My dd is a high school senior with pretty good test scores and grades (SAT 1470 EBWR 680, MATH 790), unweighted GPA 3.95 and she happens to be an URM (African American) who wants to major in a STEM. DD has applied to 12 schools (Alabama A&M, Southern, Tennessee St., Florida A&M, Georgia Tech, UGA, Howard, Hampton, North Carolina A&T, Tulane, LSU, and Xavier University of Louisiana. DD has been accepted to 11 of the schools (waiting on Georgia Tech EA) including to the Honors Colleges at UGA, Tulane, and LSU. I have been very proud of her accomplishments, but I have had both family and acquaintances ask why she hasn’t applied to more match and reach schools in her college search. My wife and I throughly enjoyed our HBCU experiences and have many friends who are living amazingly fabulous lifestyles so I have never thought of her applications to 8 HBCUs and 4 PWIs as lacking, but maybe I have been biased by my own experience. When I have spoken to dd about what to look for in a college I have always talked about about fit (how the school works for you) and function (will the school get you where you want to go without breaking the bank). CC Family, what are your thoughts?
If she is satisfied with her choices, then that is good. If she wants to apply to more schools, there is still time. At the end of the day, it is her that is going to take advantage of the opportunities at the college and it is what she does while she is there not the school itself that will necessarily matter the most. If she is applying to schools that fit her and is affordable, then that is great for her! It’s not necessarily anyone else’s business. If other people have suggestions, that could be good too – if your daughter is also interested. But if not, it’s not their life anyway. One of the smartest girls in my school who was an URM went to the same school as that her parents were alumni of, even though she probably could have gotten into plenty of other ones. She is doing great, it is about the person not the school.
Congratulations to your daughter. Her choices are hers and hers alone. Tell the family members and acquaintances how proud of your daughter you are and that you support all of her choices. It’s really none of their business.
Congratulations to your daughter. Terrific choices!!!
My free advice…stop talking about where she has applied to college with folks…it’s just going to be a sore spot. If anyone asks, politely say “she has applied to a nice range of colleges that she likes a lot, and has already gotten some nice acceptances. We look forward to sharing her college choice…in MAY.”
You may need to repeat the last sentence over and over…
But you and your daughter have made some excellent decisions for her. No need to feel badly about any of them! And really…just say no more until May when she makes her matriculation decision!
I believe that my daughter is happy with her choices. The hardest thing at this point is dealing with one of her grandparents who has some pretty strong opinions. I have been taking the brunt of the heat but I am used to it. I will be glad once May 1st gets here.
If your D has affordable choices that she is happy with and you are happy with that is all that matters. Ignore the noise.
Do you know the answer to the question yourself? Is your income so high that it work against any URM boost at an endowment school? Tulane is there for merit, right? So why not an endowment lottery for FA chances? 100K salary might still garner significant FA in the tippy tops. If I had your ear, I would ask if you did look at such NPCs and what your DD actually had to say if money wasn’t the obstacle.
I thought I knew the answer, but the grandparent has always had a way of using the Jedi Mind Trick on me so I am not as sure as I once was.
I ask because I don’t hear in your post, what your DD thinks, I hear what you think.
Personally, I think sometimes when people see an academically advanced URM during the college application process, they feel that shooting for those extremely elite schools (HYP, etc) should be the ultimate goal (believing that they’re a shoo-in). I feel that even though Howard may be the Holy Grail in some circles, other people feel that for those URMs with Ivy like stats, it’s more of a safety. JMHO
My son didn’t want anything other than large state colleges that excelled in his major. That was fine with us! What other people think is irrelevant! He is happy, he will be successful and he has made great contacts. A lot of people here look down on larger colleges that aren’t in the top 20, 50 or 100. I don’t care about that. Go where your student fits and you can afford!
Her list of schools were completely picked by her besides 2 schools she added (one is uncle’s alma mater and one was added because they have lots of merit aid which was my suggestion:)
I agree with others. If you and your daughter are happy with her choices, and she is getting acceptances, and you can afford the schools, then be happy and don’t worry about it.
We had a similar situation with my youngest only applying to small universities in Canada (we live in the US but she has dual citizenship). Friends kept asking why she didn’t apply to reach schools in the US. She ended up going to a very good small university in eastern Canada, likes it a lot, and is doing very well there.
IMHO your terms “fit” and “function” are a very good way to think about it.
It is Dec 29, so your D has 2 more days. Yes, if she were my kid I would have her apply to some top 20 schools. With her stats and being an URM she would have great chance. If I were paying the same for those schools (no FA or merit) I would have her go to the best school possible. There have been many discussions about whether going to top tier schools matter, so I won’t go into that again in this thread.
@ChangeTheGame Wow. What an amazing daughter. You might have full ride or close to it options with a few more apps if you are interested.
If she is applying to Georgia Tech (a very good school) then why not MIT, Berkeley, Cal Tech, Stanford, CMU?
If you are instate for GT, and she is a shoo in, then you win anyway. Is that the plan?
I am guessing you’re from the South and she wants to say (generally) in the South? Can you just shut people up by saying that your DD doesn’t want to go so far from home (i.e. that’s why she’s not applying to Yale). Or she wants to go to a HBCU, and not to Princeton? I dunno. I’d just try to ignore these opinionated folks.
We are in the south (Georgia). Right now she is saying that is staying south but wants to leave GA. Right now, Howard and Tulane are probably tied but the financial aid will probably break that tie. We are working on outside scholarship money to hopefully make the money piece work regardless. UGA and GT (if she gets in) would both be affordable so she knows she has to get money to leave GA.
@ChangeTheGame I think that she will excel wherever she goes. As a low pressure option with whopping aid, you might want to consider University of Alabama Huntsville. Huntsville is a great tech area. GTech, MIT, Berkeley… will be high pressure. It seems like your D values fit and comfort and good for her. Really she does well wherever but you could have a few more financially great options. Even Arizona State which has an amazing honors college or University of Arizona.