Starting down the college path for my kids, clueless!

[bluesaturn]

Yes this is part of our frustration!! Especially when she could attend Pitt for a discount since her dad works for them!

Does she realize it will be very difficult for her to get into these schools? Have you discussed why she chose these schools? Maybe there is something she's looking for that she could find a school that would be easier to get into.

What are her grades like? Do they make sense when you consider her SAT score. Big discrepancies between grades and SAT score can raise a red flag for some schools.

 

[SondraC]

Does she realize it will be very difficult for her to get into these schools? Have you discussed why she chose these schools? Maybe there is something she's looking for that she could find a school that would be easier to get into.

What are her grades like? Do they make sense when you consider her SAT score. Big discrepancies between grades and SAT score can raise a red flag for some schools.

Her GPA is 3.95

 

[Cinderella94]

Ooops - I forgot that the 1550 is now for three parts not two. For two parts those would be great. For three - well it's ok.

She really, really needs to have a "safety" net somewhere. She has very little chance of getting accepted to highly selective schools.

My nephew graduated with high honors, great SAT scores from one of the best East Coast prep schools. He set his sights very high. Guess what he didn't get into ANY of the schools he applied to.

At the last minute I was pulling strings with my alma mater to get him accepted in June (at a school that had already accepted more than they could handle out of 30,000 applicants for 1500 spaces). And his parents could pay full price.

She might be a good candidate for the California community colleges. The cost is very reasonable. My neice did not score well on SATs even with lots of coaching, etc. But she is a very,very hard worker. She went to community college for two years and then ended up graduating from USC with top honors. She could hae never been accepted to USC as a freshman. I have a friend who went to a CA community college for two years and then was accepted to Stanford. He also went on to grad school at Stanford.

Yikes! What schools did your nephew apply to? (I only say "yikes" because I'm a senior going through the application process right now and it's scary!)

 

[SondraC]

You will need to know the individual section scores for the SAT as TluvsD noted. Most schools will look at the scores that way... not JUST as a total. As such, if she really scored low in one section, it could really hurt her.

As of 2006, a 1550 (out of 2400) placed her right around the 50th percentile. In comparison, this would be about a 21 on the ACT. If you look at the schools she is listing, some of them want closer to 1800+ (broken down into the different sections). This would be closer to the 81st percentile and higher (middle 50% of students at UCBerkley, NYU, and UCLA). Next lowest would be University of Pittsburgh, then San Francisco, and University of Colorado.

Note: Looking at reports from this year (2010) the numbers look about the same when it comes to percentiles.

I need to find out her individual scores, I am not sure on the breakdown.

 

[redlight]

Her GPA is 3.95

She should take the SAT again. I think she should consider taking the ACT. They are more focused on achievement, and with her grades, she might do better on them than she did on the SATs.

 

[Katy Belle]

Subscribing! DS is a sophomore and we know nothing! I'm looking forward to looking at all the web sites.

 

[bballmom56]

Her GPA is 3.95

That gives her a lopsided profile - high gpa and lower SATs. Again, there are parents who have gone through and are going through it now over on college confidential.

I agree that 8 is not too many. Used to be they would say 2 reaches, 2 matches and 2 safeties. People are finding that may not even be enough. I would caution that the safeties need to be academic as well as financial safeties - meaning she would definitely be accepted, she would be happy to attend AND the parents can afford it either at full cost (an in-state public perhaps) or the student is guaranteed certain merit money because of her stats bringing the school to a cost they know they can afford.

 

[kacaju]

When do we have to fill out the FAFSA application? I have a Junior

 

[SondraC]

That gives her a lopsided profile - high gpa and lower SATs. Again, there are parents who have gone through and are going through it now over on college confidential.

I agree that 8 is not too many. Used to be they would say 2 reaches, 2 matches and 2 safeties. People are finding that may not even be enough. I would caution that the safeties need to be academic as well as financial safeties - meaning she would definitely be accepted, she would be happy to attend AND the parents can afford it either at full cost (an in-state public perhaps) or the student is guaranteed certain merit money because of her stats bringing the school to a cost they know they can afford.

I agree about her uneven profile. Unfortunately the school she attends gives her mostly A's, but we have always questioned that because when she visits us and tries to do my ds's works (a grade younger) she struggles at best.

Our problem is with the 8 she chose, plus the fact that her mom is just sitting back. Not helping guide her through this, so we come off looking like the bad guys because I am not paying to apply to schools that she is just picking out of thin air.

 

[SydSim]

When do we have to fill out the FAFSA application? I have a Junior

FAFSA is available, usually, the first of the new year of your child's senior year (which for your junior, would be January 2012).

Since you have some time yet, check out the application in January 2011, that way you'll know what is asked and be ahead of the game when your time comes.

 

[Darcy03231]

As for financial aid, yes, both parents income counts. You fill out a FAFSA student aid application. When you finish the application you will get an e-mail telling you what your (as in both parents together) expected financial contribution is. That number will be mind boggling, because the Feds generally expect you to spend about 28% of your GROSS income per year on college costs. And if you contribute to a 401k at work, or an IRA or other retirement plan with YOUR money, be warned, unlike the IRS, they do not deduct that from your gross income. The Feds consider retirement saving to be a secondary priority to paying your kids college tuition. There are exceptions for older parents......but I think it's pretty old, like over age 60, and most parents with kids in college are much younger than that.
And be warned, the Feds are rating you for financial aid.......they lump scholarships and parent and student loans under that heading. So being told you qualify for a lot of financial aid, may mean 80% of that is loans, and 20% grants and scholarships.
You will also apply for a PIN number. All the instructions are on their website.
Their site is http://www.fafsa.ed.gov/

Actually, in the case of divorce both parents incomes are not taken into consideration. The parent she lives with is the one that fills out the FASFA. If she lives with her mom, her mom will have to fill it out. If mom is remarried then FAFSA will look at her mom and step-dad's income. We're on kid #3 in college. Both of DH's kids lived with us so we (he and I) had to fill out the FAFSA. My DD lives primarily with her Dad so he filled it out for her. My income wasn't even considered.

 

[The Mystery Machine]

OP, that sounds like a tough situation. Your SDD is really not being realistic with her applications and her score. Does she understand the process?

You guys really need to get with her and go over the schools and what she needs to "get in".

Even in MO here the more popular schools are really scrutinizing scores. My nephew could not get into a school he REALLY wanted because of his scores. He had to choose a more remote school.

And frankly it is almost getting "late" so stepping up this process is pretty key here. A few of our major uni's here are full to capacity and even though many kids made the criteria they could not get in because of space. The freshman population is at a all time high recently the last few yrs. With some of the "acceptances" they were telling the kids that they would have to wait until spring semester?

Here is an article that explains it...this is just something that you should be aware of because it is an issue across the board.

http://www.stltoday.com/news/local/education/article_519b2a02-80b3-57a4-b350-b9404ec8ff9e.html

 

[golfgal]

With the financial crunch in California and the experiences people here on the college thread have had trying to get into the CA schools, I would skip them altogether since she is a resident of CA. I agree, take the ACT. All colleges still require at least one of those tests and many that have required the SAT in the past are moving to the ACT because it is a more comprehensive test-testing a wider range of knowledge vs just the reading/math that the SAT tests.

Is her GPA based on a 4.0 scale or a 5.0 scale. If she is on a 4.0, she REALLY needs to take the ACT. If it is on a 5.0 scale her SAT is on par with her GPA.

Personally I think 8 schools is a lot to apply for as well but different areas of the country do things differently. Here most kids visit at least that many schools but end up applying to 3-5 of them.

Your income counts if you provide assistance to her through child support, etc. or depending on what the divorce decree states.

The big thing is she NEEDS to get the applications in AND she NEEDS to start filling out every scholarship application she can find. Most seniors are doing this now or are done with this process. Many scholarship applications have a Nov or Dec deadline so she needs to move on those.

 

[SondraC]

When do we have to fill out the FAFSA application? I have a Junior

I am curious on this too.

 

[SondraC]

Actually, in the case of divorce both parents incomes are not taken into consideration. The parent she lives with is the one that fills out the FASFA. If she lives with her mom, her mom will have to fill it out. If mom is remarried then FAFSA will look at her mom and step-dad's income. We're on kid #3 in college. Both of DH's kids lived with us so we (he and I) had to fill out the FAFSA. My DD lives primarily with her Dad so he filled it out for her. My income wasn't even considered.

Even if we pay child support, our income isn't considered?

 

[SondraC]

OP, that sounds like a tough situation. Your SDD is really not being realistic with her applications and her score. Does she understand the process?

You guys really need to get with her and go over the schools and what she needs to "get in".

Even in MO here the more popular schools are really scrutinizing scores. My nephew could not get into a school he REALLY wanted because of his scores. He had to choose a more remote school.

And frankly it is almost getting "late" so stepping up this process is pretty key here. A few of our major uni's here are full to capacity and even though many kids made the criteria they could not get in because of space. The freshman population is at a all time high recently the last few yrs. With some of the "acceptances" they were telling the kids that they would have to wait until spring semester?

Here is an article that explains it...this is just something that you should be aware of because it is an issue across the board.

http://www.stltoday.com/news/local/education/article_519b2a02-80b3-57a4-b350-b9404ec8ff9e.html

I really need to figure out how to do the multi quote thingy!
This process has been irritating to say the least for her dad & I. Since she is primarily with her mom (across the country) we have not been able to have the influence to help with all of this. In fact we kept getting grief from her mom when we tried to bring it all up for the past 1 1/2 years.

 

[Mimi1965]

Yes this is part of our frustration!! Especially when she could attend Pitt for a discount since her dad works for them!

We live in a University town-my kids decided to stay here both had state uni scholarships-one lived off campus, one at home.

To ME-that discount is a big plus she should consider

 

[golfgal]

Even if we pay child support, our income isn't considered?

They will ask on the form how much the mom receives in child support

To multi-quote, select this button

for all the posts you want to quote. When you are done, select "reply". It will have {Quote} at the beginning and ending of each threat you selected, just start typing after the last {Quote}.

 

[SondraC]

With the financial crunch in California and the experiences people here on the college thread have had trying to get into the CA schools, I would skip them altogether since she is a resident of CA. I agree, take the ACT. All colleges still require at least one of those tests and many that have required the SAT in the past are moving to the ACT because it is a more comprehensive test-testing a wider range of knowledge vs just the reading/math that the SAT tests.

Is her GPA based on a 4.0 scale or a 5.0 scale. If she is on a 4.0, she REALLY needs to take the ACT. If it is on a 5.0 scale her SAT is on par with her GPA.

Personally I think 8 schools is a lot to apply for as well but different areas of the country do things differently. Here most kids visit at least that many schools but end up applying to 3-5 of them.

Your income counts if you provide assistance to her through child support, etc. or depending on what the divorce decree states.

The big thing is she NEEDS to get the applications in AND she NEEDS to start filling out every scholarship application she can find. Most seniors are doing this now or are done with this process. Many scholarship applications have a Nov or Dec deadline so she needs to move on those.

So we both (her mom & dh, myself) fill out the FAFSA thing? In their divorce decree college was never mentioned. We do pay child support though.
We are frustrated too because the ONLY visit she did was with us, going to Pitt. She lives out there, but they can't make the time to visit any of those schools, but oh yeah, can I have your cc# to apply to see if I could get in?
All of this while her mom just sits back and is going to make us out the bad guys, because we are not just applying to NYU & Berkley for kicks!

 

[The Mystery Machine]

So we both (her mom & dh, myself) fill out the FAFSA thing? In their divorce decree college was never mentioned. We do pay child support though.
We are frustrated too because the ONLY visit she did was with us, going to Pitt. She lives out there, but they can't make the time to visit any of those schools, but oh yeah, can I have your cc# to apply to see if I could get in?
All of this while her mom just sits back and is going to make us out the bad guys, because we are not just applying to NYU & Berkley for kicks!

Yes both of you have to fill it out.