and SAT so they must get info from college board?) Neither of my kids were looking for a “religious” school but my daughter chose a Jesuit college (Loyola New Orleans) and, in addition to having a great music program and the artsy vibe she wanted, she found them to match up with her focus on service and had a very welcoming/open/progressive nature. I just took a peek at Fordham and they have about 9000 undergrads but did I read correctly their honors program takes 19 students per year ? But reading about it sounds very in line with what my son would love (in-depth discussion-based classes, research, etc.) I did hear they have or had some kind of full scholarship for minority students and they often invite National Hispanic Merit* candidates to apply. It’s definitely competitive but nice to know they offer that if he develops an interest to apply. You always have to factor in housing with schools in NYC (just as we do for Boston) so I recall my daughter applying to CUNY (City College) which ended up more expensive than Loyola after merit was factored in, mainly due to housing expenses. My daughter was lucky to receive excellent talent merit for music which brought it lower than that CUNY school.
I should add that we have our eyes wide open on acceptance, merit money and honors programs, especially the elite ones. My son is a strong student and has decent leadership, volunteer work, etc. but the level of competition at some of these schools is intense. I’ve seen 1500 SAT kids get rejected from Northeastern and solid academic students not invited to SUNY honors programs which seemed to be a given. We never really know what these colleges are looking for and the strengths of the other students applying. Other than the auto-entry honors programs (if you have x GPA & x SAT you get in) we take nothing for granted. My son is very practical and knows our financial limits so we are trying to focus on colleges that are known to give great merit but allowing for some reach schools if they also offer scholarships (with the understanding it’s rare to get these.)
Not sure how FAFSA figures out EFC but it’s about $10K higher than we’d be willing and able to pay. Our goal is to get as close as possible to SUNY prices (including room & board) whether it’s a SUNY school or private. The good news is my son really likes SUNY Buffalo State College and he’d even get merit there so he would not be too disappointed with that option if it comes to that.
I also heard that they were revamping the National Hispanic Merit recognition program so not sure if that changes this scholarship opportunity
By the way, @AmyIzzy, I think that’s a Loyola New Orleans logo as your profile pic, yes? They’re on my D23’s shortlist of schools she may apply to, though she’s unsure she would feel happy somewhere that small.
Yes! Great school, very generous with merit too. My daughter went to a few accepted student weekends with her top choices in the final months and she was sold after the Loyola weekend. They gave the most merit but came in a little higher COA than her 2nd choice, so she wrote them an appeal letter and they gave her an extra $3000 per year! That’s what sold us. Lol. We weren’t thrilled about her being so far away but amazing city and school. Definitely on the smaller side, but worth a closer look.
It says on Fordham’s website that 71% of the people designated did receive the award so it’s still a pretty good chance. As far as their Honor’s Program goes I think they aren’t necessarily looking for the academic super stars but top students that have other interesting characteristics to form a cohort like your son.
Loyola NO is also something on our back burner - can I ask your daughter’s stats and merit awarded? I know things are probably not comparable b/c of covid/economy/school belt-tightening, but still, it’d be helpful.
Tulane doesn’t seem feasible from a merit standpoint, and since Loyola is right next door, it is worth exploring to us.
LoyNo will likely also end up on my S23 list. Not sure he wants the heat or the potential for floods though. I heard the dorms are blah, what does your daughter think? Does she do anything at Tulane? I heard there are some areas where the students from both schools can mesh a bit but wasnt sure if kids actually did that or if it made the small school feel bigger?
That is really good to know and Fordham might be a very good fit for my son. He reads psychology and philosophy books all the time and listens to podcasts on pretty interesting topics. He might attend a philosophy speaker series at our local college just for fun. He was doing research on behavior the other day and I asked if it was for AP Psych and he said he was just doing it on his own because he was interested in the topic. In other words, not your typical kid at all but might fit in well to that type of Honors program. He might be getting involved with a local initiative called Bridges from Borders which is led by teens (with adult mentoring) and delves into mental health outreach and services for immigrants and refugees but also researches their resistance to help (cultural, pride, etc.) so I feel like that could really help him stand out (especially in pursuing psychology as a major with an interest in Spanish) if he takes a leadership role. Really appreciate this info-it is worth looking into Fordham for sure.
and also our visit to Hamilton college which was a flop. The only reason we might still visit is that he has a gymnastics meet not too far from them in January. I’ll keep you posted!
? But reading about it sounds very in line with what my son would love (in-depth discussion-based classes, research, etc.) I did hear they have or had some kind of full scholarship for minority students and they often invite National Hispanic Merit* candidates to apply. It’s definitely competitive but nice to know they offer that if he develops an interest to apply. You always have to factor in housing with schools in NYC (just as we do for Boston) so I recall my daughter applying to CUNY (City College) which ended up more expensive than Loyola after merit was factored in, mainly due to housing expenses. My daughter was lucky to receive excellent talent merit for music which brought it lower than that CUNY school.