We toured what is hopefully the final school today - CSULB. I didn’t expect to like it, and didn’t want to like it, but it was fine. I will say that I thought the dorms were terrible, especially after seeing the ASU/Barrett dorms, but D doesn’t seem to mind. She’s not ready to commit today, but I think she’s made up her mind to attend here. Kind of breaks my heart as my gut has told me that the Barrett program was right for her ever since I first read about it. I hate seeing her pick a commuter school when she could have a great experience elsewhere. Not my decision to make though.
Wrong thread
@Nomorelurker – RRSP is great but D18 has also been accepted into UFE at Bama, so she’ll get the leadership/service from that in addition to the research from RRSP. It’s a killer combo, especially for D18 who is multidisciplinary type of kid.
Sorry, @bacmom, that must be hard. Why does she like it so much? Is she nervous about going too far away?
We are headed back to ND for admitted students days early next week. I’m sure that’s where she will go, but she’s still holding off making the declaration so I’m giving her space. So not declaring it here yet either. 
Here’s what I would advise parents of the class of 2019 per @labegg’s post. This is a combination of learnings from both of my girls.
Things we would do differently…
- I would keep the apps under 12. For high stats kids looking for merit at reachy schools this can be hard. D1 applied to a LOT of schools hunting merit, but her apps suffered because there were just too many. (And she still had good results.)
- If your kid gets in early to what is likely their #1 choice, be selective about any apps after that. D2 sent in some apps to very reachy schools literally last minute - December 31. Let’s just say that these were not her best efforts. I looked at some of the apps after she submitted them and she actually stopped midway on some of her short answer questions and didn’t finish them but she was rushed and didn’t realize it. AHEM That’s app money not well spent.
General advice:
3) Apply ED to the #1 choice, if it is an option and finances are not a concern. If not, then apply to EA schools and schools with rolling admissions to maximize good news early.
4) Try to visit every reach school before applying - but preferably the safeties too. Even for schools that claim they don’t track interest, well, I don’t believe that doesn’t matter. Visit, show interest.
5) Love the kid on the couch. We may want them to do things differently, or choose different schools, or we may be wistful that their friends are way more on top of the app process than our kids. Know your kid and respect the way they go through the process.
MOST IMPORTANT: have the college budget conversation with them early, no later than junior year. Let them know what they have to work with, and then build the application list around that.
steps off soapbox
I am LOVING hearing about all the decisions here, and am looking forward to hearing more!
@labegg thanks for the advice to us 2019ers! Why not apply early in Aug? S19 is done testing and is working with someone to get his essays done this summer. He’s not planning on applying anywhere ED but, at least for schools that don’t have supplements, I thought he should get those off of his to-do list as soon as the common app essay is done. Fall is busy with XC and class load will still be hard.
Love the advice to visit before applying if you can. Makes sense. We’ve visited some that looked great on paper but were not a match in person and now we won’t waste that app fee!
Re: UC Berkeley, I know the opinions voiced seem somewhat common, but they are a little harsh. We have family that attended and some who live in Berkeley presently. I have been there too often to count. And the trick to Berkeley is knowing how to “do Berkeley”.
A lot of people leave town after a tour thinking Sproul Plaza, Telegraph, People’s Park, Shattuck, and University Ave represent the Berkeley “environs”. I think that is completely short selling the campus and the surrounding area. Clark Kerr residents stay well clear of the grit of Telegraph going along Piedmont Ave. Unit 1 and 2 residents can walk along College Ave and pickup a cappuccino at Cafe Strada before hitting campus. Foothill is pretty much in the suburbs of Berkeley. Only Unit 3 has to deal with Telegraph walking to class, but at least Fat Slice is right there. Pick the grit and energy at Unit 3 or pick another dorm. Or pick non-university housing, southside for action+stores or northside for more peaceful surroundings (I wouldn’t do westside, but there are some gems I’m sure). There are options.
On campus, there is bustle and occasional grit in Sproul Plaza and whatever the area between ASUC building and Zellerbach is called. But once you leave Sather gate a hundred yards behind, you don’t notice the city, but rather a large pretty campus with eclectic architecture; non-homogeneous and thus non-monotone in its flavor. Some will enjoy the variety, some not. Enter campus thru a different entrance and avoid the crowds. Hang out on the lawn in front of Doe Library. Listen to the carillon at noon. Lunch alongside Strawberry Creek. Check out a concert at the Greek (people my age still talk about the New Order/Echo and the Bunnymen concert there in the late 80s). Watch the sun set over SF while sitting in the hills.
Based on many reports (like those voiced earlier), it seems to me that the university showcases things differently than many would. The interesting thing is that Berkeley can be all these different things to different people depending on how they choose to experience the place; that is one of its strengths.
I live within the sphere of influence of the other renown bay area institution, and while I like it here, I wouldn’t have any problem living in Berkeley either.
@homerdog we found applying in early August created some extra work: such as lining up components for the application like transcripts, because the HS was not quite ready to produce them or letters of recommendation because teacher were busy getting ready for school to start. Also, sometimes the colleges are not quite ready to receive the information and things get lost and need to be resent or matched up by making multiple times necessitating calls to see where things “disappeared”. By waiting we could have eliminated a few schools. Once some of the rolling and EA decisions came in we could have avoided submitting to a school or two. DD’s matured a bit more in a few short months and her wants and needs changed. So, while it was nice to have the bulk of work done, it really did create some extra work for us, nothing too taxing, but extra work none the less. YMMV depending on how efficient your HS is with college admissions. Obviously, keep an eye on the various deadlines.
Don’t get me wrong, have the essays complete and be prepared to submit, make sure you junior has contacted her potential recommender by the end of junior year. In fact getting the essays done and out of the way before senior year starts is a really good plan; as for actually hitting the send button, it can wait a bit. It might save you a few bucks on app fees and test score fees. I totally recommend applying to one rolling admission school early. Getting an acceptance under their belt early really seems to take the pressure off. But, make sure it is a school that your student really wants to attend (which is true of any school really, lol).
@Homerdog - I totally agree re: releasing spots may not open up the Wait List. BUT like @amom2girls mentioned, it’s the scholarship money that S18 is releasing more than anything. WPI and UD gave him HUGE merit scholarships (not enough, but HUGE). The rest of the schools gave him ENORMOUS grants that may now be able to go to other students who need it more. Then again, it might not. But at least he feels better releasing those schools, even if it’s just symbolic. AND S18’s GC sent out an email saying that because of the huge rise in applications this year, there will be MANY more cross-admits than normal and colleges will be having to dip into their waitlists more than they usually do. I though that was interesting since you normally hear the opposite. But perhaps this is the year that those released spots will add up enough to make a difference in some applicant’s life.
@burghdad My daughter is graduating with a major in computer science engineering (artificial intelligence track) with minors in math and ethics. She signed with a tech company in SF to begin work in September.
@labegg A high school that knows what it’s doing makes all the difference. Mine does not.
I’ve mentioned how clueless our guidance counselor is (first year working with seniors, lucky us). Hopefully for my D22 she will have learned a few things. I’ve learned a few things too - namely, avoid the guidance counselor.
In terms of how early is too early … our school didn’t even introduce the kids to the Common App until sometime in October. My daughter skipped that senior meeting, since she had already submitted all her apps. While that meeting could have been beneficial to some who didn’t have the support at home, it was too late for the kids who were on the ball and knew the app opened much earlier than that. So don’t rely on any hand-holding from the school, unless you go to an exceptionally involved and up to date school.
If I remember correctly, my daughter submitted to some non-CA schools early in September, and we had to work with the office to get her updated transcript loaded into Parchment. I made good friends with the records lady, who saved me more than once this year.
YES on working on the essays! My daughter worked on hers over the summer. We had summits once a week for essays. She only had three to write, but they were important - CA, nursing essay and personal statement required of her number one (and ultimately the one she is attending). We also did all of our visits over the summer. That’s not ideal, but you do get an idea if you like the place and want to proceed. If you are close enough, you can always revisit the finalists.
Doing what we could over the summer worked for us because we knew once September hit there was no time to do anything meaningful. At times I felt like applying to college was a part-time job, and maybe it is at least for a while.
Something that irritated D18 last night. They announced who got a fairly competitive local scholarship yesterday - she had applied, but was knocked out in the first round and she was OK with that.
She thinks the kid who got it lied on his application. According to the press release he listed as some of his volunteer work hours with a group at the HS of which my daughter is president. She never saw him at any meetings or any events in four years. This was a scholarship where you had to list each group and the number of hours per year. That’s not to say other parts of his application weren’t stellar, but she knows for a fact that this part was incorrect.
She’s know him since kindergarten, and has always had a negative opinion of him. She’s not going to do anything with the information, obviously, but I guess it’s one example of kids exaggerating or outright lying on some applications. She didn’t, and she can live with herself. She’s done pretty well so far in the local scholarship race, although this would have been a nice one to get.
@bearcatfan I have to chime in about your story – shame on that kid! Maybe he thought it was “a little white lie” and no one would catch it and hey, No harm, no foul. But IMO, even if the rest of his application showed some really great accomplishments, that nugget of misinformation makes his scholarship tainted goods.
Yes, I realize I am coming off as harsh and judgmental, but gol’ dang it – I have a hard time finding justification for that sort of thing. It’s bad form, and no way to start a college career.
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@homerdog I second what @labegg said about applying too early. My son applied to 11 of his schools in early September, even though several were regular decision schools whose deadlines weren’t until 1/1. I was thinking the same thing as you; his schedule was extraordinarily packed and I thought it best to get the apps in before he got so busy that he wouldn’t have time to deal with them. But that meant that some of his best experiences, accomplishments and honors that happened during his senior year - some of which I think provided better essay fodder than the topics he actually wrote about – weren’t reflected anywhere in his application. That created more work because then he had to email the admissions counselors for all of the schools separately, rather than just work it into his Common App and resume. And, even though he emailed his admissions counselors, I am not sure that simply advising them of the accomplishment / experience had the same impact as if he could have reflected on it in his essay or otherwise included it in the original application package. In retrospect, I would have had him get everything done as early as possible, but waited until much closer to deadline to click submit so that we could revise if necessary up to that point. I think it would have made his application much stronger. I am not sure it made a difference for some of the less competitive schools, but I wonder if it made a difference at the three where he was waitlisted.
In addition to the advice above, I would add that showing interest doesn’t mean just visiting. I am convinced that DD’s application stood out because she was very proactive with her admissions officer at Syracuse.
She visited twice. The first was early in high school, as part of a regular tour. The second was October of senior year, when she reached out to a specific department (while she was still determining to which particular school in Syracuse to apply, and not in Newhouse actually, and just to make sure about her ED choice) and got a tour just for her. She met with her admissions officer, sat in on classes, talked to professors, etc. all on a one-on-one basis.
DD also did a couple of virtual chats (they asked for emails in order to track interest) and networked with Newhouse alumni she had met through the school newspaper.
And finally, she asked her admissions counselor if she would consider a visit to her high school. Ordinarily, Syracuse comes to a few of the larger area high schools to recruit, but not to DD’s (smaller, and traditionally not very many applicants). The AO said she’d need to get approval and then a couple of weeks later emailed DD to say her school had been added. So of course DD went to that session and once again got to chat with the AO one-on-one. She even made sure to plop her Syracuse water bottle down on the table when they talked! :))
DD made the most effort with Syracuse but she also expressed interest in a couple of other schools beyond just visiting. She had met an Elon professor in her area of interest at a student journalism conference sophomore year and kept in touch with him. She told him when she was coming to visit and he arranged for her to meet people in his department in addition to the regular tour. When she told him about Newhouse he congratulated her, told her it would open many doors, and encouraged her to keep in touch. She’s learned the lesson about networking early!
Adding to the conversation about what we would do the same or differently…
Both of my D’s applied to one rolling admissions school very early, and started their senior year with an acceptance. For D1 it was Bama and for D2 it was UNM. I think this was a really nice thing, psychologically. Anything from that point is just gravy.
I agree with seeing all the schools ahead of time if at all possible, for several reasons. A few schools came off the list after visiting & D didn’t waste her time/money applying. The ones she liked got much better & more enthusiastic applications. And even now, she has a couple great offers from schools we have not visited & they are not really in the running because she hasn’t seen them. Geographically, we just couldn’t get everywhere, but knowing that, I would have eliminated those we couldn’t get to.
@GertrudeMcFuzz I’ve thought about that situation where S19 could be accepted to schools he didn’t visit before applying and how it would be hard to choose that school over schools he knows better. How could we just go see a school in April 2019 and decide it’s the one based on one visit? I guess people do it all of the time. We have visited seven of the schools on his list (we are open to paying full price but would love some merit). Most of the schools on the list we have not seen are reaches and would be full pay. They are all a good distance away and would require taking time off of school at this point to see them with kids on campus…and that’s hard to do in the fall with his sports.
Thanks for the heads up on that issue. It’s definitely something to ponder. If he does not think there’s a chance he would choose one of these schools above the schools he’s already seen, then what’s the point of applying!
Anyone out there choose a school they hadn’t visited before applying and then loved it at accepted students day?
My daughter applied to Plymouth State (NH) after not getting into her number one choice. We knew next to nothing about it, but they had her major and her scores looked within range.
She was accepted. We visited it in February and fell in love.
She’s still deciding, but it’s definitely a top choice!!!
How about an international who hasn’t visited any?
That’s us!
Had to rely heavily on the websites. There is an American College day held in London once a year and we went twice. However, first time son only looked at the Ivies but had to cross off list when he realised his scores would not be high enough. Second time around picked out the ‘reach’ LAC’s choosing University of Richmond as ED because the AO was sooo friendly and helpful.
Crossed off a couple of LAC’s because the AO answered some key questions with answers we didn’t want to hear - re majors mainly. Crossed off one because the AO spoke in a really high voice which really put us off even though we knew it had nothing to do with the college or education he would get there. One moved up as the AO again was super friendly.
In the end UofR deferred him and he had to ‘scramble’ to decide where else to apply. Ended up applying to most of the colleges he had spoken to - except the ones that didn’t meet his major requirements.
At the last minute, with panic setting in, applied to three 15th Jan deadlines. It was these that came through for him. He did have quite a bit of contact with two of them, via email with the AO, and I think this helped.
So he is heading off for 4 years, goodness knows how many miles away, to somewhere he has only seen on a website!! But he is absolutely thrilled and with the scholarship they have wooed him with he has absolutely no regrets. As he says why wouldn’t he love somewhere that wants him.
My 2 cents on the visit thing: definitely visit before apps if you can. But if you can’t don’t sweat it. D applied to around 10 schools and of her final 4, she’d only visited 1 pre-app. That 1 had been her favorite going in to app season after that visit. For a variety of reason it sank over the course of the season, but a revisit this spring sank it. So even a good visit doesn’t necessarily mean the school will still be right a year later. It’s so true that these kids change. so. much. over this last year. I think something about this process also really forces them to get introspective and think about what they want and need for the next step. They don’t always talk about it, but I think they’re thinking about it a lot.
Don’t get me wrong, she still likes that original school, she just knows it’s not the right place for her. Her journey took a lot of twists and turns this season because our family suddenly made a decision to relocate halfway across the country at the end of the school year. This decision happened mid-application cycle and she made hasty last minute apps to two schools nearer our new location that not only had she not visited, but we really hadn’t spent much time researching!
Here we are, not ready to announce yet, but I can say she will be at one of those two schools. For her, location became very important. Luckily we were able to find 2 schools that met her other criteria as well so she has choice.
It really is a roller coaster, you never really know what’s coming up around the next curve, so best to hang on and enjoy the ride as best you can. It’s over before you know it!
My 2cents:
Don’t visit a school until you KNOW it is financially do-able. If you are going to need merit or a scholarship to make it happen, don’t visit, fall in love and then have to walk away. Know before you go - this leads to apply early.
Make sure your kid understands the budget guidelines (mine didn’t and it was discussed ad nauseam) if you are a no debt or minimum debt thinking family, you will be in the minority and your kid needs to know that.
Unlike many, I was pretty hands off, this was my DD’s journey. I helped when asked, provided the app fee’s, asked questions on the status of things but I did not have portal logins, email logins or anything along those lines. IMO, I couldn’t want this more than DD did and she needed to be the driver. Sure, I did tons of research, I sent lots of links and shared a plethora of information. I bugged the school when DD’s requests fell on deaf ears and I had reminders for deadlines that mattered but ultimately, I didn’t manage the process, DD did.