How to comfort my sibling
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Anonymous
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My younger sister has a 10 year age gap with me, so while I've already graduated, she is in the transfer admissions process.
She is at a community college. ~3.8 GPA (magna cum laude), received the top full ride community college honors scholarship upon enrollment, and is on track to graduating with the top honors path at the school. Her ECs are substantial involvement with campus leadership, research every semester with conference presentations, top delegation award at national model UN, a Jack Kent Cooke transfer semifinalist, fast food job during the school year, and a teaching internship in freshman summer. She is from a single parent low income background with 0 EFC. In HS, she was top 5% of the class. Test optional due to COVID. She strongly wants to attend a liberal arts college due to her great experience in the small intimate setting of her honors college. So far, she has been waitlisted by two of the top 5 ranked LACs, rejected by one, and outright rejected by two in the 10-20 rank (possibly because they're need aware?). She is waiting on several other LACs and a few universities, but she seems very distraught and hopeless. I am tremendously proud of what she has accomplished by herself and want to console her insecurity and fears. What should I do to encourage her? Thank you so much. Her safety is the honors college for business at the local public university, or BA economics at the state public flagship. Both are great options, but will require about 10-15K in loans a year. |
Anonymous
| Does she have 2 years left of college only? |
Anonymous
| PP here. What are the state universities she was accepted to, if you don't mind me asking? I am assuming she has no debt so far, is that correct? |
Anonymous
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Wow. She sounds like an impressive candidate.
Firstly, she sounds amazing, and it sounds like she does have some good options. Celebrate that! How many LACs did she apply to? If mostly top 10, this was risky, even for an incredible student like her. It's not just about being a great student for them, it's about what they want in terms of diverse perspectives and talents in their student body. It's kind of intangible and beyond her control, so in that sense a "lottery " as many like to say. Has she put in detailed info about why school xx in her LOCIs? They will want to know that she will say yes. She may also be dealing with schools who have few openings due to over enrollment from last year. So many factors. I guess remind her that she will go far, no matter the school and help her find all the great things about the schools she was admitted to while helping her do what she can to get off the waitlists. Can she update her app with any additional honors? All the best to you and your sister. |
Anonymous
| I went to community college and have never heard of all these honors being bestowed upon students. |
Anonymous
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While not top rated lacs, there are some schools still accepting applications from transfer students. You can filter list for transfer students. Ithaca College, Allegheny, Goucher. Some state schools like UMBC. It’s a tough road with high financial need, though.
https://www.nacacnet.org/news--publications/Research/openings/ |
Anonymous
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If this is in VA she should be able to go to either UVA or William and Mary as a matter of right, correct? Are there honors college options there (I am not in VA so only know what I read on here about VA schools)
What does she want to do or does she not know? While not as great at 0, max $30K debt after college is actually not terrible. it is the $100K plus in debt that is unconscionable. she sounds very accomplished and will go far with her clear work ethic. |
Anonymous
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I don't want to be too specific because there's a lot of info to go off already, but:
The two state schools are ranked in the top 50 and top 200 respectively. They're both huge schools. If it had to come down to them, she'd probably pick the local school due to the honors college and the guarantee to major in business. Their MIS students earn better than the first schools' econ majors. But we'll do more research to determine the best fit. She applied to about 20 LACs. Almost all are in the top 40 ranked under US News because those are the ones with the most generous financial aid policies. But the advice to look into those still accepting is good. I will research what LACs are still accepting transfers with generous financial aid packages. The advice about LOCIs for the waitlist schools is great too. Thanks so much! She does have some distinctions she earned after she submitted the application to update them. I will work closely with her to make a strong case for them. |
Anonymous
You sound a bit grumpy, but nowadays there are community colleges that give full tuition scholarships. Those and awards are indeed useful for the purposes of transferring, to differentiate talented students. |
Anonymous
+1 specifically honors colleges within community colleges confer numerous distinctions to their students to help them stand out for the transfer round. |
Anonymous
PP here. Ok, so it sounds like she has yet to hear from a lot of LACs. Hope she will get some great offers!!! Get those honors updates out, also (especially) to schools who haven't decided yet. That made a big difference for my kid. My kid had only safety admissions for months. Got rejected early application. Then rejected by top LAC. Then suddenly into 3 top 10 schools. At the very end. Don't despair. PS. When qll decisions are in, she should take the best financial aid offer she gets and contact the FA office of the admit she likes the best with it to see if they will match or come close. When the time comes send an email about how it is her top choice, blah blah blah. This helped us get more FA. Please keep us posted. When do the other schools notify? |
Anonymous
This. I'm surprised that someone as intelligent and accomplished as she is really needs to be "comforted" about the possibility of taking out $20-30k in loans. How many hours is she working now? If she's only been working 40 hours a week during the school year, she could get an extra part time job over summer (so maybe 60-70 hours/week total) to help pay off the loans faster. |
Anonymous
Or, you could offer helpful ideas without the judgment. |
Anonymous
| PS. that was not OP. Just an annoyed bystander wanting to pare down the criticism when someone asks for help. |
Anonymous
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Thank you for all your perspective and advice 12:57! She should be informed by all pending decisions on May 20th. Fingers crossed that one of the schools comes through.
13:12, I understand your perspective. She's been working about 15-20 hours a week due to considerable involvements with college ECs, academics, and leadership. She will have a summer part job to help gather funds for the transition to her next destination and to start paying off the loans. However, it's less about the finances and more about her intended track she's concerned. Her dream would be to go into diplomacy, a field where the pedigree of your school counts for a lot and there is generally a minimum expectation for a master's program. That often requires considerable loans, though she will look into scholarship opportunities to minimize their impact (Stanford Hennessey, Pickering, etc). To be competitive for them and for graduate school in general, she needs to gather experiences and internships in politics and public policy, which are generally unpaid. Going to a well-endowed LAC, which includes no loans in the FA package (most of the ones she applied to) and has ample internship funding, would be a dream come true. But she knows it's just an aspiration, not an expectation. All we can do know is see what happens, and if it doesn't work out, we will make a plan for excelling at the state schools to best serve her professional interests. |