Ah, yikes. Yes, that is exactly the info we are wanting to find. She would not like that kind of vibe (we already removed the “preppiest” of the East Coast schools from her list - after a bit of unnecessary in-thread arguing about the definition of “preppy”.)
Yes, we are very aware of the various costs, and have extremely clear ideas of what the actual COA is likely to be at all of her options. We have a lot of value options worked out, but are keeping a few spots open for the best (for her specific desires) California schools.
We are going to do a California visit over spring break. Starting in N Cal and ending in San Diego.
We are visiting a handful of mid-west schools in the dead of winter to make sure she would be ok with it. Then likely a few East Coast schools over the summer. The rest of the visits will have to wait until after acceptances go out. With the merit chasing approach it will really come down to $$ in the offers, so no use getting too wedded to a specific school (other than among the publics where the COA is easy to anticipate), so we can narrow down that short list now).
Also, in your other thread, you mentioned that you are strongly secular. USD is Roman Catholic. LMU, Santa Clara and others, are Jesuit and a little lighter on the religious influence. I could be wrong, but I was under the impression that USD’s big merit money went to students who attended Catholic high schools.
Unless USD has changed, it gets a mix of rich kids who love the idea of San Diego (Linda Vista), want religious, are rich (but many schools have this), or use it as a safety.
It actually was a popular law school for kids from my Jewish youth group.
If you look at niche, the first three descriptors are privileged, paradise (it was years ago - and a straight shot to Pacific Beach) and country club.
And if you believe Niche’s stats, the student body tilts heavily business (top 3 majors) although they have sizable counts in other majors too.
Note that a college that is a safety for admission is not necessarily a safety for the amount of merit scholarships needed to bring its net price down to the desired range.
Yes. Not a fan of strongly religious schools - but we have a small handful of Jesuit or “light” religious schools: St. Olaf, Santa Clara, and maybe USD (but it has dropped to much lower on the list).
Her list is still waaaayy too long, so removing schools for being “too shallow” or other borderline stereotype-based factors like “preppiness” still leaves us with more than she needs to fill out a reasonable list. We are hoping that visits seal the deal to get us to around 15 - but again, we will largely be waiting for merit award letters to do the most aggressive culling.
Because you have so much variety, as you truly determine what you like - not in mind but after visiting a few schools - the list will be much easier to curb.
There are so many kids on this site that started small and end up at huge, confounding their parents or vice versa. It’s easy to think it. Hard to truly know. Even large schools are different from another. Some walkable and some enormous. My kid loved one (the more walkable) but not the other.
We had 109 schools at first. On the mailing list of all but when we did our first trip some came off. Second trip, others came off.
As we unsubscribed, most schools stopped sending. I actually managed the college inbox.
As for Jesuit, I know many say they are comfortable and not religious. I’ll take that as true and many have, for examples, Hillel but all have priests and symbols, etc. not every kid can be comfortable with that.
If yours can’t, it’s an easy removal. If they can, go check one out.
Don’t worry about visiting contenders if you’re unsure. Visit variety …in the beginning.
She is a junior. There is no need to cut it to 15 this early. Have her create spread sheets and list schools by
Cost (without merit)
Physics major - Decide what matters and rank on that (ex. size of classes, ease of getting classes, professor ratings, options in degree program)
Musical Theater - rank from option to minor to option to participate in non academic theater productions.
Weather - rank warmest to coldest
Campus culture - most appealing to least appealing
I’m thinking of other attributes you listed in your other thread. Maybe big city to small city, proximity to airport, ability to live off campus, etc.
List them all, rank them all. See which campuses appear towards the top of multiple lists. Visit. Keep an open mind. Don’t toss schools out based on one or two people’s opinion.
Note that a college that is a safety for admission is not necessarily a safety for the amount of merit scholarships needed to bring its net price down to the desired range.
100 aware of this - hence 70% of the list being “safeties”. Since we are full pay, the before-merit COA at every school is the retail listing. I have created a massive spreadsheet with a section dedicated to estimating her likelihood of merit (to the extent it is possible to estimate) and the anticipated dollar amounts if she does get them. It creates a range of possible COA at each school, from $0 merit to, e.g, getting a Robertson Scholarship . We are using those ranges as a guide to making our list. Some are easy cuts. Those that remain will represent choices we are comfortable making, and hopefully she will have a ranked list before acceptances come out (e.g. A is worth the $ only if B school rejects, etc.). Our spreadsheet also has rankable columns by physics rating, theater rating, sunny days, state abortion policies, class size, student satisfaction, percentage of incoming class ED (since she can’t ED) and on and on). I like the idea of adding an explicit “campus culture” column. It has basically become a fun part-time job for me.
I don’t expect her to get it to 15 now, but our goal is to get it to no more than 20 by the summer. She wants to get 90% of her application work done before school starts in the fall. The fall of Senior year for IB / Theater kids is already brutal enough without college applications.
Just wanted to put out there that at many colleges- even the East Coast dreaded “preppy” colleges- the theater crowd AND the physics crowd are often the least “preppy” in any way that is detectable. So two deep pools of potential BFF’s for your D with common interests. Even the preppiest place in the N’east has the grunges, the hippies, the “I wear recycled coffee filters that I turn into dresses” crowds-- and there are usually lots of them.
I think the “beautiful people” syndrome is harder to avoid at some schools in CA and the South. It’s both an ethos on campus AND part of the overall culture.
And be aware that even the most sophisticated ranking system is likely to get tossed for “I just like it here” vibes. That’s life with a teenager!
I respect your attention to the process, but be warned she may completely change her mind between now and then. We did the visits and had a tight list of 10 schools, mostly in the 7000 ish student range. Then in October (after submitting ea apps) kid decided she didn’t like any of them and wants a big ten school. Best laid plans and all that…
I respect your attention to the process, but be warned she may completely change her mind between now and then. We did the visits and had a tight list of 10 schools, mostly in the 7000 ish student range. Then in October (after submitting ea apps) kid decided she didn’t like any of them and wants a big ten school. Best laid plans and all that…
Yeah, for sure this. She may even change majors entirely, which would upend the list of schools. I’m just glad we are starting early and I’m glad she is relatively sure at this point she doesn’t want to pursue a theater BFA, because that is a whole other project to deal with.
We started this project completely unaware of the complexities of the merit issue, e.g. and had schools like NYU, Carnegie Mellon, Vassar, Cornell, Colorado College etc. on the list. doh! I’m glad she has the extra time to come to terms with the list of schools being different than those of some of her friends who either 1) can get need-based financial aid, or 2) are ok with the idea of $400,000 undergrad education costs.
That was the first cut - after the Georgetown info session, learning about “no merit” - and a bunch came off in the hotel that night!!
You learn so much.
That’s why the first visits and to varied schools of size and location are so important.
My daughter thought she’d love Tulane and hated it. And we did LSU just based on proximity…and yet loved it.
It happens - hence the large list is fine - and the sooner you can do visits - because it sounds like you, like us, will want many…so the sooner the better.
Reading this thread was very interesting. I’m a UCLA student (which in theory should be the pinnacle of beauty-obsessed culture… Elle Woods anyone?) and have actually experience quite the opposite of your concerns. Many people couldn’t care less how they dress, from either gender. Most common attire on campus for day-to-day activities is sweatpants and hoodies.
Obviously this doesn’t mean that the other Socal schools are like this as well, but it shows that maybe Hollywood does overdramatize things a bit. Going to a public school will especially mitigate this, because you will see people from all S.E backgrounds (rather than a skew to the tail ends like at a private school like USC…)
And to tell the truth I don’t even think USC is like that anymore. My daughter went there and was definitely not spoiled, rich or beauty obsessed. She was on a full scholarship though (not sure if that makes a difference).
To the original poster I think you have a good plan. My advice is don’t be afraid to check out schools that you might think have those types of girls as maybe your daughter won’t have that experience and will end up loving the school.
Adding another possible school: Scripps College. Does anyone have thoughts about Scripps (specifically concerning the level of the students’ focus on appearance, how it ranks with other SoCal schools on the vaguely defined “superficiality” spectrum, etc. as discussed above)
Most UCs have over 30k undergrad and your kid will likely find her own niche and fit right in.
At least when I went to ucla, my friends were not at all superficial. Sure there are people with money, but majority of people are very down to earth. My college roommate was someone I met after hearing about “some rich guy who show up to parties with 5 girls out of his new BMW” and he turned out to be not at all what his reputation would suggest. My other roommate was dropped off in his dad’s S class Mercedes, yet he never ever talks about money.
One guy was from Bel Air and tried to impress us with his zip code. We shunted him pretty quickly.
. We are using those ranges as a guide to making our list. Some are easy cuts. Those that remain will represent choices we are comfortable making, and hopefully she will have a ranked list before acceptances come out (e.g. A is worth the $ only if B school rejects, etc.). Our spreadsheet also has rankable columns by physics rating, theater rating, sunny days, state abortion policies, class size, student satisfaction, percentage of incoming class ED (since she can’t ED) and on and on). I like the idea of adding an explicit “campus culture” column. It has basically become a fun part-time job for me.
I’m glad she has the extra time to come to terms with the list of schools being different than those of some of her friends who either 1) can get need-based financial aid, or 2) are ok with the idea of $400,000 undergrad education costs.