How is your gifted kid doing at a lower-ranked college?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:
Interesting that OP never answers the hard questions.
My take is that her DD isn't that gifted, and just has some growing up to do.

Bedtime. Now.

You are extremely annoying. The PP sounds spot-on. If you are the OP, you just sound pretentious and a bit deluded that your daughter is “gifted.”

Because the PP is probably OP

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Try a school like Kenyon that has super generous merit aid and where she might be a competitive applicant,too. When we did the math, it was cheaper for my child to go there than the University of Michigan.

Thanks! I'll add that one to our wish list. I looked at Kenyon when I was applying to college. Paul Newman went there. A close friend of my husband went there too.

Oberlin. Generous merit aid.

Does it give nearly full rides? Because sticker price is 60K or something. Why anybody in their right mind would pay that much for Oberlin is beyond me.

You can’t appreciate SLACs including Oberlin unless someone in your family experienced one. It’s like someone saying she can’t understand why anyone would pay $1000 for a smart phone when a $10 rotary dial phone does what a smart phone does - make phone calls. It’s hard to explain. Once you experience a smartphone, you can’t live without one.

DP. Excuse me while I vomit. I agree with the PP. There is absolutely no way I would pay 60-70+K for a place like Oberlin. It sounds like a nightmare of SJWs. Thanks but nope.

Isn't Oberlin the college where everyone gets a big scholarship?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Try a school like Kenyon that has super generous merit aid and where she might be a competitive applicant,too. When we did the math, it was cheaper for my child to go there than the University of Michigan.

Thanks! I'll add that one to our wish list. I looked at Kenyon when I was applying to college. Paul Newman went there. A close friend of my husband went there too.

Oberlin. Generous merit aid.

Does it give nearly full rides? Because sticker price is 60K or something. Why anybody in their right mind would pay that much for Oberlin is beyond me.

You can’t appreciate SLACs including Oberlin unless someone in your family experienced one. It’s like someone saying she can’t understand why anyone would pay $1000 for a smart phone when a $10 rotary dial phone does what a smart phone does - make phone calls. It’s hard to explain. Once you experience a smartphone, you can’t live without one.

DP. Excuse me while I vomit. I agree with the PP. There is absolutely no way I would pay 60-70+K for a place like Oberlin. It sounds like a nightmare of SJWs. Thanks but nope.

It's amusing how mindless the bolded is. Yes, PP, it's hard to explain because it's doesn't make sense. Don't try to make Oberlin exclusive. It's not. It's just overpriced for what it offers.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:OP, sorry to say but its very much a numbers game. If you are looking for high merit I would look at some of the good, but not tippy top, small private colleges. For example, My DD has UW 3.96 and got enough merit at St. Mary's of California to make it the same cost as ASU (that's our in-state). A 3.88UW is good, but it's not high enough to be a shoo-in for a merit award at a top school and, depending on your state, not a shoo-in for admission to a great in-state (looking at you, Virginia). Maybe start with the CTCL book and do the net price for some of those schools to give you a starting point.

OP just said a 3.88 GPA. No statement that it's unweighted.

She did say unweighted

After pages of avoiding the question and feeling backed into saying it's UW. Not buying it.

[Anonymous]

It’s got to be unweighted. This doesn’t make sense otherwise.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Try a school like Kenyon that has super generous merit aid and where she might be a competitive applicant,too. When we did the math, it was cheaper for my child to go there than the University of Michigan.

Thanks! I'll add that one to our wish list. I looked at Kenyon when I was applying to college. Paul Newman went there. A close friend of my husband went there too.

Oberlin. Generous merit aid.

Does it give nearly full rides? Because sticker price is 60K or something. Why anybody in their right mind would pay that much for Oberlin is beyond me.

You can’t appreciate SLACs including Oberlin unless someone in your family experienced one. It’s like someone saying she can’t understand why anyone would pay $1000 for a smart phone when a $10 rotary dial phone does what a smart phone does - make phone calls. It’s hard to explain. Once you experience a smartphone, you can’t live without one.

DP. Excuse me while I vomit. I agree with the PP. There is absolutely no way I would pay 60-70+K for a place like Oberlin. It sounds like a nightmare of SJWs. Thanks but nope.

Isn't Oberlin the college where everyone gets a big scholarship?

I don’t know. They could hand out full scholarships and I still would never send my child there. Same with Swarthmore, Bryn Mawr, and Middlebury.

[Anonymous]

Where would you send your child?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:With OP's child's high stats, it's most definitely not State U. or bust. The top LACs and private R1 universities will come down to at least your EFC. Unless money is truly no object, EFC is based where paying will require substantial sacrifice, but isn't impossible. But it's true that family on 85K per year will probably have a harder time paying 15k than a family on 170k paying 55k.

The sweet spot for high-stats MC/UMC kids is the 2nd/3rd-tier LACs which will roll out the red carpet with merit money and will probably have a special program for a handful of the most exceptional students.

This is what Muhlenberg is doing for our son and it's a real possibility he'll take them up on it. While it doesn't have a faculty that is as distinguished as, say, Williams or Swarthmore, the professors are all PhDs from R1 universities, who are hired and retained for their desire and ability to engage with undergraduates -- unlike my experience as an undergrad at a private T10-T15 university in the Midwest.

Except OP's kid does NOT have high stats. Extremely average in this area.

+1. I was going to say the same thing. All we have is a (unweighted?) 3.88, which is good, but no info as to APs, no info as to extracurricular activities, no examples of leadership within the high school, no letters of recommendation, no indication whether or not the daughter has taken the "most rigorous" courses in the school, no example o fthe daughter showing curiosity and making the best use out of her high school, no test scores. And no prima facie evidence of giftedness other than CTY courses, which my kids took and meant nothing. There is no way she's getting into any state flagship with what information we've been given. And certainly no merit money because there's been shown no reason for merit money. So I'm now leaving this thread because either this is a troll or mom has issues.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Honestly, I feel there have been a few troll threads on the College Forum recently, and this is one of them.

This is the OP.

I've been on DCUM for about 10 years, off and on. Sometimes I get so disgusted by the snark and trolls that I stay away from it for a while.

But at other times, I need information or advice, and I go ahead and post, hoping that a few nice posters will be helpful and useful

And they always are! I have received such amazing, helpful, generous advice from many posters on DCUM over the years.

One very long, detailed, extremely thoughtful post in particular actually changed the direction of my child's life.

So, I keep posting, now and then, and wading through the snark and troll posts, sifting for gold. Sometimes I find it!!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Where would you send your child?

UVA or Emory

[Anonymous]

My child is not gifted but he is extremely hard working and from a top DMV high school with an unweighted about 3.8 something and a lot of APs, etc.

He got merit aid from a medium sized school and loves it. He's doing great and feels like he is "ahead" of many of his new college peers. His AP credits got him moved to higher level classes and he placed out of math and english so he is taking more classes in his major and loving it.

I think there is something to be said for being one of the more advanced students in college and because he likes his major, he gets to take more classes he likes.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Try a school like Kenyon that has super generous merit aid and where she might be a competitive applicant,too. When we did the math, it was cheaper for my child to go there than the University of Michigan.

Thanks! I'll add that one to our wish list. I looked at Kenyon when I was applying to college. Paul Newman went there. A close friend of my husband went there too.

Oberlin. Generous merit aid.

Does it give nearly full rides? Because sticker price is 60K or something. Why anybody in their right mind would pay that much for Oberlin is beyond me.

You can’t appreciate SLACs including Oberlin unless someone in your family experienced one. It’s like someone saying she can’t understand why anyone would pay $1000 for a smart phone when a $10 rotary dial phone does what a smart phone does - make phone calls. It’s hard to explain. Once you experience a smartphone, you can’t live without one.

DP. Excuse me while I vomit. I agree with the PP. There is absolutely no way I would pay 60-70+K for a place like Oberlin. It sounds like a nightmare of SJWs. Thanks but nope.

It's amusing how mindless the bolded is. Yes, PP, it's hard to explain because it's doesn't make sense. Don't try to make Oberlin exclusive. It's not. It's just overpriced for what it offers.

Yes, this is just an odd statement, and that's not meant to be a criticism of Oberlin, which I'm sure is a wonderful school for some. SLACs aren't a great fit for all. I went to a mid-sized liberal arts college for undergrad and grad but would never recommend it for my HS DC, who likes sports and is more STEM oriented.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Try a school like Kenyon that has super generous merit aid and where she might be a competitive applicant,too. When we did the math, it was cheaper for my child to go there than the University of Michigan.

Thanks! I'll add that one to our wish list. I looked at Kenyon when I was applying to college. Paul Newman went there. A close friend of my husband went there too.

Oberlin. Generous merit aid.

Does it give nearly full rides? Because sticker price is 60K or something. Why anybody in their right mind would pay that much for Oberlin is beyond me.

You can’t appreciate SLACs including Oberlin unless someone in your family experienced one. It’s like someone saying she can’t understand why anyone would pay $1000 for a smart phone when a $10 rotary dial phone does what a smart phone does - make phone calls. It’s hard to explain. Once you experience a smartphone, you can’t live without one.

DP. Excuse me while I vomit. I agree with the PP. There is absolutely no way I would pay 60-70+K for a place like Oberlin. It sounds like a nightmare of SJWs. Thanks but nope.

It's amusing how mindless the bolded is. Yes, PP, it's hard to explain because it's doesn't make sense. Don't try to make Oberlin exclusive. It's not. It's just overpriced for what it offers.

Yes, this is just an odd statement, and that's not meant to be a criticism of Oberlin, which I'm sure is a wonderful school for some. SLACs aren't a great fit for all. I went to a mid-sized liberal arts college for undergrad and grad but would never recommend it for my HS DC, who likes sports and is more STEM oriented.

My kid is the same, it is just not the vibe they want, it is interesting that it perplexes people that a kid might not like it.

[Anonymous]

OP, it sounds like you are just trying to find a school where your gifted child will fit in, be challenged and inspired and have a great college experience. There are many many schools that fit that bill. Please don't buy into the DCUM philosophy that only the top 10 or even top 50 USNWR schools are worthy of a high achieving student. Please don't buy into the hype that if your child isn't at a big three School, or in the top one percentile of their high school class with 15 APs, a 4.5 GPA and 30 college credits already accrued that they can't possibly be high achieving.

If your daughter was happiest in a cty program, it may be due to the personal attention she received there, being surrounded by other very bright and engaging students or by the focus on topics that appealed to her. Your student may be able to find the same things in a good honors program at a reputable school with a strong program in her area of interest.

My child was high achieving with SAT scores and extracurriculars that put her in the ivy range. She had a very specialized area of interest that was not suited to a typical liberal arts curriculum. She ended up at a school that was out of the top 50, but which was perfect for her needs. She is surrounded by students who share her interests and who inspire and motivate her to do her best. Find the school where your child feels at home, and where her passions will be nurtured. That might be at a state school with an excellent academic department in her area of interest, at a small SLAC, or one of the exclusive colleges. It doesn't have to be based on the ranking game. Visit if possible, have her engage personally with the admissions counselors at the schools that pique her interest and go with the one she's most excited about. She will bloom where she's planted!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:OP, it sounds like you are just trying to find a school where your gifted child will fit in, be challenged and inspired and have a great college experience. There are many many schools that fit that bill. Please don't buy into the DCUM philosophy that only the top 10 or even top 50 USNWR schools are worthy of a high achieving student. Please don't buy into the hype that if your child isn't at a big three School, or in the top one percentile of their high school class with 15 APs, a 4.5 GPA and 30 college credits already accrued that they can't possibly be high achieving.

If your daughter was happiest in a cty program, it may be due to the personal attention she received there, being surrounded by other very bright and engaging students or by the focus on topics that appealed to her. Your student may be able to find the same things in a good honors program at a reputable school with a strong program in her area of interest.

My child was high achieving with SAT scores and extracurriculars that put her in the ivy range. She had a very specialized area of interest that was not suited to a typical liberal arts curriculum. She ended up at a school that was out of the top 50, but which was perfect for her needs. She is surrounded by students who share her interests and who inspire and motivate her to do her best. Find the school where your child feels at home, and where her passions will be nurtured. That might be at a state school with an excellent academic department in her area of interest, at a small SLAC, or one of the exclusive colleges. It doesn't have to be based on the ranking game. Visit if possible, have her engage personally with the admissions counselors at the schools that pique her interest and go with the one she's most excited about. She will bloom where she's planted!

Hey OP if you are “sifting for gold” on DCUM I think you just found it
This is great advice
You know your child’s interests and personality better than any of us. Try to identify schools that would be a good fit and don’t get too hung up on rankings. I suggest you start with the Colleges that change lives list These are schools that are relatively easy to get into which offer students a nurturing and supportive learning experience. Reading the book might also help you figure out what kind of school is most likely to be a good fit for your daughter. It sounds like she is not very motivated by her high school setting so finding a program or school that she is likely to enjoy is key. You have not been forthcoming with any details about stats (beyond gpa) or academic/career interests so it is impossible for anyone to give you specific suggestions