What is the GPA distribution in your highschool? Do you need >97 for 4.0? I wonder how do they expect kids to get 97+ in every subject for unweighted 4.0?
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GPA
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Alright, what's the deal with skyrocketing selective college applications?
The number of stories I've heard in the course of my son's application process of schools receiving record numbers of applications this year is off the charts. I can name multiple LACs whose acceptance rates have shrunken literally in half in the span of just a couple of years (e.g., St. Olaf, Trinity U, Grinnell, etc), and these aren't exactly household name kinds of places. My D's school, Olin, got 30% more applications this year than last!
So what's the deal? Didn't demographics peak a year or two ago? Are kids just applying to an ever greater number of colleges, even though the common app has been around for years now? Is it international students? Are a greater fraction of high school kids applying to college because it's seen as increasingly mandatory for satisfactory employment? Someone help me out here.
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Almost graduated!
So what would you do? My daughter, who just completed her 4th year at a UF in the College of Liberal Arts and Sciences earned a C- in one of her classes. It was not a specific class to her degree, International Studies, but it was also not a Gen-ed class. To graduated, your last semester classes must have a C or higher. This is only her 2nd C ever! Her GPA is still well over 3.0 The class, History of Jazz, which was online had several Experiential learning opportunities. However, because she was on the traveling Model UN team she missed most of these. She did have an excuse letter for each absence from her MUN advisor. Her grade on the final exam was 100. Because of these absences however, the professor decided to give her the C- which does not allow her to graduate. UF is huge, she is terrible about advocating for herself. There is no getting to know your advisor, because you rarely get to see the same one. Now she is jobless and degreeless- help!!
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Almost Perfect School
We all know that no school can be perfect for everyone but if you want to pick one that checks boxes for good academics, good faculty, high ranking, nice campus, nice town, connected alumni AND mild weather then which one comes to mind?
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Georgia colleges-- campus carry bill vetoed!
At the very 11th hour, Georgia's governor vetoed the campus carry bill. Many may disagree, but I applaud this decision.
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Truthful advice about getting into top colleges, for your "average" excellent student
I created a thread back in 6/14, when my D was just thinking about college. We didn't have many ideas about what colleges to look at, so I asked CC users to give suggestions. I know now, but didn't realize then, that she is NOT exceptional in any way (except to us, of course:-). Great suggestions poured in, here is the original thread: http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/college-search-selection/1658573-where-do-the-cool-kids-go-to-college-p6.html
To see where she applied, read post #83. To see where she has been accepted, read post #163. She hasn't made her final decision yet. I will update when she does.
Thus began a process of educating us both about the realities of getting into top colleges in America today. At the time, I thought my kid had very good stats. She does, but they are nothing special compared to the Ivy-obsessed students on CC, all wondering how to get into HYPSM. We were learning but still ignorant. We began visiting colleges, and like many people, we looked at the "super hard to get into" ones first. Soon, we realized it was important to look at the "not as hard to get into" ones, which were more difficult to pin down. Eventually, she came up with a list of 12. The list had 2 dream schools, 3 "realistic" reaches, 5 matches, and 2 safeties.
By the time she applied, we were far more educated, but the damage had been done.;-) We had already visited the dream schools, and she liked them. To our credit, we were always knew they were difficult to get into. As we learned more, we began to understand that she had virtually no chance.
A couple of match schools stayed on the list that she really shouldn't have applied to. It became apparent that she had no real interest in them, even if accepted. But they had app fee waivers, so she applied. Apps are a lot of work, so it was wasted time.
Meanwhile, I spent a shocking amount of time on CC and other websites and became more and more informed. Here is the biggest lesson I learned, and I say it sincerely, without envy or bitterness:
Your excellent student, (especially if a white girl, or Asian), in a good school district, with excellent test scores, grades, and a range of ECs is very, very unlikely to get into any school with an acceptance rate under 20%. UNLESS the kid is, or does, something exceptional, or is hooked.
Note what makes these students in our HS "exceptional": U Penn girl, recruited for sport in tenth grade. MIT girl, RD, Intel science contestant. Cornell boys, ED, cool websites that many people used, great students, one Hispanic. Columbia girl, RD, Hispanic, good but not amazing student. Brown guy, ED, truly gifted in many areas, very clever and intellectual. The surprise Harvard guy is a good student, but not stellar. Class pres. He had many very committed ECs that showed his interests. Think it was probably ED and that his great personality must have come through in his essays and recs. Vanderbilt girl, ED, recruited for sport. Now, for the one kid who had nothing "exceptional", except stellar grades and test scores: "Under 15% acceptance rate" LAC girl, RD, valedictorian, Asian, nearly 2400 SAT, denied at all Ivies and Tufts.
My D was accepted to 7 in all, 5 with merit aid. 1 of those was a reach (25% acceptance rate, and her stats were at about the 60th percentile for that school.) She was waitlisted at 3, including her top two "realistic" reaches, and a match school. Denied at the 2 dream schools. She has wonderful choices and is very happy about her results, except for being waitlisted at her top 2. She knows the chances of getting off WL are slim, and will try, (tbh, I don't think she will try that hard), but is proceeding as though that won't happen.
Here is what I hope you can take away from our experience:
Do not let your kid invest all his hopes in a tippy top school, unless something about your child is exceptional, or he has a hook. By all means apply, but ensure your kid understands that he has very little chance of getting in. It is CRITICAL to apply to an appropriate range of colleges. Every year around this time, students post threads called "why didn't I get in anywhere?" The kids are truly shocked, because they usually have great stats and applied to top 20 colleges, assuming that at least one would work out. The more sensible ones applied to maybe one safety that they don't seem to like, but threw in just in case.
Don't waste time and money visiting a lot of reach schools. Your efforts will be much better spent visiting match and safety schools, because there is a good chance your child will end up at one of them. They need to know what the match and safety schools offer and see if they like them. I think in general, we actually did most things right, except for visiting too many reach schools and submitting too many applications. When we do this again with my S in a couple of years, I will especially discourage those two things. I will encourage my S to be committed to a few good ECs, as I think they really do matter. Remember also, good grades and test scores matter, a LOT. I am very sure my D wouldn't have been accepted or waitlisted to her "realistic" reaches if she hadn't had very good test scores. In addition, if my S likes one school above all others, I will encourage the use of the ED card, as long as the school is within the realm of possibility for his stats.
Another last piece of obvious, but overlooked advice: colleges want to admit people they like! Be likable, be genuine, (this applies to the essay especially). Tell your kid to get recs from teachers who really like them, who they like in return. I am sure this is why Harvard kid was accepted. I am actually pretty sure this must be why my D was accepted to her reach school, which had no supplemental essays. Her teachers must have written good recs, and they must have liked her essay. Apart from her test scores and course rigor, we can't think of any other reason why she was accepted. Good luck to all of you as you work through this long and crazy process!
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Calculus AB vs BC
My S will be completing pre calculus honors this summer. Should he take AP calculus AB or BC for his 10th grade? Is he better off taking AB 10th and BC 11th ? If he goes straight to BC then he would have no other math classes to take so I don't know if colleges will frown on him not having any math classes beyond 10th grade. I realize BC incorporates AB into the class so I'm just curious which is the better option as far as colleges are concerned.
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Parents: How many changes of major? How many career changes?
So many entering college students think they are choosing a path for life, but I think many of us parents look back and see that changes do happen. Majors can change when you find new interests in college and even when you are out in the world, whole careers can change.
When I went to school (Ga. Tech) I was absolutely, totally into aircraft design. Being around airplanes was everything I wanted (no desire to become a pilot, however). So Aerospace Engineering was my major... for the first year and a half. I had a coop job with a major defense contractor, found out what engineers did, and discovered it was not for me. I changed my major to physics (and my coop job was changed to a state air pollution lab - lots of physics-related work there with mass spectrometers, etc). I found I liked the environmental parts to the job.
My first "career" was teaching. I loved it, but took a summer class and discovered a love for computers (beside, as much as I liked teaching, I felt like I was living in poverty). So I went back to Tech and got a graduate degree in computer science, but my fellowship was connected with air pollution, so afterwards I took a job back in the state agency doing computer modeling/meteorology of pollutant dispersion. (second career)
On the side, I read more and more about Artificial Intelligence (AI) and, through sheer, incredible, unbelievable luck, got an job in the AI Lab at Carnegie-Mellon's Computer Science Department. It was incredible... I was working with people who wrote some of my grad school books. This was my third career, which lasted the longest, with stints at the Federal Judicial Center and Bell laboratories.
The final career change (sort of eased into it with the AI/telecommunications work at Bell labs) was one of convenience. We wanted to lie in Colorado and I found a job there in telecommunications. ("third-and-a-half" career)
So, I want to hear other stories. I've worked with a lot of engineers, especially, who have had the same major/career all their lives, but is it so rare to change directions once in a while?
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Am I making a mistake by turning down MIT for UCSD Comuter Science and engineering for 160k?
If my parents pay for MIT they will not have funds for my graduate school.
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Can my mom find out that I flunked out of college by contacting the school?
I went to a state school that my highly controlling mother basically forced me to attend. I hated every minute of it because she also wouldn't allow me to choose my major. Even though I could technically run away I didn't because she told me she would commit suicide if I didn't listen to everything she said and I believed her at the time. Now I'm very depressed and have finally flunked out.
MY QUESTION: Can she go to any of the school officials (admissions, financial aid, etc) and ask them if I got dismissed from the school? I heard there are FERPA regulations but thought that only prevented her from checking my grades. Do the FERPA, or any other regulations prevent her from checking if I've failed out completely? She is threatening to go ask them since I won't talk to her. I can't talk to her because of her own mental conditions as well as other personal issues that occurred throughout my life with her if anybody is curious.
I don't know if this information is valid to whether the school can tell her but some of the tuition for my classes were funded through direct payments and some were through various loans. I am also NOT a minor. I am a 20 year old female.
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Need input for a family discussion
Hi everyone,
Before D leaves us to college, we are going on a family trip and will discuss some big topics like we usually do (family tradition). This time we will talk about D's new plan in her career path from becoming a veterinarian to something bigger. Someone can pose a bigger impact. She was thinking neurologist. I know it's a different world and I do want to see if this is a good fit for her. She is very strong in Biology and has a tremendous interest in it. She doesn't mind another 10+ years of school because she loves to learn. I know she has another few years to consider but we would like to frame an early mindset and plan accordingly.
To me, I see three big criteria to discuss. 1. Does she have the ability? 2. Will she get the financial support? 3. Is that a lifestyle she will be happy having (probably can't have too many children and less family life?)
Answer to #1. I see it in her but maybe I am being naive
Answer to #2. She will get the support from us if she needs it
Answer to #3. What kind of lifestyle will a Neurologist have? I have no idea
Does anyone want to help adding more questions and information? We need more input from people who are wiser and more knowledgeable on the subject. Any neurologist or family out there to share their experience?
Always appreciate the knowledge and wisdom from people on CC site,
:x
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Moved: NC's transgender law violates Civil Rights Act, Justice says
This discussion has been moved.
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Just smile and nod...smile and nod
It's that time of year. Well-meaning family and friends blurt-out unimformed reactions to our college news. What masters of self-control we must be to keep from laughing in their faces or kicking them in the shin.
Some comments we've heard about Son attending Wake Forest:
"OMG! You do know that's run by Baptists, right?"
"Too bad he has to go someplace so small."
On the ROTC scholarship:
"Why doesn't he want to go to college?"
What have you encountered? Share it here. We'll laugh and comisserate together.
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UCSC Admissions Decisions Delayed another week at last minute....
What does anyone make of this? My son (and I) have been waiting and waiting on UCSC decisions, supposedly to be completed by April 30.
He is transferring from a CC, wants to major in Psych and has two other good options (UCD and UCSB).
Today May 1 he finally got a message from UCSC that they received over 1,100 more transfer applications than last year, and will have decisions posted no later than May 6. Wish they would have posted that message yesterday. I'm really curious as to why they received so many more transfer apps vs last year. And since they knew about the additional applications as of last Dec. 1, why they didn't gear up for it?
Just hard finalizing decisions without all the pieces of the puzzle in place. And kind of makes me wonder about UCSC, in the event that he is accepted. The other two schools have "Transfer Decision Days" in May for accepted transfers to visit, ask questions, look at housing etc. I can't find anything about a similar event at UCSC, and in fact under transfer events they still have last year's events listed. I"m perplexed.
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Colleges for the Jewish "B" student
I have been debating for a time about starting a thread such as this. On one hand, I want to make sure I have considered every college this should be on my son's list. On the other hand, every time this topic comes up there a lot of posters who criticize the need for such a thread. So, I make this request - if you are interested in this topic - have good ideas - please contribute. If you feel this type of thread is not necessary - then I guess there is no reason for you to post on it, right? (Said gently!)
So, for my "B" student - considering Elon, College of Charleston, James Madison and Muhlenberg. All have a reasonable number of Jewish students and an active Hillel.
Ithaca has been suggested - not sure that he wants to head that far north - but it is a maybe. Drew is another possibility - but it might be too small.
I also like things I have heard about Gettysburg and Susquehanna in general - but not as sure about the Jewish piece. These schools have Hillels, but their reported Jewish populations are under 100 students.
Considering Salisbury as our in-state super safety school - but have no data on number of Jewish students.
So, I'd love feedback from parents and students who are familiar with Jewish life and the Hillels at these schools. If I have overlooked some - please fill me in. We are trying to stay in the mid-Atlantic region and trying to aim for colleges larger than 2000 students and below 15,000. He might be a business/management/marketing major - but that is certainly not definite.
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Tuition Exchange
My husband works at a college and we are counting on the tuition exchange program to help pay for our son's school. He has applied to Syracuse and already received a letter from Syracuse that he has been awarded the scholarship there. He is still waiting to hear if he will be accepted there. It is one of his top choices. Apparently Syracuse is the only schools in the program that sends out letters to prospective students notifying them that they are receiving the award before an admission decision has been made. Does anyone have any idea if it is easier for a child who is participating in this program to be accepted to the school? My son is an average student and I can't help but wonder if he is more likely to be accepted so the college can balance their import/export ratio. Thoughts?
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Howard University and the plight of the average college
https://www.washingtonpost.com/lifestyle/magazine/is-this-howard-universitys-tipping-point/2016/04/27/ff418fe4-f694-11e5-9804-537defcc3cf6_story.html
The layers of problems — some self-inflicted with leadership issues and financial turmoil — have been laid bare for a while. A trustee’s urgent letter about Howard’s crisis was leaked three years ago. The hospital’s chronic losses contributed to consecutive drops in the school’s credit rating, the most recent in June. And this fall students took to Twitter with a grievance campaign.
[...]
It’s a troubling picture for a place that is a leading producer of African Americans who earn doctorates. Its business and law schools are highly regarded. The U.S. Department of Education just recognized it as one of 13 private universities that excel at graduating federal Pell Grant recipients in six years.
[...]
The school is taking steps to put starch in its financial picture and its bureaucracy, officials say. One was the purge of “unregistered occupants.” In a “Letter from the President,” Frederick said the university was owed $22 million in uncollected tuition as of last spring. The school has started requiring students to have a zero balance to register or to pay one-third of their balance and be enrolled in a payment plan.
Education has to be paid for, students know, but some say it can feel like priorities are shifting, with focus less on them and more on business. “I think it’s really sad to see people with lots of potential not being able to get the proper education because of money,” sophomore Cydney Anderson said in an interview for @focusonhu on Instagram.
It's sad to see the current state of Howard. It's not a local directional, but Howard (#135 in USNWR's ranking of national universities) seems to fall somewhere between directionals and the top 20 schools that cause so much sturm und drang. The university is dealing with a lot of issues common to higher education institutions across the country. I thought this was an interesting look at those problems - it was certainly eye-opening for me.
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Fall dorm move-in vs. Spring move-out
Our daughter's semester will be over at the end of this week and we are driving to her campus this weekend to get her moved out. She's our first to go away and I know now that we overpacked last Spetember and have already brought home a few things that she didn't need (a microwave, extra comforter) I have to say, though, that we found move-in to be relatively straghtforward and easy.
We've mentioned our upcoming move-out to a few people and the responses seem uniformly negative: not fun, a lot of hard work, stressful, bring lots of garbage bags, just rushing to throw out stuff at the end of the day.
For those of you who have been through this, what has your experience been? Any good survival tips?
Thanks in advance!
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Growing Pains
Yeah, this is another "hey parents" thread...
About me:
I'm a college Freshman finishing the last quarter of my first year. I'm a computer science major, living at home and going to community college. I work 15-25 hours a week in retail and take 15-20 credits per quarter. I had a rough start to college. I currently have a 3.1 cumulative GPA and managed to snag a 3.5 last quarter (winter quarter). My parents won't accept rent/any kind of monetary compensation, so they take care of everything that is part of the monthly bills (health insurance, car payment/car insurance, cell phone) and I take care of all outside needs/wants (basically anything that isn't a monthly bill). Though they do support me by letting me live at home, I am paying for college entirely in my name. I think that covers the requisite background information...
The problem:
Part 1: I am struggling with sometimes-crippling depression and anxiety, to the point where sometimes it's all I can do to get out of bed. I started paying for online counseling out of pocket in January of this year because I was at my breaking point. Basically, I Skype with him every week. My counselor has helped pull me back from the ledge I was on at the start of this year, but I'm still struggling. I start feeling overwhelmed and want to distract myself, which leads to avoiding my school work, which leads to more stress and anxiety because I'm behind. When I get behind, I avoid my work more (yes I know this doesn't make sense), and my stress/anxiety gets worse, leading me back to the same cycle. Medication is currently out of the question, because I intend to pursue a career in the military after college, and I feel like starting meds would be the kiss of death on an already uphill battle. I haven't told my parents about any of this, as I have reason to believe they won't be supportive, which leads to the second half of my problem...
Part 2:
I never differentiated in high school. I dropped out/was pulled out of school in 11th grade (long story) and had been my disabled mom's full time caretaker since 15/10th grade. I got my GED but had to put college off for a year. Now that I've started school, things have...exploded. I hate being at home because every time I'm here, there's always something. My mom takes every opportunity to make nasty passive aggressive comments about how I'm never at home ("Oh, look how much the dogs miss you...they miss you so much because you're never home" "Of course you didn't know that, you're never here"). When I do make an effort, though, my mom ignores me. She also constantly makes comments about how I'm not an adult and she doesn't see me as any different from when I was 15 (Ironically, 15 was when I became mostly "an adult", because that was the year I was taking care of her full time. I'm turning 20 this summer). She also makes weird comments about how she owns me. I'm the oldest of three girls, so I know this is an empty nest issue, but it is driving me crazy and not helping the aforementioned depression/anxiety issues.
I guess my question is...I know I can't change my parents, so how do I deal with all this? How do I come to terms with doing what's best for me even if it hurts my parents (mostly my mom)?
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"Don't follow your dreams" commencement advice
http://eeditionmobile.latimes.com/Olive/Tablet/LATimes/SharedArticle.aspx?href=LAT/2016/05/05&id=Ar01700
Comedian and TV host Stephen Colbert offered wiser counsel during a graduation speech at his alma mater, Northwestern University, a few years ago. Recalling that he once aspired to perform Shakespeare in the street while living in a barren loft apartment, he said he has no regrets that things turned out differently.
“If we’d all stuck with our first dream,” noted Colbert, “the world would be overrun with cowboys and princesses.”
Second or third dreams — the ones that college freshmen bring to campus — are seldom much better. In some cases, this is obvious to most everyone except the dreamer: the pre-med student who wants to cure cancer but falls asleep in his biochem class; the aspiring diva who ignores her C in music (as well as her A in physics).
But even when an 18- or 22-year-old’s passion for a particular vocation is grounded in impressive achievements and serious reflection, it’s like other relationships at that age. To give up immediately might be a mistake, but wedding oneself to it is a bigger mistake still. Better to stay open to new ideas and career possibilities.
I think I disagree with their use of Steve Jobs as an example. Jobs was one of the rare individuals who became successful by fanatically following his dream and his vision of technology.
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