AP Scores - 5 Calc BC, 5 AP Lang (cross tested from IB), 4 Spanish.
Spanish is D’s most challenging class, it is the only HS class that she has ever gotten a B in and now the only AP test she has gotten a 4 in. But the teacher actually brags about being a valedictorian killer - and this is 100% accurate in D’s case.
@carachel2 Do you know how to get IB scores? D also took the IB Spanish test. Not expecting much better, but still curious.
I think U Kentucky and U Nebraska applications are open.
@Mommertons The Ohio Six Tour. We/Fake Kid/I signed up to see Kenyon and Wooster on the same day on our way back from a Pitt visit. Very convenient. 
There is one particular senior poster that discourages every student on cc from taking a lot of AP classes and denigrates any student that does. Very annoying. I cannot understand why any adult thinks its good advice to give out blanket advice.
I was among those who advocate limiting the number of applications (along with eliminating ED); don’t think it was on this thread, though, as I only recently delurked.
I think that much of this college admissions craziness would go away if kids were only allowed to apply to five or six schools, and only one of them being of the HYPS variety. That’s what they do in Britain – you can apply to either Oxford or Cambridge, but not both – and are limited to five universities to which you may apply in a given year. That would allow of one reach, three or four match/reach schools and one or two safeties. Oh, and let’s not forget to make it affordable. Moreover, your personal statement is less of a contest to make an impression by grabbing the attention of some jaded adcom with a ridiculous Costco parable, and more of a “who am I / what do I want to study and why.” Oh, and nobody cares about how many clubs you may or may not have joined.
@2muchquan, According to Swarthmore’s 2015-2016 CDS, only one freshman received non-need based aid last year and they don’t provide data as to how much he/she received because there is not enough data to provide an average. So, merit aid at Swat is probably not something you should count on. Apparently, they offer 2 scholarships to domestic (i.e., non-PA, non-international) students that range from full tuition to full ride depending on financial need. Not sure if that’s new, but the odds are slim. (Then again, they’re gonna give it to someone…kinda like playing the lottery with only slightly better odds.)
@itsgettingreal17 - While there may be one particular poster that rails against taking too many APs, there is no shortage of people, myself included, that think that once you hit somewhere between 8 and 10 APs, you begin to hit the point of diminishing returns and your time is better spent pursuing other interests.
I am not at all a fan of APs in general. As someone in the “Race to Nowhere” film describes them, they are “a mile wide and an inch deep.” Moreover, they are way to formulaic for my taste. I’d take a good honors class that delves deeply into a subject over an AP any day of the week.
@lovethebard Your description of APs is exactly why my sr has taken exactly zero. She loves learning and wants to go as deep as she can. As a homeschooler she has that freedom. If admissions looks at her course descriptions, they will recognize that her workload was greater not less than both DE and APs. Only time will tell if they will.
My hope is that the response will be like one French professor’s email. “I am curious about where you study and how you have managed to reach such a high level as a high school student. I look forward to learning more about you.”
Thanks for the Swarthmore feedback, and I feel bad for having you do my research for me! How about Emory? (Just kidding!)
Swarthmore is, again, off the list. It has made me want to look into diversity-based (free) fly-in programs that we may be interested in.
@whataboutcollege no free stuff here either. We must not be looking at completive enough schools:)
ED/EA I really have no opinion either way. We actually wish Bama had ED and we would be one and done. I will say that with people that are applying to 5 plus schools, how can you see yourself fitting it at all of these different places? We have looked at over 10 schools. Yes my DD could apply to at least 10, but I can’t see her being happy at all 10. I think at probably 6-7, she would be settling. We want to have a couple that she knows that she will love no matter what and then a safety thrown in there if need be.
@jeepgirl I can see how kids apply to 10 schools. Our Dd does not have any school that we can afford that fits her needs really well. She has a several that will work if she is either a NMF or if she wins competitive scholarships. She has no absolute 100% safety. It is what it is. I am confident enough to that she will be awarded something…but not not confident enough for her not to apply well. (These are not random picks. They are all well-researched. She is in the top 25% of each school. The likelihood of scholarships is not a lottery at most of them. A couple only give a handful of awards, but several give merit money to most top kids. It just isn’t automatic like Bama.)
Once NMSF announcements come out, that will at least solidify part of her list.
@2muchquan - The best way to figure these things out is to go straight to the horse’s mouth and check each school’s CDS; that will tell you the number of students getting non-need based aid and what the average amount is. If the CDS shows few students and a high $$ amount, chances are they give mostly full-tuition/full-rides but not many of them.
@Mom2aphysicsgeek - The most challenging course by far that D17 has taken at her school was an honors class, and she has gotten more out of that class than all of her APs combined. That said, in order to take classes with some of the brighter, more high-achieving students at her school, she is relegated to taking AP classes, since the honors options at her disposal are few and far between. Thankfully, some of the teachers don’t teach to the test and do their own thing anyway so that helps a bit.
@jeepgirl it’s funny because I could see my D being happy at every school we’ve looked at. It will be tough to limit it to the 10-12 that I foresee receiving apps.
That said, I do also like the idea of limiting the number that you are allowed to apply to. Seems like there would be an explosion of gap years for kids who get shut out.
I guess just give me the rules, and we’ll make it work.
@Mom2aphysicsgeek I totally see what you are saying. Money also plays a huge factor in to where my D17 is applying. We have just really focused on schools that are close to what we can afford with out loans. There are a handful of schools that we all loved but the price was too much. I didn’t want my DD to falling love and then have to tell her she couldn’t go because we couldn’t afford it. We were very upfront with what our budget was, the rest was/is up to our DD. She knows that she can go/apply anywhere in the country. She also knows that she wants to go to grad or law school, so UG needs to be fully funded by us and not loans.
@jeepgirl That is our approach as well. The problem for our Dd is that the schools we know right now that we can afford without question are academically very poor fits. She would have to completely change what she wants to major in bc they don’t offer classes at her level. (As one dept told her, “We have nothing to offer you.” At least he was honest!
@Mom2aphysicsgeek That is hard. Good luck to your DD!
@nw2this and other IB parents re: scores
Looks like the kids were given a sheet with the website, a Personal Code and a PIN # to check scores. The scores won’t be available until today at noon. I learned something new today though…GMT means Greenwich Mean Time! Ha…still have no idea what that is.
D is still in Germany. She has internet access of course but I’m not sure she copied all of this info.
Good luck to everyone who needs to find the PIN and Personal Code today :))
Since we are full pay i wan’t as savvy on finaid. But the ives we toured all stressed on their ability to meet 100% demonstrated needs. I understand the different critera used when calculating the demonstrated needs but some of these instititions have such a large endowment they would be the best ones who will be able to do something special for their students. I am sure a lot of the circumstances can be explained to the finaid office and potentially gap filled. I heard Princeton is especially generous about finaid. I felt shooting for some ivies that have the biggest endowment might not be a bad strategy. And they would offer the best education experience at the sametime.
Re: AP classes: Those are the most challenging courses offered at our school, the courses with the best teachers, and and what D needs. The honors and regular classes would not hold her attention. Taking lots of AP classes will give her the freedom she wants in college to focus on those topics of most interest to her personal and career goals. Homeschooling was never an option nor do I think I’d have ever chosen it for D though from a purely educational perspective, it would have been the best option for her. Again, in my opinion, it comes down to what is the right choice for each individual. An all AP and DE course load is what is the right choice for my D and may also be the right choice for many others. I see absolutely no dininishing returns.
Re: number of schools: I have no issue with the number of schools that any student applies to. As for whether only a few are right for each student, I completely disagree. Most kids would be happy at any number of colleges, not just a small handful. That’s akin to the whole “dream school” belief held by so many naive teenagers. D is applying to 15 schools in total and hoping for the largest scholarship possible. She’d fit in and have a great experience at any of them or a large number of others.
@whataboutcollege …from what I can see and have learned here, shooting for those schools is a fantastic strategy IF you truly have your EFC. Are there schools that give above and beyond that gap between need and EFC?
Our EFC is so high that it would not help us one bit applying to the more expensive schools. Every families needs are different.
@jeepgirl ^^^ same and I suspect it is for many many here. At best, a school that meets full need would still put us about 8-10K OVER our current budget. It does slay me that those schools would only cost us 8-10K more than our state school though!!
Oh well, D just can’t picture herself there anyway. We were literally ON the campus of Columbia U. where my niece attends and would have happily shown D around everywhere and D had zero interest. I think she feels it would be a constant race to keep up and she does not want that. My niece is incredibly happy there though so we know it can be a fantastic match for the right kid.