Forgot who recommended this upthread, about reading some of the posts from class of 2019. Thank you. I have been lurking there on and off ever since and found it helpful to see what are laying ahead of us in a year’s time. 
@cakeisgreat that’s quite an impressive list of schools that you’ve planned to visit. DS’16 was accepted to Furman but we never visited. Looks great from brochures and reviews. Please post how it goes on your tours.
DS’20 just decided on Northeast tour and just beginning to plan it all. We’ll be able to hit quite a few on his list. Trying to fit it in with all the other family summer activities is the challenge.
S took Chem & Math2 subject tests Saturday. Said he thought it wasn’t as hard as AP Chem & AP BC. Did a lot of timed practice tests to prep.
Anyone looking at NMS schools?
@SoccaMomma she got 760 math and 700 verbal on the PSAT in October, so I’d like to think she has a shot at NMS and if so she’s looking at a few. Hoping to take Math2 SAT in fall and Chem after next year as she’s taking AP Chem next year.
@3scoutsmom Thank you for this advice. It was helpful and we’re already applying it. I must admit I’m overly optimistic at times and didn’t want to discourage from their dreams. A dose of realism is what’s needed.
What is NMS schools? @VickiSoCal
@SoccaMomma
Are the August SAT and subject tests on the same day? DS is planning to take both in August but now I don’t know whether it is even possible.
National Merit Scholar
I know NMS, but what is NMS school?
@makemesmart a NMS school is a school know to give HUGE scholarships for NM - schools like UA, UTD, Texas Tech, UCF (I guess most of the FL schools now;-))
Thank you @3scoutsmom
Mostly in the South sounds like.
Pleanty of schools out west too. Washington State, University of New Mexico, University of Nevada, University of Idaho, Wichita State…
The above conversation reminded me that although many of us have already been through this journey one (or more) times before, there’s still lots of stuff I can learn about schools that my older DD didn’t consider. Is anyone game to post lists of schools we have experience with (visiting, applying, child attending) as a resource to the group? I’m willing to start off… I’d be happy to share any of my D17s experience visiting/applying at the following:
Visited, didn’t apply: Boston College, CUNY Queens, Drew, U of Ottawa, Vassar, UVM
Visited & applied: Brandeis, Buffalo, Case Western, Cornell, NJIT, RIT, U of Rochester, Stevens, Temple
D17
Willamette visited (accepted, Trustee Scholar at 25K/year, legacy)
Lewis and Clark visited (did not apply)
Reed visited (did not apply)
CPSLO visited (applied, accepted)
UC Davis- did not visit (applied, accepted)
UCSB visited (applied, denied)
UCSD visited (applied, denied)
SDSU- did not visit (applied, accepted, Webers Honors College)
UK schools:
Durham- Visited, accepted
Bath- did not visit, denied
Edinburgh- visited, accepted
York- did not visit- accepted
St. Andrews- visited, accepted, attending
Thank you @3scoutsmom
@stencils great ideas!
Could you share your experience with Vassar and why you didn’t apply?
@VickiSoCal your experience with Reed and why not apply?
Many thanks.
D17 hated Reed with every fiber of her being. She wanted to leave 5 minutes in to the tour. Ahe said it was a bunch of crazy hippies.
It is extremely unlikely a kid who ended up at St. Andrews would be happy at Reed.
D20 loved it but I don’t think it is a good academic fit.
Good idea, @stencils.
I have five kids ages 15-20, so we have seen a lot of colleges.
Canada:
McGill
U Toronto
UBC Vancouver
Carleton University (Ottawa)
US:
OU (no formal tour, but we have spent plenty of time on campus)
U Tulsa (same)
OK State
Mizzou (no formal tour)
Tulane
WashU
SMU
Trinity U San Antonio
Rice
Southwestern U
UT Austin (no formal tour)
Baylor (no formal tour)
Pitt
U Rochester
San Diego State
USCalifornia
Arizona State plus Barrett
Schools applied to:
OK State
Grinnell
U Victoria, Canada
UBC Vancouver
McGill
ASU Barrett
USCalifornia
Trinity U
D18 will attend McGill. She is NMF and was accepted everywhere she applied, with merit.
S18 will probably attend OK State (he’s a unique case and it’s still not official).
Later this summer, H and I are tag teaming a road trip with S20 to visit colleges. We will see:
USCarolina
U Georgia
U Alabama
Florida State
U Florida
U Miami
And S20 is planning to visit Pitt in October.
@stencils could you please elaborate on the URochester visit? I’ve heard mixed reviews.
We’ve visited Carnegie Mellon, UPenn, Princeton, William & Mary, Johns Hopkins, University of Delaware, and Peabody Conservatory.
Still plan to visit Boston U, Brown, Oberlin, and Duke.
@SoccaMomma D18 and I visited Rochester as well, summer of 2016. D really liked the school, the presentation, the students, the campus, the swim coaches, the flexible curriculum, and was okay with the weather, but the surrounding area was a deal-breaker. She felt trapped.
@ShrimpBurrito
Want to hear about your experience with Rice. Thank you.
@SoccaMomma your experience with JHU/Peabody. Thank you.
We visited Duke and loved it. Beautiful campus and kids we saw all seemed to be happy. Was a bit worried that there would be too many spoiled brats but even the cafeteria folks were telling us most kids there are very nice. It is one of the schools that really encourages ED, asks for SAT/ACT essay score and recommends subject tests. DS’ good friend at his swim club is recruited as a duke class of 2022, so we will hear more about his experience down the road too.
@makemesmart D17 visited Vassar over summer, and it was a very, very quiet place. It was also one of the first schools she visited, doing a tour when she was there anyways for a fencing tournament. I’m sure the impression would have been somewhat better if she visited during the school year. Vassar’s campus is beautiful, but is somewhat isolated (really nothing to walk to), and that visit started D17 down the path of thinking she wanted something more urban.
@SoccaMomma D17 applied and was accepted to Rochester. D17 loved the school, and especially for any medically-related major the research they do there is really top-notch. Rochester isn’t nearly as isolated as Vassar; there’s stuff to walk to from campus. However, I wouldn’t call it a “city school” like McGill, Ottawa, Temple, or even Stevens in Hoboken across from Manhattan. The real deal-breaker though, was that of her nine acceptances, Rochester came in with the absolute highest net cost. Rochester and Brandeis were in their own category of expensive compared to all of the others.
Forgot to mention two:
Lafayette - visited, didn’t apply
Drexel - visited with D20 a few months ago
Look forward to @ShrimpBurrito’ report of UF, and FSU…