@havenoidea - I’ll echo @mamaedefamilia’s thoughts about Oberlin. It’s a school in my neck of the woods and I know it. My neighbor is actually the head chef there and i’m guessing the food is good (lots of local produce, locally sourced, etc). It is about 45 minutes from Cleveland, southwest from the city, about 40 minutes from the Cleveland airport. My D16 hated it, my S21 was not a fan, but a friend from work loved it and quoted their tag line “Think one person can change the world?” tagline to me when I asked her about it. She raves about it. The campus is lovely and there’s a cute downtown with a good Thai restaurant. They also have a wonderful art museum, with a program where the kids can check out a piece of art from their collection to keep in their dorm room for a semester. There is an excellent conservatory that is at the school as well - well known among musicians. When we visited several years ago there was a very big emphasis on the sciences, and they were building a new science center.
My D16 spent three weeks at a summer program at Brown and loved it, loved Providence, the nearby location of RISD, and also proximity to Boston. This was before their financial aid initiative, and it was easily the most cost prohibitive school for me, so she did not apply there.
Lastly, my kiddo did a fly-in at Smith, loved it, applied there, got a handwritten note from the Dean about her Common app essay, and got a Stride Scholarship there which included 1/2 tuition and a paid research opportunity as a freshman. Again, we were really chasing $, so this was not where she ultimately ended up.
I have learned that every kid is different, and it really helps to visit the campus if at all possible. I was so hopeful that both my kids would like Oberlin, and was a bit bummed that they did not.
I understand that most colleges will view your application in context and where you live and the school you attend is a big part of that context. But, how will attending a new high school impact this. My daughter attends a brand new school, the first class just graduated this year. And the class of 2021 will be the first to have attended the school all 4 years. That said, the school has proven to be a powerhouse both academically and in athletics in the region and even state level.
My daughter knows a few kids from class of 2020 who are accepted into Rice, USC (So Cal), Tulane, etc. But we are not aware of any Ivy acceptances, though we know at least 3 kids who were recruited into Columbia, and Princeton as athletic recruits.
But, when she fills out the biographic information for virtual tours or requesting interviews, most of the time we can not find her school on the list. She has to pick my school is not listed. How will this impact her chances?
@TXStuMom Does your D have a guidance counselor? Do they have relationships with any colleges? I’m sure they would give the best advice since this would be a question all students would have.
I know all of us have questions about how TO will affect the application process and how gap years for the 2020s might result in a school taking fewer 2021s. I doubt we will ever get these questions answered to our liking. The best thing we can do is have the kids find schools that fit them and then put together the best apps they can, not very unlike they would have done without the pandemic. Our question has been mostly around if D21 can just bag the stupid tests but I’ve heard enough now to conclude that she will have to study for them a bit and take them if she can. She’s signed up for Aug and Oct and is supposed to have a Sept all-school sitting too. Since school starts Aug 10th, all of these tests will be taken while she’s loaded up on homework from her classes again. I guess it is what it is. She’ll have to study in Aug again, see how it goes and then re-take after seeing her first score and focus on any weak spots. Hopefully, the tests will happen. I’m trying to walk a line with her between “yes you have to go back and study again” and “there’s less pressure since you can go TO”. Bleh.
sounds like schools will be having tours again. So, it’s back in the saddle and heading back to Wake, Richmond, and Davidson when we can. I’d like to wait until kids are on campus and we might have to work around football (haha right…well, maybe) games. Our early daydream of D liking Wake the best, applying in July and being done is shot of course but there’s still ED 1 and ED2. I’m hoping we have a better idea of how things are going on campuses by the ED1 deadlines, yet part of me is starting to wonder if she should just do all RD and let the chips fall where they may so that gives us almost all of spring semester to have a better view.
I would love for S21 to apply ED but he wants to play baseball in college…but the recruiting process is really interrupted right now. So, we don’t know how things will shake out, I could see it literally going down to next April/May. It is somewhat frustrating because we are full pay, so would be giving up any potential ED bump. Ugh.
S21 does have a list of schools to apply to without baseball, and that won’t change because of TO, as his ACT test score>GPA (although he does have good rigor).
We are, but it changes daily. It’s tempting to try to use ED this year for a big bump since D has high test scores and we fit the full pay demographic. We’re not full pay, so it would be nice to compare FA.
@homerdog , yes she has a guidance counselor. I am not sure what kind of relations she/ they (Counseling team) have with universities. Her high school nominated her for the “Rensselaer Medal” (Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute). The school also recently, recruited a college and career specialist. Kids did not get to meet this person yet, we just came to know this from the social media announcement that the school made about 10 days ago.
The school should also have a school profile, typically publically available on their website. The GC sends this to all the colleges that the students’ apply to, so the AOs can get the context.
Typical info on those school profiles includes median GPA (or 25%-75% range), sometimes GPA decile data, average number of honors and AP classes the students take, AP scores, number of students receiving free or reduced lunch and more.
This school profile helps AOs put students in context of their HS. It sounds like some of this school’s students were accepted this year to some highly selective colleges, so this school must be on the radar of the those AOs, which is good for your D.
@homerdog - yes, ED, but boy, is it ever a weighted decision. That’s why I am rerunning the NPCs! Like some on here, S21 will be eligible for FA. I am closely watching the NMF awards as well, in addition to putting feelers out re: Tutino exchange.
S21 isn’t filling out anything directly on the Common App right now (saving things in google docs to paste in after Aug 1 as others have suggested), but I did sign up for what is designated as a practice account just so that we could see how the platform works, what it all looks like, etc. It’s not the account that he will eventually use. He’ll start his fresh in August. But if anyone would find that helpful, you just sign up using your own email address, and it will ask if you are a parent and if you want a practice account. You can see everything (this past year’s app, not the exact one our 21s will be using) but you can’t submit any of it to colleges.
senior year grades are going to be more important than ever as colleges go TO and some are eliminating EA;
if colleges let you visit in person, do it. Demonstrated interest and yield is still important to many colleges;
LORs, ECs, essays, and “packaging” your application to really distinguish yourself from other applicants will be critical.
if you can afford it and they offer it, apply early decision to your top choice college.
This year I don’t think most colleges will be allowing many gap year requests nor will many students request them. The number of D21 acceptances should be similar to prior years so no need to worry about lower acceptance rates due to gap years.
college applications peaked for the D19s. Last year, D20’s acceptance rates went up as applications went down almost universally and should continue to go down this current admission cycle.
might be worth it to apply to more colleges this year as there is some uncertainty in how this will all play out this coming admission cycle. Give your child plenty of options in spring and remember that the first three quarters grades might be reviewed.
Small observation, as a practical matter: fall visits are likely to involve missing school. Not a ton of fall days off (mine have a two-day break, realistically good for about two college visits, depending on flight logistics). In turn, missing school tends to be a pain as far as keeping grades as high as possible.
@socaldad2002 - I agree about gap years. At my d’s college they are not allowing a lot of gap years, and people aren’t taking them, bc there’s a concern about not having enough financial aid to go around, and issues around housing. The school also wants to know that the student has a firm plan in place for the gap year. My daughter knows one person among her remaining undergrad friends who is taking a gap year - all of her remaining friends are planning on going back.
Also agree about applying to a number of colleges. We have 20 on his list now, which is beyond RIDICULOUS. Ack.
Looks like our HS will be back in person one week, two weeks remote (that’s the most likely case as of right now). Leaves plenty of opportunity to travel. I think there will be many HSs doing the remote thing, at least part time.
S21 is not apply ED, he doesn’t have a clear favorite school and we want to compare FA .
He would be really happy at UT Austin (auto admit) and he isn’t going to study engineering or Business so hopefully he gets his preferred major. He isn’t really stressed about apps since he is already in at a school he loves and we can afford.
At the moment, our high school is planning all in-person, with the usual caveats and alternate plans. Great point that perhaps time for visits could be a silver lining to online.
If we were close, we’d go for a walk around campus, but I don’t think it makes sense to fly this summer, when the college both doesn’t have students on-campus and isn’t holding tours. I’m not keen on weekend tours, but maybe that’s better than missing school this fall?
Ok 2021 gang, 4 months + 10 days until ED1, yikes. The short fall break is maybe a week or two before that; nothing like waiting till the last minute. I think this is harder on me than the kids, as 4 months probably sounds like a lifetime away to them LOL.
Ack, @evergreen5 , that ED1 date is too close for my liking!
I am encouraging D21 to have two schools picked out for her ED/ED2 choices. She has a handful of favorites but was really hoping for additional visits to those colleges in order to decide which ones are her true favorites. I think in her heart she wants to go RD all around and see what her choices are…and I think that would be a very bad decision for her given the uncertainty of college admissions in general and particularly this year. I am hoping she comes up with two true favorites out of the five contenders she has in mind right now.
@homerdog Are there select schools that you’ve heard are planning on having in-person visits?
My kids would have to miss a lot of school to get to visits, if they have them, before an ED app is required. Before this, we’d thought maybe one, if not both, might ED. Ugh.
@havenoidea I think every school I’ve checked is planning on in-person tours either later this summer or fall. The ones I’ve checked? Denison, Wake, Richmond, Tulane and Davidson. We will likely wait until kids are on campus.