High School Class 2013: Picking Colleges..Check in Here!

[SideshowBob]

Very cool thread ... Lots to read. My DD is in the midst of the application process. I think 4 of the 10 she has completed with a couple more close. My first of three going through this, so much to learn.

She has applied to several out of state but there will have to be some very good grant and scholarship money to justify. I think that the University of Florida Honors program the most likely right now, but will see. She also applied to Amherst, University of Chicago, University of Virginia, UNC and two privates in FL (Stetson and Rollins).

From others who have been through this, how long in the process before you know total financial package? Is it long after acceptance?

Thanks for reading and any advice along the way.

 

[ugadog99]

We survived the day and are once again Region winners. Now, it's on to State in two weeks. The show was great, and I'm getting used to being around the director and not speaking. My daughter had a great day. Her lights were awesome! We had a best actor winner and 2 named to all star cast, so a pretty great day was had all the way around.

SSBob, with my older DD we didn't get the financial aid packages until the beginning of April. She was involved in the honor scholarship days with all of her colleges. Most of those didn't happen until January or February. FAFSA is submitted in January and some schools (especially private) require Profile, too. It's a pain in the rear waiting, too!

 

[Christine]

My son still has not applied for anything!!!

A few of his choices have rolling admissions so we don't want to submit the application until his second set of SAT/ACT scores are finished. I don't want them making a rejection decision based on the first set. Not that they were awful but my son was confident he could get the scores up. So we wait. The SAT scores should be ready this coming Thursday. If they are up, he will go ahead and start submitting. If they are the same, he will wait until the second ACT score is complete (probably mid-Novemeber).

SideshowBob, good luck with the apps, especially UVA. That is a great school and, for a Virginia student, it is nearly impossible to get in unless you are a superstar. It's a little bit easier coming from out of state so maybe that will work for you. I'd love for my son to go there but I don't think he will even be applying based on who we see who gets accepted from his school. He's no match for that.

 

[SideshowBob]

Thanks very much for both replies and info! I appreciate it.

 

[marcyinPA]

Ok- we have made some progress!! My DS finished writing his essay (more of a personal faith statement) for Messiah College today. It has taken him THREE MONTHS. THREE!! I helped him revise it, and we sent it to a friend of ours who works in admissions at Lehigh University to review- we told her to give honest feedback. With any luck, he will be able to send that application out within the next week!! WooHOO!!!

 

[krcit]

Can't believe I didn't see this thread until today. My dd is in the process now. We are behind the curve in visiting schools, was suppossed to do some in the spring but my best friend passed away and I lost my focus. She will be applying to schools we haven't visited and we will work the vists in asap. We are actually going to Scranton University open house tomorrow. Also on the list to see are Quinipiac, Salve Regina, Kings College, Miseracordia, Albany, Sienna and some other SUNYS. We already saw Iona(loved it) and Manhatten(eh)

 

[ez]

Very cool thread ... Lots to read. My DD is in the midst of the application process. I think 4 of the 10 she has completed with a couple more close. My first of three going through this, so much to learn.

She has applied to several out of state but there will have to be some very good grant and scholarship money to justify. I think that the University of Florida Honors program the most likely right now, but will see. She also applied to Amherst, University of Chicago, University of Virginia, UNC and two privates in FL (Stetson and Rollins).

From others who have been through this, how long in the process before you know total financial package? Is it long after acceptance?
Thanks for reading and any advice along the way.

From what I have heard Stetson offers some pretty nice scholarships to fairly average students. I had always been under the impression that was a difficult school to get onto but seems I was mistaken. am not sure when the offers come out however.

 

[SideshowBob]

Can't believe I didn't see this thread until today. My dd is in the process now. We are behind the curve in visiting schools, was suppossed to do some in the spring but my best friend passed away and I lost my focus. She will be applying to schools we haven't visited and we will work the vists in asap. We are actually going to Scranton University open house tomorrow. Also on the list to see are Quinipiac, Salve Regina, Kings College, Miseracordia, Albany, Sienna and some other SUNYS. We already saw Iona(loved it) and Manhatten(eh)

Sorry to hear about your best friend. Best of luck with process

 

[disykat]

My son hasn't started yet either.

Two years ago, my super student senior started in August and was applying to several reach schools, etc. He ended up at our state flagship.

My senior this year is a good student, but he doesn't have straight A's. He knows he's not competitive at the typical reach school. His 3.5 (with unweighted APs) will get him automatic acceptance into any of our state schools except the flagship, and applying in November when marching band is over will work fine. He'll apply to a few private and or out of state schools, and is still debating which ones, but is only looking at schools that are not highly selective so it's really not an issue.

His biggest problem is finding schools on the western half of the US that aren't highly competitive, have his major interest (criminal justice, everyone has computer science, which is his other one) will give him money through Western Undergraduate Exchange or a private that will give some merit aide for a 3.5, and have a decent marching band. So far it's looking like Colorado might be a good fit if he wants to go out of state, or maybe North Dakota. Arizona might have been a possibility, but he's really not interested. He really wants to be in the NorthWest quadrant of the US - however, marching band just isn't that big here.

Meanwhile, marching is over for the season in a few weeks, so I'm trying to help him with some research so he can hit the road running with his applications!

 

[krcit]

Hey does anyone know how to convert number grades to the 4.0 scale? I can't find it online. My dd has an unweighted average of 92.8, weighted of 97. Most schools I've looked at say they look at the unweighted average but list what they are looking for on the4.0 scale. TIA!

 

[PlutoPony]

Hey does anyone know how to convert number grades to the 4.0 scale? I can't find it online. My dd has an unweighted average of 92.8, weighted of 97. Most schools I've looked at say they look at the unweighted average but list what they are looking for on the4.0 scale. TIA!

A=4 points
B=3 (B+ 3.4)
C=2 (C+ 2.4)
D-1 (D+ 2.4)

The real question is, what constitutes an A in your percentage system? Some schools use a 10 point system i.e. 90-100 for A, 80-89 for B (B+ is 87-89) etc. Other schools use a 7 point system aka 93-100= A, 85-92 is a B, and so on. This is the unweighted grade point. Then typically, add 1 point to a final grade of A, B. or C for AP classes. A few classes are .5 extra, like some pre-AP classes.... depends on the school and how they do things. I would ask your guidance counselor how they convert the grades to a 4.0 scale, especially given your daughter's 92.8 - is that an A or high B??

HTH

 

[MerMom60_94]

Can't believe I didn't see this thread until today. My dd is in the process now. We are behind the curve in visiting schools, was suppossed to do some in the spring but my best friend passed away and I lost my focus. She will be applying to schools we haven't visited and we will work the vists in asap. We are actually going to Scranton University open house tomorrow. Also on the list to see are Quinipiac, Salve Regina, Kings College, Miseracordia, Albany, Sienna and some other SUNYS. We already saw Iona(loved it) and Manhatten(eh)

What is your daughter planning on studying? My daughter has visited Quinnipiac (beautiful, beautiful, beautiful school) and Salve Regina. She is going for a degree in biology with an ultimate aim of veterinary medicine. Salve Regina is currently at the top of her list. She loved Quinnipiac and will apply there but wishes it were closer to home. Mind you, it is only two hours away and she could take the train home from New Haven. I work across from the train station in Boston so it would be easy enough to meet up. Anyway, both schools are in great settings and have a nice environment and a lot to offer.

We only have a couple of schools left to visit. Since they are local, I think DD and DH will be visiting in the afternoon after school once volleyball season is over. In fact, she has early release this Thursday - she gets out at 12 - but has a volleyball game that afternoon. The schools are close enough that she could zip over for a tour and still make her game. She is still working on her essay. She has a couple of teachers reviewing it and giving her feedback. She won't even tell DH and I what she wrote about. So long as I know it is being worked on and she is getting good guidance, I am willing to step back. She has started filling out some applications but hasn't submitted them yet since she is still working on her essay. She has asked a couple of teachers to write recommendations for her. Her history teacher from Sophomore year actually approached her and asked why she hadn't come to him - he was looking forward to writing a recommendation for her. She explained she asked teachers from last year because I was sick and had to go through surgery and it impacted her grades somewhat. She wanted teachers who could address that. So, we are moving forward but slowly.

 

[ugadog99]

My D received her second academic acceptance today: Point Park University. Now, I know Point Park is definitely not known for their stellar academics, but that isn't why she's interested. The Conservatory has a fabulous reputation, so that is what she cares about. The academic acceptances are cool, but I can't wait until she gets that first theatre acceptance!!

 

[MerMom60_94]

Congratulations on the second acceptance, Ugadog. I can't wait until we get that far in this process. Poor DH had planned on retiring in January and had been going to file his paperwork a few weeks back. Then we started looking at the prices of some of these schools and he decided he should hold off until we know what the plan is. If she ends up at a state school he can retire. If she ends up at one of these private schools he is going to have to keep working so he can pull in some overtime to cover some of these expenses and minimize debt.

 

[marcyinPA]

Congratulations on the second acceptance, Ugadog. I can't wait until we get that far in this process. Poor DH had planned on retiring in January and had been going to file his paperwork a few weeks back. Then we started looking at the prices of some of these schools and he decided he should hold off until we know what the plan is. If she ends up at a state school he can retire. If she ends up at one of these private schools he is going to have to keep working so he can pull in some overtime to cover some of these expenses and minimize debt.

It has been the experience of many of our friends that the private schools have a lot of money to offer for financial aid- some of them have large endowments. Don't write them off quite yet- because in some cases, it can cost just about the same as going to a state school. So, maybe you're DH will be able to retire after all

 

[MerMom60_94]

It has been the experience of many of our friends that the private schools have a lot of money to offer for financial aid- some of them have large endowments. Don't write them off quite yet- because in some cases, it can cost just about the same as going to a state school. So, maybe you're DH will be able to retire after all

That is what we keep hearing and that is why we are looking at and applying to schools are out of our range. DD already knows if she gets accepted to some of these schools they have to come back with a good financial package. Doesn't hurt to apply and see what comes back.

 

[donac]

I teach seniors and I have seen many of them get a great deal of money from some schools. But just want you guys to know that it really depends on a great deal. Last year there was not as much money offered to my seniors as there has been in the past.

If you are wondering what kind of seniors these are I teach Advanced Placement Calculus BC (which is a second course in calc). Last year everyone of the top ten were in that class.

 

[PlutoPony]

I teach seniors and I have seen many of them get a great deal of money from some schools. But just want you guys to know that it really depends on a great deal. Last year there was not as much money offered to my seniors as there has been in the past.

I kinda thought the same thing about last year, based strictly on what I was hearing from parents. Guess we'll see soon whether last year was an anomaly or not...

Unfortunately we've not found private schools with big endowments to have much in the way of engineering schools. So that path doesn't look like it will be particularly useful for my son - darn. He's got his eye on a couple of out of state schools and it will be interesting to see if they offer him anything merit based. If they can narrow the gap some between in and out of state costs, they'll get him. Otherwise he will probably stay closer to home....

 

[MerMom60_94]

Well, the first app is in and a second is nearly complete. Ironically, both apps are for state schools she never officially visited. One came to her school and the other is a couple towns over from where we live. At least we are off to a start.

 

[BuzznBelle'smom]

Does anyone know anything about the University of Chicago? They've been sending stuff to DD regularly, now all of a sudden she's interested. I have no idea if they even offer an ed. degree, and it would be awfully far from home. I get the impression it's one step down from Ivy, which would likely be a reach for her. Still, applying costs little...