Having troubles determining what are good matches for him. We can spot the admission/financial matches, but are floundering comparing the quality of schools and programs against each other, if that makes sense.
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Exactly, @flatKansas! It’s the same with us. Assuming D17 stays with engineering of some sort, we know that any ABET accredited school is fine, but we also want a balance between not-so-competitive and the-best-she-can-get. It’s hard to dig down and find that sort of info.
@longwood - Coalition App
I offered to fill in the basic stats for my D since she is taking Latin III over the summer and just started a new job. Probably best I did it anyway since it is basically just a standard profile like she did for CB. Hopefully she will have a better attitude about doing the Honors and Distinctions and EC sections if the grunt work is already done.
The interface is straightforward enough that things went quickly for me, however, I am still having a problem getting the Family Info section to show completed. The are also a few sections not implemented, like Coursework Completed and Financial Aid, so I may change my opinion.
I think it will take my D quite a bit longer to do her sections.
QOTD drinking: I drank like a fish every weekend starting from about week 2 of my freshman year. Honors program dorm and we apparently partied like it was our major. At home we are very matter-of-fact about alcohol (and my dad’s alcoholism and DUIs). AFAIK the kids haven’t had alcohol yet, which I will thank Band for, as drinking is otherwise common at our school ($uburb$). D14 did get a taste of cider the other day and now says she’s looking forward to being 21. We are big on ‘actions have consequences’ so hopefully they have a good grasp on WHY you never want to be Mac&Cheese Kid. I doubt S will go Greek (D didnt) so that may help decrease the chances for booze issue. (No offense to the Greek life - I’m an alum!)
We’ll be avoiding the coalition app whenever possible. There’s enough guinea pigging going on for the class of 2017 already.
Intro: I have two DDs, DD17 (17 yo) and DD24 (10 yo). DD17 goes to a mid-size CA public school in a relatively low-income school district (no Naviance!). She has good stats (3.93UW; top 10%), ECs (class president all 4 years, mock trial, school board, etc.), and ACT scores (34C). She is also mixed (Cauc and AfAm) so may be considered a URM. Her 1st choice is Columbia and she’s also applying to a couple other Ivies, Ivy-equivalents (Stanford, UChic), privates, and a couple UC’s. I am a single parent with a decent income (middle class I guess, though we live in high cost of living area) and we will qualify for need based aid which makes most schools affordable to us IF we get the NCP waiver. Some of the privates she’s applying to offer competitive merit aid so that would help if she doesn’t get into one of the 100% need met schools and/or doesn’t get the NCP waiver. She is also applying to Howard which offers a full ride for her stats.
I found this site when she was applying to private, independent middle schools. I can’t believe she’s now applying to college! Time flies by so fast.
Drinking: DD17 has had wine at family functions and sips of other drinks (margaritas, etc.). I have no doubt she will drink in college, though I hope it’s not in excess. While she’s a serious student and pretty practical, I can see her more wild side coming out once she’s on her own. I can only hope she does things responsibly. I have given her the speeches about not ditching her friends at a party, not leaving your drink sitting around, etc.
** Leaving her home alone:** She stays alone for a night here and there (starting when she was 16). She is very responsible so I don’t worry about anything.
**Introduction **
I’m a mother of 2, D17 and S20, who lives in NOLA. My H, D, and I were all born in Pakistan, and we moved to the US when D was very young. We’re low middle class which would likely mean good financial aid at top schools except for the fact that we own a business. So we are on the same merit hunt as many of you.
D has great grades (3.97 UW, 13 APs by senior year) and high test scores (36C), so we are hopeful that she will find an affordable place to attend school. She is definitely a humanities kid with strengths in English and history which is her passion. She is thinking about majoring in international relations because her dream is to join the US Foreign Service. One of her first memories is standing in the US embassy in Pakistan talking to the Foreign Service officer who made it possible for us to enter the country at the same time. Initially, it was looking like I would have to leave D in Pakistan for a few years, but the woman told us of a way that we could enter together which I greatly appreciate.
Anyway, D’s goal is to be able to have impacts like that, plus she’s always been interested in international affairs ever since she started reading Pakistani newspapers in her free time which quickly expanded to other international newspapers. She is looking for a medium to large school that offers merit aid and isn’t too rural. She’s a huge sports fan but decided not to make it a centerpiece of her search. She honestly doesn’t have too many requirements for a university since we haven’t been able to visit the ones on her list because it isn’the affordable. Luckily, D has always been an understanding kI’d who recognizes our financial restraints and is willing to make the best of it.
@MotherOfDragons I hate to be the bearer of bad news, but UMD is switching to the coalition app this year.
@BusyNapping I got my graduate degree in International Development from American University in DC. Schools near or in DC would be great for your daughters interests and for great career building insternships and jobs. NYU also good for International stuff:)
@MotherOfDragons , @Ynotgo - French Laundry is in Napa Valley. It offers a nine-course Chef’s Tasting Menu and a nine-course Tasting of Vegetables, each priced at $310. I hear getting reservations is also tough. since my DS is a foodie, I offered him that deal (after a colleague told me that his dad took him there for his 21st b’day) in exchange for no alcohol till 21.
I know UMD is a coalition school, but I thought that it is in addition, and you can still apply with past ways…Common App
Intro- I am the mother to 3 girls. A girlfriend told me about this site and it has helped me so much. My girls are D17,D19 and D21. I also have a step son who is 28 and graduated from St Bonaventure with his masters in business 5 years ago. We are from Upstate NY and are unfortunately full pay, so we are chasing merit. The girls all want to go OOS in the south. My oldest has above average grades, scores and EC’s. The younger 2 seem to be following in a similar path. D17 is very lucky because she does very well with little effort. She is looking to go into business and possibly law school. She loves the big flagship schools with football. It is funny because she can’t stand sports, but really wants a big football school.
Maryland had their own app at least up until 2015, when D15 applied. It’s looking like S17 will have to do some Coalition and some Common app.
QOTD: We usually put a few sips of wine in a glass on the weekend dinner table for each of our teenagers. D15 came home from college finishing her sips this summer. We will see what happens when she returns from study abroad in Europe next summer, but she seems pretty well adjusted at school and hasn’t turned into a partier.
Son17 had 2 friends verbally commit to play college lax today. One is going to a very good LAC in NY and the other one a good Lac in Ohio.
The public school boy is going to the very selective lac in NY is not the brightest bulb out there but very good at lax.I don’t see how he fits in there, and academically he is the kind of kid who doesn’t make one of the 3 honor roll lists we have school, so he is way in bottom 1/2 of their class. I can’t imagine his test scores are great. He is just a white boy from the burbs with no great talents other than lax. Very limited ec’s ( just lax) and maybe average grades.Just kind of surprised really.
The other boy is pretty smart private schooled student who is not so great at lacrosse, and he probably could’ve gotten into a better college. I was kind of surprised he chose to go there, but maybe he had a great visit and just felt he fit in.
My son had a couple of coaches call him recently from some schools he has no interest in at all. He was polite about it.
** Intro ** I am the mother of two boys: S17 and S19.
We are in Colorado and S17 attends a small college prep charter school here.
S19 attends a boarding school in western Massachusetts.
At the moment, both are burning up CPUs videogaming.
DH works for a Texas company so we are looking at schools both in Colorado and in Texas as in-state schools as well as OOS schools in North East and in Midwest.
My first one, S17 is the source of my elevated BP and considerable weight gain this year. ~X(
I’ll be googling empty-nesting and downsizing topics this time next year. 
hopefully :-?
as well as planning to work till 90s. i.e. 2050s :))
Remembering to breathe, :-w
@“what???!!” NYU is not a good choice for students who need a lot of aid. American is not one on our list bc of its reputation for bait and switch. (Just saw that NYU is also on the list as is NEU. http://www.usnews.com/education/best-colleges/paying-for-college/articles/2015/06/16/10-colleges-where-upperclassmen-get-less-financial-help ) For families where every dollar paid is a huge deal, these are not small issues. (American also has smaller amts of merit aid compared to a lot of schools.)
In case anyone had Temple on their safety list, you might want to reconsider. I noticed on Monday that their scholarship page was different. I was wondering if they were going to update it for this yr’s applicants. Unfortunately, there is a discussion on the main forum about this article http://www.philly.com/philly/education/20160629_Dai_out_as_provost_at_Temple.html Looks like Temple’s awards are going to be limited for our kids. (Praying that doesn’t happen to a lot of the schools on dd’s list!)
I am still on comment 402. Boy it is hard to catch up. If you are applying early decision then is your GPA based only on Freshman Sophomore and Junior. They did say to send in first quarter grades so will the high school figure in the GPA with those added. Does he send his transcript now and then send first quarter grades in November after the date because he doesn’t get grades for first quarter until then.
@Mom2aphysicsgeek Thanks for posting that article. Not good. 
NYU - Abu Dhabi is some kind of anomaly. People who are getting no aid in the US are getting full rides to go to Abu Dhabi… I don’t know the ins and outs as I have not sent a kid there but have met 2 diff kids who got full rides to Abu Dhabi. Perhaps It isn’t the case in the Middle East but I know that there is a strong language component available on all of their other overseas campuses like Beijing… Goes to figure there would be Arabic in Abhu Dabi?
As for AU - it may not have great aid but going to school in DC was awesome. As a student of foreign affairs. I was able to get jobs at USAID that took me to the state department and I got to participate in exactly the stuff I was studying