@mom2020 You probably know this already but your student qualifies for full SUNY tuition for engineering through the NYS STEM Incentive program.
Big thanks to the OP for starting the thread. A good reminder that parents should be careful when praising their alma maters to avoid a disappointment if a kid is unable to attend that (often unreachable) dream school. More importantly, it’s an assurance that kids will be all right even if they don’t maintain a perfect GPA and get perfect test scores in high school. I learned the first lesson only a couple of months ago when I joined CC, but the latter is still sinking in. My still eighth-grader came home distraught the other day that she has “flunked” a Geometry test by getting 75%, possibly resulting in A- or even B+ in a semester. She was surprised how unfeathered I was, telling her it’s not much of a problem, doesn’t matter in the long run and won’t affect her life, so nothing to worry about. I’ve heard our high school has a bubble that can put pretty heavy pressure on kids, especially the ones taking honors and AP classes, to get top grades. Reading such threads gives me ammunition for the next four years to keep things in perspective for my kid if school stresses her out, and if she doesn’t achieve up to her standards, I can assure her she can still get into a good school even when catching a few A-'s or not doing well on standardized test. So thanks again!
@TuckerTroy , good thread, thanks. I will refer to it no doubt in a couple of years for my son. @exlibris97 if you are still out there, please share what made your son such a desirable candidate. Without wishing to play down your son’s stats or achievements, do you think it was the private school connection? Did he have an amazing EC or two? Really wondering.
I am anticipating that my dyslexic son will score somewhere around 30 on the ACT, and it’s nice to see that good students can get excellent merit aid with scores in that range. It’s also notable that ECs seem to have a significant role in success. I shall book mark this thread for reference when the time comes for my “average” excellent son to apply to college.
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@mom2020 You probably know this already but your student qualifies for full SUNY tuition for engineering through the NYS STEM Incentive program."
This can be a great program with some caution. If a student attends via the STEM incentive, he/she will have to pay back every cent if he/she decides to change out of STEM. This is particularly troublesome for students who turned down other, usually lower, scholarships to take the NYS STEM incentive because the other scholarships don’t usually require re-paying the source if the student changes majors. This is the part of the program that isn’t highlighted. I’ve talked with students who ended up not wanting a STEM major but being too far along to consider paying back all the money.
@lostaccount I actually think that makes it BETTER for parents. In my experience, many low income students have a tendency to look for a way out when first challenged – calculus or chemistry isn’t hard, they’re IMPOSSIBLE. I saw so many low income peers give up their pursuit of medicine and engineering after the first semester. If they were forced to stick with it, I’m certain more of them would have buckled down and adapted.
It is something that all students (and parents) need to consider. I don’t know that low income students should be stuck with a particular major any more than wealthy ones. So they should go into it with full awareness. The students I know did not stick it out because they had to. Many will be paying it back.
Great and helpful lists. Also have to remember that there are many hooks out of your student’s control - URM, first gen, diversity in many forms, income - that can help get a 28-30 student into extraordinary schools that otherwise a student wouldn’t get in. You can’t always assume it was a great essay or something the student did, or something your student didn’t do, that got one in and not another.
Hmmm… I think this is further evidence that test scores don’t matter much.
My kid attended a suburban, competitive, well-ranked public school and took a tough college load. These are things I think matter in the process but are often overlooked when we summarize. Had a pretty atrocious gpa, especially compared to the people on this thread (3.0 UW), but 29/30 on the ACT, due to strong education. Acceptance listed in order of selectivity:
NYU
Univ of Maryland, College Park
Indiana Univ, Bloomington
Univ of Florida
Temple
Univ of Cincinnati
All provided scholarships except Maryland.
Waitlist: U Michigan
Rejection: BU
Having perfect/near perfect test scores does not guarantee admission to schools. My son didn’t always study/do the homework and had around a 3.8 with no study halls, most rigorous schedule. Can’t give a long list of schools applied to as he only had 3- went to our top flagship. Did not need scholarships (thank his parents for putting theirs to good use). My keeping up with the UW-Madison CC forum has shown students with better stats not always getting in with above the 75Th percentile stats.
This is a great thread, thank you. Coincidentally, as I was reading the first of the 2 posts, I thought to myself - “she should look at SMU” - which is where I went many years ago with a high GPA and good, but not stellar, test scores. I was hopeful that my daughter would be more interested in SMU - she liked a lot of things about it but felt it was too much “mom’s school”. Merit scholarships will play a big role in her/our final decision and I was happy to see SMU came through with such a great offer for your daughter. She has a 32 ACT and I think she should definitely apply there now!
@TuckerTroy thanks for an excellent post(s). Looks like this all turned out great for your family. Your post should be required reading for all entering the college derby. You were smart, methodical, realistic…but still ambitious and enthusiastic. It also proves that you need to approach The List very intentionally, with a commitment to identifying appropriate reaches, matches and safeties. You did it all beautifully. And the note about not pushing your alma mater was perfect-- it didn’t happen with us (both of our D’s were committed to going to dramatically different programs --from each other and from us), but we have several close friends who deeply regret getting so wrapped up in their kids going to their alma mater, the state flagship (which has gotten dramatically tougher to gain admission to in the last 3 or 4 years). Mostly, I am glad you shed light on how you can transcend the tyranny of the numbers and the supposed cut-offs.
2collegewego, Congratulations, those are great acceptances. What are her extra curriculars or hooks?
@Discovers Artist-- I don’t think any of the regular hooks matter in these cases and I think the test score and gpa are primarily to prove the student can pass the required academic courses. I still would have preferred a higher gpa.
@2collegewego,curious about the NYU scholarship you mentioned. Was that need-based or merit?
I was only referring to non-need based merit, based on artistic talent, not gpa or test scores (obviously). I do know students who have received academic merit from NYU but they had ivy-level stats. I think it’s clear my kid got in despite the numbers, not because of them-- but NYU has very strong arts programs and applicants to those majors are evaluated differently. There is scholarship money based on talent.
@2collegewego, congratulations on all those acceptances! Great schools. I only asked because I thought merit at NYU was an urban myth 
It’s very rare so your student must be exceptionally talented! Which school made the final cut?
@jmek15, @2collegewego - my D is a student at NYU Tisch with Ivy level stats. She did receive aide at Tisch - but they are generally not known for giving significant $$ unless there is need attached (we did not have need) and their talent awards are often quite small (maybe $2k, which does not take a big bite off the $70k full pay load). NYU Steinhardt has more talent $$, but again, I have not know it to be what I personally would call significant. (Just for clarity, I would define significant as more than $10k- which is just me) NYU overall is very up front about the fact that they don’t do big merit
Also, while there may be exceptions where audition committee goes to bat for a kid they really want- in general you have to pass both academic and audition bar separately, meaning that you can’t assume you will get in if your stats aren’t up to snuff, which they do b/c 40% of an arts major’s coursework will be regular NYU classes - and those classes are tough (freshman year - writing the essay- shudders) NYU is not a conservatory program like CMU - where BFA kids not not have to meet the same academic (we have a friend who majored in theater at CMU, had a 19 on his ACT and had a 2.9 gpa)
I would rather not post which school my kid chose. But, fwiw, I know of two kids who were given generous academic merit at NYU with no need-based aid but they had ivy stats and both were a few years ago.
Toowonderful, by your definition, the talent scholarship was significant; I had the impression it was considered quite high for NYU but never asked around.
Trust me, those really were kiddo’s stats. I spent a lot of time banging my head against a wall for better stats but there was a LOT of involvement in the arts in hs that took up a lot of time. I really think kid only got into NYU and Maryland because of talent because those stats are not normally competitive for those schools. (I’m not convinced they were competitive for Fl either.) However, I think the good high school, strong courses and ACT convinced them kiddo could handle the academic classes.
@2collegewego - then your experience with NYU admissions/aide has been completely different than mine or any of the dozen people I have known very well (as in would have knowledge of financial package) who have also attended. In fact, I cannot find ANYWHERE on NYU’s website or financial aide page evidence of NYU Tisch offering a talent scholarship of more than $2k as I mentioned above. College funding is indeed a mysterious process. Hope your son is happy wherever he landed
I’m sorry, toowonderful. I have no idea why our results were so different from yours. I had heard all the rumors also but when my kid’s acceptance and package arrived, it was more generous than we expected. And no, I never saw the scholarship listed. I actually called the financial aid office to ask if there was a need component so I’m sure of it. U Cincinnati was also generous. Meanwhile, Maryland offered nothing.