Coming in with a quick update.
Junior spring was pretty messy, given all the testing and sports activity. Kiddo did great on his SATs (780 M/770 EWR in one sitting) and AP tests (5s on APUSH, Lang, and French Lang; 4 on Physics I) but he also let his grades slip spring semester and got Bs or B+s in all three humanities (the ones wherein he got 5s on the AP tests; face-palm). He’s still sitting on a 3.7 GPA but that wasn’t really what he needed for some of the more selective schools he was considering.
Summer he managed to complete an online Calc course (so that he could take BC Calc and Physics C this year) and the WPI Frontiers Robotics program (which he enjoyed – 2 thumbs up!) and did not quite finish his BYU gov and econ courses (he’d signed up for these in an effort to avoid the not-great teacher who teaches those subjects senior year.).
So he’s starting senior year with some extra work to complete. Taking five APs (BC Calc, Physics C, Bio, Lit, and Studio Art-Photo) + TAing for his physics teacher (who is also going to be his recommender).
He and a friend are starting a cycling club. He’s joining robotics after his experience at WPI. He’s hoping to do some math tutoring for money on the side. And he still needs to finish gov/econ and get his college applications in. This probably won’t all happen but he’s in the driver’s seat (figuratively speaking – he still hasn’t learned to drive!) and so I’m trying to let him sort out how much he can handle.
Here’s the current (over-long) list, which I expect will still get trimmed in the next few weeks as he does info sessions and gets real about the essays.
Likely:
- Oregon State (engineering) – nice college town, good engineering
- Whitman College (physics) – nice college town, simpatico students, decent physics
- CU Boulder (engineering or physics – might not be a likely for engineering?) – his grandfather went here! and they have strong physics and engineering here in a great college town.
- Pitt – interesting city setting, grandparents studied here, good academic variety
- RPI – strong engineering and decent physics.
- Union – offers engineering in LAC setting
Toss-up:
- Brandeis – they are adding engineering! and he actually liked the campus and would enjoy being near Boston. + they have active badminton and cycling clubs
- Dickinson – not sure this one really belongs TBH. He liked campus and they have good study abroad options but less STEM-centric.
- Kenyon – could be low reach but his school has really good track record here. He loved campus and physics dept. looked solid.
- Lehigh – could be low reach but Naviance thinks he has a solid shot. This one feels like more of a cultural stretch for him but we know good kids going there.
- Oberlin – we all loved this one. No engineering but strong sciences, great college town, support for internships, etc.
- St. Olaf – he loved the campus and they have good STEM and study abroad options. Pretty easy to get to from Bay Area.
- Trinity University – Could come off the list but we are exploring based on feedback from CC parents. LAC with engineering in city.
- WPI – he liked it and the curriculum feels like a good match for his kind of energy. Probably wouldn’t attend unless he decides to commit to engineering. Also have badminton and cycling.
Reach:
- Case Western Reserve – recent addition based on favorable location and diversity of curriculum.
- Denison – this one should probably come off. Cute college town, less of a STEM culture, pretty rejective for non ED. We’ll see…
- Macalester – added it back on b/c of city location and internships and solid physics faculty. It’s getting pretty reachy though!
- Occidental – this is annoyingly hard to get into from his school but one of his best friends is applying so…
- U Rochester – I hear such great things about this school. Lots of academic flexibility and he’s excited about their badminton team.
- U Washington – this feels like a real long-shot (although less reachy than almost all the UCs and Cal Poly-SLO). He wants to try. I think he loves the idea of being in Seattle.
- U Wisconsin – not sure we’ll keep this one. Was guidance counselor suggestion. Fun college town, all the subjects, etc.
- Virginia Tech – ditto, + a bunch of family members have studied here. But I could see this coming off the list once he starts looking at the extra essays and the odds of getting in.
My gut tells me that at least two of these state schools and a couple of less STEM-focused LACs are going to come off the list.
At the moment he isn’t planning to apply to the UCs or Cal Poly SLO. This could change, but the data from Naviance don’t favor his chances and those are long additional applications.
Wish us luck! And thank you all for the thoughtful suggestions. I’ll let you know what happens.
ETA I’m grateful for our school’s robust Naviance data – some schools that look tougher to get into on paper really seem to admit just about everyone with anything close to his stats. And others that might seem easier to get into are in fact not, probably because they are saturated with kids like him from the Bay Area. The Naviance data (+ his grades this last year) were the final nail in the coffin for our reachy NESCAC daydreams. But I think there’s a lot to be excited about on this list!