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<p>Wow a 4.0 with test scores that have time to rise still has a shot at a t20 school. They also have the summer to do something interesting adding to their resume. Im confused.</p>
<p>Not clear in OP’s post about D being a junior. Sounded like all was said and done. She may not be scholarship material at schools on par with her state flagship and should not settle for a lesser school just because it is private and she can afford it. If she is only a junior she may easily improve her SAT scores by next fall. Do not think a test optional school is the right path- her scores are not that low.</p>
<p>Bravo to parents who are budget realistic. Public colleges are a great bargain with so many more courses and other options than most private schools.</p>
<p>PS- a lot of same time/cross posting going on. A lot of passionate, caring people here. You will get beyond your current disappointment, just as parents whose kids have perfect credentials who end up at State Flagship do.</p>
<p>Your D is a junior, and has plenty of time to create another slate of excellent schools before fall next fall. </p>
<p>I agree with others, search for more schools, and check out the test optional ones. Just make sure to ask if test score submission is required for merit money. </p>
<p>There are so many wonderful schools out there that are not top 20. Keep in mind that everyone with excellent stats cannot attend a top 20 school because there just are not enough spaces. Start looking at top 40 or top 60 universities and LACs. Look outside of your region for merit scholarships for students with your daughter’s SAT scores. </p>
<p>My D has the opposite problem, PSAT in NMSF range with a cushion for our state, but low GPA. We still found schools D would love to attend with good merit, and some with very large awards based on her current junior GPA and test scores. All of them are featured in typical college search books. </p>
<p>Keep in mind that there are 3500 4-year institutions in this country and anyone gaining acceptance to any of the top 300 universities and LACs would be attending one of top 10% schools based on some magazine’s ranking or other ranking in the nation. Many of these schools folks have never heard of such as Macalester, or College of Wooster, or Clark University, or Northeastern, or Case Western, or Reed, or Denison or U of Wisconsin-Madison, or ???. </p>
<p>Look at what such schools can offer your D. And a little hint, publications such as Fiske and Princeton Review only feature schools in the top 8-10% of schools across the nation. CTCL also lists many schools that cross reference with the aforementioned publications. And many of the schools below the top 10, especially LACs produce students with awesome accomplishments. Look up Rhodes Scholars producers or schools with most Ph.Ds in specific fields, or semester abroad programs, and etc. A lot of the small & mighty LACs as well as lesser known and or lower ranked universities provide excellent undergraduate educations. The main goal is not to get into college, but to graduate from college, and if paying for college is an issue, then debt needs to be considered. </p>
<p>So, the plan changed a bit, keep loving the kid on the couch and help her with a new college search to find new schools she would just love to attend. Check out the CDS on each school to see where your D falls testwise, for accepted students, and try to visit the new slate of schools between now and when you submit the applications, if possible.</p>
<p>I commend you and offer a cyber hug–it’s hard when we dream big for our children, but keep her dream of attending college alive, just take a different yellow brick road to help her attain that dream. </p>
<p>Oh, come hang out with us in the Class of 2015 thread–we’re quite the dramatic group–grin: <a href=“http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/class-20xx-community/1086324-parents-hs-class-2015-a-567.html[/url]”>http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/class-20xx-community/1086324-parents-hs-class-2015-a-567.html</a></p>
<p>I linked you to the last page of postings. Also, you can find us anytime by coming to this main parent page, and clicking on the Class of 2xxxx Community subforum featured at the top of the parent page.</p>
<p>These are amazing insights from you all!</p>
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<p>Nah, you weren’t dismissing her amazingness; you’ve always known that and always will. Her amazingness may take a different form than the one you’ve thought about, but you can’t keep amazingness down. She will display it in her own unique way, the way that’s right for her.</p>
<p>You’re right that you won’t get need-based financial aid, but she will absolutely be eligible for scholarships. Look for schools that are known for being generous with merit aid.</p>
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<p>And yes, it WILL. A happy kid with a passion (as you describe your D) will go far. </p>
<p>I told my kids they had to find three things they liked and three things they disliked about every school they visited. Didn’t make any difference if they thought the place was Shangri-La or Sing Sing. There’s always, always, always stuff to love about any school. </p>
<p>(Well, except for Stanford and USC. Why anyone would consider those places over Berkeley and UCLA is beyond me. 
:D)</p>
<p>"$10,000 a year for a full college experience literally can’t be beat"</p>
<p>I fully agree, and since many of the colleges in the southern region have honors programs full of kids with great credentials, so do other parents. Your child will not be alone, and she will very likely get a great education and be happy at State U.</p>
<p>SouthernHope…</p>
<p>I feel cheated and ripped off, we have to pay a whopping $13,000 per year for our state school! Oh well.</p>
<p>Our son had an amazing first semester. He is doing research with a prof (PhD from MIT) this semester. He has met lots of friends that share his love for Dr Who. He even had his picture taken in a travelling Tardis. He learned to swing dance. He attended multiple concerts in the bar/small concert venue at the student union.</p>
<p>Has she taken the ACT? Some kids are more comfortable and perform better on this one and almost all schools now accept either ACT or SAT? I wouldn’t give in so soon.</p>
<p>As parents, we all have big dreams for our kids. Although we try not to let our kids’ triumphs and failures reflect upon us, it’s natural. </p>
<p>My D is a 75% kid, always has been. In first grade she scored at the 75% mark on standardized tests and it’s remained that way through 12th grade. Her class rank, SAT and ACT scores are at the 75% mark. Instead of feeling disappointed, we have chosen to celebrate her achievements and remind her that she did better than 75% of kids who took the tests. Not everyone can score in the top 10%. That’s life.</p>
<p>H and I knew that the chances of her going to a top 20 school were very unlikely from an early age and that’s just fine with us. Even if she applied to a prestigious college and got in based on her ECs or other attributes, would it be a good fit? Probably not. We would much rather have her going to a school where she can do well, feel good about herself, and thrive. </p>
<p>OP, you and your child will have many wonderful options to choose from that will be an awesome fit. The journey is just beginning!</p>
<p>I will add that there is another benefit to not being stretched financially. Your D may be able to participate in enrichment activities that would be a hardship had all the money gone to tuition. Most colleges have study abroad programs. If there is an extracurricular that she is passionate about, then she may have the funds to do it. If grad school is in the future, then she may have some savings to help her.</p>
<p>18ycm you read my mind. The ACT is a totally different test than the SAT and many kids find they score much higher. I understand what you are feeling but you have nothing to loose if you give the ACT a try. Also, have her apply to a couple of schools, you never know, with her grades she could get significant merit money. Good luck, there are lots of schools, don’t feel the state school is the only way.</p>
<p>I second (or third) the suggestion to take the ACT instead. Many kids do better on one or the other, and the ACT might just be her test.</p>
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The world is not divided by decree into top-20 colleges and State. That was your choice. You also seem to have assumed something magical is likely to happen at a top-20 that can’t be found at a top-50 or top-100, or at least is so much less likely that it isn’t worth the financial sacrifice to see. Again, a choice. Perhaps you might find it worth thinking about what advantages you expected your D to have at a top-20, why you were so sure everyone there is likely to get them, and why they are so uncommon elsewhere.</p>
<p>My son got accepted to some amazing schools. We couldn’t afford most of them, and he ended up coming home from UT-Austin (where he was in a highly selective program), due to his illness. But you know what? He (and we) really like the little school he is attending now. His professors are bright, the classes are small but challenging, and the office of students with disabilities is fabulous! No, this is not the path we saw for him when he became an Eagle Scout, set a state athletics record, etc., etc. but it’s a fine one! We are thankful he is doing as well as he is.</p>
<p>OP, your daughter’s SAT score is in the 92-94th percentile. She is one smart cookie, and a hard worker and accomplished student, and she sounds like a delightful person.</p>
<p>I think you have caught yourself in the College Confidential trap of the top 20 schools. Yes, it’s hard to give up the dream. Yes, you have my (and many others here!) sympathy and empathy! But for sure there’s great learning going on in thousands of other colleges and universities, and super learning in hundreds of them. Please know that CC posters are not typical of anything but CC posters. Don’t believe the hype!</p>
<p>Some state universities are very affordable to in state residents and it may be hard to justify the extra expense of a LAC. The family may have been willing to pay more for a top 20 school, but not another one, if the state college is a good one. Even with merit aid, it is unlikely that an LAC will cost less than 10K a year. </p>
<p>However, I also agree with the suggestion to try the ACT, and possibly the SAT again in the fall, because the state university may have honors programs that the student may be eligible for, and who knows, the scores may be high enough to open some doors.</p>
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<p>It’s spelled “Bowdoin.” It is test optional. If you’re into rankings, it’s tied for 4th (with Middlebury and Pomona) for nationally ranked LACs according to US News. Bates College is ranked 22nd. Also test optional.</p>
<p>No kid should be defined principally by their score on a standardized test. If she’s an amazing kid that would thrive at a “top 20” school, then find the best fit (that might mean test optional, depending on future SAT/ACT scores) and submit an application.</p>
<p>Sorry, my spelling was off. Good thing I am not applying there ;)</p>
<p>I think your feelings are fair and honest and better you dump them here than on her, but you might also want to spend some time thinking about why you seem to divide the world into Top 20 and State U. You might want to familiarize yourself with some of the absolutely great places in, say, the 20 - 40 range, and think about why Top 20 was such an arbitrary line that you drew in the sand. I say this nicely, not snarkily. Good luck!</p>