<p>We expected DS to like Tufts for Engineer. He enjoyed his IB classes and did a lot of music (including theater music ensemble composing/conducting) in hs. In his case, he preferred STEM school. I was relieved because Tufts was full pay for us. But… I left our campus tour a fan of the school! </p>
<p>Somewhat related to “STEM” and engineering as a career path:</p>
<p>I could not make sense of this:</p>
<p><a href=“http://mobile.bloomberg.com/news/2014-10-19/ibm-agrees-to-pay-globalfoundries-1-5-billion-to-take-chip-unit.html”>http://mobile.bloomberg.com/news/2014-10-19/ibm-agrees-to-pay-globalfoundries-1-5-billion-to-take-chip-unit.html</a></p>
<p>One interpretation may be: It is no longer good to get into this field because even our major company thinks it is good to get rid of its semiconductor chip unit.</p>
<p>For people who may not know: Globalfoundries is kind of a spin-off from AMD (its fab related business.) AMD got rid of this unit many years ago when it was no longer justified for it to own its own semiconductor fab. Globalfoundries is currently owned by an investment arm of Abu Dahbi, likely because few first-world investors think the semiconductor fab is a good business to get into.</p>
<p>I haven’t read thru all of the answers so I apologize if this is a repeat. I have noticed that many of the ‘name’ or Ivy schools offer better financial aid. For example, families with incomes of $250 K still qualify for reduced tuition. So if he thinks he his saving money by not applying to the Ivies that may not necessarily be the case. Also, if you look at the ROI (according to payscale) many of the ‘name’ universities do result in higher salaries. </p>
<p>@gondalineNJ - He did visit Tufts. My husband took him instead of me, so I don’t have any impressions. S was very neutral about it. Both H & S were a bit turned off by the kid giving the info session, and didn’t find anything that jumped out at them to love. I’ve been very surprised that he didn’t like Tufts or Brown, and I might try to get him to look again in late November/early December. It wouldn’t be that hard to add other schools since all he’d need to do is write another essay.
I think college visits are great, but sometimes I think too much rides on a single visit. We visited Brown on a raw rainy day at the end of a long week of visiting colleges which included being stranded in Williamstown for an extra day after our car broke down visiting Williams (also off the list). I often wonder if it would have been different if we’d visited on a beautiful sunny day at the beginning of the week.</p>
<p>^My younger son applied to Chicago without seeing it, and when he got in EA he refused to look at it until the spring. His reasoning was, that he was already unsure if he wanted to go that far away, so he wanted to see it at it’s best, not at its worst. </p>
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<p>Perhaps you can relate this story to your son…My daughter visited Brown in November of her junior year also on a raw rainy day. She liked it but not cause of the campus or anything. She applied. She liked what she knew about the school. So, it was one of her favorites, but not really so much because of the visit. So, in April of senior year, she narrowed her acceptances down to her favorites (and let me add, that “going to an Ivy” was not important to her and in fact, when she narrowed the acceptances down to three to revisit, she knocked out her acceptance to Penn and revisited Brown, Tufts, and Smith). Well, the two day accepted student event at Brown was GORGEOUS weather, the first sunny warm days of the year. It was like she was at a school she had never seen before. Everyone was out and about on the campus greens. The whole two days were spectacular in all she explored and stayed in a dorm, etc. At the end of the event when I rendezvoused with her and we were headed to the overnight event at Tufts (would be our third visit to Tufts), my daughter said, “I want to go to Brown and I am willing to go to the bookstore to get the sweatshirt” (which my kids don’t get until they finally make a decision). She got the sweatshirt but we still went to the Tufts event since we had signed up for it (and she truly liked Tufts). But the deal was sealed at Brown at that two day event. And even I thought the campus was not as a remembered it on that rainy day in junior year (and I had seen Brown years ago when my brother had attended!). The difference in the visit was so drastic. It seems to me that Brown fits your son and a revisit might be of interest. It has everything he is seeking.</p>
<p>Two years ago my son’s stats looked very much like your son’s. We pushed him to apply to top schools, including EA at Harvard. He was deferred so we thought that was the end of it. He was accepted to many good fit schools and made plans to go to one of them. He then unexpectedly was accepted to Harvard. He was not thrilled. We encouraged him to go. He hated his first year. We encouraged him to give it another try and tried to address all of his issues with the school. He came home this May and refused to go back. He is working this year and trying to decide where he is going to finish his degree. My advice is LISTEN to your child! If they don’t really want “a degree that opens doors” there may be a reason! My son never felt comfortable there, socially or academically. </p>
<p>@momofmykids - thank you for sharing that. I agree with you - I wouldn’t want to push him to go if he didn’t want to. Although he is generally a very easy-going kid, it’s never worked well to push things on him that he didn’t want. He could really dig his heels in. I’d like him to have as many choices in April as possible so that he doesn’t wonder “what if,” but if he decides to stop applying once he’s finished with these 8 schools, I will not force the issue.</p>
<p>@colorado_mom: what did you have in mind when you said “grad school”? For STEM programs, many public RUs are just as highly-regarded as Ivies (and many LACs send their kids on to get PhDs as well). For law school, LSAT and GPA are almost all that matter. For med school, MCAT, GPA, and research/ECs (definitely at public med schools). So unless you have in mind MBA programs (where where you worked before is often a bigger factor) or humanities programs, I don’t see going to an Ivy as giving you a leg up. And that is when compared to state schools. I very much doubt any (as in, I’m almost certain no) grad school would give brownie points to someone who went to Harvard/Yale/Brown over someone who went to Brandeis/Wesleyan.</p>
<p>As for the OP, what doors did you have in mind that you think would be open to a Harvard/Yale/Brown grad that wouldn’t be to a Brandeis/Wesleyan grad? For sure, the strength of a certain program at a school may matter. So for instance, Facebook recruits at Harvard and Brown but not Yale or Brandeis or Wesleyan. In general, though, in terms of opportunities, remember that CC isn’t the real world. What your son does and his own effort, talents, and character (as well as pure old-fashioned luck) will have a much more gigantic say in how successful he becomes than whether he goes to Brandeis/Wesleyan or Harvard/Yale/Brown.</p>
<p>@Awesomekidsmom The list seems fine. </p>
<p>My precocious D shunned Harvard too. She didn’t want to go there and found it “dark”. She thought that if she got in, she would have faced intense pressure from her school to attend and she had other schools in mind. She went her own way to a school that served her well. </p>
<p>I don’t see your Awesomekid getting turned down by Brandeis and that will be a great fit. He might like Tufts too. They are not THAT different. </p>
<p>Not sure what’s so great about Hampshire. I’ve always heard that it sounded and smelled like a Grateful Dead concert, but perhaps I’m uninformed. </p>
<p>@ClassicRockerDad - We didn’t expect much when we pulled into the driveway at Hampshire (it looked like a farm and they were selling maple syrup in the admissions office). However, the students running the information session and doing the tour just blew us away. They were engaged, knowledgeable, bright, friendly, and definitely on the quirky side. On the academic side, we really liked the hands on, project-based, design your own major thing. My son goes to a small charter school with a very similar emphasis and it seemed like a good fit. He’s very motivated and self-directed so I think he could be very successful there. It would be a disaster for a kid who needs more structure. I think that kind of kid could easily spend 4 years there living like it WAS a Dead concert. We are a little concerned about the lack of letter-graded math/science classes, but he could always take a few classes at Amherst. Right now I’d place my money on his going to Brandeis.</p>
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<p>As someone who used to live around the corner from Hampshire I became aware of this riddle:</p>
<p>Why does Hampshire College have such a long driveway?</p>
<p>To remind the students of home.</p>
<p>Btw, Hampshire not only looks like a farm. It is a farm, and was built in an apple orchard. <a href=“Hampshire College Farm | Hampshire College”>https://www.hampshire.edu/farm/hampshire-college-farm</a></p>
<p>@ClassicRockerDad - I think you are misinformed about Hampshire. Have you visited or know anyone who attends/attended? My older son is in his last year there and it’s been perfect for him. As @Awesomekidsmom said, it’s very hands on, small classes and project oriented. Being able to attend classes at the other four colleges is a huge benefit. My son actually asked his Amherst professors to write narrative evaluations as well as a letter grade because he feels he benefits from the 3-4 page narrative so much more than a letter grade. Hampshire will provide a transcript of grades if it’s needed. Hampshire is in the top 50 schools whose students move on to advanced degrees - given how it’s structured, that’s hardly a surprise. </p>
<p>Of all the tours and information sessions we attended - and over the course of two boys who were interested in very different experiences - Hampshire’s was the best by far. It wasn’t on my son’s radar at all - he wanted to be in Boston or NYC. We toured UMass/Amherst and visited Hampshire as an after thought. And were blown away by everything it has to offer. My son would absolutely choose Hampshire were he to do it again. Grateful Dead concert? Hardly!</p>
So, in the end, he did not apply to any other schools. He’s heard from 4 of his early action schools - all acceptances. UMass Amherst accepted him into the Honors college with a 2K Dean’s scholarship; UMass Lowell accepted him into the Honors College and named him a Chancellor’s Scholar with an absolute free ride (tuition, fees, and room & board); Northeastern Accepted him into the Honors College with 18K/year (can’t remember if they called it President’s or Dean’s scholarship); and WPI accepted him with 16K/year merit scholarships. We are waiting to hear from Hampshire in February, and BU, Brandeis, and Wesleyan in March. He is getting pressure from friends and HS administration to take the full ride at UMass Lowell, but I doubt he will go that route.
There is no need to discuss his acceptances further with HS administration, friends, and relatives. This is your son’s and your decision…not theirs.
Congratulations on those acceptances. Good luck on the remaining ones!
I’m not discussing them. His principal pulled him out of math class to discuss it, so everyone knows. My husband and I are making it clear to him that we’ve been saving for this since before he was born, so money is a secondary issue at most. We want him to find the best fit, and plan to have him revisit any school that’s of interest and do an overnight at the top 2 contenders at a minimum. I just wish Brandeis had an early action option.
He needs to learn to say “I would prefer not to discuss my college choices until I have made my own decision about where I will attend.”
His principal has a bit of nerve discussing the finances with him. It is NONE of the principal’s business…and I would make that clear.
If the principal discussed this with your son, how would everyone else know? I sure hope the principal didn’t share this info.
Why does the HS administration want him to go to UMass-Lowell?
We did not care where HS administration wanted our kid to go, and neither did she. We simply ignored all advices. Nobody can force anybody to go to any place.
Our family did not share financial aid awards, acceptances, etc with the high school administration. The school does not receive information about financial aid awards, merit or need based. The family would need to provide this info…and quite frankly, it is none of the school’s business.
I still can’t believe a HS admin would query a student about financial aid awards, and then venture an unsolicited opinion about where the student should go to college.
This is a family decision. If my kid had been subject to,this type of conversation, I would have taken issue with the whole thing…with the administration. It is none of their business. Period.
But back to the OP…your son is doing great with acceptances. Good luck with the remaining pending applications. I’m sure your son will find a great place for college out of his acceptances.