@amominaz I have heard this too about Santa Clara and merit money. I was a bit in disbelief when I heard a parent say their son received full tuition merit based money from SCU. I had never even heard of that with Santa Clara before.
We went Facebook official with the University of Cincinnati College of Nursing today
X_X
It’s not hypothetical anymore. She’s leaving. Like, really leaving. :-S
DD also made her choice official… She accepted the offer from UMD College Park and spent the weekend filling out all the different pieces for housing, email and directory Id’s, read up on orientation. She’s super excited, which makes me so happy. That was the best part of this process last time for me, too, when DS16 knew which school was the best fit for him. I think they are so relieved to have the stress of worrying, waiting, then deciding over with. For our son, it took until mid April, and I think it’s definitely best for them to take their time so they feel comfortable and excited about their future school.
Schools are getting 10 to 20 percent more applicants each year and there is no way they can handle it. For example, USC went from 32000 merit reviews last year to 39000 this year, an over twenty percent increase. Not to pick on USC, but where do the 20 percent more reviewer hours come from?
To cover the deluge of applications, the schools are forced to hire random unaffiliated readers to make the initial vetting. If the initial reading is unfavorable, that may be all there is for an applicant. This seems rather not fair as all applicants paid the same fees and sweat in applying.
Having had one surprising rejection and one surprising acceptance, we have experienced both sides of this randomness.
@amominaz According to this article from about 6 years ago, 42 percent of legacy OOS applicants (245 of 579) were admitted, compared to 18 percent of non-legacy OOS applicants. That’s a decent bump. I’m sure some of that difference has to do with some alumni kids just being more excited about the possibility of attending Chapel Hill and having that excitement translate into a better set of essays, etc. (their yield is 47% compared to 29% for non-legacy OOS), but there’s obviously some bump beyond that. Non-legacy OOS applicants totaled 13,745, with 2,348 admitted for a 17% admission rate, so the OOS legacies aren’t a huge component of the applicant pool.
Obviously things have gotten even more complicated over the past 6 years.
http://www.carolinaalumnireview.com/carolinaalumnireview/20120304?pg=24#pg24 – that goes to the page w/ the 42% reference… The tables are on pages 26/27.
(Spoken as an OOS Tar Heel alum whose D has expressed zero interest in attending the school. Which is probably good because she’d probably be on that edge where she’d be definitely qualified for the school but not necessarily good enough to get in at current OOS admission rates, even with a legacy bump.)
Interesting, @BorgityBorg. When we went and looked at UNC we basically come away with “zero chance as an OOS non athlete/no hook you are getting in here”, so I was very surprised when I heard this other person did get in. But a 42% OOS legacy admit would certainly be a decent bump and make a lot more sense.
@amominaz at UNC, OOS applications do get a small bump from being a legacy. And she wasn’t required to submit any AP Test scores, so she probably didn’t. They only saw she took rigorous classes and probably did well in them. As for @burghdad D, only taking 2 APs as a junior definitely hurt her since her school offers 24. She should have taken 4. Other than that, we’ll never know. My in state legacy S18 didn’t get in either with a 1350 and a 4.4 and 6 APs. The in state avg SAT is a 1300. Standards are certainly rising every year. I’m worried for my D20.
@chb088 - interesting. We had always heard from our CC that it sends a bit of a red flag if you take AP classes but don’t submit scores, no matter how well you did in the actual class. The high school this friend attends is a bit known for grade inflation (that’s being generous). If you have taken 6 AP classes and you haven’t passed/submitted one score, that would say something IMO.
@amominaz, just to throw out another perspective re: AP scores, my S18 will have taken 7 AP classes (maybe 8 - I could be counting wrong?) by the time he graduates. He is taking three of them now, so those three scores weren’t available to submit for admissions, only for college credit. He passed the ones he has taken so far with 3s and 4s, but he didn’t submit any of them with his applications. He was on the fence over whether to do so or not, but ultimately decided his grades were a better reflection of his abilities. Also, his SAT was quite high, so he felt that helped him.
His large public high school starts later than many, which doesn’t help when it comes to prepping for AP classes (quite a few of the other high schools have moved to an earlier start date, in part so they have more time to prep before May and so they aren’t sitting around for 4+ weeks after the AP tests are over). For our in-state colleges, getting a “3” is all that is needed for credit, and most kids go to in-state colleges, so most AP teachers don’t shoot to prep the kids for higher scores.
It may have been a red flag to AOs that he didn’t submit the AP scores, and he may be less prepared for college than students who got all 5s - I really don’t know - but so far he he’s gotten into a lot of honors programs and been offered good merit aid. He was not accepted at his one big reach - not surprising, and could be for any number of reasons, including not submitting his AP scores, I suppose.
@chb088 because this is my first I was not involved as I should have been. However despite school offerng 24 AP courses could only take 2 before junior year. So with 2 chorus classes in junior year maybe she should have taken 1-2 more. But got 5 on both AP courses. But 5 in senior year so with 35 Act I would have expect deferral rather than rejection.
Look I recognize she obviously had a flawed application despite the good stats. I’m am sure she will do fine where ever she ends up.
That said dd2021 will be taking 1 AP class sophomore year and 3-4 junior year.
@burghdad, I wouldn’t assume her app is flawed, although I understand that concern. And don’t beat yourself up either. This whole process has changed a lot even in the last 3 years when older D went through it. We do our best with the knowledge we have. Your D sounds terrific and will do well wherever she lands. You did good.
Congrats to those who have recently stepped off this roller coaster ride! #:-S @bearcatfan @lifegarding possibly others I’m missing <:-P I’m excited for you guys to be moving on to the next phase of this journey!
We’re still a ways off, but got one step closer today. She got a call from Southwestern that she’s been selected as a finalist for their Brown scholarship! She was so surprised! She had a phone interview a couple of weeks ago, and thought it went fine, but because they told her it was pretty competitive, she didn’t really think she’d get to the finalist stage. But she was wrong so we’ll be going out there in a month for their scholarship weekend event. I am hopeful that after that and one or two other school visits scheduled over the next month she’ll be able to make a decision.
But I think it’s weighing heavy on her. I think she will feel so much better once the weight of the decision is off her. We start our visiting trips in two weeks. I can’t wait! I’m ready to get this show on the road! It feels like we’ve been sitting in limbo since she got her decisions in December, much better to be doing something towards forward progress imho.
In other words, I think my roller coaster is chugging it’s way up another long hill, and who knows what’s on the other side? I sure don’t but it’s sure to be a wild ride knowing my D. :))
@suzy100 Thanks for the kid words. I know it will all work out and my daughter will be where she meant to be. It is just hard with the rejections.
I totally get it, @burghdad.
In the past week, two of my boys have filled out applications for NHS/NJHS. They both seem a bit deflated that despite their insanely busy schedules and massive (although sometimes unquantifiable) achievements, there are big empty spaces on their applications. There has been much discussion in our house the past few days about how your resume does not define you. You are so much more than a list of activities and grades. Do your best to reflect who you really are on those applications, but know that it doesn’t tell the whole story of you. You won’t always get the award/honor/college acceptance you want, and that’s okay. It does not define you.
Just wanted to share, as it seems pertinent here, too.
That’s such great news about Southwestern, @1822mom! I’m so glad she has options she is happy with. It’s been fun to watch her journey.
Now that my D has made her decision, albeit unofficially, I have seen the tide turn. She’s much less anxious and stressed and more at peace and…happy? She spends every free minute researching McGill courses and study abroad options and summer sessions and teachers on Rate My Professor. So many new things to worry about now, though!
I have been on this roller coaster for two years and boy have we had some highs and lows. Last year my D17 had dazzling grades, 12 APs, with all 4s and 5s, 35 ACT, three sport varsity athlete, captain, NMF, volunteer EMT. I could go on…she was filled with optimism as she sent in her applications. It was devistating to see her deferred, waitlisted or rejected from six of the eight schools she applied to. She was eventually admitted to her #1 (UChicago) and has lived happily ever after. As an aside, Chicago is as rigorous as advertised, but she has flourished academically, athletically and socially. She feels very well prepared vs her peers who could afford to apply ED (making a binding commitment to a $72,000 tuition tab no matter what the NPC estimated was a NFW)
Along comes D18. Great but subtly lower grades, 8 vs. 12 APs. A very good, but not off the charts SAT of 1480. Good athlete, but not college athletic talent. Works often to earn spending money. Oh goodness we thought! She’s going to get eaten for lunch…and:
University of Virginia (accepted EA, waiting fin. aid)
University of Michigan (accepted, NFW but great fun to contemplate being a Wolverine)
Boston College (accepted EA, reasonable fin. aid)
Pitt (accepted with nice merit and a professional school guarentee)
Clemson (accepted with great merit, awaiting honors)
Fordham (accepted with fantastic merit)
Penn State (accepted, awaiting honors)
Northeastern (deferred EA)
Colgate (waiting, legacy)
Holy Cross (waiting)
So…we have a lot of deciding to do in the next few weeks. I know that steering clear of ED heavy schools helped, but otherwise I am at a loss to explain the roller coaster of outcomes. Regardless, we are grateful. Both girls will have arrived at the right place in the end and those lows are becoming a distant memory.
Congratulations to all who have found their train station!
DD2016 took 11 AP’s and did not submit a single score (6 at the time of applications, a pretty even mix of 3s&4s). She was accepted at all 12 of her choices. DD2018 will have 9 APs (6 at the time of applications, all 4s except the gosh awful 1 on the AP Physics 1 exam) she submitted all of her scores, including the 1. She has not had any denials (except the UT bridge offer),13/17, yet. Not sure what value to place on the AP scores at this point! Again we were not looking at highly selective schools, but concentrated on schools ranked in the USNWR #50 -#110ish range.
I’m late in the game here - JUST discovered this thread by accident! Congrats to ALL the amazing acceptances and scholarship offers out there! What an accomplished bunch of kids you all have! For those waiting to hear good news, it will come! I think everyone ends up either in the right place or on the right stepping stone to get to the right place 
So here is our situation:
S18 has been deferred EA from MIT, accepted to Boston College EA (with guaranteed 4 year housing), WPI (with $33,500 a year Presidential Scholarship), and to UDelaware Honors (with $19K a year Trustees scholarship).
Stats are: 1510 SAT (did not submit), 35 ACT (36-36-34-35), 800 on Math 2 and Physics Subject ACTs. Only 2 APs (his school doesn’t allow more than 3 AP/Honors each year, and no APs before Jr. year)- he took max Honors Sophomore year, and one over the max by approval both Jr. and Sr. years. His AP scores were APUSH - 4, AP Physics 5. GPA is out of 100 but it’s a 4.0 weighed and unweighed (bc weight only carries a fraction of a percentage at his school). Goes to private day school with very rigorous academics - they don’t rank but he is within the top 5% of a very small class of 75 (so he’s in the top 3 students). Inducted Cum Laude in 11th grade, National Latin Honor society also 11th grade, NMSF, US Presidential scholar candidate, and Elks MVS made it to state. 3-sport Varsity athlete, competitive rower (multiple medals in regional and state competitions), Yale Book Award, Sr. class representative, Honor Committee representative, Student Leadership mentor, co-captain of the crew team. Is pursuing an independent research project on sports nutrition for the rowing team and has hundreds of volunteer hours in leadership roles. He works summers as a soccer referee and volunteers as assistant coach in our town soccer rec program. He is also URM Hispanic.
We are on that dreaded lower middle class where we make “too much” money to qualify for full ride FA but not a whole lot wiggle room. We have always told S18 that he would have to find colleges that met full financial need or had incredible merit scholarships in order for college to be a possibility. But he also had the added complication of wanting to row in college, and he really wanted to stay within a day’s drive from home. So his college selection was pretty narrow to begin with. We didn’t really plan financial safeties because his GC assured us that he would get into at least one of the three small LACs he applied to, all three of which are really good with meeting 100% need and generous grant-based aid. But we were still not ready for the reality of what colleges think your need is vs what your need actually is.
WPI’s full financial aid has come through and it is NOT going to be affordable at all, which is sad as he got a huge Merit scholarship but not much else other than loans and HUGE bill for us (more than three times our EFC) GASP! This was the first FA offer S18 got and he was crushed - I think for the first time, he had the thought that he might get into college but not be able to afford to go 
Boston College was pretty generous - still over our EFC by about $5K a year, but with some belt-tightening, we can make it work. This was the first college he visited and he LOVED it at first, but it fell from the top standings the more schools we visited. We took advantage of Accepted Eagles Day for a revisit and he fell back in love. At this stage, if he got in nowhere else, he’ll be happy there
We are still waiting on UDelaware’s full financial aid package. Just received the merit, which was more than we expected, but still nowhere near what we can afford without FA. He is being recruited for rowing, which is not NCAA, but they said they would give additional $$ for that (I think to take place of the Work study since they row DI and it’s almost impossible to work, row, and do school work) The only way UD will be a possibility is if he somehow gets one of the DiScho awards, so we’re waiting on those.
Standings as they are, I would say the odds of attendance are:
BC - 75%
UD - 20%
and I’ll give WPI 5% if we end up appealing, but I doubt we will at this point.
So now we wait… We wait to hear about DiScho, from MIT on Pi Day, and from the rest of the schools he’s applied to: Princeton, Yale, Tufts, Hamilton, and Colby.
MIT was his TOP choice, but since then, he’s now on the fence between Princeton and MIT - I think if he would be blessed getting into both, he would have a REALLY tough time choosing. And at the end of the day, he is SUPER happy with BC and the disappointment if he doesn’t get into either will be short-lived
As for me, Mama is #PFP - Praying for Princeton!
@moosiechica88 - welcome!
@moosiechica88 welcome!
Pitt has rowing. The official merit deadline has passed but who knows, it might be worth applying, if he would be able to row there? And with his stats maybe he could still get merit?
http://www.pitt.edu/~crew/about.html
And UAH has a rowing club. He would most likely get close to a full ride there.
https://www.uah.edu/news/campus/uah-rowing-club
Also he could contact UA athletics, they have rowing I believe. And if he is NMF he can still apply for the merit scholarship I think.
https://scholarships.ua.edu/nationalscholars/
Our latest development, S announced today that he is rejoining band! He had quit in 10th grade in favor of joining chorus.
I worry about him being busier than ever, but it’s probably a good thing to play trumpet again if he is going to be a music teacher, and it will give him good practice for college, when he will be doing music 24/7.