<p>A niece is in this situation. Not for the typical CC reason of “I’m too smart for any of the schools that would accept me” but for what seem to me very reasonable reasons:</p>
<p>She’s looking at a specific major, in a field that she’s been interested in for a long time, that aligns with her talents and abilities, and where she’s already had and loved a paid internship. It’s an uncommon preprofessional degree that already narrows things down to a couple of hundred, rather than a couple of thousand schools.</p>
<p>She has some specific disabilities that mean she needs some specific things – small class sizes, a disability office that’s good with accommodations, and a school that’s willing to take a student with low scores who may need some remedial courses.</p>
<p>This narrows the list dramatically, as you can imagine. Even with applying to every school that meets these 2 criteria, she’s still got a list of under 10 schools, and none are a sure thing. </p>
<p>Besides hoping that her passion, and determination show through are there things she could be doing to increase her chances at these schools (besides retaking SATs and writing killer essays, and keeping her grades up)? </p>
<p>Also, what do we, as the people who love her, do to support her through what’s sure to be a very anxiety provoking senior year?</p>
<p>A number of her choices have rolling admissions, which should help if she gets in. Do rolling admissions school always let you know early, or do they hold onto their borderline applicants until they see the whole admissions pool?</p>
<p>Fruitlooped, I think that if it came down to a gap year, a community college, or a school that doesn’t offer her major she might choose the gap year, but she’s really got her heart set on attending a 4 year school and living in a dorm. </p>
<p>This isn’t about top schools. The schools she’s looking at are small lesser known private schools that accept the majority of applicants, but aren’t open admissions.</p>
<p>Sometimes there are narrow degree programs that serve as entry point A to a career… but there are also entry points B and C and D as well.</p>
<p>Is this a field that requires licensing, and is this specific degree the only one that could get her licensed? Even some very strict fields have alternate certification… she can check the website of the certifying or licensing agency in the state she intends to work in.</p>
<p>If it’s not a licensing issue, then I don’t know any field that won’t have a Plan B available. Different major, slightly different course sequence, but ultimately preparing for the same career.</p>
<p>It is a field that requires licensing. There are alternate routes to that license, but they involve a lot of independent studying, or a graduate degree, both of which may be challenging because of the disability issues.</p>
<p>As far as the disability office goes I would check out the website and see if it possible to make an appointment with them to see what services they offer and how accommodating they are.</p>
<p>She needs a career plan B. A rolling admission acceptance should ease stress, but really, worrying about it doesn’t affect admissions, so it is just best to set a plan and carry it out with as much of a zen attitude as possible. If she doesn’t set safety schools for career plan B, then she should try to work another paid internship for her gap year, reapply and include plan B schools that she spent the year researching. If she doesn’t need financial aid, she could take a couple core college level classes at a CC to prove her ability to do the work. If she produced good grades the first year, or two if the major allows, then she might try again as a transfer.</p>
<p>My daughter’s classmates’ experience with rolling admissions (this was for Rutgers) was that it was not FIFO - some kids who applied later heard earlier and visa versa.</p>
<p>If a “safety” school were perfect, it wouldn’t be a “safety”. It would be an easy to get into top choice.</p>
<p>By its nature, the safety school will be a compromise. Find an easy to get into school with either: 1) program N wants to study; or 2) support with programs N is willing to study.</p>
<p>If you choose #2, you have the potential of taking core courses, build a solid transcript, and transfer to a school that offers the program N wants.</p>
<p>If push comes to shove, and the options are: No school or a safety school described above, … that is what the safety school is for. I’m not sure that my D would have gone to a safety school on her list. But, I made her apply, so in a bad case, she had a choice. Maybe find one of each, so if it comes down to one of the two, N can take the time to make a more thoughtful decision.</p>
<p>“Safety” only means that it is assured for admission and affordability, as well as being suitable academically and otherwise. If the safety school happens to be the student’s top choice, then the student has an easy application list of one.</p>
<p>Example: student is a Texas resident in the top 7% of his/her class and his/her top choice is a Texas public university, and his/her intended major is not one of the more impacted ones with additional requirements or thresholds for admission to the major, and s/he and family can easily afford the net price.</p>
<p>I would agree with posts #8 and 11 above that she needs to find an alternate way of achieving her career goal. It needn’t be ideal - the schools that are ideal are already on her list . . . but it must provide a workable alternative. And, in the end, should that turn out to be her only option for next year, she can still choose between attending that college and taking a gap year and trying again. Having a choice - even a less than ideal choice - is far less stressful than no choice at all.</p>
<p>Curious, Independent Study need not be as daunting as it sounds. Your N can enroll in a college which offers support services, a degree program similar/parallel/not quite as ideal as her top picks, and then patch together a course load which mimics that of her top picks. Independent Study for the purposes of licensing does not mean that she has to “go it alone” and develop her own curriculum, study by herself, self teaching, etc.</p>
<p>So if she were interested in a degree in genetic counseling… (I realize this is a grad program at most colleges, but just to give you an example) she would look at the alternate licensing requirements in the state she wants to work in, make sure that the courses she takes at her Plan B school broadly cover the material on the Boards exam, figure out where the gaps are, and then have a counselor or academic dean at the college help her piece together the requirements. Maybe the course won’t be called “neonatal development”. But if there’s a class in the bio department, or the nursing school, or the pharmacy school that covers the same subject matter, she takes that class instead. Or audits the class, and the Dean helps figure out how to call it an Independent Study, with a final exam just on the stuff your N would need to know.</p>
<p>I think approaching this with a little flexibility is a better way to go than assuming an all or nothing strategy. I know a lot of licensed professionals who did not obtain their licensing in the traditional degree manner- sometimes it takes more time (i.e. grad school, which perhaps isn’t optimal here), sometimes it just took a little shoe leather to make it happen. And since most licensing programs are designed to keep people out (to protect the public from unqualified practitioners) and not to get people in, it is rare that there aren’t alternative ways of obtaining and proving competency… which may even be preferable down the road once your N is working. (i.e. less focus on “passing a test” and more focus on learning and mastery during college.)</p>
<p>Gap year sounds workable-- except I’m assuming that the list of colleges isn’t going to change next year. So to me, applying to the same set of schools that rejected her once seems like a waste of time and money.</p>
<p>It sounds as though what she needs isn’t a safety school but a safety career.</p>
<p>If her plans don’t work out, what might she like to do instead? Is there a related career that has less stringent educational requirements? Or is there some other career she might want to prepare for instead?</p>
<p>Meeting with the disabilities office is a good idea, but you can rest assured that they WILL offer accommodations. My son has been at two schools, one huge and one small, and the disabilities offices were both wonderful. My son has been given double time for tests, proctored exams in the disabilities office, and a note taker for his lecture class. So I think your niece will be well-supported wherever she goes.</p>
<p>I may have missed it if someone suggested this, but your niece should go to the source-where she successfully interned, and ask THEM what suggestions they have given her situation. If anyone would know about the right schools for her and alternative paths, it would be people who know her AND are in that profession.</p>
<p>Also, if you would be willing to tell us what career she has in mind, perhaps someone here could help with specific suggestions.</p>
<p>Alternative paths vary by profession and location. My sister changed careers from management to pharm tech through self-study and got her license, but not all states allow that. In teaching you need a 4-year degree in some states, others require a Masters, but in many the way you get certified has many paths. So if you could be more specific…</p>
<p>Very good suggestions already about Plan B in terms of college options: starting at CC and transferring, for example, or going to a school where she could put together the courses for the desired field without having an official major in it, or starting at such a school and trying to transfer to one with the specific program after proving herself.</p>
<p>I would add that in this situation it seems essential to get at least one recommendation from her internships supporting her motivation and ability to perform in the desired career. It think that would make a significant difference in admissions in this case. I might even get two, if possible, which is something I would not ordinarily suggest.</p>
<p>I agree with Marian about looking into other possible careers. One of D’s friends was interested in majoring in tropical medicine (undergrad) before going on to medical school. She got into Tulane, one of the few, (and perhaps the only) schools to offer such a program, but didn’t get the aid she needed, so is now at another college and rethinking her career options. I know it was a disappointment for a while, but she was able to move forward. It’s best if you have a plan B (and C) right up front.</p>
<p>Every student needs a plan B and even a C. Even ignoring the disability, a student with low test scores and needs for remediation is especially vulnerable to getting hung up somewhere on the path between admission to college and desired degree.</p>
<p>And I know a guy who is an infectious disease specialist who has a practice focused on tropical medicine… purely an accident of not getting his first choice residency and having to compromise…</p>
<p>truly many roads leading to the same destination. I think he majored in English as an undergrad…</p>