We had same experience about 4 years back at Barnard. The AO walked into the info session and pretty much first thing he mentioned was “Fresh off the press – our acceptance has dropped from 28% to 19% in just three years!” (or something like that – I don’t remember the exact numbers…)
I mean – who thinks that’s what parents and nervous teens want to hear right off the bat? My D liked it and applied anyway, but I’ve never forgotten that slightly smug look on his face and ‘big announcement’ at the start of his presentation. Sheesh.
I think some schools put so much pressure on admissions to use that as a success metric that they don’t remember to not lead off with those nuggets?
@TVBingeWatcher2 NASA’s internships for summer and now this fall are all remote. Their website for internships is a little cumbersome. You click through a bunch of pages and have to enter info and answer questions in little boxes and then you click on some of the internships you are interested in (there are hundreds). And then all you can do is sit back and wait and they contact you via email if you are offered a job. Can’t follow up. Don’t know the people who are doing the hiring. The only way to know if you didn’t get an internship is to log on and see that the one you wanted is taken. So it’s very impersonal. S19 might have a few connections to NASA through his school’s alumni base and he’s trying that too. I’ll PM you if we get any more details that could be helpful!
Thanks for that info - actually, the ACT 32-36 scholarship went up $2,000/year - from $26,000 to $28,000. Tuition only went up $220 for out of state between 2019-2020 and this year 2020-2021, so that $2,000 is a decent gain.
I work in technology and we hire people in all kinds of majors, not just engineering or CS. I don’t know how to put this nicely, but we don’t want everyone to view things only from an engineer’s perspective. My boss has a degree in economics, our Product development manager has a marketing background, and many other humanities majors.
The most important thing is to be able to think critically, be analytical and want to always continue to learn since technology moves so fast.
@AlmostThere2018 NO ONE wants to hear that admit rate. That’s so tone deaf. We aren’t stupid. We can look up the acceptance rate. My other favorite thing that AOs say in a meeting is the “average cost” to families. I love hearing that the average cost is $26,000 when we pay $70,000. Super awesome. I know that’s true in a lot of cases but I think saying that in a room full of parents shows the school is clueless about their audience and that says something about the college.
I’m actually not that thrilled with Tulane these days either as the best place for my daughter - I don’t care about the ranking stuff, but we had a tour guide who neither my daughter nor I vibed with (she was a classic theater kid and I felt she was playing the part of enthusiastic college tour guide) and then the infamous “I don’t understand people like you” from the AO relative to STEM kids at my daughter’s interview. My overall feeling is currently that maybe it’s just too humanities focused and wouldn’t be the best fit - as in maybe the best funded programs are humanities and that’s where the focus is. But I think I’m reading too much into it - my daughter has had the same experiences and she really liked the campus and isn’t feeling the same level of negativity as me. She still wants to apply, so she will. I still think she’ll end up at a large state school, but it’s good to apply to a variety of places and if she gets into them, she has options in case things change between now and May 1, 2021.
@3kids2dogs I think that’s smart. Let her still apply. It’s good to have options come spring. What’s the worst that happens? She spends time on the app, you pay for it, she gets in and then decides against it. No biggie.
@homerdog , Did your S19 complete the entire application including transcripts and letters of rec? Looks like I can’t see the list of internships without first submitting an application, it that so?
@3kids2dogs , that makes sense. For D19, she still applied to Tulane because other aspects of our visit were positive and it was a good match for big merit $, but for D21, it would be a reach, so it’s much easier to take it off the list:).
DS took the two AP Phys C exams and was unable to submit the first time around so had to do retakes. We were not sure if he would get his scores but he just used a VPN and he got 5’s on both of them!! He ended up taking 7 APs, mainly the STEM ones and got 5’s on all of them!! Good luck to those of you that are still anxiously waiting on your scores!
Used a VPN to check Ds scores.
5 APUSH
3 Lang
3 Physics 1
2 Chem
As she would say “oof.” She thought she nailed Lang, fully understood the rubric and felt extremely confident, had an A+ in the class, her writings used as examples, she’s just perplexed. She has reached out to her teacher to ask his thoughts on her exam. Also, she felt super confident in Physics too- also an A+ class for her and she said it was a really solid exam for her. Asked that teacher for his take on her exam as well. Chem was a crapshoot. She had a horrid first year teacher who went out of order (so they never has Units 1 & 2) and then completely stopped March 13. That was also the exam that didn’t go through and she had to retest. For kicks, she emailed that teacher to ask his opinion of her exam. Thrilled with APUSH, also felt she nailed it. Her first 5 (3 4s 9/10th). Most of her possible schools only take 5s, and she still has a chance at the English credit with AP Lit next year since they only take lang or lit, but not both. If she had gotten any science 5s, they would not have benefited her since she’ll need the intro courses as required major classes. So the 5 was in the best possible course. Still- the other scores stung.
Finally got Ds scores. Five AP classes, two “hurray”s, one ok, and two “what the heck happened”? What a weird mixed bag.
Also got fall plans announced - first day pushed back until after labor day then virtual until mid-October and then in person w virtual option. Seems well thought out on paper at least. My first thought was that a later start date would allow D21 to get all her applications done before school starts!
Most people either have the skill set that they can understand the math and science, or that they are a good communicator who likes dealing with people. Not that many have both. Those who do are very employable, because someone has to be able to communicate both with clients and upper management and ALSO with the nerds in the back who are brilliant but can’t communicate. Almost every employer in the country needs people like your boys in some capacity.
Great job to ALL the kiddos! S21 got 4 in APUSH and Bio, 5 in Calc AB, Physics he was able to turn in 1 part. They gave him zero score and said they would contact him by 8/1. Told him it wasn’t worth the stress to retake it. Got a 2 in AP Lang, which surprised him. To survive this year was a win. I’m bummed for him but I think he’s not taking it any other way then he did his best.
@homerdog Do the kids have to report their AP scores? I figured they only report it officially to the school once they’re accepted to save money vs sending to all the colleges they apply?