What's new
Fantasy Football - Footballguys Forums

Welcome to Our Forums. Once you've registered and logged in, you're primed to talk football, among other topics, with the sharpest and most experienced fantasy players on the internet.

College Admissions Questions (2 Viewers)

Found out a gb's daughter decided on her own to go to JC for a couple years to bang out credits cheaply and figure out better what she wants to do. 

I couldn't tell if he was disappointed or not, but it sounded like a pretty genius strategy to me.

Eta .. I don't think she even applied to four year colleges

 
Last edited by a moderator:
Found out a gb's daughter decided on her own to go to JC for a couple years to bang out credits cheaply and figure out better what she wants to do. 

I couldn't tell if he was disappointed or not, but it sounded like a pretty genius strategy to me.

Eta .. I don't think she even applied to four year colleges
This is a very good financial strategy.  Get a good chunk of your work done for much lower cost then finish that degree at XYZ University.  Everyone is different though.  I would not have wanted to do this.  That college experience of living away from home and forming new lifelong friendships with fellow freshmen was invaluable to me.  Just not the same at JC.

 
Ugh. Not sure how I feel about this one. It's the end of the semester and mid-terms at our HS. Our son is taking 2 courses through area colleges and his other classes are all AP classes. He's spent all week finishing papers, projects, and presentations and cramming for exams (on top of finishing up any missing paperwork for college applications).

Wednesday night he was up all night studying, took his exams in the morning, and came home before basketball practice. Except he fell asleep and didn't wake up until after practice was already over. Since it is considered an unexcused absence from a mandatory practice, he will not be allowed to play in his game tonight. I get that rules are rules, but other places don't even allow games to be scheduled during midterms and finals weeks.

It's the first practice he's missed in 4 years, he's gone to every voluntary practice, and he's volunteered for everything they needed someone from the team for over the years. One of the assistant coaches is going to try to get the coach to reconsider, but I doubt that will change his opinion. Other kids have missed practices and been allowed to still play before, so it sounds like it's one of those rules are rules except when they're not situations.

 
In at Purdue!  Really excited about this one as it has an incredible engineering program.  They also awarded him Purdue's Trustee Scholarship, which is a big chunk of change ($16k/yr).  Definitely takes some of the sting out of the Notre Dame deferral.  3 down, 7 to go.
I knew he was going to end up with some great choices. You have really conducted an excellent search process, and in the fall your son is going to be headed off to an outstanding program in a school he's really excited about. Which means he's going to be set up to succeed in college - the ultimate goal of all this that sometimes gets forgotten.

Taking kid #1 back to college this weekend after his Junior fall in Beijing. Then starting the search process for kid #2 (a high school junior) with a trip to Pittsburgh over President's Day weekend to see Pitt and Carnegie-Mellon (probably a likely and a reach, respectively). He wants a city school but one with a distinct campus, which immediately focuses our search on a lot of ridiculously selective schools. 

 
Ugh. Not sure how I feel about this one. It's the end of the semester and mid-terms at our HS. Our son is taking 2 courses through area colleges and his other classes are all AP classes. He's spent all week finishing papers, projects, and presentations and cramming for exams (on top of finishing up any missing paperwork for college applications).

Wednesday night he was up all night studying, took his exams in the morning, and came home before basketball practice. Except he fell asleep and didn't wake up until after practice was already over. Since it is considered an unexcused absence from a mandatory practice, he will not be allowed to play in his game tonight. I get that rules are rules, but other places don't even allow games to be scheduled during midterms and finals weeks.

It's the first practice he's missed in 4 years, he's gone to every voluntary practice, and he's volunteered for everything they needed someone from the team for over the years. One of the assistant coaches is going to try to get the coach to reconsider, but I doubt that will change his opinion. Other kids have missed practices and been allowed to still play before, so it sounds like it's one of those rules are rules except when they're not situations.
Sucks, but not showing up for varsity practice unexcused the day before a game will earn you a spot on the bench every time. Tell your kid to take it like a man, support his teammates from the bench tonight, and work his ### off at practice tomorrow.

 
Ugh. Not sure how I feel about this one. It's the end of the semester and mid-terms at our HS. Our son is taking 2 courses through area colleges and his other classes are all AP classes. He's spent all week finishing papers, projects, and presentations and cramming for exams (on top of finishing up any missing paperwork for college applications).

Wednesday night he was up all night studying, took his exams in the morning, and came home before basketball practice. Except he fell asleep and didn't wake up until after practice was already over. Since it is considered an unexcused absence from a mandatory practice, he will not be allowed to play in his game tonight. I get that rules are rules, but other places don't even allow games to be scheduled during midterms and finals weeks.

It's the first practice he's missed in 4 years, he's gone to every voluntary practice, and he's volunteered for everything they needed someone from the team for over the years. One of the assistant coaches is going to try to get the coach to reconsider, but I doubt that will change his opinion. Other kids have missed practices and been allowed to still play before, so it sounds like it's one of those rules are rules except when they're not situations.
Sounds like he needed the sleep and now he gets to rest from a game. Given the pressure he’s currently under, I’d consider this a “not bad” thing, perhaps even a “good” thing. 

 
Galileo said:
This is a very good financial strategy.  Get a good chunk of your work done for much lower cost then finish that degree at XYZ University.  Everyone is different though.  I would not have wanted to do this.  That college experience of living away from home and forming new lifelong friendships with fellow freshmen was invaluable to me.  Just not the same at JC.
This was how my parents approached college when I went (early 90's) - the only way they would pay a dime was if I went to a JC first and transferred, they believed going to a university all 4 years was a waste of money when you could get general education out of the way at a JC.  I understood, did not fight it.  Once I did transfer to the university I ultimately graduated from a couple of hours away, the first year was a tough adjustment, and I didn't really hit my stride and have a great college experience until the 2nd semester of my 2nd year - senior year, right as I graduated. I've often thought how great those next two years would have been if I had been there for all 4.  And I vowed that I would never force my kids to take the same path.

My oldest is now a junior, and is interested in mechanical engineering. As I've looked at the course loads at the schools he's considering, it seems to me that they're jumping into some hardcore engineering classes right away, and there's a pretty limited amount of "general ed". So I wonder if for some majors, there isn't 2 years of classes you could get out of the way at a JC and still have any hope in graduating in a total of only 4 years.

 
Ugh. Not sure how I feel about this one. It's the end of the semester and mid-terms at our HS. Our son is taking 2 courses through area colleges and his other classes are all AP classes. He's spent all week finishing papers, projects, and presentations and cramming for exams (on top of finishing up any missing paperwork for college applications).

Wednesday night he was up all night studying, took his exams in the morning, and came home before basketball practice. Except he fell asleep and didn't wake up until after practice was already over. Since it is considered an unexcused absence from a mandatory practice, he will not be allowed to play in his game tonight. I get that rules are rules, but other places don't even allow games to be scheduled during midterms and finals weeks.

It's the first practice he's missed in 4 years, he's gone to every voluntary practice, and he's volunteered for everything they needed someone from the team for over the years. One of the assistant coaches is going to try to get the coach to reconsider, but I doubt that will change his opinion. Other kids have missed practices and been allowed to still play before, so it sounds like it's one of those rules are rules except when they're not situations.
Has the coach seen the Allen Iverson video on practice?

 
I knew he was going to end up with some great choices. You have really conducted an excellent search process, and in the fall your son is going to be headed off to an outstanding program in a school he's really excited about. Which means he's going to be set up to succeed in college - the ultimate goal of all this that sometimes gets forgotten.

Taking kid #1 back to college this weekend after his Junior fall in Beijing. Then starting the search process for kid #2 (a high school junior) with a trip to Pittsburgh over President's Day weekend to see Pitt and Carnegie-Mellon (probably a likely and a reach, respectively). He wants a city school but one with a distinct campus, which immediately focuses our search on a lot of ridiculously selective schools. 
Thanks so much for the kind (and wise) words. It’s hard not to get overwhelmed (or worse yet, overinvolved) in this stuff. 

Have fun on your college visits. Pitt and Carnegie-Mellon were both on my son’s list before we made him pare it down. Both are awesome schools (of course you know that already). Sounds like you have a really sharp kid!  What is he thinking about studying?

 
Sucks, but not showing up for varsity practice unexcused the day before a game will earn you a spot on the bench every time. Tell your kid to take it like a man, support his teammates from the bench tonight, and work his ### off at practice tomorrow.
Hey, I get it. I played for coaches that said either you are at practice or your not . . . the reason didn't really matter. There were only two kinds of excused absences. One  involved a discharge notice for you getting out of the hospital and the other involved an obituary for a family member. Vacations? Family requirements? Doctor's appointment? Called to work? College visit? Religious holiday? Not feeling well? Tough noogies. Not on his time. None of that was his problem.

A couple of seasons (different sports) I got hurt in early practices before the season even started but I went to every practice, scrimmage, voluntary practice, game, etc. when I was on crutches and 100% could not play at all that entire season. If you wanted a spot on the team the following year, you needed to show up. Period, end of discussion. Home puking? You can puke just as well at the field.

So yeah, I am well aware how some coaches operate.

 
Last edited by a moderator:
Thanks so much for the kind (and wise) words. It’s hard not to get overwhelmed (or worse yet, overinvolved) in this stuff. 

Have fun on your college visits. Pitt and Carnegie-Mellon were both on my son’s list before we made him pare it down. Both are awesome schools (of course you know that already). Sounds like you have a really sharp kid!  What is he thinking about studying?
He's sharp -- has excellent grades (with a slight stumble in math) from a well-respected school but am a little worried about test scores. So we're definitely looking at test-optional options and also gearing up for some ACT prep in late spring before testing in May or June. We did a practice test and he had excellent scores, except for a semi-disaster in math, which of course pulled the composite down.

He's currently thinking English and/or Environmental Studies, perhaps with an eye toward becoming a teacher. But who knows? He's pretty open to liberal arts schools, which my older son couldn't stand, so that opens up a lot more choices of excellent and not crazily selective schools. Looking forward to the trips - about a four-hour drive to Pittsburgh, so we're doing an overnight and getting together with one of my best friends from college, a lifelong Pittsburgh guy whom I haven't seen for probably 10 or more years. Penguins are home vs. the Canadiens that night too but Stubhub tix are looking a little steep right now.

In mid-March we're going to do a swing to Vassar and Wesleyan (both of which I think would be great fits, but are highly selective) and spend a night at my mother-in-law's in Boston while checking out BU and/or Tufts. 

 
In at Purdue!  Really excited about this one as it has an incredible engineering program.  They also awarded him Purdue's Trustee Scholarship, which is a big chunk of change ($16k/yr).  Definitely takes some of the sting out of the Notre Dame deferral.  3 down, 7 to go.
Good/disappointingly neutral news today. In at UT Austin and deferred to regular decision at Georgia Tech.  The stats of the kids getting into Georgia Tech Engineering early action are absolutely ridiculous. We continue to wait. Four down and six to go!

 
Last edited by a moderator:
Thanks so much for the kind (and wise) words. It’s hard not to get overwhelmed (or worse yet, overinvolved) in this stuff. 

Have fun on your college visits. Pitt and Carnegie-Mellon were both on my son’s list before we made him pare it down. Both are awesome schools (of course you know that already). Sounds like you have a really sharp kid!  What is he thinking about studying?
We just visited both of those schools last weekend.  CMU places an emphasis on Math and Science scores on the ACT.  Schools are right next to each other and feel like they are on their own in the city.  Cool campuses on the hill. So urban setting but felt very safe.  

 
Found out a gb's daughter decided on her own to go to JC for a couple years to bang out credits cheaply and figure out better what she wants to do. 

I couldn't tell if he was disappointed or not, but it sounded like a pretty genius strategy to me.

Eta .. I don't think she even applied to four year colleges
My daughter is insanely indecisive and still has no clue what she wants to do (she’s only in 9th, but is just fickle in everything).  I am becoming increasingly convinced that this would be the better route for her.

 
Hey, I get it. I played for coaches that said either you are at practice or your not . . . the reason didn't really matter. There were only two kinds of excused absences. One  involved a discharge notice for you getting out of the hospital and the other involved an obituary for a family member. Vacations? Family requirements? Doctor's appointment? Called to work? College visit? Religious holiday? Not feeling well? Tough noogies. Not on his time. None of that was his problem.

A couple of seasons (different sports) I got hurt in early practices before the season even started but I went to every practice, scrimmage, voluntary practice, game, etc. when I was on crutches and 100% could not play at all that entire season. If you wanted a spot on the team the following year, you needed to show up. Period, end of discussion. Home puking? You can puke just as well at the field.

So yeah, I am well aware how some coaches operate.
Gotta be honest, it seems like this school really hates your family...

 
My son is a sophomore in high school. He scored a 1070 on his PSAT this year. When does he wnt to take an SAT and an ACT test?
most take the first tests in the first semester of junior year but he can choose when ever he wants.  Many students take the tests more than once.

 
My daughter is insanely indecisive and still has no clue what she wants to do (she’s only in 9th, but is just fickle in everything).  I am becoming increasingly convinced that this would be the better route for her.
As a girl she is likely to mature really fast the next couple of years.  I would not make any plans until you see how she is between sophomore and junior years.

You can always visit any number of schools slowly, just to introduce her to the various styles of schools (big vs small, city vs rural, engineering vs liberal arts etc etc).

 
He's sharp -- has excellent grades (with a slight stumble in math) from a well-respected school but am a little worried about test scores. So we're definitely looking at test-optional options and also gearing up for some ACT prep in late spring before testing in May or June. We did a practice test and he had excellent scores, except for a semi-disaster in math, which of course pulled the composite down.

He's currently thinking English and/or Environmental Studies, perhaps with an eye toward becoming a teacher. But who knows? He's pretty open to liberal arts schools, which my older son couldn't stand, so that opens up a lot more choices of excellent and not crazily selective schools. Looking forward to the trips - about a four-hour drive to Pittsburgh, so we're doing an overnight and getting together with one of my best friends from college, a lifelong Pittsburgh guy whom I haven't seen for probably 10 or more years. Penguins are home vs. the Canadiens that night too but Stubhub tix are looking a little steep right now.

In mid-March we're going to do a swing to Vassar and Wesleyan (both of which I think would be great fits, but are highly selective) and spend a night at my mother-in-law's in Boston while checking out BU and/or Tufts. 
I’m curious what your family thinks of Vassar and Wesleyan after the visits.  We visited both while touring campuses in the region.
I liked the people at Vassar a lot when we visited and my impression is they are waaaaay ahead of other schools of its selectivity on addressing student mental health.  Their facilities seemed a bit run down for a school its caliber, but overall seemed deeply invested in their students developing academically and as people, the campus is pretty and the town has charm.  The kid probably won’t apply there but had a positive experience and occasionally wears Vassar merch - any school store selling “[school] Quidditch” is going to do business with us.

Wesleyan is a good fit on paper for the kid but they botched the pitch with us.  They kept bringing up Lin-Manuel Miranda and his musicals.  My wife and I were joking “if we had a nickel for every time someone here mentions Hamilton we could pay for this place”.  I think it’s really cool that Miranda went there and wrote In The Heights while he was a student there.  But the kid has no interest in pursuing a career in the performing arts and we left the campus feeling like Wesleyan was positioning themselves as a compromise for students who want to be performing artists and parents who want their kid to go to college first.  I know Wesleyan is a lot more than that, but we scratched them from the list that night.

 
We just visited both of those schools last weekend.  CMU places an emphasis on Math and Science scores on the ACT.  Schools are right next to each other and feel like they are on their own in the city.  Cool campuses on the hill. So urban setting but felt very safe.  
Pitt alum and Pittsburgh native. Definitely should visit as it is urban but not right downtown; I loved the hustle and bustle but it’s not for everyone. 

 
My son is a sophomore in high school. He scored a 1070 on his PSAT this year. When does he wnt to take an SAT and an ACT test?
Is he planning to take any SAT prep courses? If so, he should take the test as close to the conclusion of those courses as possible. 

If he hasn't considered taking a prep course, he should. Our school offers a program and there are private tutors. My daughter is doing both. Even if he isn't planning on applying to a competitive school, a higher SAT score will often lead to a lower cost of admission.

 
He has shown interest in working on a prep course. I will check into that when summer break gets closer. While he's on the honor roll, bringing school work home isn't something he does. His comment is that he can always work on academics, but only has a few years to succeed in basketball and baseball.

 
Just registered for our first official college visit - Purdue.  What a pain in the butt that was.  Their website navigation is pretty poor IMO.  The registration process allows the perspective student to bring guests, but the menu only let's you choose up to 2 guests.  I will have 4 in our party.  Myself, wife, and 2 sons (10th and 11th grade).  If I chose any number but zero, the registration was cancelled with a claim of capacity...OK, so go to sign up for a different time (that was for an 8:30 am time slot).  Ended up having to sign up the 2 boys individually with each bringing one guest for the 1:30 pm time slot.  We wanted to include the specific Engineering session which is at 11:30 am.  The sign up process required inputting all of the same information again...for each boy.  There appears to be an optional Engineering facility tour after the session which we would be interested in, but that seems like it would run up against our scheduled general tour since we could get registered for the 8:30 slot. 

Oh well.  We'll figure it out.  Still looking forward to it.  Planning to hit Purdue, Illinois, and Wisconsin on a mid-west loop during spring break.

 
Damn, reading the last few pages stressed me out! Junior daughter just starting the process. West coast visits to UW, Oregon and University of Portland set up for spring break. 

Washington resident wondering how we will pay for out of state school. Daughter has 3.98 gpa, prob 1200s SAT. We make too much for aid. She will be filling out lots of scholarship apps. My guess is UW will be her school. Hard to pass up that tuition cost. 

 
Damn, reading the last few pages stressed me out! Junior daughter just starting the process. West coast visits to UW, Oregon and University of Portland set up for spring break. 

Washington resident wondering how we will pay for out of state school. Daughter has 3.98 gpa, prob 1200s SAT. We make too much for aid. She will be filling out lots of scholarship apps. My guess is UW will be her school. Hard to pass up that tuition cost. 
I hear you.  Ohio State looks better and better for this reason.  Unfortunately, OSU does not have an undergraduate program in nuclear engineering, which is the direction my son is leaning.  He could pursue another form of engineering and then a graduate program in nuclear if he goes to OSU.

 
undergraduate program in nuclear engineering
Does he have an interest in joining the Navy and worrying on a nuclear sub or aircraft carrier? If so, the Navy will pay well for your son to complete his BSNE. They they'll commission him as an officer and have him (help) run a reactor on a ship.

Otherwise nuclear engineering is a dying industry. I would avoid getting a degree in that field. Plus fusion is (and forever will be) 50 years off.

 
Last edited by a moderator:
Does he have an interest in joining the Navy and worrying on a nuclear sub or aircraft carrier? If so, the Navy will pay well for your son to complete his BSNE. They they'll commission him as an officer and have him (help) run a reactor on a ship.

Otherwise nuclear engineering is a dying industry. I would avoid getting a degree in that field. Plus fusion is (and forever will be) 50 years off.
I suppose you meant “working”...  :unsure:

We have talked about about Naval Academy a little bit, and he does not really seem interested in that route, but not completely off the table yet.

Not sure I agree with you regarding nuclear engineering being a dying field.  It is not all about power plants...and who knows, maybe he’s the one who can pave the way towards efficient fusion  :P

 
My son is a sophomore in high school. He scored a 1070 on his PSAT this year. When does he wnt to take an SAT and an ACT test?
Can anyone tell me their experience with how the PSAT scores relate to SAT scores?  Most places I see online say it correlates pretty well, but others say SAT scores are usually a little higher since the PSAT tops out at 1520.

 
Damn, reading the last few pages stressed me out! Junior daughter just starting the process. West coast visits to UW, Oregon and University of Portland set up for spring break. 

Washington resident wondering how we will pay for out of state school. Daughter has 3.98 gpa, prob 1200s SAT. We make too much for aid. She will be filling out lots of scholarship apps. My guess is UW will be her school. Hard to pass up that tuition cost. 
One thing that has surprised me is how many state schools will give tuition breaks to out of state students. I live in Colorado, and am hearing stories from friends with seniors of their good but not outstanding students getting $10-15k a year in tuition reduction from schools like Arizona State. We've also found that many schools will give in-state tuition to students from neighboring states. And be sure to check out Western Undergraduate Exchange if you haven't already.

My son's academic record sounds similar to your daughter, around a 4.0 GPA and SATs in the mid 1200s, and I had figured in-state schools were our only option financially since we make too much to qualify for any aid.  But after researching, the number of out of state schools that are financially viable for us is much higher than I originally thought.

 
Just registered for our first official college visit - Purdue.  What a pain in the butt that was.  Their website navigation is pretty poor IMO.  The registration process allows the perspective student to bring guests, but the menu only let's you choose up to 2 guests.  I will have 4 in our party.  Myself, wife, and 2 sons (10th and 11th grade).  If I chose any number but zero, the registration was cancelled with a claim of capacity...OK, so go to sign up for a different time (that was for an 8:30 am time slot).  Ended up having to sign up the 2 boys individually with each bringing one guest for the 1:30 pm time slot.  We wanted to include the specific Engineering session which is at 11:30 am.  The sign up process required inputting all of the same information again...for each boy.  There appears to be an optional Engineering facility tour after the session which we would be interested in, but that seems like it would run up against our scheduled general tour since we could get registered for the 8:30 slot. 

Oh well.  We'll figure it out.  Still looking forward to it.  Planning to hit Purdue, Illinois, and Wisconsin on a mid-west loop during spring break.
I'm sorry you're having a frustrating experience.  We visited the Purdue campus over the summer, but didn't have the opportunity to sign up for a formal tour.  I would definitely try to do the engineering facility tour because the buildings we walked through were very impressive, but we had a lot of questions that would have been answered by a tour.  For what it's worth, consider staying at the Hilton Garden Inn.  It is very close to campus and you can walk to local restaurants and a movie theater.

 
Can anyone tell me their experience with how the PSAT scores relate to SAT scores?  Most places I see online say it correlates pretty well, but others say SAT scores are usually a little higher since the PSAT tops out at 1520.
My very small sample size (2 daughters + friends) experience was that PSAT correlated very well to their first attempt at the SAT's and that they were then able to raise their scores 100-200 points by taking a prep course and super-scoring. 

 
Can anyone tell me their experience with how the PSAT scores relate to SAT scores?  Most places I see online say it correlates pretty well, but others say SAT scores are usually a little higher since the PSAT tops out at 1520.
I don't remember precisely what my son got on the PSAT, but I think it was roughly equivalent to what he scored on his SAT the first and only time he took it (he ended up focusing on the ACT).

 
One thing that has surprised me is how many state schools will give tuition breaks to out of state students. I live in Colorado, and am hearing stories from friends with seniors of their good but not outstanding students getting $10-15k a year in tuition reduction from schools like Arizona State. We've also found that many schools will give in-state tuition to students from neighboring states. And be sure to check out Western Undergraduate Exchange if you haven't already.

My son's academic record sounds similar to your daughter, around a 4.0 GPA and SATs in the mid 1200s, and I had figured in-state schools were our only option financially since we make too much to qualify for any aid.  But after researching, the number of out of state schools that are financially viable for us is much higher than I originally thought.
Agreed.  Lots of state schools giving out money to out of state applicants, and my friend's kid from California is attending Boise State through the WICHE program at a discount.

 
One thing that has surprised me is how many state schools will give tuition breaks to out of state students. I live in Colorado, and am hearing stories from friends with seniors of their good but not outstanding students getting $10-15k a year in tuition reduction from schools like Arizona State. We've also found that many schools will give in-state tuition to students from neighboring states. And be sure to check out Western Undergraduate Exchange if you haven't already.

My son's academic record sounds similar to your daughter, around a 4.0 GPA and SATs in the mid 1200s, and I had figured in-state schools were our only option financially since we make too much to qualify for any aid.  But after researching, the number of out of state schools that are financially viable for us is much higher than I originally thought.
We are all over WUE, for sure, just wish some bigger schools were on that list. 

 
Very limited sample size on this, but we're finding the engineering specialized college tours way more useful than the general tours so far.  I'd definitely encourage anyone who has the option of a department-specific tour to take advantage of it...even if your kid is very unsure about their future major.

 
I’m curious what your family thinks of Vassar and Wesleyan after the visits.  We visited both while touring campuses in the region.
I liked the people at Vassar a lot when we visited and my impression is they are waaaaay ahead of other schools of its selectivity on addressing student mental health.  Their facilities seemed a bit run down for a school its caliber, but overall seemed deeply invested in their students developing academically and as people, the campus is pretty and the town has charm.  The kid probably won’t apply there but had a positive experience and occasionally wears Vassar merch - any school store selling “[school] Quidditch” is going to do business with us.

Wesleyan is a good fit on paper for the kid but they botched the pitch with us.  They kept bringing up Lin-Manuel Miranda and his musicals.  My wife and I were joking “if we had a nickel for every time someone here mentions Hamilton we could pay for this place”.  I think it’s really cool that Miranda went there and wrote In The Heights while he was a student there.  But the kid has no interest in pursuing a career in the performing arts and we left the campus feeling like Wesleyan was positioning themselves as a compromise for students who want to be performing artists and parents who want their kid to go to college first.  I know Wesleyan is a lot more than that, but we scratched them from the list that night.
Wesleyan was a late addition to my older son's list and we never visited until after he was accepted. That was a waste of an afternoon - he had a visceral dislike of all liberal arts schools, and he had the exact same reaction as your kid. He said they talked about Miranda and the arts 4 times on the tour before the first mention of academics. Unfortunately, I learned this weekend that his reaction might have poisoned the well for my second kid, who I think would actually like it there a lot. Oh well. I let you know what we think of Vassar after our mid-March trip.

My wife took him down to DC for a look at American U yesterday (he's already decided Georgetown is not for him). They really liked the info session, but were subsequently underwhelmed by the tour. Sounds like it stays on the list for now as a maybe but with plenty of room for schools to come in above it in his opinion. Looking forward to our Pittsburgh trip over Presidents Day.

 
themeanmachine said:
One thing that has surprised me is how many state schools will give tuition breaks to out of state students. I live in Colorado, and am hearing stories from friends with seniors of their good but not outstanding students getting $10-15k a year in tuition reduction from schools like Arizona State. We've also found that many schools will give in-state tuition to students from neighboring states. And be sure to check out Western Undergraduate Exchange if you haven't already.

My son's academic record sounds similar to your daughter, around a 4.0 GPA and SATs in the mid 1200s, and I had figured in-state schools were our only option financially since we make too much to qualify for any aid.  But after researching, the number of out of state schools that are financially viable for us is much higher than I originally thought.
This.  My son is a senior in high school living in WI.  3.95 GPA, 31 ACT with a 36 in math is interested in Actuarial Sciences.  So he applied to Madison, Drake and Nebraska (All top 20 in the nation in that field).  Got into all 3 and will probably choose Madison.  Nebraska offered a $60K scholarship without even applying or asking so that tuition is very similar now to the in state Madison tuition.  I was told if he really wanted Nebraska we could ask for, and likely get more.  Drake's throwing some scholarship numbers back at us, again too without us asking.  Though we're visiting Drake in a couple of weeks because they apparently will give some healthy scholarships too but they want to meet and interview the students in person.

A buddy of mine kid is in the same class as my son and he's likely going to Ole Miss or Alabama.  Similar stats with a 32 Act and a GPA in the 3.7 neighborhood.  He's getting enough in merit scholarships where it's actually going to be cheaper for him go there vs staying in state.  There are a bunch of schools, including Arizona State, that offer tremendous out of state breaks for good students. 

 
Galileo said:
I suppose you meant “working”...  :unsure:

We have talked about about Naval Academy a little bit, and he does not really seem interested in that route, but not completely off the table yet.

Not sure I agree with you regarding nuclear engineering being a dying field.  It is not all about power plants...and who knows, maybe he’s the one who can pave the way towards efficient fusion  :P
My brother has a BSNE (Berkeley) and MSNE (MIT).  He spent his entire academic career working on fusion energy.  He now does data analytics for Stubhub.

I had a friend in undergrad that was a terrible student, but not quite failing out.  One day he shows up with a new (well, 5 year old) truck.  He had signed up with the Navy to work on ship based reactors once he graduated.  They paid him money up front and guaranteed a commission once he went through basic and specialist training.  That was the early 2000s though.

If he doesn't want to work at a nuke plant, then study nuclear physics or radiobiology.  If he wants to be in the control room at a nuke plant for his career, by all means get a BSNE.

 
Well, apologies for all the updates (I imagine most of you have no rooting interest), but this is the last one until March. Found out tonight that he is in at Northeastern and was awarded the Dean’s Scholarship of $14k per year. But that’s still a $40k annual tuition bill. It’s a great school and he loved the tour and co-op opportunities. This is the first private university to which he has been admitted. Five down, five to go!

 
Well, apologies for all the updates (I imagine most of you have no rooting interest), but this is the last one until March. Found out tonight that he is in at Northeastern and was awarded the Dean’s Scholarship of $14k per year. But that’s still a $40k annual tuition bill. It’s a great school and he loved the tour and co-op opportunities. This is the first private university to which he has been admitted. Five down, five to go!
Great school, great news! Keep the updates coming, love to hear them 

 
bigbottom said:
Well, apologies for all the updates (I imagine most of you have no rooting interest), but this is the last one until March. Found out tonight that he is in at Northeastern and was awarded the Dean’s Scholarship of $14k per year. But that’s still a $40k annual tuition bill. It’s a great school and he loved the tour and co-op opportunities. This is the first private university to which he has been admitted. Five down, five to go!
Congrats to getting in at Northeastern.  Their graduates are highly employable.  

 
bigbottom said:
Well, apologies for all the updates (I imagine most of you have no rooting interest), but this is the last one until March. Found out tonight that he is in at Northeastern and was awarded the Dean’s Scholarship of $14k per year. But that’s still a $40k annual tuition bill. It’s a great school and he loved the tour and co-op opportunities. This is the first private university to which he has been admitted. Five down, five to go!
Love it!

I have three nephews(undergrad) and a niece(grad) there and all are having an excellent experience.

Companies are killing themselves to get these Northeastern kids.  My relatives all have incredible co op jobs and the two oldest undergrads have already been told by their companies that they are getting offers for full time.

This is one of the few schools where the huge tuition almost seems worth it because the kids make serious money on co op and are virtually guaranteed jobs when they graduate because their resumes are so strong.

 
Last edited by a moderator:

Users who are viewing this thread

Top