Things You Wish You Knew When he/she was in 10th Grade

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:That it's more important to identify a safety school or two (which here means a school that your DC can get into AND that you can afford) that your DC is enthusiastic about than anything else. If the worst case scenario is something that sounds great, the angst goes way down.

That ED/EA puts a lot of pressure on your DC to choose "the one" very early in the process and in an environment where that's a really messed up way of thinking. Hedge DC's bets, if possible, with public and/or foreign schools that offer rolling admissions or early notification.

That Canada is an oasis of sanity. Simple admissions process and standards. Worth exploring in advance because most of us know less about Canadian universities than US ones.

yes yes yes.

explore foreign options in can and uk! The admissions process is a lot more straigthforward

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:You need to figure out what your college budget is and then let your kid know. If $ is no object, great. But if you are limited to public schools, and private schools that will meet your demonstrated need and/or offer merit $, you need to let her know that. This will shape the list of schools you consider.

Other than that, nothing is more important that taking a rigorous course of study in Grade 11 and doing very well. She can always add an extra-curricular or 2, but the truth is that if she isn't already highly engaged in something and on track for a meaningful leadership position, then the extra-curricular probably won't matter much.

Also, figuring out a testing schedule is a great idea. Only reason to take Subject Test in Grade 10 is if she is in an AP class this year, and can use final AP exam prep as Subject Test prep.

We have a junior who is starting to look at schools. Right now it's a fairly wide net and we haven't restricted any interest (DC has been slow to build interest in looking). Is there any way to gauge need or merit? I guess what I'm wondering is, I'd hate to say no based on the cost when I have no idea how much merit might be offered down the line.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Private tutoring is the best investment you could ever make. Bs turn to As, 90-percentile SAT turns to 95-percentile.

Yeah -- and your kid learns to rely on mom, dad and the tutor to fix everything for her.

Last time I checked, the student being tutored actually has to do WORK to understand concepts and pass the exams. Are you just sending your to SAT cold turkey? Good luck with that.

[Anonymous]

I wish we didn't stress at all about the process. It will work out.

Focus on one subject test where the student will do well. Pick one that aligns with the curriculum so no studying required. Math 1?

We bought our DD an ACT book the summer before junior year and told her to study it. Not sure if she did or not (she says she did). Took ACT in Sept of Junior year before classes became challenging. It actually prepared her for the PSAT as well. Never took another ACT/SAT. Took two more subject tests at end of junior year.

She didn't want to discuss college and it stressed us (the parents) out because we worried she didn't get the whole process. But it all worked out.

[Anonymous]

Need and merit question from above ^^. Some schools offer merit if a student has a certain GPA and SAT score, while others require essays and are very competitive. The school's website will have a scholarship link. To determine need, each school's website will have a link to their individual Net Price Calculator. You will have to input tax information, # of kids in college, etc and it will give you an "idea" if you will receive any need. All the calculators are not created equal--it depends on the school. And, if you own a business, the calculators are way off.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:just how sandbagged asians are in the process - why don't public school counselors actually talk about this?

Oh boo hoo.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:My advice is to not bother with SAT II subject tests at all unless you are 100% sure your kid's desired schools require them. And the ones that do are the most elite of the elite, for the most part, so that pretty much narrows things down.

+1. DC going through the process now and very few schools require subject tests. Some schools that used to required them with the old SAT do not require them with the new SAT. For the most part, subject tests are required for top 20 universities, but not liberal arts schools.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:just how sandbagged asians are in the process - why don't public school counselors actually talk about this?

What does "sandbagged" mean?

It means being Asian is detrimental to admission. Which is a real dilemma for as since our daughter is Asian, but we are not, so we're not sure how much we want to emphasize her race (if at all) when applying.

[Anonymous]

^ as = us

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Need and merit question from above ^^. Some schools offer merit if a student has a certain GPA and SAT score, while others require essays and are very competitive. The school's website will have a scholarship link. To determine need, each school's website will have a link to their individual Net Price Calculator. You will have to input tax information, # of kids in college, etc and it will give you an "idea" if you will receive any need. All the calculators are not created equal--it depends on the school. And, if you own a business, the calculators are way off.

Thanks. I will check out some of the calculators. Our incomes are not high by Northern VA standards, but great by others.

While DS has definitely not felt any urgency to look at schools he does want to continue his sport in college. He has expressed an interest in small to medium sized schools and his interest has picked up recently after being contacted by some coaches. A few he is interested in are Div III, which of course do not offer athletic scholarships. I'll have to make sure he is looking at other, more affordable options.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Need and merit question from above ^^. Some schools offer merit if a student has a certain GPA and SAT score, while others require essays and are very competitive. The school's website will have a scholarship link. To determine need, each school's website will have a link to their individual Net Price Calculator. You will have to input tax information, # of kids in college, etc and it will give you an "idea" if you will receive any need. All the calculators are not created equal--it depends on the school. And, if you own a business, the calculators are way off.

We have an HHI of ~$125K and were surprised to find our EFC was consistently in the $25K-$30K range, for a number of schools.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Need and merit question from above ^^. Some schools offer merit if a student has a certain GPA and SAT score, while others require essays and are very competitive. The school's website will have a scholarship link. To determine need, each school's website will have a link to their individual Net Price Calculator. You will have to input tax information, # of kids in college, etc and it will give you an "idea" if you will receive any need. All the calculators are not created equal--it depends on the school. And, if you own a business, the calculators are way off.

Thanks. I will check out some of the calculators. Our incomes are not high by Northern VA standards, but great by others.

While DS has definitely not felt any urgency to look at schools he does want to continue his sport in college. He has expressed an interest in small to medium sized schools and his interest has picked up recently after being contacted by some coaches. A few he is interested in are Div III, which of course do not offer athletic scholarships. I'll have to make sure he is looking at other, more affordable options.

Div III (depending on the school / sport) may offer merit scholarships for athletes.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Need and merit question from above ^^. Some schools offer merit if a student has a certain GPA and SAT score, while others require essays and are very competitive. The school's website will have a scholarship link. To determine need, each school's website will have a link to their individual Net Price Calculator. You will have to input tax information, # of kids in college, etc and it will give you an "idea" if you will receive any need. All the calculators are not created equal--it depends on the school. And, if you own a business, the calculators are way off.

Thanks. I will check out some of the calculators. Our incomes are not high by Northern VA standards, but great by others.

While DS has definitely not felt any urgency to look at schools he does want to continue his sport in college. He has expressed an interest in small to medium sized schools and his interest has picked up recently after being contacted by some coaches. A few he is interested in are Div III, which of course do not offer athletic scholarships. I'll have to make sure he is looking at other, more affordable options.

Div III (depending on the school / sport) may offer merit scholarships for athletes.

Yup. Don't rule out D3 schools because of no "althletic scholarships". They can come up with a financial package that includes all sorts of merit to get your kid in the door. These schools make money on sports too. There are fantastic academically inclined schools in D3.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:You can do everything right and a top college will still reject you without much regard. Absolutely aim high, but try not to fall in love with one school. It matters less where you go and more how well you do no matter where you go.

This. +1000 I've seen 2 of 3 and tons of their friends go through the process now and this is definitely the best advice

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Private tutoring is the best investment you could ever make. Bs turn to As, 90-percentile SAT turns to 95-percentile.

Yeah -- and your kid learns to rely on mom, dad and the tutor to fix everything for her.

Last time I checked, the student being tutored actually has to do WORK to understand concepts and pass the exams. Are you just sending your to SAT cold turkey? Good luck with that.

NP here. Actually sent 2 kids off to SAT and ACT without any tutoring (save a practice test, I administered to the one who didn't test as well.) Both scored high enough to earn merit aid. It helps to know your kid before you rush to shell out lots of money for unnecessary tutors. At our public high school some consultant even offered a free service to have your kids take practice ACT and SATs to assess which one they were likely to do better on. As both my kids were time-strapped with other activities and requirements, it was a godsend to only have to take one test one time.

And while I think tutors can be valuable if you're really stuck, I agree that it isn't a perfect lesson for the real world. I have a child who routinely goes on and on about not getting stuff etc. So far he's been able to figure things out between asking the teacher and really working at the problems on his own. I think this is a valuable skill until they really do get stuck. Kind of like not picking up a baby the first time they let out a little cry.