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College Admissions Questions (1 Viewer)
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Fear The Turtle
Footballguy
As I was waiting on hold, I believe I heard one of the messages say that EA decisions would be available Feb. 1.
Courtjester
The Town Drunk
Well it's looking like my daughter will be going to UNC in Greeley. She's not going to wait around until March to see the results of being wait listed from her #1 school, despite us saying be patient. I get it. The stress and the uncertainty is not something she wants anymore of. It is the whole bird in the hand type thing.
She got her awards letter today and the most we would be out of pocket is $24,000 for four years total and that would be further reduced if she wins any of the private scholarships that she's a semi finalist for right now. So this very well may end up being a complete full ride for her (and us) which is a good thing.
She has enough college credit now that she could get out in two years but she has the option of staying the full four because, looking at the catalog of classes, she is planning to major in a biology/genetics field and then minor in math. Frankly the diversity and number of courses they offer in her field is amazing so going longer may not be a bad choice.
It is very exciting but we are going to be putting some major miles on our cars because the school is three hours away. They want her there on the 24th of this month to receive her scholarship and awards. My wife has to have her there on the 27th to go through their honors orientation and then I have to have her back there a month later for the formal campus tour. But of course they want $250 immediately to ensure that she gets preferential housing choices.
Now onto the issue of her boyfriend deciding to go there as well
She got her awards letter today and the most we would be out of pocket is $24,000 for four years total and that would be further reduced if she wins any of the private scholarships that she's a semi finalist for right now. So this very well may end up being a complete full ride for her (and us) which is a good thing.
She has enough college credit now that she could get out in two years but she has the option of staying the full four because, looking at the catalog of classes, she is planning to major in a biology/genetics field and then minor in math. Frankly the diversity and number of courses they offer in her field is amazing so going longer may not be a bad choice.
It is very exciting but we are going to be putting some major miles on our cars because the school is three hours away. They want her there on the 24th of this month to receive her scholarship and awards. My wife has to have her there on the 27th to go through their honors orientation and then I have to have her back there a month later for the formal campus tour. But of course they want $250 immediately to ensure that she gets preferential housing choices.
Now onto the issue of her boyfriend deciding to go there as well
The_Man
Footballguy
NewlyRetired
Footballguy
My daughter has an alumni interview for Brown tomorrow at 4:00pm but the snowstorm here is expected to start around noon. I am going to have her email to see if it can be moved earlier or rescheduled.
Fear The Turtle
Footballguy
NewlyRetired
Footballguy
yes. Moved until next Saturday.
The interviewer was very nice and told her that she was just about to email my daughter the same suggestion. The place where the interview was to be got 12 inches of snow.
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Fear The Turtle
Footballguy
How do we approach this question on the CSS Profile?
Enter the amount your parents think they will be able to pay for your 2017-18 college expenses.
Enter the amount your parents think they will be able to pay for your 2017-18 college expenses.
Courtjester
The Town Drunk
Fear The Turtle
Footballguy
Couldn't that answer potentially impact the admission decision? The college could opt for the student whose parents are going to pony up.
JaxBill
Footballguy
FAFSA question -
I completed it back in November. I got emails from 2 different schools telling me i need to submit FAFSA to their school by Jan. 15.
I checked fafsa online and the schools were listed.
Are these just canned emails that go out to everybody? Or do I need to check with that school financial aid office.
I completed it back in November. I got emails from 2 different schools telling me i need to submit FAFSA to their school by Jan. 15.
I checked fafsa online and the schools were listed.
Are these just canned emails that go out to everybody? Or do I need to check with that school financial aid office.
The Z Machine
Footballguy
Sorry to hear that GB. I'm sure others have mentioned it, but the cost burden could be shared between you and your daughter, not entirely borne by you.
JaxBill
Footballguy
This is where my son is at-
Good but not great SAT (1410), good grades in AICE program ( 3.7 unweighted, 4.25 weighted.) AICE is roughly comparable to IB with tests administered by Cambridge. Good ECs - Yearbook editor, involved with newspaper, Brain Brawl, working on Eagle Scout.
He has Florida Prepaid tuition only and will qualify for Florida Bright Futures.
Interested in Journalism or Communication major.
School 1A - Florida. Ranked journalism school. Should qualify but with new SAT, who knows? Even with no money from them , probably cheapest option.
School 1B - Alabama. They have been after him hard. J school okay. Campus is beautiful and loved the visit. Accepted and scholarship reduces tuition to in state rate. Would really need them to come up with more cash . Waiting on additional scholarship decisions.
Wild Card - Ohio U. Ranked J school. Accepted and tuition reduces tuition to in state rate. Waiting to see if he gets any additional scholarships. Not sure how he would deal with weather or wife would deal with distance. Have not visited. Would visit if money comes in.
School 4 - USF. They offered him 4 grand a year. Pretty sure this is absolute last resort. Brother goes there to boot.
Good but not great SAT (1410), good grades in AICE program ( 3.7 unweighted, 4.25 weighted.) AICE is roughly comparable to IB with tests administered by Cambridge. Good ECs - Yearbook editor, involved with newspaper, Brain Brawl, working on Eagle Scout.
He has Florida Prepaid tuition only and will qualify for Florida Bright Futures.
Interested in Journalism or Communication major.
School 1A - Florida. Ranked journalism school. Should qualify but with new SAT, who knows? Even with no money from them , probably cheapest option.
School 1B - Alabama. They have been after him hard. J school okay. Campus is beautiful and loved the visit. Accepted and scholarship reduces tuition to in state rate. Would really need them to come up with more cash . Waiting on additional scholarship decisions.
Wild Card - Ohio U. Ranked J school. Accepted and tuition reduces tuition to in state rate. Waiting to see if he gets any additional scholarships. Not sure how he would deal with weather or wife would deal with distance. Have not visited. Would visit if money comes in.
School 4 - USF. They offered him 4 grand a year. Pretty sure this is absolute last resort. Brother goes there to boot.
MAC_32
Footballguy
It's probably either that or a bad v lookup and you didn't get filtered out, but it'd be best to double check.
Fear The Turtle
Footballguy
My temptation is to say they are canned emails but it won't hurt to check. I recently added another school to our original FAFSA group and all from the original list went through, according to FAFSA. I still think I'm going to check on a few, though.
MAC_32
Footballguy
It obviously isn't Florida, but just as a fyi Ohio U is not subject to the type of weather most of the rest of the state is subject to. Great school though. Both education and experience. It's in the middle of nowhere and is like its own little world. Need to be disciplined though. Its party school nature claims victims every year.
MAC_32
Footballguy
Depends on the school. A school with a low acceptance rate will probably immediately discard the application. Less selective schools though?
If the student is on the borderline, it will impact the decision.
If the student is easily in, maybe, but probably not. More than likely they just won't be a part of the early acceptance group and need to sweat a bit more.
JaxBill
Footballguy
It's kind of funny how different my 2 sons are. Older son didn't want to go to school in college town and loved the fact that USF was in big city.
Younger son loved Alabama and liked college town in middle of nowhere. I think he would like Ohio U., but he has grown up in world where highs in the 50s are cold.
Younger son loved Alabama and liked college town in middle of nowhere. I think he would like Ohio U., but he has grown up in world where highs in the 50s are cold.
Fear The Turtle
Footballguy
MAC, I know there are many, many factors at play but could you speculate on a rough range of figures for this question that could keep a kid in the running at a low acceptance rate school? Gracias.
MAC_32
Footballguy
Not really, unfortunately. I work at an extremely high acceptance rate school and it isn't in Admissions. I think I've gained a much better understanding of how the whole process works working here and networking with those in the area, but ultimately what is done at one school is done differently at another and what is weighted heavily at this school is relatively meaningless at that school.
I think the most important question to ask yourself is do you have a trump card at this particular school? If you don't know then you probably don't have one. In those cases they usually just want your money. The higher the number the better your chances, but just be careful about putting a number that's too high based on your other financials. BS detectors will go off in a good Admissions rep's head if the numbers don't add up and they'll just move on to the next applicant rather than spending anymore time on yours trying to figure out how you can afford that number. Discount rate is usually the #1 thing they're thinking about, but Default rate is always there too.
Fear The Turtle
Footballguy
Thank you very much. One more question: how about if you bump the "contribution" number by including an uncle and/or a grandparent's contribution? How is that viewed? Would you actually have to name them? Thanks again.
MAC_32
Footballguy
I won't speak in absolutes, but I'd be incredibly surprised if any school asks you to name outside family contributors. Factors like those are why bumping the number above the EFC a notch or two isn't questioned though.
ffjunk
Footballguy
What about after you've finished your first year there and have to redo the CSS and not worry about acceptance? Will they change their contribution?
MAC_32
Footballguy
Technically, your award can always be changed. Generally speaking, it only happens from the institution if a student doesn't live up to the terms of their original award. i.e. eligible for X scholarship, but must maintain a gpa > 3.5 and 3.75 in their major. In this day if you're a school that gets in the habit of screwing with returning student's awards the internet would bury you. I'm sure it happens, but I would think only at the for-profit level. There just isn't any upside to that practice. Now if it isn't institutional money? That's different every year. Different subject though.
NewlyRetired
Footballguy
This question ("how much willing to pay") was so difficult for us because of our unique situation.
Since the FASFA is almost all income based, our EFC turned out to be 0. But with the CSS profile delving into the fulls means of the parents, it is obvious what we can pay.
We still had no idea how much to put for this question so we chose a number that was half the cost of the colleges my daughter was applying to.
The_Man
Footballguy
I don't think your response here would make any difference at schools that claim to "meet full demonstrated need" (i.e., "Need Blind" schools) and a lot of those have the very lowest acceptance rates.
Those schools are going to take the EFC spit out by the FAFSA, tweak it based on how they use the CSS, and then tell you what they'll give you. I think it's the less selective schools, including those that use merit awards as recruitment tools, as well as those who try to protect their yield stats by rejecting kids they don't think will go there, who are more likely to look at the number you put down.
My kid's school is need blind - some of the stuff we put on the CSS, including the fact we still have a younger kid in private school, knocked our EFC down from what FAFSA said.
MAC_32
Footballguy
If it makes you feel any better that was probably a good guess and won't impact her application. You probably could get away with putting down less, but it depends on a lot of other factors. The variance between EFC and CSS is an attention grabber, but an easy question to answer once they see why.
ffjunk
Footballguy
But the FAFSA asks if you have "x" amount in savings. I would think that plays into it a bit but if you got 0 then good for you. Happy someone is beating them.
NewlyRetired
Footballguy
Here are some FAFSA rules that I think benefited us. It looks like the less you make, the less they look at your means (savings, investments etc). These are from 2014 but I assume the general theory still applies with some updated numbersffjunk said:But the FAFSA asks if you have "x" amount in savings. I would think that plays into it a bit but if you got 0 then good for you. Happy someone is beating them.
* If your adjusted gross income is $24,000 or less for the 2014 base year, you have an automatic EFC 00000.
* Secondly, if your income is $49,999 or less you qualify for the “simplified needs test” which means both the parent’s and student’s assets are not counted in the EFC calculation.
===============================================
The FAFSA does not offer that much though so there is really not much to beat from what I can understand even with an EFC of 0. I think it is the schools themselves that have the ability to offer the real amounts of money and that is based on the CSS Profile mostly of which we will likely get nothing.
NewlyRetired
Footballguy
oh and I should mention in relation to my last post that the FAFSA is not the first fed\state program we have run into that ignores your means if you make under a certain amount in AGI. It is worth keeping in mind should anyone want to retire early and find themselves in a low income mode.
Fear The Turtle
Footballguy
Daughter was accepted at Georgia Tech in the engineering program. She's happy.
NewlyRetired
Footballguy
awesome!
What kind of engineering does she want to study?
Was this a late early action or an early regular decision thing?
Fear The Turtle
Footballguy
Thanks NR. She applied as a mechanical engineer but that major could change. It was the earliest of early actions with a 10/15/16 deadline and, consequently, her submission was not refined at all, which gives me a little hope that the much improved apps she's sent more recently have a shot. For instance, in the Ga Tech app, she somehow managed to omit the fact that, as a soph., she participated in a selective six month student emerging leader program that culminated in a public debate, which her team won. It was followed a few weeks later by a reception at the U.S. Congress where the participants received a congressional certificate from their congressman. Oooof. She's been including that recently.
Very curious about how the Brown interview went.
Oh, by the way, from her HS, I know of five Ga. Tech applicants: her boyfriend and one other guy friend from elementary days were accepted; another boy with a 33 ACT was deferred; and a very good friend of my daughter's, a kid with a shoe selling business with sales of over $35,000 thus far and with two separate summer long internships at NASA, was rejected. Amazing.
Nugget
Footballguy
I started my college career at Georgia Tech as ChemE. 20+ years ago I think the majority of their decisions were based on a formula that just weighed SAT scores (heavily on the Math side), GPA, and class rank.
I was not prepared for the amount of calculus involved and the amount of alcohol available.
I was not prepared for the amount of calculus involved and the amount of alcohol available.
Fear The Turtle
Footballguy
ffjunk
Footballguy
That makes sense. Forgot that the amount in the bank will be based off your income.
The whole FAFSA system needs to be re-done though. I did the 4caster and put myself living in the poorest part of the country but making the same money. You would think if I have more money in my pocket due to less cost of living and smaller housing costs that the EFC should go up. It went down. I don't think they take into consideration that different parts of the country costs more to live in.
NewlyRetired
Footballguy
I personally hate that the system (the whole financial aid system, not FAFSA alone) appears to punish people who save and favor people who spend.
NewlyRetired
Footballguy
My daughter thought it went well. The lady she chatted with was very nice.
In the end I believe unless you go into these interviews with a blow torch and try to burn the school down that you are interviewing for, very little can affect you either way. It just appears to be more of a formality to me.
The Z Machine
Footballguy
Congrats! But undergrad at Tech is tough. Being a woman there is extra difficult IMO.
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The Z Machine
Footballguy
I think at the most selective schools, that's not the case. I nailed one interview, failed in the second at elite schools. You can guess which one I got into.
That was also nearly 20 years ago.
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The Z Machine
Footballguy
On a related topic, I've had an argument with my wife about how "hispanic" our kids are. She was born in Venezuela to an American mother and Venezuelan father. Moved to the US as a teenager. She considers herself Latina.
We are raising our kids bilingual and we participate in Latin cultural activities. She thinks the kids aren't Latino because a) they are white and native English speakers, and b) not poor like many Latinos. I say that they aren't much different than her, except she was born outside the US and they born inside the US.
I think she feels a bit guilty for accepting Latino scholarship $ throughout her education. I say, let's use whatever avenues we have to maximize potential scholarships. Although in 15 years, there probably won't be that much money for Latinos since so many will be eligible.
We are raising our kids bilingual and we participate in Latin cultural activities. She thinks the kids aren't Latino because a) they are white and native English speakers, and b) not poor like many Latinos. I say that they aren't much different than her, except she was born outside the US and they born inside the US.
I think she feels a bit guilty for accepting Latino scholarship $ throughout her education. I say, let's use whatever avenues we have to maximize potential scholarships. Although in 15 years, there probably won't be that much money for Latinos since so many will be eligible.
Fear The Turtle
Footballguy
Thank you. She has an idea of what she's in for if she attends as she has a female friend who is a soph engineering student there now. Plus, she's gotten a little taste in her high school's pre-engineering program. In lots of those classes she's either the only girl or one of two or three.
In the Miami area, there are thousands of great Latino students, with high SES, both white and "dark" skin who will be competing for those same scholarships, so she should not feel guilty at all.
There's also a benefit in getting into many schools based on being Latino. I saw it firsthand with my daughters and their friends, while applying to the best public Universities in Florida, and elite schools, such as Duke, GIT, MIT, Princeton, Columbia. My daughters were born here, Bolivian mother, gringo father. They had decent proficiency in Spanish (5 on AP), spent a couple of summers in Bolivia, but I don't think schools even care, as long as you check the Hispanic box. Even with non-Latino first & last names. Whether that's fair is up for discussion.
The_Man
Footballguy
My sense is that alumni interviews are increasingly far more about alumni relations and making graduates feel connected and important than they are about admissions. A truly terrible interview can raise a red flag, but otherwise they don't make much difference.
Z Machine, hell yes your kid should apply as Latin. If you don't, thousands of others will. There's no reason in the world not to
Z Machine, hell yes your kid should apply as Latin. If you don't, thousands of others will. There's no reason in the world not to
James Daulton
Footballguy
My daughter was accepted into the honors program of one of her safe schools James Madison. The honors program takes like 200 kids only each class so this gives her some hope on some of her stretch schools. Although she really likes James Madison and its business school seems well regarded.
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Fear The Turtle
Footballguy
Most definitely. I would say now and during the next several years is the sweet spot for the Latino admission advantage. I would guess a lot of prestigious schools are scrambling to get their Hispanic numbers up. When the country's Hispanic pop is something like 18% and your school has about a third of that % enrolled, it doesn't look good...from their perspective. Among the schools my daughter was looking into or actually applied to, the contrast is fairly stark: Duke, 6%; Wash U, 7%; GIT, 7%; Michigan, 5%; Bucknell, 6%; Richmond, 8%; UMD, 9%; Notre Dame, 11% (higher than most probably due to the Catholic connection).
Fear The Turtle
Footballguy
The long lull before the RD response storm... Social media footprint: should our kids be following all of the college/college admission sites of the schools they're applying to? Or will a school check and see that a kid is doing just that and somehow downgrade them, even if ever so slightly? Should a kid gamble and only follow his/her favorite? My kid has a non-private twitter account so it wouldn't take much for a school's checker to determine who she's following. I bet some/lots of the schools do this. Am I overthinking this?
Ouch, just checked my kids twitter account and noticed that she re-tweeted four images from the Women's March. Two of them have foul language and images. As soon as Sleeping Beauty gets up, those are going down.
Ouch, just checked my kids twitter account and noticed that she re-tweeted four images from the Women's March. Two of them have foul language and images. As soon as Sleeping Beauty gets up, those are going down.
NewlyRetired
Footballguy
As with seemingly everything involved in this process, every school seems to act differently.
That being said, being safe is certainly better than being sorry. It is always best to think that some one some where will get offended so anything even off color, just don't post/retweet/ etc for the next few months.
No school is going to have the time or resources to do any sort of real deep look into social media even if they do look imo so just keep any recent stuff clean.
HellToupee
Footballguy
My daughter is a F at Williams and I can assure you leaving it would not be a plus not a negative .
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