So I talked to my daughter yesterday - I think we are on the same page with essays; though she only has two ideas that she likes, not four. Which is fine. She can write two drafts and pick the one she likes best to refine. I’m really going to try to stay out of it because she does not seem too concerned about the work load.
For those with essays on the brain, I wanted to plug the Inside the Yale Admissions Office podcast. Their most recent episode was on Essays and the next two episodes will be as well. They are quick and easy to digest (@30 min each). I listened to the first one while walking the dogs this morning.
My newest idea to stress both myself and my daughter out with is that her first choice school (UofSC) has decided to superscore the ACT for the first time ever, which I found out when going through their website to create document with the essay details/deadlines yesterday.
Grrr. … practically no one superscores the ACT. She got a very good score the one time she took it, but when you look at UofSC out of state scholarship average statistics (GPA and ACT), she would statistically qualify for a higher scholarship if her composite increased by just one lousy point. I had written it off because I didn’t want her to have to take the whole thing again, but with the possibility of section retests, she could just take two sections and maybe be rewarded with an additional $2,000/yr. A potential $8,000 reward for an an hour-ish of testing. That’s a high rate of return, but I hate to make her do something that she thought she was done with.
As far as I know it’s just UofSC and Elon on her list that will superscore the ACT, so taking a couple of additional sections will not help for other schools.
I just never know when to get off the hamster wheel!
@homerdog I’ve heard nothing but great things about Creighton especially for pre med/nursing. My daughter will also be pre med. They accept about 20+ of our girls every year. D21 GS troop leader Both her son & daughter attended and LOVED it. Son refuses to return home to California. And both Creighton & Santa Clara I’ve heard give really good FA & Merit packages. Now they all are coming from our local catholic schools. Not sure if that plays a role in what they are getting
@EGHopeful That’s good to know. The issue with D21 is that she’s undecided on major and likely won’t go to grad school. She’s considering majors like political science and psychology so she needs a college with good advising and a good track record at the career center guiding the students and getting them the resources they need to find internships and jobs. I’m not sure if Omaha is the place for her to have that experience. I wish she was more decided about what she likes but I have to keep reminding myself that a majority of kids change their majors and I don’t want her to drill down on a particular subject if she needs time to explore.
@AlmostThere2018 My son is also engineering / CS. I can’t really help shed light on the schools on your list unfortunately.
We’ve toured Notre Dame, Santa Clara (loved it), CU Boulder (best presentation), Michigan (didn’t like), UO (not excited), UCSB, UCSC. Also on our list is Cornell (if we get a good ACT test done), more mid-tier UCs and Cal Poly, Purdue, UW (I hear CS is cutthroat and OOS don’t really get into CS), Seattle, and maybe Carleton. Socially and in case there is a major change, I’m not sure about WPI, RPI, Colorado Mines totally tech schools but he does strongly prefer small classes.
In case it helps anyone with UC essays, DS had the zoom with the UCSB AO for feedback on his short essays. Really great feedback but wasn’t enough time allowed. In short, I’d say he needs to do a better job giving them context. They are looking to give “points” for certain things, including achievements. For example, he said he won art awards, and she said to put where they were from and what level he reached. If the student was selected, recognized, etc. give detail in the essay (even if covered in the other part of the application.) Also he needs to add on if translatable to the major he will pursue at the UC.
I appreciate the info posted above about the June ACT. I think maybe I will contact the school and see if I can get information re July. The district has not decided on instruction for the Fall yet. They are doing a bunch of surveys and the teachers don’t want to go back, sounds like will be a hybrid online and campus rotation approach.
@AlmostThere2018 I found out on another CC post about this great resource for evaluating computer science programs. Notably, it shows you salaries and placement of graduates and ranks private schools. https://www.ivyachievement.com/2019intl/
@homerdog TOTALLY agree. D21 went on an East Coast college tour and fell in LOVE with the Maryland & DC area and found her top choice school. Not sure if Omaha is for her. We live in an No. Calif suburb and she wants a more lively and artsy area. She loves math/science but couldn’t do without her arts. So she needs a college/college town that will allow her to do both. USC (Calif) is also a top contender for her. But in the end… cost will be a huge factor!
My D has been out of virtual school for a very long time, with only AP tests ( and 1 re test) to worry about. We don’t go back until after Labor day. She never took the classroom driver’s ed (did online summer PE to open space in her schedule) so she just did that self paced course last week. She was focused, so knocked all 36 hours out in 4 days. Next she has virtual HOSA International Leadership Conference next week- 4 8 hour days online. She’s taking a Chemistry and Physics exam, and qualified at States to take the Physical Therapy exam. She is prepping this week. After HOSA, I intend to get her focused on the common app essay- generating her topic at least. She is scheduled for July ACT, but I’m not confident at all in my county allowing that to happen. She had prepped long and hard for April. I think I’ll ask her to revisit prep starting in July, on the off chance it does happen.
I’m still doing a bit of research for another “safety” school she’d feel comfortable with. We didn’t get to tour the three we have on her list right now, and she’s not a virtual fan of any of them. We will qualify for substantial need based aid, so an academic & financial safety is a difficult thing to find. She has mostly “meets needs” schools on her list- which all fall into Target or Reach. I spent the day yesterday organizing her list by application due date and any supplemental essays or questions. I like seeing it all in one place. Thankful it seems less overwhelming than I imagined. Hope D feels the same way. Currently has 12 schools.
@NateandAllisMom – for UW do you mean Washington? If so, I’d read same thing. They have too many CS students and not enough sections. Engineering is also over enrolled. I’ve heard some similar things about UT-Austin – crowded and lots of weeding out. So I’ve told my S he shouldn’t apply to either. I’ve also put Michigan and the UCs on that ‘no go’ list b/c they are the same price as privates for OOS and I just can’t justify (or afford) that.
FYI – My S has visited and liked Wisconsin, Case Western, and Virginia Tech. He is meh about NC State, our state engineering flagship, but will apply. Iowa St is his safety right now, and he’d get auto admit and merit. They have strong engineering from what I can tell. WPI and Pitt round out his current list, with UIUC sometimes coming up b/c he has a buddy there.
Earlier in the process, he had Georgia Tech, Cornell and Carnegie Mellon on his list as high reaches, but he thinks they’d be too intense and competitive for what he wants. He feels like engineering is hard enough anywhere so he doesn’t want to go to the toughest admit places and be surrounded by 100% brainiacs, lol. My S is kinda an odd engineering student in that he’s always tested better on verbal than math. He a good math student but not tippy top.
That said, he flirts with Duke and Rice as high reaches b/c they are smaller programs which has some appeal. But, I checked Rice last night on Naviance and only 1 person from our highly rated public HS has been accepted in the last 5 years, so doesn’t seem likely.
@123Mom123 UCF is rolling. You need to apply and have transcript/scores before Sept.1 if you want an answer before November. Also, use their application and do the essay. D18 did the application in late July and was in by September 22. She was a strong candidate, so she heard back quickly.
@homerdog – I’ve worked with someone who grew up in Ames and she swears by it. It often makes the list of top college towns. Seems like a ‘sleeper’ school for engineering, and I got my S to do the virtual tour with me a while back and he gave it thumbs up!
So D21 came down with a slew of new colleges today! I don’t even want to think about how many are on the list now!!! We need to cut - she’s not applying to all of them!!!
But seems some people are familiar with Iowa State - what about U of Iowa? I have to ask her, but she has U of Iowa on her list but not Iowa State. Anyone in the know can compare/contrast?
And (for now) she wants her reach to be U of WI Madison. @homerdog was it you who knew about this school? Iowa and Wisconsin are both in the “apply and if you get in and we can afford it, we’ll go visit for accepted student day” pile. If anyone has info, I would love to hear it!
Yes, I was referring to University of Washington. Gorgeous campus and he loves the PNW. They did double the program size in the recent past but I also heard about them being over-enrolled in the major.
He was for some reason into Duke (for the name I think) but didn’t love the virtual presentation this month.
My son sounds very similar to yours. He’s not tippy top in math but very strong in verbal. His only SAT score reflects that. ACT math was easy for him and he’s pretty fast so we will see if he can take that. Grades are strong. Dad took him to Notre Dame and is rooting for them (this has something to do with football) but I’ve heard the curve is pretty brutal. We may bail Cornell for the same reason you are. I do want him to have a social life and feel good about himself. Someone said it here the other day - make the college fit the kid, not the kid fit the college. It’s tempting in a year of TO to stretch but I want him to have a good college experience and personal growth, not just academic.
I really loved Santa Clara and he’s a great candidate for them, squarely in the top half of their stats or better. Campus-wise it wasn’t our favorite and it’s compact but talk about your internship hook ups. I heard they might struggle a bit financially this year, so depending on stats you might take a look as they potentially might do better with merit. They got a huge donation and are building a new STEAM building to open in 2021.
@NateandAllisMom – Wisconsin’s tour was great! We went last summer so it was beautiful weather. The campus itself is a bit hodgepodge – some really pretty buildings and some real ugly clunkers from the 70s.
We did the regular tour and the engineering tour. It seemed to us that engineering is where the money is being invested on that campus – those buildings were all very nice and updated inside and amazing facilities. The other classroom buildings were fine but some seemed like they needed a coat of paint.
One thing my S liked is that even when you move off campus after 1st year, there are lots of mid-rise apartment building nearby so it seems like it’s easy to live in walking or biking distance. We saw sooooo many bars in town so it lives up to the drinking reputation!
The student union by the lake is amazing!
We have a family friend from here in NC who just graduated engineering at Wisconsin and had a great experience. That said, four years of winter and he was ready for a change.
Engineering recruiting often seems regional (other than the big tech companies that recruit everywhere) so my S is keeping that in mind.
Finally, the Badger Bus to the airports is very convenient for OOS students. Our friend was able to get cheap, flexible Southwest flights home very easily.
@AlmostThere2018 Yes, that’s super helpful thank you! Nice people up there but unlikely he would choose it over CU Boulder, which is a strong safety I hope even for CS. My son is tired of wearing sunscreen and wants a change but I’m not sure he’s prepared for Wisconsin weather. He really wants to intern too and a practical focus.
@NJWrestlingmom I have not been to Iowa State’s campus but did a quick campus visit at U of Iowa in passing when I was on a trip for another reason. The campus is beautiful (I think it was the site of the former state capitol?) and the surrounding area is a pretty typical nice college area with restaurants, coffee shops, vintage stores, etc. I thought the town was very pleasant. The college is best known for its creative writing programs and I think it has some strengths in performing arts. Wish I knew more.
I have a couple friends who are Creighton alums from the 90’s and they still talk about how great it is. They have season basketball tickets and drive 3 hours for games on a regular basis. Both are Catholic, but not super religious Catholic.
At least in Omaha it is a very respected school. Lots of doctors and Omaha business people went there.
everyone around here in the Chicago area loves Wisconsin. The campus is really pretty. We did a tour on a beautiful summer day and D21 said no within ten minutes. Just too big. She’s couldn’t get a grip at all. We were walking and walking and she was just picturing it in the winter. Up until then, the only schools she saw were LACs and William and Mary. She really wants a more contained, smaller campus. Five minutes from bed to desk is also a plus. Lol.