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2 Schools Enough?
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Replies to: 2 Schools Enough?
If he would be happy at MSU, I'd say his plan sounds fine. I have to say that knowing where you're going to school by October first made for a stress-free senior year. My son is not a kid who second-guesses himself so I doubt that he'll have any regrets -- he has none so far and can't wait to leave in August.
Just make sure he applies EARLY.
So he was accepted at his dream school, rolling admissions, at the end of October. And that was that. He was right. And sometimes (although probably not often) two applications can be enough.
My D said this - what if someone in the family got very ill and I just didn't want to go so far away?
MSU may fit this bill for you, but if the local commuter school or community college is a no go, then I think some other close to home/inexpensive school is just cheap insurance against that change of circumstances.
I would have been really nervous if my kids had only applied to 2 schools. Their top choices were uber-reaches, and they needed realistic fall-back options. Cost is a big factor in our family as well, since we are middle income, and H & I will be retiring soon. D applied to 10 and S to 8. D got her 3rd choice, since she was rejected by 1st choice and 2nd choice was too expensive. S got his 1st choice. However, until those last admissions/financial aid packages came in April, we had no idea where either of them would be going.
U of Minn is a great school, but keep in mind that it gets pretty cold up there and there is more snow than here in Illinois. Climate was a big issue for my S in his choices of where to apply.
Additionally, speaking as an Illinois resident, after financial aid UIUC was my most expensive school, and U of M my least.
She did the early no essay app and was in by Oct w/merit $. We then kept tossing out other options she might pursue, other good schools to investigate, etc. Nothing in Dec, nothing in Jan, her last possible alternate school had a March deadline, by March she decided she was happy with her #1 choice.
It worked for her because she had seen so much about the school options with her sisters and had been in school visits with them. They went to Ucs and she is thrilled to NOT go to a large public. It worked because she was clear on what she did want and because she did keep considering adding other schools along the way, comparing each one to the one where she is already in and determining whether or not it was worth an essay to have that option!! It never was and she's an English major
My gut feeling is that your son will be accepted to MSU. (I am an alum and we are great Spartan fans in our Long Island house!) Great school, great education with lots of choices of major as I suppose the other Big Ten's are. I was a transfer OOS and made friends quickly and it never felt like a huge school except if a class was across campus in the winter! We bundled up and the cold was always manageable.
From what I know, my son was accepted (for last fall) with better stats and given scholarship opportunities you may also receive. They gave him lots of perks (in state tuition, job teaching or doing research, etc...) you may get some of the same.
My old roomie's son (same age as mine) started there last fall. From what she told me along the way, with a 3.5 GPA, I assume unweighted, (at least for instate) he and his friends had to submit mid year grades before the acceptance letter was sent.(He got in with the 3.5 and 27 ACT. While the stats at MSU have probably risen like everywhere else, I think the size of the school helps a lot with the kids on the high end of the spectrum, like your son. They have lots of spots to fill and don't need to be so selective of the top kids, they can let them all in!!!
(Just an FYI- things have gotten so crazy. Lots of kids on Long Island that we know did not get in to their match schools. A friend of mine had her daughter rejected from 2 of her safties (told on the tour that she'd be in Honors College) but accepted at a reach with merit $ for community service. They were all small schools by the way.)
Apply ASAP- Strive to have the MSU app in Aug/Sept. Get your app done, send scores, and as soon as school opens in the fall, make sure the guidance office sends your grades and recs. (One problem we encountered with MSU when I called to see if all materials were received as they were not noted on line was that there were many mailbags that had not even been unpacked yet and it would take a couple of weeks to update the system. You can avoid this by applying early.
As far as UVa- great school. Good luck. (Son applied and was accepted. No merit $.) (May want to add UMaryland which is very popular here although it will be a match with no guarantee. Being from IL may help you there as being from NY hurts us here. May want to add another big ten safety- Indiana is super popular here. Also, Ohio State (even though we had a big anti-OS chant at MSU!!)
I hope your son gets accepted at both. You can't go wrong with either one of them.
People here are, IMO, way too hung up on the have to apply to a zillion schools list. My older daughter applied to two schools. She narrowed her list before the application process (as your son has apparently done). She's very happy with her choice, and would have been happy at her other school had she not gotten into the school and program she desired. That's all you're looking for.
Good luck.
Anyhoo, as an aside, I get the Big 10 thing. I thought Northwestern would be a great choice for him to look at, but as the son of two Umich alum, no way would he consider it.
I had a friend who did essentially the same thing this year. He applied to Penn State (and Shreyers Honors College) and Johns Hopkins. He was accepted at PSU, but not the honors... and flipped out about it. Turned out that he only wanted the school for the honors college, not the regular part.
Has your son looked into more state universities? Perhaps my opinion is biased, but I think a lot of them are very similar. There's the big 10 Midwestern ones, as well as a bunch of other schools. What about Penn State? U Pitt gives a TON of money out, and it's a fantastic school.
I will mention that a 4.0 weighted GPA would be a serious reach in-state for UVA from our high school. The year my S was applying I put together spreadsheets on the prior years. Of the 18 accepted from our school the year before he applied, only one had a GPA below 4.0. The next were 4.18, 4.33, 4.43 and then higher. A 4.48 was waitlisted. Same story in prior years and I can only assume it has gotten more competitive. With that said, I don't think you can compare weighted GPA's from one school to another, so he might have a better sense of his chances based on class rank. I would consider top 5% in-state to be a sure bet, with the closer you get to that 10% threshhold the lower the chances unless the rest of the application just sings. For out of state, I assume it is more difficult.
I just want to focus on whether he is "safe" in terms of being happy with the possible outcomes, knowing - as many of us do - that some kids (not just a few) change their perspective on what they seek in a school between fall of Senior year and spring of Senior year.
So... if he and you are fairly sure that he will be HAPPY with the potential outcome of only one admit - to MSU - two could be enough.
I'd just want you and he to think about how some kids feel downhearted to have only one option. Some seem to feel dejected if the only acceptance was to the safety - there is just some human nature at work which devalues the safety because it IS the safety.
So I'd consider more than just a reach and a safety to enhance the chances that he will have the ability to have a choice and a hedge against changing his perspective on what he wants. If, eg, he's ever considered a smaller school, a techie school, a _____ school... I'd add one of that type to the mix. And not a reach one.
You mention your son's weighted GPA, but what about unweighted? And what's his class rank? I ask because as I understand Michigan State's Honors College, an invitation to join is automatic for any admitted student in the top 5% of his graduating class who also has an ACT composite of 30+. Clearly your S meets the ACT standard; if he meets the class rank standard, he's in. If not, it's a much more "iffy" proposition.
And if he is accepted into the Honors college, merit-based financial aid is also automatic: $8K/yr for four years for nonresidents. If he re-takes the ACT and bumps his score up to 33 (which I'd strongly recommend), it's even sweeter: an automatic research assistantship to a professor (8-10 hrs/wk for a stipend of $2300) PLUS tuition remission to in-state levels, on top of the $8,000 scholarship he gets just for being admitted. This is a really sweet deal, and it does make MSU much cheaper than UIUC at in-state tuition.
Given his stats and MSU's admission standards---73% acceptance rate, 22-27 median ACTS, no quota on OOS admits---it's hard to believe he won't get in to MSU. The real key here is getting into the Honors College which is a really terrific opportunity for OOS students; without that, it will be costlier and not as attractive an educational option.
As to class rank, he was top 6% (sooo close) at the end of 1st semester Jr. year, but I have no idea what's up right now. Although if he does not get into the MI State honors college, I don't think he will care (I think that he'd still get $6000). I do however, sense an ACT retake happening ASAP (33 = in state tuition - how sweet is that?). I mentioned that several Big 10 schools including UIUC have a better reputation for his major, and he does not care. He's convinced that he can make a go of anywhere.
I know and he knows that UVA is an uber-reach for him, but he wants to try. Who knows, maybe UVA is longing for a middle-class white kid from IL who has no outstanding skills (unless you count being able to catch food in his mouth that is thrown from great distances)? It could happen - right?
Thank you all again for the words of wisdom