@theloniusmonk, it occurs to me that that would be a very interesting discussion for a new thread: Are all colleges and their classes at least roughly equivalent in terms of rigor (many of the for-profits and other types of malfeasance aside, of course)? If you do decide to start a thread on the topic, please tag me or otherwise let me know—it would be a fun discussion, I think.
Wow thanks that’s so helpful!
And encouraging! except for Denison
I’ve gotten somewhat good, or good, NPC results with most of those colleges, except Williamette was wildly too expensive. So maybe I can expect even better for most of them. Fingers crossed.
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@UCDProf For what it is worth, I believe the essay on his love of singing but lack of a singing voice could be a standout.
ETA: My comment may no longer make sense in this thread as it appears the post that shared that information was removed.
I don’t think anyone is trying to be discouraging, OP. You no doubt have a fine son and he will launch, hopefully, launch just fine. But it is a good idea to get tuition insurance just in case, as one never knows what the future holds. And several experienced posters are sharing the difficult point that unhooked students from poor schools who lack test scores and need financial aid present a significant risk for private colleges, which are institutionally risk-averse, so broad applications may be advised.
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Having gone through this processes twice in the past three years, I can say with certainty that Net Price Calculators are not very accurate. You may be surprised at the financial aid awarded by some of these LACs. For my child entering college this fall (class of 2025), the best financial offers were from Beloit and Lawrence, which came in at half the net price as some other schools. I really liked Lawrence, but couldn’t convince my kid to go to either of these schools. Instead, Knox College is the preferred destination… for a slightly higher, but still manageable, net price. Together, my kids were accepted to 17 schools and the financial aid awards were all over the place, even with identical FAFSA / CSS Profile data. So my advice is to focus on finding ten or so schools that are most appealing regardless of their NPC results and applying to them. If you feel the need, apply to one or two financial “safety” schools that have favorable NPC results (although remember that there is no guarantee that an actual financial aid award from those schools will be as generous as anticipated from the NPC!). Good luck!
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Interesting that both Lawrence and Beloit show up in the top 50 on this list of colleges whose students are receiving merit aid:
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Thanks for that! Yeah after an intense round of NPCing it’s time to switch strategies.
Luckily places like Lawrence and Beloit which are high on the list are also low on NPC and in cost reputation on this thread.
I wonder what it was about Lawrence that your kid didn’t like. The campus looks a bit drab and the kids seem like cooped up nerds, which I think is a great social environment. Creative minds with nothing to do and no where to go except making their own fun with each other.
I could see how that wouldn’t appeal though.
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When we visited Lawrence in the spring (over a Sunday and Monday), the area of Appleton around the university seemed like a ghost town. There were almost no people out on the streets, and that seemed to be the biggest drawback. Of course, it was in the midst of covid, so I wasn’t as surprised or alarmed by the lack of human activity as my kid was. But for them it was a deal breaker. Nice school, especially for those who are musically inclined. And a fantastic financial aid package. And their is a good size airport with commercial service (e.g., Delta, American) in Appleton, so getting back and forth from school isn’t difficult for most students. Definitely worth applying to.
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well you haven’t read all the responses, nor should you.
And of course there will be wide array of applications. I’ve said that a million times. This thread is about one subsection of what we are applying to. (and believe it or not, one person here actually suggested college is not the right thing and we should look into trade schools, on a forum about college).
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Thanks DramaMama. I accidentally posted under my daughters account because it was logged in on the computer, so it got removed. I thought she was done with CC but I guess she browsed.
I’m on the fence about this essay about bad singing. It lacks gravitas. It does have one good, erudite joke, and weaves in his philosophy of learning. So if nothing else surfaces then this will be the common app, but since he’ll be writing for UC’s, there will be multiple topics anyway to choose from.
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Well, as a professor, you would know that in order to have above-average grades his freshman year, he needs to out-perform his classmates by dint of ability and or preparation and or hard work. You are well equipped to assess his current levels of ability, preparation and likely work ethic, at least initially, and thus would presumably look for a school with many students like him, or less prepared, if you still wish to maintain that high GPA compared to his peers.
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It is all in the delivery, as they say. Hopefully he can finesse it. I’m partial to whimsical common app essays about unexpected topics.
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Coming from a foreign culture with a very robust apprenticeship and trade school sector, I would love to be able to tell you that an apprenticeship with a trade school component would actually be the perfect next step for your son. A very hands on education and training, with immediate gratification by applicability, might be exactly what he needs, with college to build on it after, if he wanted it.
And he’d make money - also helps a lot of kids take things more seriously. I don’t understand how the ”easy college” you’re looking for, with the stated need for more low expectations in his first year to protect his GPA, after the “bad high school” with low expectations took so much of the blame for his being so ill equipped for college, is supposed to magically conjure up the motivation he needs to step up to the plate. A boss, wages and the immediate applicability of what he’d be learning might.
Sadly, it’s not that this is a college website that’s stopping me from recommending this, nor your rudeness about it, but that I can’t imagine you’d find the right program for your son in the US. That path just isn’t offered, nor would it have sufficient prestige to be viable if it were.
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See everyone. This is exactly what I’m talking about.
Unbelievable.
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Why is this unbelievable? It seems like it’s a very valid option that should be considered. I actually tried to talk my own son into considering a trade but he resisted. He’s currently going into his junior year in college and I still wonder if a trade wouldn’t have been a better path. .
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Would your son prefer trades?
If so, there’s nothing wrong with them, regardless of capability for college. If not, don’t worry about it. It’s no different than someone suggesting a college that doesn’t interest you.
One doesn’t start a thread on a public forum without expecting multiple angles of different advice.
I’ve seen kids do well with trades or college. What matters is what the student wants - finding their niche.
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yeah but I’ve also answered this multiple times.
and I know how forums work. There are two genres of answers. One is where the answer engages the questioner, the other is where you upend the premise of the question.
I realize there are always going to be those who entertain themselves by upending the premise.
It’s what I do as a professor, so I guess I should be more sympathetic to those who don’t have their own outlet for that.
And don’t tell me that post just now (not you) wasn’t rude. It absolutely was.
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So skim it and move on. We’ve both worked educating teens. It’s our nature to be able to skim and move on.
FWIW, my favorites are the posts where people add the rolling eye emoji as if that’s supposed to affect me mentally somehow? People, I’ve spent 20 years of my life with thousands of teenagers! It’s cute that they think it though.
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That’s not exactly how grades work at the university, and especially at enlightened colleges like many in the CTCL. It’s not all based on competition and comparison.
But in general that’s the point (other than money)-- seeing if I can get any inside scoop on LACs where grading pressures are reduced. Or whatever wording one wants to use. I don’t think it’s unclear what I mean, although the haters are fond of quoting the unfortunate phrase “easy grading.”
It’s also turned into a thread on merit aid, which I really appreciate, and in a way that is what underlying the whole search.
As an aside, I proudly give almost all A’s in my upper division courses and very high grades in my lower division classes, based mostly on effort. This is because more than half the students are from lousy California public schools, and it shows. They need a transition, deserve a transition, and deserve a college education if that’s what they want.
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