@TVBingeWatcher2 I just started to look into TCU as a school that theoretically gives a good deal of merit money. This school was never on my radar as a mid Atlantic parent. But my daughter is interesting in nursing and they seem to have a top nursing school and seem to give good merit money for someone with her stats. Can you give me any Texas insight into TCU?
@homerdog I watched their live event last night. It is nerve-wracking. There is so much in the air for the class of 2021. Just thinking about what this disaster will do in terms of finances is mind-blowing, never mind when these kids can take ACT/SAT. The ACT is not given in my state over the summer. My D21 has been out of school since March 10th, with no learning at all. They moved our Spring Break from the week of April 13th to this week. The distance learning plan sounds bleak (1 hr of instruction per day, on a different core subject, and then they have a specific timeframe they can contact their teachers for questions). Being from NY, we have Regents which have not yet been canceled, and who knows what colleges will do with this new AP format. 
Finally got the SAT score- up 40 in math so I think we are done! Her superscore is 20 points higher than the Honors College requirement at her safety, so sheās happy.
And her school today announced 3rd and 4th marking period will be merged. So grades that were in before the last 2 weeks remain, and when grading resumes Monday they will just be added. Then at the end of the year, that average will be list for 3rd and 4th marking period. Iām thinking thatās good for Dā¦she tends to end the year strong. We shall see! Just relieved with all the craziness we can move on from the SAT and focus on other things.
Some folks asked about Boston College a few months ago. Thought this info would be useful to those who are considering applying to BC
this fall.
BC letter to HS counselors:
This year, Boston College received approximately 29,400 applications for 2,325 openings in the Class of 2024.
As shared in a previous communication, 1,000 spaces were filled via Early Decision when we admitted 37% of ED applicants.
This left 1,325 openings to be filled from a Regular Decision pool of 26,700.
The Regular Decision admit rate is 22%. āOverall it was 23%.ā
The mean composite SAT for Regular Decision admits is 1467 and the mean composite ACT score is 34.
Admitted students hail from 49 US states, 2 US territories, and are citizens of 78 countries.
We will offer a place on the waiting list to a little more than 6,500 students. While a waiting list of this size feels large, we feel it necessary given the many uncertainties facing our profession and society this year.
Today at 10:39 am
@burghdad I thought I might offer my perspective on TCU. Iāve lived in the Fort Worth area for over 25 years, and I think the reputation of the school has definitely been on the rise. I think that many people around here lump TCU, SMU, and Baylor into a similar category. Nursing is definitely strong at TCU, and Iāve read something recently about the school opening/starting a medical school, but I did not pay attention to all of the details. The nursing program is definitely competitive, and it seems many applicants are deferred.
My S18 applied and was accepted as a graphic design major. He (31 ACT, 3.75uw and great ECs) was offered a $25,000 scholarship and admission into the Honors College (it was not a separate application then). He was so mad the day I made him tour because he had zero interest. He begrudgingly admitted that he was impressed. TCU made it down to the final two, but he ended up deciding against it because he really wanted to go away to college.
D21 and I drove over to the campus on Sunday to walk around because we knew it would be empty. Like my S, she was familiar with some perimeter aspects of the campus but had never walked all around it. Her opinion vacillated the entire time. First the brick was a tacky color and the residence hall area looked like a retirement village, and then she said everything was pretty and Chick Fil A looked cool. It really is a lovely campus. Everything is well laid out and all within a comfortable walk. The buildings are immaculate. The sand color of the brick probably isnāt my favorite either, but I admire the effort made to be cohesive. We saw construction of a new building plus many new buildings that were not there even 15 years ago. The stadium is gorgeous; TCU offers a great game day experience.
Iād like my D21 to put it on her list because I feel like she needs to have a few in state options, but honestly Iām not sure sheāll get in, and if she does I donāt expect there would be any merit for her.
I used to frequent the forums when I was going through all of this with S18 and had decided it was time to jump back in with D21. I was catching up on this board when the Corona craziness erupted. Iāve enjoyed reading everyoneās experiences up to this point.
Yay! D21 is another who got her SAT scores up into her target range. She was already there for reading but needed to boost her math score. She did. Sheās now at or well above the 50th percent mark for most of the colleges on her list (the others are reaches for everyone, but a good fit for her in terms of culture and academics, so she plans to throw her hat into the ring anyway with the understanding she likely wonāt get in to those reach/lotto schools).
Getting worried about when and how she can interview -one would hope Zoom interviews could happen starting now. Otherwise, an awful lot of students will be fighting for those fall interview spots. We wanted her to finish the application process as much as possible before September.
@burghdad , TCU has a strong nursing school reputation and no shortage of clinic hospitals for a rich clinic experience. TCU has a strong reputation overall in Texas and attracts students similar to SMU (upper middle class). Rah, Rah campus with big sports. If the money works out. TCU would be a fabulous place to go for nursing.
First time through with DS and wondering when the essay prompts for various colleges will be available for Class of 21 or do they seldom change so it is ok to use the 2020 prompts? DS has some time and it would be nice to have him get started on writing essays.
Common app essay prompts will remain the same for 2020/21ā¦so start there.
Some schools change their prompts every year, or every couple of years and some donāt change them often.
Your DS could reach out to her AOs at each school and ask this questionā¦they may or may not know yet, but itās worth a try. Many of these essays will be some form of āwhy usā and because students might not be able to visit before apps are due, have your DS participate in virtual admission sessions and/or student panels, look on youtube for student created videos, do virtual tours at youvisit . com, etc.
The more the student learns about each school, the better they will be able to demonstrate their potential fit in the essays.
Our online schooling officially starts tomorrow. For the first week, students will not have more than 2 hours of work for the week, to ease teachers and students into this new normal.
I had S21 start bullet points for the Apply Texas app essay prompts today. Heās only applying to instate schools.
I was on the College Board site earlier today and it looks like Registration for June SAT is open?
@Momof3B The registration for June SAT was up long time back, like in Februaryā¦
I have a question, Iām not sure if my son will be NMSF as he is 1 point lower than last yearās cut off for our state. If he does become, he also needs a conforming SAT score. Since many SATs got cancelled due to CV, will NMSC extend the due date for submission of NMF application and sending the conforming SAT score?
@suave123 NMSC may extend the deadline this year, but they are the best people to to give you that information. If I were you, I would call or email them to ask.
@yearstogo When S19 was applying, he reached out to all AOs in June to ask if their supplements will remain the same. I would say most got back to him with an answer and the others got back to him saying they needed a few more weeks to be sure and then emailed him in July. I donāt know if AOs will know right now if the supps will be the same but itās worth asking.
I agree with @Mwfan1921 though. Who knows if schools will have visits in the fall but itās easiest to write the supplements for schools youāve visited. S19 definitely found it easy to write those and much more difficult to connect with a school and write a solid essay without a visit even after spending time on their websites etc. So, if you think thereās a chance of a visit before applying, I would wait to write those essays.
Our school district is going to provide free child care for essential workers at our 2 large hospitals. Teacher/aids will staff 2 elementary schools. Covid is hitting our hospitals pretty hard and we are now on stay at home local mandate. So proud of our school district, they are doing a great job of providing meals to our low income kids. It has really been a big hit here, with many donating and helping. It surely takes a village.
So, if students already signed up/paid for a March SAT test that was cancelled, do they have to proactively sign up for a new test (such as a June test) or will a separate makeup test be offered to each student by College Board? Is it College Boardās responsibility to do the communicating (since they have our money) or does each student have to be proactive to find a new testing date/place?
Honestly, I have my doubts that a June test can happen. Donāt think we will be over this by then. I think there will different waves of COVID hitting smaller towns away from urban areas, peaking later.
@inthegarden, the communication we received said that we would be issued a refund for the March test. So that would put the responsibility on us to sign up for a new test if/when one is offered. In the meantime, I changed S21ās June SAT2 Subject test to a regular SAT test at a change fee of $30, and, of course, that may get cancelled as well, but he has the test scheduled just in case it goes on. College Board said it would take a few weeks, I believe, for us to received refunds for the March and May sittings.
@inthegarden March and May were cancelled. Will not be rescheduled. Sign up for June asap. Itās quite possible all seats are already taken near you but Iād get on there today and see what the options are. I called CB and they said Aug registration will be open in ālate Aprilā.
@nichols51, @homerdog, thanks! Iāll get on that today.
Yay, thanks to this forum, D is signed up for the June 6 test! If not for CC, I would have been clueless. Donāt know the chances it will happen, but at least we wonāt be caught off-guard if it does. It will be easier for D to motivate herself to do Khan a few times per week having an actual test date.