Parents of the High School Class of 2017/College 2021

[v.t.]

AustinTink.......What scholarship was he offered? And I agree that the admission process is crazy, I have read about a few people who called asking for a review of their students admission, a few got it changed. It wouldn't hurt to try.

 

[AustinTink]

AustinTink.......What scholarship was he offered? And I agree that the admission process is crazy, I have read about a few people who called asking for a review of their students admission, a few got it changed. It wouldn't hurt to try.

He has a National Scholar and one other small one totaling $4500/year.

We thought about appealing. I would love for them to look at his senior transcripts. But I doubt it would go anywhere. SO the people you knew actually called admissions and asked for a review?

 

[Poohforyou]

He has a National Scholar and one other small one totaling $4500/year.

We thought about appealing. I would love for them to look at his senior transcripts. But I doubt it would go anywhere. SO the people you knew actually called admissions and asked for a review?

I know our guidance office has called schools on behalf of students and have been successful in getting them to take another look. As a parent I wouldn't call about an admission decision but would request my daughter's school do so. I would call about a financial aid decision.

 

[sk!mom]

He has a National Scholar and one other small one totaling $4500/year.

We thought about appealing. I would love for them to look at his senior transcripts. But I doubt it would go anywhere. SO the people you knew actually called admissions and asked for a review?

He's National Merit Scholar? I'm even more shocked by this decision. My nephew is not. I think that it would be best for your son to contact admissions and ask for a review of the decision. My nephew was wait listed last year for the internship that he did last summer. He contacted them and expressed just how interested that he was and asked to be considered for any openings and they accepted him.

This thread, College Confidential, and other sources have made me think that in Texas, at least, a super competitive high school may be a disadvantage in getting into a state school. My nephew is #15 in a class of about 650 so he was an auto admit at all state schools. The only question was would he gain acceptance to the competitive department that he wanted. My DD wasn't that high but was top 7% so she also was an auto admit. At a super competitive high school, it would be harder to break into that top group, even for students with a great gpa and lots of AP credits.

 

[Tinijocaro]

I'm not a frequent poster on this thread, but I'm hoping for some advice...slightly off-topic but related nonetheless.

DS will be off to college next year, and DD, three years younger, is already feeling sad about him leaving. They are in school together (freshman and senior) for the first time in 7 years, and they have grown very close this year.

I'm thinking of taking her and one of her friends (also a little sister of a college-bound brother) on a little mini-vacation just before their school year starts, but what other advice might anyone have on helping her with the transition of being the only kid at home?

I'm in the same boat. When dd19 left in September, we were left with our ds senior and our dd freshman. Our house became CONSIDERABLY quieter. When ds leaves in September, it's going to be even worse. I feel bad for dd15. I got through it fine-I'm the youngest of 5 and I remember the weeks leading up to my sister leaving were incredibly emotional for me. I have no answers. I plan on letting dd have lots of friends over and doing fun things with her that were too expensive with the whole family. We also have a ds21. It now seems crazy (in a good way) when they are all home.

 

[robinb]

That said... we are past our initial anger and shock. He is seriously considering accepting the CAP offer. CAP students will study at one of 6 schools in the UT system. If they achieve a 3.2 gpa and 30 credit hours freshman year, they are automatically admitted to UT as sophomores. I believe that is very similar to A&M's Blinn Team. The main thing is getting past your ego. My kid is very good about that. It could be worse. 30,000 plus applicants were denied outright. He was one of about 800 that got CAP.

I admire that he can look on the bright side of this and do what's right for him.

 

[bjscheel]

I'm not a frequent poster on this thread, but I'm hoping for some advice...slightly off-topic but related nonetheless.

DS will be off to college next year, and DD, three years younger, is already feeling sad about him leaving. They are in school together (freshman and senior) for the first time in 7 years, and they have grown very close this year.

I'm thinking of taking her and one of her friends (also a little sister of a college-bound brother) on a little mini-vacation just before their school year starts, but what other advice might anyone have on helping her with the transition of being the only kid at home?

No advice here, in the same boat. A little vacation with a friend sounds like a good idea. My DDs are best friends but our consolation is that she'll only be an hour away and likely have 3 day weekends all the time. If she were going farther it would be very tough on little sister. DD15 has had a good group of friends, but some are seniors that she will also really miss and some of the ones in her own grade (sophomore) are recently turning out to not be so good anymore. Hoping she can adjust and maybe add some new friends for the next two years.

 

[mamacatnv]

UT admissions results came out today. He got CAP'd. Not the worst, which would be outright denied, but not the answer we were hoping for. Ugh.

Ohhhh man, I'm sorry.

I am feeling like a slacker parent right now!!! DD is at Accepted Students Day for one of her top choice schools. She was really excited about the whole thing! All on her own, she signed up for it, made arrangements to spend last night on campus with a friend from softball, and drove herself up there last night. I texted her to ask how it was going this morning, and she answered back that it turns out Accepted Students day is for kids AND THEIR PARENTS! She thought it was for kids (sort of like orientation) and is feeling a bit like a fish out of water because she's all by herself! I feel really bad! I never read anything about it because she did everything all on her own.

This is so something that could happen in our house, I don't pay attention, if I need to be somewhere, DD better keep me informed.

I've heard good things as well. He is thinking about it. They give you one week until the contract becomes available. Pressure.

It's just disheartening that a kid with honors and distinctions out the wazoo could end up in this predicament. A&M offered him a half-tuition scholarship. He may end up taking it.

I think the whole process is a crap shoot. The whole guaranteed acceptance to that top 8% (Or whatever it is this year) is a double edged sword. I'm glad it wasn't a denied but I feel for your DS, thats a tough one to swallow.

Ugh... It's 2:30 am & I'm sitting beside DS's hospital bed!!! He bought some Kale Chips and didn't realize they had cashews in them!!! He threw up multiple times & his face, lips, and throat started swelling. He was smart enough to buy benadryl and take two, but he drove home instead of to the hospital. Thankfully we have one less than a mile from our house. They have him medicated & he's sleeping now. Hopefully we'll get to go home in a few hours... It was pretty terrifying, but now that the adrenaline has worn off I'm so tired.

Oh No, I hope he is ok. That would be a huge adrenaline rush, hope you all get some rest.

Yes, it is all so random. A&M courted him and admitted him just a few weeks after he applied. UT drew this process out for almost five months for this crazy, unexpected answer. We also found out kids at his school with no AP courses got in to UT. It makes the whole high school process of "you must take these advanced courses" to get in to UT sound like pure nonsense. His guidance counselor said he was a shoe-in. I think her department needs to review how they advise and prepare these kids for a very secretive, "holistic" admissions process at UT that clearly none of us understand.

That said... we are past our initial anger and shock. He is seriously considering accepting the CAP offer. CAP students will study at one of 6 schools in the UT system. If they achieve a 3.2 gpa and 30 credit hours freshman year, they are automatically admitted to UT as sophomores. I believe that is very similar to A&M's Blinn Team. The main thing is getting past your ego. My kid is very good about that. It could be worse. 30,000 plus applicants were denied outright. He was one of about 800 that got CAP.

I don't think the counselors have a clue. DD started high school in the IB program. We heard all the promotions: It will "open doors", "insure acceptance to great colleges", "bring in big scholarship bucks" etc etc etc. With our permission, DD quit the IB diploma program at the start of her Senior year, it was too much extra work and from what we could see, the benefits that had been shoved down our throats were not a reality. She still takes almost all IB courses but dropped to AP for two and got out of all the extra testing, essay writing and multiple categories of "service hours".
One of her friends is on track for the IB diploma, he is in the 9th% of the class and he was denied to UT. So much for all the hype.

DD's acceptance at Minnesota came without a dime of Scholarship and Hofstra keeps negotiating To me, at Minn she is average and at Hofstra she is attractive. We are heading to Minn this week and going to attempt to sit down with Financial Aid and make sure there is nothing available other than straight out of state price tag. Hofstra is becoming more and more her top choice.

 

[AustinTink]

He's National Merit Scholar? I'm even more shocked by this decision. My nephew is not. I think that it would be best for your son to contact admissions and ask for a review of the decision. My nephew was wait listed last year for the internship that he did last summer. He contacted them and expressed just how interested that he was and asked to be considered for any openings and they accepted him.

This thread, College Confidential, and other sources have made me think that in Texas, at least, a super competitive high school may be a disadvantage in getting into a state school. My nephew is #15 in a class of about 650 so he was an auto admit at all state schools. The only question was would he gain acceptance to the competitive department that he wanted. My DD wasn't that high but was top 7% so she also was an auto admit. At a super competitive high school, it would be harder to break into that top group, even for students with a great gpa and lots of AP credits.

Yep his class have 18 National Merit Scholars out of 100 kids. One of the reasons why he was not auto admit to UT.

 

[AustinTink]

Ohhhh man, I'm sorry.




I don't think the counselors have a clue. DD started high school in the IB program. We heard all the promotions: It will "open doors", "insure acceptance to great colleges", "bring in big scholarship bucks" etc etc etc. With our permission, DD quit the IB diploma program at the start of her Senior year, it was too much extra work and from what we could see, the benefits that had been shoved down our throats were not a reality. She still takes almost all IB courses but dropped to AP for two and got out of all the extra testing, essay writing and multiple categories of "service hours".
One of her friends is on track for the IB diploma, he is in the 9th% of the class and he was denied to UT. So much for all the hype.

Thanks. He is taking it all in stride. I could not be prouder of him!!

 

[v.t.]

Yep his class have 18 National Merit Scholars out of 100 kids. One of the reasons why he was not auto admit to UT.

Wow, what an impressive record for the school. Is it a private or public school? I would assume they pride themselves on having so many NM students, but if they can't get into their college of choice, that would hurt the school's reputation. I would definitely speak with the counselor, with your DS, and have either your son or counselor call.

 

[AustinTink]

Wow, what an impressive record for the school. Is it a private or public school? I would assume they pride themselves on having so many NM students, but if they can't get into their college of choice, that would hurt the school's reputation. I would definitely speak with the counselor, with your DS, and have either your son or counselor call.

Right?? There is a serious disconnect with the strength of these students academically and the fact that they are not getting accepted to UT. It's wrong. I have already asked the guidance counselor for her contact at UT admissions.

 

[AustinTink]

I admire that he can look on the bright side of this and do what's right for him.

Thanks, Robin. He's a very positive person. He teaches me to rise above all the time.

 

[piglet too]

AustinTink - it's a shame that he wasn't accepted outright, but maybe it's a blessing in disguise? I too admire that he is looking on the bright side of this. As for contacting the school, it can't hut anything. My DS was actually asked to submit his 7th semester transcript so they could make their decision. (Now, granted, he is barely a 3.0 student so we were expecting he'd go to CC for a year and transfer.)

 

[AustinTink]

AustinTink - it's a shame that he wasn't accepted outright, but maybe it's a blessing in disguise? I too admire that he is looking on the bright side of this. As for contacting the school, it can't hut anything. My DS was actually asked to submit his 7th semester transcript so they could make their decision. (Now, granted, he is barely a 3.0 student so we were expecting he'd go to CC for a year and transfer.)

Yes, we are looking at it as a blessing in disguise. Was your DS asked to submit 7th semester transcripts for UT?

 

[piglet too]

Yes, we are looking at it as a blessing in disguise. Was your DS asked to submit 7th semester transcripts for UT?

No, sorry if I confused you. He was asked by Cornell College.

 

[Poohforyou]

Yep his class have 18 National Merit Scholars out of 100 kids. One of the reasons why he was not auto admit to UT.

That is am impressive stat. Is he a semi finalist? My daughter is a national merit commended scholar. We're in NJ which had the highest semi finalist cutoff this year.
I'm sure it will contribute to her getting in and getting merit aid but there aren't specific awards for commended scholars. It kind of stinks because she'd be a semi finalist if we lived in anyone of about 30 other states. Oh well, what are you going to do.

 

[AustinTink]

That is am impressive stat. Is he a semi finalist? My daughter is a national merit commended scholar. We're in NJ which had the highest semi finalist cutoff this year.
I'm sure it will contribute to her getting in and getting merit aid but there aren't specific awards for commended scholars. It kind of stinks because she'd be a semi finalist if we lived in anyone of about 30 other states. Oh well, what are you going to do.

Our school has 4 NM semi-finalists. 12 or 14 commended and 4 National Hispanic. My DS is a National Hispanic Scholar. One of the semi-finalists is also a National Hispanic Scholar, and first generation American citizen. He's going to Yale! Three of the NM kids got accepted to Yale. There are some really great kids in this class and I'm super proud of all of them.

 

[AustinTink]

AustinTink.......What scholarship was he offered? And I agree that the admission process is crazy, I have read about a few people who called asking for a review of their students admission, a few got it changed. It wouldn't hurt to try.

We took your advice and asked for a review. Long shot, but nothing to lose.

 

[mamacatnv]

We took your advice and asked for a review. Long shot, but nothing to lose.

IMO in this type of situation it never hurts to ask. Given his stats etc, we KNOW he is qualified - what we don't know is how UT went about filling their spots etc. after processing all the auto-admits. I wish you/him lots of luck!