D26’s school uses Naviance and I think it’s even more optimistic than CollegeVine.
Yep, also our experience with Naviance! Especially for competitive majors.
Totally agree. This is exactly what my DH did!
This is a popular option in CA, especially with those UCs where you can get a guaranteed transfer. So sometimes it’s cost and sometimes it’s aiming at a UC when you don’t have the grades to do that straight out of high school. At least among my D19’s friends though, there was a preference for the CC’s like Santa Barbara where there are residential options/location that proxy a full college experience - still ends up a lot cheaper than a 4+year. Of their friend group who did these, 2 ended up at UCSB, one at Cal (did CC in the east bay after dropping out of chico state), and 2 who never got beyond an associates, so its a real YMMV. Admittedly the latter two always seemed more into partying than studying.
Edit: you can TAG into UCSB but not Cal, but there was a lot of interaction apparently between Cal and its two local CCs.
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We have colleges that fit both of those characterizations but they also have as a reach something that should be a target (not one C26 is actually interested in because of location but was suggested by counselor, with a 50% admit rate…)
That said, I keep seeing people on here saying that it’s a pretty accurate tool. Less so I guess for portfolio submissions applications.
I saw someone here on CC post that they found that they got into places that CollegeVine said they had a 48 percent chance of being accepted to (and higher). And rejected or waitlisted at anything below that. People seemed to agree with that experience. This was maybe a couple of years ago, and I think it’s only gotten weirder and wilder since. Yesterday a friend told me that a friend’s daughter was rejected by most UCs, SDSU and Cal Poly SLO… and then got into Berkeley. There’s just no way to predict, it seems.
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I know of several kids over the last few years who were rejected by Cal Poly but accepted at Cal…
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Wow! D26 has not even had spring break yet and her last day of school is June 25th!!
Did I already suggest Clark in Worcester, MA? If not, check it out.
We looked briefly but will do a more in-depth look, thank you!
We’re looking at WPI, too.
Cal Poly doesn’t take essays or letters of rec, so Cal is more holistic.
But you see this all over. People rejected by NYU or Tulane but accepted at Harvard or Columbia, etc. And that’s ok. It would be awful if the same few people were getting into the same places all the time. And as has often been pointed out, these only really cover a small portion of all colleges and applicants (even if they are over represented on CC)
Prom today for D26. I’m about to go wake her up (yes, past noon, lol).
She tried on her dress yesterday so she could decide on jewelry, and good thing she did, because she ended up needing to make some small alterations. Can I just tell you how glad I am that my child has this skill? (I certainly don’t, and especially on a prom dress.) Years of doing costumes for school shows – win!
She also got a very short, chic haircut two days ago. She loves it. I do like it on her – it’s a cross between 1920s flapper and Molly Ringwald in 16 Candles – but I kinda wish she hadn’t chosen a month before senior pictures to get a novelty haircut because she looks nothing like herself.
Ah, well. It’s just hair, and I’m trying not to be that mother, lol.
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So D26 is at Auburn for the weekend. She is in love! I am not surprised. She fell in love two years ago when we visited for her older brother. She cannot find a single thing she doesn’t;t like about it. So of course now I am worried she won’t get in b/c of her ACT scores. She really needs at least a 30 Superscore to be considered. Her scores from April 5 come back I think on Monday. She already is saying she wants to take it a third time- sigh. I just do not want this to become a “dream school” and have her feel like this is her everything. She is visiting schools during seeing break in two weeks so I am praying she likes some of those as well. Ugh this is so hard. S24 was the opposite where he liked all of his schools equally and then just decided.
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It seems like 29 ACT is in the 50th percentile. Wouldnt that be good enough?
Their average ACT for accepted out of state students this year is a 30- we know several who did not get admitted with higher scores, no one we know who got in had lower than a 30 - it will likely all come down to what the admissions pool looks like for class of 2026.
Fingers crossed for that score to come back with what she needs!
I hope she goes to the Buc-ees this weekend in Auburn. 
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Haha yes she totally did!
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OMG, I feel this so hard. D26 found her “dream school” last fall after a visit and managing expectations has been so hard. 
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Have to say, I am feeling quite lucky that C26’s dream school is pretty easy to get into; that said, I don’t want to assume anything because admissions are unpredictable most places that aren’t auto admit these days.
Same! My D22 applied to ridiculously reach places, and the entire process was so freaking stressful. And she didn’t find out until late March about the schools she wanted the most, so all of senior year we were on pins and needles. It was the worst.
D26, though, has three schools on her list that would all work. Two are very accessible targets (RIT and Miami Ohio, although getting into the specific major she wants at both is much harder), and one is a reach, but a reasonable reach - not a single-digit school - where she has a few things working in her favor. (GA Tech – it helps a lot to be female, and it helps to be in-state. Plus they know her school well and always take a bunch of kids, and her grades/scores are strong.)
We’re now working on adding 2 to 3 more schools, and then we’re going to call it done.
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