My son’s currently a junior and we’re starting the college search process. A little about his history. He’s been traveling since the age of 5 because my husband works for a large live entertainment company. He’s been to 5 kindergartens in 5 different States before he was eligible for 1st grade in the company’s traveling school. After traveling in the US and Canada, we went to Australia where he started 1st grade. After touring Australia and New Zealand for about a year, we got transferred to Tokyo, Japan where we lived for 3 years. My son went from 2 face to face teachers to 2 online long distance teachers while my husband was still working for the same company. He did very well despite moving from country to country. When he was in 4th grade, he told his online teacher that he wanted to learn Social Studies in French and he did. His French improved a lot that year. He also studied gymnastics, juggling, Russian and Japanese while we were on tour. After Tokyo, we came back to the US and he went to a local public school for the gifted. He too excelled in the US curriculum and started taking Chinese. After 2 years in the US, my husband accepted a job based in Singapore and we lived there for 2 years. My son went to an “American” International School but since it was fairly new the students all started with the IB program. The AP courses were introduced about a year later. 9th grade was ok for him but not challenging therefore he decided to take 3 AP courses (AP Calculus, AP Chem and World History) in 10th grade. It seems to me that he got rather burnt out that year. His Math teacher told me he had to teach the entire course in 8 months. While in Singapore, he was selected (out of 6 in 3 different grades) for an International Math Competition in Vietnam. Though they did not win, it was truly a good experience for him. He also got to travel to Thailand for school trips. My husband and I were not really satisfied with the international school even though Singapore itself has a very good educational system. We moved him back to his previous school in the US and once again he transitioned right in. He’s taking 3 AP classes this year (English, Physics and Calculus (BC?) and getting all As. He took the PSAT last October and scored 1460/219 and the ACT with writing in Dec and scored 30 and 20. He’ll be taking the new SAT in March. I told him that if he did really well on the SAT (above 2200), he may not have to retake any of the tests again. Hopefully, I’m being realistic on that. Since he did not prepare for the PSAT or ACT, he decided to take my advice on a SAT prep course. My concern is the fact that he’s not into any clubs or organization since he’s not in one school for long periods of time. He has been sailing with a local sailing club for 7 years and even sailed in Singapore. He also joined the high school sailing club this year which is his only EC. His world history teacher in Singapore suggested Macalaster College in Minnesota. Initially, my son wants to stay in Florida (I don’t blame him since he’s been traveling all his life) but 2 weeks ago he decided he wants to go somewhere in Canada (his good friend in Singapore is Canadian). He’s expressed interest in Math and Science and did not say no to medical school either. Can anyone suggest any colleges for him? We need him to be challenged and he can adapt to either urban, suburban or city living. Thanks in advance!
McGill University comes immediately to mind. It has a fantastic reputation. Even though it’s an English-speaking university, it’s in French-speaking Montreal. From wikipedia:
"McGill counts among its alumni 12 Nobel laureates and 140 Rhodes Scholars, both the most in the country, as well as three astronauts, three Canadian prime ministers, thirteen justices of the Canadian Supreme Court, four foreign leaders, 28 foreign ambassadors, nine Academy Award winners, three Pulitzer Prize winners, and 28 Olympic medalists. "
We thought of McGill too and we used to walk by the school when we lived in Montreal. But the draw of Canada is this friend that might be going to University of Alberta (his parents’ alma mater). We think he should stay in the US because of scholarships/financial aid options.
OP—paragraphs!
Is your son a US citizen or dual citizen?
US citizen
OP, you got me. I see many threads titled “Unique …” and they are not. You truly do have a unique situation. Macalester is a good recommendation. They have a high percentage of international students which your son would be comfortable with. I assume you would not be in-state for any public Us. Grinnell is quite good with Math and Science (LAC so it’s a relatively small school). Frankly with Calc BC as a junior he probably should look at some large Us which would have more extensive math offerings. How much can you afford?
Seems to me that he has done plenty of interesting stuff. Internatonal math competitions, sailing, traveling, and he has a very interesting background. I am going to suggest that his situation really warrants the use of a private college advisor. I think he seems like a great candidate for all kinds of schools, but because of all his various schools, tests, etc…it might be very tricky for a regular school counselor to advise him well. I could be totally wrong. I would make sure you have all of his official transcripts from 9th grade on. Don’t forgrt foreign language requirments too. If he began that in 8th grade, you will need his transcript. Or, if he is fluent in a foreign language, he can show proficiency, but it still has to be done officially. Don’t assume this will all get done in time, I would begin gathering all that stuff now.
Did he take the AP tests? If so, he should report his scores when he applies, if he got 4 or 5.
I think quite a few of the LACs would be good for him. Macalester is supposed to be great, good recommendation. I think Carleton in MN sounds good too. You can google colleges with high proportion of Internstional students. Boston University might be a good fit. Tufts, Brown, neither are easy to get into of course. The Claremont Consortium colleges have a great reputation. McGill is great. Good luck to,him!
I truly appreciate the time and effort in all your recommendations. He doesn’t have a huge college fund and we don’t want him to be in college debt either. Fortunately, I have all his transcripts. The only languages that’s recorded on paper are French and Chinese. In the meantime, he’s been receiving interests from several colleges, Rollins, BJU, University of Richmond, Swarthmore, Washington University in St Louis, Tulane, Mercer, USC and Rice to name a few.
What is your Expected Family Contribution? Will you receive any need-based aid? How much can you afford per year? How interested is he in med school?
If he would like to look at schools in Florida, take a look at Eckerd. They have a very competitive sailing team, well known for sciences, travel abroad programs and most of their students travel 1,000 or more miles to attend.
I just want to caution you on the receiving interests from colleges statement. Are you receiving actual personal interest or mass mailings and blast emails? Many colleges send out huge amounts of marketing materials. Its so common that there is thread here somewhere about stalker schools. If its mass mailings that you are receiving, then use them as information, but don’t take it to mean that the school has a real particular interest in your son. Wash U and Chicago are two of the worst.
Basically he doesn’t know exactly what he wants to do yet. We probably need to look at schools that has a broad spectrum so he can decide later. Doesn’t sound like a good plan I know. Wish it was different. The emails are all personalized, addresses him by name and all. We’ll definitely check Eckerd out! Thank you all for helping me out with this process!!
I agree with the suggestion to hire a college adviser. This will cost money, but it could also save you money, lots of money, in the long run if you listen to the adviser’s advice. This advice will likely include having your son apply to schools where his record is slightly better than that of many applicants, and where he may be offered a generous merit scholarship to attend. Paid college advisers are also good at helping a student highlight his strengths on the application.
One example: A student whose mother is an acquaintance of mine didn’t do very well her first two years of high school because she spent more time attending parties than studying. However, she was a very good debater. Her grades improved her junior year, and so her parents hired an adviser to “spin” her spotty academic record. The girl ended up at USC with a huge debating scholarship, about $40K per year.
And as poster #10 said, don’t be too flattered by the mailings from various colleges. They all say things like “you’re just the kind of student we are looking for” and they send them to thousands of students, many of whom won’t get in and won’t receive scholarships. So read them to see if you are interested, but don’t assume anything.
What’s he interested in?
Usually it’s the other way around, the kids are usually not asked, they tell us what they want to do.
It sounds like he’s still feeling around for what he thinks he wants.
I think he really has no clue what he wants. He knows he loves Math and Science because he excels in these subjects. But he’s really an all rounder. He does great in other subjects as well. Hiring a college advisor will definitely be my next step!
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We think he should stay in the US because of scholarships/financial aid options.
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What are you looking for?
Will your child qualify for need based aid? Have you run the NPCs? Does your H have “business deductions”?
Do you have an unaffordable EFC? Do you want merit scholarships to reduce the total cost?
Yes, U of Chicago sent my D more mailings than any other school. At least theirs were very clever.
If you ask my son, he prefers to get through college without a lot of effort like he is now in high school. He is a natural high achiever. If you ask me, I think he should be in a good value college that is challenging and has an honors program, good food (he’s a sushi addict after living in Japan and Singapore) and he should continue to be in a sailing team. He’s a very good sailor as well. Of course that’s not what he wants. However, sometimes we have to make those hard decisions for him as he can’t seem to see the big picture. My heart tells me he wants us to guide him.
I’m not sure if we qualify for financial aid. We need to try one of those online college calculations these days. We think he may qualify for merit scholarship (he has 1460/219 for his PSAT) and he has a tiny college fund.
Last year, U of Chicago was at my son’s International school in Singapore recruiting.
Educate yourself about how financial aid and merit work. There is a lot of good info on here. Especially be aware that when your EFC (expected family contribution) is calculated it will be the LEAST you will pay, that each school has a net price calculator (NPC) of which most seem to be accurate, and that there is a thing called “gapping.” Which is when your kid gets in somewhere and even after your financial aid package (which sometimes includes loans) there is still a “gap.”