I need to beg/borrow/steal the time to get my D to visit a couple more safe/match schools - especially ones that count interest and/or offer possible merit - agree with you @2muchquan on the focus there and want to have it happen before applications start in earnest. We intended to see a couple over spring break but I got sick with food poisoning and our trip got cut short before she’d visited any but Smith (which she did like.)
Man, if I could live vicariously through my kid I’d have her apply to Tulane, for sure. She’s still nervous about the idea of being that far away from home, but I dunno, that place exerts a pull - so beautiful and so culturally rich. Eh, who knows, maybe I can convince her to add it to the EA pile and if she gets in I can use it as an excuse to visit the Big Easy. (gotta be some reward for doing all this leg work, right? )
@thermom Pretty sure Tulane is a school that is big on being shown the love! A lot of high stat kids get wait listed. Try to visit before applying, or go to a local event. I agree with the allure, and focus on service. And merit! We contacted the local admin rep, who lives nearby. She offered to meet D over coffee this summer. Not sure if that will help or hurt. Hope she doesn’t ask D about the Strian conflict!
@MotherOfDragons Like @Mom2aphysicsgeek we’re concentrating on visiting the practically-sure-thing schools first (1 next week, 2 remaining). That leaves 2-3 other schools which we’d only visit before application if they like demonstrated interest or if they move up the list for a compelling reason.
It looks like we’ll visit the remaining 2 likely schools in September. One is a 5 hour drive but the other involves a flight (reasonably-priced nonstop on Southwest at least).
You all we discussing transportation yesterday (?—I lose track when I read but don’t reply on my phone). I only half-jokingly told D that she could only consider schools near a Southwest city. Turns out all the schools on The List are either within a day’s drive or a nonstop Southwest flight! One would involve more than an hour drive between the airport and campus, so she’d have a greater shuttle expense there than at other schools.
And I just realized that she could take amtrak directly from our town to some of those driveable schools!
Yes, love those Southwest flights. DS14 visits to home is so easy: three direct flights a day from SW to choose from. $15 uber fare tom dorm to airport. I am really hoping DD would pick a school with ease of travel in mind.
Question: how do you know which schools consider demonstrated interest? Is it mentioned on their admission website? And are there preferred ways to show interest? Is visiting & doing an on-campus interview (if available) sufficient, or they looking for additional signs of interest?
I’m behind I know, but here are my thoughts on current discussions.
Ignore: I have found you both, @MotherOfDragons and @2muchquan, to be very informative and thoughtful posters. Who doesn’t like you? There are others who rub me completely the wrong way, but it’s not you, and not anybody else on this thread.
Grading scale: I’m with @2muchquan – that’s how all the GPAs posted here are so high! With limited honors/AP classes and a scale where +/- counts, and a change from a more rigorous scale to a less rigorous one a year ago (without any willingness to adjust previous points on the 4.0 scale for the freshman and sophomore years), there’s no way S will have a comparable GPA. Here’s our current (less rigorous) scale:
A 93-100 4
A- 90-92 3.67
B+ 87-89 3.33
B 83-86 3
B- 80-82 2.67
Weighted classes (of which there are only a few as I said) add 1 pt. to GPA per class
College visits: I think the highest merit potential that S thinks he likes by the end of the summer will be top of our visit list this fall. I doubt we will see any campuses other than the camp host over the summer as we found it very difficult to judge feelings about Oklahoma and Oklahoma State over spring break when there weren’t many students on campus. As most of the merit schools are quite a ways away, we feel like it’s kind of a waste of money and time to get there over the summer as we’re not already heading that direction. Not sure how many we’ll get to before applications go in.
Transportation: We’ll be looking at either very long drives or plane/train/bus fair. Unfortunately, in the Midwest, we don’t have many options for trains. We’re about an hour from an Amtrak station, but it has limited service. I haven’t really looked into buses yet, but transportation costs will definitely be a factor in the final decision. S tends to get car sick and sleepy on long car rides. He’s better if he’s driving, but I’m not sure about 11 hours one way in the middle of winter.
@262mom You can look at the school’s Common Data Set (CDS) section C7, or just ask on here, maybe on the school thread. It has probably already been asked. I don’t always pay attention to CDS, because it’s usually at least ‘Considered’. So I treat Considered=Very Important
School weighting is so different for schools. One local school (private) had a max GPA of 6.0. S’s school only weights for what they term as advanced classes (highest classes the school offers in a subject) and 200 level and higher U classes (they’re a dual enrollment school). The students get a 0.5 bump for those classes. 100 level U classes and CC classes are weighted like HS classes at a 4.0 max. So the highest GPA for a particular class is 4.5. No kid in the school graduates with much above a 4.2, if that, because they have to be almost done with HS to get into the advanced classes. Nor does the school rank.
And happy dance here too because S got all A’s this whole year!! That was a first for him and a good year to shine! :">
Not meaning to be controversial, merely helpful…As this is my third child, I just want to say that visiting schools when not in session, is less than ideal. I did it with one of my older kids(five schools in a week), and it was not good. One of the important ways kids evaluate schools is seeing the student body living on campus. Is it a busy or quiet campus? Do the kids look like kids I can identify and want to spend 4 years with. Last summer my S and I visited one school that was nearby to a vacation weekend. Again, it did not show well. While summer is a time that allows vacation time, in my opinion it is a potential waste of financial resources to invest in looking at colleges. Just saying…
If I remember correctly, UK had updated scholarship info for the new application season posted on the web site by mid-August?
Although UK was not her number 1 choice, maybe not even number 2 or number 3, we could not ignore the Full Tuition Plus scholarship.
Going down for Merit Weekend in the spring, where invited kids can register for classes and get their student ID (without committing yet!) sealed the deal for her. Again, it’s not LOVE, there are other schools she’d rather be going to, but we (parents mostly) see OPPORTUNITY. If she keeps her scholarship, she’ll get her degree without debt (her + us!).
The UK forum here at CC is not very active, but don’t let that deter you or make you think it’s not “good”. The campus has a very friendly, laid back vibe.
Last fall, UK received the largest single gift in UK’s history: $23m to create one of the country’s leading Honors College. They are building, building, and updating, updating.
Lexington is charming, and the surrounding horse country is gorgeous. A client of mine told me the UK Research Hospital has been successful wooing doctors away from Northwestern because of the research opportunities, cost of living, and quality of life.
S will be visiting a couple schools after they get out of session. I agree it is not ideal, but they are located in areas of the country he is not familiar with. If he likes the area and the school setting, he will apply and then we will let him go to admitted students day or some other time while school is in session. For him, he has to be comfortable with the area before wanting to apply and we are fortunate to have the frequent flyer miles to help pay for the SWA flights.
I may have to have him look at UK for NM! It is beyond his geographic comfort zone, but I know the area is beautiful and he may find the climate agreeable.
We received 2 emails this week from son’s prospective schools that urged us to fill out FSA Id and get ready to apply early for October. It mentioned if we are applying for need based aid we should get this done early and accurately.
I know with 100% certainty we do not qualify for any need based aid.
Son may qualify for a few small Merit awards, which don’t require FAFsa form, just essay.
If I don’t fill out the Fafsa, are their benefits or consequences? I’ve tried reading multiple sources and there seems to be conflicting info, saying maybe I should fill out because you never know if you qualify. But I’m going to be upfront with you all and just say that I have all of the money needed for 4 years of school sitting in the bank. ( not trying to be a bragard, just clarifying the situation) So what’s the point?
Is the point that the school sees we can afford it on the form and moves on? I can see how that could be good.
Or, does the school waste time looking at the application and feel like we are jerks for even asking? I can see that too, and it might be bad.
Do schools have " 2 piles"? 1 financial aid pile, 1 no aid pile. I don’t even know if this is a thing. Just asking.
I have read somewhere that maybe schools don’t take applications seriously without the Fafsa filled out.
1 school he is looking says 50% of students receive financial assistance, so I guess the other 50 percent is full pay and maybe get a little merit money? This particular school we will apply ED to. School has an admit rate of around 25%. My son’s scores/gpa are the exact median for acceptance.
Just kind of confused and wondering what to do. I could use some advice. Yes Fafsa, no Fafsa, doesn’t matter either way?
I appreciate any help and insight.
@RightCoaster I’ve always read that you should fill out FAFSA no matter what. We are in the same situation financially and will fill out the forms. Schools do not look at it as a bad thing if you fill out the form but have the money. And, if God forbid, anything happens and you need aid in the years coming up, it’s easier if you’ve already filled out the forms.
@Rightcoaster Some schools require FAFSA even for merit aid so check each school’s policies. If not applying to any of the schools that require it to be filled out, I wouldn’t bother.
@RightCoaster, Another voice agreeing that the FAFSA should be filled out. Some schools do require the FAFSA for merit aid. Also, if your child is thinking of a work study job, the FAFSA will be required because the work/study money comes from the Feds. Some of the less expensive, subsidized loans are tied to government money and therefore the FAFSA. D15, who is on a merit scholarship through her school, was offered work study and a small $5,000 loan because of us doing the FAFSA. I checked with the school this year to see if we need to resubmit this year, and because she has no federal funding, we didn’t have to do it for 2015. However, we will be doing it for S17. ~X(
Work/study is need based. If a student doesn’t qualify for need-based aid, they will not qualify for work/study, but that does not preclude them from getting a non-work/study campus job.
There is also the idea of ‘skin in the game’ and making the kid pay for some of his own schooling, like the good 'ole days.
Also, not sure about this, but if you take the subsidized loans in the kid’s name, and then ‘help’ to pay them off after he graduates, does that improve the kid’s credit?
Hmmm, if D’s school work offer wan’t official work/study, maybe she can get a campus job this year even though we didn’t do the FAFSA. That would be swell.
Thanks so much @jedwards70 and @BigPapiofthree and everyone else who responded to my question about UT Austin and Texas A&M. Really appreciate the helpful advice about the application process & residency.
@2muchquan Tulane was one of D15’s finalist schools and we visited for their 2-day scholars program. D loved their dance department but their engineering program was too small. My understanding is that they cut way back on engineering (and eliminated some programs) after Katrina due to declined applications but they are trying to expand them again. I recommend applying EA but in advance of the deadline. D15 applied EA In 2014, and they started sending out decisions before the EA deadline had even passed!! Tulane is extremely good at figuring out who is applying there as a safety and will reject those students despite stellar stats. We attended a local info session and they attracted a big crowd at the Boston area session. The rep said (in 2014) that they don’t track interest so not visiting campus didn’t seem to be an issue. As someone else mentioned, they are very service oriented and I believe students are required to take a service class. They offer great merit as well as some application-based scholarships.
@Dave_N I’ve had good luck with an app called Hotel Tonight. I used it recently to snag a NYC boutique hotel for $159. The app was initially for finding a room at the last minute but has expanded to advance reservations. Is the school your are visiting right in Boston or on the outskirts? Many of the Boston area schools are easily accessible from the MBTA Green Line (NU, BU, BC) and Harvard is on the Red Line. MIT is best reached via the Mass Ave bus, but you can walk there from the Kendall Square stop on the Red Line. Feel free to PM me if you have specific questions.
Congrats to those with students closing out junior year with a 4.0!! That is awesome!!!
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