College Admissions Questions (4 Viewers)

[jabarony]

It's been good ED info so far friend- thanks!

Trying to see if there were any other wrinkles or gamesmanship your kids considered or had to navigate in their ED decision.

Somebody mentioned classmates... Which seems a big one. Youre competing against those kids almost more than the rest of the country. Not sure how floppinho can play that one- would never ask people. I assume, but am not sure, that the guidance counselors will have a hand in trying to make sure there aren't 30 kids EDing Brown or something. We know that one of his friends was dissuaded from making an ED attempt to Stanford, but he knows that's all out of his control.

And I mentioned the data that has a lot of kids from his school historically (recent) getting in ED at some places and not at others. It's hard not to discount that.

And I'm pretty sure there are schools that only allow Early anything to 1 only (Ivies?)

But so far, yeah- it's mostly about identifying his slam dunk #1.

Thanks. I never thought to consider that my kid may be competing vs his HS classmates towards ED. It makes sense though.

If he decides to try local ED, that may be a tough battle. If he attempts ED at Notre Dame, his chances will likely improve - probably not a lot of his classmates opting for the Catholic route. I suppose that's true for any out-of-state the further distance you travel.

 

[TennesseeJed]

Not sure how floppinho can play that one- would never ask people

It was a surprising open secret in my daughter's program. They seemed to openly discuss college choices/preferences on their discord server. It was not so much "Where are you applying?" as much as it was just knowing "I like this school, or that school"

 

[El Floppo]

It's been good ED info so far friend- thanks!

Trying to see if there were any other wrinkles or gamesmanship your kids considered or had to navigate in their ED decision.

Somebody mentioned classmates... Which seems a big one. Youre competing against those kids almost more than the rest of the country. Not sure how floppinho can play that one- would never ask people. I assume, but am not sure, that the guidance counselors will have a hand in trying to make sure there aren't 30 kids EDing Brown or something. We know that one of his friends was dissuaded from making an ED attempt to Stanford, but he knows that's all out of his control.

And I mentioned the data that has a lot of kids from his school historically (recent) getting in ED at some places and not at others. It's hard not to discount that.

And I'm pretty sure there are schools that only allow Early anything to 1 only (Ivies?)

But so far, yeah- it's mostly about identifying his slam dunk #1.

Thanks. I never thought to consider that my kid may be competing vs his HS classmates towards ED. It makes sense though.

If he decides to try local ED, that may be a tough battle. If he attempts ED at Notre Dame, his chances will likely improve - probably not a lot of his classmates opting for the Catholic route. I suppose that's true for any out-of-state the further distance you travel.

Probably good to figure that stuff out.. but will always be secondary to top choice, I think. Unless he starts hearing all the top students are going to ED ND.

Even though his school doesn't rank the kids, my son has a good sense of where he stands in his grade and what type of kids his peers or maybe better students are in terms of their extracurriculars. But he's also very intentionally been looking at that stuff lately. Most of the super smart kids grade-wise don't have much going on outside of school. The kids in the performing arts like him aren't as good students...stuff like that. I mean- it's still outside of his control, but at least he can feel more confident about making decisions with some these things in mind.

 

[TennesseeJed]

Thanks. I never thought to consider that my kid may be competing vs his HS classmates towards ED. It makes sense though.

I think a lot will depend on the high school, or program. If its a typical high school where there are a handful of top students competing for competitive schools - its probably less of an issue, but if you have a "feeder" school or program where you have lots of kids applying to the same or similar competitive Schools then that becomes a different issue.

 

[bigbottom]

It's been good ED info so far friend- thanks!

Trying to see if there were any other wrinkles or gamesmanship your kids considered or had to navigate in their ED decision.

Somebody mentioned classmates... Which seems a big one. Youre competing against those kids almost more than the rest of the country. Not sure how floppinho can play that one- would never ask people. I assume, but am not sure, that the guidance counselors will have a hand in trying to make sure there aren't 30 kids EDing Brown or something. We know that one of his friends was dissuaded from making an ED attempt to Stanford, but he knows that's all out of his control.

And I mentioned the data that has a lot of kids from his school historically (recent) getting in ED at some places and not at others. It's hard not to discount that.

And I'm pretty sure there are schools that only allow Early anything to 1 only (Ivies?)

But so far, yeah- it's mostly about identifying his slam dunk #1.

Thanks. I never thought to consider that my kid may be competing vs his HS classmates towards ED. It makes sense though.

If he decides to try local ED, that may be a tough battle. If he attempts ED at Notre Dame, his chances will likely improve - probably not a lot of his classmates opting for the Catholic route. I suppose that's true for any out-of-state the further distance you travel.

Probably good to figure that stuff out.. but will always be secondary to top choice, I think. Unless he starts hearing all the top students are going to ED ND.

Even though his school doesn't rank the kids, my son has a good sense of where he stands in his grade and what type of kids his peers or maybe better students are in terms of their extracurriculars. But he's also very intentionally been looking at that stuff lately. Most of the super smart kids grade-wise don't have much going on outside of school. The kids in the performing arts like him aren't as good students...stuff like that. I mean- it's still outside of his control, but at least he can feel more confident about making decisions with some these things in mind.

Things may have changed, but Notre Dame didn’t have Early Decision when my son applied. They had a form of Early Action, but it was non-binding.

 

[TennesseeJed]

It's been good ED info so far friend- thanks!

Trying to see if there were any other wrinkles or gamesmanship your kids considered or had to navigate in their ED decision.

Somebody mentioned classmates... Which seems a big one. Youre competing against those kids almost more than the rest of the country. Not sure how floppinho can play that one- would never ask people. I assume, but am not sure, that the guidance counselors will have a hand in trying to make sure there aren't 30 kids EDing Brown or something. We know that one of his friends was dissuaded from making an ED attempt to Stanford, but he knows that's all out of his control.

And I mentioned the data that has a lot of kids from his school historically (recent) getting in ED at some places and not at others. It's hard not to discount that.

And I'm pretty sure there are schools that only allow Early anything to 1 only (Ivies?)

But so far, yeah- it's mostly about identifying his slam dunk #1.

Thanks. I never thought to consider that my kid may be competing vs his HS classmates towards ED. It makes sense though.

If he decides to try local ED, that may be a tough battle. If he attempts ED at Notre Dame, his chances will likely improve - probably not a lot of his classmates opting for the Catholic route. I suppose that's true for any out-of-state the further distance you travel.

Probably good to figure that stuff out.. but will always be secondary to top choice, I think. Unless he starts hearing all the top students are going to ED ND.

Even though his school doesn't rank the kids, my son has a good sense of where he stands in his grade and what type of kids his peers or maybe better students are in terms of their extracurriculars. But he's also very intentionally been looking at that stuff lately. Most of the super smart kids grade-wise don't have much going on outside of school. The kids in the performing arts like him aren't as good students...stuff like that. I mean- it's still outside of his control, but at least he can feel more confident about making decisions with some these things in mind.

Things may have changed, but Notre Dame didn’t have Early Decision when my son applied. They had a form of Early Action, but it was non-binding.

I think they have a quasi-Early decision - a non-binding early action, but you agree not to apply to other schools via those school's Early Decision 1 - you could apply to any school's ED2 - as long as the deadline was after Notre Dame's Early action results.


Terminology can get confusing - but Early Decision = binding commitment to a single school, Early Action - typically just means you are applying before the regular decision deadline, and you will get your results sooner, but generally no commitment required prior to the May 1 deadline for all schools. Some schools - like Notre Dame kind of blur those lines.

 

[TennesseeJed]

Penn and Vanderbilt Talk Admissions Trends

Dr. Bari Norman talks with Whitney Soule, Vice Provost and Dean of Admissions at the University of Pennsylvania, and Shane McGuire, Senior Associate Director...

www.youtube.com

This is about a year old - and about an hour - but I found it to be a pretty good candid discussion by two Admissions officers at Penn and Vanderbilt who talked about the admissions process from their perspective. Some good advice, and insight into how the admissions process works.


(For example - average time spent on first read of an application - 15 minutes)

 

[Anarchy99]

Didn't really want to start a new thread, but my problem / question / issue is college related so felt there might be someone that went through something similar in here.

Long story long, our son's college went off script and credited and reported his 2024 spring semester scholarship dollars in December 2023. The school then filed their required 1098-T form with the IRS. The problem is they reported 3 semesters of scholarships with only 2 semesters of tuition for accounting purposes in 2023. As such, the IRS considers any scholarship money above the tuition total as taxable earned income. That also negates our ability to take any educational credits for that tax year. Bottom line, it will effectively cut our son's scholarship dollars in half for the semester by the time we pay the taxes / lose the credits.

Second semester tuition was not due until 2/1, and they applied his scholarships nearly 8 weeks early. Every other year, the school has applied the scholarship money after 1/1. The school won't budge, and they say they can apply scholarships whenever they feel like it . . . basically playing the TOUGH NUGGIES card. My best guess is it would take them under five minutes to amend the posting date and resend an amended form to the IRS, yet so far they are refusing to do it.

Anyone else ever go through this and what did you do about it?

 

[El Floppo]

UT Austin brings back SAT after scoreless kids underperform.

UT Austin brings back the SAT after scoreless kids underperform

The college is the latest in a spate of schools reinstating SAT and ACT test requirements.

reason.com

I think I saw one of the other ivies did too... Brown maybe?

MIT and Georgetown did as well.

Now Harvard and Cal Tech too

 

[MAC_32]

My best guess is it would take them under five minutes to amend the posting date and resend an amended form to the IRS, yet so far they are refusing to do it.

I used to work in higher ed finance. This is 100% correct.

 

[Anarchy99]

My best guess is it would take them under five minutes to amend the posting date and resend an amended form to the IRS, yet so far they are refusing to do it.

I used to work in higher ed finance. This is 100% correct.

The head of the Student Accounts department gave us her final determination that the transaction was recorded on the day it was recorded, and they are unable to change that date. Period, end of discussion. She was the one that completed the transaction and sent the tax form to the IRS. The dumb part is the scholarship was from the college, meaning that all they were doing was discounting the tuition, and they could have applied that on any date . . . no one transferred money to them or sent in a check. Yet the woman insists that the date is the date and they can't change it. She claims changing the date would violate federal compliance and IRS tax laws. She advised us to go to an accountant to review alternative filing options, but the school is out of it. Any other ideas or suggestions? If I wanted to go over her head, what title or person might I reach out to?

 

[Brony]

Anyone else save religiously for the past 18 years so that your child could have the opportunity to go off to school, only to realize that it's a hard pill to swallow to sacrifice so that they can leave you? I am happy for my daughter and would do it all again. But I've been thinking about this for decades and her months. Thought it would bring more joy, but the emotions (for me) are different than I was expecting.

 

[El Floppo]

Anyone else save religiously for the past 18 years so that your child could have the opportunity to go off to school, only to realize that it's a hard pill to swallow to sacrifice so that they can leave you? I am happy for my daughter and would do it all again. But I've been thinking about this for decades and her months. Thought it would bring more joy, but the emotions (for me) are different than I was expecting.

Is the sadness over her going, or the 18 years worth of loot going?

 

[Anarchy99]

Anyone else save religiously for the past 18 years so that your child could have the opportunity to go off to school, only to realize that it's a hard pill to swallow to sacrifice so that they can leave you? I am happy for my daughter and would do it all again. But I've been thinking about this for decades and her months. Thought it would bring more joy, but the emotions (for me) are different than I was expecting.

Is the sadness over her going, or the 18 years worth of loot going?

Not sure if I mentioned this in this thread. The sadness over 18-years-of-loot-going came for us after our daughter had graduated college and had a good job in marketing for a few years, which she then resigned to go teach English to kindergarteners in the jungles of Thailand. That one was tough, as she didn't need any education at all to go do that. That was a hard pill to swallow. Jumping ahead a few years, she has a great job in NYC now and is back to building her career. But the day she outlined her radical pivot to go live in Asia was a bit shocking.

 

[themeanmachine]

My kids got lucky with the "no test scores required" years that seem to be coming to an end. My oldest is a junior in college, and my youngest is graduating high school next month. Both got into schools they likely would not have been accepted to if they had to submit their scores. My oldest in particular got accepted into 2 engineering programs that I was shocked he got into - if he had submitted scores, would have been a certain rejection.

 

[El Floppo]

Had our school spring gala last night. All the parents of Juniors talking almost exclusively about colleges, sadly.

Our friend who's Sr daughter is good friends with our son talked a bit about the process having just gone through it to completion. Caveat, she was hammered, but her main advice was to NOT do ED unless the kid absolutely has a slam dunk top choice. That it locked you in too early to competitive shop for admissions and FA elsewhere.

Now... I get the idea, I guess, but her kid was kind of rockstar for college admissions- adopted, single mom African American Ivy legacy, great grades and tests and crazy talented performer and activist. Really a great kid beyond all of that too. She had to go to Bowdoin.. despite active interest from all the ivies and her mom's real interest that she go to one of those.

Dunno... Have any of you heard this mom's advice?

Seems like throwing away some better odds for your kid to roll the dice on getting in other places.

 

[zoobird]

Had our school spring gala last night. All the parents of Juniors talking almost exclusively about colleges, sadly.

Our friend who's Sr daughter is good friends with our son talked a bit about the process having just gone through it to completion. Caveat, she was hammered, but her main advice was to NOT do ED unless the kid absolutely has a slam dunk top choice. That it locked you in too early to competitive shop for admissions and FA elsewhere.

Now... I get the idea, I guess, but her kid was kind of rockstar for college admissions- adopted, single mom African American Ivy legacy, great grades and tests and crazy talented performer and activist. Really a great kid beyond all of that too. She had to go to Bowdoin.. despite active interest from all the ivies and her mom's real interest that she go to one of those.

Dunno... Have any of you heard this mom's advice?

Seems like throwing away some better odds for your kid to roll the dice on getting in other places.

Yeah - I think that's not great advice for most people. For most, even exceptional students, getting into a really top level school is a long shot. If you believe that ED increases your chances of getting into one of your top few choices, take it. My older daughter got into a school ED that certainly would have been less likely if she waited for regular decision. Some of her classmates who didn't submit ED applications are at surprisingly average schools given their qualifications.

 

[belljr]

Had our school spring gala last night. All the parents of Juniors talking almost exclusively about colleges, sadly.

Our friend who's Sr daughter is good friends with our son talked a bit about the process having just gone through it to completion. Caveat, she was hammered, but her main advice was to NOT do ED unless the kid absolutely has a slam dunk top choice. That it locked you in too early to competitive shop for admissions and FA elsewhere.

Now... I get the idea, I guess, but her kid was kind of rockstar for college admissions- adopted, single mom African American Ivy legacy, great grades and tests and crazy talented performer and activist. Really a great kid beyond all of that too. She had to go to Bowdoin.. despite active interest from all the ivies and her mom's real interest that she go to one of those.

Dunno... Have any of you heard this mom's advice?

Seems like throwing away some better odds for your kid to roll the dice on getting in other places.

It really depends. We didn't do ED because they couldn't guarantee what our scholarships were and there was no way I was getting locked in to a 50k bill

 

[Brony]

Anyone else save religiously for the past 18 years so that your child could have the opportunity to go off to school, only to realize that it's a hard pill to swallow to sacrifice so that they can leave you? I am happy for my daughter and would do it all again. But I've been thinking about this for decades and her months. Thought it would bring more joy, but the emotions (for me) are different than I was expecting.

Is the sadness over her going, or the 18 years worth of loot going?

Not so much the loot going. Moreso that I have been saving for an event that is not bringing any happiness in the short term. The ability of teenagers to show gratitude isn't helping things.

 

[bigbottom]

Had our school spring gala last night. All the parents of Juniors talking almost exclusively about colleges, sadly.

Our friend who's Sr daughter is good friends with our son talked a bit about the process having just gone through it to completion. Caveat, she was hammered, but her main advice was to NOT do ED unless the kid absolutely has a slam dunk top choice. That it locked you in too early to competitive shop for admissions and FA elsewhere.

Now... I get the idea, I guess, but her kid was kind of rockstar for college admissions- adopted, single mom African American Ivy legacy, great grades and tests and crazy talented performer and activist. Really a great kid beyond all of that too. She had to go to Bowdoin.. despite active interest from all the ivies and her mom's real interest that she go to one of those.

Dunno... Have any of you heard this mom's advice?

Seems like throwing away some better odds for your kid to roll the dice on getting in other places.

It really depends. We didn't do ED because they couldn't guarantee what our scholarships were and there was no way I was getting locked in to a 50k bill

Yeah, we didn’t do ED because the schools he applied to that had ED weren’t his top choice. So that was that.

 

[TennesseeJed]

Had our school spring gala last night. All the parents of Juniors talking almost exclusively about colleges, sadly.

Our friend who's Sr daughter is good friends with our son talked a bit about the process having just gone through it to completion. Caveat, she was hammered, but her main advice was to NOT do ED unless the kid absolutely has a slam dunk top choice. That it locked you in too early to competitive shop for admissions and FA elsewhere.

Now... I get the idea, I guess, but her kid was kind of rockstar for college admissions- adopted, single mom African American Ivy legacy, great grades and tests and crazy talented performer and activist. Really a great kid beyond all of that too. She had to go to Bowdoin.. despite active interest from all the ivies and her mom's real interest that she go to one of those.

Dunno... Have any of you heard this mom's advice?

Seems like throwing away some better odds for your kid to roll the dice on getting in other places.

How are you shopping for admissions?

I don't buy the FA stuff - at least not at the elite schools. There are very few merit scholarships available these days - most of the financial aid has switched to need based. Is it possible - to play one school off another? Maybe, but I don't think you are talking significant amounts - most tend to use the same calculations (and in fact many are currently settling a class action law suit for sharing that information).

My daughter's financial aid package was better than the calculator predicted - and with a little bit of merit scholarship - it ended up being nearly a full ride. This was with Early Decision - and they did not skimp.

These schools have plenty of qualified students who they admit, and on waiting lists, that I just can't see them negotiating much.


But - to answer your question - that was the conventional wisdom that came from our school guidance counselor - I just think its a little dated.


Having said that - I know kids who are not attending T20 schools - where they were accepted - in lieu of other options where they did get better scholarship money. So, if you are looking for the biggest financial aid package - don't target the T20s, and aim a bit lower.

And one last cautionary tale about rolling the dice - there is a kid in my daughters class who rolled the dice - is waitlisted at 6 Ivies - but no acceptances, and gambled a bit too much with only a safety school (and good scholarship money) as an option right now.

We have talked about this before - ED really should be for the top choice, and not simply hoping for better admissions odds.

 

[zoobird]

Had our school spring gala last night. All the parents of Juniors talking almost exclusively about colleges, sadly.

Our friend who's Sr daughter is good friends with our son talked a bit about the process having just gone through it to completion. Caveat, she was hammered, but her main advice was to NOT do ED unless the kid absolutely has a slam dunk top choice. That it locked you in too early to competitive shop for admissions and FA elsewhere.

Now... I get the idea, I guess, but her kid was kind of rockstar for college admissions- adopted, single mom African American Ivy legacy, great grades and tests and crazy talented performer and activist. Really a great kid beyond all of that too. She had to go to Bowdoin.. despite active interest from all the ivies and her mom's real interest that she go to one of those.

Dunno... Have any of you heard this mom's advice?

Seems like throwing away some better odds for your kid to roll the dice on getting in other places.

We have talked about this before - ED really should be for the top choice, and not simply hoping for better admissions odds.

I think where I'd semi-disagree is in cases like my daughters. They didn't/don't have a clear first choice, but a number of schools that they were/are interested in. They'd be happy to go to any of those, and have realistic (but probably slight longshot) chance of getting into one of those schools. Choosing one to ED to paid off for my older daughter, and my younger daughter will likely also forego the flexibility of skipping ED to increase her chances of getting into one of the schools.

We also have the luxury that we're currently in a position to have her attend regardless of financial aid or ED might not be an option.

 

[MAC_32]

My best guess is it would take them under five minutes to amend the posting date and resend an amended form to the IRS, yet so far they are refusing to do it.

I used to work in higher ed finance. This is 100% correct.

The head of the Student Accounts department gave us her final determination that the transaction was recorded on the day it was recorded, and they are unable to change that date. Period, end of discussion. She was the one that completed the transaction and sent the tax form to the IRS. The dumb part is the scholarship was from the college, meaning that all they were doing was discounting the tuition, and they could have applied that on any date . . . no one transferred money to them or sent in a check. Yet the woman insists that the date is the date and they can't change it. She claims changing the date would violate federal compliance and IRS tax laws. She advised us to go to an accountant to review alternative filing options, but the school is out of it. Any other ideas or suggestions? If I wanted to go over her head, what title or person might I reach out to?

She's wrong. Next in line depends on org structure, which also depends on school size. The Director of Student Accounts reported to me (Controller) at a small school. We amended 1098 T's every year. If they say they can't do it and it's legit then it's a school policy.

 

[Anarchy99]

She's wrong. Next in line depends on org structure, which also depends on school size. The Director of Student Accounts reported to me (Controller) at a small school. We amended 1098 T's every year. If they say they can't do it and it's legit then it's a school policy.

Thanks for the reply. I am struggling to find a full org chart. It's a public university, and I have found contact info for the Director of Finance, Academic Units. Would you guess that person might be higher on the food chain?

 

[El Floppo]

And one last cautionary tale about rolling the dice - there is a kid in my daughters class who rolled the dice - is waitlisted at 6 Ivies - but no acceptances, and gambled a bit too much with only a safety school (and good scholarship money) as an option right now.

Wife's nephew was in similar boat. Wait listed at some of the smaller Ivies as well as U Chicago. He called Chicago, mentioned the other wait lists and said hed attend right now if admitted. He was admitted on that phone call. This was the height of COVID though, so ymmv

. Is it possible - to play one school off another?

Drunk mom did exactly that. Daughter accepted ED2 at Bowdoin... Mom called (while sober, I assume) and negotiated a better number.

Then she called back after the daughter had gotten Yale and Harvard interviews and said- daughter just finished these interviews, we need a lower number. Bowdoin came back 6 hrs later (same day, still sober) with the number they eventually took.


Our son is looking at a couple schools for ED. Would love to go to either. One is a better fit, but has historically less ED acceptances from my son's school than the other... by quite a bit. Makes the current ED decision a little tricky, if he is still good with those two for ED next fall.

 

[MAC_32]

She's wrong. Next in line depends on org structure, which also depends on school size. The Director of Student Accounts reported to me (Controller) at a small school. We amended 1098 T's every year. If they say they can't do it and it's legit then it's a school policy.

Thanks for the reply. I am struggling to find a full org chart. It's a public university, and I have found contact info for the Director of Finance, Academic Units. Would you guess that person might be higher on the food chain?

A director of finance would be further up the food chain, but with an 'academic units' title it's highly unlikely student accounts reports to them.

 

[shuke]

Anyone else save religiously for the past 18 years so that your child could have the opportunity to go off to school, only to realize that it's a hard pill to swallow to sacrifice so that they can leave you? I am happy for my daughter and would do it all again. But I've been thinking about this for decades and her months. Thought it would bring more joy, but the emotions (for me) are different than I was expecting.

Your kids moving on is a tough part of life we have to deal with. It's best for them, but it leaves a hole.

 

[Oracle]

Anyone else save religiously for the past 18 years so that your child could have the opportunity to go off to school, only to realize that it's a hard pill to swallow to sacrifice so that they can leave you? I am happy for my daughter and would do it all again. But I've been thinking about this for decades and her months. Thought it would bring more joy, but the emotions (for me) are different than I was expecting.

Yes… last April, I had situational depression regarding my kiddos growing up/leaving. My son graduated with a computer engineering degree and began his career. My daughter graduated with a degree in chemistry and is working on her PhD at MIT. I was no longer financially responsible for either of them. It made me question my role as a parent/advise giver/caregiver. I had to remind myself that this was always the goal and that I was overreacting.

I am glad to report that even though my kiddos are young adults and doing great on their own, they still come to me for advice and want to hang out.

 

[El Floppo]

Been hearing some great schools we'd been looking at as amazing safety schools have shifted admissions (stats, not public announcement) away from need-blind and back towards full pay families. Schools like UMiami and Northeastern are turning away top academic kids and accepting full pay kids with lesser creds.

Anybody else hearing that?

Top tier schools like Vandy, U Chicago already turning away all kids from my son's HS unless they go ED, and now this.

At this rate, my son will be left with either Ivies or SUNY.

 

[The Z Machine]

Been hearing some great schools we'd been looking at as amazing safety schools have shifted admissions (stats, not public announcement) away from need-blind and back towards full pay families. Schools like UMiami and Northeastern are turning away top academic kids and accepting full pay kids with lesser creds.

Anybody else hearing that?

Top tier schools like Vandy, U Chicago already turning away all kids from my son's HS unless they go ED, and now this.

At this rate, my son will be left with either Ivies or SUNY.

Do a gap year in Cali and get residency there. Your folks still in NorCal?

Apply to UC schools and defer entrance for a year.

 

[Bri]

What were some of the criteria you and your kids all used to figure out their ED school choice?

The more we look, the more factors seem to be at play.

$ and $ and then $.

No one gives him credit but ol wackadoo Bernie Sanders did some good with his push for free college education years ago. If they get $ from the govt why do they charge so much blah blah blah. He had a good lucid moment.

I do know there's a handful of free colleges for kids that live in their state but the few I looked at were rated poorly with significant gripes on reviews.

The real bonus was apparently in-state tuition went wayyy down in many states if not all of US. For example OU is like 25k for out of state kids but 10k for in state. I saw this often with lots of schools.

 

[Bri]

The kids and parents we spoke to that have kids in college tell us stories of taking one classes and barely any in person til junior year.
So we were advised to look at online school ratings rather than in-person ratings and woah they were quite different.

My kid doesn't know what she wants to do so she was advised to do communications or business management til she decides. (It doesn't really matter freshman year anyway) This general major made it easier searching and comparing.

Anyhow, lot of parents were quite annoyed at the online setup. In general, a kid having to go to class stops the messing around in the dorm. Now, being in the dorm and taking a class online is like asking for them to barely pay attention or maybe be a little drunk or whatever you think happens in dorms.

We were advised that the first two years should be done from home, at least freshman year and everything I've heard since seems like that was great advice

 

[El Floppo]

Please don't **** up this thread with political bs.

 

[El Floppo]

The kids and parents we spoke to that have kids in college tell us stories of taking one classes and barely any in person til junior year.
So we were advised to look at online school ratings rather than in-person ratings and woah they were quite different.

My kid doesn't know what she wants to do so she was advised to do communications or business management til she decides. (It doesn't really matter freshman year anyway) This general major made it easier searching and comparing.

Anyhow, lot of parents were quite annoyed at the online setup. In general, a kid having to go to class stops the messing around in the dorm. Now, being in the dorm and taking a class online is like asking for them to barely pay attention or maybe be a little drunk or whatever you think happens in dorms.

We were advised that the first two years should be done from home, at least freshman year and everything I've heard since seems like that was great advice

Can you flesh this out a bit?

Your kid is enrolled at a brick and mortar college but doing it remotely? Or just commuting from home? Or enrolled at an online college for the first couple years while she figures things out?

Those areas of study make a lot of sense for figuring things out. Did she have to declare a major right away?

 

[Drunken knight]

yikes- we are in and know where she is going, but sifting through scholarships, grants, and loans. I am very good with numbers but definitely need a "college funding 101"

 

[MAC_32]

yikes- we are in and know where she is going, but sifting through scholarships, grants, and loans. I am very good with numbers but definitely need a "college funding 101"

Every situation and school's awarding process is different, especially in our post-covid world as we near the demographic cliff. Not all of your questions may be answered here, but flood the zone and you'll probably be surprised how much (good) guidance you'll receive.

 

[belljr]

The kids and parents we spoke to that have kids in college tell us stories of taking one classes and barely any in person til junior year.
So we were advised to look at online school ratings rather than in-person ratings and woah they were quite different.

My kid doesn't know what she wants to do so she was advised to do communications or business management til she decides. (It doesn't really matter freshman year anyway) This general major made it easier searching and comparing.

Anyhow, lot of parents were quite annoyed at the online setup. In general, a kid having to go to class stops the messing around in the dorm. Now, being in the dorm and taking a class online is like asking for them to barely pay attention or maybe be a little drunk or whatever you think happens in dorms.

We were advised that the first two years should be done from home, at least freshman year and everything I've heard since seems like that was great advice

Can you flesh this out a bit?

Your kid is enrolled at a brick and mortar college but doing it remotely? Or just commuting from home? Or enrolled at an online college for the first couple years while she figures things out?

Those areas of study make a lot of sense for figuring things out. Did she have to declare a major right away?

My daughter school has an occasional zoom call for a honors lecture but 99% of it is in class. Surprised to hear people are still remote. It does not coincide with the kids we know currently in college

 

[stbugs]

The kids and parents we spoke to that have kids in college tell us stories of taking one classes and barely any in person til junior year.
So we were advised to look at online school ratings rather than in-person ratings and woah they were quite different.

My kid doesn't know what she wants to do so she was advised to do communications or business management til she decides. (It doesn't really matter freshman year anyway) This general major made it easier searching and comparing.

Anyhow, lot of parents were quite annoyed at the online setup. In general, a kid having to go to class stops the messing around in the dorm. Now, being in the dorm and taking a class online is like asking for them to barely pay attention or maybe be a little drunk or whatever you think happens in dorms.

We were advised that the first two years should be done from home, at least freshman year and everything I've heard since seems like that was great advice

Can you flesh this out a bit?

Your kid is enrolled at a brick and mortar college but doing it remotely? Or just commuting from home? Or enrolled at an online college for the first couple years while she figures things out?

Those areas of study make a lot of sense for figuring things out. Did she have to declare a major right away?

My daughter school has an occasional zoom call for a honors lecture but 99% of it is in class. Surprised to hear people are still remote. It does not coincide with the kids we know currently in college

My oldest (graduated 2023) and he was online for Fall 2020 and that’s it. He may have had some days or a small class online (like on of those required silly classes), but certainly wasn’t “remote” 2021 to 2023. My middle son is finishing up his freshmen year and no online.

 

[Bri]

Please don't **** up this thread with political bs.

Wasn't trying to. Apologies if taken as such. I think it's fantastic that there are free schools and some are cheaper than ever.
I was all "welcome to 100k of debt" but pleasantly surprised

 

[Bri]

The kids and parents we spoke to that have kids in college tell us stories of taking one classes and barely any in person til junior year.
So we were advised to look at online school ratings rather than in-person ratings and woah they were quite different.

My kid doesn't know what she wants to do so she was advised to do communications or business management til she decides. (It doesn't really matter freshman year anyway) This general major made it easier searching and comparing.

Anyhow, lot of parents were quite annoyed at the online setup. In general, a kid having to go to class stops the messing around in the dorm. Now, being in the dorm and taking a class online is like asking for them to barely pay attention or maybe be a little drunk or whatever you think happens in dorms.

We were advised that the first two years should be done from home, at least freshman year and everything I've heard since seems like that was great advice

Can you flesh this out a bit?

Your kid is enrolled at a brick and mortar college but doing it remotely? Or just commuting from home? Or enrolled at an online college for the first couple years while she figures things out?

Those areas of study make a lot of sense for figuring things out. Did she have to declare a major right away?

In OK near TX OK border.
North Texas is a rising school for sports and academics so the trendy choice. Their price went up and mandatory live on campus.

Southeastern (Rodman's school very popular w locals) not one of last year's HS graduates that we know attended more than two classes in person while living in the dorm. Lot of parents discussion.

OU live on campus, academic advisor said freshman and soph average four in person classes four online OR she could just do remote.

OK State similar to above but average two in person classes.

Sister works for Yale, uncle at Miami....heard similar.

OK State top five school for online learning. UNT had good scores idk rank. OU and SE were meh to poor scores.

So if half to the majority will be online first two years, then OK State was sitting atop of our list. I didn't like how easy this was so we researched more n more online schools by ranking.
(My thinking was aside from obvious, when she decides her major, it better be a school that credits transfer from. )

Then we were down a path about teachers communicating or not. Quality of video and apparently it's a big deal if a lecture is reviewable. Archaic or current system for submitting documents and class chat etc. OK State was mentioned over n over.

So I took two free classes and she took one. (A lot of schools offer one for a tease sales pitch or for adult learning) Mine were Texas AM and UVA. Hers was OK State. I used AI for one assignment and got an A. Another the teacher didn't grade til two weeks later. She had one paper that had highlights and links to stuff- better citing, more info on the topic, a good job note by teacher. Her chats were responsive. Mine were like an hour or more later. We half tried just to see how things go and OK State was far better.

We visited official and unofficial and she loved it.
Price mentioned above

Plan today is two years home n remote, two at school. She's got her sights set on an apartment with a friend near home. That would be fine if it happens. I don't think a kid can live in a sorority or fraternity house or nearby one and focus on school if they barely go to class.

Much of these changes were the last 2-3 years and people we spoke to said the colleges get almost the same $ from the govt (off campus housing) so they expect the online push to continue or schools to buy land and build more housing. I didn't research this. It just sounded logical for our society

 

[TennesseeJed]

The kids and parents we spoke to that have kids in college tell us stories of taking one classes and barely any in person til junior year.

This has not been our experience - at a largish (20,000), mid-Tier state school (JMU) - daughter is a current sophomore - and hasn't had any on-line classes.

Also not heard anything like this for Vanderbilt where other daughter is headed in the Fall.

 

[TennesseeJed]

I am curious how the FAFSA stuff went for folks this year. For us it was a non-issue - JMU - we don't get financial aid, small merit scholarship and she does have work-study and some small loans - but nothing that required any deadline decisions from us, and Vandy uses a different financial aid calculator/form (CSS Profile).

 

[belljr]

I am curious how the FAFSA stuff went for folks this year. For us it was a non-issue - JMU - we don't get financial aid, small merit scholarship and she does have work-study and some small loans - but nothing that required any deadline decisions from us, and Vandy uses a different financial aid calculator/form (CSS Profile).

You have to fill it out if you want to take Stafford loans. We are a bit delayed

 

[TennesseeJed]

I am curious how the FAFSA stuff went for folks this year. For us it was a non-issue - JMU - we don't get financial aid, small merit scholarship and she does have work-study and some small loans - but nothing that required any deadline decisions from us, and Vandy uses a different financial aid calculator/form (CSS Profile).

You have to fill it out if you want to take Stafford loans. We are a bit delayed

Yeah - we filled it out - but because she is already in school we were not up against any real deadlines. I know a lot of schools financial aid packages were delayed - which makes things a bit nervous if you are deciding on schools based on aid.

 

[El Floppo]

The kids and parents we spoke to that have kids in college tell us stories of taking one classes and barely any in person til junior year.

This has not been our experience - at a largish (20,000), mid-Tier state school (JMU) - daughter is a current sophomore - and hasn't had any on-line classes.

Also not heard anything like this for Vanderbilt where other daughter is headed in the Fall.

We're not at college yet, but neck deep in Jr year and lots of people we know going currently at all stages.

Only online at all that Ive heard is during Covid. None of the tours we've been on... Including Yale and UMiami... even brought it up. I'd imagine it's an option for those that need, but will have to start asking if it's standard now the way Bri has been seeing.

 

[The Z Machine]

especially in our post-covid world as we near the demographic cliff.

What means this?

 

[WVU Alum]

I am curious how the FAFSA stuff went for folks this year. For us it was a non-issue - JMU - we don't get financial aid, small merit scholarship and she does have work-study and some small loans - but nothing that required any deadline decisions from us, and Vandy uses a different financial aid calculator/form (CSS Profile).

My state has a program called the Promise Scholarship. Basically pay for WV kids to go to WV schools to potentially keep homegrown talent in state. Doesn't appear to be working for retention purposes, but a lot of WV kids are able to go to college. My son couldn't apply for the scholarship until his FAFSA was processed. Promise application is due May 1, my son's FAFSA corrections were processed a week ago.

 

[Bri]

I am curious how the FAFSA stuff went for folks this year. For us it was a non-issue - JMU - we don't get financial aid, small merit scholarship and she does have work-study and some small loans - but nothing that required any deadline decisions from us, and Vandy uses a different financial aid calculator/form (CSS Profile).

My state has a program called the Promise Scholarship. Basically pay for WV kids to go to WV schools to potentially keep homegrown talent in state. Doesn't appear to be working for retention purposes, but a lot of WV kids are able to go to college. My son couldn't apply for the scholarship until his FAFSA was processed. Promise application is due May 1, my son's FAFSA corrections were processed a week ago.

We have this in Oklahoma too. You have to apply freshman year of HS and the money they give out is unbelievable. Altogether, it's billions for college for thousands of kids

Following request to not make this political I won't. Someone needs a big gold star though. What an awesome program

 

[Bri]

The kids and parents we spoke to that have kids in college tell us stories of taking one classes and barely any in person til junior year.

This has not been our experience - at a largish (20,000), mid-Tier state school (JMU) - daughter is a current sophomore - and hasn't had any on-line classes.

Also not heard anything like this for Vanderbilt where other daughter is headed in the Fall.

We're not at college yet, but neck deep in Jr year and lots of people we know going currently at all stages.

Only online at all that Ive heard is during Covid. None of the tours we've been on... Including Yale and UMiami... even brought it up. I'd imagine it's an option for those that need, but will have to start asking if it's standard now the way Bri has been seeing.

Per Forbes 53% of all students took at least some classes online in 2021.

Preview Table

 

[Bri]

If you're a total FF nerd lover of data tools like me, this is for you

National Center for Education Statistics (NCES) - Data & Tools - Most Popular Tools

Product information and search tools. Find information, locate, learn how to order, and browse the content of NCES publications or download data files.

nces.ed.gov