Free undergraduate admissions advice (1 Viewer)

[2Young2BBald]

Quick background; my daughter has applied, been accepted to the honors college and has been invited to compete for the school's highest scholarship (4 year tuition) at the school she'd like to attend (thank God she favors her mother). The first round of the scholarship competition takes place on 2/1 and we'll be heading over the day before. I suggested to my daughter, that we see if she could speak with someone from the department she'll be majoring in, preferably the department head, on the day we arrived. She liked the idea and she has a 20 minute appointment of the day we arrive with the Director of Advising for the Dept. My inclination if to have her attend the appointment on her own, any thoughts on this? If she does attend on her own, what questions, in general, should I advise she asks? She is more than capable on her own, but we (mostly me) like to pre-think/pre-dialogue things. Its the School of Music, so her first question has to do with the audition and how to prepare. Anything else I should advise she think about asking/needs to know?

 

[2Young2BBald]

Quick background; my daughter has applied, been accepted to the honors college and has been invited to compete for the school's highest scholarship (4 year tuition) at the school she'd like to attend (thank God she favors her mother). The first round of the scholarship competition takes place on 2/1 and we'll be heading over the day before. I suggested to my daughter, that we see if she could speak with someone from the department she'll be majoring in, preferably the department head, on the day we arrived. She liked the idea and she has a 20 minute appointment of the day we arrive with the Director of Advising for the Dept. My inclination if to have her attend the appointment on her own, any thoughts on this? If she does attend on her own, what questions, in general, should I advise she asks? She is more than capable on her own, but we (mostly me) like to pre-think/pre-dialogue things. Its the School of Music, so her first question has to do with the audition and how to prepare. Anything else I should advise she think about asking/needs to know?

Bump, heading there the day after tomorrow.

 

[Steve Tasker]

Quick background; my daughter has applied, been accepted to the honors college and has been invited to compete for the school's highest scholarship (4 year tuition) at the school she'd like to attend (thank God she favors her mother). The first round of the scholarship competition takes place on 2/1 and we'll be heading over the day before. I suggested to my daughter, that we see if she could speak with someone from the department she'll be majoring in, preferably the department head, on the day we arrived. She liked the idea and she has a 20 minute appointment of the day we arrive with the Director of Advising for the Dept. My inclination if to have her attend the appointment on her own, any thoughts on this? If she does attend on her own, what questions, in general, should I advise she asks? She is more than capable on her own, but we (mostly me) like to pre-think/pre-dialogue things. Its the School of Music, so her first question has to do with the audition and how to prepare. Anything else I should advise she think about asking/needs to know?

Just my opinion, but I think she should go on her own. Good luck to her!

 

[kutta]

Quick background; my daughter has applied, been accepted to the honors college and has been invited to compete for the school's highest scholarship (4 year tuition) at the school she'd like to attend (thank God she favors her mother). The first round of the scholarship competition takes place on 2/1 and we'll be heading over the day before. I suggested to my daughter, that we see if she could speak with someone from the department she'll be majoring in, preferably the department head, on the day we arrived. She liked the idea and she has a 20 minute appointment of the day we arrive with the Director of Advising for the Dept. My inclination if to have her attend the appointment on her own, any thoughts on this? If she does attend on her own, what questions, in general, should I advise she asks? She is more than capable on her own, but we (mostly me) like to pre-think/pre-dialogue things. Its the School of Music, so her first question has to do with the audition and how to prepare. Anything else I should advise she think about asking/needs to know?

Just my opinion, but I think she should go on her own. Good luck to her!

I agree.

 

[bigbottom]

Learned from a friend that they retained a college admissions consultant for their son. He's in 9th grade. Had never heard of that before. Cost aside, is that something even worth considering?

 

[ffldrew]

Learned from a friend that they retained a college admissions consultant for their son. He's in 9th grade. Had never heard of that before. Cost aside, is that something even worth considering?

On top of going to a private school? No

My daughter goes to a private high school for girls and her school has quite a team of college counselors that do the "consulting" so I wouldn't consider it above good counselor at the private school(since that should have been a top consideration for private HS). I'd rather spend that money on the private HS than a public/consultant combo.

 

[2Young2BBald]

Quick background; my daughter has applied, been accepted to the honors college and has been invited to compete for the school's highest scholarship (4 year tuition) at the school she'd like to attend (thank God she favors her mother). The first round of the scholarship competition takes place on 2/1 and we'll be heading over the day before. I suggested to my daughter, that we see if she could speak with someone from the department she'll be majoring in, preferably the department head, on the day we arrived. She liked the idea and she has a 20 minute appointment of the day we arrive with the Director of Advising for the Dept. My inclination if to have her attend the appointment on her own, any thoughts on this? If she does attend on her own, what questions, in general, should I advise she asks? She is more than capable on her own, but we (mostly me) like to pre-think/pre-dialogue things. Its the School of Music, so her first question has to do with the audition and how to prepare. Anything else I should advise she think about asking/needs to know?

Just my opinion, but I think she should go on her own. Good luck to her!

I agree.

Thanks, still leaning this way, but I have to admit, I put together a Word Doc cheatsheet of questions just in case.

 

[The_Man]

Quick background; my daughter has applied, been accepted to the honors college and has been invited to compete for the school's highest scholarship (4 year tuition) at the school she'd like to attend (thank God she favors her mother). The first round of the scholarship competition takes place on 2/1 and we'll be heading over the day before. I suggested to my daughter, that we see if she could speak with someone from the department she'll be majoring in, preferably the department head, on the day we arrived. She liked the idea and she has a 20 minute appointment of the day we arrive with the Director of Advising for the Dept. My inclination if to have her attend the appointment on her own, any thoughts on this? If she does attend on her own, what questions, in general, should I advise she asks? She is more than capable on her own, but we (mostly me) like to pre-think/pre-dialogue things. Its the School of Music, so her first question has to do with the audition and how to prepare. Anything else I should advise she think about asking/needs to know?

First off, congratulations! That is awesome news.

I'll echo the consensus and say that you should let her go to the meeting on her own. This will mark her as an independent, mature person. That being said, you should certainly help prep her big-time. I think the audition question is great. Then, ask about opportunities - does she sing or play an instrument? If, for example, she plays clarinet, what is the college's main music ensemble and how are they currently fixed for clarinetists? She can ask about the musical instruction - is it personal instruction, and do they have a particular departmental style, or is it up to each instructor? And I think it's fair to ask about requirements within the major, the opportunity to double major in Music and something else if she wants, and the musical career prospects of their graduates (if that's something she's interested in pursuing).

Finally, go to the message boards at http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/. In the "Colleges & Universities" subforum, read what people have posted about her school. I am willing to bet that if you search for the name of the scholarship, you will find postings from kids that talk about their interview/application process for the same scholarship in past years. Kids will post anything and everything there - it was a great source of info about a scholarship my kid is a semifinalist for (to study Arabic in Morocco this summer, through a State Department-funded program to get more Americans speaking Arabic, Chinese, Hindii, Russian and a few other critical languages).

 

[The_Man]

Learned from a friend that they retained a college admissions consultant for their son. He's in 9th grade. Had never heard of that before. Cost aside, is that something even worth considering?

On top of going to a private school? No

My daughter goes to a private high school for girls and her school has quite a team of college counselors that do the "consulting" so I wouldn't consider it above good counselor at the private school(since that should have been a top consideration for private HS). I'd rather spend that money on the private HS than a public/consultant combo.

I agree - if your kid is in private high school. Part of what you're paying tuition for is outstanding, personalized college counseling. But if your kid is in public school, it's worth at least considering. I think a lot of it depends on how much money you have vs. how willing you are to do a lot of legwork yourself - buying a bunch of the different books that promise to give you the secrets of "Ivy League Admission," then reading them, keeping what's of value and ditching the rest, and then coming up with a plan that you and your kid can agree on. I think a not-insignificant part of the value in hiring a counselor is that they will set deadlines for essay writing, SAT prep, etc., that your kid is willing to follow when it comes from someone else, but would disregard if it came from their parent. And a lot of it is having a reality check - someone who can tell you (and your kid) where they are and aren't a viable admissions candidate, and what they have to do (like get a 2100 SAT or whatever) if they want to become viable at a school where they currently aren't.

 

[2Young2BBald]

Quick background; my daughter has applied, been accepted to the honors college and has been invited to compete for the school's highest scholarship (4 year tuition) at the school she'd like to attend (thank God she favors her mother). The first round of the scholarship competition takes place on 2/1 and we'll be heading over the day before. I suggested to my daughter, that we see if she could speak with someone from the department she'll be majoring in, preferably the department head, on the day we arrived. She liked the idea and she has a 20 minute appointment of the day we arrive with the Director of Advising for the Dept. My inclination if to have her attend the appointment on her own, any thoughts on this? If she does attend on her own, what questions, in general, should I advise she asks? She is more than capable on her own, but we (mostly me) like to pre-think/pre-dialogue things. Its the School of Music, so her first question has to do with the audition and how to prepare. Anything else I should advise she think about asking/needs to know?

First off, congratulations! That is awesome news.

I'll echo the consensus and say that you should let her go to the meeting on her own. This will mark her as an independent, mature person. That being said, you should certainly help prep her big-time. I think the audition question is great. Then, ask about opportunities - does she sing or play an instrument? If, for example, she plays clarinet, what is the college's main music ensemble and how are they currently fixed for clarinetists? She can ask about the musical instruction - is it personal instruction, and do they have a particular departmental style, or is it up to each instructor? And I think it's fair to ask about requirements within the major, the opportunity to double major in Music and something else if she wants, and the musical career prospects of their graduates (if that's something she's interested in pursuing).

Finally, go to the message boards at http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/. In the "Colleges & Universities" subforum, read what people have posted about her school. I am willing to bet that if you search for the name of the scholarship, you will find postings from kids that talk about their interview/application process for the same scholarship in past years. Kids will post anything and everything there - it was a great source of info about a scholarship my kid is a semifinalist for (to study Arabic in Morocco this summer, through a State Department-funded program to get more Americans speaking Arabic, Chinese, Hindii, Russian and a few other critical languages).

Thanks for the college confidential link, already found a few things. The double major point is well taken too. As she and I have been going over any and everything, she realized that the college has an incredible musical therapy program. So, she wants to see, with he AP credits she'll bring in, what the prospects of a double major would be. This is so foreign to me as I was so clueless at her age.

 

[tri-man 47]

Quick background; my daughter has applied, been accepted to the honors college and has been invited to compete for the school's highest scholarship (4 year tuition) at the school she'd like to attend (thank God she favors her mother). The first round of the scholarship competition takes place on 2/1 and we'll be heading over the day before. I suggested to my daughter, that we see if she could speak with someone from the department she'll be majoring in, preferably the department head, on the day we arrived. She liked the idea and she has a 20 minute appointment of the day we arrive with the Director of Advising for the Dept. My inclination if to have her attend the appointment on her own, any thoughts on this? If she does attend on her own, what questions, in general, should I advise she asks? She is more than capable on her own, but we (mostly me) like to pre-think/pre-dialogue things. Its the School of Music, so her first question has to do with the audition and how to prepare. Anything else I should advise she think about asking/needs to know?

Just my opinion, but I think she should go on her own. Good luck to her!

I'd lean the other way. As a career-long university Controller and adjunct professor (and lifelong musician), I find it encouraging to see the parental support ...BUT that assumes the student leads the discussion. I find it helpful to see the student/parent interaction (and parental pride). It speaks to the family's commitment. The student's leadership with parents in attendance highlights the student's commitment and budding independence. It also creates opportunities to explore the student's musical heritage. Just seeing the parents' pride would say a lot. [We're good friends, 2Young, so I would reiterate the importance of letting her take the lead! Just sit back and share the love, literally.]

 

[2Young2BBald]

Quick background; my daughter has applied, been accepted to the honors college and has been invited to compete for the school's highest scholarship (4 year tuition) at the school she'd like to attend (thank God she favors her mother). The first round of the scholarship competition takes place on 2/1 and we'll be heading over the day before. I suggested to my daughter, that we see if she could speak with someone from the department she'll be majoring in, preferably the department head, on the day we arrived. She liked the idea and she has a 20 minute appointment of the day we arrive with the Director of Advising for the Dept. My inclination if to have her attend the appointment on her own, any thoughts on this? If she does attend on her own, what questions, in general, should I advise she asks? She is more than capable on her own, but we (mostly me) like to pre-think/pre-dialogue things. Its the School of Music, so her first question has to do with the audition and how to prepare. Anything else I should advise she think about asking/needs to know?

Just my opinion, but I think she should go on her own. Good luck to her!

I'd lean the other way. As a career-long university Controller and adjunct professor (and lifelong musician), I find it encouraging to see the parental support ...BUT that assumes the student leads the discussion. I find it helpful to see the student/parent interaction (and parental pride). It speaks to the family's commitment. The student's leadership with parents in attendance highlights the student's commitment and budding independence. It also creates opportunities to explore the student's musical heritage. Just seeing the parents' pride would say a lot. [We're good friends, 2Young, so I would reiterate the importance of letting her take the lead! Just sit back and share the love, literally.]

Thanks Doc, she is a stubborn one and at the moment wants to be on her own. I think there is a chance this may change when she gets on campus and sees the size and scope of what she is in for. It'll likely be a game time decision, with mom and I at the ready should she change her mind.

 

[The_Man]

Thanks Doc, she is a stubborn one and at the moment wants to be on her own. I think there is a chance this may change when she gets on campus and sees the size and scope of what she is in for. It'll likely be a game time decision, with mom and I at the ready should she change her mind.

Update?

 

[2Young2BBald]

Thanks Doc, she is a stubborn one and at the moment wants to be on her own. I think there is a chance this may change when she gets on campus and sees the size and scope of what she is in for. It'll likely be a game time decision, with mom and I at the ready should she change her mind.

Update?

Incredible weekend and it could not have played out better. The "who gets to meet with whom" took care of itself. We walked in the counseling office and before we could decide who was going in for the meeting, we were received with "you must be the XXXXs and you must be XXXX, Dr XXX is waiting for you" and we were all escorted in. She was very prepared and had a ton of info on my daughter and customized a package for her. She spent about 20 minutes answering all of our questions and then stood up and said lets walk around. It was almost like a set up, as she knew every student we passed in the building AND the marching bad director just so happened to be in his office. He dropped what we was doing and had a great conversation with my daughter. My daughter will still have to audition for the music program on 2/22, and then for drum line in May, but the visit went a long way to setting her mind at ease about the process. The scholarship competition day want well too and my daughter was very positive on the whole experience; and she should as she was treated like a rock star. Chances for the largest scholarship are slim, as over 800 are competing for 20 spots; but there are varying degrees of lesser scholarships that will be awarded as well. I was so impressed by everyone at the university, I sent an extended thank you by email to the Dean of University along with the Dean of the Honors College. The email was sent around 9am yesterday (Sunday) and by noon, I'd received back very personal and well thought out emails from both. My wife and I are blown away. There is no play book how to approach this, but we are both in so much better a place now, after this weekend, in terms of being ready to send our oldest off to college. Within the spirit of the thread, I would encourage any parent in getting their child in front of as many people at their perspective school as early as possible. My wife and I spent the whole weekend talking about how unprepared we were for the whole college experience and how much harder we'll have to work to get my son ready when its his turn. We'll find out in a couple of weeks if my daughter made it to the final 40 that then get to interview for the 20 scholarship spots.

 

[Marvelous]

Which would be better for a kid from a high school not known for its academic rigor? 3.5-3.75 GPA with a 30 ACT/1300 SAT or 3.9-4.0 GPA with a 25 ACT/1100 SAT

In this case, I would actually defer to an above comment and say I would look at the class rank, and probably the teacher recs. For example, if the kid is 3.5 and ranked in the 50th percentile with a 1300 SAT, I might call him lazy and unengaged. Teacher recs might corroborate that, too. On the other hand, if the kid is 3.9, top of the class, with an 1100 SAT, then I might think that the school doesn't usually produce kids above an 1100 (and I'd have stats to refer to). Certainly not the kid's fault; he/she's done everything with what's available.

How important are teacher recommendations and aren't they always going to write good recommendations?

I actually told my kids that if they can't find 3 high school teacher to write them good recommendations, they really messed up their high school years. Someone in the school should like you.

 

[Marvelous]

I have some questions:

1. My daughter is Chinese and is a very good at softball, a sport with very little diversity. Does being a minority playing sports potentially help here or are college coaches not concerned diversity?

2. I graduated from UVA. How much does that help her get in, and is there anything I can do to help her chances as an alumni? She is doing better is school now, which may make her borderline for getting into UVA (or she may still be below their norm).

3. My other daughter is high functioning autistic and not the particularly good student. We are still trying to assess if she can live on her own or will need assistance throughout life. Are there colleges with support programs that can help her learn and be independent?

 

[The_Man]

Thanks Doc, she is a stubborn one and at the moment wants to be on her own. I think there is a chance this may change when she gets on campus and sees the size and scope of what she is in for. It'll likely be a game time decision, with mom and I at the ready should she change her mind.

Update?

Incredible weekend and it could not have played out better. The "who gets to meet with whom" took care of itself. We walked in the counseling office and before we could decide who was going in for the meeting, we were received with "you must be the XXXXs and you must be XXXX, Dr XXX is waiting for you" and we were all escorted in. She was very prepared and had a ton of info on my daughter and customized a package for her. She spent about 20 minutes answering all of our questions and then stood up and said lets walk around. It was almost like a set up, as she knew every student we passed in the building AND the marching bad director just so happened to be in his office. He dropped what we was doing and had a great conversation with my daughter. My daughter will still have to audition for the music program on 2/22, and then for drum line in May, but the visit went a long way to setting her mind at ease about the process. The scholarship competition day want well too and my daughter was very positive on the whole experience; and she should as she was treated like a rock star. Chances for the largest scholarship are slim, as over 800 are competing for 20 spots; but there are varying degrees of lesser scholarships that will be awarded as well. I was so impressed by everyone at the university, I sent an extended thank you by email to the Dean of University along with the Dean of the Honors College. The email was sent around 9am yesterday (Sunday) and by noon, I'd received back very personal and well thought out emails from both. My wife and I are blown away. There is no play book how to approach this, but we are both in so much better a place now, after this weekend, in terms of being ready to send our oldest off to college. Within the spirit of the thread, I would encourage any parent in getting their child in front of as many people at their perspective school as early as possible. My wife and I spent the whole weekend talking about how unprepared we were for the whole college experience and how much harder we'll have to work to get my son ready when its his turn. We'll find out in a couple of weeks if my daughter made it to the final 40 that then get to interview for the 20 scholarship spots.

Awesome. Good luck to her!

 

[The_Man]

I have some questions:

1. My daughter is Chinese and is a very good at softball, a sport with very little diversity. Does being a minority playing sports potentially help here or are college coaches not concerned diversity?

2. I graduated from UVA. How much does that help her get in, and is there anything I can do to help her chances as an alumni? She is doing better is school now, which may make her borderline for getting into UVA (or she may still be below their norm).

3. My other daughter is high functioning autistic and not the particularly good student. We are still trying to assess if she can live on her own or will need assistance throughout life. Are there colleges with support programs that can help her learn and be independent?

1. The coaches don't care about anything at all, except your daughter's ability - if she's good enough to play for UVA, they'll be interested in looking at her, if she's not they won't. Ethnicity will not be a factor.

2. The UVA admissions dean has an awesome blog, that will be of interest to anyone reading this thread:

http://uvaapplication.blogspot.com/

But it's even better for people interested in UVA, because he often publishes info specific to UVA. He might have written about legacy admits in the past - if he hasn't, you can post a comment with your question and will probably get a response.

3. Sorry - don't know.

 

[wazoo11]

Pretty cool website I discovered through Reddit.

The website lists ongoing scholarships offered state to state.

link

 

[SteelCurtain]

I have some questions:

1. My daughter is Chinese and is a very good at softball, a sport with very little diversity. Does being a minority playing sports potentially help here or are college coaches not concerned diversity?

2. I graduated from UVA. How much does that help her get in, and is there anything I can do to help her chances as an alumni? She is doing better is school now, which may make her borderline for getting into UVA (or she may still be below their norm).

3. My other daughter is high functioning autistic and not the particularly good student. We are still trying to assess if she can live on her own or will need assistance throughout life. Are there colleges with support programs that can help her learn and be independent?

1. At some institutions, there is pressure to recruit an ethnically diverse team. However, your daughter needs to be in the ballpark in order to get an offer regardless of ethnic diversity pressures.

2. It doesn't hurt, however, if you give regularly, you should reach out to your Advancement person and put in a good word. Often, if Advancement feels strongly, they will communicate to Admissions.

3. This is not my area of expertise. I would encourage you to look into hiring a college consultant who may be able to assist you in identifying some appropriate schools. Again, I'm not an expert, but I would start with Landmark College. I think they are the most comprehensive place. Beyond that, others you could look at would be Curry College (MA), Beacon College (FL), Samford (AL), Augsburg (MN), American (DC). Hope that helps at least a little bit.

 

[The_Man]

Harvard is just about to issue its admissions decisions.

According to the Harvard Crimson, the university will admit 1,031 regular decision applicants in addition to the 992 it admitted during early action.

The acceptance rate for regular decision applicants, including the 3,191 early action applicants who were deferred, is 3.1 percent. Twenty-one percent of students who applied early action were accepted in December. Overall, there's a 5.9 acceptance rate, which is up slightly from recent years.

Sounds like you better apply early if you want to go to Harvard.

 

[Keerock]

My son just got denied from his school of choice while other kids with lesser GPA and test scores got in. Very frustrating.

 

[The_Man]

My son just got denied from his school of choice while other kids with lesser GPA and test scores got in. Very frustrating.

Sorry to hear that. "Holistic" admissions to highly selective schools really is like a lottery - and certain segments of the applicant pool (athletes, legacy kids, under-represented minorities) get more ping pong balls in the barrel.

 

[Keerock]

My son just got denied from his school of choice while other kids with lesser GPA and test scores got in. Very frustrating.

Sorry to hear that. "Holistic" admissions to highly selective schools really is like a lottery - and certain segments of the applicant pool (athletes, legacy kids, under-represented minorities) get more ping pong balls in the barrel.

Yeah... he's a legacy (brother currently there, mom, grandparents, aunts/uncles), but he's white. That's my bad, so I guess I should blame myself.

 

[El Floppo]

If you're turned down from the school of your choice, does it do anything at all to petition and beg for acceptance? Just to show that you're crazy about the school and desperately want to go there? It seems like I've heard that as a likely urban myth.

 

[El Floppo]

My son just got denied from his school of choice while other kids with lesser GPA and test scores got in. Very frustrating.

Sorry to hear that. "Holistic" admissions to highly selective schools really is like a lottery - and certain segments of the applicant pool (athletes, legacy kids, under-represented minorities) get more ping pong balls in the barrel.

Yeah... he's a legacy (brother currently there, mom, grandparents, aunts/uncles), but he's white. That's my bad, so I guess I should blame myself.

Stupid cracker.

 

[Keerock]

If you're turned down from the school of your choice, does it do anything at all to petition and beg for acceptance? Just to show that you're crazy about the school and desperately want to go there? It seems like I've heard that as a likely urban myth.

It's highly unlikely a denial decision is reversed, according to his HS counsellor and many online resources.

 

[Sarnoff]

If you're turned down from the school of your choice, does it do anything at all to petition and beg for acceptance? Just to show that you're crazy about the school and desperately want to go there? It seems like I've heard that as a likely urban myth.

It's highly unlikely a denial decision is reversed, according to his HS counsellor and many online resources.

Bummer. The only time I've heard of a reversal happening was when a person was denied into a specific and selective college at a University, was able to swing general admission as undeclared into the university itself for a year and could reapply later. Like, kid doesn't get into USC's Film School, he can make a case to get general admission to USC and can try again for the Film program a year later.

Oh, and, to the amazement of everyone I knew, students, teachers, friends, family, my guidance counselor, etc., I didn't get accepted to my #1 choice. Could be the best thing that ever happened to me.

 

[Keerock]

If you're turned down from the school of your choice, does it do anything at all to petition and beg for acceptance? Just to show that you're crazy about the school and desperately want to go there? It seems like I've heard that as a likely urban myth.

It's highly unlikely a denial decision is reversed, according to his HS counsellor and many online resources.

Bummer. The only time I've heard of a reversal happening was when a person was denied into a specific and selective college at a University, was able to swing general admission as undeclared into the university itself for a year and could reapply later. Like, kid doesn't get into USC's Film School, he can make a case to get general admission to USC and can try again for the Film program a year later.

Oh, and, to the amazement of everyone I knew, students, teachers, friends, family, my guidance counselor, etc., I didn't get accepted to my #1 choice. Could be the best thing that ever happened to me.

Yeah... that's what I'm trying to convince my son (he's on board) and my wife (she's still depressed). My son is hell bent on a career in the business side of sports (professional/collegiate/supplier). Front office, stadium, promotion, etc. The school he's decided to go to has a great Sports Leadership and Management program. This may be "for the best"...

 

[Instinctive]

If you're turned down from the school of your choice, does it do anything at all to petition and beg for acceptance? Just to show that you're crazy about the school and desperately want to go there? It seems like I've heard that as a likely urban myth.

It's highly unlikely a denial decision is reversed, according to his HS counsellor and many online resources.

Bummer. The only time I've heard of a reversal happening was when a person was denied into a specific and selective college at a University, was able to swing general admission as undeclared into the university itself for a year and could reapply later. Like, kid doesn't get into USC's Film School, he can make a case to get general admission to USC and can try again for the Film program a year later.

Oh, and, to the amazement of everyone I knew, students, teachers, friends, family, my guidance counselor, etc., I didn't get accepted to my #1 choice. Could be the best thing that ever happened to me.

Yeah... that's what I'm trying to convince my son (he's on board) and my wife (she's still depressed). My son is hell bent on a career in the business side of sports (professional/collegiate/supplier). Front office, stadium, promotion, etc. The school he's decided to go to has a great Sports Leadership and Management program. This may be "for the best"...

Honestly, he ought to look at OU. Our Sports Management is fairly new, but very strong and growing each year as a priority.

I didn't get into my first two choices. I've done ok.

 

[El Floppo]

I got in everywhere, and I'm a mess.

 

[Keerock]

If you're turned down from the school of your choice, does it do anything at all to petition and beg for acceptance? Just to show that you're crazy about the school and desperately want to go there? It seems like I've heard that as a likely urban myth.

It's highly unlikely a denial decision is reversed, according to his HS counsellor and many online resources.

Bummer. The only time I've heard of a reversal happening was when a person was denied into a specific and selective college at a University, was able to swing general admission as undeclared into the university itself for a year and could reapply later. Like, kid doesn't get into USC's Film School, he can make a case to get general admission to USC and can try again for the Film program a year later.

Oh, and, to the amazement of everyone I knew, students, teachers, friends, family, my guidance counselor, etc., I didn't get accepted to my #1 choice. Could be the best thing that ever happened to me.

Yeah... that's what I'm trying to convince my son (he's on board) and my wife (she's still depressed). My son is hell bent on a career in the business side of sports (professional/collegiate/supplier). Front office, stadium, promotion, etc. The school he's decided to go to has a great Sports Leadership and Management program. This may be "for the best"...

Honestly, he ought to look at OU. Our Sports Management is fairly new, but very strong and growing each year as a priority.

I didn't get into my first two choices. I've done ok.

Can you get him in-state tuition?

 

[Judge Smails]

Both my daughters were denied at UC Santa Barbara, which they had their hearts set on. Oldest daughter decided not to go to a lesser state school and instead enrolled at Santa Barbara CC with a guaranteed Tag in to UCSB with a certain grade point average. So went private dorm the first year right next to the UCSB dorms, then lived in apartments/houses in Isla Vista the remainder. She's a senior now and doing great. Younger sister took the same route, and she got her acceptance letter this weekend.

Overall, though they were very disappointed, this worked out very well for all of us. They got the full 4 year experience by being in the UCSB community while saving me a lot of cake the first 2 years. And the degree is the same.

At the time though the rejection letters seemed like the end of the world. They aren't.

 

[The_Man]

Anyone going through this right now? Early decision letters coming out this week.

 

[chet]

Shirtless?

 

[ffjunk]

Yes. Triplets. One got a scholarship for crew, one has already got in to 2 colleges but not his first choice yet. His sat's have to come up a little. The third hasn't made up his mind on which school he wants to go to. Is the FAFSA hard to fill out?

 

[The_Man]

Yes. Triplets. One got a scholarship for crew, one has already got in to 2 colleges but not his first choice yet. His sat's have to come up a little. The third hasn't made up his mind on which school he wants to go to. Is the FAFSA hard to fill out?

FAFSA's not hard as long as you have last year's tax return handy. But get on it soon - you don't want to miss a deadline.

Congratulations on the crew scholarship! My son (a junior) rows, but he's a lightweight and there are so few recruits for that - he's not in that league. What's your son's 2k?

He is thinking about walking on - if he ends up at a school with a lightweight team - but that's still more than a year down the road.

 

[ffjunk]

Yes. Triplets. One got a scholarship for crew, one has already got in to 2 colleges but not his first choice yet. His sat's have to come up a little. The third hasn't made up his mind on which school he wants to go to. Is the FAFSA hard to fill out?

FAFSA's not hard as long as you have last year's tax return handy. But get on it soon - you don't want to miss a deadline.

Congratulations on the crew scholarship! My son (a junior) rows, but he's a lightweight and there are so few recruits for that - he's not in that league. What's your son's 2k?

He is thinking about walking on - if he ends up at a school with a lightweight team - but that's still more than a year down the road.

She's a coxswain so no 2k for her. It really is a great sport. Hope he finds his way on a team. I've heard that it is much easier for girls to get scholarships than boys.

Can I start the FAFSA now or do I have to wait til Jan. 1? Hoping we qualify for a bunch cause 3 all at once is going to be extremely difficult.

 

[The_Man]

Yes. Triplets. One got a scholarship for crew, one has already got in to 2 colleges but not his first choice yet. His sat's have to come up a little. The third hasn't made up his mind on which school he wants to go to. Is the FAFSA hard to fill out?

FAFSA's not hard as long as you have last year's tax return handy. But get on it soon - you don't want to miss a deadline.

Congratulations on the crew scholarship! My son (a junior) rows, but he's a lightweight and there are so few recruits for that - he's not in that league. What's your son's 2k?

He is thinking about walking on - if he ends up at a school with a lightweight team - but that's still more than a year down the road.

She's a coxswain so no 2k for her. It really is a great sport. Hope he finds his way on a team. I've heard that it is much easier for girls to get scholarships than boys.

Can I start the FAFSA now or do I have to wait til Jan. 1? Hoping we qualify for a bunch cause 3 all at once is going to be extremely difficult.

Much easier for girls because rowing is an NCAA sport for women, but not men. It's one place for colleges to even out Title IX numbers.

I don't think FAFSA is available online until Jan. 1, but you can certainly get stuff together before then, since you'll probably be estimating anyway. A lot of schools have deadlines way before you'll be filing your taxes. Be sure to check the financial aid page of each school your kids are applying to - they'll have all their deadlines, as well as info about any supplemental forms they require. About 200 colleges also require the CSS Profile, which is a lot more detailed. These are generally - but not always - the more selective private schools.

 

[Big Blue Wrecking Crew]

Have to go through this thread with a fine tooth comb, as I feel I am behind on researching this type of stuff. For those in the know, my oldest is a sophmore, so am I behind and, if so, what is recommended to catch up? If not, any steps to take to get ahead of the curve?

 

[James Daulton]

Have to go through this thread with a fine tooth comb, as I feel I am behind on researching this type of stuff. For those in the know, my oldest is a sophmore, so am I behind and, if so, what is recommended to catch up? If not, any steps to take to get ahead of the curve?

You're fine time wise unless your kid wants to go to one of the academies.

 

[Shirtless]

Yeah I slacked off for like a year and a half. Picking up where I left off.

 

[Shirtless]

Learned from a friend that they retained a college admissions consultant for their son. He's in 9th grade. Had never heard of that before. Cost aside, is that something even worth considering?

My opinion about independent consultants/counselors is that the families who are considering them and can afford them are the ones who don't actually need them. They're aware enough about the process to know about independent counselors, and that means their kids likely attend schools that have above-average college counseling infrastructure. The students who actually could use them come from families who don't know that they exist and can't afford them.

So, for you, since you run in circles that have independent consultants, you probably don't need one.

 

[Shirtless]

Which would be better for a kid from a high school not known for its academic rigor? 3.5-3.75 GPA with a 30 ACT/1300 SAT or 3.9-4.0 GPA with a 25 ACT/1100 SAT

In this case, I would actually defer to an above comment and say I would look at the class rank, and probably the teacher recs. For example, if the kid is 3.5 and ranked in the 50th percentile with a 1300 SAT, I might call him lazy and unengaged. Teacher recs might corroborate that, too. On the other hand, if the kid is 3.9, top of the class, with an 1100 SAT, then I might think that the school doesn't usually produce kids above an 1100 (and I'd have stats to refer to). Certainly not the kid's fault; he/she's done everything with what's available.

How important are teacher recommendations and aren't they always going to write good recommendations?

I actually told my kids that if they can't find 3 high school teacher to write them good recommendations, they really messed up their high school years. Someone in the school should like you.

They're usually not important because they're usually not very good. You're correct in that they're all positive. But how they're written is usually not constructive. Earlier in this thread there was a parent asking about how to write a recommendation for his kid. My advice to him applies for teacher recs, too.

95% of the time, a teacher rec is vague, filled with platitudes, and lacking anything specific or distinguishing. They say something about how the student is a hard worker, well liked, and very capable. This kind of rec is 0% helpful. A rec that can distinguish the student with specific examples can be extremely helpful. When I was reading applications, I liked when teachers could contextualize a student's achievements vis-a-vis the school (e.g., you see from Tina's application that she's involved in organization XYZ. You should know that our school doesn't actually have organization XYZ and that Tina actually pursued this activity on her own, outside of school) and vis-a-vis other students (e.g., in my 20 years of teaching this class, Tina is the only one to have referenced this piece of evidence in this response to this essay).

In super wealthy private prep schools, teachers receive training on how to write good letters of recommendation and how to distinguish the truly best students without saying bad things about the rest of the students. If you don't have this advantage, I think it's helpful for your student to actually talk with his/her teachers about what would be helpful to include in their recs.

 

[Shirtless]

I have some questions:

1. My daughter is Chinese and is a very good at softball, a sport with very little diversity. Does being a minority playing sports potentially help here or are college coaches not concerned diversity?

2. I graduated from UVA. How much does that help her get in, and is there anything I can do to help her chances as an alumni? She is doing better is school now, which may make her borderline for getting into UVA (or she may still be below their norm).

3. My other daughter is high functioning autistic and not the particularly good student. We are still trying to assess if she can live on her own or will need assistance throughout life. Are there colleges with support programs that can help her learn and be independent?

1. I'm not sure if the NCAA cares about accurate demographic representation. My hunch is they don't, but you can poke around online.

2. Being a legacy will absolutely help her. The best way to help her chances as an alumnus is to donate lots of money to your alma mater. If that's not possible, then don't worry about it and hope for the best.

3. Good question. When I read applications, we had to indicate if an application was from a special needs student. However, I'm not exactly sure what happened after that. I'd be willing to bet that the wealthier schools are better equipped to handle these kinds of situations, but your daughter still has to be admitted on her merits.

 

[Shirtless]

If you're turned down from the school of your choice, does it do anything at all to petition and beg for acceptance? Just to show that you're crazy about the school and desperately want to go there? It seems like I've heard that as a likely urban myth.

If you're wait listed, you're given the opportunity to submit additional materials. And yes, it's helpful to do that. If you're straight rejected, then it's not helpful.

 

[Shirtless]

Yes. Triplets. One got a scholarship for crew, one has already got in to 2 colleges but not his first choice yet. His sat's have to come up a little. The third hasn't made up his mind on which school he wants to go to. Is the FAFSA hard to fill out?

It's annoying, but not difficult.

A caveat is that it's super old-fashioned in what it assumes family structures are. Modern families (e.g., both parents divorced and remarried or something) sometimes have trouble fitting round pegs into square holes. But regardless of what your circumstances are, guaranteed the FAFSA has encountered it and has some kind of work around.

 

[Shirtless]

Have to go through this thread with a fine tooth comb, as I feel I am behind on researching this type of stuff. For those in the know, my oldest is a sophmore, so am I behind and, if so, what is recommended to catch up? If not, any steps to take to get ahead of the curve?

Not in a silver bullet kind of way. Encourage your child to take a demanding course load and sign up for a PSAT. Those would probably be the two most important things. There are 1,000 others that you can do (e.g., join clubs, play sports, visit colleges), but you'll have to decide if those are worth your time, effort, and money.

 

[ffjunk]

Yes. Triplets. One got a scholarship for crew, one has already got in to 2 colleges but not his first choice yet. His sat's have to come up a little. The third hasn't made up his mind on which school he wants to go to. Is the FAFSA hard to fill out?

It's annoying, but not difficult.

A caveat is that it's super old-fashioned in what it assumes family structures are. Modern families (e.g., both parents divorced and remarried or something) sometimes have trouble fitting round pegs into square holes. But regardless of what your circumstances are, guaranteed the FAFSA has encountered it and has some kind of work around.

Is my EFC a combined number or is it per child since I filled out 3? Please say combined.

 

[James Daulton]

Do colleges care about the writing part of the SAT at all?