@gator88ne what about Embry Riddle?
Our process is so similar to yours. My D is looking for psychology/cognitive science so she added FSU as a safety. I can find better schools than UF for her, but we just can’t justify the cost difference. A lot her friends want to go out of state but anything materially better than UF becomes a reach and much more expensive so she is happy to stay close to home (and not add any more essays or SAT II).
Her list looks like this:
UF Honors=Reach
UF = Match
FSU Honors = Match ?
FSU= Safety
UCF Honors = Match ?
UCF=Auto-Admit
We have not found any reason to add more, so it looks like this is it.
I picked 20 colleges for him after doing research. He doesn’t want hot and humid places and other than that criteria is schoola have good premed aupport. Once he gets admissions we will tour the schools to pick the school to attend. We didn’t tour any colleges.
Who is driving the list? - I suggested 3 out of the 7 schools on D’s list. The other 4 were her ideas. GC has suggested some match schools because our list only has reaches and safeties. I’m not sure if these will make the list or not since we won’t qualify for need-based aid at these schools and I’m not sure if the merit would be sufficient.
If she has time left after getting the core 7 in (she probably won’t since she hasn’t started yet), I will try to bribe her into adding some unlikelies (schools that give only a couple of full rides that she probably will not qualify for, eg. USC) and some more safeties with easy applications and/or big macs, eg. ASU). I’d be thrilled if she gets the core 7 in on time, so not too concerned about this second list.
What a great list @CaucAsianDad ! So simple, yet so complete. I wish we could narrow S’s list down like that. Congratulations and best of luck!
Thanks for your comments @STEM2017
My D is quite happy with this list but am worried that I am letting her settle for too few schools and not more reaches.
I guess that why she tells me to not spend too much time on CC 
** List building ** I have been down this block before with my older DD so I had a clue what to do. I’ve driven most of the list building. Honestly I started it as a way to help DS’s self esteem & sense of self. He had had a really rough freshman year and since there is a lot of talk about Ivy’s, Ivy’s, Ivy’s among his peers I felt it would be helpful to have him see schools that were better alternatives for him.
We started by visiting a college summer before junior year. Unfortunately I picked a school he liked but that was more of a reach than I thought it would be because it’s the only state school in CA that looks at freshman grades. (Cal Poly SLO) But it got the ball rolling and started the conversation. From that visit I was able to get a good idea what he liked about Cal Poly and a much better idea where he could see himself. I’ve done most of the leg work on finding schools, basically weeding out schools that are too reach or don’t fit his other criteria. (Such as location… he’s very particular about location.) Making suggestions, having him look at them online, talking with his friends but letting him decide where we would visit.
I’ve been trying to sort of the thousands of colleges in the US, down to a number he won’t find too overwhelming. Mostly it’s been conversations between the two of us. And I don’t believe it’s nailed down yet, nor needs to be. I suspect that colleges that are visiting might changes some of his idea’s.
I’ve been doing most of the research. Our bank account is driving our choices. We are looking at state schools within a two hour drive. (She wants to be able to come home sometimes.) That really narrows it down for us, thankfully.
Poor D has an interview 90 minutes from now. She is a nervous wreck—it’s her first, formal, in-person interview! I spent the last few hours talking her through potential questions (she is so afraid to appear “braggy”) and helping her with her resume.
I told her that inteviews will get easier the more she has. That’s true, right?
I may need chocolate or a stiff drink later tonight :))
@WhereIsMyKindle Good luck to both of you! (Every time I see your user name it reminds me that I have no idea where my Kindle is and I get distracted trying to remember the last time I saw it.) I am sure your D is way more prepared than mine was for her first interview. It didn’t even occur to me to suggest a resume. I assumed it was more of an informal info session for both sides. Hopefully that didn’t kill her chances.
@WhereIsMyKindle – my son expected the worst from his first interview, and it was one that he was less vested in (planned that way on purpose). It went better than expected and I think gave him the confidence for the next one which did matter to him more. He ended up liking the first school much better than he had expected so I am glad he felt the interview went OK there also.
And why limit yourself to chocolate OR a stiff drink?
Echoing @CT1417, or as the kids today now say:
FalseDichotomy
@MotherOfDragons We’ve looked at ERAU, but it would run at least $13K to $15K more a year (after school grants and state aid) than UF. When I ran the NPC, they recommend I take out $25K (a year) in parent plus loans…haha…NO.
@CaucAsianDad I think a lot of Floridians are in the same boat. My DS17 is happy with 2 or 3, but I’m concern my bias (being a gator engineering alumni)may be limiting his options. In general, Florida students stay in state, with about 87% of students staying in-state. It’s an interesting comparion with states like California and Texas.
https://nces.ed.gov/programs/digest/d15/tables/dt15_309.30.asp
Saw this today on the UVa admissions blog:
http://uvaapplication.blogspot.com/2016/08/counselor-and-teacher-recommendation.html
Have I mentioned how I love the transparency of U Va admissions?
@WhereIsMyKindle – Good luck your DD’s interview. Hope it goes well. We are thinking about starting that process with a lower tier school and I likely need to get someone to help him prep & practice or he’ll be nervous and have a hard time.
@WhereIsMyKindle Best of luck with the (in progress) interview!!!
@whereismykindle.
Hope interview went well and you can celebrate with a Kahlua Yoohoo
DS17 Passed his road test. He now has his license and will be able to buy the car parking sticker on Monday. I will no longer have to pick him up when DS19 and him have different activities after school!
It is freeing (and terrifying) when your teen is able to drive.
Happy weekend everyone.
@WhereIsMyKindle Best of luck to your D! You probably already celebrating!
@MichiganGeorgia Congrats!!!
D just got her first job starting tomorrow! I just showered her with knowledge gained from my 20-year-ago, 2-month-total-length waitress experience :))