Does anyone have time to spare to help us with college strategy?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I was a free lunch kid. Your child should qualify for full financial aid at any decent private college. The MC/UMC are the ones who get squeezed with tuition. Your child should be able to get need based aid.

I didn’t mention it in the OP but we may be limited to FAFSA only schools. His dad earns a decent salary, he just doesn’t pay beyond minimal child support and isn’t in the picture much

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:OP we're also in CA. There are enough CS and UC colleges that your son will get into at least a few of them. Look at Sonoma, it claims it has the best housing of all the California colleges and certainly looks that way. Long Beach & Fullerton. Also look at UC Riverside, and Merced. They're all possibilities.

As for your kid, if he enjoys art, let that be his EC from now through HS.

Thank you! Calstate is also fine, in my mind, especially something like San Jose state which has improved significantly as I heard
Ok will look into drawing classes for him (he wasn’t too enthusiastic before)

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:OP we're also in CA. There are enough CS and UC colleges that your son will get into at least a few of them. Look at Sonoma, it claims it has the best housing of all the California colleges and certainly looks that way. Long Beach & Fullerton. Also look at UC Riverside, and Merced. They're all possibilities.

As for your kid, if he enjoys art, let that be his EC from now through HS.

A part time job or paid internship is always considered favorable. He’s only in 8th grade. Next year in HS, he should check with the business department or even the art department. If he’s passionate about art he can start out at a local studio or workshops for kids. If he finds something business related like a shared work hub, he can work his way up with more responsibility plus meet many types of business owners. Local l businesses tap into high schoolers looking to intern. My son had a paid internship throughout HS related to his major. It definitely boosted his essays and EC’s. And he easily got internships in college from summer of freshman year to now junior year because of his high school internship. Bonus: he’ll have some money to contribute or for his own needs, taking a bit of the edge off for you.

Thank you so much! I didn’t even think about it. Something he can do essentially on his own and not too expensive is perfect.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Apply for UC and Cal State schools. On $25K a year you should get full financial aid.

I keep reading stories about high achieving kids not getting in. He is not URM. Not sure if he is going to be top 9% as the high school is strong.
Does not have any big hardships except for surviving on this income in CA lol

He definitely won’t qualify for 9% and he will likely not get into a UCs, but apply anyway. It’s sometimes random, so you never know. Concentrate on the PIQ. Target UCSC. Cal States are a really good fit for him. As mentioned, CSU and UCs will be tuition free for him. What is his intended major? You have good choices. I am in California too. If all else fails, he can do CC and transfer. But since you are low income, and he has your support, you can do better than that. I would not bother with anything OOS.

He doesn’t know what he wants to do yet. He has been taking coding as an elective all through MS and is not averse to it but also not a fan. He likes to draw. I hope to persuade him to find something that uses art but also coding.
I was thinking about Calstates but they don’t use essays and they don’t use LORs AFAIK. And I think the personal statement might be the only place to show his edge - that he comes from a humble background. We live in below market rate housing in a good zip code.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:It’s better to take more rigorous courses even if the grade is lower. That’s the whole point of weighted GPAs. Even if your school doesn’t weight the courses, admissions officers see the rigor.

You need to be a little nuanced about this since UCs cap APs. So take APs or Honors in classes he excels at. UCs/CSU also love students who take DE classes.

OP here: DE is definitely on my radar! I know a family where DS started taking DE classes since he was a sophomore and is now a senior and would be about a semester ahead at a UC.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Also: UCs like students who have adversity, a job, who are engaged/volunteer in community. He may also have to take a summer class before 9th grade to get a class like PE/Health out of the way. This will allow him to take an extra elective or A-G class.

Yes, great idea about volunteering. I was thinking he could do computer literacy consults for seniors at our below market rate housing complex.
Health: yes there are some summer possibilities but I am told freshmen have to take PE both in the fall and spring

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Do not pay a college counselor.
There are MANY free programs for students of low income. You might be able to see them promoting themselves in the local high school so if they have a website or newsletter sign up for it.
Your child may also get a bump / 2nd look at some colleges if they know the applicant worked with these programs.
Also - California does not consider race in applications. So if you are applying to a CA school -it does not matter that your child is - or is not an URM.

Thank you, he was part of some college readiness program (they start in elementary!) but it was essentially useless for him as it was mostly remedial so I let him quit.
I will try to have him go back or find a new one for high school/college applications.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Divorced mom of an 8th grade DS here. We are in CA. High school is competitive and highly ranked, with many well off and well educated families, but also some student population from low income,
mostly URM and first Gen families.

We are not URM, but low income (below $25k per year). I am an immigrant but the child was born here. His first language wasn’t English but now it’s his native language.
I have a degree from abroad so first Gen definition varies I guess.

I consider DS an average student; his GPA fluctuates between 3.25 and 3.75.
The goal is to have a close to full ride at any decent school really. Money is the greatest consideration.

I would appreciate any advice on HS strategy for him. Namely:
- does it make sense to take honors classes if they don’t provide a GPA boost in the UC system? (Some AP classes do but not all). He is bright and might appreciate the content and the classmates but it might lower his GPA
- DS likes to draw but other than that he isn’t too great or passionate about any extracurriculars. Would it be a good idea to develop a profile where he gets a part time job early on to help his family, rather than trying to excel at some extracurricular activity?
- he is free lunch kid (his whole school gets free food but he also is one by application). Will he be automatically identified as a low income kid in HS and maybe get some extra support for college admissions?
- one of the counselors from his school also works as a private college counselor. Does it make sense to reach out to her for paid consultations? Or will she have a conflict of interest?

To add, I am aware of programs like Questbridge but I am not sure how competitive DS is for them, and they don’t start until later anyway.

Grateful for any and all advice from knowledgeable people here!

Most people here may not be familiar with CA schools. I'd recommend you create an account on College Confidential and read up on posts there/ask questions. Another good source is the "Paying for College 101" Facebook group. You can post anonymously there as well and the responses are very good and much more useful than on this forum.

[Anonymous]

OP, you are clearly astute with a smart kid and an ability to navigate systems.


Kids grow up a lot between middle and high school. Also, the CA schools only look at sophomore and junior year grades. I would focus on figuring out what motivates your student to care about grades. I have a college freshman and a high school sophomore. Watching her high achieving sibling go through the college application nightmare really motivated my less high achieving student. She is working at an academic level this year I could not have imagined when she was in 8th grade.

Good luck to you and your son.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Apply for UC and Cal State schools. On $25K a year you should get full financial aid.

I keep reading stories about high achieving kids not getting in. He is not URM. Not sure if he is going to be top 9% as the high school is strong.
Does not have any big hardships except for surviving on this income in CA lol

It’s difficult for anyone to get into the UC schools that’s why the Regents reacted to upset tax payers and cut back in OOS which is what Virginia should do. But Californians also have the accessible cal state system which no other state has and the highly regarded community college system

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Apply for UC and Cal State schools. On $25K a year you should get full financial aid.

I keep reading stories about high achieving kids not getting in. He is not URM. Not sure if he is going to be top 9% as the high school is strong.
Does not have any big hardships except for surviving on this income in CA lol

He's doing great. CA has tons of schools, some that take the majority of kids. He may not get into the one you want him to go to but he'll get in one.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Apply for UC and Cal State schools. On $25K a year you should get full financial aid.

I keep reading stories about high achieving kids not getting in. He is not URM. Not sure if he is going to be top 9% as the high school is strong.
Does not have any big hardships except for surviving on this income in CA lol

He's doing great. CA has tons of schools, some that take the majority of kids. He may not get into the one you want him to go to but he'll get in one.

This! There are so many Cal States available to him. Cal State Chino, Cal State Monterey, Long Beach, Fullerton, plus San Diego State. Cal Poly Pomona.

[Anonymous]

Try lower ranked UC schools (ie Merced), nearby state universities (ASU, NAU, University of Utah).

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Divorced mom of an 8th grade DS here. We are in CA. High school is competitive and highly ranked, with many well off and well educated families, but also some student population from low income,
mostly URM and first Gen families.

We are not URM, but low income (below $25k per year). I am an immigrant but the child was born here. His first language wasn’t English but now it’s his native language.
I have a degree from abroad so first Gen definition varies I guess.

I consider DS an average student; his GPA fluctuates between 3.25 and 3.75.
The goal is to have a close to full ride at any decent school really. Money is the greatest consideration.

I would appreciate any advice on HS strategy for him. Namely:
- does it make sense to take honors classes if they don’t provide a GPA boost in the UC system? (Some AP classes do but not all). He is bright and might appreciate the content and the classmates but it might lower his GPA
- DS likes to draw but other than that he isn’t too great or passionate about any extracurriculars. Would it be a good idea to develop a profile where he gets a part time job early on to help his family, rather than trying to excel at some extracurricular activity?
- he is free lunch kid (his whole school gets free food but he also is one by application). Will he be automatically identified as a low income kid in HS and maybe get some extra support for college admissions?
- one of the counselors from his school also works as a private college counselor. Does it make sense to reach out to her for paid consultations? Or will she have a conflict of interest?

To add, I am aware of programs like Questbridge but I am not sure how competitive DS is for them, and they don’t start until later anyway.

Grateful for any and all advice from knowledgeable people here!

Most people here may not be familiar with CA schools. I'd recommend you create an account on College Confidential and read up on posts there/ask questions. Another good source is the "Paying for College 101" Facebook group. You can post anonymously there as well and the responses are very good and much more useful than on this forum.

Thanks for the tip!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:OP, you are clearly astute with a smart kid and an ability to navigate systems.


Kids grow up a lot between middle and high school. Also, the CA schools only look at sophomore and junior year grades. I would focus on figuring out what motivates your student to care about grades. I have a college freshman and a high school sophomore. Watching her high achieving sibling go through the college application nightmare really motivated my less high achieving student. She is working at an academic level this year I could not have imagined when she was in 8th grade.

Good luck to you and your son.

Thank you so much for your kind words! I will be hoping for the best. He seemed to have matured a lot this summer but his grades are actually down this year… he says they don’t matter and he will ramp it up next year. So far I’ve been unable to dissuade him. Oh well.