@nw2this Actually, I don’t think that is what makes the distinction. I personally think it is the importance/significance of the activity, not a list. It could be just 1 activity with deep commitment and of significant importance to a community.
But in terms of competitiveness…50 students out of 5000 EA students. 1% chance. Better odds of acceptance at a 5% admission school.
@NerdMom88 – would you mind posting the response here, assuming you receive a clear answer? I would not have thought about submitting FA forms for merit aid consideration. To be honest, I didn’t realize that GT would offer merit aid to OOS students.
DS13 goes to Georgia Tech. You have to fill out the FSFSA for any scholarship the university gives. Also there is an application for scholarships that you have to fill out. I don’t think there is a lot of merit aid for OOS kids.
For one of the awards, half go to Georgia residents and half go to OOS. It looks on the website like some merit awards have need requirements, others don’t.
@Mom2aphysicsgeek – Where did you get your numbers? I was going by the CDS for 2015, which said that 45% of freshmen were OOS (although I didn’t see numbers for EA.) Is the 5% you reference the number of out-of-state students accepted EA, or the number of OOS students who are awarded merit?
I don’t want to discourage my D from applying to a particular school, but if only 5% of OOS students are awarded merit, there are many Ivies with better odds…
Having said that, I understand completely why a public school would choose to keep the majority of its financial aid for in-state kids!
@STEM2017 At college night a couple of weeks ago, the college counselor said that the 2015 Tax data is what has to be used to fill out the documentation but that if there are any circumstances that resulted in your income being significantly different in 2016 or in 2017, you should contact the financial aid office and let them know the circumstances. She said they will want the circumstances in writing and they will ask that you have your 2016 taxes prepared early in 2017 so that they can determine what financial aid package they can offer. Wait to long into 2017 and funds may not be as readily available. Good luck!
Do you think deep commitment is measured in time dedicated (hours or years)?
My D found her passion late and will probably write a great CA essay about it, but still hasn’t racked up enough hours for me to think she would be competitive for that kind of merit.
Have you seen this list that is all over cc?
http://competitivefulltuition.yolasite.com/
@nw2this, re: Georgia Tech merit, there’s not much of it available for OOS students. My '16 graduate was awarded their full ride Stamps scholarship (though she ultimately went elsewhere) so I can speak a bit to the process and the types of kids who we met at the big April event who also received the scholarship.
Yes, leadership and volunteer service seemed to be of major importance past a certain level of academic achievement. I’m not sure if one necessarily needed to have multiple leadership positions. My daughter’s leadership was more low key…sports instructor, sports team captain one season, that sort of thing.
There were some smaller scholarships awarded as well earlier in the process. My impression was that these were kids who brought some sort of interesting quality to the table that Tech wanted.
If your student is interested in those scholarships, do pay attention to the interview dates on the website and keep them open. If your student is chosen as a semifinalist, there is zero flexibility as to interview date and time; I know because my daughter asked to change times so she could go to state championships in her sport. The answer was “Nope!” lol
I don’t have a definitive answer re: the CSS profile. We did all the financial aid forms, just to leave no stone unturned, I suppose. I would call the financial aid office and ask about it.
@NerdMom88 My numbers were 50 presidential scholarships and 5000 students accepted EA. There us no separate application, so all applicants who make to the acceptance stage are considered. My 5% reference was to tippy top schools. At GT, the 1 out of 100 students getting a preidential scholarship does not even take into consideration that over 12,000 students apply EA. Applying and getting the presidential is a lower acceptance rate than applying and getting accepted to even more elite schools.
They also have a provost scholarship, but in researching who it has been awarded to in the past, it has been mostly women and minorities. I don’t know the breakdown of those numbers.
GT is not generous with $$ for OOS students.
@nw2this I have paid a lot of attention to kids who have been awarded these high profile awards. In general nothing is typically described in hours of involvement but instead in terms of impact on community or some sort of quantifiable result. I personally think demonstrating strength of character, strong skills, etc to something they are passionate about are what they want to see vs. lots of hours doing something bc they are supposed to.
Son submitted application to University of Florida last night using the Coalition App. Yay!
I have a question for all of you App experts (I love this thread, sooooo many experts!).
It’s now time to apply to NC State. He has the choice of ** either the Common App or the Coalition App.**
In the eyes of admissions officers, do you think there is ANY advantage to using one over the other?
One thing I will note was that the UF essay had a 2500 character max. That wasn’t easy for him. He had to chop his 650 word CA essay down to about 490 words for Coaliton…pain in the rear!
BTW, Coalition App is extremely time consuming and cumbersome. A ton of work so far for him to submit just one app.
@STEM2017 Bah! I still can’t get my DS17 to chop down his essay. I’ve told he has until Sunday, I really want to get it out of the way. 
Admission folks will say there is no difference between the two apps. Both are going to generate a similar looking output that’s used for admissions. However, if you feel you can’t add something critical to one or the other (or like the essay for one over the other), then you may want to pick that app.
Personally, I would go the path of less resistance and submit the app that’s already done.
DS has decided to scrap CA essay after 3 drafts and start again with a different prompt. 
@STEM2017 - one college admissions consultant recommended using coalition app If its a choice. Her theory is colleges will give some weightage. I am not sure if it’s worth the effort. Also, don’t you need to ask all recommenders to send LORs second time?
Though I’m sorry to hear about other kids getting off to a slightly rocky start on their senior years, it’s also a relief to know my D17 is in good company! We had some tears here the night before last, though things seem okay again now. I have also vowed not to check grades and worry at this early point… :-SS
Were there other kids here who were thinking about applying to RIT? If so, my D17 just got a really effusive email from her friend who started there this year as a Materials major and she is very, very happy at RIT so far! D’s friend reports that the academic atmosphere is supportive and collaborative and there’s lots of variety/clubs/activities for kids to do outside of class. So yay, that is definitely staying on D’s list as Safety of Peace & Prosperity - especially since they have rolling admissions if you apply early enough.
Also managed to wrangle a trip for us over Columbus Day weekend to visit Georgetown, Swat & Haverford. D is trying to pick her few reaches very carefully because she doesn’t want to spend a lot of time working on applications where her chances are so iffy unless she really likes them.
When you go on the Swarthmore tour ask if you can go by Willets Dorm:
\m/
@IABooks For the “weakness” question we wrote about son’s difficulty with standardized tests, which is well known to them. He had to take a standardized test to get admitted to his school. He barely made it, and because of his scores he was placed in all “regular” level classes. Within two weeks they knew he was not “regular” and moved him up to honors in most of his core classes. The standardized test scores DO NOT reflect the quality student that he is. Maybe they’ll mention that, maybe they wont. He ain’t applying to Harvard, so I don’t GC’s comments will impact him very much either way.
@stem2017 I’d save yourself a giant headache and stick with the Common App!
@srk2017 - Did the college consultant say why colleges will give weightage? Because it’s more time consuming or it gives more information?
Does anyone else experience submission remorse? S doesn’t seem concerned after he hits that submit button, but I start to obsess about what we should have done differently. What if that teacher doesn’t really write a very good LOR? Should we have done something different with the “anything else you want to tell us” space? Does any of it even matter? 
@mamaedefamilia You have the right idea. I just posted the question in the NC State forum. See if I get any opinions, then he’ll get one of them going.
Thanks!