@stlarenas …she has two weeks for ACT prep. Has she tried the “section test a day” approach?
Some CC posters keep saying U-Mich offers a few full rides to OOS students, yet I can’t find any on their website. Anyone been able to confirm?
@itsgettingreal17 The most I can find for UMich is the 30K Shipman for OOS. Can’t find any full rides on its websites.
UMich has the Stamps Scholarship which is $40,000 for OOS students, but I couldn’t find a full ride either. Stamps would still leave about $20k to pay.
@stlarenas I went and looked at your list in your thread. I can understand why you are not happy with your list. I think your list is skewed way too high. My dd has much higher stats and I feel incredibly stressed by that list.
Have you spent time on Collegedata.com? Look at the admission info. ND’s middle 50 is 32-34. Vandy’s is also. BC’s is 30-33 with an avg of 32. I am assuming those are on your list as meets need? Have you looked over this list? http://www.thecollegesolution.com/schools-that-meet-100-of-financial-need-2/
I would look at schools like Wooster where the avg is 27 and the middle is 25-30 plus 45% receive merit aid. Or Bates (31 avg 29-32 mid 50).
I would make those your reaches/matches, move your safeties to matches, and then go further down the totem pole for safeties.
For example, you have Truman listed as a safety, but is it for merit? Their avg is 27, middle 50% is 24-30, but over 20% of applicants have above 700 on the CR and M sections of the SAT. Is their automatic merit enough? I suspect their competitive merit is competitive.
Did anyone receive application fees waiver letter from Case Western?
@Mom2aphysicsgeek I am confident our safeties are safeties. They are all instate tuition which is doable (Drury is the only one she’d need merit for but it’s automatic) My only concern with these is we haven’t visited yet and she isn’t sure about any of them yet. But they are all in driving distance so we will soon.
And I know that Vanda, and BC, and ND are really out of reach but she doesn’t want to give up… Hence taking the act again.
So that leaves me with wondering if the matches are really matches. I have literally ran the NPC for every 100% need college on that list.
Ughhh
I got curious and went to take a look at @stlarenas thread with the list. I don’t think the list looks bad at all. She may be low on the ACT range for ND but it’s appropriately listed as a reach. Browse any of the threads with stats of accepted students and there are kids you would think get in easily that don’t, and kids whose stats are lower that get in so if the kid is interested in the school and willing to do the app, they should while understanding it’s a reach and they shouldn’t get their feelings hurt if they don’t get in. This applies to all of the kids because there are kids were perfect SAT/ACT scores and high GPAs that get rejected every year. I am not yet 100% comfortable with S17’s list yet. Are most of us overthinking it? Yes, but that’s okay.
@stlarenas Then if she doesn’t want to attend your instate schools, I would recommend searching for merit at lower ranked schools, a lot lower. In order to be competitive for merit, you need to be one of their top applicants. Not in the middle.
Fingers crossed after visiting in September she’ll love at least one (hopefully 2) of our safeties. That would ease my mind a bunch!
Interesting perspective @paveyourpath. Maybe that is a better philosophy.
I consider reaches to be where my kid is solidly in range to be accepted, but admissions is competitive and too many applicants equally are qualified. Being in the bottom 25% without a hook at a low % acceptance school is classified as incredibly unlikely, not reach, for my kids. (Vandy=8.8, ND=18, BC is much higher at 30.)
@stlarenas I hope your finds a school she can get excited about. It only takes 1. They can only attend 1. Fwiw, Truman is on our list to visit. It is a school that really interests my dd. Not sure if it will be affordable for us, though.
@stlarenas, I hope I’m not engaging in magical thinking (which I did somewhat with older D), but I would go ahead and apply to a school where my D is in the top 25% even if the NPC wasn’t what I hoped for. The NPC’s have a wide range of what they ask for. Some of the NPC’s for my D’s schools don’t even include merit offers. Of course you want absolute safeties. I consider schools where the NPC is somewhat close to what we need to be high targets (maybe they’re really low reaches?) She’s also applying to a few reaches where the NPC is not our friend at all (and her stats are in the top 50% but not top 25%). I guess for me it seems worth the application and score fees for D’s top schools even if they aren’t too likely to work out. It may be magical thinking, but this time around tempered with a lot more reality for me!
@srk2017, I have not seen a fee waiver from CWRU. They’ve been D’s most stalker-ish school, as well as being a reach that she really likes. With as much email and snail mail as they send us to wade through I think they owe us a fee waiver!
@curiositycat333, S did the same as your S in that he took the Math 2 SAT after pre calculus, and now has chosen schools that don’t require SAT subject tests! C’est la vie. We’re going to send them all anyway.
@snoozn, S has a lot of flipped classes at his school. They watch the videos at home and do the “homework” in class where they can ask questions and work in groups. He really likes this style of learning.
I thought case western has no application fee?
Exactly.
@srk2017 We did receive the fee waiver letter, so I looked for a code or something, then I realized that they have no application fee to start with. @-)
They have no fee, no supplemental essays, and non-binding Early Action ;))
What are “Co-curricular activities”?
My D is trying to apply for Scripps College’s fly-in program. They ask students to list co-curricular activities. How are they different from “extra-curricular” activities?
@HiToWaMom In some private schools such as boarding schools, they have required afternoon activities within school that are called Co-curriculars and graded (Very good, Good, S, UnSatisfactory) but not included in GPA.
Examples of co-curriculars are orchestra, band, science club, yearbook, school newsletter, theater/musical, etc, but sports are not co-curriculars. There are separate athletic/PE requirements.
So I assume those co-curricular will be in-school activities but not classroom/graded work. Extra-curriculars can be sports and outside school clubs in this case.
^ Same thing.
@stlarenas I think your list is fine as well, especially as you are looking for need based aid rather than merit. Best of luck to your D! 
Son17 is working on his essay tonight, yay. I like his topic, it’s unique and he can tie it into what he wants to study in college.
I think he got his summer AP work mostly done, good because they head back to school in a week.
You guys stress me out with your quests for merit and worrying about ACT/sat scores and percentiles.I’m just trying to go with flow and see what happens. Then I read all of your posts and think my kid gets rejected everywhere except his safety,lol.