College application lessons learned
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Anonymous
If a CS major, do not expect to get any merit. Engineering and A&S, yes, but NOT CS. |
Anonymous
Most kids at non-selective colleges do, too. |
Anonymous
I didn't say it was either/or--rather "let the chips fall where they may" but prioritize sense of purpose first. I say this advice as my eldest kid who is now a senior at a highly selective college and, like many of his friends there, are feeling a lot of anxiety about life after school. They have been successful so long at school, but they feel vaguely unmoved by future opportunities. Some have good job prospects, some don't know yet. But for both groups the vibe is more like "is this all there is?". What I've learned for my younger is to start addressing purpose earlier and don't let them get sucked into competitive college process at the expense of it. Kids only have so much time/energy and for high-achieving kids the culture is often pushing them just to get into the best college possible--some of which is very much out of their control. And the evidence doesn't show that it makes a huge difference anyway--it's the kid not the school that makes the difference. |
Anonymous
Do you mean at Pitt or do you mean anywhere? |
Anonymous
This. My son is a good student but at a private school. His GPA when he applied was probably a 3.1 with a weighted GPA of 3.4. He has gotten in everywhere he applied because he chose schools he could get into. He has gotten great merit money from some good schools. None of it was as bad as I expected. Ditto on the do as much as possible before senior year starts. He hit submit on his applications on October 8th which was a huge relief to get it done so early. |
Anonymous
You're putting up a false dichotomy. Anyone, regardless of competence and functionality, can have self-doubts (and anxiety, ADHD, depression or whatever else). Also, and this is the most important - some self-doubt is HEALTHY. |
Anonymous
Worked for my kid 🤷 after ED deferral… |
Anonymous
I meant a school that provides decisions early. |
Anonymous
I’m sorry, that is unfortunate. They love their “pipeline” privates, sometimes but not always, aligning with Morehead Scholars’ They love MD magnets (e.g. Blair) and MD or DC privates, VA privates not so much I don’t know about DC public high schools. Only certain “pipeline” public high schools in Virginia. They hate LCPS (grade inflation? Maybe) They’ve been using this admissions strategy for decades. I guess it works for them! |
Anonymous
once your kid adds A college to the dashboard in common app even if they have not actually applied yet- the mail starts coming in full! |
Anonymous
UNC draws from all schools they just have a low rate of OOS applications they accept it's like 12%. Also athletes take up a huge portion of that 12% |
Anonymous
I agree. Many kids choose a college and major based on “prestige” without any thought about what their life will be like after graduation. Most kids in this area have been on the achievement treadmill since pre-K just because that’s expected and what smart kids are supposed to do. Have your kids focus on doing what they Love and what makes them happy. The money will follow. Take chances and try new things while you’re young and unburdened by responsibility. |
Anonymous
Are these the two recommendations from teachers or are you talking about additional recommendations from people you know, etc. over and above the school counselor plus two teachers? |
Anonymous
Did you see I said it was not either/or?? I said I've learned to prioritize sense of purpose first, competitive college admissions second. So it's not a dichotomy, false or otherwise. Just that, from my experience, I see that the culture puts a lot of pressure on getting into a good college and many kids have to take a ton of their energy optimizing that and don't think deeply about why they want that, what they are going to do with it. Maybe they say "I want to be an x" but that's often based on what's popular, makes money etc. Very few think --what do I really want from college? My kid sure didn't think too deeply--nor did most of his high achieving high school friends. And I'm not talking about not having self-doubt (I don't know where you got that...), it's actually self-doubt that would help a high school kid see outside the college competition game and not just try to get the best prize at the exclusion of thinking through why and what else they care about. My kid had a high achieving group of HS friends--he and a few others went to highly selective schools and others went to slightly or very less so, either via luck of admissions or desire to save money or other reasons. I think the ones who went to the less selective schools seem more grounded and confident of themselves now--they had to process their future dreams earlier and take more control over their own success. The ones who went to the more selective schools seem to be slightly more riding high on the 'I got the prize, my future is assured" and were less inclined to do the thinking. Just my experience, of course, but this is a thread on "lessons learned." Given that much of college admissions is out of kids' control, that the student has more impact on their future than the college, I think it has value. |
Anonymous
Yes!!!!! |