Realistic evaluation of my son, hs junior

Chance Me / Match Me!
1

<p>My son is a high school junior at a 5A public school known for basketball, in Texas. I'm looking for some harsh truth if necessary, because my husband and I think he is pretty phenomenal, but S insists he's not nearly as great as we think he is. So, can I get some feedback on how he looks in terms of Ivies, Rice, Vanderbilt, UChicago, Stanford caliber schools. </p>

<p>Class rank: 1/796
UW GPA: 4.0
W GPA: 4.6
SAT: 800M, 780CR, 790W
He has not yet taken ACT or SAT II</p>

<p>APs: He took two APs as a sophomore, AP WAP and AP Lit. He scored 5s on both. This year he is taking APUSH, AP Calc AB, AP Comp Sci, AP Lang. He has As in all of these so far. Next year he plans to take: AP Calc BC, AP Physics, AP Govt, AP Econ(micro and macro). </p>

<p>He is a varsity swimmer. He's been on his high school swim team since 9th grade. Summers he does club swim. He isn't great, but he lettered and made regionals as a sophomore and he is a strong swimmer if not a star. </p>

<p>He is captain of his UIL academic team in spelling and also lettered in spelling as a sophomore, first time in school history. This year he's added four more categories. He's also in Mu Alpha Theta, Rho Kappa, NHS. (He was president of NJHS in junior high and plans to seek a leadership role next year. Only senior are allowed leadership roles in academic groups at his school.)</p>

<p>He volunteers every Tuesday summers and holidays cooking and cleaning to help feed poor seniors in the community through his grandparent's church. He's done this since he was 13/14. It is 6 hours a week. We've never attended this church, but he met them through my parents and he likes talking to the seniors. He's done other volunteer activities in the past, but nothing else currently. </p>

<p>He works sporadically, writing online articles for pay, through ehow and odesk. He's been paid for publishing over 30 articles so far. He plans to work this summer as a lifeguard at the Natatorium where he trains. He has no other work history. </p>

<p>He is a self taught musician and plays melodica, accordion, banjo, ukulele, electric guitar and acoustic guitar. </p>

<p>We have encouraged him to not spend summers and free time doing academic stuff. I wanted him to try and do things he likes, not things to pad a resume. Hence the music, swimming and writing. So, he's never done research or independent study, etc. He did attend one-week camps at UT-Arlington and Vanderbilt, and he won an award at UTA for a video game he designed, but he's the first to say it was no big deal. He has no big regional, state or national awards, except for winning an 8th grade writing contest for students in north Texas. His ECs feel light. But with swim team and academic team, he has no time for anything else. </p>

<p>He wants to study mechanical engineering. He's half white, half Asian, solidly upper-ish middle class. He's the oldest of three kids. He will need merit aid. We have no legacy or connections anywhere.</p>

2

<p>He is DEFINITELY on the right track towards those schools if he can write kick-ass essays. </p>

<p>Also, encourage him to do more volunteering that is centered what he’s interested in. Personally, I’m never impressed by churchgoing volunteers. </p>

<p>Tell him to take the ACT as soon as possible (with writing) because it’s SUPER easy. I got a 32 with no prep and I’m nowhere near the stats of what he has. He could definitely get a 36. Also, two SAT II’s should be fine. </p>

<p>Btw…</p>

<p>In the game of college and at the top level schools, most kids DO NOT get merit aid because everyone is so phenomenal. If he wants Merit aid, he will need to look at schools at a slightly lower tier below the ivies and stanford. Rice is like that. However, if you want him to go to the best school he can get into, he will either need to be pulled in by a D1 coach or you’ll have to pay full price. Unfortunately, the difference between needing and not needing aid can make the difference between two applicants. In the end, colleges are businesses and want money.</p>

3

<p>The only kind of aid he might be able to get is need-based, based on your economic standing. I think if a family collectively makes less than 60k a year, any accepted ivy student will attend for free</p>

4

<p>I second (or third) the thought about applying for need-based aid rather than merit at the schools you have in mind. Merit aid would be available at schools like UA, or more locally from Trinity Univ. </p>

<p>Chances of admission at most schools are a good bit higher in early decision rounds, so encourage him to visit and identify his favorites within the coming 12 months in anticipation of applying EDI or SCEA (assuming you become comfortable with the financial aspects of binding early decision).</p>

<p>Have him work on deepening his relationships with a couple or three of his current-year teachers who might write strong recommendations for him next fall. Many people overlook the value of recs in the process, but they can be key to getting into at least some of the schools you mentioned. The criteria on which teachers are asked to report are broad and varied, making it important to get to know teachers junior year. The teacher eval form goes way beyond academics and also asks about intellectual promise, writing, creativity, class discussion, faculty respect, work habits, maturity, motivation, leadership, integrity, resilience, collaborative, self-confidence, and initiative.</p>

5

<p>With a combined SAT of 2370, I would discount the advice to take the ACT. How do you gild the lily? I also think your son’s volunteer work seems like a genuine commitment to a good cause, so I would discount the negative comment about it being church-related. Having said that, the old CC adage that no one is a guaranteed admit to an Ivy holds true. Also, each of the Ivies and their peers have very distinct atmospheres - so it is more important to identify those you like, why you like them, and find other schools that are similar. There are plenty of academically challenging, prestigious colleges and universities, large and small, that would be a good fit for your son and provide the experience he wants and needs. For a student of his abilities, there could be $$ involved, too.</p>

6

<p>He does not need to take the ACT, he already has a 2370 on the SAT. He will need to take a couple of subject tests, be sure he takes those this spring so he has a window for retake in the fall if he is not happy with his scores. But my guess is that he will be fine given his history.</p>

<p>You are right, he is an exception kid (humble, too!) :slight_smile: He definitely has a shot at all of those schools. Obviously a lot of people with great credentials apply to all of them, but he is very strong. His ECs seem fine to me, too, don’t worry about that.</p>

<p>You say he will need merit aid – have you run the net price calculator for the schools he is interested in? Many of the schools on your list do not give merit aid (Ivies) or the merit awards are insanely competitive. But financial aid is also generous at many of them, so check out the calculators on the financial aid pages. Not sure if you have looked into merit aid much yet, but generally the higher the kid’s stats compared to the pool of applicants, the higher and more likely the merit aid awards are.</p>

<p>What kind of schools is he interested in? Some kids want a smaller environment – everyplace you mentioned is fairly large. I am just wondering what his preferences are. After you run the net price calculators and check out any merit aid awards available, you probably should have him visit the schools that seem like his top choices. He is an automatic admit to UT-Austin, right? Does he like it, and can you afford it? If that is the case, then he doesn’t need to find as many match & safety schools as other students might. If not, you will want to spend some time researching colleges that offer merit aid. USC gives a nice half tuition break to National Merit Finalists if he will be one, for example. A lot of liberal arts colleges once you get past the top 10-15 give merit aid, you can usually find details on their financial aid web pages. He might be a strong candidate for something like the full ride scholarships at a place like Kenyon if he would be interested in a smaller LAC environment. If you don’t have a Fiske Guide to Colleges yet, it is a great way to identify and research schools that you may not know much about yet. There are a lot of colleges that offer a great education that may not be on your radar. Your son sounds like he will bloom where he is planted, so he is a very good candidate for getting a good financial deal at a school that isn’t tippy top, but will still get him wherever he wants to go in life if he does well.</p>

<p>One school you might consider adding is U of Chicago, it is one of the few top colleges that gives merit. We also found their need based aid to be generous last year (I think they may have picked up their game on that in recent years as part of their push to go up in the rankings). My kid got need based aid from them last year when initially no other school offered it. We were then able to take the need based offer from U of C and ask other colleges to “review” their offers in light of the lower COA at U of C, and get a better award from D2’s first choice. So Chicago can be worth the application for that reason alone if he gets in – it was for us.</p>

7

<p>Thanks for all of the feedback. </p>

<p>On the church volunteering, I just want to clarify, this is not our church. We are not even Christian. He found the opportunity through his grandparents’ church that runs a program to feed needy seniors and he really enjoyed it. He sets tables, washes dishes, carries trays for people, chats with the seniors, sweeps, etc. </p>

<p>He’s taking the SAT II in January. That will give him time to retake if needed. I doubt he will need it, as he does so well on tests.</p>

<p>Our income is over 100K. Not so much over that we can shell out 50-60k per year for college, especially with two more kids along the way. The recession wiped out our savings and we are still recovering from that. </p>

<p>He wants to go to medical school, but he wants a BS in mechanical engineering first.</p>

8

<p>Oh, and he is automatic admission at U Texas with good aid, and that is where he plans as his safe school.</p>

9

<p>No need for a 2370 on the SAT1 to take the ACT… just get 700+ on the SAT2s at this point.</p>

<p>However all these are reachable…</p>