<p>New here. Discovered this site recently and learned so much. Thank you. ;)</p>
<p>S is a senior, a top student, now applying for college. Started researching a while ago and found that top colleges are flooded with top students. :( A little surprised and depressed at first.</p>
<p>Well, moving on to keep up with new posts, go through old posts, post college list to seek opinions and hope for the best.</p>
<p>Welcome! Two things you’ll learn on CC - yes, competition for top schools is crazy these days . . . thanks a lot, US News. But also, the vast majority of those kids who didn’t get into the “reach” school that they longed for really do bloom where they’re planted and a year or two later, can’t imagine ever having considered being elsewhere. Not much comfort when you’re going through the competition stress, but the end result is most often an eventually happy one.</p>
<p>I agree with gadad. Many of my daughters friends, with 4.0 and higher gpa, were not accepted at any of their first choices. But most seem to be adjusting well, and are happy where they are now.</p>
<p>welcome! just remember 3 things:
1] take lots of deep breathes when you feel yourself getting stressed, and don’t let it get you or your S down
2] remember the CC manta- Love Thy Safety! Make sure your son has a safety where both he and you will be happy! [fit and money-wise] It’s harder to find great safeties than it is to find the Reaches that every top student aspires to.
3] ask us if you have questions! many here have been through the college application process already and come back to help the “newbies”.</p>
<p>Thank you for all your advice. I appreciate the support and info. Perhaps those Lamaze breathing technique from long ago can come in handy now also :)</p>
<p>I just posted S college list on the College Search forum. I’ll see what others think.</p>
<p>We also worried that our D, a top student, would have a hard time getting into a top college, but we found that it did work out and she found out that it did make sense for her to apply to a range of schools, a mixture of “safeties” (financial and otherwise) and “reaches”. </p>
<p>Remember that it’s basically a crap shoot, a kind of lottery, although there are a few things that will help some applicants get into “the lottery” in the first place, like high GPA, very good standardized test scores.</p>
<p>“I just posted S college list on the College Search forum. I’ll see what others think.”
post it on the parents forum too, unless you mostly want advise from a bunch of HS students, lol!</p>
<p>good advice menloparkmom!</p>
<p>I would just add that over these past few months - I have found that the deep breathing is much more effective if combined with a glass (or two) of wine! :)</p>
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<p>. . . and the corollary to the mantra is “Afford Thy Safety.” There are admissions safeties where you fell certain you will be accepted, and financial safeties where you feel certain you can afford to go if accepted. You’ll want to have at least one safety that’s both an admissions and financial safety.</p>
<p>The other cc mantra: Love the kid on the couch. It’s a stressful time for all.</p>
<p>LOL, I just started here and I am already loving it! You are all great.</p>
<p>Grcxx3, I will go stock up on the wine.</p>
<p>gadad, I think finding the financial safety is the hardest. We probably won’t qualify for much need based aid. Still clueless on colleges that might give S merit aid and S wants to go to.</p>
<p>menloparkmom, I am still trying to nevigate through the forums, sub-forums, sub-sub-forums and trying to post the proper way. Well, I copied the other post here</p>
<p>Is this a balance list? </p>
<hr>
<p>S is a senior at a CA top public school (US News ranks it top 100). After some research this summer, here is his list.</p>
<p>His stat:
Unweighted gpa - 4.0
Weighted gpa - not sure how his school weights
UC gpa - 4.45
Completed 6 AP/Honors and taking 5 this year
SAT I - 2290 (CR 710, Math 790, Writing 790)
SAT II - Chem 800, Math II 790, US History 750
EC - the usual, sports, volunteer</p>
<p>Colleges:
Safety - UC Santa Barbara, UC Irvine, UC San Diego
Match - University of Michigan, USC, UC Berkeley, UCLA
Reach - Yale, Princeton, Brown</p>
<p>With this those stats, you and S will have lots and lots of options for merit aid. It all depends on how far down the prestige list you are willing to go. Two examples: I would think that S would have a very good chance for full tuition at University of Pittsburgh and University of Richmond. Not pushing those school in particular; just examples.</p>
<p>Busy MEi- congrats to you and son. Love your list.
Berkeley and Michigan are more likely matches and are great schools!!!</p>
<p>My valedictorian son with stats like your sons is at his safetly (Miami) and decided to go over Berkeley which is out of state for us and save the money for grad school. He got a full ride there with lots of perks. You may want to add it as a safety, both academically and financially.</p>
<p>Good luck to you.</p>
<p>You might also consider Rice and WashU. Two good schools that offer merit scholarships.</p>
<p>You are lucky that your son has the grades as well as the test scores to do well anywhere. You also seem to realize the concept of reach/match/safety. RELAX. Let your son apply to colleges on his list and see what happens. Let him make a list of priorities in a school and decide which seem to be his best fits. All of the schools on his list can give him a good education with his academic and social peers. </p>
<p>I notice he lists Michigan as the only midwestern school, I suspect it is by reputation alone, not region or weather. He could also check out UW-Madison if the upper midwest is truly on his radar. Instate schools and east coast ivies also make sense as choices.</p>
<p>Top students are competing with a nationwide pool of other equally good students for a limited number of spaces in the most elite schools. They also have all of the schools to consider. He may find it less time consuming to apply to only one or two rolling admissions schools along with his other top picks and only apply to others lower on his list if he is denied/waitlisted by those.</p>
<p>You are lucky to live in a state you have excellent public college choices. His biggest decision next spring may be whether or not to leave his home state comfort zone. He should visit the northern schools in winter to determine if weather will be a major factor- UW and Michigan do get Californians who love their school despite the weather, but also fall off many student’s lists because of that fourth season.</p>
<p>Wherever he goes he will potentially have a great experience. There is no one perfect school for any student, even the top ones. Do not worry- unless your son is like mine was and doesn’t get those apps done until the last minute (“but the deadline is midnight CALIFORNIA time” from my central time zone son near 2 am a few short years ago). Sounds like you and your son are in great shape. Remind him to keep those grades up and enjoy his final year of HS (both possible for students like him).</p>
<p>PS- crossposted with someone recommending other midwest schools. He needs to identify his reasons for picking Michigan alone in the midwest as his list is ignoring many other possibilites. Is it just that he has heard of the school or does he really think of the midwest as a viable place to spend 4 years? There are other large liberal public schools (UW may compare to Berkeley in this) and other factors to consider. He may want other nonCA schools on his “match” list.</p>
<p>As I’ve posted before, Tulane University gives fantastic merit aid, and judging from his stats, I think your S would get an excellent package. I think it’s because they’re still trying to recover from the students they lost because of Katrina, but I’m not sure. And if I remember correctly, they will tell you a month after you apply. My son received a positive resonse early in the application process, and he didn’t have to write a long essay. They just called it a “writing sample.”</p>
<p>BusyMei,
Your son is sure to be accepted at USC, BUT in order to be CONSIDERED for Merit $$ he MUST have his application completed and submitted by Dec 1. If he is a NMSF he will get an automatic 1/2 tuition scholarship for 4 years. He might be eligible for their full tuition Trustee scholarships as well- they are decided after interviews in Feb or March.</p>
<p>wis75,
University of Michigan is on the list because it is dad’s alma mater. Michigan is like second home to us with family there so it is an exception. S basically only wants the 2 coasts. He wants a big college because he likes people, sports and activities. He wants to be at a more urban area not too close to home. He said he is moving away to college so he wants to be away.</p>
<p>menloparkmom,
We visited USC and was told the deadlines. Our high school is very slow and takes a long time to do anything. They have a process setup that everyone requesting SSR/recs must fill out this packet. On the packet, it says it will take them at least 1 month! Maybe it is beacause >80% go to a 4 year college and many to top ones. During college app season, the office must have huge piles of SSR/recs to do.</p>
<p>no,no,no… Only your SON’S part of the application needs to be submitted by Dec 1.So as long as he hits the send button, before Dec 1, you’ll be fine. Colleges know that teacher rec’s, transcript will roll in. Don’t worry, but have your S remind his teachers to make sure they get them submitted asap.</p>
<p>Oh! That is great to know. Thank you.</p>
<p>In that case, there is no problem. I think the USC essay is done which is what takes the most time.</p>
<p>Now, when I am told a deadline, I dont know if it is just submitting the app or need to receive the complete package.</p>
<p>S already submitted his app to U of Mich last week. U of Mich sent back an email with student id and said app is being processed but will not be reviewed until everything is in (SSR/rec/transcript). To receive the early response, everything must be received by 11/1. So in this case, submitting is not enough. S went to talk to teacher and counselor several times already to try to speed up the process. I am so stress over this. Ok, more deep breathe. Should I go talk to them?</p>