<p>Are you sure high schools “have to” have naviance? Because I’m pretty sure my school doesn’t have it due to expenses.</p>
<p>No, I didn’t mean they have to have it but that you can only access it if your school subscribes to it. Sorry not to be clear.</p>
<p>Thanks, yes, I’m starting to conclude that the individual school, and not the county school system, must have chosen to subscribe. It doesn’t surprise me that our individual school doesn’t. For some reason, college counseling/placement just doesn’t seem to be much of a priority, even though they are one of the top schools in the county based on test scores.</p>
<p>One of my colleagues showed me how to access Naviance for her kids’ school in the next county over, a very competitive school with a high “challenge index,” and it was useful to see the stats there, even though they are not for my daughter’s school. </p>
<p>I appreciate the encouraging words here. We have arranged to visit Brandeis, and I do think that knowing it’s a reach is having the desired motivational effect on my daughter. </p>
<p>We also sent her to spend the night with a friend at a nearby university where I believe her chances are excellent for admission, that also offers the majors that interest her, and she got to go to classes and meet the Hillel rabbi and so on, and she came back feeling like she could be happy there. This is our “love thy safety” strategy.</p>
<p>DeskPotato, just wanted to chime in as another parent who was terribly impatient waiting to find out S’s class rank, junior year GPA, SAT scores, etc. and to figure out what schools to consider, especially for Early Decision. You just can’t rush these things, though. In the meantime, I agree with the others who’ve said that Brandeis seems to be in the ballpark for your daughter. Now just enjoy the visits and see how things play out this spring and next fall. We found our junior year meeting with the guidance counselor to be very helpful (even in a huge school where the gc hardly knew our kid) - he was like a walking Naviance, knowing which schools accepted which kinds of kids from our school. And of course loving thy safety is always a great idea.</p>