College Admissions Questions (3 Viewers)

[Anarchy99]

Our National Honor Society story has taken some twists and turns. Our son poked around and asked his teachers what the story was and uncovered some weird goings on. For starters, apparently some departments have unilaterally decided they will no longer partake in the NHS process. All teachers in that department will simply not participate. (In our son's case, he's taken 5 business courses and had none of his business teachers evaluate him for NHS.) In other departments, it seems like certain teachers have banded together to vote the same way. So teachers will try to vote in the kid they want in or out by collectively giving those students the highest or lowest score possible. There were other alarming stories of kids that were caught stealing items from teachers, kids who got caught cheating on tests, kids caught with drugs in the school, even students plagiarizing papers . . . all of which STILL were voted into NHS. Teachers overall are fighting amongst themselves and the majority of them hate the way the determination system works in the HS. At least that's some of what we heard. Who knows what is fact or what is fiction.

According to the bylaws of this chapter of NHS, the school principal is the one that has the power to select the committee to review the NHS candidates and has the autonomy to help define or modify the process for determining how kids are selected (provided it meets the overall tenants of the NHS program).

We have a new principal this year, and my wife brought all this up to the principal. She didn't go postal, didn't ask for a meeting, and didn't even try to get our kid into MHS. She just relayed what we had heard and attached some emails from the teachers themselves to support some of the chaotic nature of the process. The NHS induction ceremony was scheduled for tomorrow night. They already held their walkthrough and practiced how things were going to work tomorrow night. The date has been on the schedule since well before school started. Parents and families made arrangements to be there for the ceremony tomorrow. We believe that the new principal just rubber stamped both the people on the NHS committee and the evaluation process at the beginning of the school year (obviously there's a lot for a principal to have to take in starting a new position).

The principal has communicated with my wife and indicated they are investigating what we brought to the new administration's attention. The principal just sent out an email telling everyone that the NHS induction ceremony scheduled for tomorrow night has been delayed for 2 weeks. The reason given was there was a potential conflict with a team sporting event and the kids coming back from the game might not be back in time. IMO, that's some weak sauce as the game is right after school ends on a field with no lights and the ceremony is in the evening . . . 2 hours after it gets dark. Worst case, all they needed to do was bump the ceremony up half an hour. But pushing it back two weeks? Very odd. That's where things are at. Could mean something, could mean nothing, or it could simply mean more indigestion. The whole situation is just strange on many levels.

 

[zoobird]

Our National Honor Society story has taken some twists and turns.........The whole situation is just strange on many levels.

Sounds like your son may end up with some interesting material that he can work into college essays.  Might not be worth the risk at schools that he's likely to get into, but if there's somewhere that he's a long-shot to get into and wants to swing for the fences...

 

[Anarchy99]

Sounds like your son may end up with some interesting material that he can work into college essays.  Might not be worth the risk at schools that he's likely to get into, but if there's somewhere that he's a long-shot to get into and wants to swing for the fences...

His only real swing for the fences school he is loosely considering is U of Chicago. On the good news front, his older brother (currently a senior at Ohio State) just accepted a position at Navistar in their fast-track management training program for corporate finance (based in Chicago) after graduation. So now maybe the younger one will try harder to get into U of Chicago. Given that he is already sick of all the applications and essays he's had to do, not sure how many more schools he will apply to.

Many times I don't give him enough credit as to how much is on his plate. He's in all college credit, AP, or Honors courses, has already started varsity basketball practice, and will also be on indoor track all at the same time. So much for coasting through his senior year.

 

[BeTheMatch]

Our National Honor Society story has taken some twists and turns. Our son poked around and asked his teachers what the story was and uncovered some weird goings on. For starters, apparently some departments have unilaterally decided they will no longer partake in the NHS process. All teachers in that department will simply not participate. (In our son's case, he's taken 5 business courses and had none of his business teachers evaluate him for NHS.) In other departments, it seems like certain teachers have banded together to vote the same way. So teachers will try to vote in the kid they want in or out by collectively giving those students the highest or lowest score possible. There were other alarming stories of kids that were caught stealing items from teachers, kids who got caught cheating on tests, kids caught with drugs in the school, even students plagiarizing papers . . . all of which STILL were voted into NHS. Teachers overall are fighting amongst themselves and the majority of them hate the way the determination system works in the HS. At least that's some of what we heard. Who knows what is fact or what is fiction.

According to the bylaws of this chapter of NHS, the school principal is the one that has the power to select the committee to review the NHS candidates and has the autonomy to help define or modify the process for determining how kids are selected (provided it meets the overall tenants of the NHS program).

We have a new principal this year, and my wife brought all this up to the principal. She didn't go postal, didn't ask for a meeting, and didn't even try to get our kid into MHS. She just relayed what we had heard and attached some emails from the teachers themselves to support some of the chaotic nature of the process. The NHS induction ceremony was scheduled for tomorrow night. They already held their walkthrough and practiced how things were going to work tomorrow night. The date has been on the schedule since well before school started. Parents and families made arrangements to be there for the ceremony tomorrow. We believe that the new principal just rubber stamped both the people on the NHS committee and the evaluation process at the beginning of the school year (obviously there's a lot for a principal to have to take in starting a new position).

The principal has communicated with my wife and indicated they are investigating what we brought to the new administration's attention. The principal just sent out an email telling everyone that the NHS induction ceremony scheduled for tomorrow night has been delayed for 2 weeks. The reason given was there was a potential conflict with a team sporting event and the kids coming back from the game might not be back in time. IMO, that's some weak sauce as the game is right after school ends on a field with no lights and the ceremony is in the evening . . . 2 hours after it gets dark. Worst case, all they needed to do was bump the ceremony up half an hour. But pushing it back two weeks? Very odd. That's where things are at. Could mean something, could mean nothing, or it could simply mean more indigestion. The whole situation is just strange on many levels.

I would suggest all of you quitting while you're behind at this point. This seems like it's heading in a direction where it WILL end up affecting your kid.

 

[Anarchy99]

I would suggest all of you quitting while you're behind at this point. This seems like it's heading in a direction where it WILL end up affecting your kid.

I was only in it for that one meeting with the NHS folks to see what was going on. I wasn't really all that engaged before or after. My wife claimed she was going to let it go and move on, but clearly that hasn't happened.

 

[NewlyRetired]

Thanks for the update @Anarchy99

It is a very interesting story to follow.

 

[Fear The Turtle]

Just wanted to say thanks for your contributions to this thread.  Inferences we’ve drawn from your insight is one of many reasons we’ve decided Europe is a better option for my daughter than the USA for undergraduate study.  
 

She’s a junior, ranked first in her class, has won a national math competition, her PSAT score last year would have qualified for National Merit Semifinalist, she retook the ACT and improved to 36, is part of a cohort that had a project for their Energy & Sustainability class last spring escalate to a patent pending on it.  But since she’s not a legacy, a recruited athlete, tied closely to a wealthy donor, nor a first-generation college student, and weak in areas like volunteer hours and other bull#### designed to keep the working class out, she’s probably not going to get into a top 30 college here.  And if she did, it would likely be at a total cost of attendance rate in the $60-$70K range.  We would likely pay half that for Cambridge, King’s College, Lund, even less in Germany or Spain.  And because their admissions processes don’t reserve a bunch of slots for jocks and legacies and don’t weigh extracurriculars heavily like USA schools, she’s got a much better chance of admission overseas than here.  
(She also doesn’t have a ton of faith in USA’s willingness to be a future world leader in areas she’s passionate about, so she isn’t planning under the assumption she will continue to live in the USA once she’s on her own, a view I respect.)

With Brexit coming we’re not sure in England is the way to go but wow she sure loves London and the English countryside.  We’re going to visit Lund and a couple other schools in Sweden and Northern Europe this summer.  (She’s fluent in Spanish and is messing around with an app to learn some Swedish, so language isn’t necessarily a barrier)

It’s been weird tossing aside those USA college guides after looking at them closely the last couple years.  She will still apply to a few schools here but not looking to add any USA schools to the list or go out of our way to visit campuses.
I think she will end up overseas, and it blows my mind that going this route will be a lot cheaper.

It is unfortunate but safety is a European study benefit. Just got back from Spain, where my wife and I spent 10 days visiting with our daughter, who is studying there this semester. Walked all over Madrid and Barcelona at all hours and never felt threatened. Ironically, my wife had worried about our daughter's safety abroad before we left. She realized that she's much safer in Madrid than Durham, NC or any other U.S. city, for that matter.  

 

[The_Man]

It is unfortunate but safety is a European study benefit. Just got back from Spain, where my wife and I spent 10 days visiting with our daughter, who is studying there this semester. Walked all over Madrid and Barcelona at all hours and never felt threatened. Ironically, my wife had worried about our daughter's safety abroad before we left. She realized that she's much safer in Madrid than Durham, NC or any other U.S. city, for that matter.  

My son lived in Morocco for a 9 months when he was 18, and is now in Beijing for 4 months (only 6.5 weeks to go!) 

Whenever my mother would express any concern, I reminded her that we let him ride the light rail downtown in Baltimore when he was 15.

 

[Long Ball Larry]

The unfortunate answer is yes, some schools (not all), do put a major emphasis on current home value.

My brother has 4 children all at Northeastern.  He gets nothing from them for aid.  He got so frustrated that he and his wife went to the school to sit down with the financial aid officers.  After getting the run around, he finally forced the head of the department to talk to them.  It was then that the head told him that it was his home that prevented any financial aid.

I am re-married and have primary custody of my daughter.  For purposes of FA only, would it make sense to transfer the house into my current wife's name (currently jointly held).

 

[NewlyRetired]

I am re-married and have primary custody of my daughter.  For purposes of FA only, would it make sense to transfer the house into my current wife's name (currently jointly held).

I think it is college dependent.  This article below states that some schools will look at the new spouses assets as well.

https://www.wsj.com/articles/mistakes-to-avoid-when-filling-out-the-css-profile-for-college-financial-aid-1505096040

 

[NewlyRetired]

My son lived in Morocco for a 9 months when he was 18, and is now in Beijing for 4 months (only 6.5 weeks to go!) 

Whenever my mother would express any concern, I reminded her that we let him ride the light rail downtown in Baltimore when he was 15.

I read an article years ago that estimated that travel to and living in Europe for students dropped quite a bit after the movie Taken was released in the theaters.  Some people are highly effected by what they see in movies.

 

[Fear The Turtle]

I read an article years ago that estimated that travel to and living in Europe for students dropped quite a bit after the movie Taken was released in the theaters.  Some people are highly effected by what they see in movies.

  I thought of that film when our daughter confirmed her Madrid study.

 

[NewlyRetired]

  I thought of that film when our daughter confirmed her Madrid study.

I remember being in a theater watching the movie with another couple.  In the middle of the movie, the lady takes out her phone and texts her daughter telling her that the daughter is never going to Europe as long as she lives

 

[scorchy]

Whenever my mother would express any concern, I reminded her that we let him ride the light rail downtown in Baltimore when he was 15.

Too funny.  When my son and I were in the Republic of Georgia last year, I got really sick -- like could barely get out of bed for 2 days kind of sick.  Rather than make him sit in the hotel with me, I gave him some cash and let him wander around for a few hours at a time (he did at least know a little bit of Russian).  When people back home acted completely shocked, I pointed out that the entire country of Georgia had 32 murders in 2017 while Baltimore hits that number in 4 or 5 weeks.

 

[Anarchy99]

Count me in the not-so-convinced-Europe-is-way-safer category. Our daughter did a semester abroad in Italy. She and a bunch of female flat mates were out one night in Rome and one of them had left her purse somewhere and went back alone to go get it. They all had been coached / told to stick together and not to go to places by themselves. That was the ONE TIME that one of them veered off alone and should have taken 5 minutes. The girl (not our daughter) didn't come back and they found her the next day in the hospital . . . and she had been beaten, assaulted, and all her valuables taken, etc. The local authorities didn't really jump at the chance to investigate and basically took the approach that she was a stupid American rich girl that got what she deserved. I would like to think that this was an isolated incident that doesn't happen very often, but it didn't give me the warm and fuzzies about our daughter being there.

 

[bigbottom]

In at Clemson! Happy that he now has a choice to make for college. Now we’ll see whether the reach schools pan out. It will be a while before we hear for most of them. 

 

[chet]

Not really on topic, but there are many knowledgeable posters here.

My daughter's midterm in freshman linear algebra had an average of 38%.  Semi brag on her behalf--she got 84%.  Do colleges still curve results?  How might they deal with this?  Why do colleges make tests where the average is a fail?  TIA

 

[IvanKaramazov]

Not really on topic, but there are many knowledgeable posters here.

My daughter's midterm in freshman linear algebra had an average of 38%.  Semi brag on her behalf--she got 84%.  Do colleges still curve results?

Of course.  This is completely normal for this type of course.

 Why do colleges make tests where the average is a fail?  TIA

It's easier to distinguish A students from B students from C students etc. when there's a lot of dispersion in scoring, compared to when you try to cram students into a purely artificial 90-80-70-60 scale.  I always welcomed these sorts of courses because it was easy to stand out (in a good way).

 

[The Z Machine]

Not really on topic, but there are many knowledgeable posters here.

My daughter's midterm in freshman linear algebra had an average of 38%.  Semi brag on her behalf--she got 84%.  Do colleges still curve results?  How might they deal with this?  Why do colleges make tests where the average is a fail?  TIA

Totally normal. Profs should always post the mean, standard deviation, high and low scores for midterms and finals.

 

[Fear The Turtle]

   And with the hours Spaniards keep, there’s plenty to do in those late hours.  We encountered people pulling all-nighters in Valencia, Madrid, and Barcelona for seemingly no greater reason than it was Saturday.  We were on full pickpocket alert in the city (especially through high-density areas like Puerta Del Sol in Madrid) but no more than we would be in, say, Chicago or San Francisco.  
 

The big question for my wife and I is would we move to Europe if the kid tries it for a year and decides it’s going to be many more over there.  I think it would be a fun adventure, but I’m certain I haven’t thought through all the logistics and consequences of such a move.  
 

But as anyone who has been around teenagers enough, this can turn sharply and quickly.  The other day the kid asked about visiting Claremont McKenna and Pomona, both of which are in the United States (as of this posting).  

So much for the Spanish Utopia I described: daughter had her phone stolen about an hour ago.    Well, at least she's physically safer there than here.

 

[bigbottom]

Son submitted his final application today. Pro tip:  10 is too many.  And now we wait. 

 

[Galileo]

Well,  I found out son #1's PSAT scores today... 1430 with a selection index of 210.   It looks like the dumb ### will miss the cut for National Merit Semifinalist.  Maybe there is still hope for son#2.     Just kidding, I am proud as hell of him...solid scores.  Now, if I could just get him interested enough to start putting together a college list... 

 

[NewlyRetired]

Well,  I found out son #1's PSAT scores today... 1430 with a selection index of 210.   It looks like the dumb ### will miss the cut for National Merit Semifinalist.  Maybe there is still hope for son#2.     Just kidding, I am proud as hell of him...solid scores.  Now, if I could just get him interested enough to start putting together a college list... 

Fantastic!  This takes a big weight off because now you know standardizes tests are not going to be an issue and you don't have to worry about test optional schools.

I am unfamiliar with the "selection index" part of the score.  Is that something relatively new?

 

[Galileo]

Fantastic!  This takes a big weight off because now you know standardizes tests are not going to be an issue and you don't have to worry about test optional schools.

I am unfamiliar with the "selection index" part of the score.  Is that something relatively new?

Selection Index is the sum of your section scores x 2.  It has been around for a while and reported on the score report.  It is the value that is used to determine National Merit status.  Class of 2020 cut score in Ohio was 212 for "commended" and 218 for "semifinalist".  The cuts can fluctuate a little from year to year and vary across states because award winners are allocated via a proportional system.

 

[bigbottom]

Selection Index is the sum of your section scores x 2.  It has been around for a while and reported on the score report.  It is the value that is used to determine National Merit status.  Class of 2020 cut score in Ohio was 212 for "commended" and 218 for "semifinalist".  The cuts can fluctuate a little from year to year and vary across states because award winners are allocated via a proportional system.

Any chance you can move to Mississippi?

Nice job by your son on the PSAT!

 

[Anarchy99]

Baby steps. Heard back from our first school. Our son accepted into the Honors Program of the Business School at the University of New Hampshire. As a state resident, that was his "safe school" and there are many other applications pending. But it's always nice to learn that someplace wanted him.

 

[The_Man]

Quiet in here. Ivy League early decisions out around 5 today, I think. Good luck to anyone impacted!

 

[El Floppo]

Quiet in here. Ivy League early decisions out around 5 today, I think. Good luck to anyone impacted!

My nephew is applying...I'm out of the loop, but thought it was Monday?

Good luck all!

 

[bigbottom]

Son applied early action at Notre Dame and found out today that he was deferred (ND will make the decision on his app with the regular decision pool).  Real bummer. But at least it wasn’t a rejection. Heard that only 20% of last year’s EA applicants who were not admitted were deferred, with everyone else getting rejections. So at least he lives to fight another day. 

 

[bigbottom]

Baby steps. Heard back from our first school. Our son accepted into the Honors Program of the Business School at the University of New Hampshire. As a state resident, that was his "safe school" and there are many other applications pending. But it's always nice to learn that someplace wanted him.

That’s great news!

 

[General Malaise]

Well,  I found out son #1's PSAT scores today... 1430 with a selection index of 210.   It looks like the dumb ### will miss the cut for National Merit Semifinalist.  Maybe there is still hope for son#2.     Just kidding, I am proud as hell of him...solid scores.  Now, if I could just get him interested enough to start putting together a college list... 

1340 here and quite further away from the NMS numbers.  Once I let him out of his cage, we'll talk it over. 

In other news, he gets to make out with the female lead in their school's production of "The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee", which was fabulous!  I might go watch it again tomorrow night.  Laughed so hard.  

 

[Anarchy99]

That’s great news!

Finally starting to hear back from other schools. Accepted at South Carolina and Ohio State. I am curious how some of this stuff works. South Carolina emailed us previously that based on his numbers, he would be a candidate for in-state tuition. In their acceptance notification, they indicated he would be offered over $10,000 a year in scholarship money. However, they made no reference to the in state tuition rate. They said they would email us more information and a financial aid breakdown at a later date (not defined).

There is a forum for U of SC students and families where people have been posting about their kids' fates. Some people got notification that they received in state tuition AND the $10,000+ scholarship funding. Plenty got deferred. So we don't know if that means we DIDN'T get in state tuition. In state tuition + $10,000 off per year = sweet deal. Out of state tuition + $10,000 off per year = not that great a deal.

Ohio State said something similar. Eligible for scholarship money but they did not spell out what that was and did not say when they would provide a full financial aid package / offer.

 

[jhib]

Ugh. Son just got deferred early action at Georgetown.

The good news is that it wasn't necessarily his top choice and we'd be waiting to hear back from several regular decision places anyway. 

The bad news (other than just being disappointing in general) is that his number of applications was going to drop significantly if he had gotten in there. So the next few weeks are going to be fun, followed by the further waiting game. 

Is was so much nicer with my daughter who knew what she wanted, got in ED, and was done with it by this time. 

 

[El Floppo]

Good luck everybody! 

Deferrals at least aren't rejections.../silver lining.

Our nephew is waiting to hear ED from MIT today (probably bad news or we'd have heard from them) ...the wife asked if that eliminates him from all MIT (or wherever) acceptance right then and there, or if you're rejected ED are you still in the pool for regular?

 

[bigbottom]

Good luck everybody! 

Deferrals at least aren't rejections.../silver lining.

Our nephew is waiting to hear ED from MIT today (probably bad news or we'd have heard from them) ...the wife asked if that eliminates him from all MIT (or wherever) acceptance right then and there, or if you're rejected ED are you still in the pool for regular?

Deferring to regular decision is one of the possible responses for today’s MIT notice for ED applicants. 

 

[El Floppo]

Deferring to regular decision is one of the possible responses for today’s MIT notice for ED applicants. 

He was deferred.

Moron.

Eta...him, not you BB.

 

[Anarchy99]

In the you-can't-make-this-stuff-up category, for those that don't remember, our son was not picked for the National Honor Society through a very complex and convoluted selection process at our high school. We appealed (and lost) with their final determination and conclusion that he did not display the leadership characteristics or have enough leadership experience to merit induction into the NHS.

I already posted that he got accepted into the Business Honors program at the University of New Hampshire (our home state). We just found out that he has been picked for their most prestigious business scholars program (Top 99.5%) based on . . . his exemplary academic and leadership experience and his status as one of the country's top candidates to become a future business leader. IIRC, should he choose to attend, he would become the first student from our high school to be picked for that distinction (out of hundreds of kids over the years that were in the NHS and thousands of kids that have applied to the UNH).

Unlike the NHS people, they actually read his recommendations from lifelong teachers and coaches each said he would be in their Top 3 students they ever had in 30+ years of teaching. But oddly enough, none of that mattered for NHS because his average scores based on teacher ratings was not high enough. So they didn't even read or consider any of his teacher recommendations.

The list of perks and opportunities afforded to the scholars program is a mile long and includes separate upgraded housing, participation in co-op business leadership programs, internships available only to the scholars, a completely different and advanced curriculum, community work at businesses in the field, and a ton of other business opportunities and programs not offered to regular students. (I am still not even sure he would want to go there even with all the pomp and circumstance . . . still waiting to hear from a ton of other schools.)

I generally am not someone that encourages stirring the pot, but I told our son that I would have no problem whatsoever if he went to the administrators of the NHS program at the high school and told them they could take their program and stick it where the sun don't shine.

 

[Fear The Turtle]

In the you-can't-make-this-stuff-up category, for those that don't remember, our son was not picked for the National Honor Society through a very complex and convoluted selection process at our high school. We appealed (and lost) with their final determination and conclusion that he did not display the leadership characteristics or have enough leadership experience to merit induction into the NHS.

I already posted that he got accepted into the Business Honors program at the University of New Hampshire (our home state). We just found out that he has been picked for their most prestigious business scholars program (Top 99.5%) based on . . . his exemplary academic and leadership experience and his status as one of the country's top candidates to become a future business leader. IIRC, should he choose to attend, he would become the first student from our high school to be picked for that distinction (out of hundreds of kids over the years that were in the NHS and thousands of kids that have applied to the UNH).

Unlike the NHS people, they actually read his recommendations from lifelong teachers and coaches each said he would be in their Top 3 students they ever had in 30+ years of teaching. But oddly enough, none of that mattered for NHS because his average scores based on teacher ratings was not high enough. So they didn't even read or consider any of his teacher recommendations.

The list of perks and opportunities afforded to the scholars program is a mile long and includes separate upgraded housing, participation in co-op business leadership programs, internships available only to the scholars, a completely different and advanced curriculum, community work at businesses in the field, and a ton of other business opportunities and programs not offered to regular students. (I am still not even sure he would want to go there even with all the pomp and circumstance . . . still waiting to hear from a ton of other schools.)

I generally am not someone that encourages stirring the pot, but I told our son that I would have no problem whatsoever if he went to the administrators of the NHS program at the high school and told them they could take their program and stick it where the sun don't shine.

It sounds like your wife has gotten a hold of your FBG account.    Seriously, though, big time congrats to your son. As for the NHS program administrators, screw 'em. I would advise your son not to even waste his time with them. 

 

[NewlyRetired]

It sounds like your wife has gotten a hold of your FBG account.    Seriously, though, big time congrats to your son. As for the NHS program administrators, screw 'em. I would advise your son not to even waste his time with them. 

This is a classic "just let it go" situation IMO.   He has so much to be thankful for that he should not even give the NHS program even a millisecond thought anymore.  It would be a good life lesson for the kid too.

 

[SteelCurtain]

In the you-can't-make-this-stuff-up category, for those that don't remember, our son was not picked for the National Honor Society through a very complex and convoluted selection process at our high school. We appealed (and lost) with their final determination and conclusion that he did not display the leadership characteristics or have enough leadership experience to merit induction into the NHS.

I already posted that he got accepted into the Business Honors program at the University of New Hampshire (our home state). We just found out that he has been picked for their most prestigious business scholars program (Top 99.5%) based on . . . his exemplary academic and leadership experience and his status as one of the country's top candidates to become a future business leader. IIRC, should he choose to attend, he would become the first student from our high school to be picked for that distinction (out of hundreds of kids over the years that were in the NHS and thousands of kids that have applied to the UNH).

Unlike the NHS people, they actually read his recommendations from lifelong teachers and coaches each said he would be in their Top 3 students they ever had in 30+ years of teaching. But oddly enough, none of that mattered for NHS because his average scores based on teacher ratings was not high enough. So they didn't even read or consider any of his teacher recommendations.

The list of perks and opportunities afforded to the scholars program is a mile long and includes separate upgraded housing, participation in co-op business leadership programs, internships available only to the scholars, a completely different and advanced curriculum, community work at businesses in the field, and a ton of other business opportunities and programs not offered to regular students. (I am still not even sure he would want to go there even with all the pomp and circumstance . . . still waiting to hear from a ton of other schools.)

I generally am not someone that encourages stirring the pot, but I told our son that I would have no problem whatsoever if he went to the administrators of the NHS program at the high school and told them they could take their program and stick it where the sun don't shine.

I told you NHS didn't matter in college admissions. 

I understand your frustration but just let it go and move on.....

 

[Instinctive]

How hard is getting into a graduate program compared to undergrad?

I found it significantly easier, but it varies greatly from program to program.

Law school is pretty simple - LSAT + GPA relative to school's admissions stats is extremely predictive of admissions.

MBA has a lot more soft factors, but GMAT + GPA can be a pretty clear eliminator of knowing where you will have a shot

I am less familiar with other programs, but from my friends in them I know that there is a lot more interviewing and such that go along with most other grad school programs and they are often extremely specialized and down to a single professor who wants you or not.

 

[zoobird]

down to a single professor who wants you or not.

I realize this isn't what you were referring to, but has anyone ever heard of situations where a professor seems to have influenced the undergraduate admissions process to get a student with particularly good credentials in their area of specialty admitted?

 

[E-Z Glider]

I told you NHS didn't matter in college admissions. 

I understand your frustration but just let it go and move on.....

Unrelated side-story, but there's a girl at our school that is currently ranked 5th in the class and is a very well-known cheater. She has been caught cheating in like 4-5 classes over the past 2 years. One of the teachers actually went down to the office and had her removed from this years NHS inductees. Her parents were furious.

 

[El Floppo]

Unrelated side-story, but there's a girl at our school that is currently ranked 5th in the class and is a very well-known cheater. She has been caught cheating in like 4-5 classes over the past 2 years. One of the teachers actually went down to the office and had her removed from this years NHS inductees. Her parents were furious.

That's nuts.

How does the school tolerate and maintain her ranking, given that?

 

[E-Z Glider]

That's nuts.

How does the school tolerate and maintain her ranking, given that?

Because most of the teachers are pushovers. There's another girl who cries every time she gets a bad test/homework grade and the teacher ends up giving her extra opportunities to improve her grades. I get it, but its not really fair to everyone else and its not helping these kids at all when they go to college.

 

[Anarchy99]

Unrelated side-story, but there's a girl at our school that is currently ranked 5th in the class and is a very well-known cheater. She has been caught cheating in like 4-5 classes over the past 2 years. One of the teachers actually went down to the office and had her removed from this years NHS inductees. Her parents were furious.

That was one of the things I learned in our situation. A lot of stuff does not factor into the NHS evaluation process. We heard of kids that made it in with the following issues: multiple school suspensions, drug or other criminal charges, stealing from teachers, plagiarism, cheating, etc. But the evaluation committee was not made aware of those issues so it did not get factored in. Seems dumb to me, but so be it.

 

[Galileo]

That was one of the things I learned in our situation. A lot of stuff does not factor into the NHS evaluation process. We heard of kids that made it in with the following issues: multiple school suspensions, drug or other criminal charges, stealing from teachers, plagiarism, cheating, etc. But the evaluation committee was not made aware of those issues so it did not get factored in. Seems dumb to me, but so be it.

Sadly, that is poor planning and poor communication on the part of those involved.  Our NHS leaders put together the list of applicants and sent it out to the staff for general comments and feedback regarding the candidates.  There was one student who had feedback from 2 teachers about cheating incidents.  His application was denied.  They also met with the assistant principal who reviewed the candidate list for issues that were disciplinary in nature.  Students discipline records are private, so he didn't necessarily reveal the offenses, but he red flagged a couple names, and they were denied.  These types of things happen in addition to reviewing 3 required recommendations (2 from teachers and 1 from a club/activity advisor).  If a student has a shady character, it should come out in the process, and it should be considered in deciding a candidates worthiness.  

 

[bigbottom]

Son applied early action at Notre Dame and found out today that he was deferred (ND will make the decision on his app with the regular decision pool).  Real bummer. But at least it wasn’t a rejection. Heard that only 20% of last year’s EA applicants who were not admitted were deferred, with everyone else getting rejections. So at least he lives to fight another day. 

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.

 

[Galileo]

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.

Awesome!  I need to plan a trip to Purdue for my sons, just have no good time...will probably need to go during spring break or early summer.

 

[bigbottom]

Awesome!  I need to plan a trip to Purdue for my sons, just have no good time...will probably need to go during spring break or early summer.

We visited the campus over the summer, but didn’t take a formal tour. It’s in the middle of nowhere, but the campus is really nice.