I’m trying to figure out if my D18 is applying to enough schools. Her stats: 3.95 uw, 4.2(ish) w, 32 ACT, good number of extracurriculars, including some that directly apply to her major. She wants to major in Japanese.
She’s applying to:
USCw
UCs: UCSD, UCI, UCSB, maybe Cal
SDSU.
And that’s about it! Am I wrong in thinking SDSU’s a safety for her? It certainly seems so based on Naviance, and she’s not applying to an impacted major which might make things dicey.
She really wants to only be in So. Cal. That + Japanese kind of limits her options for applying more broadly, especially in terms of a safety school. However, I don’t want her to come away with no acceptances either.
The Cal Polys don’t offer Japanese, and she’s got her reaches in USC and Cal. UCLA is a reach for just about everyone (plus we’re an SC family and that’s hard to get past. )
Claremont schools are out of reach. They haven’t accepted a single kid from our high school in the years that Naviance charts – even the 4.0 uw 1600 kid. And w’ere in a good high school district in the Bay Area!
LMU is a possibility. They have an East Asian studies major. Seems like a bit of an afterthough though – doesn’t seem as comprehensive as some of the others.
Outside the box: University of Arizona has a Department of East Asian Studies with a strong Japanese Language program. The Department grants advanced degrees as well. eg “MA and Ph.D. are offered for Japanese (linguistics)”.
Well, I suppose this doesn’t compare with Harvey or Irma, but we had a bit of weather drama today. A small but intense t-storm rolled over us, and we’re the sort who like to go outside and watch from the porch. I’m glad we did because lightning hit a palm tree about 200 yards away and caught the tree and the nearby corner of a house on fire. I saw the fire and grabbed the family. DH called 911, and S ran over to see if anyone was injured.
We live in a community with lots of snowbirds, so some 60-75% of the homes are unoccupied right now. Fortunately, we had enough other neighbors on hand to man garden hoses until the fire dept. showed up.
I’m not sure if the bolt forked and hit the house as well as the tree, or if flaming debris from the tree caught the patio awning and proceeded from there. Either way, there’s shrapnel / blast damage to the patio knee wall (propane tank? there was a LOT of fire), and to a section of window, wall, and the corner of the roof.
No injuries, thank goodness, and neighbors around here are likely to be well insured.
Speaking of number of apps. So conflicted here! D18 cut 5 off her list practically overnight. She’s done down to 7. Says she just can’t see herself at some of the schools she thought were a good fit a month ago. I think she’s getting overwhelmed with the school plus all the essay supplementals. She’s a young senior (JUST turned 17) and I’m worried what she thinks she wants will change in 8 months. I’m someone who likes to have a lot of options but she’s getting hyper focused and it makes me nervous. BUT a part of me is happy that maybe she may delete some of this burden and expense of so many apps. She does have a good mix of safety/match/reach schools so why am I so conflicted? Aaaaawwwww
Yikers, @DiotimaDM! How scary is that?! So glad for no injuries and insurance, but jeez.
My thoughts now are with the Texas folks still shoveling out, and friends in Florida. My older D’s BF/roommate is from Ft. Lauderdale, and BF is rightly worried about her parents who have decided to weather this in place. I worry as well. I’m hating all of this weather stuff.
@sc anteater -
“Am I wrong in thinking SDSU’s a safety for her?”
Check SDSU’s common data set too. I always take into consideration recruited athletes may skew the data low. IMHO, if her stats are above their 75th percentile you’re looking at a safety
SDSU should be a safety with her stats but they do get 85000 applications so hard to feel completely safe - maybe worthwhile reaching out to someone in the program/major to see how competitive the admit is for Japanese.
Tried to tag you @SC_Anteater but can’t get you tagged!
Thanks to all for their concern and comments over my D2015 and her “spider bite infection”. She did see the doc after her 3:30 pm class today at the college infirmary and they gave her antibiotics and told her to return tomorrow to be assessed again. I wasn’t crazy…it looked nasty. But now she has them on watch so I feel a little bit better. She’s hoping to gain some super spidey powers now LOL. I just want the infection to clear up ;).
@ShrimpBurrito forgive me for inartful phrasing (it’s late!), but I wonder if the GC limits how many applications a student can submit in order for the HS to maintain better relations with the colleges. Colleges are concerned about yield. And some high schools have great reputations with certain colleges. Could be that if a college knows your school has this limit, they’d look more favorably on your HS’ kids than another HS’ kids which doesn’t limit the number of apps. If this is the GC’s reasoning, I’d hope he/she has a pretty good sense of where each kid will get in and get merit money, so that you’d feel comfortable with applying to 8 or less.
Re number of applications and our kids changing their minds about what they want… I’m trying to think about the various parameters… urban/suburban etc, geographic location, size of school, school specialty (major), social setting (Greek, sports, etc). I can see some kids changing their minds about some of these parameters, but for some other kids some or all of these things are things that are a big part of who they are (e.g. some kids are city kids through and through). I could well imagine that it’s ok for some kids to only apply to 1 school (as long as it’s autoadmit), because the school fits their personality so well, and the basic personality has remained consistent over the years.
@davidpuddy - I agree with just sending the ACT score (except for schools that require both, e.g., Stanford). If a school wants an equivalent SAT score, they can use the concordance table and give your S a 1600 - right?
Similar situation with my D: 35 ACT & 1520 SAT; right now (unless you talk me out of it) our plan is to submit just the ACT score.
@DavidPuddy re scores, I am planning to have my S send both SAT and ACT to the competitive merit schools. Feel like they reinforce each other (35,1550). I’m willing to spend the $100 to try and save $30,000! Since he hasn’t taken subject tests yet, have not made that decision–although I’m guessing we will send unless he bombs because I’m assuming most others will have these in the file.
Mine is definitely one who has an evolving list. Dropped Fordham (too much core) added Wisconsin (football)! Still around 15-16, but a bunch on the chopping block.
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