Absolutely! My S22 is at Alabama on the scholarship now.
But if the August score comes back and it’s 1200, it’s extremely unlikely that it’ll go up 200+ points in 5 weeks to qualify. If it’s 1450? Yes I’d take it. There are a lot of kids with very good SAT scores who aren’t going to be able to bump to a 222ish index for the PSAT.
If he is not interested in engineering than yes not doing Physics may be ok. But Personally I still would do a 3rd science (does not have to be Physics. we could AP Chem or AP Bio or AP environmental Sciences)
Our school also does a Saturday test and we have registration fee. we are in the similar boat waiting for SAT results and our state also has a high NMF cut off. I am hoping he will reach NM Commended if not NMSF. We were discussing with his counsellor and she was strongly encouraging to take as it wont hurt in any way and can only help.
I was hoping AP environmental science for senior year but apparently the teacher at the school is one of the worst so he doesn’t want to do it. He will have to figure it all out I guess.
D24 had her hospital volunteer orientation session today. Super proud of her.
Has anyone’s student done one of those summer residential programs at a college/university? I was thinking for S24 that he could do one in his area of interest. Our state flagship which is about 2 1/2 hours from us has several programs that run for two weeks in July and there is one focused on his area of interest. I feel like it would be a great way for him to really see if he wants to apply to schools with that listed as his major. Knowing him, an academic program away from friends for two weeks will definitely not be something he will be excited about, but I am thinking it could be great. If anyone has a student who did this did they enjoy and also have fun, despite an academic focus in the summer? It would be two weeks 9am-4pm with weekends free. He would live on campus and would be allowed to bring his car. My sister lives about 20 minutes away so he could easily go there for time away if he wants. Thoughts?
My D did an engineering program for HS students at Purdue and absolutely loved it. It was intense and she barely slept but she had a blast and knew for sure Purdue was going to be at the top of her list.
Mine did Governor’s school (which happened to be held at a college campus she is considering) and loved every second! It was a truly intellectually stimulating environment she doesn’t quite have in HS. However, it was all her idea to accept the nomination and attend.
My S also did one at Oberlin and it definitely helped him shape what kind of school and program he is interested in, and he met some great professors. My understanding is that these kind of programs are not resume builders but do help kids see what they like.
My daughter did the Iowa Young Writer’s Studio at the University of Iowa. She really enjoyed the experience of living on campus for 2 weeks.
The best part was the social interaction. She’s still in touch with her roommate and another girl. They were very similar to her (as expected since they all applied and were selected to the program) so the commonality created a strong bond.
It does reinforce the idea that a school “fit” is very important and the people you meet determine your satisfaction.
She was also able to assess what type of campus she liked/disliked. Iowa facilities were very different than UMich so it gave her some perspective in choosing certain type of schools and campuses.
It depends on the program. If it’s pure pay-to-play, dont list it on their ECs. If it’s highly selective than do list it since they were chosen to participate.
Agree!
Back for the first time in a long time! D24 is my 3rd of 3; did this with D16 and S18. They were both state level athletes with 4.0s and 34/35 ACTs who we went on successfully merit hunts for.
(D16 went to Pitt with full tuition scholarship, graduated in Economics/Business and now is traveling the world for work at tech company. S18 was a National Merit Scholar, went to USCal, studying Physics/CS and comparing offers in aerospace.) I just put that because I know people are curious how things turn out sometimes!
ANYWAY D24 is a completely different person from her siblings or her parents. So I really don’t know how to help her. She will graduate hs with a fair number of AP courses (5-7 I’d guess). But I will be THRILLED if she gets a 30+ on her ACT. She will have a 3.9, but not a 4.0. And she is not a kid who thrives in a ultra-competitive environment. I get frustrated because when I google “supportive colleges” it tells me Yale, Stanford etc. No way in h*ll is she getting in those places!
We have visited a gazillion schools, but she “didn’t pay attention” when we visited for her sibs. Pitt is “too urban”. USC is “better” but “too warm”. Currently she like Northeastern (which I think is going to be too hard to get in, and too expensive if by some miracle she does get in!), and Marquette. We are in Wisconsin—she can get into UW Madison but didn’t like it when we visited plus “everyone” from her HS will go there and she wants to get away.
This is probably way way TMI…
Welcome! Would she be interested in a smaller school? Did you look into the colleges that change lives website? I believe they are more supportive, smaller schools in a variety of environments, many would be perfect for her stats.
If Marquette is an option, similar options like St Louis University, Creighton, U Dayton, Loyola and Tulsa might work. All should ultimately come in less expensive than Northeastern.
If your daughter is open to smaller schools, Macalester, Kenyon and Carleton might be of interest to her.
Just for fun- if your student has narrowed down their criteria for schools yet, what are the criteria?
S24 is interested in Sports Management and/or business and so far says:
Urban or College Town
Must have at least 10,000 undergrads, but prefers larger
Must be someplace it does not regularly snow or get super cold for long periods
Must have strong school spirit and a football team
So based on this he is looking at a lot of the SEC schools (Alabama, Auburn, Clemson, NCSU, etc.).
Ha! Almost total opposite
Undecided but probably double major with music BA
Rural or suburban town
small LAC
Cold is preferred, within 4 hours of NYC by road
will probably ED at Williams or Wesleyan unless over the next year decides to change to BFA in music performance.
My daughter who liked Marquette ended up at Saint Louis University (a bit better weather and she liked campus more). She is finding it to be an extremely supportive place with genuinely nice people. She picked it over some ultra competitive colleges- she did not want that atmosphere.
D24 doesn’t want anything too small (lifelong small school kid looking to see what life is like on the other side) but also isn’t into school spirit or sporting events so doesn’t need a large school either but she wants to be in a sorority. She also seems to prefer campuses that ‘look’ like college campuses (big buildings with similar aesthetic that looks somewhat ‘planned out’).
One random thing she seems to have honed in on is wanting a little ‘downtown’ where she can go for a little shopping, sunday brunch, coffee, etc. She’s hoping to find a school that has an area like this right off campus (walkable) and feels ‘urban chic’ without actually having the big city population, traffic, crime, etc. So far its been a fun challenge to look for this unicorn but I don’t imagine it will actually be the deciding factor come decision time!
My daughter did a pre-college summer program at a historically women’s college the summer after 9th grade. She lived in a student residence, ate in the dining halls, had classes with a tenured faculty member in campus lecture buildings and went on site visits relevant to the program topic. She got to do amazing primary research in the campus archives and at the end of the program she had the option to request a letter of recommendation from the faculty member she worked with. It was an amazing experience for her and she met other young women from around the world, and kept in touch with many of them throughout the rest of high school. 3 of her friend group from there ended up applying to the college, and 2 of them (including my daughter) ended up enrolling there. I do not think attending the program gave them any advantage in that school’s admissions process, other than it gave them excellent material to talk about throughout their “why X college” essays.