I would suggest that the main utility of visits (before acceptance, at least) is to figure out what types of colleges would be a good fit for a student, not which specific colleges would be.
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There were quite a few that were on the GC list as safeties, I havenāt looked closely at but will share any that seem promising.
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@AnonMomof2 Did you look at Mt Holyoke? All girls but part of the 5 College Consortium so interaction with males at 3 of the schools. I thought they had a good Dance program but I might not be remembering correctly. And also a TE school when we looked at it for my D17.
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We visited a LOT of schools with D21, starting before Covid. She and I both enjoyed the visits, and we felt that they were all beneficial. I had my suspicions early on, but it took her a while to realize she wanted a smaller school, and we felt like those were especially tough to gauge virtually. It always made a difference when she got on campus.
Our younger daughter is looking at much larger schools, and while I feel like they are often more alike than different, she has immediate and strong impressions every time she steps on a campus. We havenāt done many tours with her because she doesnāt enjoy them as much, but between the ones weāve seen already and the ones weāll see this fall and/or after decisions are out, weāll get to most or all of the ones on her list by the time she decides. I know weāre fortunate to be able to do this, since we can either drive or stay with family at most, maybe all, of the schools. I just really enjoy learning about colleges so am happy to visit as long as sheāll go!
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I thought the same thing about larger schools (which are the ONLY schools my son is considering). Arenāt they all the same - just different mascots? But after seeing four large schools in a week over Spring Break, I agree with you. They are each quite different from the next.
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Thing 2 just got back from his final ACT. Overall it went well. He feels good about everything but the science sectionā¦he said it was harder than the AP Physics test he took in May 
.
Heās looking for a 1-2 point increase so hopefully superscore will accomplish that. Now to start cranking out those essays and supplements!
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Rowan?
Funny, my kiddo feels like she bombed the AP Physics test, but got a 36 ACT. Could be because her school does not officially follow AP curriculum, and they did not teach to the test.
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My rising senior steadfastly refuses to do any in-person tours, regardless of the cost of gas. Heās reluctantly going to do a virtual tour and online info session for a few schools that deeply care about demonstrated interest from his list and thatās it. Did a ton of tours with the older kids and in hindsight all that matters could have been done after acceptances, except for the schools that partially base acceptance on demonstrated interest.
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My D23ās friend took the ACT today and felt that the science section was hard and that it was worded sort of strangely. Hoping your Thing 2 gets that 1-2 point increase!
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Hell froze over. So far my sons dad agrees with me. And i got a thank you.
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Up thread someone mentioned Cal Poly slo, my daughter graduated in 2021 and itās one of my s23ās top choices. Get on the cal poly board. Thereās a lot of great info. Cal poly does publish their data, so you can get a good idea of your childās chances.
Just found out s23 qualified us UC ELC, I guess that means heād be guaranteed a spot at Merced if he doesnāt get in at a campus of his choice. Nice to have a back up we donāt have to apply for.
I feel like all of my sonās choices are reaches. He really wants to stay in California and itās gotten so competitive. Obviously, heāll apply to some out of state early action safeties, but he really wants to stay here.
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Congratulations on your sonās ELC, I am hoping same for my kid(school-wide). How did you learn he qualified for ELC, was it state-wide or school-based? Sorry for asking lot of questions.
My DS23 is super excited about attending Cal Poly SLO, Can you please tell me what board are you referring or link if possible.
I will start a Chance Me thread for my kid once his SAT and AP scores are available(July 1st week I think).
My sonās school counselor emailed today. I guess they have to get our permission to forward our sonās info the the UC. Look at the Cal Poly slo forum here on CC. There are some super knowledgeable people on there. We used the info extensively when our daughter applied. Cal poly publishes their projections and actuals each year which someone posted above. You can get a sense for acceptance rate per major. It varies widely. Cal poly wonāt look at sat scores, I donāt even think they have a place to put AP scores? If they do I canāt remember specifically.
Edited: hereās the link to Cal Poly projections and actuals https://content-calpoly-edu.s3.amazonaws.com/ir/1/images/NOT%20ADJUSTED_AGGREGATE%20-%202022-23%20Enrollment%20Projections.pdf
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FYI, SLO doesnāt look at test scores.
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Thought they look at Course rigor using AP Scores. I maybe wrong.
SAT was needed as he couldnāt take PSAT.
Yes, they absolutely look at course rigor and GPA, but SLO does not look at SAT or AP test scores for admissions purposes.
SLO will use SAT and AP test scores for course credit and potentially waiving lower level courses, but SAT and AP test scores are not used for admissions.
@Gumbymom is CCās CA public school expert can clarify, correct or add to the above.
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@sushiritto is correct regarding AP scores and SAT/ACT scores. CSUās and UCās are permanently test blind. Course rigor is determined by the # of semesters of the a-g courses taken 9th-12th plus HS level Math and Foreign language taken in Middle school.
Any other SLO questions should be posted on their school specific forum.
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Thing 2 is living his best life at Texas Boys State this week! Heās on the ballot for Supreme Court Justice!!! He needed 30 signatures to get on the primaries ballot and he had 43ā¦.then last night was primaries voting to see who makes it to general election. He called me last night around 11:00 and oh gosh, the pure joy in his voice! He sounded so confident and just soā¦grown up!! He is so in his element! This morning he found out heās advanced to the General election.
Heās also been bitten by the UT Austin bugā¦gah, I knew this was going to happen lol. End of year transcripts came out last week and apparently their class size shrunk some more due to early graduates and coupled with Honors Pre Calc kicking his butt this semester he got nudged out of the top 6% needed to be an auto admit to UT 
ā¦heās at like 6.9% nowā¦so darn close lol. I think heāll still have a shot at getting in with a Liberal Arts major (Econ or Govāt) or possibly Communications & Leadership. Heāll shoot his shot regardless.
This is going to be an interesting ride for sure!
(Oh, and one of the items on their party platform is to legalize marijuanaā¦apparently that was a unanimous decision 
)
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The Boys State documentary is excellent, if youāve never seen it. 