For us the block plan looked like a feature, not a bug. Yeah, a bout of mono could complicate your life. But then at least it’s one course that you screw up …not three or four or five? Our son looked at their sample freshman schedule and said “wow.” I do think that a lot of ADHD kids are most comfortable when they can hyper focus on one task at hand. A lot of jobs give you that luxury. Why not also school?
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Sounds more like my daughter!
I think it also depends on the course of study. Some things really lend themselves to intensive study while others may not lend themselves as readily to the firehose approach. And some things may benefit from a little time off and reflection, while others might benefit from continued exposure.
With that said, everyone we’ve known who has gone to Colorado College did it with their eyes open and optimism that it would work for them, and it has. I suspect that those of us who like task variety know that about ourselves and folks who gravitate toward this format are the folks who thrive with it.
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I’m not sure which are likelies versus reaches versus far reaches, but other possibilities:
- California schools: Claremont McKenna, Pomona
- Maine schools: Bowdoin, Bates, Colby
Gap Year Question. My son took a gap year but did not apply to colleges until his gap year. He attended a highly ranked LAC. At freshman orientation, the students were greated by the Dean (head?) of Admissions who congratulated them all on getting in and that they were part of an incredibly interesting class. She then described without naming names several of the really interesting kids. One was my son and several of the activities she cited were done during his gap year. So, at least in this case, it helped. They also had his full senior year grades and AP scores, but in this case they were about the same as the year before.
On cold, Minnesota is is typically colder than the other two.
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My D23 sounds very similar – quirky, ADHD, similar grades. She was focused on environmental science and had a lot of overlaps with your list. Ended up at Juniata College. Great science programs, a lot of focus on study abroad (including a partnership with a university in France). Also, has a larger segment of international students than similarly ranked LACs she looked at, which adds some diversity to the student body. The one downside is it’s pretty remote. 3 hr drive for us from DC. From CA you’d probably fly to Pittsburgh or Philadelphia. On the plus side, there is an Amtrak stop in town, on the Philly->Pittsburgh line.
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Yeah, those are going to be big reaches. Per Naviance, only 2% of applicants from my son’s high school get into Pomona (compared to 7% at Claremont McKenna, 11% at USC, 12% at Stanford.)
Bowdoin/Bates/Colby have 14%/21%/35% acceptance rate histories, but those are confounded by athletic recruitment (particularly at Colby). I think Bates could be a great fit for my son, who now thinks he wants to study physics. But if he wants it, he should probably apply ED.
Your response to the gap year question is intriguing to me. I strongly believe that my son will be a better student/community member if he has a little time to mature and grow confident in his ability to thrive in unfamiliar places. Being a post-grad high school exchange student in Sweden was a game-changer for his dad (who was similarly socially straitened as a teenager.) Setting aside whether it’s a bonus for admission, I’d like him to try it for his own sake. But I also think every extra month of maturity/extra semester of grades and new experiences will make him a more solid candidate. He’s on a delayed upward social and academic trajectory and I’d love to buy him more time to grow into his potential before throwing massive chunks of cash at any of these colleges.
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OP- I’ve seen a LOT of gap years (they’ve become very popular where I live).
There are the transformative, maturing, incredible ones. And there are the “treading water-- kinda bored, hate it” ones.
The difference is NOT whether the kid goes abroad, stays home, works answering phones at a medical office or volunteers with disaster relief. And so far, I’m not seeing a difference between “pay to play” opportunities and “live at home and save money for college” ones either.
What’s the differentiator? A kid who really and truly has a plan, wants to take a year to reset, wants to get out of his/her social environment and is prepared to work hard to make that happen, The kids who back into a Gap year (disappointing college results; indifferent end of senior year with not apparent gusto for moving on to college; not ready to make an effort intellectually or socially) really don’t get much out of it. Sure, getting a paying job is always a good thing and an education in and of itself. But without the additional commitment that a kid needs to make- I’ve seen the kids work 9-5 or 5-11 and spend their off-time hanging with the HS friends who are living at home, or are overseas and basically spending up to the parent’s credit limit every month on restaurants, travel, and pubs.
So try not to romanticize a gap year unless your son actually has a concrete plan for making it work for him.
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We found that the gap year was very valuable for our son. An additional year of maturity. A time for a breather after HS. Time for a needed surgery. Take ACT and SAT. Apply to college. He lived with us and did a few things (campaigned in NH for Obama, worked with an adult co-author on finishing a young adult novel, helped a professor at a local university develop and test an approach to help adolescent dyslexics improve their reading fluency, played in ultimate frisbee and basketball leagues, and did an internship with a state Superior Court judge whom he’d appeared before in a senior year Moot Court final).
No paying job. No clear plan, but apply to college, have surgery, take a breather and engage in activities that were interesting for him.
He thought the extra year of maturity was valuable and studying for tests and applying for college were done without impacting on courses.
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Just FYI, the acceptance rates have been much lower in recent years: close to 8%/12%/7% (approximately) last year, respectively. Definitely a good idea to apply ED 1 or 2, even given the caveat about athletic recruits being overrepresented in those ED numbers.
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I think Goldbug is referring to acceptance rates at her son’s HS for these colleges, per Naviance data, not overall acceptance rates.
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Oh, whoops. Misunderstood. Apologies.
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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!
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That’s a very thoughtful and varied list. I do think it can probably be safely trimmed, but I think it can be a process to get there from here.
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UCR and UCM seem more likely; does Naviance suggest otherwise?
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No, you’re right. They would be more likely (especially Merced). But his vision of going to school in CA involved a) being on the coast (which Oxy isn’t, really) and/or b) being with/near friends. Neither Merced nor Riverside really checks any of those boxes for him.
The three CA state schools that attracted him were UCSB, CPSLO, and UC Davis (the latter two are not coincidentally top choices for his bed buddy, who wants to study wine-making.) In the last couple of years, <25% of kids from his H/S have gotten into Davis or Santa Barbara, with an average weighted GPA of 4.21. CPSLO is easier to get into but only slightly, and (critically) not for engineering.
I was personally rooting for Bates - my D24 starts in less than 2 weeks - it really seem to fit what he was looking for and his vibe. Is the Naviance data not encouraging?
How about Union College in Schenectady NY? They have an excellent engineering program.
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I know! I really wanted Bates for him (or Wesleyan). But we never managed to visit and so he didn’t get attached to the idea. He certainly wouldn’t apply ED. I suppose there’s a chance he could throw an application their way during the regular admissions cycle, as a hail mary of sorts. But the only students from his school who’ve gone there seem to be recruited athletes. Not many others are getting in. (8/34 students in the last eight years, and recently only a couple.) Is it worth a slot that could be dedicated to a more solid match like Oberlin or an easier reach like Macalester or Rochester? Qualitatively I think we’re splitting hairs here, rankings be damned.
It’s on the list. 
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That’s kind of depressing about the recruited athlete piece. Maybe it’s worth a shot? I’m sorry you didn’t get to visit! Your other schools sound great. Sorry I missed Union - it’s a gem! We know a bunch of kids who have gone there recently and are extremely happy.
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CPSLO may not be likely if he wants engineering, but it’s an incredibly simple application, unlike the UC PIQs. Just filling in grades, no essays, you could do it for him.
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I will not be doing it for him but I’ll encourage him to consider it.
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