Naviance

northeastmom · 10-05-2006, 11:04 AM

Just curious, do most high schools have this program? Last I checked, our high school did not have it.

meredesfilles · 10-05-2006, 11:06 AM

My d's school does. They have three years of data on it.

I find it helpful, however I wish that on the graph they did not clump all three years together.

roshke · 10-05-2006, 12:08 PM

We don't have Naviance either, but I did the next best thing. I sat in the guidance office for a couple of hours and copied the information down by hand. I know other parents who asked about Naviance specifically and were simply told we don't have it, so you may have to be persistent and ask the right questions to find out if you can get your hands on the info in any form!

jmmom · 10-05-2006, 12:12 PM

Our school doesn't have it, although we have excellent Guidance resources. Since we're a small town, I don't know if it's not economical for small schools to participate.

What we do have is Excel spreadsheets with the info - GPAw and uw, SAT(M&V), ACT. Shows all acceptances, WL, rejections, where matriculated, whether ED. You can sort it all kinds of ways. So it's a good resource. Don't know how it compares to Naviance for ease of use and flexibility of sorting.

northeastmom · 10-05-2006, 12:15 PM

roshke, You had the right idea. I used info that I had from similar high schools and accomplished the same thing. It was just easier for me, and I was able to refer to that info several times through the process, without feeling like I was imposing on anyone.

northeastmom · 10-05-2006, 12:19 PM

jmmom, Interesting. I really don't think that the info is even collected correctly. My S told me that a sheet is handed out at the end of senior year. Seniors are to list acceptances (and I believe WL/denied schools too, but not sure). My son told me that kids just jotted down a couple of schools and they were done. The forms were not completed fully.

BLUMINI · 10-05-2006, 12:21 PM

Daughter's school has it - that said, I have found it more useful than she.

It helped me to see the "black and white" of certain things like GPA and SAT, etc., with regard to her school's students...and various colleges...but of course it can't tell the personal stories behind each student. It also can't help you if no one from the high school has ever applied to a particular school your student/child is interested in.

northeastmom · 10-05-2006, 12:25 PM

Individual stories, ecs, backround etc. absolutely count. It is a very good guide though. It also does not tell you about merit and financial aid. Some students might be accepted without aid (admit/deny scenario).

My Sweet Babboo · 10-05-2006, 12:59 PM

School just got it this year. Even though it only has information on the class of 2006, I found the site to be extremely helpful.

JHS · 10-05-2006, 01:17 PM

A school I know well just got it, and there was something of a problem: with only one year's worth of data, it essentially constituted public dissemination of the GPAs and SATs of any student who was the only kid who applied to or who was accepted at a particular school. There were 10-12 such kids, and not all of them were thrilled to share their information with the next two years' classes and their parents.

jmmom · 10-05-2006, 01:30 PM

^^^
JHS, I don't know if that is the reason our school doesn't have it, but it would be a good reason for us never to get it. At a small school, just too transparent. I can probably identify at least two dozen kids in my S' class by the Excel data. But our school doesn't "publish" it or have it on the web, etc. A parent (or I guess student) can have it if s/he asks. Naturally, us college admissions junkies have asked

.

BLUMINI · 10-05-2006, 01:32 PM

But it's completely anonymous - so what's the problem?

P.S. Daughter's senior class has about 38 kids in it - and that's a big class. There have never been any issues. I can't imagine how anyone could tell who was who. Perhaps the school's who are just starting need to go back and input past years to give a broader perspective and calm some fears.

If it says 10 applied, 3 were rejected and 7 admitted but none actually went - what's the big deal?

HImom · 10-05-2006, 01:34 PM

Our kids' HS used to create a rough guide by region & school as to GPAs of kids who were accepted at various schools (not naming the student or precise GPA or any info about test scores). I have the ones they created for 2004 & 2005 but they didn't create one for 2006 (new college counselor). Wish they had one for 2006 also, but am glad I saved the ones I have now (not sure how I'd get them at this point otherwise).

The data was interesting -- I assumed if S tried for schools where his GPA was higher than those on the chart (his test scores are already very high), he had a better chance for merit aid & the counselor agreed.

I also have trouble seeing confidentiality problems--who knows where each kid applied & was accepted? All folks know is which school the kid matriculated at (unless the family chooses to share more with the public). Many kids apply to a lot more schools than the one school they eventually matriculate at & the data about those schools & any $$$ offered can be very helpful to other families & the counselor for future students.

JHS · 10-05-2006, 01:38 PM

The problem is that if only one kid got into Vassar, or only one kid applied to West Point, and everyone knows who those kids are, then reporting the data of "the students admitted to Vassar" or "the students who applied to West Point" is not very anonymous. When there is three or four years of data, some of that specificity washes out.

jmmom · 10-05-2006, 01:45 PM

Yes, ours is completely anonymous, but it only has one year of data in each Excel file. So, we're a small town and we tend to know that Johnny is at Dartmouth, but had applied Princeton EA and was rejected and, if he is in your kid's friendship group, maybe all the schools he applied to. And maybe you even know his SATs and GPAs because of parent/kid chat. So, the data doesn't add much.

In other cases, you might know Mary Lou is at GWU. But you didn't know her GPA or her SATs or that she applied and was rejected from Georgetown. If there is only one kid in the data base accepted and matriculated at GWU, you now know her whole GPA/SAT profile and the results of all college apps she submitted.

Just part of being in a small town. Leads to what JHS talked about.