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Looking for some advice
bpd196
4 replies2 threads New Member
DD has a list of schools she is applying to. She has good grades over 4.0 gpa top decile of her class. All Honors and AP classes and Lots of EC and sports. SAT 1340 and 29 ACT (retaking the ACT shortly). She has some reach schools and she was thinking of applying early decision to 1 hoping to improve her chances.
Now we already have another daughter in her 3rd year at a very expensive school and she is going to be in debt for a long time.
DD who is about to be applying just received an offer from one of her safe schools to apply for a full scholarship tuition housing books and travel stipend. Obviously, she is now stressed and so are we. I would jump for joy for a free undergraduate degree and not everyone gets that opportunity.
Should she not apply early decision to her top choice reach school and attempt to receive the full-ride scholarship from her safe school. Her ultimate end goal is to go to law school and she has the right mind frame to go wherever the money is. In addition, if she goes to her safe school most of her AP classes would be accepted and she is currently taking a college writing class at our community college which would also be accepted.
7 replies Now we already have another daughter in her 3rd year at a very expensive school and she is going to be in debt for a long time.
DD who is about to be applying just received an offer from one of her safe schools to apply for a full scholarship tuition housing books and travel stipend. Obviously, she is now stressed and so are we. I would jump for joy for a free undergraduate degree and not everyone gets that opportunity.
Should she not apply early decision to her top choice reach school and attempt to receive the full-ride scholarship from her safe school. Her ultimate end goal is to go to law school and she has the right mind frame to go wherever the money is. In addition, if she goes to her safe school most of her AP classes would be accepted and she is currently taking a college writing class at our community college which would also be accepted.
Replies to: Looking for some advice
Lastly, the higher ED acceptance rate at many colleges is misleading as it includes many types of high demand students like athletes, legacy, URM, development cases, Questbridge, and other “hooked” applicants.
If you cannot afford your EFC for the ED school with your daughter taking out no more than federal loan limits, you are not a good candidate for ED. Also consider that your EFC will go up when your older daughter leaves college. However, full scholarships are typically highly competitive. So apply, but I wouldn't bank on it.
Especially if your daughter is considering grad or law school, getting her out with as little debt as possible should be the goal. Preferably staying UNDER the federal loan limits of 5.5K freshman year, 6.5K sophomore year, 7.5K junior and senior year. And as close to zero as possible.
What that depends on is how your EFC looks to you.
Is this ED school affordable once your other kid graduates from college?
Will this second daughter be paying $70,000 a year for the very selective NE university?
It sounds like you have some financial considerations at this point. If that is the case, and this ED school is only ED because of a “perceived” edge for admission by applying ED...I would say...don’t do it. You want the ability to compare net costs amongst multiple (hopefully) offers.
@lookingforward could you please comment about the “edge” folks think they have applying ED to selective colleges?
In my opinion, if your kid isn’t close to the mark for RD acceptance, applying ED isn’t going to make her closer to that mark. A lot of very well qualified applicants apply ED.
Early is only a tip when you fully match what they want in the class. No extra points for submitting Early. And the better admit rates include recruited athletes depending on the college.
If you do mean a tippy top, yes, the scores are low (the bar is roughly 750 for SAT) and they look at unweighted gpa. More specifically, the transcript, to see class choices and grades. It's not just about a lot of ECs. And not Composite, as much as the subscores.
I'd guess you're quite concerned, with the Early deadline looming. But I'm an advocate of learning all you can about what it really takes to get an admit, the whole of it. It's not just what the student wants.
If you mean something less competitive than a TT, like 20-40, if you look at score ranges, she's still on the low side. You have to know if the school will accept a later test date.
We really can't say more without knowing more.
But also, try to remember the competition doesn't end at an admit. Top colleges can have a high bar in the classrooms, as well. All those highly prepared 4.0 kids. Find the "right" choices.