<p>So glad to hear all the varied responses (this is why I love CC) :)</p>
<p>I will answer all the Q’s -</p>
<p>Tulane does not have Engineering - even though it seemed to be a great fit for son
USC - Already applied
UCLA - we have missed the date and also the UC’s were dropped from the short list last minute due to GC’s insistence to son (he listens to her) So now we have an extra option
DU - Was never on my radar - GC told son that she thinks its perfect for him
10 apps - Maximum our school allows (they send the docs on line)
UT Austin - forgot to mention that he has applied there, but as OOS not very optimistic
Stanford - kept as a dream school until we hear back from GT and SCU.</p>
<p>Thanks once again!</p>
<p>What do you guys think about U Miami as another option (DU is out for sure now)?</p>
<p>No opinion about U Miami, sorry, but why not U of Washington? Though their application is separate from the common app, pain in the butt. Weather is pretty good, little rain in the winter (rarely cold though). Top programs for CS and Engineering.</p>
<p>Dunno Busdriver…trying to limit the options at this point, I remember researching a while back on it and that it was a big school, not sure.</p>
<p>Lot of CC posters have said good things about U of Miami, small classes, has the program son wants (he is now an official Apple iPhone Software developer with 4 of his products in the app store!), good weather, nice campus, good international mix of students etc. Have also read about the negatives and I feel those are going to be there no matter where he goes.</p>
<p>We will visit all the colleges he is applying to in March-end, with the EA decisions on GT and SCU coming in soon, will book the tickets.</p>
<p>I am even trying to convince son to drop Stanford from his list (too many essays with a miracle possibility of getting in) and choose another safety. But given his passion for CS I know he should at east apply to get closure.</p>
<p>Definitely let him apply to Stanford. Our deal with our kids was that if you have safety schools on your list that you would actually like to attend, then you can apply to any school on the planet no matter how low the chances are of acceptance.</p>
<p>Here is my opinion…admissions to USD and SMU are probably in the same league of competitiveness as SCU. And demographically they are similar schools. I wouldn’t bother with USD or SMU as “safeties”.</p>
<p>Sorry…but if someone likes WARM weather, Denver is not the city for them. I’ve been there in the winter and it is NOT warm most of the time.</p>
<p>LMU is really a true safety for this student. I don’t think admissions would be an issue at all. BUT I’m not sure abou the program.</p>
<p>Pixel…didn’t your kid apply EA to SCU? When will he hear about that?</p>
<p>Pixeljig:
There’s something in your posts that I’m not clear on and maybe missed in your other posts - your S seems to be limiting the number of schools he applies to because of some ‘limit’ the GC has. I don’t understand this - your S should be able to apply to as many schools as he wants regardless of what the GC says.</p>
<p>The reason for the limit of applications (son’s school overseas would send no more than 8), is so the GC can truthfully write in his secondary school report that the student is very interested in attending that college. I think that is helpful, as most students at international schools don’t have the opportunity to ‘show interest’ by attending open houses, information sessions, overnights, etc.</p>
<p>Yes Thumper, Son has done EA to SCU and we should hear by Dec 15-20th I think. At first I thought it was his ‘safety’ but now as time goes by I am getting some jitters about him not getting in there! </p>
<p>Son is truly excited about SCU because it sounds like an overall good fit him, given its location and program. Plus a friend’s son goes there and his younger brother is also applying there this year. </p>
<p>The trick is that we were supposed to give our ‘10 colleges’ list to the counselor by Dec 1, because as Karen said international schools have a set limit and if we apply above this limit the office will not send the transcripts and recs.</p>
<p>So, we have a solid list of 8, most are reaches and one is super reach. 10th would be one from the 5 list of DU, UM, SMU, LMU, USD. Heavily leaning towards U of Miami and have to decide by Monday. LMU location is just awesome and so is USD. But UM CS program seems to be better.</p>
<p>pixe - we also live overseas (UK) - S attends USF majoring in computer science - [Computer</a> Science](<a href=“http://web.usfca.edu/cs/]Computer”>http://web.usfca.edu/cs/). He was also accepted to SCU, but USF offered him about three times as much aid, so that’s what swayed us. He also got into Cal Poly SLO and UCSD, but OOS fees were too much for us. D got into UCB, UCSD and SCU, but chose to attend one of the Claremont Colleges. Long flights from CA to the UK, but it’s doable. They have lived overseas all their life (we are US citizens) and are adjusting to life in the states.
How about Harvey Mudd?</p>
<p>Thanks^^, yes I remember looking into HMC option but that would be another reach for him due to the GPA. </p>
<p>Hows your child liking it at USF (the CS program in particular)? Does it have the same issues as other large state Universities?</p>
<p>It’s not a state school, it’s a private school.</p>
<p>Oh, thanks, I was not aware^.</p>
<p>I am not sure whether it would be easy to get in for son have to look up the facts and figures.</p>
<p>Location wise it seems good.</p>
<p>USF is the University of San Francisco. It is private and has a religious affiliation (Catholic) similar to Santa Clara. Actually, very similar to Santa Clara but it is in the heart of San Francisco which could be lots of fun for a college student. But it is not necessarily warm there due to fog and often overcast weather. Would be a match I think, not a reach.</p>
<p>To quote someone (attributed to Mark Twain) - </p>
<p>
</p>
<p>pixe - S seems to like USF very much and I think is getting a good education in the cs department, though it is difficult for me to compare it with other schools’ cs programs. The weather suits him fine as he claims that as cold as it gets sometimes, it’s still warmer than the UK! D wanted warmer weather, one reason she chose SoCal.
As already stated, USF is private, Jesuit (though not very religous), about 5,200 undergraduates, not quite as selective as SCU. Good merit aid.</p>
<p>Thank you all. we are going with UM. Hope it works out.</p>
<p>Any idea when the EA letters go out for SMU?
How do you get it?</p>