My name is Zach and I’m from Wisconsin. I’m in my senior year right now and I am trying to choose a college. I would like to go the University of South Florida in Tampa, but my parents will pretty much only accept the University of Wisconsin-Madison or the University of Minnesota-Twin Cities. They want me to be close to them and they only want me to go to the best of the best school. They think South Florida is the worst school I’ve applied to, and they say it’s just a bad school. The University of South Florida is a very highly ranked school and it is very large, diverse, and academically challenging. They think that employers will think I am a joke and that I only went to South Florida for a four-year vacation.
The thing is though I have been accepted to USF and both Madison and Twin Cities put me on the wait list. I can’t really wait until April to make a college decision. I could possibly see myself going to Twin Cities but I really would prefer South Florida. Whenever I suggest even visiting they just shut it down and deny me. South Florida is fairly inexpensive and it is still a great school. I’m not sure of my chances of getting taken off the waitlist, I have a 30 on the ACT and a 3.43 weighted GPA. My senior year GPA hasn’t changed at all and I’m staying pretty even with my grades.
Are these schools your only options? If you are waitlisted and not accepted at Wisconsin or Minnesota prior to May 1, you need to enroll in a college you have been accepted or take a Gap year and reapply again.
Your parents are obviously waiting to see if you get off the WL. Yes, you may have to wait until April. If you dont get off WL, then your problem is solved. I would urge you to explain to your parents that there is no guarantee that you will get off the WL. You should ask to at least make the deposit, because you might be shoved into the worst housing situation (forced triples or quadruples) if you deposit too late. They should see the sense of that. If yiu can get them to agree to depositing, then find ways to ge ythem more on board with Florida. Show them the post-grad employment figures, find info about successful alumni, show them what oppotuntitleopportunities the college has to offer, and so on. Hopefully by the time April rolls around they will be okay with your choice.
If you want to go behind their backs, it would be easy enough to get yourself removed from the WL at the other colleges.
You mentioned you can’t wait until April to make a college decision.
Why is that? Isn’t it in your best interests to get all the info to make the best decision possible? If it takes until April (which is does for many kids) so be it.
“If you want to go behind their backs, it would be easy enough to get yourself removed from the WL at the other colleges.”
Yikes, I wouldn’t suggest that, that is rather underhanded and not healthy for their relationship.
The other part of the advice is good though, show stats, opportunities etc
@Zachnkess It’s great that you will have several choices come April 1st/Mid-April. You said your parents wouldn’t let you visit USF. So you’ve never been there? How do you know Towson (for example) is not as nice as USF? What is it you love about USF?
You may not have the luxury of not “wait(ing) until April” to make a decision. What’s your affordable option if you don’t get off the waitlist and your parents won’t let you go to FL? If you don’t have one, you need to find one. If you have one, I’d try to find things I liked about it because that might be where you wind up.
You need to wait until you have all options on the table and make a decision with your parents. You say you can’t really wait until April but you can and should if you are going to make an informed decision. Use the time between now and April to put your talking points together for when you have the discussion with your parents. Compare each of these schools so that if you do come off one of the two WL you can make an informed decision. Good luck.
USF is ~$32k/year. WI colleges are ~$22k. If you qualify for any state grants the net will be less than that. A savings of ~$40k over 4 years is nothing to sneeze at. Get all your offers in and compare the bottom line.
I do think it’s unfortunate that your parents allowed you to apply to a college they don’t seem to plan on allowing you to attend, but maybe they were hoping you’d get aid. You have a financial safety or two that your parents would allow you to attend and that you’d be happy with, right? If not, find a couple so you have choices in April.
Wow, are all of you really advising OP to go to a school that they don’t like? Just try to convince them, and if they don’t come around, find away to pay for college yourself. I would at least put in the deposit for USF
@Zachnkess , while I am not a fan of parents forcing their will on their kids, I should have considered that there may be other reasons why they want you to attend less expensive colleges. You should sit down with them and find out. Don’t assume that they simply think USF is not good enough. You should ask them frankly abut financing your education. Or perhaps there is some other issue, such as family obligations.
It is possible to get yourself taken off the waitlist, but don’t consider that without having other options lined up. You do want a college to go to. Consider some of the colleges that have rolling admissions. There will be some that will still be accepting applications. Look at the blog prep scholar. There is a list with some very good schools. See if your paretns might be happier with one of them as a choice. You will also get a decision relatively quickly with rolling admissions.
Any update from @zachnkess?
Do your parents know you’ve been WL at both UMN and Uwi?
Are they okay with Towson but not USF (which one is most affordable)? Or are they okay with neither one of those?
Could this be a case where the student and parents did not have the “money talk” beforehand, and both still seem to be avoiding discussion on the cost factor?
A basic issue is not just closeness to home. Your parents choice of Wis or Minn indicates they are expressing a clear issue of affordability. Wis and Minn have a reciprocity agreement and thus you can attend either and pay in-state tuition, which is much less costly than any Florida school, which it sounds like your parents are hoping for. Moreover, they would not have high travel expenses to either either Wis or Minn. I believe you need to have that “money talk” with your parents mentioned above because their two choices are telling you affordability is an issue. If you have actually been waitlisted (and not just deferred until the end of the regular decision making period which can occur for many at both colleges), then you have a major issue that your parents also need to know about and understand.
We don’t know what the OP’s parents are thinking, of course, but I suspect it’s the perceived quality of the schools as much (or more) than it is the money. As far as reputation, Wisconsin is a top-tier public university (probably top 10), Ohio State and MN are a tier below that, and USF and Towson would be in a tier below them
It might be that with instate tuition Wisconsin and MN would cost around $20K, Towson and USF around $30K, and Ohio State around $40K. But even if it happened that USF cost $10K less than Wisconsin and MN (and not $10K more, as it looks like it does), my guess is the parents wouldn’t mind paying somewhat more for what they think is a much better school, if it’s financially possible. But they’re definitely not going to be in favor of paying more for a school they consider not nearly as good.