DD's already emotionally committed to a school

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Backtrack for a moment. Is everything perfect with her dream school?
Has she visited to know if she likes the vibe?
Do you have the money? It seems like a private school from your description.
Does it have a strong program in the major she wants?
Kids change a lot from 11 to 17, you want to make sure she isn't just stuck in a childhood fantasy.
If all that checks out then I'm glad you are supportive of her goal. Prepscholar has a thing in which when you look up a school it will tell you reach, target, and safety schools that are similar which could be a useful tool to help find other schools.

We have visited twice, once "officially" and another time we just wandered around.
She doesn't know what she wants to major in but there a good programs in all of the things she is really interested in.
We have a high HHI and have the money set aside for full pay at a private university.
Thanks for the tip about Prepscholar - I'll take a look at that

What even is full pay for a school these days? You can't just google the tuition and other costs, multiple times four, and call it a day.

Why not?

[Anonymous]

Our DC had one dream school. Visited others to make sure this was "the one" and they didn't they compare. DC applied early and was one and done - so - it happens. Best Christmas present ever.

[Anonymous]

I was obsessed with an even harder to get into school from 10th grade (when I visited the campus for a extracurricular tournament) onwards. I didn't actually have the grades to get in, though I had the scores and x-factors (though no hook). I refused to even start my other college apps until I found out whether or not I got into dream school. Somehow I just knew I would get in. I wasn't even nervous. It's actually incredibly bizarre looking back on it, because I actually shouldn't have gotten in on paper. I can't believe that my parents let me get so obsessed/not apply elsewhere; then again, knowing my 16-17 year old self, I'm not sure what they really could have done.

Anyway, I got in. And it was awesome. Hopefully it works out for your DD!

[Anonymous]

The thing is, if University of Maryland CP is actually on the list, you will probably need to apply there before applying ED to Wellesley. They do rolling admissions and 90% of the class is admitted in the fall, according to a college admissions person who did a presentation at our high school.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:The thing is, if University of Maryland CP is actually on the list, you will probably need to apply there before applying ED to Wellesley. They do rolling admissions and 90% of the class is admitted in the fall, according to a college admissions person who did a presentation at our high school.

UMD does not do rolling admissions.

Their Priority deadline is 11/1.

[Anonymous]

My high-stats, Junior D has no dream school and actually worried about it out-loud. Privately, I think this is for the better - no crushed dreams, just lots of possibilities.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:My high-stats, Junior D has no dream school and actually worried about it out-loud. Privately, I think this is for the better - no crushed dreams, just lots of possibilities.

That is the perfect situation, and what I told my now junior ( and now madly in love with one school) dd was the goal.
Of course, my child who is indifferent about most other decisions is absolutely not indifferent about colleges. She loves one, would merely tolerate a few, and hates most. She is a driven and determined kid who works her butt off in a full load of AP classes but is a B+/A- student. She finds people who don’t give a crap to be entirely insufferable and is terrified of landing in a college with too many kids who are just there to party and coast. She wants to be surrounded by kids who work hard and love challenge, but she doesn’t have the stats for most of those schools. We’ll just keep searching until she finds a few tolerable safeties.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:My high-stats, Junior D has no dream school and actually worried about it out-loud. Privately, I think this is for the better - no crushed dreams, just lots of possibilities.

That is the perfect situation, and what I told my now junior ( and now madly in love with one school) dd was the goal.
Of course, my child who is indifferent about most other decisions is absolutely not indifferent about colleges. She loves one, would merely tolerate a few, and hates most. She is a driven and determined kid who works her butt off in a full load of AP classes but is a B+/A- student. She finds people who don’t give a crap to be entirely insufferable and is terrified of landing in a college with too many kids who are just there to party and coast. She wants to be surrounded by kids who work hard and love challenge, but she doesn’t have the stats for most of those schools. We’ll just keep searching until she finds a few tolerable safeties.

Sounds like she should at least consider St. John's College in Annapolis. The students are dedicated to the point of near-obsession, and applicants tend to self-select for that very quality.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:My high-stats, Junior D has no dream school and actually worried about it out-loud. Privately, I think this is for the better - no crushed dreams, just lots of possibilities.

+1

I stay away from the term "dream school." It imbues a business decision with emotion, and suggests that the student can attain her dream only at that specific institution.

There are any number of schools at which a given student can achieve her goals/fulfill her dream.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:My high-stats, Junior D has no dream school and actually worried about it out-loud. Privately, I think this is for the better - no crushed dreams, just lots of possibilities.

That is the perfect situation, and what I told my now junior ( and now madly in love with one school) dd was the goal.
Of course, my child who is indifferent about most other decisions is absolutely not indifferent about colleges. She loves one, would merely tolerate a few, and hates most. She is a driven and determined kid who works her butt off in a full load of AP classes but is a B+/A- student. She finds people who don’t give a crap to be entirely insufferable and is terrified of landing in a college with too many kids who are just there to party and coast. She wants to be surrounded by kids who work hard and love challenge, but she doesn’t have the stats for most of those schools. We’ll just keep searching until she finds a few tolerable safeties.

PP here: The good news is (and we're just start our college search), there A LOT of fantastic colleges. Not just the top 30 - I think visits are very important if you can swing it financially, and besides the strong major/department, also make sure that her targets have all of the social aspects that your DD will want/need (all of the extras that make life great - music, arts, culture, whatever that may mean to her).

[Anonymous]

I was like your daughter, I was 99.9% sure I only wanted to go to one school. I applied to 4 others just to go through the motions. I never even visited the others.

I didn't get into my dream school. So I went to the other option that was geographically closest to my dream school with the intention of applying again and transferring after one semester.

None of that happened. Once I started freshman year I was perfectly happy at the other school and had zero desire to go through the application process hell again.

In other words, it will all work out in the end.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:My high-stats, Junior D has no dream school and actually worried about it out-loud. Privately, I think this is for the better - no crushed dreams, just lots of possibilities.

That is the perfect situation, and what I told my now junior ( and now madly in love with one school) dd was the goal.
Of course, my child who is indifferent about most other decisions is absolutely not indifferent about colleges. She loves one, would merely tolerate a few, and hates most. She is a driven and determined kid who works her butt off in a full load of AP classes but is a B+/A- student. She finds people who don’t give a crap to be entirely insufferable and is terrified of landing in a college with too many kids who are just there to party and coast. She wants to be surrounded by kids who work hard and love challenge, but she doesn’t have the stats for most of those schools. We’ll just keep searching until she finds a few tolerable safeties.

Sounds like she should at least consider St. John's College in Annapolis. The students are dedicated to the point of near-obsession, and applicants tend to self-select for that very quality.

She talked to a rep at a college fair once and quickly crossed it off the list. Literature, philosophy, and languages are her three least favorite things

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:My high-stats, Junior D has no dream school and actually worried about it out-loud. Privately, I think this is for the better - no crushed dreams, just lots of possibilities.

That is the perfect situation, and what I told my now junior ( and now madly in love with one school) dd was the goal.
Of course, my child who is indifferent about most other decisions is absolutely not indifferent about colleges. She loves one, would merely tolerate a few, and hates most. She is a driven and determined kid who works her butt off in a full load of AP classes but is a B+/A- student. She finds people who don’t give a crap to be entirely insufferable and is terrified of landing in a college with too many kids who are just there to party and coast. She wants to be surrounded by kids who work hard and love challenge, but she doesn’t have the stats for most of those schools. We’ll just keep searching until she finds a few tolerable safeties.

PP here: The good news is (and we're just start our college search), there A LOT of fantastic colleges. Not just the top 30 - I think visits are very important if you can swing it financially, and besides the strong major/department, also make sure that her targets have all of the social aspects that your DD will want/need (all of the extras that make life great - music, arts, culture, whatever that may mean to her).

As someone who attended a school that is considered 'elite' and absolutely hated it, I cannot emphasize the importance of making sure everything about the college is a good fit rather than just the status enough.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Backtrack for a moment. Is everything perfect with her dream school?
Has she visited to know if she likes the vibe?
Do you have the money? It seems like a private school from your description.
Does it have a strong program in the major she wants?
Kids change a lot from 11 to 17, you want to make sure she isn't just stuck in a childhood fantasy.
If all that checks out then I'm glad you are supportive of her goal. Prepscholar has a thing in which when you look up a school it will tell you reach, target, and safety schools that are similar which could be a useful tool to help find other schools.

We have visited twice, once "officially" and another time we just wandered around.
She doesn't know what she wants to major in but there a good programs in all of the things she is really interested in.
We have a high HHI and have the money set aside for full pay at a private university.
Thanks for the tip about Prepscholar - I'll take a look at that

What even is full pay for a school these days? You can't just google the tuition and other costs, multiple times four, and call it a day.

Why not? If you want to be nitpicky you can look up average tuition increases and factor that in, but a ballpark of $70k/year covered tuition, room, board and fees. At that level whether it was $68k or $72k wasn't that relevant.

OP, she definitely needs to expand her list. If Wellesley is her dream school, UMD isn't exactly a comparable school, nor is it a safety. Have her look at some of the other seven sisters (if a women's college is the top priority) and nescac schools (if SLAC is a priority). Holyoke and Bryn Mawr are worth a look. Maybe Conn College and Trinity for safeties (depending on her stats of course).

[Anonymous]

As my junior saw seniors being rejected from schools, her interest in safeties grew. I'd give it time.