@NerdMom88 UMD does have one of the best AE programs in the country, it would be hard to be at that cost. 
It’s going to take one of the rare scholarships at GT, or perhaps a lottery school like Princeton or MIT to compete on cost + quality.
@snoozn William / Billy.
@STEM2017 Our school counselors said coalition app is not ready and said do not use it unless you apply to UF since thats the only option.
Also this might be old news but my ds informed me today that Va Tech changed their mind and will accept the old SAT.
@MichiganGeorgia and @DoyleB yeah I thought that did not sound right. My kids’ school is full of nincompoops in the guidance department. :-<
@crazym0m —I had not heard that about VT, and don’t really care as my son is not applying, but thank you for posting as I found it fascinating that they came out so early announcing that they would not accept the old SAT. Amused that they have reversed themselves.
@crazym0m This is news to us, too, about VTech and the SAT.
The UCF App allows 7000 characters for 500 words. I guess UCF expects its applicants to use longer words.
FYI, at the 5-college event (Harvard, Stanford, Penn, Georgetown, Duke), the 2 adcoms I asked (Harvard and Stanford) indicated that they would be using the concordance tool to convert old SAT scores to new SAT scores. Next year they are hoping to only accept the new SAT.
They also didn’t really know what they would be doing with writing/essay scores in light of the ACT rescore/uncertainty issues. The Harvard adcom said they could pull up the actual ACT essay. Their main concern is seeing that the essays and the test scores appear to come from the same kid (that is, essays not written by paid help).
@STEM2017 I was kind of surprised at the essay workshop schedule, because they are usually pretty on top of things, at least for a large public where each GC has about 300 students. I think perhaps these are planned by the Career Center, which is separate from the GC department and has a new director this year.
At our school, 55% of the kids say they will go to 2-year CC. Of the 40% that go to a 4-year, I’m sure that a huge percent are going to UCs and CalStates. So, the idea of ED or EA or a college that needs a LOR is irrelevant to 80% or more of the school population. And, writing any essays at all is only relevant to perhaps 25-30% of the students.
Our GC knows my son well and has done lots of things for him that took extra time on her part, including working out schedule problems during the summer when she wasn’t paid to be working, getting him into the program where he can take UC classes this year, and having a 1-hour planning meeting with our family every year of HS. We feel lucky to have her as a GC.
@Gator88NE, I agree that UMD is an excellent option, IF she can get accepted into the school and the program! I’ve told her that it may be a match, but it’s definitely not a safety.
I’m going to pay 8 units worth of real college tuition today… @-)
Ok @Gator88NE and @CT1417 Thanks for the information. Can you please answer this: Can a student apply to both Stanford and GaTech EA? My kids would like to know quickly but not have to make a decision right away.
@micgeaux --yes, that is my understanding. Cannot apply to MIT or Chicago EA while applying to Stanford SCEA.
I think that one of the greatest benefits of EA is that it will allow the student to then tailor his RD list. If yes to GT, then no need to apply to XYZ, or if no from both GT and Stanford, may be time to dig a little deeper.
Thank you!!! Our GC has sent us literally about 15 emails, but I doubt that this specific question is answered in any of them. It would be great to know one way or the other in December.
@snoozn Whoops, no secret knowledge, sorry! In re-reading the page, I guess it is only officially rolling on space-available for people who missed the official deadlines, I mis-read that. I got confused because I do know that sometimes people do sometimes get notified of their acceptances before the official date and I guess that was what made me mis-read where the “rolling” applied. But anyway - yes, D’s friend is very happy so far.
Hi everyone - we got a copy of our school profile today. The school does not rank or even state percentiles, but does a bar chart showing distribution of unweighted GPAs. DS turns out to be in top 1% – one of 3 kids out over over 300 with the highest GPA on the bar charts. GPAs are only calculated through junior year. I do not know how the “Profile” gets to colleges who do not visit the school - if it does – and I do not see a way a indicate his percentile or where he is standing in relation to others. I will ask if that info gets put in the counselor letter or on the transcript someone - just curious if anyone has a similar situation.
@CA1543 The school profile is uploaded by the counselor to the Common App. Schools not using the Common App may or may not require the school profile. I know D has 1 that does and one that does not.
Signed,
A Homeschool Counselor/Teacher/Parent
@CA1543 – I thought that the profile is the same thing as the “school report” that gets sent to colleges with applications.
It is.