<p>True and Vassar is neither Christian nor conservative. Although, like many north east lacs, Vassar is largely white ( which according to the title, is the first requirement). </p>
<p>She doesn’t want the kid to be at a majority white school - she was feeling like he doesn’t have a diversity hook to help with admissions</p>
<p>However, being a male of any color can be a diversity hook at many LACs</p>
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<p>This appears to me to be an unkind reading of the OP’s requirements. She’s looking for colleges that will accept and give merit aid to her son. He’s a white male, so any acceptances or grants contingent on being a woman or not being white will not be available to this student and therefore would not be useful suggestions. OTOH, schools looking to increase their percentage of male students (like LACs) would be more receptive, perhaps, to this kid. The OP doesn’t say or imply that he wouldn’t want to go to a school with more diversity. </p>
<p>How is it unkind? Really? Please tell. In your opinion is the op hoping for merit or aid earmarked for white kids? Is the Op looking for white school (similar to her requirements for religiously Christian and politically Christian)? Or is the op hunting for any angle to grab $$$ merit / fa., even if it’s angle based upon race?<br>
You must admitted asking “where did your white son attend college” is pretty odd? Almost seems like a hoax…</p>
<p>It makes perfect sense to me. Having gone through the scholarship application process multiple times, many scholarships are earmarked for special groups: URM, first generation college student, females, county specific, extracurricular activity specific, etc. Reading the title I assumed she meant scholarships that were not categorized in such a way that your typical white male would be eligible to apply.</p>
<p>Mom, your reading comprehension skills are seriously challenged. Everyone else understands that the OP is looking for merit money which has not been earmarked for women majoring in STEM, AfAm men majoring in political science, Asian kids from Viet Nam or Cambodia, etc.</p>
<p>And we understood there was nothing OP said that indicated his home schooling was inferior, didn’t meet UC or CSU requirements, or that he obtained “heavy accommodations.” OP did not say white school for my white kid, nor that it must be over-archingly religious. Nor is she insisting on engineering. Some may want to re-read the thread.</p>
<p>ps. this poster is no hoax. She’s been learning her way through much of this for at least a few years now.</p>
<p>@momneeds2no - every admission results thread on this forum has a question about whether applicant has a hook such as URM. Cuban, which raised your hackles apparently, is a possible hook. OP seems simply to be trying to state, my son is unhooked. I disagree that the son is average - he’s a stellar candidate IMO. Maybe not for engineering, which I think is why the OP is starting to wonder if the student is barking up the wrong trees. </p>
<p>Ok. So op wants non-race specific merit $$$? Is that what I missed?<br>
I read post four as that op was "discouraged that a Cuban with less stats was admitted to San Diego state ahead of her son. According to other threads the Cuban has at least 5 ap from a California public chater high school–basically tracked into the California state university system. It very hard for home schoolers or even kids from prestigious private schools to compete in the public tracking dynamic. I realize that many of the homeschoolers on thread believe that homeschoolers aren’t at a disadvantage…<br>
Homeschool while not without merit does not easily translate to CSU a-g EI.<br>
Furthermore, while I’m at it, comparing your kids acceptance to the acceptances of his peers is ridiculous–especially if those comparisons include race. Be happy for your peers and thier hard earned accomplishments.
I’m out of this. Happy holidays to all. </p>
<p>Whew, quite a lot of posts since I last posted.</p>
<p>Appreciate very much the effort you have undertaken to understand the intent of my original post, @blossom , @Mom2aphysicsgeek , @"Cardinal Fang" , and others. You have explained my thoughts well and understand exactly what I meant by my post.</p>
<p>I think we are mostly done with the list now. My oldest son is always so encouraging and thinks so highly of his brother, so I think my son will just “go for it” on a few reachy schools (found a couple more mid-sized that don’t require any additional essays that meet 100% need, and are in the admit 10-20% range), perhaps throw in one or two LACs (and not worry about the drinking) and call it a day! :-)</p>
<p>As far as math, engineering, etc., not sure what else to say. We’ll see what happens when he takes Calculus in the spring and the Physics subject test in January. We’re also looking at alternate majors for UCs and Cal States, but may let some of them ride for now. If he doesn’t get into some schools because he applied at an engr. major-so be it. He’s pretty chill about the whole thing. And if he gets in and attends and can’t cut it, he can transfer out.</p>
<p>Best of luck to him. May he find just the right place.</p>
<p>“if he gets in and attends and can’t cut it, he can transfer out.” - If you meant Engineering, then research carefully. </p>
<p>Some schools require a minimum GPA to transfer to another “school” / department. Engineering GPAs are often low freshman year, even for the students that like it. That can put an unhappy Engineering student in a pickle. </p>
<p>Good point, colorado_mom. We will keep that in mind come April.</p>
<p>Here is the strategy I used with my S. He had an over 700 math score. I looked at liberal arts colleges that were heavy female. I also looked at the percent of students who had a Math score over 700. If the percent over 700 was low I considered those schools as a higher chance of merit aid since he would bring them something they didn’t have. This strategy might help you at mid tier small schools.
My S also considered Engineering but ultimately settled on a BFA in Graphic Design. While my S was strong in conceptual Math and was good at seeing the whole picture due to his LD his memory was bad and he never did learn his multiplication facts. Also with ADD I doubt he would have finished an engineering program.</p>
<p>Your son’s stats are far better than mine, my SAT was significantly lower, GPA (weighted) lower, and I have far fewer ECs, though my music commitment is also quite extensive. In Michigan, I’ve been offered decent scholarships that would make a significant dent in my own debt, and my background is middle class, I’m not a superstar with my stats obviously, and I’m just another white teenage girl who looks like a lower end overachiever on paper because of 2 APs freshman year, one sophomore year, and one junior year plus being an IB Diploma candidate. I even had one local school, that is only sort of considered “open enrollment” give me the full tuition and fees scholarship plus a reserved spot in the honors’ program of my choice as soon as scholarships were released. Try to look into schools you may not have expected to be a good fit or that you don’t know as much about, the best way to give a school a chance is really to do a visit, and either arrive early or stay late and just wander the campus to get a feel for everything.</p>
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<p>Yes, many high school AP courses cover material at a slower pace than the college (including community college) courses covering the same material. I.e. the high school AP courses are less rigorous in that respect; if the student can handle an actual college course covering the same material at college pace, why bother with the high school AP course?</p>
<p>mom60,</p>
<p>I think my son was considering graphic design at some schools, but it’s too late for schools requiring a portfolio-so can’t really change into that at, say, Cal Poly SLO. My son’s art portfolio (I think I mentioned up thread) is eclectic and not developed. It has a couple of short animated videos (under 30 secs each), a couple of animated stills, some sketches and some architectural drawings. He has a couple of ideas for video games and animated films, too. But it’s nothing compared to kids with “real” and focused art portfolios simply because he’s never taken an art class except for animation.</p>
<p>musicgirlx17, you sound awesome! I love your positive attitude. I think some of the Cal State schools will be good to visit if he’s accepted. And of course if he’s accepted to other schools, we’ll try to visit. My oldest didn’t visit all his schools simply because of time and budget. Probably will be the same problem here, but we’ll give it a go! Might get some college visits in during the break, but I confess it feels better to visit after acceptances.</p>
<p>It’s really great (a must in my opinion) to visit a school before enrolling. If possible, visit when school is in session. (Example - DS adored MIT at first summer visit, but after a February he didn’t like the vibe as much. It’s a personal preference thing.) </p>
<p>Just remembered that a kid in church went to a LAC and studied set design. His ultimate goal is game design, but it was not offered there. After graduation he will be looking for more education at someplace in Seattle (sorry, can’t recall where). </p>
<p>@momneeds2no: Are you an educator? Do you work at a high school or in college admissions? You sure seem to think you know a great deal about what home educators teach, how its presented, and what colleges want from us. What makes you think home schooled teens are skipping college prep or completing courses that aren’t academically rigorous? No, home schooling doesn’t look like public school or private prep academies. Colleges (like Harvard) accept our students because of the differences, not in spite of them. </p>
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<p>I take it you don’t spend a lot of time teaching kids with learning issues either. That’s not how dyscalculia works. You don’t just send kids to class, let them struggle, and “hope” they develop “tactics” to “overcome.” Those tactics are compensatory strategies that allow them to cope, but not really learn. Dealing with dyscalculia requires teaching systematically to automaticity, spending as long as it takes for the student to understand and be able to manipulate the information, and changing teaching strategies until that can happen. Public schools aren’t known for putting in that kind of time and effort for individual students. In my experience, the best thing for a student with dyslexia, dyscalculia, and/or dysgraphia is one on one attention and whatever accommodations it takes to help them LEARN the material. Not learn to come up with some “tactics” to “compensate,” but to have a situation where real, lasting learning takes place. </p>