College Admissions Questions (2 Viewers)

[El Floppo]

Anybody else?

Yup - daughter #2 is busy working on essays

Do you feel like #1 going through it already (I assume) has given you insight into stuff like .. no way we do THAT again, or whatever?

 

[TennesseeJed]

Yelp. We're neck deep with HS Senior, floppinho.

Anybody else?

Good luck. Roverkid starting junior year at NYU, living in a studio in Hell's Kitchen with her boyfriend.

Dream school may not always be the best fit. NYU has shaken her confidence and stressed her out. She went from always being the smartest kid in the room to struggling with anxiety and imposter syndrome.

All that to say my only advice is encourage floppinho to be flexible, and if at all possible talk to current students about their experience, and not all freshmen.

I think this may be a pretty common theme at many schools. My daughter is going through this now.

Vanderbilt has a 6-week new student orientation program where one of the themes is "You Belong" to address just this issue. I am not sure how effective it is - but they recognize the issue.

 

[zoobird]

Anybody else?

Yup - daughter #2 is busy working on essays

Do you feel like #1 going through it already (I assume) has given you insight into stuff like .. no way we do THAT again, or whatever?

I can't really think of any major insights from the first time around. I think it's more a matter of reinforcing things that we weren't entirely sure about last time. And maybe feeling very slightly less stressed about things, because at least we have a better idea what to expect and know that we're not missing anything big. There's also enough different to keep things feeling somewhat new - different strengths and weaknesses, applying to totally different majors and somewhat different schools, coming from a different high school (first one from a competitive county-wide school, second one from our local public school), etc.

 

[dnurk]

Yelp. We're neck deep with HS Senior, floppinho.

Anybody else?

Yep. Son is a HS senior and finishing up essays, finalizing letters of recommendation, common app etc. Already applied for a Lilly scholarship. We are in Indiana and his current top schools are the honors college at Utah and Wabash College. Could not be two more different schools. Wants to study bio and shooting for med school.

 

[stbugs]

Yelp. We're neck deep with HS Senior, floppinho.

Anybody else?

Yep. Son is a HS senior and finishing up essays, finalizing letters of recommendation, common app etc. Already applied for a Lilly scholarship. We are in Indiana and his current top schools are the honors college at Utah and Wabash College. Could not be two more different schools. Wants to study bio and shooting for med school.

Same stuff, different schools for my last son (#3). He took the SAT one last time and improved by 20. Not sure it matters but it might help. Just glad it’s over after 4 tests and only a 30 point difference between the last 3. Pretty sure he’s going to apply early to all his schools so at least it’ll be wrapped in a month and a half and then just waiting.

 

[El Floppo]

For those external scholarships... Are they typically due during the application process (which would make them really hard for my kid to apply to) or are they after? Or a mix?

 

[dnurk]

For those external scholarships... Are they typically due during the application process (which would make them really hard for my kid to apply to) or are they after? Or a mix?

At least here in Indiana the Lilly Scholarship and other state or county ones are totally outside the college admissions process. They each have their own deadlines and process. Good news is that once he has a couple of essays and recommendations he can repurpose most of that so he isn't creating stuff from scratch for each one.

 

[Orange&Blue]

For those external scholarships... Are they typically due during the application process (which would make them really hard for my kid to apply to) or are they after? Or a mix?

At least here in Indiana the Lilly Scholarship and other state or county ones are totally outside the college admissions process. They each have their own deadlines and process. Good news is that once he has a couple of essays and recommendations he can repurpose most of that so he isn't creating stuff from scratch for each one.

how do you find these scholarships?

 

[Galileo]

For those external scholarships... Are they typically due during the application process (which would make them really hard for my kid to apply to) or are they after? Or a mix?

At least here in Indiana the Lilly Scholarship and other state or county ones are totally outside the college admissions process. They each have their own deadlines and process. Good news is that once he has a couple of essays and recommendations he can repurpose most of that so he isn't creating stuff from scratch for each one.

how do you find these scholarships?

You can check with your school's guidance office they will probably have insight and info about local scholarships. There are also several online resources that can help. Here are a few...
College Board
Scholarships.com
FastWeb
Scholarship Owl

 

[Kanil]

For those external scholarships... Are they typically due during the application process (which would make them really hard for my kid to apply to) or are they after? Or a mix?

At least here in Indiana the Lilly Scholarship and other state or county ones are totally outside the college admissions process. They each have their own deadlines and process. Good news is that once he has a couple of essays and recommendations he can repurpose most of that so he isn't creating stuff from scratch for each one.

how do you find these scholarships?

You can check with your school's guidance office thay will probably have insight and info about local scholarships. There are also several online resources that can help. Here are a few...
College Board
Scholarships.com
FastWeb
Scholarship Owl

Saving this one.

 

[dnurk]

In addition check your local county website for philanthropy listings. In my county in Indiana there are 10s of thousands of dollars in scholarship that doesn't always show on those big national sites above . Something like this for Indiana https://www.icindiana.org/our-programs/lecsp/indiana-community-foundations/

 

[El Floppo]

We're hearing reports from my son's NYC private school that Jewish parents and their kids are boycotting applying to the Ivies this year due to ongoing campus conflict over Israel and Gaza. (One of the parents last year was the guy who got the Harvard pres booted)

Well...Ok.

Anybody else hearing this kind of stuff?

 

[El Floppo]

Duke is the replacement Ivy for those folks above. Going to be a tough year to apply there.

 

[bigbottom]

We're hearing reports from my son's NYC private school that Jewish parents and their kids are boycotting applying to the Ivies this year due to ongoing campus conflict over Israel and Gaza. (One of the parents last year was the guy who got the Harvard pres booted)

Well...Ok.

Anybody else hearing this kind of stuff?

I think considerations of where your child will feel welcome and safe should be paramount for everyone, including Jewish families. But these particular conflicts don’t seem to be isolated to Ivy League schools.

 

[jabarony]

We're hearing reports from my son's NYC private school that Jewish parents and their kids are boycotting applying to the Ivies this year due to ongoing campus conflict over Israel and Gaza. (One of the parents last year was the guy who got the Harvard pres booted)

Well...Ok.

Anybody else hearing this kind of stuff?

That's interesting. If it's a majority of Jews, it's another input to the schools on how they approach demonstrations, etc. If it's anecdotal and a few high schools in your area, maybe not so much.

I suppose that helps gentile kids like mine by a small %.

 

[El Floppo]

We're hearing reports from my son's NYC private school that Jewish parents and their kids are boycotting applying to the Ivies this year due to ongoing campus conflict over Israel and Gaza. (One of the parents last year was the guy who got the Harvard pres booted)

Well...Ok.

Anybody else hearing this kind of stuff?

That's interesting. If it's a majority of Jews, it's another input to the schools on how they approach demonstrations, etc. If it's anecdotal and a few high schools in your area, maybe not so much.

I suppose that helps gentile kids like mine by a small %.

It's anecdotal writ large... People I've talked to at our school, but my wife and the school's college counselors have heard the same in general. Sounds like great alternatives like Duke, Johns Hopkins, U Chicago etc are seeing a lot more ivy-level applications.

Will be interesting to see if that's true or just bluster, and what that means this year and years following.

Were hoping that helps floppinho a bit... But I'm hearing he's up against 10+ legacies for his EA choice regardless. He might even be the only non legacy.

 

[El Floppo]

We're hearing reports from my son's NYC private school that Jewish parents and their kids are boycotting applying to the Ivies this year due to ongoing campus conflict over Israel and Gaza. (One of the parents last year was the guy who got the Harvard pres booted)

Well...Ok.

Anybody else hearing this kind of stuff?

I think considerations of where your child will feel welcome and safe should be paramount for everyone, including Jewish families. But these particular conflicts don’t seem to be isolated to Ivy League schools.

What I've been hearing... True or not... Is that the southern and Midwestern schools weren't as volatile, which is part of the supposed increased interest vs the ivies

 

[TennesseeJed]

We're hearing reports from my son's NYC private school that Jewish parents and their kids are boycotting applying to the Ivies this year due to ongoing campus conflict over Israel and Gaza. (One of the parents last year was the guy who got the Harvard pres booted)

Well...Ok.

Anybody else hearing this kind of stuff?

That's interesting. If it's a majority of Jews, it's another input to the schools on how they approach demonstrations, etc. If it's anecdotal and a few high schools in your area, maybe not so much.

I suppose that helps gentile kids like mine by a small %.

It's anecdotal writ large... People I've talked to at our school, but my wife and the school's college counselors have heard the same in general. Sounds like great alternatives like Duke, Johns Hopkins, U Chicago etc are seeing a lot more ivy-level applications.

Will be interesting to see if that's true or just bluster, and what that means this year and years following.

Were hoping that helps floppinho a bit... But I'm hearing he's up against 10+ legacies for his EA choice regardless. He might even be the only non legacy.

Good luck to Floppinho!

 

[TennesseeJed]

We're hearing reports from my son's NYC private school that Jewish parents and their kids are boycotting applying to the Ivies this year due to ongoing campus conflict over Israel and Gaza. (One of the parents last year was the guy who got the Harvard pres booted)

Well...Ok.

Anybody else hearing this kind of stuff?

I think considerations of where your child will feel welcome and safe should be paramount for everyone, including Jewish families. But these particular conflicts don’t seem to be isolated to Ivy League schools.

What I've been hearing... True or not... Is that the southern and Midwestern schools weren't as volatile, which is part of the supposed increased interest vs the ivies

For what it's worth - I am not sure there are any protests (at least not of a significant kind like last semester) at Vanderbilt. We were there for move-in - mid August, and Family Weekend early September, and I was just there this week - never saw anything,

 

[El Floppo]

We're hearing reports from my son's NYC private school that Jewish parents and their kids are boycotting applying to the Ivies this year due to ongoing campus conflict over Israel and Gaza. (One of the parents last year was the guy who got the Harvard pres booted)

Well...Ok.

Anybody else hearing this kind of stuff?

I think considerations of where your child will feel welcome and safe should be paramount for everyone, including Jewish families. But these particular conflicts don’t seem to be isolated to Ivy League schools.

What I've been hearing... True or not... Is that the southern and Midwestern schools weren't as volatile, which is part of the supposed increased interest vs the ivies

For what it's worth - I am not sure there are any protests (at least not of a significant kind like last semester) at Vanderbilt. We were there for move-in - mid August, and Family Weekend early September, and I was just there this week - never saw anything,

Vandy is one of those top schools I've been hearing about as having increased popularity as a result.

 

[El Floppo]

1st acceptance!

Berklee College of Music with a 50% merit scholarship!

This is purely as part of a joint program with another college, where he'll also have to be accepted, and then have both schools accept him into their joint program.. a lot of hurdles. But he's over the first one! And super excited about it.

 

[The Z Machine]

Awesome news, Flops!

 

[bigbottom]

1st acceptance!

Berklee College of Music with a 50% merit scholarship!

This is purely as part of a joint program with another college, where he'll also have to be accepted, and then have both schools accept him into their joint program.. a lot of hurdles. But he's over the first one! And super excited about it.

WOW!!! That is so amazing!!!

 

[The Dreaded Marco]

1st acceptance!

Berklee College of Music with a 50% merit scholarship!

This is purely as part of a joint program with another college, where he'll also have to be accepted, and then have both schools accept him into their joint program.. a lot of hurdles. But he's over the first one! And super excited about it.

That is fantastic! Congrats to your son.

Great, great school.

 

[stbugs]

1st acceptance!

Berklee College of Music with a 50% merit scholarship!

This is purely as part of a joint program with another college, where he'll also have to be accepted, and then have both schools accept him into their joint program.. a lot of hurdles. But he's over the first one! And super excited about it.

Congrats and that’s fast! I just helped my son beat the 10/15 early action deadline for 3 applications on Monday. Helped or maybe paid would be a better word for it. Got a slew of others due on 11/1 so trying to get those done this weekend but a lacrosse tourney might get in the way.

One positive is that 1 of the 3 already got back to him asking him to apply to their honors college so that’s a good sign.

 

[zoobird]

1st acceptance!

Berklee College of Music with a 50% merit scholarship!

This is purely as part of a joint program with another college, where he'll also have to be accepted, and then have both schools accept him into their joint program.. a lot of hurdles. But he's over the first one! And super excited about it.

That's awesome!

 

[El Floppo]

1st acceptance!

Berklee College of Music with a 50% merit scholarship!

This is purely as part of a joint program with another college, where he'll also have to be accepted, and then have both schools accept him into their joint program.. a lot of hurdles. But he's over the first one! And super excited about it.

Congrats and that’s fast! I just helped my son beat the 10/15 early action deadline for 3 applications on Monday. Helped or maybe paid would be a better word for it. Got a slew of others due on 11/1 so trying to get those done this weekend but a lacrosse tourney might get in the way.

One positive is that 1 of the 3 already got back to him asking him to apply to their honors college so that’s a good sign.

Yeah... We're neck deep in this stuff too. I think his ED stuff is all done, just fine-tuning it all for a few schools- his main choice and 2 others that require ED for scholarships.

He auditioned and applied to Berklee over the summer while he was there doing a summer program. Always the plan so hed know before ED applying to his preferred school they have the joint program with (which might have changed if he hasn't gotten in to Berklee and kept the joint option alive). I think it definitely helped that his main percussion teacher at the summer program is also in the dept there and told him he was getting in .. and if not, to call him immediately to change that.

 

[thecatch]

Anybody have kids who did international baccalaureate in middle school or high school or both? If so, how much did that help in the admissions process later on?

 

[stbugs]

Anybody have kids who did international baccalaureate in middle school or high school or both? If so, how much did that help in the admissions process later on?

We only have AP and dual enrollment courses at a local community college beyond regular and honors courses. I don’t know anything about IB courses.

 

[El Floppo]

Anybody have kids who did international baccalaureate in middle school or high school or both? If so, how much did that help in the admissions process later on?

We only have AP and dual enrollment courses at a local community college beyond regular and honors courses. I don’t know anything about IB courses.

There are some IB schools here in NYC that we looked at. Advantage was the easy move to a college in Europe.

 

[El Floppo]

Early apps are all out, including an arts portfolio. Very proud of the kid.

 

[Nigel]

My girl's apps are all out, ED chip placed on Boston College. Fingers crossed this is all wrapped up before the holidays.

 

[El Floppo]

My girl's apps are all out, ED chip placed on Boston College. Fingers crossed this is all wrapped up before the holidays.

Congrats!

We find out Dec 15?

 

[Nigel]

My girl's apps are all out, ED chip placed on Boston College. Fingers crossed this is all wrapped up before the holidays.

Congrats!

We find out Dec 15?

Yep

 

[JAA]

SIAP - but has anyone used companies to help their kid get into prestigious universities? I def don't want any Friday-Night-Lights types of agencies, but I would like to understand to help my youngest get into a potential prestigious university. Feel free to PM me if yall dont want to share directly in the thread. TY

 

[Kanil]

SIAP - but has anyone used companies to help their kid get into prestigious universities? I def don't want any Friday-Night-Lights types of agencies, but I would like to understand to help my youngest get into a potential prestigious university. Feel free to PM me if yall dont want to share directly in the thread. TY

But please, share directly in the thread! We all wanna know.

 

[El Floppo]

He just got an interview request at his EA top choice!

Having given interviews at my alma mater, I know it's not a giant thing (not a single one if my interviewees got in!), but it's gotta at least be a good thing?

 

[bigbottom]

SIAP - but has anyone used companies to help their kid get into prestigious universities? I def don't want any Friday-Night-Lights types of agencies, but I would like to understand to help my youngest get into a potential prestigious university. Feel free to PM me if yall dont want to share directly in the thread. TY

Did you mean to say Varsity Blues? Otherwise I’m not sure what you’re referencing. We used a consultant (unfortunately now retired) but her charge was not to help our son get into a prestigious university, but rather (1) to help him think about which schools match his interests (including schools we never thought of) and analyze admission prospects based on his background; (2) formulate a resume to maximize impact ; and (3) manage the logistics and timeline for the seemingly endless number of essays involved in the process. She was extremely helpful.

But maybe that’s not what you’re looking for? Is there a particular school your kid is looking at?

 

[zoobird]

Would have been done with all early applications except my wife and daughter called an audible this morning and decided "what the heck...why not do another application or two now instead of waiting for January?"

 

[Orange&Blue]

SIAP - but has anyone used companies to help their kid get into prestigious universities? I def don't want any Friday-Night-Lights types of agencies, but I would like to understand to help my youngest get into a potential prestigious university. Feel free to PM me if yall dont want to share directly in the thread. TY

Did you mean to say Varsity Blues? Otherwise I’m not sure what you’re referencing. We used a consultant (unfortunately now retired) but her charge was not to help our son get into a prestigious university, but rather (1) to help him think about which schools match his interests (including schools we never thought of) and analyze admission prospects based on his background; (2) formulate a resume to maximize impact ; and (3) manage the logistics and timeline for the seemingly endless number of essays involved in the process. She was extremely helpful.

But maybe that’s not what you’re looking for? Is there a particular school your kid is looking at?

that's what I'm looking for.

 

[Instinctive]

SIAP - but has anyone used companies to help their kid get into prestigious universities? I def don't want any Friday-Night-Lights types of agencies, but I would like to understand to help my youngest get into a potential prestigious university. Feel free to PM me if yall dont want to share directly in the thread. TY

But please, share directly in the thread! We all wanna know.

We used an admissions consultant for my wife's grad school the second time she applied. Much better outcomes than when she tried the year before.

 

[stbugs]

Early apps are all out, including an arts portfolio. Very proud of the kid.

Feel like we’re closer. 2 more early (12/1)/rolling apps left and a couple honors college essays. My son took one off the list so we may apply regular for that. Looking forward to being done with it all. All the early action ones by 11/1 are at least out the door although I’m sure more materials will need to be uploaded/entered once he gets the last logins.

I think he’s already got his list narrowed down but still need to send everything out just in case.

 

[Orange&Blue]

what are you doing for these essays? Kid is a sophomore.

 

[El Floppo]

what are you doing for these essays? Kid is a sophomore.

Not sure I understand the question.

 

[zoobird]

what are you doing for these essays? Kid is a sophomore.

Kid writes it, we provide a ton of feedback

My general advice:

• They should start way early. It's really tough doing it under time pressure.
• Their main essay should be something that could not be written by anyone else.
• If there's nothing unique about them...there's still time to do some stuff with the essay in mind (I've done other posts in this thread about this general idea)
• Most of their supplemental essays should highlight something significant that they want to call attention to, or be some version of "Here's why only your school is perfect for me and how I specifically am perfect for your school"

 

[dnurk]

Our senior son is only applying to 5 schools and we are OK with that. Said he didn't want to apply to a bunch of places he wasn't serious about. Has 4 of 5 submitted including supplemental essays for several honors colleges. Still has one with a dec 1 early application deadline. No ED applications submitted.

Essays; we had him truly and fully write them. A bit of light editorial suggestions to better tell his story but didn't nitpick word choices, phrasing or any of that. Firmly believe it should be representative of what he is capable of and who he is.

 

[El Floppo]

what are you doing for these essays? Kid is a sophomore.

Not sure I understand the question.

Ah . Sorry.

Our son took a writing workshop summer between soph and jr years, and chose to craft the beginning of his primary essay then.

His HS started college guidance 2nd semester Jr year and he worked through the essay some more with his advisor, eventually getting it into a place he was happy with before the summer. As soon as the essay topics were released, he started writing them. His advisor was available through august to help give advice.

 

[zoobird]

Our senior son is only applying to 5 schools and we are OK with that. Said he didn't want to apply to a bunch of places he wasn't serious about. Has 4 of 5 submitted including supplemental essays for several honors colleges. Still has one with a dec 1 early application deadline. No ED applications submitted.

Any really safe schools? I think the chance of something flukey happening is the biggest argument against keeping the list so small.

 

[El Floppo]

Our senior son is only applying to 5 schools and we are OK with that. Said he didn't want to apply to a bunch of places he wasn't serious about. Has 4 of 5 submitted including supplemental essays for several honors colleges. Still has one with a dec 1 early application deadline. No ED applications submitted.

Any really safe schools? I think the chance of something flukey happening is the biggest argument against keeping the list so small.

I'm old, but I think you can have 1 reach/pipe-dream, 2 or 3 hope sos, and 1 or 2 slam dunks.

My son has been advised to apply to 10+ schools... Only 5 or 6 of them he'd actually want to go to. Just seems pointless.

 

[zoobird]

Our senior son is only applying to 5 schools and we are OK with that. Said he didn't want to apply to a bunch of places he wasn't serious about. Has 4 of 5 submitted including supplemental essays for several honors colleges. Still has one with a dec 1 early application deadline. No ED applications submitted.

Any really safe schools? I think the chance of something flukey happening is the biggest argument against keeping the list so small.

I'm old, but I think you can have 1 reach/pipe-dream, 2 or 3 hope sos, and 1 or 2 slam dunks.

My son has been advised to apply to 10+ schools... Only 5 or 6 of them he'd actually want to go to. Just seems pointless.

He wouldn't want to go to them even if he gets in nowhere else?

If my daughter knew that she'd get into one of her top few choices, she wouldn't bother with a lot of the others. But given the track record of kids from her high school, anything that isn't a safety school is a long shot...there just doesn't seem to be much in between. So she's going to take a LOT of shots at schools that she'd be excited about...and then apply to two or three safe schools, since her decision about which of those to attend could depend who gives her more merit money (and even the safe schools aren't always complete safe).