<p>S only wants to apply to 2 schools - his safety/match and his reach. Is this wise?</p>
<p>Does not want to attend the state flagship</p>
<p>Rising Senior
UVA is the reach and MI State is the safety/match (honors college at MI State). OSS for both.</p>
<p>4.0 weighted GPA
31 ACT (wants to retake - trying to talk him out of it)
No SAT II (yet)
Will have 8 APs by the time he’s done
Very average high school</p>
<p>ECs
Eagle Scout
NHS
Jr. Leadship (soon to be Sr. leadership - chosen by the admin to talk to and be role model for underclassmen)
Academic Team
Mock Trial
Global Awareness Club
Varsity letters in Football and Volleyball
Blah, blah - there’s more but does it really matter?</p>
<p>Summer job past 2 summers</p>
<p>Thinking that UVA is not happening, but MI State is a pretty safe bet - but are 2 applications enough?</p>
<p>If he really doesn’t want to apply anywhere else, he could apply ED to UVA. If he gets in, fantastic! If he doesn’t, you can send off some other applications and let him have the three months to realize that he is a promising student and could do well at some other schools. I would advise him to add a couple match schools and maybe another safety. He can get these other applications in order but really focus on UVA. I will warn you that Virginia schools have to take 67% state residents. This puts your son at a disadvantage, so the acceptance rate you see is not really the true rate. There are some other great schools that are similar to UVA. He could consider UNC-Chapel Hill, William & Mary (another Virginia reach), University of Maryland-College Park (honors or gemstone), and other reputable state schools. I’m guessing he’s not a LAC kind of guy.</p>
<p>“OSS for both.”
For this reason ALONE 2 colleges is absolutely NOT enough, not in this day and age of highly competative admissions. He needs to spread a much wider net if he is intent on OOS colleges</p>
<p>Michigan State is a rolling admissions school, isn’t it? He can get that app in early and get an answer early, and that would probably then be a safety for him. I think it is a very likely admit for him, but if he is deferred that would be an early wake up call to dig deeper, but I doubt that is going to happen. He can then put in his app to UVa and be done, waiting for the spring answer. He still will have time during the fall to apply to other schools if he so chooses. Encourage him to visits with friends who are still looking, but don’t get too pushy that he needs more. They can get quite stubborn when mom pushes.</p>
<p>Two of my kids were very, very slow in getting into the college admissions mood, to put it very nicely. My oldest was definitely behind, and I forced the issue. I wish he had even one school he wanted. He just did not want to think about it. When the first term of senior year was over, that was when he suddenly was aware of the situation, and asking why he had not applied here, looked at that school. GRRRR. I really was afraid early that fall that he was going to be on my sofa the next year if I left things up to him. </p>
<p>This last one had no idea until we started looking and by Early deadline dates, had pretty much picked his first choice and some alternates. We barely made the deadlines, yes, I say we, because I was well involved in the process. Thanks to his very flexible teachers and GC, he got his apps in early and had the bulk of his answers by Christmas. He did not waver in his first choice which is where he is heading, but he did get some other alternatives in the spring too with his RD schools. I did force his hand somewhat in getting 10 apps out for him, but in retrospect it was over kill and over involvement with both kids. </p>
<p>Unless you have real qualms about Mich State, it seems to be a fine choice, if he is the sort that can survive in a large school. If you have some schools in mind that you think he might like or are good matches for him, try to interest him with a visit, and cajole an app for them out of him if you can. He can always say no if he is accepted. I threw in a lot of my choices for my kids in their college search, not that they were taken, but at least they were in the running should they have changed their minds by the end of the year.</p>
<p>I think that your S should apply to more schools because nothing is certain in these supercompetitive circumstances. One of my S’s friends applied to 4 or 5 schools and didn’t get into any of them. His safety school, U. of Delaware, ended up being wildly popular this year and so he didn’t get in there - and it seemed like a sure thing. His parents scrambled and found a small private school that was still accepting students and he’ll be going there.</p>
<p>Also, he’s a little less than a year away from the reality of maybe having only one choice. A lot can change between now and then…</p>
<p>I don’t know your financial situation, but 2 OOS schools doesn’t sound like there’s a financial safety in there (unless you have planned ahead big time and have 4 year’s worth stashed away). Is there at least one school that would be really inexpensive and that he could be happy at if need be?</p>
<p>I agree with Dragonmom about watching the finances. Friends of ours who have kids at UIndiana and some other OOS big state schools are paying close to or equal to private school COAs without any help from the schools. It’s really hard to get money out of OOS schools unless you are waaaaay up there in stats because they tend to cater to their own first and OOS scholarships are just fewer in number.</p>
<p>Yipee! I LOVE CC! I knew that I’d get some good advice and PDQ - this place is the best!</p>
<p>He’s all over that rolling admissions thing (learned it from his sister) He already tried to apply to MI State, but they don’t have the app ready for Fall 2009 yet. He did think that if he got in early, he’d be more relaxed for the UVA app. Also, MI State has, based on his stats, tuition that would be less than U of I (which at $28,000 tuition/room/board/year in state is criminal)</p>
<p>As to the LACs - yep, no way. It’s too bad, but he insists on at least 10,000 students. His aunt (Middlebury alum) is very bummed. I don’t think he would have gotten in (stats not there), but she insists that as a boy, he’d have a better chance - wonder if she would have paid : ) ?</p>
<p>He did visit UNC Chapel Hill and might apply there (I keep trying to talk him into it). I also want him to do the dreaded U of I application - he does NOT want to go there - but, hey, better safe than sorry.</p>
<p>I’m open to any more information that anyone has.</p>
<p>A big private university might work as well, depending on what he wants. </p>
<p>I know that Boston University has around 10,000 students and if he qualifies for scholarships, the combination of merit aid and financial aid could make things easier for you guys financially.</p>
<p>By applying rolling admission to MSU as early as possible, assuming he gets in your son can lock up a very good option. The main reason students apply to lots of schools is for insurance. By getting in early at MSU, he won’t need any insurance; he will have a good option in hand.</p>
<p>But there are other considerations besides insurance. These kids change their minds; what looks like a good fit now might not look as attractive in May 2009 when your son has to decide. My kid initially was sure he wanted to one of the big state research universities in the midwest. I encouraged him to apply to some of the eastern research universities and when May rolled around, that is where he decided to go. </p>
<p>If you don’t think he will get in UVA, encourage him to apply to at least one other school besides MSU so he gets to make a choice in May. What about University of Wisconsin or the University of Minnesota? These are great schools that should appeal to students thinking about MSU or UVA.</p>
<p>TooReal, why does he not want to go to U of I (I assume you mean Urbana-Champaign)? It is a large and excellent school, and would be much cheaper than out of state publics. It is increasingly difficult to get in, but with his stats, grades and ECs, he shouldn’t have a problem. He could get into a number of great colleges with his resume.</p>
<p>I definitely think he should apply to more than two. He needs to do some more research, as there are many other schools that would fit his criteria. If he didn’t get into either of his top two, or if they ended up being out of the question financially, he would be glad to have other options.</p>
<p>I guess the search is for a school that is similar to UVA. He has his safety and you say that it is cheaper than UI, so he will probably be set with MICh State. The only other suggestion I have is that he may want to look at some schools that are back east. Since he has a safety, UNC would not be a problem, just another possibility, and maybe something like James Madison, Clemson, Uof Sout Carolina, UMd. Look at the apps for such schools and if they are not too ornerous, you may be able to get him to send one off. It’ll just give him more choices. But if he’s really resistant, it’s something you need to decide as to how much you want to push. I pushed, but my kids did, though begrudgingly, do the work without things getting too nasty. Not worth causing family stress when he is more on the ball in having his choices than many kids I know.</p>
<p>He should be a lock for MSU provided he gets his app in early. UVa is more problematic but worth a shot. So if he has an acceptance in his pocket before Thanksgiving to a university at the top of his short list why complicate matters for him.</p>
<p>We are Illinois residents with a D who won’t apply to U of I either. Check of the U of MN, they have a new tuition policy that only charges OOS students $2000 more a semester that in-state. I don’t know what their tuition will be for 2009-2010 yet, but I think it comes out to be cheaper than Illinois. They are pretty free with merit aid (if we can go by what has been offered to D’s older friends) for good students; I think their president is trying to raise the school’s status and wants to attract out-of-state talent. They have rolling admissions and the merit award has come with acceptance for D’s freinds.</p>
<p>Do you think your son expects to get into UVA? It’s definitely a possibility, but part of his resistance to more applications could be that he’s so stuck on one school that he can’t imagine not going there. If he is really fine with MSU and you think he could get excited about it, then two schools are fine. Still, I know I was very stubborn when I did my applications and refused to believe I wouldn’t get into many schools (I even thought of Bryn Mawr as my safety!). I always knew deep down that I would go to Wellesley (much like your son seems to know about UVA), but it still would have been nice to have a lot of options. Your son might as well throw his hat into the ring with other schools similar to UVA but keep his focus on perfecting the UVA application. I think his genuine interest will shine through and may give him a boost. Good luck!</p>
<p>Again, this site is like the Master Card commercial says, “Priceless”</p>
<p>As to the not applying to U of I - it’s the stupidest thing that I’ve ever heard. My husband’s whole family went to big 10 schools and there’s this huge rivalry between all of them, so he was raised on a sports-based hate of U of I and won’t budge and my husband encourages this - he thinks it’s funny???</p>
<p>Anyway, that’s excellent information about U of Minn. I am trying to get him to look at UW, but he’s resisting. He’s not fooling himself about UVA - much better students than him have been turned away, and I have not sugar-coated it him (see my user name). He thinks that if he get in, it would be great, but if it’s Mich State that would be good too.</p>
<p>Has anyone actually known a kid that onl applied to 2 schools in these crazy times?</p>