@srk2017 and @Ynotgo son17 does not do Olympiad, but my younger son19 is interested in participating this year. He does First Robotics and wants to have one more club/EC. Are there a lot of hours involved in Science Olympiad? The kids spend a lot of time on the robotics stuff, but it is flexible, come when you can. I think my younger son is more interested in engineering than robotics or true science disciplines.
DD20 did SciOly in middle school, without giving too many details to reveal identity, the team was nationally ranked.
It was an insane time commitment.She is not doing it in high school for that reason.
I would say for teams that are not shooting for state championship level it is more manageable.
@RightCoaster. I hope it turns out good for you. We had one and they told the coach she would get merit money. However, it just did not work for engineering. It was a 3/2 program but was not very good.
I somehow found that Stamps Scholarship at U of Michigan was mentioned in this thread last few days.
There were some changes in Stamps this year compared to previous years. There used to be 18 scholarship recipients - 9 in-state and 9 out of states. If any recipient decided not to attend U of Michigan, the scholarship was given to another student. The scholarship gave $40K each year and $10K for summer. But there are significant changes.
This year, the scholarships were given to 18 in-state and 4 out of state students. If any student decide not to attend U of Michigan, the scholarship is gone. The scholarship is also changed to cover full tuition and room and board. The scholarship recipient will get $1500 each semester and 10K for summer.
@RightCoaster - Science Olympiad also takes good amount of time. It is a team event and it comes down to how competitive ever region is or even how tough to get into your school team is. Ours is nationally ranked team, so getting into team itself is a challenge. Our school competes in some invitational tournaments and teachers use those as selection trials. If you don’t medal you are out! You need 15 smart kids to succeed, that’s the drawback @ most schools as @ynotgo mentioned.
@srk2017 thanks for info. I didn’t realize it might be tough to get on a team. Our robotics team is big, and they try to give every kid something to work on so they feel they’ve helped out in the end. I didn’t realize the Olympiad was a team event. I’ll have to research it some more and see if it will be a fit for my son.
Our school had varsity SO, jv SO and developmental SO squads for invitationals through the the year. Then the coach picked the best possible team of 15 for regionals.
@RightCoaster On the other end of the time-commitment spectrum, DS’ Olympiad team assigns competitions about a month before and pairs are responsible for getting together on their own time to study, build bridges, or whatever for their events. Of course, we don’t have a JV team or get invited to invitationals.
Last year, DS wasn’t even supposed to do Oceanography (it had some other name) before the trip. They decided who was doing that one in the car. He and the other person read the materials and took the one page of notes you can use the night before in the hotel. The other teams had printed, laminated cards, but his team somehow got the gold medal.
For the game programming event, it was in Scratch, which he’d used for years, so he didn’t prep at all and got gold.
I think some kids, DS included, somehow feel that there are extra “points” for doing well at something without preparation. That was certainly his approach to standardized testing. So far, I guess it works OK for him, so I shouldn’t complain and nag (but I do). Our school does not have the culture of a lot of kids prepping long hours for tests. (Aside from Mock Trial, which is intense and has JV and developmental groups. And athletics, of course.)
@longwood I’m not discounting D17 adding or taking schools off of the list, especially since she and her bf are looking at similar schools (he’s a mech E).
That thread is sad, I feel like the mom needs to give that kid some room to not be defensive. The boyfriend sounds like a bit of a train wreck, but the more the mom demonizes him, the harder that kid will hold onto him.
@Gator88NE I am laughing SO HARD at your avatar. Well done :D.
D18 did SciOly in middle school-my memory was that it was a huge time suck, but she liked it, but not as much as VEX robotics, so she switched to that.
For some reason I feel like I should add William & Mary to D17’s list. There’s no rational reason for this. I just think they’re nice :). I’m sure next week it’ll be some other free-roaming college anxiety. Although by next week I’ll know if she made NMSF so that might change a few things. I’m not sure what things will change-I’ll burn that bridge when I come to it, lol.
@RightCoaste - SciOly (Science Olympiad) team can have up to 15 kids (but no more than 7 seniors) competing in 23 events. Most kids do 2-4 events. 2 kids compete as a team for most events, some allow 3 events. Teams are ranked for each event and and ranks are totaled and team with lowest score is the winner. so to advance to state or national you need to have strong team. However medals are given at individual level for each event. My DS has medals at all 3 levels. Lot of kids start in middle school and continue thru high school. Now, it’s expanded to Elementary schools also but there is no national tournament.
Thanks for the insight guys, I am going to look into SO next week when school starts. It sounds like something my younger son would like. Son17 is more of a Model UN and Deca kind of guy, no science.
@stlarenas Ouch, that’s definitely a tough read.
@snoozn You made me chuckle on that one (#14436)
@longwood The list is not yet considered final so adding/ deleting is still very much a possibility. Earlier in the week he mentioned removing two schools. I asked why and he gave a valid reason but we agreed to let them sit there for now. Last night S17 said he plans on finalizing a few things this weekend. Didn’t specifically mention the list but mentioned putting the finishing touches on Comm App and sending off an email to his college counselor for a meeting next week. I think we are close on having a finalized list.
@Gator88NE re: your new avatar :))
@carachel2 Yes we made it to Tulane University and the water wasn’t a problem so it took the regular time. We stayed in a very nice hotel. It was recommended by @fallenchemist and it was great. He enjoyed the school a lot and the food was nice. It is funny because none of the schools let us see the dorms. I am guessing because school was in session and all the rooms were taken up by people. They were going to show a room, but the password was wrong so they couldn’t show it. It seems like a very fun place.
You guys have demythologized the UMich oos merit. I liked it better when I thought there was a smidgen of a chance. %-(
D finally started working on the CA this week :-bd , I think she needed the nudging of her peers and GCs (anyone other than me).
I need some help and recommendations from all of you fabulously well-informed parents. We have been coasting along with our list of colleges DS was planning to apply to this fall based on his intended major, CompSci. We’ve researched the best schools, looked at acceptance rates, stalked Naviance graphs, ran net price calculators, looked at % of met need and possibilities of scholarships, etc… We had a list. A well thought out practical list of reaches, matches, and safeties.
Well, DS realized that while he loves to program recreationally, it’s not something he wants to do professionally. Ok, kudos for realizing that now, but that puts us back at square one and seriously behind the 8 ball in regards to making up our list of colleges. He now wants to major in international business with a concentration in finance. Having an Asian studies program would be a bonus (especially Korean), but it’s not mandatory.
So we are in the beginning stages of recreating our list and would love any suggestions. Our EFC is around 35K and we would like to try to keep our cost around that amount. So far, we have the following:
New York University (possibly Stern but IDK how selective that is and Naviance doesn’t break down acceptances to the university vs. the program) - I’ve heard they aren’t generous with aid
New York University - Shanghai - I’ve heard they are more likely to get aid but harder to get internships
Fordham University (this is probably his top choice at the moment) - will PRAY for the competitive NMSF scholarship
Northwestern University (could likely get in if he did ED - low reach based on Naviance) - NPC is around 10K more than we would like and no real international business/finance program
UChicago (loves the school but is definitely a high reach) - if he actually got in, they meet need nicely from what I hear but getting accepted would be the road block
Okay, so you can see our list is not balanced AT ALL. Fordham would be best case scenario if he was able to snag the NMSF scholarship thus making it affordable. If not, I don’t think we could afford it but their programs closely align with his “wants”, minus not having Korean.
I need more suggestions! He prefers being in a financial capital (NYC, Chicago, etc.) as opposed to farm fields. High on his list of needs is ease of getting internships with international companies &/or IB’s. We are hoping he will make NMSF, but not dead set on only schools that offer NM scholarships. He has no hooks and we aren’t considering Ivies. Please help! I feel like we are months behind in our research!
@DOTexe what safety and match schools did you have on his previous list? That might help us come up with suggestions for similar schools on the new list.
Have you looked at USC? Both South Carolina and Southern Cal. Is your son Asian - only because Asian male is a bit under-represented at LACs and could have a better chance at those. Some are very good for finance.
His prior list included: UIUC, IIT, Purdue, UT-Austin, Franklin Olin, Rose Hullman, GaTech, Case Western, TAMU, Univ of Washington, I’m sure I’m forgetting a few. Definite reaches (but schools he would have loved to attend if he got in) were Harvey Mudd, CalTech, Cornell, and Carnegie Mellon
@DOTexe …are you guys in state for Texas (sounds like it with your user name). The UT McCombs business school has a fantastic reputation and would fall in your budget guidelines. I’m sure you already know all that. Or does he really want to go OOS?
No, sadly we are Illinois. Would love in-state tuition at UT.