LOL neither of my two older kids had more than 1-2 schools they were interested in. My oldest (D17) was UT or TAMU all the way - got accepted to both and chose TAMU. My middle (S19) didn’t know and needed guidance (in hindsight, I think guidance failed him ). S23 has a pile that he has yet to sift through. We will work on this stack this summer.
In other news, S23 is scheduled for June 12th ACT. We won’t do SAT until he takes it for free through school next year. If he needs to retake it after that one, he will. We also ordered answer sheet so he can use as study tool if he needs to retake.
Fachex and TE here. Low stats kid means we are throwing a very wide net so he will apply to lots of schools. I think the unpredictable admissions from the pandemic will trickle down to our hs23 kids.
My S23 Twins will probably be applying to 10 schools each as of now, list may shrink or grow once we get some test scores back and get a better idea of where they land as merit chasers.
Edited because I just realized this was 2 questions:
Question 1 - are there any lists out there that outlines schools that have good merit (in or out of state)? Especially for no financial need families?
Question 2: Going to be tough if my husband doesn’t find a job soon. My S19 put down my salary alone even though 2020 taxes don’t reflect this (includes both of our salaries). Does anyone know how to appeal to financial aid when our current financial situation is not even close to what our 2019/2020 tax returns show? He’s transferring to UH but not moving back home.
Here’s the TE thread for seniors which may be helpful. Not super active but some good info on there. I figure a 2022 application TE thread may start this fall so keep your eye out.
My D23 has 21 on her ionglist. She’ll definitely have a shorter list by the time it come around to application season.
Her older sisters had very different application lists, because while both were after Big Merit Aid™, D17 was applying mainly to selective LACs and D19 to public flagships. In the end D17 ended up applying to 12 (which was way too many and too stressful, but the last financial offer she got was the one she’s attending, so…) and D19 applied to 8 but those were mainly automatic entry based on stats without any essays or such.
D23’s going to be applying to a number of portfolio-entry programs where admittance to the major is competitive, so she’ll probably have to cast a wider net based simply on that fact alone—the process is different for the fine arts and fine arts-adjacent kids. Eyeballing her longlist, I expect she’ll end up applying to about 12 of them, including the 2 zero-stress automatic entry based on stats financial safeties she’s already planning on.
Short answer: No. There are some sites that list a handful, but nothing even remotely usefully comprehensive.
There used to be a very good list of automatic full-tuition/full-ride scholarships put together and maintained by a group of CCers several years back, but it’s now quite out of date (e.g., it still lists the University of Alabama’s old stats-based full-tuition scholarship, which hasn’t been offered* for 5ish years), though it might be a good starting point: Automatic full-tuition/full-ride scholarships
[font size=“-1”]* They still have a really good automatic stats-based scholarship, just not as good a one as they used to.[/font]
no ideas about college yet here. but i like hearing about the ideas.
something nice: my D23 switched from public to small private this year. D23 was awarded at her new school outstanding sophomore in Math and English yesterday. She liked that, Even though we left public after 18 years, i’m thankful for the education my kids have received.
My son put in his 2 weeks notice and is quitting his job. He’s been working every weekend since last spring plus another day or two each week as well. They are starting to schedule him more and more during the week and telling him to find his own coverage. He has sports for school. My son feels horribly guilty because they are desperate for workers but I keep telling him his childhood and school comes first. He missed a vacation with us last year with his friends family because he felt bad as he was scheduled to work. I should be proud he has been working so hard but I’m okay with him not working for awhile. They are paying him minimum wage and not splitting tips with him even though he’s doing much of the same work. They are having him cook and not increasing his pay when the other cooks get much more per hour. My kid realizes they were using him as he was 15 and now that he is 16 and he can legally work more, they are trying to guilt trip him. He isn’t taking the bait and walking away.
@2plustrio good for him!! There is tons of work to be had out there that doesn’t have to be exploitative … businesses are desperate and when he wants to go back to work he will be able to find a much better situation, I’m sure.
I’m so impressed with all of you that have long lists. So far, we only have six, and that’s really due to my preliminary research. The only school S23 has mentioned is my alma mater, and that is a high reach for anyone. (Things were easier when I applied decades ago.) Though at least he knows what he doesn’t want. D20’s search mainly involved LACs. We dragged S on the tours, and at each he was bored and turned off by the small size. S decided he definitely wants at least 6k students, and that is the bare minimum. When we visited my H’s alma mater, Bowdoin, S didn’t even want any swag. (You can imagine how my H felt! ) S is also looking at CS or computer engineering, so that leads to a different search. Still, he is very social, athletic, and outgoing so he doesn’t want to go to a hardcore tech university where there are, in his words, “Nothing but a bunch of nerds.” (Nevermind he is a hardcore STEM kid.)
To be honest, I have just recovered from D20’s search process. It was a lot of time and energy, but she was accepted ED into her top choice and loves it. I want the same for S, but he doesn’t seem particularly invested in the process. He keeps saying there is plenty of time. I am in the midst of grading final exams for the semester, and then I’ll spend the summer trying to pull a list together and get him more involved. Ugh.
I guess the benefit of having a more easygoing kid is perhaps I won’t have to worry about him “falling in love” with one or two schools like D20. There would have been a lot of tears if she was rejected from her top choices. S seems like he could be happy at a lot of different universities as long as they meet his general (few) requirements.
It is comforting to know my son is not the only one uninterested in the college search process. I do have a preliminary list for him and plan to visit this summer. He attended some Virtuals but didn’t really care for that format. We dragged him to Marist College to at least experience what an in-person “tour” is like. He prefered in-person vs. the virtual tour.
Syracuse University
Ohio University
Miami University of Ohio
Xavier University
University of Dayton
Case Western Reserve University
University of Scranton
UMASS Dartmouth
The above we plan to tour this summer. All have in-person tour availability.
Hoping as we see different schools (size/location/private/public) he will get a feel and perhaps make his own suggestions.
Summer 2022 focus on some VA and NC schools like NCState. He is also uncertain about selecting a major.
BTW…he thought Marist College was a beautiful campus but couldn’t see himself there.
Well…we have been steadily working on a long-list…has to have dance options plus top academics & especially plenty of STEM. Which means basically it is a reach-heavy list already. We are fresh off D21 so I get how it all works and more reaches than matches is just going to be the plan with this one.
We will add safeties later—not worried about that at this time because there should be at least two in state publics that are safeties. So the longlist has over 25 on it. Good grief. She will look it over this summer and pare it down. I am mapping most and grouping them into feasible tours. Some are far away so no way we will tour at this early stage.
3 more weeks of school…one AP done, 2 to go…plus finals…hopefully she will have a strong finish and keep her high rank.
). S23 has a pile that he has yet to sift through. We will work on this stack this summer.
) S is also looking at CS or computer engineering, so that leads to a different search. Still, he is very social, athletic, and outgoing so he doesn’t want to go to a hardcore tech university where there are, in his words, “Nothing but a bunch of nerds.” (Nevermind he is a hardcore STEM kid.)