Quint
Footballguy
i graduated in 2008 (so semi-recently) and had to take 12 units, essentially three semesters, of a foreign language. in CA so YMMV depending.
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College Admissions Questions (1 Viewer)
- Thread starter NewlyRetired
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JaxBill
Footballguy
So, umm, this did not go at all like I planned. I was ready for cheers if the answer was yes and crashing disappointment if the answer was no.
UF waa extremely selective this year. The past 2 classes were larger than normal. They only approved 37% this year down from low to mid 40 percent.
My son was admitted to UF PACE program. He would have to take online courses for at least 2 semesters. Once he reaches 60 credit hours and clears all of his prerequisites for his major he automatically transfers to UF resudential. He can't live in a dorm but he can live off campus in Gainesville - or at home.
He'll probably have 35 to 45 credit hours transferring in from AP and Aice.
So many mixed emotions because UF fit his major (Journalism ) and the instate tuition is so affordable.
NewlyRetired
Footballguy
Is he waiting on other answers from schools or is UF the main focus? More importantly, how does he feel about the PACE program?
JaxBill
Footballguy
UF is the best match as far as major and price.
He is really interested in their sports journalism major.
The out of pocket difference between UF and Bama or Ohio is roughly 12k per year.
We don't know enough about the PACE program yet. Need more info from high school guidance and UF faculty advisor. If he lived at home, how much online access to library materials would he have? What's the breakdown of Pace members who live in Gainesville vs live at home? Can he live in apartment just off campus and write for school newspaper?
To me, if he could find an apartment and still join student organizations then it wouldn't be so bad.
ETA it sounds like he can
http://www.admissions.ufl.edu/learn/pace/faq.html
He is really interested in their sports journalism major.
The out of pocket difference between UF and Bama or Ohio is roughly 12k per year.
We don't know enough about the PACE program yet. Need more info from high school guidance and UF faculty advisor. If he lived at home, how much online access to library materials would he have? What's the breakdown of Pace members who live in Gainesville vs live at home? Can he live in apartment just off campus and write for school newspaper?
To me, if he could find an apartment and still join student organizations then it wouldn't be so bad.
ETA it sounds like he can
http://www.admissions.ufl.edu/learn/pace/faq.html
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James Daulton
Footballguy
I think this may depend on how social and confident your son is. Not being in the dorms from the get-go could set him back in making friends and feeling like part of the school. But if he has no problems making friends and fits in easily it sounds like a good option.
Fear The Turtle
Footballguy
Wow, I'll say UF is getting more selective. The Princeton Review 2016 Best Colleges book that I have shows the acceptance rate at 47%. Assuming that's for the class of 2019, that's a 10 point drop in two years!
My reading of PACE's FAQ page seems to indicate he'll get most of what you want for him in the interim. With his massive credit hour transfer (congrats on that) he should have no problem getting to 60 with two semesters. The only question will be his major prerequisites, right? Will he be able to pick the rest of those off in UF's summer session?
JaxBill
Footballguy
According to this UF admissions was 38 pct this year and 42 pct last year.
http://www.alligator.org/news/campus/article_e584a33e-f067-11e6-a022-276a54ba0335.html
One of my son's friends is also doing PACE. My son had a 1310 SAT and 4.3 GPA and strong EC.
Several of his friends with higher SAT were flat out denied. My son had a major that is PACE friendly.
Really mind boggling
http://www.alligator.org/news/campus/article_e584a33e-f067-11e6-a022-276a54ba0335.html
One of my son's friends is also doing PACE. My son had a 1310 SAT and 4.3 GPA and strong EC.
Several of his friends with higher SAT were flat out denied. My son had a major that is PACE friendly.
Really mind boggling
NewlyRetired
Footballguy
My daughter got some good, if not poorly worded, news today for one of her schools, Wheaton.
* First she received an email stating that she should expect good and exciting news in mid March from Wheaton about her admissions.
* Then on the same day we received a package in the mail from Wheaton, addressed to the parents, congratulating us on our daughters acceptance and now that we have an "official offer in hand" this is why we should could consider Wheaton, blah blah blah
These two items are slightly off from each other. The email to my daughter seems very much like one of those "likely" letters you guys talked about before. The package delivered to us the parents used much stronger language basically saying that we have already received an admission letter when the email states it won't come until March.
While it is clearly good news no matter how you look at it, I just want to make sure we did not some how miss the formal admissions letter. I think if we don't see anything formal by the 3rd week in March I will probably make a phone call to make sure something was not lost.
* First she received an email stating that she should expect good and exciting news in mid March from Wheaton about her admissions.
* Then on the same day we received a package in the mail from Wheaton, addressed to the parents, congratulating us on our daughters acceptance and now that we have an "official offer in hand" this is why we should could consider Wheaton, blah blah blah
These two items are slightly off from each other. The email to my daughter seems very much like one of those "likely" letters you guys talked about before. The package delivered to us the parents used much stronger language basically saying that we have already received an admission letter when the email states it won't come until March.
While it is clearly good news no matter how you look at it, I just want to make sure we did not some how miss the formal admissions letter. I think if we don't see anything formal by the 3rd week in March I will probably make a phone call to make sure something was not lost.
James Daulton
Footballguy
Your son and my daughter are almost identical, my daughter's SAT were 1290 but she's straight A with strong ECs. She's getting into the mid-mid tier ones with no issues, but the upper mid-tier ones (Colgate, William & Mary) aren't looking so hot.
Anyway, I just about have her convinced to go to Maryland which is where I want her to go anyway.
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El Floppo
Footballguy
Fear The Turtle
Footballguy
Good news for NR and his daughter. That first acceptance feels good. Congrats.
Shifting the subject to financial aid, we received a verification request from a school that has already accepted my daughter. A bit of a pain but something like 30% of applications are chosen for verification, I read. No big deal and it was from an accepted school so it was understandable. We also received a request for a 1099-R form (which is N/A for us) from a school that hasn't accepted our daughter yet. We've previously sent them a Profile, a tax return, and other things they request of all applicants. We've heard nothing from the rest of the schools she's applied to. Does this mean anything one way or another about her chances at this particular school and the others? When do you typically start hearing from "in limbo" schools concerning financial aid questions or verification requests? Can anyone shed any light on the timing of applications, acceptances, and financial aid?
Shifting the subject to financial aid, we received a verification request from a school that has already accepted my daughter. A bit of a pain but something like 30% of applications are chosen for verification, I read. No big deal and it was from an accepted school so it was understandable. We also received a request for a 1099-R form (which is N/A for us) from a school that hasn't accepted our daughter yet. We've previously sent them a Profile, a tax return, and other things they request of all applicants. We've heard nothing from the rest of the schools she's applied to. Does this mean anything one way or another about her chances at this particular school and the others? When do you typically start hearing from "in limbo" schools concerning financial aid questions or verification requests? Can anyone shed any light on the timing of applications, acceptances, and financial aid?
SteelCurtain
Footballguy
Its all over the place. The financial aid landscape is rapidly changing as the feds made big changes to the FAFSA application process. This is the first year with the FAFSA available much earlier to students/parents and subsequently colleges. In addition, the FAFSA is using tax data from 2 years ago instead of the previous year which means people aren't scrambling to get their taxes done so they can do their FAFSA.
So colleges are feeling out this new landscape. Some schools will want to "verify" prior to making an admission decision (lots of schools are need-aware....meaning they take in consideration the need of the family in making an admission decision.) Some schools will send FA and admission decision together. Some schools will send admission decision and then the FA will come at a later date.
If a school is verifying, I would hazard a guess that it means they are considering your child, but by no means is it a "likely" indication.
Hope this helps.
Fear The Turtle
Footballguy
Yes, thanks. Actually, the verifying school has already accepted her. So, I understand that situation. The school that asked for an extra form is need blind and hasn't accepted her yet.. Could it be that they have decided to accept her and that they've passed on her name to the finan. aid office to send the info together as you mentioned in the one example above? Or could they still be acting independently at this fairly early stage? How about schools that we've heard nothing from? Could it mean something one way or another?
SteelCurtain
Footballguy
I think if a school is checking on a FA form, then one of two situations are in play.
1. The Admission Office has already decided they want your daughter and the FA office is now prepping so they can send FA package with or immediately after acceptance.
2. The FA office hasn't corroborated at all with the Admission Office and is just doing this standard due diligence on any FA apps that they need more information.
Schools you haven't heard anything from could mean the school isn't interested in your daughter or, more likely, they don't have their admission and aid offices linked together closely at this stage.
Much of this depends on the selectivity of the institution. If they accept only 15% of the applicants, the FA office doesn't want to do all kinds of work on the 85% that aren't getting in. So they may get some insider information from the admission office so they at least know the 30% that are in the game....and vying for those acceptances. Or another possibility is the FA offices are focusing in on cases where it isn't a clean FA application (divorce situations, parents who own their own business, independent students, etc) and they can do some of the background work now.
The reality is the Admission Offices are frantically reading and trying to get decisions made, however, many first half grades are being released NOW by high schools, so there are a lot of variables at play and accepts can become waitlists and vice versa as the shaping of the class occurs. The idea that the colleges know who is going to clearly be admitted right now is just false. Generally, once schools have decisions all made, they will release decisions.
1. The Admission Office has already decided they want your daughter and the FA office is now prepping so they can send FA package with or immediately after acceptance.
2. The FA office hasn't corroborated at all with the Admission Office and is just doing this standard due diligence on any FA apps that they need more information.
Schools you haven't heard anything from could mean the school isn't interested in your daughter or, more likely, they don't have their admission and aid offices linked together closely at this stage.
Much of this depends on the selectivity of the institution. If they accept only 15% of the applicants, the FA office doesn't want to do all kinds of work on the 85% that aren't getting in. So they may get some insider information from the admission office so they at least know the 30% that are in the game....and vying for those acceptances. Or another possibility is the FA offices are focusing in on cases where it isn't a clean FA application (divorce situations, parents who own their own business, independent students, etc) and they can do some of the background work now.
The reality is the Admission Offices are frantically reading and trying to get decisions made, however, many first half grades are being released NOW by high schools, so there are a lot of variables at play and accepts can become waitlists and vice versa as the shaping of the class occurs. The idea that the colleges know who is going to clearly be admitted right now is just false. Generally, once schools have decisions all made, they will release decisions.
Fear The Turtle
Footballguy
NewlyRetired
Footballguy
Every time I walk to the mail box the jeopardy theme is playing in my head. This month is going to move very slowly I think.....
Fear The Turtle
Footballguy
Definitely. In the mail yesterday was a slender envelope from Bucknell's Admissions Office and I thought the worst since I've heard rejection letters are basically the one page whereas acceptance packages are thicker since additional info about financial aid, etc. is included. False alarm. It was simply a letter saying they were still reviewing things but that, if she were accepted, there was an additional program she could apply for. Of course, I didn't wait for her to come home to open it; I opened it myself. Got to watch that. She didn't mind but I told her I wouldn't open another addressed to her. Does steaming open and resealing count?
Ever since we discussed likely letters in this thread, I've been checking the mail for one of those. Zippo. I'm guessing the window has probably passed on those by now.
NewlyRetired
Footballguy
I assume this targetting kids early with partial info is a fairly new tactic by schools trying to market to kids?
I don't know if this was considered one of those "likely" letters but I don't remember those growing up. Back then I just remember like you said waiting for the thick or thin envelope.
Brony
Footballguy
Wheaton IL? Grew up right by there.
Let me know if she has questions on the nightlife. (Every answer will be 'no')
NewlyRetired
Footballguy
The_Man
Footballguy
That could well have been a Likely Letter. A lot of times they're more direct - "If you continue to make good grades, then you can expect to receive an acceptance letter when official decisions are announced..." - but sometimes they're more oblique. I doubt they would send a letter to kids they know they're going to reject, inviting them to apply for another program. I would take it as a good sign. Can you give a little more context about what the letter said?
James Daulton
Footballguy
Had a great visit to College Park. The only issue my daughter has is that she's in the Honors College at JMU and not at Maryland. That and JMUs campus is purty while College Park's is not. I try to tell her to envision which diploma she'd be more proud of hanging on her wall. It's working...I think and hope...
NewlyRetired
Footballguy
My daughter is nervous because of the 6 schools she applied to, she only received one of those "likely letters".
To make her feel better, I told her not to worry too much since some schools may not even use likely letters and others might only send them to a portion of the kids accepted.
Did I lie through my teeth because I actually have no idea if what I told her was any where near accurate.
To make her feel better, I told her not to worry too much since some schools may not even use likely letters and others might only send them to a portion of the kids accepted.
Did I lie through my teeth because I actually have no idea if what I told her was any where near accurate.
Nigel
Footballguy
Fond memories of hanging out there Sr year of HS back in the late 80s when it was girls-only, showing up with a backpack full of booze and creating a party with random dong-deprived freshmen looking for liquor.
I understand it's a very good school these days, congrats.
Fear The Turtle
Footballguy
From what I've read, you definitely told the truth. I've heard a fairly small % get likely letters.
NewlyRetired
Footballguy
Thanks! It has been improving and I would be happy if she goes there.
It is the only school she applied to that offers merit scholarships so that may play into the decision as well especially if the three schools she is deciding between are Wheaton, Trinity and Conn. College, which are the 3 of the 6 I am pretty sure she will get accepted to. Wesleyan is 50-50 and Brown/Northeastern are going to be long shots.
Brony
Footballguy
NewlyRetired
Footballguy
I was under the impression that the Wheaton in Ill was a good school. Is that no longer the case?
The_Man
Footballguy
Likely Letters are still rare - my kid didn't get any last year (from schools including Trinity and Wesleyan) and he ended up at Brown. Trinity (where I went) did offer him some merit money last year, though they rolled up a good chunk of the need-based aid into the merit scholarship. Ended up being about10K cheaper for us than Brown, which wasn't enough to change anyone's mind - full ride might have been a different story.
NewlyRetired
Footballguy
Yeah, from what I read much of the merit in Trinity is based on need so we are not expecting anything from them.
Courtjester
The Town Drunk
Reality sinking in. The graduation announcements arrived yesterday. 
She is locked in to the honors program at UNC Greeley--deposit and housing deposit paid. She got the awards letter and basically between the loans they have her taking and the loans we will take, we are paying 90% of the full costs. She doesn't qualify for needs based work study either. Oh well....
We are still trying to figure out if the Parent Plus loan is the way to go or it other loans options are better. It is really a lot to figure out.
She is locked in to the honors program at UNC Greeley--deposit and housing deposit paid. She got the awards letter and basically between the loans they have her taking and the loans we will take, we are paying 90% of the full costs. She doesn't qualify for needs based work study either. Oh well....
We are still trying to figure out if the Parent Plus loan is the way to go or it other loans options are better. It is really a lot to figure out.
SteelCurtain
Footballguy
Absolutely true on all accounts. Most schools don't do likely letters and the ones that do only do it for a small subsection of their population.
SteelCurtain
Footballguy
I'm not entirely sure Northeastern has passed Trinity and Conn College in the selectivity area. I'll be interested to see how it all plays out.
NewlyRetired
Footballguy
From what I can tell it has passed them. Northeastern's acceptance rate is dropping every year as their applications have grown. Acceptance rate is now lower than both Trinity and Conn College.
And for my daughter in particular, Trinity and Conn College are both test optional but Northeastern is not which is going to make getting into Northeastern that much harder for her.
Someone posted on this thread earlier that they knew a kid that got into Harvard but was rejected by Northeastern.
I was surprised by all of this but it was my daughters school counselor who told me at the beginning of this year that things have drastically changed at Northeastern the last 5 years in terms of how hard it was to get in. Typically my daughters high school always had kids get accepted and zero have been accepted the last two years at Northeastern.
Fear The Turtle
Footballguy
"Because of your stellar application and strong potential for contribution to our community, you will receive a thick envelope in just a few weeks!" Nothing ambiguous about it. Daughter got this from the University of Richmond today. In addition, they told her that she's slated to receive the Presidential Scholarship, which is valued at one-third tuition per year, equivalent to $16,970 in 2017-18. She's stoked.
I had something of a good vibe about her chances here. This is the school i mentioned that requested additional financial aid info from us about ten days ago. Also, Richmond is proud of its leadership school; they actually list the number of high school presidents (which my daughter is) in their 2016 class in a pretty prominent place on their admissions page.
I had something of a good vibe about her chances here. This is the school i mentioned that requested additional financial aid info from us about ten days ago. Also, Richmond is proud of its leadership school; they actually list the number of high school presidents (which my daughter is) in their 2016 class in a pretty prominent place on their admissions page.
The_Man
Footballguy
That's awesome - congratulations! Of all the schools I visited and learned about on the college admissions circuit over the last couple years, Richmond was the one that improved the most in my opinion the more I got to know about it. Beautiful campus, close to a city, internship opportunities in a state capital that's becoming increasingly prominent -- it all just seemed really good. And Richmond has a very high endowment per students, which enables them to offer nice merit aid like your daughter got, and lots of student opportunities.
It definitely feels like a school that's on the rise. My son's good friend is having a great freshman year there.
SteelCurtain
Footballguy
I would ignore the "kid got into Harvard but rejected by Northeastern" part. I only say this because there are a few things at play here....
1. Athlete -- if they were a recruited athlete (or musician or artist, etc), and they get attention of someone, they can move quickly up in the "desirable" area for a school.
2. They know someone -- perhaps they know someone who knows someone. Happens all the time, be it legacy candidate or they know some big whig alumni who made a call or they connected with a faculty member to get propelled.
3. Demonstrated interest (this is most likely) -- Northeastern likely sensed they were so low on the students list, that they didn't want to "waste" an admit (and lower their selectivity) on a student who had shown zero interest in the school. Think of it like this.....if a student is from Lexington, MA (affluent suburb outside of Boston), and they applied to Northeastern. The NU admission staff will know how that student has engaged with NU. Once they see, the student never visited NU, the student didn't come to Lexington HS to meet with the NU rep when they visited their high school, the kid didn't even send their SAT/ACT scores directly from the testing agency, the student didn't fill out a card at the college fair held at Lexington HS, etc, etc, etc. NU says "I don't think this kid wants us, so let's not accept them." NU is trying to appear as selective as possible, so they only want to admit students they have a decent shot of enrolling. So, they deny (or more likely waitlist) the student, and see if the kid raises heck. If they don't, no problem for NU as the kid clearly wanted elsewhere. If they do, then NU can offer a reconsideration, etc and back their way out of it. (***I don't know if NU does any of this or if this is what is happening. But this is prevalent at many many many schools across the country.***)
NOTE -- I think Northeastern is a terrific school that is absolutely positively on the rise. So don't take any critical comments as anything against NU.
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SteelCurtain
Footballguy
James Daulton
Footballguy
Richmond is super nice and if she's interested in business, their school is ranked very high. Plus the area surrounding it is filled with old money, tobacco mansions/plantations. Just awesome to drive through. and Richmond as a city is very nice, love Cary Town
NewlyRetired
Footballguy
My daughter told me that MIT is doing a release of all admissions decisions tomorrow.
When I shrugged my shoulders she told me to look at the date
March 14
Still not getting it, she told me to use the number of the month
3/14
oh.......
3.14 or PI
When I shrugged my shoulders she told me to look at the date
March 14
Still not getting it, she told me to use the number of the month
3/14
oh.......
3.14 or PI
El Floppo
Footballguy
gl, gb.My daughter told me that MIT is doing a release of all admissions decisions tomorrow.
When I shrugged my shoulders she told me to look at the date
March 14
Still not getting it, she told me to use the number of the month
3/14
oh.......
3.14 or PI
but c'mon- an engineer not knowing about pi day? or my bday?
NewlyRetired
Footballguy
no luck needed, daughter did not apply to MIT. She might the worlds furthest thing from an engineerEl Floppo said:
but happy birthday! How long in the tooth are you now?
Fear The Turtle
Footballguy
http://www.today.com/amp/series/things-i-wish-i-knew/college-admissions-advice-parents-how-keep-your-cool-t109069
Some good tips here. Wish I had seen something like it a month ago. I violated number 4 and immediately regretted it. I've asked just one of my daughter's friends about her acceptances and plans and realized I made a mistake the second I did it, even though her news had been good as far as I could tell. She wasn't interested in talking about it at all.
I like number 8. Got to make a big deal out of any acceptance letter.
Some good tips here. Wish I had seen something like it a month ago. I violated number 4 and immediately regretted it. I've asked just one of my daughter's friends about her acceptances and plans and realized I made a mistake the second I did it, even though her news had been good as far as I could tell. She wasn't interested in talking about it at all.
I like number 8. Got to make a big deal out of any acceptance letter.
Fear The Turtle
Footballguy
Daughter's boyfriend got rejected by M.I.T. today. He'd been deferred EA. He'd retaken the ACT and gotten a 35. He's a straight A student in the toughest magnet program our county offers (SMCS) and he's a top ten distance runner in the state. And he's an eagle scout. Can't even imagine the caliber of student walking around that campus.NewlyRetired said:My daughter told me that MIT is doing a release of all admissions decisions tomorrow.
When I shrugged my shoulders she told me to look at the date
March 14
Still not getting it, she told me to use the number of the month
3/14
oh.......
3.14 or PI
NewlyRetired
Footballguy
My brother attended MIT in the 80's.
He was a fantastic student. 2nd in class of 545 kids in a top public school in Mass. Near perfect SAT's if memory serves.
My brother is also not one for false modesty so when he said he was in the bottom 10% in intelligence at MIT, you could take his word for it.
When you think of three mile stretch that contains MIT and Harvard right next to each other, it is a scary amount of quality of students, at least from a high school aspect.
El Floppo
Footballguy
my cousin's youngest went there for a year and transferred to stanford. trying to remember her reasoning- but IIRC it had to do with the mindset.
this girl was an absolute beast/rockstar academically (as was her brother and her dad) and was heavily recruited by Google after being their only sophomore intern (where she currently works after doing a couple years in a startup). I'm pretty convinced that the entire related family will be working for her within the next few years... if she'll hire us.
Fear The Turtle
Footballguy
Just found out daughter got wait-listed at Wash U in St. Louis. Better than a rejection, at least. 
From her high school, one was accepted, three were rejected, and one other was wait-listed, that she knows of. Anyone know the chances of getting in off of the wait list at Wash U? Or about wait lists in general? TIA
From her high school, one was accepted, three were rejected, and one other was wait-listed, that she knows of. Anyone know the chances of getting in off of the wait list at Wash U? Or about wait lists in general? TIA
NewlyRetired
Footballguy
No surprise but our daughter was rejected from Northeastern. She has near perfect grades (3.97 unweighted) but poor test scores and we knew that was going to be her downfall here.
Fear The Turtle
Footballguy
NewlyRetired
Footballguy
no big deal for her, more for me as it was my favorite of the schools she applied to.
It was lower on her list as the school was out of her comfort zone both in size (way too big) and location (she does not like the city). She did like the animation program they had though which was why she applied.
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