It’s very hard to get an offer from the coach-there is only one boy on his team who got an offer so far, and it was not from the school that fits what my son needs. Trying to get signed by a coach is a completely different route-you have to promote yourself, have videos, contact coaches. It doesn’t just happen. It’s a complete separate path that we decided not to pursue. You have to be an exceptional athlete to get signed, my son is an average player.
If my son was good enough to get on a soccer scholarship, obviously we would try to get him recruited, but you have to be exceptional, and he is focusing more on school then on soccer.
I must admit I’m confused. You can’t go South to a school that has more than 1K Jews - not sure if I was reading a think that you want - that would be free.
But you can go to Omaha Nebraska? Or Nashville (where I live) - which is deep south in spirit but with a lot of disenfranchised conservatives from California and New York moving in daily (and strengthening the conservativeness of the state).
You won’t apply to UT Austin because you can’t get merit. But at another UT - Dallas - which is a top neuro school (many pre meds do neuro) that appears to have an NMF full ride.
It all just confuses me.
Many would be appreciative of someone who wants to completely fund them. Period, end of story vs. holding out for a lottery.
To me, you want to live here or not - I can’t get my arms around - I only want to live here if I get into what I perceive a big name - or I’ll go to Russia. It’s not my life - but that seems an awfully large pivot.
I’ve never said that we are looking for a large Jewish student body. We don’t want the kids to be unwelcomed or bullied, but they grew up Eastern European and lived in the Turkey for the last 3 years without any Jewish community.
Omaha Nebraska and Creighton are strongly recommended by the school and multiple doctors my son is shadowing at the hospital. That’s why we are applying there. There are a lot of kids from our school going there and they’ve been very generous with merit aid.
Nashville is a great city, one of the best in the US in my opinion-that’s why you are getting so many transplants. And Vanderbilt is a fantastic school
Yes, I know that most Americans would appreciate a full ride anywhere and would take it. But we are not American, and this whole paying for college situation is still very difficult for me to grasp. College is free in is most countries in the world or very cheap for the citizens/residents. We do have other options-my kids grew up in different countries in the world, and most likely will live all over the world too, so we are looking at other countries as well. The kids speak 3 languages and can learn the 4th if needed for one of the European countries. They do have an option of studying in another language. So please do not blame me for trying to find the best option for them in the US and not just grasping to a school because it’s a free ride. I dont think happiness should be scarified for a free college in the US.
PS. I did not mention the Jewish side of my kids in the beginning, because it’s not that important-I definitely do not want them to be in an anti-Jewish environment, and there is a list of colleges that we know we should not be applying to. But the presence of the large Jewish community is not necessary, since the kids did not grow up in that culture.
When I read the OP’s post, my gut screamed two things: this kid has wide interests and is well-prepared for college NOW, as soon as they can get in. IMHO, further HS for him is a waste.
Given their wide range of interests, I immediately thought of St. John’s. It will hone critical thinking, but has agreements, so he can do some very good post graduate programs when finished, e.g., Medacine, Data Science, Engineering, Business, Applied Math, etc. Definitely look at the After St Johns tab on their website.
It’s a unique school, with everything discussion-based and is the type of school you either love or, I wouldn’t say hate, maybe think what’s the fuss or ho hum. Also, they have several admission paths of which HS graduation is just one, and actually seem to want students to attend when they are ready, not at some arbitrary 18 years old after HS.
Anyway, I thought I would mention it; it may be the school they love (or, as I said, not). I think attending one of their discussion-based classes would be a good idea to find out if he is one of those who love the school and its off-the-beaten-track education.
When I was young, I would never have gone to a school like that for various reasons. But now I am older, I realise it would have been the perfect fit because I was bored out of my mind at HS and honing critical thinking is so important (at that age I was starting to have a glimmer of its value, but my parents knew how important it was only too well).
I understand that you only want to live in the US, but we come from a different background-my kids grew up in multiple countries and have never lived in one place in their lives, neither did I. We moved to Turkey in one day without even ever visiting it. So they are open to going to college anywhere in the world. They’ve been in the US for less than one year and I have no idea how they are going to feel on the mainland. I am obviously worried. US is very different from the rest of the world and it’s very hard to adjust. It would be easier for my kids to adjust to Tokyo or Korea than to Alabama or Dallas. Please try to understand. Everyone is different.
I would like to add to my post. Please dont think that I am acting entitled by not wanting to take free rides in small towns or southern states. My kids have been through hell and back in their lives and had to grow up early. They’ve seen war, bombs, they lived through a devastating Earthquake in Turkey. And I’ve been raising them alone; their dad walked out of the house and never came back without any explanation. I am trying to find a school for then where they would be happy. There is only one life. I had a full ride in Texas, I am very grateful, but it was beyond hard for me. I was very lonely and isolated. I see that it’s already hard for them in Hawaii, much harder than it was in Turkey, where they got adjusted fully in a week. So I do worry about their mental state on the Mainland and trying to find the best fit possible.
Did you do St. Johns (the Humanities school in Maryland and New Mexico) or St. Johns, the Catholic University in Queens NY.
Did you look at Northeastern - a few articles say they have the most Russian students in the US and they meet need. Not sure if that’s a criteria for you.
That’s quite an intriguing idea. I have an old friend who outgrew conventional US high school and started there at 16 (going on 17) and greatly enjoyed it and then went on to UChicago and Columbia for graduate studies. Given OP’s worries about the suitability of the Southwest for her son, perhaps SJC’s Maryland campus could work.
St John’s College costs less than other SLACs and also offers merit scholarships. The only potential draw back is that it is not clear that a student can apply to medical school directly from SJC (i.e., their science courses might not comply with medical school requirements) and so might need do take (some) core science courses at another university for a year prior to applying to medical school (but I think that’s do-able).
We looked at Northeastern-it’s the same CSS profile issue. We are only trying to get the CSS profile waver for a handful of CSS profile schools, because it’s hard. Northeastern is of course great-they have a fantastic study abroad program. But it’s a very expensive school and most people dont get any aid.
FYI, below is an extract from the SJC website about merit aid:
How Do Merit Scholarships Work?
At St. John’s, we are redefining merit scholarships. You are more than a grade or test score, so why should scholarships be determined by grades and test scores? On the basis of your application for admission, we look for those students who exhibit the best qualities of a Johnnie: avid and ambitious reading habits; deep curiosity about the world around them; thoughtfulness and insightfulness; courage in asking hard questions of the world—and of themselves; and seeking meaning in their lives.
For those who receive a merit scholarship, the scholarship can range up to a full-tuition fellowship worth $40,936.
I think the student was recommending this St. Johns - I could be wrong - it’s a great books school - so lots of humanities. I don’t think it works with your STEM interests but this is what the poster was referencing I believe.
We had a lot of talks about SLACs with my son-he is very reluctant to go to SLACS. He wants to be in a research university, close to hospitals, ideally the University would have a hospital and research.
Thank you so much. This St. John’s school sounds perfect for my daughter but will not work for my son. He will want to be in a medical research school. He practically lives in the hospital already; he would want to be involved in research.
It was St. John’s College, the great books school:
I am a VERY STEM-focused guy - did a degree in math and a master’s officially in math, but math being rather wide in scope, it was really in a niche area - the foundations of QM.
Being very STEM-focused, I would have dismissed it, as I said in my post. However, knowing what I now know, I think if you pursue a graduate program, the undergrad admits you to (that’s why I suggested looking at After St. John’s on their website - it is surprising the schools they have agreements with - even some medical schools, plus the wide variety of other fields, including math I so love), what matters is developing critical thinking. Discussing a very broad-based curriculum (including STEM plus plenty of other stuff like philosophy and economics) is, IMHO, of great value. While I would have had to endure (at St. John’s) French (foreign languages - yuck), there are no grades, no stress, just actual thinking. That would have suited me perfectly. However, it does appeal to a certain type of student, who may not even know it’s for them. That’s why I suggested visiting the campus and sitting in on some discussion-based classes.
Thank you for your comment-I do think that St John’s environment would appeal to my son. He is very much into reading and read a lot, he is very much into Russian Classical Literature, and would definitely fit into St. John’s. But he also does want to spend most of the time in the hospital and doing research. Visiting the campus is not possible for us-we live in Hawaii. Right now, it does look like the close proximity to hospitals, doctors, the ability to work/volunteer in the hospital, participate in Research is what he wants to do.
St John’s College’s Maryland campus is less than an hour’s drive from John Hopkins University, which has a top-notch medical school. The two schools appear to have a close-ish relationship - perhaps your son could study at SJC and intern at a John Hopkins hospital.
