@krishnamg There’s a thread about college planners on the Parent Cafe forum that might help you. I would copy the link here but i still haven’t figured out how to do that.
Envious of those with stable (and full and balanced) college lists already.
/looks forlornly at the one school on D’s list…
@krishnamg, we used a private college counselor and the school counselor with go2girl14. She was one of those high-achieving kids–basically in the bandwidth to get into any school scores/gpa/activities-wise. We focused on high-merit schools and she wrote some 54 essays for all of the private scholarships. She ended up with the Ingram Scholarship at Vanderbilt. The private counselor worked with her every other week from the beginning of senior year to edit her essays. The school counselor facilitated the transmission of recommendation letters (which are separate from the teacher/counselor recommendations). I played secretary keeping the calendar and everyone on track. With go2boy, we are still using the same private counselor as a “buffer” of sorts. His school counselor is excellent and she really knows him and I trust her implicitly. We still meet occasionally with the private counselor (she’s become a dear friend) and she is able to say the things to him that I do – but he takes her more seriously. A private counselor typically works with a lot of kids outside of your own high school and can speak to what is happening in admissions in the area.
54 essays!!! @-)
Sounds like it paid off, though. Thanks for sharing your experience, @go2mom
My thoughts exactly! Youch.
@krishnamg I agree with @suzy100, you can certainly do it yourself with the help of CC and the library. I didn’t count the essays that S1 wrote but probably in the ballpark of @go2mom 's D. No one at all read, edited, or assisted him with the essays or any other part of the application process except for me and his results were amazing.
Its a personal decision but I think a lot of parents and students overestimate the magical powers of college consultants.
@odannyboysf List? Well, if you have one school you are ahead of us!
@shrimpburrito @suzy100 I also want to add that I thought WashU was amazing. I still wonder what S1s experience would have been had he chosen to go there. I’m not sure that S3 has the stats but I would love to have him apply.
Well, thought I should check in to this mega thread. Some may note posts I’ve made here and there.
Cliff’s Notes:
My “S18” has very good test scores, decent grades, average ECs, and minimal “particular interests”.
As parents we have an EFC much higher than we can plausibly pay.
School uses Naviance and multiple required counselor meetings but those are just getting started.
Net: looking for great fits at high merit rewarding schools … We have shortlisted that to about 150 schools :)) !
Well, at least you narrowed the list to 150.
Welcome aboard.
@DavidPuddy My S18 started out with about 100. He’s down to 17 privates and 3 in-state public Us (so he can have a choice if it comes down to those). He is working on reducing 17 to no more than 9. I could easily do that for him if we just used size and net price. He will get there since we’ve told him that he would need a really good justification to apply to those pricier schools. He also may decide to apply ED with our approval to one of the affordables.
Hey, parents, I just started a discussion for 2018 kids with 3.0-3.4 GPAs in the Parents Forum. I know there are plenty of us whose kids will be searching for a good fit–they may not be an academic powerhouse or great test-taker. I thought it might be helpful to have a separate thread for those of us who have that “special” kid – here’s the link: http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/parents-forum/1977195-parents-of-the-class-of-2018-3-0-3-4-gpa-p1.html?new=1
@go2mom you might have missed it because it’s not super active yet but that thread does exist:
We had an easier time of narrowing down schools - in state, direct-admit nursing program - and now we have 10. A mix of state schools and smaller privates.
Some are better than others, and one is clearly at the head of the pack for my daughter. One private got dropped off the list because, honestly, she doesn’t have the ACT score.I wasn’t broken hearted, because that was the only one that required the CSS, lol. One is the local university which won’t be a good fit for several reasons but she is applying anyway.
I worry about that dang ACT score. I don’t know if she is a bad test taker or what - she did average on the PSAT, and that’s what she did on her first crack at the ACT. She takes it again in April on the school’s dime, and I think I’m going to sign her up for June. After that, it is what it is and her good grades, interesting ECs and sparkling personality will have to carry the day.
I’m new here but as this college search starts to ramp up, I need a spot to turn to for advice. @gotomom how did your DD identify the outside scholarship opportunities? Did her private counselor help with this?
We are in an urban area and my DD attends a large public high school. We too are in the donut hole for financial aid and looking to create a solid list of schools that include ones that give merit aid. Any insights into the outside scholarship piece would be helpful. My understanding is that most of the merit/scholarships come from the schools themselves.
We will be touring schools in Boston (tufts, northeastern, Wellesley) and Amherst in western Mass over spring break in April.
@zomaya99 there are multiple posts on CC about schools that give good merit. To find schools with good merit for my D16, I spent a lot of time reading posts here and then the college specific sites. She wound up with full tuition at Pitt where she is happily attending.
Depending on standardized test scores, some of these scholarships can be automatic. We live in a rural place, so no access to in person advising. College counseling at HS is focused on getting kids into state system.
For my S18, we are starting again. At least a lot of the legwork is done for his search. We just visited Trinity in San Antonio, University of Oklahoma and Tulsa U. It is a lot harder when merit is in the picture. Many of the schools that I feel would be good for him either give no merit (e.g. Amherst) or not enough (e.g. Northeastern).
I’m new here as well. I’ve been lurking and said “might as well.”
D isn’t sure about where she wants to attend, but has identified locations, Midwest, Northeast, East and West. At this time, she doesn’t appear to want to attend small LAC’s and would probably like a bigger college with a sports program to cheer for.
We’ve hired a private consultant for several reasons. They have seen virtually every campus in the US. They know people in admissions offices around the country and they provide guidance for essays, applications, EC’s, resumes, etc. and they know deadlines for schools and scholarships and which schools prefer early applications over later applications. Blah, blah, blah. And they’ve been successful with other local kids. They have a multitude of experiences with a diverse clientele. And they’re an extra pair of eyes. It’s worth it for me.
My D has great grades and so far has high test scores (PSAT, Math Level 2), though her first real SAT exam for the record is in May. She attends a diverse large public school.
We’ve planned a trip to the NYC and Philly area for Spring Break and will take a look at various schools around those two cities.
I’ve been learning alot here and plan to learn more. Thanks.
My daughter can’t believe that back in the day I walked into the ACT with a pencil and a smile - our teachers just told us to show up, and we never spent a second on any kind of review I scored a 31 and done. That was a million years ago, but it’s amazing the pressure/importance this one test (taken multiple times) has created.
I took the ACT in the summer before my senior year. I didn’t know you could take it more than once. I didn’t know kids prepped for it. Even more, I’d been back in the country less than a week after spending a year in a tiny Brazilian town as an exchange student.
I was very fluent in Portuguese, so much so that I had forgotten some of my English vocabulary. [“This thing, we’re walking on it. It’s made of cement and it’s beside the street but it’s not the street. What is it?” (Sidewalk) ] I conjugated verbs wrong. (He telled me.)
I was still thinking and dreaming in Portuguese. For the ACT, I had to read the question in English, half translate into Portuguese so I could think in Portuguese, then translate back to English for the answers. Very odd experience.
I can’t remember what I got.
@zomaya99 – to be honest, I was the hunter for merit $$ with go2girl. I would start with this list: http://www.kiplinger.com/tool/college/T014-S001-kiplinger-s-best-values-in-private-colleges/ It lists the schools ad the % of students who receive merit aid. We eliminated any schools that did not offer any merit aid–for example, Tufts doesn’t so we skipped it when we were looking. Northeastern, on the other hand, does. You can also pull this list up for public universities. Once I was able to drill down, I went to each school’s websites to see what type of student qualifies for the scholarships. In go2girl’s case, she had the right stats but was not a athlete or science kid. Where she stood out was in leadership and service. At some selective privates, sizable service scholarships were available at schools like Duke, Vandy, Notre Dame, Tulane, Emory, Wash U and Claremont McKenna. She didn’t apply to Duke but got got scholarships at the others except for Wash U (which was definitely a favorite!) It’s very competitive but it paid off. go2girl was highly motivated and has had a fabulous time at Vandy. Feel free to PM me if you want more info.
Reporting in from St. Louis, after spending several hours at WashU. We are somewhat familiar with StL, but this was our first time on the WashU campus.
It’s gorgeous! Facilities are amazing. Everything is spotless, modern, and luxurious. (Has anyone else noticed the marble fireplace in the women’s bathroom by the admissions office? Made me chuckle.) Tour and info session emphasized the students’ high quality of life. Great food, great dorms, beautiful setting, multiple advisors to guide you. Every need is tended to. Our tour guide, in showing us the South 40, made parallels to DisneyWorld. He also said that just like at Disney, WashU is the happiest place on earth.
I can see why WashU appeals to a lot of students and their parents, but it’s not for my D. She thinks (as of now, anyway–things may change over the next few months) that she will not apply here. She would need to score big merit for us to afford it, and all of those extra essays seem like a lot of work for a school that is not near the top of her list.
Thank you for the report, @ShrimpBurrito!