Clueless about college

[Anonymous]

I'll confess: I'm completely clueless when it comes to the college process. I didn't go through anything of the sort when I went to college, and my oldest DD is currently looking at schools. I have no idea where she falls compared to her peers, in her state or nationally. I also don't know which schools she can realistically get into and attend (I am not very familiar with US schools.) She goes to an all girls private high school and has all A's so far in hs with one B+. Her SAT score is a 2230: 680 math, 750 critical reading and 800 writing. She is a very smart girl who has always had a strong interest in the sciences. She's not a super genius, but she has an extreme love of learning and a curiosity about the world that I think is unusual in a teenage girl (her peers, although also very bright, seem more concerned with "mixers" and television than planetary science and current events). Can someone tell me a realistic goal for colleges? Public or private, how expensive, does she need to test again, etc?
This is just for me-I am letting her choose the school ultimately (as long as it is financially viable) but I want some basic information that all the other parents seem to already know.

[Anonymous]

OP here- two things I forgot to mention. DD took two SAT subject tests at her teacher's recommendation, math II and US history, and got a 690 and a 790 respectively. She also took the ACT, this time on recommendation of her (slightly inept) college counselor and got a 33. Is that a good score?

[Anonymous]

Troll.

[Anonymous]

How does posting on an anonymous forum like this help you with your dilemma? You are either a troll or you are upset that your daughter's college counselor didn't tell you that she could simply sail into the college of her choosing. If I were your daughter I would be mortified that you posted all of my private information online, slammed my classmates, and took a public swipe at my college counselor.

[Anonymous]

Your daughter appears to be smart so leave the college process to her if you are that clueless. What makes the counselor inept? Has she not already talked through a list of college possibilities with you? Given how much testing your dd has done she must have finished junior year so it would be unusual not to have already sat down with the counselor at a private school.

Go on college confidential. People there live to "chance" your dd at particular schools.

[Anonymous]

Our DD has very similar stats. Still, these kids (especially white or Asian girls) won't be able to sail into the school of their choosing. Since she's got the grades and scores to qualify for top schools, she now needs to focus on her essays. The essays are MUCH more important now than they were when we were in school. Also take advantage of any legacy she might bring to the table. Given the large number of applicants these days with amazing scores (many from China, Korea, etc.), slight advantages such as legacy play a much larger role in admission.

[Anonymous]

You have a leg up in that at a private school the counselor likely has less of a student caseload, and therefore might have more time to meet with you.

1. Talk to the counselor and get all the guidance you can (hence the name guidance counselor).
2. Get thee to Barnes and Noble. Lots of books on college searching and applying.
3. If the two of you haven't already, start researching colleges. Things to consider when building an initial list of potential choices, besides the basics of admission (i.e. grades and test scores): choice of major, size of school, urban/suburban/rural setting, single-sex/coed, on-campus housing/Greek life/particular sport or extracurricular of interest, distance from home. These sorts of general preferences can help in researching and narrowing down to a list of schools that she might be interested in.
4. If you haven't already, set up some visits asap. Spring break of junior year is often a great time to visit campuses. Otherwise, this fall plan to spend every weekend if possible visting schools to help get a feel of the place.
5. Begin to assemble those applications. As PP mentioned, essays will be key. Accurately and positively documenting her extracurriculars and all those other things that make her unique and a good candidate.
6. At some point you'll need to get your financial stuff together to apply for financial aid next spring. Plan ahead to get your taxes done early - we found that having thsoe done and out of the way made doing the FAFSA much easier.

[Anonymous]

p.s. By "leg up", I didn't mean better chances of admission, but leg-up in terms of getting time and attention from the guidance department.

We struggled at my son's large public high school, compared to the practically daily conversations that I had with my counselor in high school at a small private.

[Anonymous]

OP here-I sense that my dd's college counselor has far too many kids to counsel, as her school used to have more counselors but they downsized a few years back. She is difficult to get a hold of that is all. My DD informed me that she is researching schools such as Washington University in St. Louis, University of Pittsburgh and Northwestern. I will go search these schools too. Thank you 09:17 for your helpful post.

[Anonymous]

OP -- it sounds as though your daughter has done well. You can look at naviance to see how she compares and what sort of scores each college is looking for. It is much harder for girls now than boys to get into great colleges since more girls are outscoring boys. Those scores would be great for a boy but may not be so great for a girl. You mentioned she went to an all-girls school. If it is NCS or Holton...the competition is stiff. You would need to know if your DD is going to be in the top 10 percent (even though the schools say they don't rank...they know internally what the rankings are). Also, we would need to know what actvities your DD is in. She would need to excel in at least one activity and also needs great recs and essays. Good luck. It isn't easy nowadays.

[Anonymous]

For the SAT scores, some (most) of the schools do not count the writing score. They usually just take the CR & M scores. I would check out College Confidential for further info on college stuff.

[Anonymous]

9:17 and 10:19 document my daughter's experience pretty well. Naviance, however, is a pretty gross indicator, though, because it doesn't tease out gender, recruited athletes, legacies, under-represented like they are more competitive than they probably are.

Your daughter's scores put her in the running for the more competitive LAC's/universities but probably not the most competitive. Northwestern and Wash U are pretty competitive so maybe a way to approach one of them would be for her to consider applying Early Decision. Some schools are admitting up to 50% of their incoming classes during the ED process.

Things I wish I had paid more attention to:
Common Data Set for each college/university
Early Decision
College Confidential Parents forum - many of these parents have poured over the admission process so closely that they are way more realistic than the average parent both in terms of looking at their child with a critical and discerning eye and what specific colleges appear to be looking for
Started college visits sooner

[Anonymous]

Your daughter's scores put her in the running for the more competitive LAC's/universities but probably not the most competitive.

I don't think this is an accurate statement without knowing more about the student. What is her class rank? Even if the school does not rank students, you can get a sense of where she stands from the guidance counselor. Also, what do her extra-curriculars look like? The sense I've gotten is that the SATs are more of a hurdle that need to be cleared, and once you have 2250 or so you're good to go and the schools focus on other things such as ECs, essays, etc. However, getting into the most competitive schools is a total crapshoot. "Being in the running" is just that. Your application won't be thrown out on the basis of SATs or grades; your application is then put into the still-enormous pile of eligible candidates.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Your daughter's scores put her in the running for the more competitive LAC's/universities but probably not the most competitive.

I don't think this is an accurate statement without knowing more about the student. What is her class rank? Even if the school does not rank students, you can get a sense of where she stands from the guidance counselor. Also, what do her extra-curriculars look like? The sense I've gotten is that the SATs are more of a hurdle that need to be cleared, and once you have 2250 or so you're good to go and the schools focus on other things such as ECs, essays, etc. However, getting into the most competitive schools is a total crapshoot. "Being in the running" is just that. Your application won't be thrown out on the basis of SATs or grades; your application is then put into the still-enormous pile of eligible candidates.

This is my sense as well. SATs scores of 2250 is a threshold to be cleared, then it comes down to your essay, passion, extracurriculars, and leadership. If you go on Naviance, even the very top schools (HYP) will have turned down kids from your school (you can only see your school) with perfect SATs, and the average of accepted SATs from your school may be more like 2200 or 2300.

[Anonymous]

Not for girls. The hurdle is the highest SATs and the criteria you enumerate. For boys, I'd agree.