My kid won’t show me any of his written work in school, so the essays have been similarly off limits. He’s thrown out two of them so far though and started over, and is now writing on a topic we talked about months ago (which I think is a great topic and so I’m biased towards him sticking with this one). He says he’ll have me read it for another pair of eyes - just proofreading. We shall see!
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Kind of amusingly (wrong word?), Willamette doesn’t list essays in what they tell the federal government they consider, which is supposed to be reliable information for applicants: College Navigator - Willamette University
(And in all seriousness, I’ve looked at Willamette’s student profile—they recruit pretty strongly in Alaska, and my oldest was very interested in LACs. If they don’t run a GPA filter before even looking at essays, they’re wasting a lot of time reading things they don’t need to.)
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I will read it if asked but I doubt I will be asked! She can ask her counselor to proofread if she wants, or an English teacher. She shared some of the general ideas and I do think it is very much her and will be great—she is an excellent writer per her teachers. Maybe i will get lucky and get to read it right before submission.
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Where do you find these free app vouchers? Would love some of those!
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In two cycles never got to read one of kids essays.
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Less selective schools. Get on email lists. Attend virtual info sessions.
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Sorry don’t really know. It is an 18K public university so I suspect they have plenty of non stem majors that are good. You just need to do your research.
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My D22 didn’t want me to read, but I was given a courtesy read right before she started submitting and I expect the same from D23. We used an essay workshop in the area- the essay was good and I really had no corrections to make. I felt I had to respect their wishes, but it was stressful for me but it worked out!
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Thanks! I’ll have to ask my son to search his email for any vouchers they might have sent!
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Honors is tough at Pitt and they are generally not very generous with merit.
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I would be interested in any comments about Michigan schools (not including UMich or MSU). My oldest is living in Michigan and asked if D23 would be interested in applying to any colleges in Michigan. D23 says she is open to it.
D is interested in environmental and perhaps marine science, not high stats, and my limit is about $30K but she has instate options that would be much lower.
Any recommendations?
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Anyone with U of Cincinnati on the maybe list, they are doing free apps on Aug 1st only.
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Apply to a fly-in program. Colleges accept applications from any student who wants to learn more about them. My d applied to fly-ins for a few selective colleges, was rejected, but received a fee waiver instead. We joked they were common app coupons. Seriously, if your kid is a halfway decent writer who can crank out a quick essay, it’s an easy way to save a few bucks.
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Thanks for the suggestion!
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And if your kid is the opposite, and doesn’t at all care about saving you money but wants to save on essay writing, here is one link (there are others) collecting some of the colleges with no supplemental essay required (that is no additional essays on top of the Common App essay). There are surprisingly many.
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It wasn’t about saving money. My kid was interested in the fly-ins she applied to. The rejections hurt, but the fee waiver was a nice consolation prize. She ended up applying to the schools who rejected her, but withdrew her applications when she was accepted to her ED choice.
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Do you have a link for this?
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"If you have been counting down the days (like we have!) until you can apply to University of Cincinnati, it’s time to get excited!
The University of Cincinnati application opens on August 1, and to celebrate, we are waiving application fees for any student who submits their Fall 2023 application on Monday, August 1, 2022. "
Its on their website.
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If you’re looking for schools in Michigan for your D, all of these campuses offer very close proximity to the Great Lakes which would likely be very helpful for her academic interest.
Northern Michigan: This is a mid-size residential public (6600 undergrads) whose COA is just over budget, but I would not be surprised if your daughter was able to get sufficient aid to bring this in-budget. It offers majors in ecology, zoology, environmental science, environmental studies, fishing and fisheries sciences and management, natural resources/conservation, etc.
Lake Superior State: There is no difference in price between in-state and out-of-state students here. It’s a small residential school (1800 undergrads) with no TAs and lots of individualized attention. It offers majors in conservation biology, marine sciences, environmental science, fishing and fisheries science and management, and natural resources/conservation. The sticker COA is within budget.
Saginaw Valley State: Not as many “marine” type majors as at the previous two schools, but there are environmental science, environmental studies, and an ecology & evoluationary biology majors. Also, this campus isn’t as far to the north as the other two and it also seems to have a lot of focus on experiential learning and field research.
Hope College: This school is a member of the Colleges That Change Lives consortium and has had several positive write-ups in CC lately. It offers a major in environmental science, an environmental studies interdisciplinary pathway, and seems as though it is open to lots of individualized options for students. Run the NPC, but I think there’s a good chance this could fall within budget.
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Ive heard good things about Barry. Smaller school, a tad removed from the Miami nightlife.
FIU is hit or miss…large Latin American population, has a reputation of a commuter school. Miami can be a big party town…students don’t necessarily party at FIU but can get caught op in the Miami party scene.
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