I don't see a thread specific to this general topic, so I'm starting one. Who's in? What are your thoughts about the admissions process and requirements?
↧
UC Davis Class of 2022
↧
Parents of the HS Class of 2018
Hopefully it's not too early to start this thread. In reading the forums here, I've discovered (in some cases) it's never too early to start college planning and questioning!
My 8th grade son is our resident Trekkie and techie. His dream school is MIT, and he is undaunted by the narrow chances of admittance. I admire his spirit. He took the ACT for the first time in December 2013, and earned a 31 composite.
These forums have been such a boon as I prepare to send my oldest child to college (class of 2015). Best wishes to all the kiddos as they make their way to college!
↧
↧
Stuff to do in New Orleans that doesn't involve drinking and eating
I'm going to be the "trailing spouse" in New Orleans over spring break while DH is at a convention. We will be going out at night, but I'm looking for things to do during the day that don't revolve around eating and drinking. I don't want to go out of the city for day trips to the plantations, etc. (I've been to Oak Alley and Nottoway). Any suggestions?
↧
Class of 2022 Caltech Discussion Thread
Seems like there should be a thread this year for discussion of applications.
↧
Summer Science Program 2018
"Each summer since 1959, highly gifted and motivated high school students have come to the Summer Science Program to immerse themselves in hands-on, experimental science, and to live and work with their intellectual peers for the first time. The experience changes their lives, and the benefits continue for life."
There are programs in astrophysics at New Mexico Tech and CU Boulder and in biochemistry at Purdue.
I'm an alumna from SSP 2017 at CU Boulder starting this to let people know about this amazing program. Feel free to PM me if you have any questions!
For more information or to apply, please visit http://www [dot] summerscience [dot] org !
↧
↧
The Official 2018 Freakout Thread
Let it rip!
↧
I think I'm going to be rejected by every college..
ACT: 31
UW GPA: 3.6
International Student Class Rank Decile 10%
I applied to these colleges
Stanford
Emory University
Brown University
UChicago
University of the Pacific (Safety)
WashU at St. Louis
University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill
University of Michigan (Deferred)
Boston College
Georgia Tech
I don't know why but I applied to so many reach schools. I think I was just being overconfident of myself. My friends got into some of the best art schools in the world, but as for me I have not been accepted anywhere yet. I feel lost. I really don't want to go to my safety school. I guess I could transfer later but I don't really want to do that. College admissions really sucks.
↧
Miscellaneous Ramblings...
A few thoughts that didn't seem to fit on any thread (including my own "One Family's Story" thread)...
- A recent reminder of the uneven playing field BS AOs need to be mindful of.
The other day, I was walking through the Princeton U. squash gallery and overheard a conversation by two kids on a court. A girl, who appeared to be in her middle school years, replied to some question from a fellow player with the following, more or less verbatim, “Oh, Wednesday mornings are no good for me, I have chamber ensemble before school.”
My first thought about this overheard exchange was this “Wow, that is some esoteric stuff this kid is into at such a young age.” When I was in 8th grade, I was playing scholastic league soccer (badly), had already given up playing the saxophone, and had the following before-school commitments: Eat Breakfast.
Goes to show what a difference geography/socioeconomic status can make. And how Boarding School (as well as college) Admissions people really need to take this into account if the process is going to be anything close to equitable.
- What not to wear, BS edition
I was sitting in the admission area of a BS mentioned occasionally (and not often enough, IMO!) on this forum. No, it was not SAS. And while the majority of applicants appeared to be wearing what I (and most people, I think) would consider to be appropriate outfits; one young woman was wearing an ensemble that both my wife and daughter felt compelled to mention on the ride home. Yoga pants, a tank top, one of those very open-knit slouchy sweaters, worn off the shoulder, and Uggs. I don’t care if you play squash and play cello like Jacqueline du Pr
↧
Fall 2018 Transfer Thread
Thought I would start a thread for fall 2018 transfer hopefuls to post.
My stats are:
Major: Public Health
GPA: 3.6
AA-T/AS-T: No, but will have my AS in allied health and AS in life sciences
Prereqs: All completed by end of spring
Golden 4: complete w all A's
SD Area: nope, Bay Area
Haven't seen any stats on people getting in for public health major. It seems like only those with an AA-T from non-SD area get in. Hopefully public health is more lenient..?
↧
↧
Unemployed Parent & Financial Aid
I apologize in advance for the long post. I am looking for advice on the best strategy for financial aid.
Background:
- My son is starting college in the Fall of 2018
- He is choosing between two state school programs in NJ (Rutgers & TCNJ)
- I have been unemployed for the last 18 months, but I am starting a new job in March 2018
- After losing my job in late 2016, I received a lump sum severance payment increasing my 2016 income. The FAFSA for the 2018-19 school year based on my 2016 tax return that includes this extra income.
- We received no financial aid from one of the schools and $3k a year from the other.
- My 2017 tax return is substantially less ($20k)
- Both schools have a policy that they won’t look at a special circumstance appeal for financial aid until the student has sent in their admissions deposit. It looks like we will have to pick a school without knowing ahead of time which one will offer the better overall package.
Questions:
- If we file for an appeal for a special circumstance review for financial aid for the upcoming 2018-19 school year, will this impact the Fall 2018 FAFSA (for the 2019-20 school year)? I am asking because I expect my son will get more financial aid during his sophomore year due to my low 2017 income.
- Following on from above, is there an advantage to not appealing for more financial aid for my son’s freshman year given that our EFC will be zero or close to zero for his sophomore year? I would prefer to get help for his freshman year as money is tight now, but I could make it work and wait for the sophomore year aid if that is best overall.
- When looking at the appeal process, there is wording that implies the parent must currently be dislocated (unemployed) in order to be considered for a change in financial aid. I expect to start a new job in a few weeks and will likely not be unemployed anymore by the time my son chooses a school and we start the appeal process. Does this make sense given I truly was unemployed for 18 months and only recently have started working?
Again, thanks for any help!
↧
University of Michigan Deferred Applicants Class of 2022
Hey guys,
This thread is for everyone that got deferred, we can talk about stats and things to do next.
Go Blue!
↧
Chance me for all UC's, UNC, and Georgia Tech
GPA: 4.41 W / 4.00 UW
SAT I: 1490
SAT II: 630 Chem 700 Math 2
Personal Info: White Middle Class Male, Deceased Parent, European First Generation Immigrant
California Resident
Extracurricular: Tae Kwon Do Instructor and 2nd Degree Black Belt, Cello Player, Key Club Member with many Volunteer Hours
Major: Computer Science
↧
Ivy League Questions: From A Freshmen to Experienced Applicants
Hello All,
I have some questions about the future as I'm looking towards colleges. I'm Class of 2022, and I am applying for Broadcom over the summer for the science competition coming up, and my school has placed me into the State Science fair coming up this month (I wish everyone luck!). I currently attend a private day school in the South with a wide variety of different courses to take, but I'm not necessarily sure of what these classes mean. Next year (my 9th-grade year) I will be taking Honors Physics, Honors Algebra II, French III Honors, English 9, Introduction to History, Ceramic I, Chrous 9, and hopefully a Computer Science Class. I am interested in taking ONLINE AP Classes in my freshmen year, however, most of the online courses are already in my school. I was wondering whether it would be wise to take one online AP class (such as BC Calculus) that is offered in the 12th grade now, and then take a different AP class (such as Statistics) when I get to 12th grade. My ambitions in high school is National Merit Scholar, INTEL Science Fair, Winning A National Math Competition, the Nice/Kindness Award, Making my OWN working instrument that is inexpensive to distribute, write my own book, create a local community service group that is free and gain money/awareness through donations, performances, etc. , getting Presidential Scholar, getting the Mu Alpha Theta Award, and the Dean's List (phew that was a mouthful!). I want to be the best student that ever attended the school and the most well-rounded. [SideNote About Dean's List: I know that the middle school record does not travel to the upper school, but I have done some things I regret that don't put in a positive light with the dean of the Upper School. I believe that if I put enough hard work he'll turn around.] So in conclusion, my main questions are...
1. What are some EC's that other people part of Class of 2022 have been doing?
2. What are some ways I can catch up if I am behind?
3. Would you recommend online AP classes (I have a free period of 50 minutes each day in high school)?
4. What are some of the "common tips" when it comes to applying to college (for instance, I have heard a lot of people say passion. If I am interested in plants or wildlife, would that mean you would be taking classes building up to that, basically all the things that I do should be surrounding that one passion?)
5. Please provide more National awards that high school students are eligible to win or some great EC's the colleges look for.
6. Prep Schools vs. Strong Private Day Schools, which one would you recommend?
7. What're the best resources to get a head start (I've worked with Varsity Tutors, C2 Education, AOPS, etc.)
8. What are some of the most competitive math competitions I can be part of?
9. Please explain more about the Mu Alpha Theta.
10. What are some competitions for students are in Chorus or who are very talented in productions? What about instruments?
11. What are some common passions that college students have?
12. These days, perfect test scores are becoming a bit more common (although they are still phenomenal), what would be something that would be a "showstopper" for colleges?
13. For freshmen especially, how many AP classes do students who have look toward IVY colleges take (I'm hoping to take some online classes, but it depends on what you guys say, and of course, what my school thinks. I just want to take a second opinion)?
14. This isn't a question, but thanks for making it this far, please comment down below in a numbered list your answers to the questions above.
↧
↧
Chancellor's, Dean's, Faculty, TCU and Founder's Scholarship Stats?
Can those of you who have been offered any of the scholarships above for entry in the Fall of 2017 please share your stats (GPA, ACT/SAT, AP's, EC's) to help those to apply for Fall 2018 get a better understanding of scholarship possibilities? Thanks for your help and Congrats!
↧
First acceptance package!!!
The Fedex notification from Cate was really an acceptance package!!!!
↧
The Tours, The Journey and the Decisions moving forward
Hi all! This forum has been such a source of amazing information for me for my D. Having a S who is now a college junior in engineering, walking down the music school and audition path has been extremely daunting. Especially when looking at the price tags of the schools that interest us.
D is a jazz vocalist and singer/songwriter who wants to pursue vocal performance and songwriting in college. She is a rising senior so we are finishing college tours and starting to think about the road ahead with regard to SAT's (next week), audition prescreen videos, and the entire application process with auditions and eventual (hopeful) admission and scholarships. I have lots of questions still. One of my best sources of information has been @GoForthJournal but I don't want to clog up the feed there with all of my questions and comments so I thought I'd start a similar thread as to what GoForth started last year around this time. I hope other parents of rising seniors join in!
We are currently in Miami and finished up a visit at Frost. We loved it! Prior to this visit Berklee had been D's top choice but we've heard a lot of negative things about Berklee so I was hoping to get more info from people in the know. We have heard many people comment that Berklee will accept a lot of students then start to cut them as the years go on. Is this true? Or is it more of a natural "weeding out" process of students that aren't at the levels of others and paying full tilt in tuition? Honestly, the people that have made the less than stellar comments about Berklee have been the ones running the tours of competitive schools so I thought this would be the best place to get feedback from people who have experience there. I know of a lot of Berklee students that are thriving there and love it so it's been interesting to hear other comments.
Finally, during our tour at Frost it was mentioned by someone in the program that "all" students admitted to Frost get a scholarship of at least 40% tuition. Anyone out there that can confirm this? I believe everyone I saw on some other threads that were admitted to Frost had scholarship of at least 20K/year.
Thanks to all of the parents out there that can comment, advise and assist as we move through this journey over the next year!
↧
Is This a Good College List?? (Ivies and all)
Hi, I'm a junior with a 1500+ SAT and 4.0+ GPA that's looking to major in computer science or some type of engineering. I am also hoping to apply through the Questbridge College Match program. My list is as follows:
High Reach/Dream:
Princeton (Questbridge)
Stanford (QB)
Yale (QB)
MIT (QB)
Columbia (QB)
UPenn (QB)
Harvard
Mid-Reach:
Cornell
Rice
Johns Hopkins
Match:
Boston College
USC
Safety:
Kean (State School)
Rutgers (State School)
I know that a lot of these schools aren't like very STEM-focused like RPI, WPI or Carnegie Mellon. The reason being is that I want a very well- rounded education and I am interested in a lot of fields besides computer science and I would like that option to take high-quality humanities classes as well as high-quality STEM classes. I am also looking for schools that are close to major cities but have their own campuses and have a very strong sense of community. Any suggestions for more match schools or schools that I should take off. I might take Cornell off because the campus seemed a little isolated when I visited and I'll probably leave most of the Ivies on because I really liked the campuses that I visited, but I'm really open to any suggestions here. Thanks :)
↧
↧
Parents of the HS Class of 2020
This thread is destined for parents of potential 2020 high school grads.
↧
***Official Thread for BSMD Applicants 2018***
Please post here if you are applying during 2017-2017 season.
Courtesy @Roentgen
Questions you should think about for medical school selection
https://dornsife.usc.edu/assets/sites/1/docs/advising/prehealth/New_Logo-35_Questions.pdf
↧
NYU 2022
Hello!! Thread for everyone thinking about applying or applying to NYU for class of 2022.
Personally, I will be applying ED! The time is flying and application season is almost here :)
↧