I live in the center of the US. My kids attend a large public school system. The oldest ones have above 4.0+ gpa and take some (not all pre-ap and ap classes) and do some concurrent enrollment via our local junior college. They also pursue sports and several fun interests. I found this site looking up athletic recruiting info and got hooked reading about everything. It’s so interesting. As with most things - there is so much out there that we aren’t even aware of…
I’m still trying to figure out what IB, URM, and Naviance are (just haven’t taken the time to look them up yet). And I find it fascinating to see that others with kids my age are doing such amazing things and some of the opportunities we didn’t even know existed.
I, of course, think my kids are amazing in their own right, and they are achieving great things. My friends and I have agonized this year on helping our seniors find the right school for them - mostly in state, smaller or state schools, that offer the right financial aid, the right majors, the right size/environment, sometimes sporting opportunities. I don’t know anyone going to Harvard, Yale, or whatever the rest of that acronym stands for. Hadn’t even heard of most of the schools on here :). And I know some pretty smart and high achieving kids.
Happy to say that my oldest will be attending a smaller local liberal arts college that is a perfect fit and pursing a favorite sport. He has some nice scholarships - academic and otherwise, will be taking out student loans, and we will be figuring out how to cover the balance. The finances all seems a little overwhelming to me- but it’s actually not that much compared to what I see here. Perspective helps.
Just had to share that it has just been a really interesting experience being on CC and seeing the process we have gone through repeated on a much larger scale and I’ve learned a lot that will help me help kid #2 through the process of finding the right school (even if I giggle sometimes at just how different our universes are).
^^^ Many of us were you 5-10 or more years ago! And we are still here so yes, lots of info on college and life here!
Congrats to your son! I live in Ohio where we have SO many small liberal arts colleges that are fantastic choices. My three kids each chose a different one.
Stick around you’ll learn lots more!!! 
IB - International Baccalaureate http://www.ibo.org/
URM - Under Represented Minority
Naviance - computer program that some high schools, use helps compare where past students from a particular school with particular grades and scores were accepted https://www.naviance.com
I’d take some of what you read here with a grain of salt. With a hearty chunk of salt, actually! There’s a lot of negativity. If I took advice given here as gospel, I wouldn’t have bothered having my D17 apply to her favorite college at all, but she applied and got in, and off she goes.
I’m thinking about all those replies saying things like “your scores are too low,” “your GPA is too low,” “those are weak ECs.” You know, there’s a difference between being realistic and being a Debbie Downer.
This site does offer a wealth of information. Without it, I would have never learned about the scholarship opportunities at a university that we eventually recommend to our daughter to use as her safety. One full tuition scholarship and Fulbright Scholarhip later, she is working her dream job in Denmark.
(I left out the part where she was denied admission to her dream schools and cried that she “had” to attend her safety.) =))
OP (Original Poster, i.e., the person who starts the thread)
It’s not you, it’s CC In other words, you represent the norm in the US, CC started as a site to help kids/parents think about and get into elite East Coast schools, and a token handful of other “acceptable” options such as Stanford or University of Chicago. (Smile.)
The vast majority of American kids attend a fairly local public university or state college, and didn’t apply to a multiple of schools, nor did they stress all that much over the difference between a match and a safety.
That said, this site is great way to learn about the wealth of options out there – for all kinds of students. Including those who need financial aid.
Plus, we have some pretty fun discussions. As you can see, some of us have been here a while. LONG after our children picked their school, graduated and moved on in their lives. Yes, call us addicts.
This site was a lifesaver when DD decided on pursuing a music degree. We had NO idea what was involved and the dear folks on the music majors forum were patient and helpful guides. I made several CC friends and tried to then pay it forward. So I became hooked. My info is dated now so I don’t do as much on the music forum, but I still enjoy the Cafe!
Thanks for the abbreviations! I certainly live in probably the more common end of the college search world, but it is still fascinating and some good info to be gained. I still have 2 more to get through this process I enjoy reading and applying the parts that fit us and the rest is just kinda interesting to see what else is out there.
So is a flagship school the state public university?
It’s the “main” state public university - think University of Michigan in Ann Arbor versus Michigan State University in East Lansing.
I’m so glad that you found us. My younger son just graduated college, and I’m not going anywhere!
And to prove that we were once you, ds1 graduated from a LAC that I had never heard of before joining cc. It was perfect for him so cc really paid off for us.
The athletic recruiting board was a big help in trying to navigate that process. Now kid #2 may take the path for a different sport so even more to learn.