<p>Is the athlete part important to him? Does he want to play soccer at some level in college?</p>
<p>here is another reason to add more UC’s and to find some safeties. Because of Calif’s budget cuts to the UC"s, Berkeley will be accepting fewer freshman next year AND will increase the % of full pay OOS students from12-23%!That means a LOT fewer openings for Calif kids. </p>
<p>"To save money, Berkeley plans to reduce the size of next fall’s freshman class. The university intends to enroll about 15 percent fewer Californians, while at the same time nearly doubling its number of out-of-state and international students, who will generate millions of dollars in new revenue from higher, nonresident tuition.</p>
<p>The intended growth in nonresident students at Berkeley, from about 12 percent to 23 percent of the student body"</p>
<p>[As</a> Berkeley Enrolls More Out-of-State Students, Racial Diversity May Suffer - Admissions & Student Aid - The Chronicle of Higher Education](<a href=“http://chronicle.com/article/As-Berkeley-Enrolls-More/49049/]As”>http://chronicle.com/article/As-Berkeley-Enrolls-More/49049/)</p>
<p>It wouldn’t surprise me at all to learn that UCLA will end up doing the same thing.</p>
<p>This Washington Post article into tomorrow’s paper lists other top ranked colleges that are under financial pressure to move from “need blind” admissions to “need aware” admissions. </p>
<p><a href=“http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2010/01/08/AR2010010803584.html[/url]”>http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2010/01/08/AR2010010803584.html</a></p>
<p>“his entire schedule is AP/Honors courses with the exception of photography (AP Stats, AP English 3, AP History, Honors Spanish 3, AP Chemistry, and Photography 2) so we believe this is the correct track to get into a top school”
OP, what classes is he taking Sr year? Are AP Calculus and AP Physics offered and is he planning on taking them? And will his HS counselor be able to check YES when asked if your S took the most “rigorous classes available”? Because if he has any hope of getting into his reaches, especially into their Engineering programs, then he needs to have taken those 2 classes by the end of his Sr year at a minimum. For MIT he will need to have some outstanding outside EC’s related to his interest in engineering, such as math contests, robotics, summer programs such as SSP, MITES, etc. in order to be competitive. MIT especially is looking for top students with a passion to learn, as shown by their numerous science related EC’s.</p>
<p>Again, many thanks and understand on expanding the UC schools and am surprised about the UC Berkeley but recognize the budget pressure. </p>
<p>He is a gifted soccer player and played both Freshman and Soph years was Captain of the team Soph year. He also has played club soccer for the past 6 years and is currently on a team in the gold division (reference: only premeir is higher). He sustained an injury before the season this year and is out until next year. The junior year is really important for the recruiting so it’s a challenge on soccer but yes, he’d play if he could. A good example of what might work would be MIT which is a division 3 school with soccer.</p>
<p>On the Calculus, he was accelerated in 4th grade, again in 7th and completed AP Calculus B/C as a sophomore. The school doesn’t have any additional math classes and his schedule will be all AP classes next year. He will take AP physics or AP Environmental Science. We are considering an online Math class or going to a JC.</p>
<p>Donnagal - thank you for taking the time to write the details on Louisville. we’ve put that on our list…based on the feedback we are receiving on Calif school challenges we need to speak to our son more seriously on out of state schools.</p>
<p>He could probably get a merit scholarship and play great soccer, at least “club”, if not varsity ( division I) at Santa Clara. My son plays club soccer in N. Cal but academically is more of a Sonoma State kinda guy.</p>
<p>I believe MIT gives only need based financial aid…no athletic scholarships and no merit scholarships. I thought Stanford did the same, but I’m not sure about that.</p>
<p>I don’t know how you have the “funds put aside” for college. Depending on how you have those saved, they might be counted as available when computing need based aid for undergrad school. </p>
<p>USC offers a 1/2 tuition scholarship to NM finalists. I don’t know what they offer for commended students.</p>
<p>Many of the schools on your list are Division I Schools. Those schools will not really consider your son for athletic scholarships unless he is a recruited athlete being offered a scholarship (UCLA or UCB). </p>
<p>And remember too…if your child is a recruited athlete for a Division I school…the expectation is that he will do his sport first and foremost.</p>
<p>Do you NEED financial aid or do you want financial aid? Will you be eligible for need based aid?</p>
<p>Ooops! Santa Clara has intramural, but not club mens soccer.</p>
<p><a href=“http://scu.edu/recreation/intramural/Winter-Intramurals-Soccer.cfm[/url]”>http://scu.edu/recreation/intramural/Winter-Intramurals-Soccer.cfm</a></p>
<p>St. Mary’s is also Div I but someone on CC said the intro camp was “laid back” compared to some Somoma’s (Divion II) and probably a good place to look for merit money. I’m not sure if he wants to play in college, or if you mentioned it for some other reason. Is he not pursuing coaches at all? Is he doing any showcase tournaments?</p>
<p>I don’t believe we will qualify for financial aid. One question, can the PSAT be retaken? I will look into USC, Santa Clara and St Mary’s.</p>
<p>Why would he do that? oh! Maybe to qualify for NMS? I think there are some exceptions, but it seems pretty tied to the October test date. You should look up the exceptions.</p>
<p>Looks like anytime in the third year of school.
<a href=“http://www.nationalmerit.org/entering.php#enter[/url]”>http://www.nationalmerit.org/entering.php#enter</a></p>
<p>oh wait… only offered in Oct; exceptions are if you missed the test.</p>
<p><a href=“College Board - SAT, AP, College Search and Admission Tools”>College Board - SAT, AP, College Search and Admission Tools;
<p><a href=“http://www.nationalmerit.org/entering.php#miss[/url]”>http://www.nationalmerit.org/entering.php#miss</a></p>
<p>Not likely a 200+ scorer will be allowed to re-take the Jr. year PSAT</p>
<p>If merit scholarship is more important than the schools repultation to others, look at some smaller schools in CA that offer merit scholarship and are a D2 or D3 school where your S might be able to play soccer, even with Jr. year injury (unless that injury is long term and affects play.)</p>
<p>How do you know he is only commended already? Could be pleasantly surprised!</p>
<p>Just a suggestion since he wants to stay in California. The Claremont Colleges - includes Harvey Mudd (excellent for engineering) and Pomona - potential pre-med? Harvey Mudd has some merit scholarships not based on need. Pomona’s financial aid meets 100% need with no loans (I think Mudd does too). If he is willing to look at other parts of the country there are a lot of schools where his stats would earn merit money. Have you run a FAFSA forecast to estimate your EFC?</p>
<p>Oops. Just re-read post #24. Best wishes for a speedy recovery!</p>
<p>I just went off the table Menlomom provided in post #6, it had the 2010 results. Thanks for the Claremont suggestion.</p>
<p>I strongly suggest he take AP Physics BC next year instead of Environmental science. If he is serious about engineering or pre-med, he will have to take many Physics classes in college and AP physics will give him a strong base to start with. It is also considered a “serious” AP science class, whereas ES is considered an easier class . In order to have a better chance at his “super reach” colleges, he needs to have taken, and done well in, the most rigorous classes offered.
Harvey Mudd is a top notch school, and they do have some small merit scholarships, but I think they are based on NMF standing. The PSAT can’t be taken over once he is a Jr.</p>
<p>Thanks, agreed on the AP Physics v Environmental Science.</p>
<p>mrrkd2,</p>
<p>I’m glad to share what I know. By the way, I just looked and U of L has soccer in the BIG EAST conference. I don’t really follow sports, so don’t really know anything about how this ranks, but I see they got some awards this year</p>
<p>I’m sorry that your son missed the cut for NMSF. The competition made a huge difference in my life. It’s kind of a shame that one really small test should make such a big difference in people’s futures, but I’m sure glad that they are giving deserving young people the opportunities they do create. All I can say is that University of Louisville did very well by me.</p>
<p>I hope that you keep us all updated here on CC. Feel free to PM me and I’ll give you contact information if you wish.</p>
<p>If you will not qualify for need based aid your current list is not a good one. Stanford gives none, didn’t think MIT did either and UCs have reduced what scholarships they do give to small amounts.</p>
<p>While UCs are a relative bargain, they cost is going up fast and it may take most 5 years to graduate with budget cuts. USC is the only school on your list where you’re looking at significant money, but probably only enough to make the cost the same as UCs.</p>
<p>Wow, your son/daughter sounds amazing.Truly exceptional. However, I just want to throw it out there that it’s very difficult to pursue a degree in a very time-consuming, dense major like Engineering or Medicine. Especially in an extremely competitive universities. I have some friends who tried that and found the arrangement wasn’t working for them.
Since he/she has an amazing GPA and SAT score already, it might be wiser to apply for a top college without promising to join an athletic team. However, this is truly up to your child and of course, it’s definitely possible that he/she will be very successful balancing both.</p>
<p>As for the athletic scholarships, I think the rest of the posters in this thread covered that.</p>
<p>Good luck!</p>