<p>I’m sorry I ignored the question of religious training. It might not be possible to get the Math curriculum he desires and intense religious training all in one school. Is the religious training available near one of the other schools if he wanted to do that along with all his other academics?</p>
<p>50/40 ^ made terrific points (didn’t see her post until after i posted mine). i agree w/her, his stats are so outstanding, he need not apply anywhere ED. if Yale is on his list, he could apply there SCEA so that he hears from a non-binding school and you get a sense of the financial aid piece early.</p>
<p>NJ Dad</p>
<p>THAT is a conumdrum–given that both religous studies and math are so important…what a fabulous mix of passions!</p>
<p>Princeton does have a calculator up, Yale does not.
MIT as the math he craves, and not religious studies…I am assuming the theological schools of Y and P…MIT also has a calculator up</p>
<p>Your students stats ARE extraordinary and perhaps he should apply broadly…and also to your top choice/ the alma mater…and not ED to the alma mater…so he has a choice when the decisions come in.
That is quite a wonderful cross of disciplines, theology and math…
There are some great books written about scientists who also held onto a strong measure of personal faith…
Certainly your student’s essays can be thought provoking and inspiring.</p>
<p>Unless the ED/alma mater track is very important due to financial constraints, perhaps a little more leeway is helpful.
Also most important --Pray about it, and have him pray about it… Seek the guidance and peace and you will definitely know better His will.</p>
<p>A tidbit on the UChicago suggestion - it has a wonderful divinity school, and also there are several theological seminaries in the surrounding neighborhood, so the mix might be possible to achieve.</p>
<p>Yale has a well known divinity school right on campus as well. I know someone who took classes there while at Yale (though don’t know any details). I wouldn’t limit a kid like this unnecessarily.</p>
<p>All good questions. Let’s assume for the moment that we can afford any college choice, but let me tell you, the full ride would be nice (especially with 4 more behind him with college aspirations). I don’t beleive we would qualify for any meaningful financial aid.</p>
<p>With regard to the religious training, here is the deal. The main reason he looked at Columbia and Penn are that they are the “ivys” with the best possibilities in that regard. That being said, his decision was made based on the fact that the structured high level of religous study that he can get at this school is a quantum leap above what he can scrape together there. His calculus is that what he is missing in terms of the Math program is more easily replaced (or the gap narrowed) by either attending classes at other local universities, especially in Jr and Sr year (something this school has arranged for some particularly promising students int eh past) or by attending a top graduate program (and this school has had success placing strong students in top graduate programs). Conversely, he is uncomfortable that he will be able to narrow the gap on the religious study.</p>
<p>Our concern as parents is that he may be opting for the “comfortable” choice. He tells us he has conviction in his choice, but is not excited by it - not because there is a better choice, but because he can’t get all he wants. We are just struggling to determine whether we need to guide him to hedge his bets better or to revisit something…</p>
<p>In terms of Chicago - GREAT math program, but he is committed to staying in the northeast - he is also a bit of a homebody :)</p>
<p>Thanks for all the insight!</p>
<p>Just to clarify one more item - we are Jewish, so the divinity schools mentioned wont work for him…</p>
<p>Like the comment re applying nowhere ED and seeing where things land on reg decision - he will hate it. He wants to be done - but that might be a way to truly test his seriousness… </p>
<p>Part of me wants him, at the very least, to be able to say “I turned down [INSERT TOP SCHOOL HERE].”</p>
<p>njdadof5, the Rolling Stones said it best: you can’t always get what you want, but if you try sometimes you just might find you get what you need. 
Columbia would clearly be a wonderful, wonderful choice for him. If money is truly not an issue, I agree with the suggestion that he should apply there (or Penn) ED. With four more children coming up, be very sure about the financial picture for you the parents. If you can only afford to spend $X per child, it’s better to tell your son now. Another possible tradeoff would be to take a gap year and spend that at a yeshiva, either here or in Israel. </p>
<p>Two cents personal opinion: I don’t like a kid applying ED to a school they’re not wild about, and I don’t like a kid applying ED and waiting to work on the remainder of their apps until they hear from the ED school. Even if the ED school looks to be a near lock.</p>
<p>njdadof5 - I would feel the need to find out how much of his decision to attend your alma mater is based on him wanting to please you. </p>
<p>Which religion are you focusing on because maybe some folks on CC would have some great alternatives.</p>
<p>njdadof5 – What about the List College joint program with JTS and Columbia? You may not be conservative…but…JTS still has a rigorous religious program.</p>
<p>I also know a young man from a very traditional family who went to Penn and was very pleased with the level of both secular and religious education available. </p>
<p>Is YU an option for your son?</p>
<p>Aniger, convincing them of the importance of safeties seems to become a tougher sell when essays have to be written and apps filed. 
It’s also tough because their criteria for what they want in a school can change. D1 had a fairly general sense of what she wanted, but in the last few months it’s sharpened down to wanting an IR major. It occured to me a few days ago to check the academic programs at the UC safety campus. Lo and behold, no international/global/whatever program. :eek: She may well change majors, but it’s not a good sign if the school doesn’t even offer some version of her currently intended major. Other UC campuses have IR or IR-ish offerings, but those schools are not in safety territory for her. </p>
<p>I looked at the UC statfinder website to see how students with D1’s stats did in admissions at other campuses. That looks far more promising, but I’ll talk with the GC to see how students from the school did last year.</p>
<p>Njdad: I was also going to suggest considering the joint Columbia/JTS program. I think that your son is showing his ambivalence about applying ED. I agree with others who think that a kid should only apply to a definite first choice ED. I think you should make it clear to him that he doesn’t have to go for the full ride. I think it would be best for him to wait and apply RD along with some top academic choices. Then he can make a decision knowing all the options. </p>
<p>Emmybet and Fogfog: Thanks for the advice about the NHS issue. You make a good point about focusing on the real goal.</p>
<p>Folks, forgive me if you know this already…I didn’t and wondered how we’d truly know when each college had received all our apps, supps, transcripts, LORs, etc.</p>
<p>D has received emails from 3 of the schools she’s applied to telling her they’ve received her app, and giving her a website and passcode with which to log in and be able to see exactly what they have/have not received. Very reassuring! We’re going to check it out tonight. We don’t expect the school stuff to be there yet, but just want to make sure the passcodes let us enter the site, and see how it works.</p>
<p>Fog…you left one possibility off the roller-coaster analogy: there’s the kid throwing hands up in the air and shrieking with excitement…there’s the kid (or us) clinging to the bar and wondering if these things really keep you in, and whether everybody else is strapped in more securely…and then there’s me, getting ready to look at the FAFSA/Profile stuff this weekend, craning my neck over the side of the car, turning green, and wondering how many poor innocents below I’m gonna hit when I throw up!</p>
<p>^^ LOL YOU are so funny!</p>
<p>Worked on Profile recently–If you have last yrs returns handy, and keep your stuff on quicken–with a little effort, its not horrible…just time consuming… altogether we spent maybe 6 hrs +/1 in part because I printed the “custom” worksheet and then read out each item to DH, and we worked it through.
Then I went back into the Profile live and added in the #s. Saved, adn reviewed at least 3-6 times more! Realized 2 numbers needed adjusting, and corrected those. etc etc.
Repeat as necessary…</p>
<p>thing is–once you submit–you cannot change it online–you will have to submit paper corrections to each school…</p>
<p>Since FAFSA doesn’t come online til Jan–we get a breather…from a whole different format!</p>
<p>I just needed to get this Profile going for the EA app…the school’s deadline is Nov 1 for early app candidates…and its kiddos #1 choice…I have a chart of what each school needs…and when for fin aid forms deadlines for EA apps vs RD apps etc…</p>
<p>momofsongbird - just be aware that those on-line status sites are not always updated as quickly as you might like. For example, it may take them weeks to log in the transcript, rec letters, etc., after receiving them. Sometimes I think they do more harm then good because you check it, see the transcript is still marked as incomplete, verify with your hs GC that they did send it 2 weeks ago, then you are worried it was lost, and you call the college - they check - yes - they have it - just not logged in yet. I see a lot of this confusion.</p>
<p>
. Ohhh…darn, I was so excited. Well, good to know. I won’t count on timely info. Thanks for the heads-up!</p>
<p>I highly recommend including the self-addressed stamped postcards with all transcripts, rec letters, etc. that are mailed out. My oldest did this when he went through the process. It was a real stress reliever to know things had arrived. The colleges evidently are quite to this. All of his were returned with the date the item in question had arrived either written on the card or date stamped on.</p>
<p>We printed off Avery labels for these. We made a bunch with his home address to slap on the front of the postcard, and then ones for the back which said, “___ University has received your recommendation letter from ______,” or received your transcript. The websites were updated long after the cards were returned.</p>
<p>2blue - agree 100%. In this day and age of technology - it is amazing that something as old-fashioned as a return postcard is actually a better verification system than the on-line status website. Many times the website will say that the transcript is missing - yet we have the proof from the stamped postcard that the college rcvd the mailed pckg containing the transcript.</p>
<p>2blue- love that idea!</p>
<p>^^some guidance offices actually include return postcards with the transcripts/recs sent to colleges…</p>