Can more graduating/graduated seniors do "actual results" threads?

[aultra]

I’ve always been a fan of this thread, so:

Full IB Diploma Candidate: SL Spanish, Psych, Enviro, Math; HL History, Bio, and English
3.9 UW/4.9 weighted (this might be a little off, but one B and two unweighted classes (band)
Also took AP Seminar, APUSH, AP Euro, AP Stats, AP Lang, AP Lit, AP Calc AB; calc not back yet, rest were 5s except APUSH (4)
Top 10% of class
No physics (chose Enviro instead)
ACT 36, one sitting, submitted everywhere, as one would! (btw SAT was 1500, so a big difference here, although he had a weird testing day with some issues. My other kid did much better on the SAT than the ACT)
Two years marching band, two years soccer, two years ultimate frisbee (casual)
Two years lifeguard job
Competitive chess player, but no significant titles or anything
100ish service hours, environment-focused, but nothing too standout
No leadership positions on anything. No awards of any significance. Missed National Merit by a hair.
Letters of rec were probably nice but nothing incredible

Results:
Bowdoin- Waitlist
Bates- Waitlist
Sewanee - Accepted with merit
Macalester - Accepted with merit and need-based package
UVM - Accepted with merit, Honors College
Colorado College - Accepted with small merit (mostly need based)
Middlebury - Accepted, need-based package
FSU (in state) - Accepted, full Bright Futures plus a small additional scholarship
Carleton - Accepted, need-based package
Vassar - Accepted, need-based package, attending

All along I wondered if his high stats would make up for sort of “average” activities etc. He was definitely disappointed about Bowdoin, but I feel like he did great. He really didn’t show interest in Bates.

We have moderate need and most of these came in about the same cost, except FSU (very cheap due to in state scholarship) and surprisingly, MIddlebury, with an initial COA about 20k more than Carleton, his best offer. They gave him an additional 10k on appeal, but ultimately he chose Vassar.

The lesson for me as a parent that I did not fully understand my first go-round is that if you have moderate need, merit-based packages and need-based packages may net out about the same or close. For instance, Sewanee gave my kid their top merit package (aside from a few full rides) but his COA there was functionally about the same as his offers at need-based schools. Macalester gave merit, but cost more than Vassar or Carleton.

I was so worried about getting merit the first time, but need-based only would have been fine. I think we forget to emphasize that need-based can be great even for UMC families…it obviously isn’t if you’re full pay, but we aren’t, although I consider us to be doing well financially.

[aultra]

@cacmom

I was so surprised by how much the financial aid packages varied. For example, Hamilton, Vassar and Wesleyan are all ranked the same, need-based only- and their offers spread from $25k to $27k up to $48k!

I was surprised by this in our offers from need-based schools as well–there was a $20,000 spread. Most were fairly similar, but it’s interesting how these “need based” schools look at the same CSS and make different decisions.

[Bruno99]

I mentioned this on another post earlier today but repeating here…one possible explanation for the difference in aid can be differences in whether or to what degree the different CSS schools consider home equity. Some schools don’t consider it at all. Some schools count all of it. Most schools cap the amount of home equity they consider as an “available” asset for your college expenses. To be clear they don’t expect you to use all your home equity…but for schools that choos to consider part or all of your home equity as an available asset it they typically assume you can access about 3-5 percent of your home equity to support college expenses. For people with $$$$ home equity this can equate to tens of thousands of dollars of difference in need-based aid awards.

[VTByTuition]

Will add my DD’s results below. Strong, but not superstar student pursuing engineering. Great results, but waitlisted at first choice. Happy with second choice.

BACKGROUND/STATS:

Attended rigorous magnet school. ~200 in her class. School does not rank nor recognize Val/Sal to try to limit competitiveness. School is known to send lots of kids to Ivies/+

3.8uw / 4.2 w GPA. Pretty much in the middle of the pack

1460 SAT (730 math / 730 verbal)

AP Physics 2 and Calc II DE at a local University (not CC) as a Senior. Did not want to take Physics C despite much encouragement

National Merit Finalist

Varsity Tennis Starter all 4 years. Earned 3 state titles so far (still in the hunt for #4)

Consistent part time job since Freshman year

Robotics 2 years (quit as a junior due to very dis-functional team dynamics)

Spanish club officer for 3 years

NASA Scholars program

180+ volunteer hours

Attended Rose Hulman and Virginia Tech engineering summer programs

Wanted larger Rah-Rah school with decent weather. No budget constraints

RESULTS:

ACCEPTED

Virginia Tech - $0, but in state - attending

Pitt - merit + Honors

Delaware - merit + Honors

U of South Carolina - merit + Capstone (did not apply Honors)

Auburn - merit

Maryland - merit. Debated a long time between UMD and VT. Ultimately, preferred VT’s campus and engineering program

Ohio State - merit

UConn - merit

Penn State - $0

Clemson - $0

NC State - deferred and ultimately admitted - $0. May have considered more strongly if initially admitted. Did not love the campus

Case Western Reserve - merit. Wish we would have at least visited, but she decided it was too small and academic

Northeastern - $0

DENIED / WAITLIST

Georgia Tech - Denied

UGA - Denied (decided to apply day before RD deadline so not a great essay). Plus had too many DE classes and not enough AP to attain high enough UGA re-calculated GPA

UVA - applied ED. Deferred then waitlisted. Top choice, as she loved the campus and all of her good friends were admitted and are attending. Not sure what she will do if she gets off the waitlist, as she is really happy with Virginia Tech, has a roommate, etc.

[Wjs1107]

I’ve always liked this thread, too. Here are my S26’s results.

Background:

Bay Area public schools, about 400 in his class. School does not rank. School district is well supported by foundation, with many APs and special programming.

S26 started at a different high school in the district, transferred after sophomore year after being targeted and bullied. Much, much happier at his second high school.

Diagnosed ADHD, has 504, takes medication. Described reason for high school switch briefly in the “additional information” section of the Common App.

We are full pay, fortunate we can afford to be full pay.

Stats:

3.8 uw / 4.2 weighted (including a recovery after a 3.3 sophomore second semester)

ACT: 35 composite; 36 Math, 36 Science, 36 Reading; 30 English. Submitted everywhere allowed.

APs/Honors/DE: AP World History, AP US History, Honors Physics, Honors Drawing, Honors Pre-Calc, AP Calc BC, AP Chem, AP Drawing, AP Lang, Intro to Philosophy (DE)

Extra curricular activities:

Founding Philosophy club president, Arts club president, math tutor (paid and at school), rock climbing team, volunteer at soup kitchen, food pantry fundraising, local Astronomy club, various summer programs in science and philosophy, selective arts institute 6-week program in Napa

What he was after: Ability to study both philosophy and math, ability to take fine arts classes even as a non major, 4 seasons, indoor rock climbing nearby or accessible. Fairly open and undecided at the start, hence the wide range of schools.

Results:

ED: Dartmouth (Rejected)

EA:

University of Pittsburgh (Accepted)

University of Vermont (Accepted; 20k merit scholarship)

University of Massachusetts, Amherst (Accepted; Honors College; 16k merit)

University of Colorado, Boulder (Accepted; no merit)

Northeastern University (Accepted, NU.in which was his first choice; no merit)

Oberlin College (Accepted, 36k merit)

Bard College (Accepted; no merit, they don’t give it)

EDII: Wesleyan University (Accepted! Attending).

As time went on, and after the Dartmouth rejection, S26 started to feel more strongly about open curriculums and a liberal arts environment. We learned that it wasn’t always easy to combine all of his interests or even take arts classes as a non major at some of the larger public schools. This led him to Wesleyan, which he had liked a lot during our tour, and it became a strong favorite as his desires evolved.

Withdrew:

A handful of UCs (he was not interested but I insisted he apply bc of in state tuition; he was also not a good candidate due to sophomore year grades and no test scores)

University of Washington

Boston University

Columbia University

NYU

Skidmore

Carleton (this was a strong choice on paper but we never got to visit)

[heavyweightcollege]

Really strong results. Big congratulations!

[NE710]

Wonderful outcome! As the parent of two art school/BFA kids, I can say that it is entirely correct that taking fine arts classes as a non-major is very difficult schedule-wise at many schools. And as a New Englander with many friends’ kids at Wes, your son made an excellent choice. He’ll be able to do everything he wants there without hassle. Encourage him to see the student theater productions, even if he’s not involved in any way. They are astounding!

[31fan]

OK, finally things are completely settled so I can do this thread.

Background:

D26.

Highly regarded NJ public school that does not rank. About 375 kids in her grade.

Full pay. No hooks at any of the schools to which she applied.

Expressed interest in double-majoring in chemistry and sociology. Aspiration is to become a geriatrician.

Stats:

4.0/4.53 (school doesn’t rank, but based on Scoir data I think this puts her in the top 5/10 percent)

ACT: 35 composite (36 Reading, 36 English, 35 Science, 33 Math). SAT: 1550 (780M/770V)

APs/DE: AP World, APUSH, AP Chem, Calc BC, AP Macro, AP Lang (All 5s on exams), AP Lit and AP Latin (didn’t take exams), DE Sociology, Multivariable Calc/Linear Algebra. Also part of selective three-year research program.

ECs: Pre-pro ballet, mock trial (leader junior and senior year), volunteering at senior center, I can’t remember what else; 15-hour-a-week job at busiest ice cream shop in town.

Essays: Decent Common App essay (definitely unique and clearly not written by AI); I thought her supplementals were better.

Recs: Strong, I think. From one of her research (science) teacher, APUSH/Sociology teacher, and AP Lang teacher (who volunteered to write it, so I’m guessing it was good).

Looking for: SLAC, research opportunities, good pre-med preparation, decent party-scene, ability to double-major and study abroad. She especially liked schools with quarter systems or January terms.

Results:

ED: Dartmouth (rejected)

EA:

Macalester (Accepted with $35K merit)

Oberlin (Accepted with $36K merit)

St. Olaf (Accepted with $40K merit)

College of Wooster (accepted with full tuition ($66K) merit)

RD:

Amherst (Rejected)

Bates (Accepted)

Bowdoin (Waitlisted – ultimately not accepted)

Carleton (Accepted)

Colby (Accepted with Presidential Scholar designation)

Colgate (Accepted with Alumni Memorial Scholar designation)

Franklin & Marshall (Accepted with $40K merit)

Grinnell (Accepted with $36K merit)

Kenyon (Accepted with $35K merit)

Occidental (Accepted with $40K merit)

Pomona (Rejected)

Vassar (Waitlisted, withdrew)

Wesleyan (Accepted)

Williams (Waitlisted – accepted off waitlist – attending)

We did a ton of visits after the decisions came in because we hadn’t visited any of the mid-western schools or Colgate before. In the end the finalists were Kenyon, Colby, and College of Wooster, though we thought Carleton was perfect for her after visiting. Ultimately she chose Colby but then surprisingly got off the waitlist at Williams and decided to go there. (We had visited Williams her junior year.)

I think her applications got better as she went along, and her LOCI was really strong. If she had it to do over again, perhaps she would have listened to me a bit more in preparing her Dartmouth application. And I think with hindsight she would have applied ED2 to Bowdoin because that might have put her over the edge, but at the time she wasn’t ready to let go of the possibility of Amherst. But I think in the end she is excited about Williams and it’s a good fit for her.

[ECCA2026]

Congratulations! I had been wondering where your kid would end up. That is a fantastic outcome. Williams seems To fit a lot of what she was looking for and it is a fantastic school.