<p>What’s the school, october??? Great news!</p>
<p>i was told that the HS clas of 2013 will be demographically the LARGEST ever in size applying to college in 2013.<br>
and that acceptance rate in all competitive college will get lower. how many have heard this before?</p>
<p>Post #4716. It’s not true, at least that is not what I remember. However because of Common App, I think there will be more applications.</p>
<p>nellieh: My D1 is a sophomore at American and loves it. It was the right size and location for her. She has had many opportunities - paid internships, travel to Russia (paid for entirely by the university) - that she would not have had at most other universities. It is very expensive, however, and i hear that they are getting stingier with the financial aid. Housing is exhorbitant. D1 is saving a little money by living off campus next year.</p>
<p>Re post 4716: this is a crude measure bc it doesn’t consider international applications or immigration, but there were less babies born in the US in 1995 than in 1994 ([Live</a> Births and Birth Rates, by Year — Infoplease.com](<a href=“Columbia Encyclopedia”>Live Births and Birth Rates, by Year)). I am not sure how one could predict the number of apps even if you know the number of HS juniors in the US bc the number of international apps keeps rising.</p>
<p>nellieh, My oldest is a 1st year at IU. I’m not crazy about the school. He’s there because he didn’t want to go out of state and they offered him full tuition. I’d send his sister to University of Mississippi before I sent her to IU because IU doesn’t have much of an honor’s college and it is huge and spread out. You have to take a shuttle bus to get from one end of the campus to the other in under a half hour. IF IU offers something that your state flagship doesn’t, then it makes sense to consider it, otherwise, I’m not sure why someone would choose it.</p>
<p>I think the most telling thread on these boards are the acceptance threads. It’s interesting to read over the year the stats, thought process and where kids really end up attending (or even get accepted). Every parent thinks their child is special, and rightly so, the problem is, at these top schools, every other kid applying is special and no one really knows how or why one child is selected over another. Take two kids from our high school-one had perfect test scores on both the ACT/SAT, #1 in the class, scored 5’s on 27 AP tests, national finalist for the national math test (or whatever it was-top 10 score in the nation), was taking MIT level math classes as a sophomore in high school. Was rejected buy every Ivy AND MIT. Second kid top 10% student, 3.8 GPA (no weighting at our school), 32 ACT, didn’t take the SAT, good EC’s, just an all around great kid–got into EVERY Ivy school along with Notre Dame, Stanford and MIT. He had 100% acceptance rate at the schools he applied. So, on paper, kid 1 should have had the better results, right. I know more 3.8, less than perfect students getting into Ivy’s and similar than “perfect” students. So, short story long, it’s the whole package to start and then a crap shoot after that. People need to stop taking it personally if they don’t get into their Ivy of choice AND NEED to have a back up plan because you have close to a zero percent chance of getting in anyway.</p>
<p>Apollo6 - We are looking at IU this summer for my Step-D. She’s looking for a campus with great school spirit and lots of opportunities to be involved with Athletics since her major is likely Athletic Training. IU is nationally ranked in this program. We are excited to be visiting Bloomington! </p>
<p>I have forgotten whom it was that was visiting DC and wanted to see the three DC schools and Hopkins. H and I live 30 minutes outside of DC. SteveMA has already given you some great tips, but feel free to PM me if you want any more advice. We just moved here last June, but I feel like I adjusted immediately and I love being close to “everything” :)</p>
<p>lauren–lucky you. The more we talk about retirement, the more I want to retire in the DC area. It just isn’t the most retired folk friendly place to live as it is EXPENSIVE. Hopefully all the cards fall right and we can.</p>
<p>Steve - I think you are right on the money. The top schools seem to have a zillion “perfect” kids from which to chose so they are really looking outside the box (it seems) for admits. I don’t think you can be confident with an acceptance even if your kid seems to have been ‘packaged’ perfectly. I was reading the thread in College Search and Selection that is permanently posted at the top. I think it’s called “Don’t forget to Apply to a Safety” and there is a dad (I think from my area) whose daughter only chose UVA as a safety (she had great stats -but still.) Denied or Wait Listed from every school!! He said “We are hiding the sharp objects around here.” - YIKES</p>
<p>Steve- We must have posted at the same time. We are likely going to retire here, so we’ll leave the light on for ya 
</p>
<p>But seriously - it’s a great part of the country and if you want to save some $$, think about the Fredericksburg/Spotsylvania area. It’s only about 45 minutes from DC but the home prices are much lower than they are in say Alexandria or where we are (just south of Alex.) Fredericksburg has a lot of history which makes it an interesting place.</p>
<p>Lauren–I don’t see how any parent here can justify not applying to some real safeties after seeing the massive amount of rejections from top 50 schools posted here—then blame the schools or get mad at the process and forget that it’s their fault in the first place. A friend’s D was using Grinnell and Carleton as “safety” schools. Well guess what, didn’t get into any of her “real” picks and only got into Carleton. Super high stats, no real hooks, application screams “all I do is study”. She was never a viable candidate for the Ivy’s she applied to but her parents wouldn’t listen to reason. Now the girl is mad because she had her heart set on going to an Ivy.</p>
<p>Youdon’t say she fell in love with Taylor University. I told her she still has to have a list of 5 schools and one of them has to be a school that we can afford with no financial aid. I am really hoping Taylor works out for her- but I’m most excited about the fact that she’s finally excited about this process!</p>
<p>Apollo- thanks for the input on IU. We haven’t visited but D’s research moves it up in her list. She wants a friendly place with a variety of people. She is an involved kid and wants a sense of place where she attends. Our concerns for the place include the cost, the size, and the Greek culture. D is just not the type of kid that finds Greek appealing.</p>
<p>nellieh:</p>
<p>IU is definitely a very diverse campus. I was amazed at all the different opportunities that existed there. But, it also has a very active Greek life. If your daughter isn’t looking for that she might not like IU as much.</p>
<p>Hope I can jump in on the Taylor and IU comments…
My son may visit IU but I am concerned about the big movement off campus for housing ( partying) Is that an issue for you? 75% move off campus soph. year.
It is a diverse campus which I like and beautiful.</p>
<p>My dd may be interested in Taylor, she is a HS soph. She wants a smaller school and is very strong in her faith. Is Taylor hard to get into?</p>
<p>ldavis: Taylor accepts 83% of students so they aren’t real selective. They don’t give good merit money unless your student has above a 3.8 GPA and 1150 SAT (math/reading only).<br>
My daughter loved Taylor. It isn’t as flashy as many of the private schools we’ve visited. But she loved the humbleness of it. She said she felt God. They have about 2,000 students and are very intentional about serving- lots of study abroad/service opportunities including a semester in Ireland for only a small amout additional beyond tuition. Not a bad deal.<br>
The downside for me is that it is literally in the middle of nowhere. But that didn’t seem to bother my daughter at all.
If you venture into the Upland area I would strongly encourage a visit to Indiana Wesleyan as well- it’s about 20 minutes in the opposite direction. Similiar size student body but completely different feel. Both are great schools.
If you do come visit this area, PM me and I’d be happy to make suggestions for restaurants, etc.</p>
<p>nellieh - we visited IU last summer; I have a college friend who is a professor there and gave us a “private tour” and his take. I don’t remember your D’s “profile,” so this may or may not be relevant. Friend likes IU a lot, but for a student who’s not a rah-rah, Greek kind of kid, he says it’s the honors college or forget it. He raves about the honors college, though - very sharp kids, small classes, profs have to apply to get to teach a class there, great advising.</p>
<p>We also liked Bloomington a lot - neat college town feel.</p>
<p>Having said all that, DS decided not to apply b/c of the architecture 
(he turned down quite a few schools on that basis) He had just finished his junior research paper on Bauhaus and public housing and the dorms at IU were reminiscent of that. Our friend said they’re just as bad inside (his kids have done a summer program and stayed in the dorms).</p>
<p>We will be busy next week. Visiting Vandy, University of Louisville, Murray State, Centre and Transylvania. We are planning on some further out schools later this spring/summer. Waiting for the GSP and GSA rejection/acceptance letters that will be mailed next Friday to help determine when/where we will be visiting. Honestly, I’m more anxious about GSP and GSA than college admittance! Crazy stuff… anybody else waiting on summer programs?</p>
<p>I just found this topic. Have only browsed some of the more recent comments but appreciate all the info. I also have a DD who is high school junior. And we are setting up a list of schools to visit over spring break. (ours is still a few weeks off) The two biggest problems I have is her lack of focus on finding a school that seems like a good fit (I feel like I’m the one doing all the research) and that she doesn’t “know” what she wants to major in. So we’re looking at Liberal Arts schools. But much to do and I can hear the clock ticking away. I’ll keep reading all your helpful ideas. Good luck all!</p>