Parents of juniors... How's the college list building going?

[JanetC]

I know our juniors are "supposed" to have at least a semi-solid college list by the end of junior year so they can write essays over the summer....  We're maybe a third of the way through the process?  She has a couple safeties (one admissions/financial safety, one admission safety and hope for merit aid), and maybe a fit school if she gets aid, and a few more she's not sure about but maybe.

 

Seems like we have a ways to go.  Anyone else?

[SkateLeft]

Mine has three schools on her list right now. One of them is the university her older sister is transferring to in the fall, so that would be just fine by me! I'd be very happy to have them both at the same school, even though they're polar opposites with very different academic interests and would probably never move in the same circles. It'd be nice for them to be near each other though.

 

She's talked about applying to a few out of state schools, but I suspect she'll end up staying in the region. It's much easier for her to make a list than it was for my oldest, who had very specific requirements for what she wanted.

[Trilliums]

My junior son just witnessed older son going through the whole application process and announced that he will attend our local flagship rather than go throught the process himself. I am not sure if he will still feel this way in a year, but if he stays local, that is fine with me!

[Melissa B]

My dd feels like she has her final list. A first choice, a second choice and two safeties. She was going to apply to her first choice and one safety only. I've encouraged her to add two more colleges just to keep her options open. I'm concerned she may want a different major (or even a change in scenery) come twelve months from now. Better to have a couple more potential options. All four schools do offer her current intended major as well.

 

She is planning to apply early action to the three colleges that offer that choice, so all four of her applications are due between October 15th and November 15th.

[teachermom2834]

My ds has narrowed it down really only on financials.  Realized with his test scores, etc. that financially he is looking at attending an in state public university.  He says he would prefer a small liberal arts school but has decided he doesn't really want to go too far.  So, he is looking at our state schools and a few private schools within about a 4 hour drive that offer decent aid.  That narrows it some.  Luckily this is a kid that I truly believe will be happy and do well anywhere.  Very easy going and adaptable kid.

[MysteryJen]

We have a working list and she is talking to a few coaches now. She has two offers for official visits so far, but she won't accept any until August.

As you can see, sports are first with her.

[Matryoshka]

I have two juniors, with completely different interests.  Yikes.

 

One is fairly focused; she's interested in CompSci and is looking at STEM schools.  Top choices so far are RIT and WPI, with the state flagship and another state U that has a strong CS program as safeties.

 

The other's interests lean towards the social sciences and languages.  Her top picks have been BU and NYU, but honestly they're both reaches (even if she got in, I don't think either of them are generous enough with financial aid to make them affordable).  Many she's picked out so far are big schools in an urban environment; someone here suggested Concordia in Montreal, and she's warming to that idea - we'll visit this summer.  Safety would be the state flagship (I actually think she'd like it there, but it isn't urban at all.  It is big, though).  There are a bunch of others on her list, including some smaller, non-urban women's colleges, but I think we have a lot of visiting to do so she can really see what they're all like, and narrow down which criteria are the most important to her.

[JumpedIntoTheDeepEndFirst]

My DD has a huge, lovely, multi-colored wall chart of her favorite options-couple reach, lots of fits, a few safeties-though I'm loath to call them that since I think the concept of "safety school" is becoming a thing of the past.

 

I think we have a plan in place to visit about 8 this year and we hit 3 last year.

 

I think once SAT scores are in she'll have a solid idea about her best fit on a numbers basis and the visits will help with the rest.  She is so far committed to not filing any Early Decisions since finances are important to us so it will be all Early Action and Regular Decision (with a few school with rolling admissions).

 

One piece of weirdness that we never thought we'd have on a list of things to check--cell phone reception (i.e. is one company better than others).  What a changing world-I was thrilled just to not have a pay phone on the hall in college.

[bettyandbob]

So, we are only looking in state. I think our state has a good range (urban/rural, mountains/coast, very small/very big). Dd asked to start visiting schools in 9th grade. I'm glad we did. We've had a leisurely pace of seeing 8 schools over that time. There are more schools, but I think she narrowed what she wants enough to know the schools left wouldn't be a good fit. She's crossed a couple of small schools off because while the environment felt right, there didn't seem to be any degrees she was interested in. She's still playing around with career goals, so she needs a school where she might try out more than one major. Her SAT and ACT scores are fitting well with her top choice. I think she will take the SAT one more time in the fall. And we will probably revisit schools in the fall/winter. If we can will visit some this summer and see if we can talk to faculty. I'm glad we started early looking. dd likes to think a long time about big decisions. 

[MorningGlory]

Right now, my son has two schools on his list, and they are polar opposites. One is a small, Christian, liberal arts school in a small town; the students are required to live on campus. The second is a very large, urban public research university where many of the students are commuters. We have another small liberal arts school in mind, but we haven't visited it yet...trying to find a date to do that. At this point he wants to major in math (actuarial science). 

 

Son is just not that interested. I do hope his interest and involvement in the college search will improve in the next few months. Right now he is much more concerned with how Barcelona will play against Bayern Munich. lol!

 

Jealous of Jumped's daughter's lovely wall chart... 

[JumpedIntoTheDeepEndFirst]

Right now, my son has two schools on his list, and they are polar opposites. One is a small, Christian, liberal arts school in a small town; the students are required to live on campus. The second is a very large, urban public research university where many of the students are commuters. We have another small liberal arts school in mind, but we haven't visited it yet...trying to find a date to do that. At this point he wants to major in math (actuarial science). 

 

Son is just not that interested. I do hope his interest and involvement in the college search will improve in the next few months. Right now he is much more concerned with how Barcelona will play against Bayern Munich. lol!

 

Jealous of Jumped's daughter's lovely wall chart... 

 

Her younger brother (freshman) took one look at it and said "You know I don't need that.  I already know where I am applying."  He has picked about 6-8 schools.  He feels done.  

 

I hope I can get him a bit more motivated to look at his choices more critically in a couple years and expand his horizons a bit.  I'm not overly hopeful though.  We'll see what time and having friends head off for university do.

 

I still don't see a chart in his future. (and most decidedly not a color coded one)

[Matryoshka]

Jealous of Jumped's daughter's lovely wall chart... 

 

You and me both... my humanities girl (the one who is most undecided) says it stresses her out for me to even bring it up... :glare:

I love charts!!

 

So finally I made a chart myself in Google Docs spreadsheet, one tab for each girl, comparing the schools they said they were interested in.  I filled part of it in, and left it to them to fill in the rest.  I added columns for things I thought they should make sure they paid attention to, but because it's a shared doc, they can add or subtract columns and rows as they wish.  And I can look at it without asking them, which lowers stress (both theirs and mine...). :)

 

I do notice that humanities girl has added some color.  I went and added schools that I thought she might want to look at (since her original list of schools were all both selective and expensive - ie most likely completely out of reach).

[Sebastian (a lady)]

Ds has two service academies and three other schools picked. I'd love to double that but not until after next week. (See AP stress thread.)

 

I'm pretty sure that ds2 is building a secret list.

[mjbucks1]

I am at a loss on how to help ds narrow down colleges.  We visited Case Western in March and ds loved it.  We will be visiting more this summer.  This is so stressful!  He needs scholarship money wherever he goes.  He scored well on the PSAT, so he should make National Merit Semi-Finalist (and hopefully finalist). His ACT score is very good, and he will have 10 AP courses by the time he graduates, along with good SAT II scores BUT it is so difficult narrowing down where to visit and apply.  It just seems like there are so many possibilities!  How do you steer your children in the right direction?

[JanetC]

I am at a loss on how to help ds narrow down colleges.  We visited Case Western in March and ds loved it.  We will be visiting more this summer.  This is so stressful!  He needs scholarship money wherever he goes.  He scored well on the PSAT, so he should make National Merit Semi-Finalist (and hopefully finalist). His ACT score is very good, and he will have 10 AP courses by the time he graduates, along with good SAT II scores BUT it is so difficult narrowing down where to visit and apply.  It just seems like there are so many possibilities!  How do you steer your children in the right direction?

 

OK, I''ll try:

 

1. Type of school - anything you know about student's interests and environments where they feel comfortable.

 

2. Foundation schools - find admissions and financial safeties first. In-state or undergraduate exchange schools (if applicable) with low tuition that would meet your basic requirements. 

 

3. EFC and fit schools - Compute your EFC. Can you afford it? If yes, maybe, then a fit school is one where you are in the top 50%-ish of applicants and the school offers good need-based aid. If no way, no how, then a fit school is one where you are in the top 25%-ish of applicants and the school offers good merit-based aid.

 

4. Dream schools - these are schools that you find along the way while looking for safeties and fit schools and can't quite let go of even if they are going to be harder to get into. You should still have at least a decent chance at financial aid if you get in before adding it to the list, though. Read the admissions pages carefully on these, as there may be more hoops to jump through than a typical college.

 

5. Whim of child - I would be remiss if I didn't note that not all of my kids' preferences make sense to me, but she's the one going to college, so...

[creekland]

I am at a loss on how to help ds narrow down colleges.  We visited Case Western in March and ds loved it.  We will be visiting more this summer.  This is so stressful!  He needs scholarship money wherever he goes.  He scored well on the PSAT, so he should make National Merit Semi-Finalist (and hopefully finalist). His ACT score is very good, and he will have 10 AP courses by the time he graduates, along with good SAT II scores BUT it is so difficult narrowing down where to visit and apply.  It just seems like there are so many possibilities!  How do you steer your children in the right direction?

 

If he loved Case Western and has these stats, be sure to consider Pittsburgh.  Pittsburgh can offer great merit aid to high stat kids - even from out of state.

 

Another good merit aid school to consider is U Alabama.

 

U Rochester offers some scholarships too, including a few high ones, but they tend to also be good with need based aid if that is something you qualify for.  Many cross apply to Case and U Rochester.

 

All thoughts based upon my middle son's college search.  URoc won, Pitt finished second, U Alabama third... ;)  (He eliminated Case prior to applying as he didn't care for its urban-ness.  It almost made the cut though.)

[mjbucks1]

All thoughts based upon my middle son's college search.  URoc won, Pitt finished second, U Alabama third...  ;)  (He eliminated Case prior to applying as he didn't care for its urban-ness.  It almost made the cut though.)

 

 

I had not even considered Pitt, but I will take a look at it now.  We are planning on visiting Carnegie Mellon, although I know that is a tough one to get into.  I think he is going to go to an engineering camp this summer at U of Alabama, so that may help.  I have thought of U of Rochester, but I am not sure how different it is from Case (and Case would be much closer).  Our state flagship school will be a safety, but it is HUGE and ds does not really want to go there.

 

Could you tell me what your son loved about U of Rochester?  My ds is planning on majoring in computer science and computer engineering if that matters!  Thanks all!!

[swimmermom3]

I think we have a list of about six schools, but I feel so unsure about what we are looking at.

 

Also, we are working with dh's prejudices with regards to where he spent his freshman year and which he couldn't escape fast enough.

 

Ds thinks he would like to major in economics, but it needs to have a political/international flavor, something like Beloit's International Political Economy major. He'll want to continue with Spanish. Some of the most exciting economics departments seem to occur in schools where I am really unsure about the location. Sailor Dude loves to explore on his down time whether it's urban exploration or hiking and sailing. I am not sure if flat and in the middle of nowhere would be appealing unless the program was amazing. I don't know. I do think something smaller, but not too small where he has a better chance of interacting with faculty early on, would be good.

 

I don't know how you all do this, especially with more than one child. Nothing so far has just said "This is it."

 

Ds will need merit aid, but while his numbers are solid, they are not outstanding. For him, I know that intellectual engagement will account for a lot, especially the opportunity for stimulating debates. If the school is too big, I think it would be easy to relax in to anonymity and not get as much out of the experience.

[Mom22ns]

Dd is supposed to be a sophomore this year, but I think she will be a senior next year. She has one college picked out. We recently did a comparison of every college within 10 hours of us that has the major she wants and she ended up back at the same place she started. As long as her ACT is solid in June, she'll apply there in the fall. I guess I need to give her the bad news that she needs to write essays when she finishes her DE summer school classes.

[creekland]

 

 

I had not even considered Pitt, but I will take a look at it now.  We are planning on visiting Carnegie Mellon, although I know that is a tough one to get into.  I think he is going to go to an engineering camp this summer at U of Alabama, so that may help.  I have thought of U of Rochester, but I am not sure how different it is from Case (and Case would be much closer).  Our state flagship school will be a safety, but it is HUGE and ds does not really want to go there.

 

Could you tell me what your son loved about U of Rochester?  My ds is planning on majoring in computer science and computer engineering if that matters!  Thanks all!!

 

 

Carnegie and Pitt are right across the road from each other, so visiting both is relatively easy.

 

My guy liked that U Rochester has it's own campus rather than being urban like Case or Pitt.  It also had more depth in neuro/brain and cognitive science - his desired majors, or at least, it had more depth in what he was looking for when he looked at what profs were doing. (This is what put Pitt 2nd - they have a great program as well, but URoc is smaller and "nerdier.") Then the school is focused on research.  Roughly 80% of the students there participate in undergrad research.  I know some kids do at Case as well, but I don't think the percentage is as high.  Then there is only one Gen Ed requirement - a Freshman writing course.  One needs a couple of clusters outside their major, but the options for those are quite varied.  What finally sold him was his visit.  He easily found his tribe with students who were double and triple majoring, but still taking time to enjoy themselves with musical ECs.  Now that he's there he's getting two majors & two minors, working in a lab, and enjoys his "free" time with a club dance troupe, an ASL club, and a Christian club.  Then there's volunteering in the hospital (right across the road), and he's an RA + a TA (TA's teach a recitation class and help students study - he's been one for Organic Chem and a Brain & Cognitive Science class).

 

He likes it so much he applied to (and got accepted for) their Take 5 program - free tuition for a 5th year to study something completely different than his majors - just for the love of learning.  He's doing African Global Development for that (he has a longer more descriptive name for it, but that's something "I" can remember!).

 

Financially, from what I've seen with a reasonable number of students (meaning not tons, but more than a couple), both Case and URoc give decent merit aid to many students with a slight nod to Case for giving more for less.  URoc has often outshined with need-based aid though, but can be a little tougher to get in.

 

With Pitt, one needs at least a 33 to get merit aid (from what I've seen), and they don't do much with need-based aid, but the overall cost is lower to start with.

 

All three schools (Pitt, Alabama, and Roc) were within a couple thousand of each other for us.  URoc was the least expensive, but at that point, it's not much difference.  My guy could have chosen any of his top three and we'd have been ok with it.  Alabama ended up not being a contender due to too much Greek presence for him AND he'd have had to have chosen a different major.  They don't have neuro/cognitive.  At that time he was also thinking Microbio, so that would have been his choice there.  Overall he's pre-med, so his major is more or less just for "fun."

 

Carnegie never interested him, so we only saw it from the road while visiting Pitt.  (I'd keep it on your list for computer "anything" though!)

[mjbucks1]

My guy liked that U Rochester has it's own campus rather than being urban like Case or Pitt.  It also had more depth in neuro/brain and cognitive science - his desired majors, or at least, it had more depth in what he was looking for when he looked at what profs were doing. (This is what put Pitt 2nd - they have a great program as well, but URoc is smaller and "nerdier.") Then the school is focused on research.  Roughly 80% of the students there participate in undergrad research.  I know some kids do at Case as well, but I don't think the percentage is as high.  Then there is only one Gen Ed requirement - a Freshman writing course.  One needs a couple of clusters outside their major, but the options for those are quite varied.  What finally sold him was his visit.  He easily found his tribe with students who were double and triple majoring, but still taking time to enjoy themselves with musical ECs.  Now that he's there he's getting two majors & two minors, working in a lab, and enjoys his "free" time with a club dance troupe, an ASL club, and a Christian club.  Then there's volunteering in the hospital (right across the road), and he's an RA + a TA (TA's teach a recitation class and help students study - he's been one for Organic Chem and a Brain & Cognitive Science class).

 

 

Thank you so much!  I think we may have to look at U of Rochester :)

[Matryoshka]

I had not even considered Pitt, but I will take a look at it now.  We are planning on visiting Carnegie Mellon, although I know that is a tough one to get into.  I think he is going to go to an engineering camp this summer at U of Alabama, so that may help.  I have thought of U of Rochester, but I am not sure how different it is from Case (and Case would be much closer).  Our state flagship school will be a safety, but it is HUGE and ds does not really want to go there.

 

Could you tell me what your son loved about U of Rochester?  My ds is planning on majoring in computer science and computer engineering if that matters!  Thanks all!!

 

 

Dd is looking at RIT for CompSci - right now it's her first choice - should we take a look at URoc when we go up to Rochester again this summer (there's a summer overnight program at RIT she wants to do). 

 

Someone suggested PItt for my other dd who wants the urban school.  But I'm not sure Pittsburgh is what she's thinking of when she thinks 'urban"...  I think she's going for international, diverse, and cosmopolitan rather than midwest industrial... but I've never been to Pittsburgh...

[Teachin'Mine]

She should definitely look at Carnegie Mellon.  Pittsburgh is a nice city.  Not NYC, but not a hick town either.  Lots of museums, restaurants, and plenty to do, but with being a CMU student, there will be little time to do those things anyway.  Lots of international students at CMU.  Women do have a bit of an edge on admissions.  They offer both merit and financial aid, but you may find the gap is more than you can do, or it may be doable.  Definitely run the NPC.  If it works financially, she should consider an overnight to get a feel for it.  You apply to specific colleges, so she should definitely put SCS (School of Computer Science) as her first preference.  You can transfer into it from another school, but it's harder and not guaranteed.

 

U Rochester is also a great suggestion but no idea what the city itself is like.  Obviously it's a reach for all, but MIT is right in the city and second only to CMU for computer science.  No merit aid, but very generous financial aid.  WPI is in Worcester, which I hear isn't the best of cities, but still within a train ride of Boston and I've heard reports of many students loving it there.  If she's more interested in computer engineering, Olin offers that and is not far from Boston as well.  It's small and very hands on and group focused.  If you are in NY, definitely look at the SUNYs as they're a bargain.  From another thread it sounds like she wants a tech focus rather than a liberal arts education but there are some schools which combine both.  I know it's not close, but Harvey Mudd does that and is very pro-women.  She should really consider what her ideal college classes and labs would look like in regard to men to women ratio.  Some schools are better balanced than others.

Have you looked at RPI?  No idea about their reputation now, but it was considered quite good years ago and might work for a safety anyway.

 

Maybe you can ask her which cities interest her and then search based on that?  Then again, it's hard to know from a city name without visiting to see what it's like and what it has to offer.  I'd try to do some summer visits to help her broaden and then narrow her list.  

[creekland]

Dd is looking at RIT for CompSci - right now it's her first choice - should we take a look at URoc when we go up to Rochester again this summer (there's a summer overnight program at RIT she wants to do). 

 

It's easy to look at both as they are very close to each other.  RIT has its co-op program that many love.  URoc is more traditional which others love.  With visits, most can identify with preferring one or the other.

 

It's easier to get into RIT than URoc if that matters.  I haven't compared aid with kids who have gone to RIT.

[Sebastian (a lady)]

Can you guys keep the comp sci school ideas flowing?

 

Ds is looking for a strong school that has Navy ROTC.

 

His list right now includes Carnegie Mellon. (His scores are in the 50% but that is a very skinny slice that runs something like 750-800 for math. So he'd be meeting their averages but not be exceptional. I consider it a lottery school.)

Purdue. He was really impressed by the info event he attended.

Virginia Tech. Good school. Impressed by friends who've attended. Love The motto and feel of the school.

 

He is not brand concious. The main things are strong comp sci department that has varied options. He's a tinkerer so I see him working with drones, robotics or bio mechanical devices. Then the Navy ROTC unit. Unfortunately a lot of good schools seem to have Army or Air Force but not Navy.

 

This field is outside the expertise of dh and I so I do t know what gems we aren't considering.

[creekland]

Can you guys keep the comp sci school ideas flowing?

 

Ds is looking for a strong school that has Navy ROTC.

 

His list right now includes Carnegie Mellon. (His scores are in the 50% but that is a very skinny slice that runs something like 750-800 for math. So he'd be meeting their averages but not be exceptional. I consider it a lottery school.)

Purdue. He was really impressed by the info event he attended.

Virginia Tech. Good school. Impressed by friends who've attended. Love The motto and feel of the school.

 

He is not brand concious. The main things are strong comp sci department that has varied options. He's a tinkerer so I see him working with drones, robotics or bio mechanical devices. Then the Navy ROTC unit. Unfortunately a lot of good schools seem to have Army or Air Force but not Navy.

 

This field is outside the expertise of dh and I so I do t know what gems we aren't considering.

 

If Virginia Tech is on your list it's nearly impossible for me to add any more.  That's my Alma mater, including Corps of Cadets... (though AF, not Navy).  Need I add more?   :D

[angela in ohio]

This is my second time, so it's easier. But she has different interests and plans, so it's not completely easier. :D

 

I have a much better idea now of how much a school will actually cost, so that helps us narrow. We are focusing on selective schools that meet full financial need, because that worked well for older dd, but then also need a back-up plan.

 

We have it down to twenty schools, I think, which is further than older had at this point. With older, we decided where she was applying over Thanksgiving weekend, but I want to do it sooner this time. She is spending the summer studying for SAT Subject Tests and volunteering, but she is off from work for the summer, so I want all the essays knocked out by mid-August.

 

 

[Teachin'Mine]

Sebastian you've probably already seen this, but here's a link to the top ranked universities for computer science by US News.  Note that obviously liberal arts colleges won't be included, but some are also very good and have NROTC available either on campus or nearby.  U Washington, U Wisconsin and UIUC and UCB all have NROTC and I'm sure many of the others do too.  These are rankings for the graduate programs, but it should be a fairly good indicator of the strength of their undergraduate program in cs as well.  Many cs programs have more competitive admissions than the school overall, so keep that in mind too.  From what you said he might like to do, he may want to consider EE/CS programs as well.  He may want more of a computer or electrical engineering program than a theoretical computer science one.  

[GoodGrief]

This is my second go-around with the application process.  With the older daughter, I was pretty much hands off, probably somewhat to her detriment.  She made her own list, had a very specific idea of the programs she wanted, and proceeded to apply.  In the end she ended up in a great place that we could afford, albeit with her Dad's GI Bill. 

 

Now second daughter is coming up, and she really doesn't have older sister's enthusiasm for the search.  However, the financial aspect will be a bit trickier this time, as we used the GI Bill for kid #1.  So, I've been paying attention this go around, and am compiling the list for her. :-D  It's pretty solid, but may end up narrowing a bit more.  She will definitely work on essays over the summer.  SAT is done and the score was such that I think we are done with testing, other than APs.  She's already done four SAT subject tests.

 

Her PSAT/grades/etc are such that National Merit Finalist is a probability, so I've been searching out schools that offer decent merit money for that.  She  probably wants to study engineering and Mandarin, so the availability of coursework in those areas is necessary.  She loves to run and ski cross country, but is not a superstar, and may not even have time in college for that sort of thing, but it is also a consideration.  She's also a competitive figure skater, though I suspect that will be going by the wayside.  It would be nice if there was a rink where she could teach though.  She may or may not want a Christian college.  Not sure about large vs. smaller.  

 

Our geographical location is such that visits require a flight out, so there may not be much of that until after acceptances come in (my older daughter was offered a couple of paid visits post-acceptance, so maybe there will be some of that.  Would be nice.)