Did your kid go to a T100-T200 school? Tell me here

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:So much Ivy etc. focus on DCUM which is great but unrealistic based on acceptance rates, costs etc.

Did your kid attend a T100-T200 school? Which one? Why did they like it?

School
Urban/Suburban/Rural
Cost (tuition and housing)

DC is looking at mid-size or large schools and prefers Urban/Suburban near a major airport vs. regional airport with limited flights and/or a campus that is a three hour drive from landing. Want to avoid a suitcase school if possible.

They have the stats to attend a top school but we don't have $400-$500k saved up for four year undergrad before they even go to grad school which is where I'd prefer to invest. Toying around with pre-law or bio (or both if environmental law) + potentially Japanese minor.

CS in UMD. Suburban, large. Instate
Cost is 15k tuition. 12 K room and board. Yearly. Round up to around 28k

Tuition for oos student is around 45k. The. Travel cost is much higher.

[Anonymous]

U of Houston
UA-Huntsville
U of Illinois-Chicago
All of the “Loyola” schools—B’more, New Orleans, Los Angeles & Chicago
Chapman
U of Arizona
Arizona State
Rutgers

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:So much Ivy etc. focus on DCUM which is great but unrealistic based on acceptance rates, costs etc.

Did your kid attend a T100-T200 school? Which one? Why did they like it?

School
Urban/Suburban/Rural
Cost (tuition and housing)

DC is looking at mid-size or large schools and prefers Urban/Suburban near a major airport vs. regional airport with limited flights and/or a campus that is a three hour drive from landing. Want to avoid a suitcase school if possible.

They have the stats to attend a top school but we don't have $400-$500k saved up for four year undergrad before they even go to grad school which is where I'd prefer to invest. Toying around with pre-law or bio (or both if environmental law) + potentially Japanese minor.

CS in UMD. Suburban, large. Instate
Cost is 15k tuition. 12 K room and board. Yearly. Round up to around 28k

Tuition for oos student is around 45k. The. Travel cost is much higher.

This thread is about T100-T200.

UMD is T60 and UMD CS is like T20

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:So much Ivy etc. focus on DCUM which is great but unrealistic based on acceptance rates, costs etc.

Did your kid attend a T100-T200 school? Which one? Why did they like it?

School
Urban/Suburban/Rural
Cost (tuition and housing)

DC is looking at mid-size or large schools and prefers Urban/Suburban near a major airport vs. regional airport with limited flights and/or a campus that is a three hour drive from landing. Want to avoid a suitcase school if possible.

They have the stats to attend a top school but we don't have $400-$500k saved up for four year undergrad before they even go to grad school which is where I'd prefer to invest. Toying around with pre-law or bio (or both if environmental law) + potentially Japanese minor.

CS in UMD. Suburban, large. Instate
Cost is 15k tuition. 12 K room and board. Yearly. Round up to around 28k

Tuition for oos student is around 45k. The. Travel cost is much higher.

This thread is about T100-T200.

UMD is T60 and UMD CS is like T20

+1 I know of a magnet student a few years ago who was rejected from UMD for STEM. The student did not have stellar grades or scores, so if OP's DC is not super high achieving, UMD is not a shoo in, especially for something like CS or Eng.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:This is OP: back to see what you all had to say and in reading this thread seeing some comments were deleted which is strange. For PP's who posted school lists please re-post if you don't mind!

Anyone with experience with University of Hawaii? I know that's slightly lower than T200 but curious - DC was intrigued by the focus on Asian studies/Japanese. They don't have a true "pre-law" but rather legal studies. Worried it's a suitcase school with such a high % of non-mainland students…

3.9 UW, excellent EC's and out of school volunteerism both with long time commitment & leadership. Rigorous class schedule, two different Honors science classes per year so far (school offers as EC's in other subjects apart from the usual Bio/Chem etc. e.g. Neuroscience Honors). DC is in 10th grade, we have time but I'd like to learn more about options all over the board vs. just focusing on T20 schools that seem so incredibly hard to get into year in/year out based on what I read on the boards here. Trying to cast a wide net, not have DC get their heart set on one school and feel celebratory when the time comes they get into a school they love based on what it offers and the fit and not that it fits into some mold of a "name" or rank.

A student doesn't have to major in pre-law to become a lawyer. The types of schools my kid was looking at might have a pre-law advisor but not a pre-law major--they'd major in any subject of their choice.

+1. Do not worry about pre-law. You can major in just about anything and get into a good law school, if you grades and LSATs are good enough.

+2. If anything, think about what kind of lawyer that you want to be. It may be that you're best off with an accounting major if you want to do tax law or a STEM major if you anticipate taking the patent bar or a language if you want international.

True in an ideal world, but hard to imagine a kid in high school knowing what kind of lawyer they want to be. Maybe the kid would have some idea if one or both parents were already a lawyer. (My parents were doctors, which convinced me that I didn't want to be a doctor - possibly having lawyer parents convinces their kids not to be lawyers, heh heh.)

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:UF is about $28k OOS, less than $50k / yr all-in including room and board. Gainesville has a regional airport, but Orlando is also less than 2 hours. Not a suitcase school.

UF is a top school and hard to get into OOS

It's also ranked in the top 30. Not the criteria OP is looking for.

Well, to be fair DC is not opposed to T30 school this is more me learning about what is out there apart from extremely selective schools.

We're CA based. Yes, will be leaning into UC options as well - Berkeley is the dream but again, trying to avoid getting hearts set on one school.

I don’t understand why a CA kid would go to (say) Delaware over one of the lower-level UCs. They’d be better off at UCSB, UCSD, UCSC, UCI, or UCD.

If you are looking for money and not too far from home, University of Portland gives fantastic merit aid to kids with good stats and seems to fit your criteria. A friend’s child went there almost entirely free, choosing that over Berkeley. She then went to HYPS for grad school.

[Anonymous]

It’s not that easy for a CA kid to get into those UCs, especially if they’re applying from a highly ranked wealthy HS

[Anonymous]

University of Vermont. Plenty of direct flights to DC, LaGuardia and Chicago.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:UF is about $28k OOS, less than $50k / yr all-in including room and board. Gainesville has a regional airport, but Orlando is also less than 2 hours. Not a suitcase school.

UF is a top school and hard to get into OOS

It's also ranked in the top 30. Not the criteria OP is looking for.

Well, to be fair DC is not opposed to T30 school this is more me learning about what is out there apart from extremely selective schools.

We're CA based. Yes, will be leaning into UC options as well - Berkeley is the dream but again, trying to avoid getting hearts set on one school.

I don’t understand why a CA kid would go to (say) Delaware over one of the lower-level UCs. They’d be better off at UCSB, UCSD, UCSC, UCI, or UCD.

If you are looking for money and not too far from home, University of Portland gives fantastic merit aid to kids with good stats and seems to fit your criteria. A friend’s child went there almost entirely free, choosing that over Berkeley. She then went to HYPS for grad school.

I’m sure op’s kid will apply to those schools, but they’re a tough admit. And most of the CSUs are more of a suitcase school experience.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:It’s not that easy for a CA kid to get into those UCs, especially if they’re applying from a highly ranked wealthy HS

With top stats (competitive for top 5 to 10 according to OP), one of the UCs at a minimum will give admissions. I definitely agree with a safety list, but while UC admissions is indeed a lottery now, it’s not such a lottery that a top-stats kid won’t get into at least some of them.

I agree with making a safety list of course, but I think a good UC admission is likely here.

[Anonymous]

You could also try for one of the WUE campuses

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:This is OP: back to see what you all had to say and in reading this thread seeing some comments were deleted which is strange. For PP's who posted school lists please re-post if you don't mind!

Anyone with experience with University of Hawaii? I know that's slightly lower than T200 but curious - DC was intrigued by the focus on Asian studies/Japanese. They don't have a true "pre-law" but rather legal studies. Worried it's a suitcase school with such a high % of non-mainland students…

3.9 UW, excellent EC's and out of school volunteerism both with long time commitment & leadership. Rigorous class schedule, two different Honors science classes per year so far (school offers as EC's in other subjects apart from the usual Bio/Chem etc. e.g. Neuroscience Honors). DC is in 10th grade, we have time but I'd like to learn more about options all over the board vs. just focusing on T20 schools that seem so incredibly hard to get into year in/year out based on what I read on the boards here. Trying to cast a wide net, not have DC get their heart set on one school and feel celebratory when the time comes they get into a school they love based on what it offers and the fit and not that it fits into some mold of a "name" or rank.

A student doesn't have to major in pre-law to become a lawyer. The types of schools my kid was looking at might have a pre-law advisor but not a pre-law major--they'd major in any subject of their choice.

I'm familiar with U of Hawaii. Top students from Punahou avoid it and go stateside for their education. It is a backup school for the better students. I would avoid the Asian studies/Japanese because so many of the students at U of Hawaii are already part Japanese. Lots of inhabitants on the islands are from Japanese/ Japanese, Japanese/Hawaiian or Japanese/U.S. serviceman marriages. No that's not racist, it's a fact. My roommate in college was the latter. If you go into that particular major you are apt to hit the cultural appropriation Japanese who have lived with the racism they've experienced on the islands their entire lives and don't see why a state-side kid should be studying their own culture. That would be her opinion.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:You could also try for one of the WUE campuses

I'm 100% looking at WUE program with DC but not all of the schools fit the criteria they're looking for (e.g. there are quite a few smaller and/or rural schools on that list). Some do fit the bill - ASU for example.

And thanks to all who've commented on the UC's - I'm sure DC will lean heavily into a chunk of those campuses and with their high stats, I'm hopeful they will get an admit but I do want to have back ups.

I probably shouldn't have been so specific about T100-T200 (in that we wouldn't/aren't looking at T99 - T1 schools) but was trying to get understanding around admissions not being so selective (and I know there are plenty of schools in the top 100-200 that are still selective). Also was hoping there would be more merit available in that range vs. selective.

In state publics we're good on tuition/room and board even if no merit. USC/Stanford obviously is another story tuition-wise. DC is coming from a "top private" (someone noted that in a previous post, just confirming that stat) where tuition is the same as all-in state school.

No hooks, white but great stats.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:This is OP: back to see what you all had to say and in reading this thread seeing some comments were deleted which is strange. For PP's who posted school lists please re-post if you don't mind!

Anyone with experience with University of Hawaii? I know that's slightly lower than T200 but curious - DC was intrigued by the focus on Asian studies/Japanese. They don't have a true "pre-law" but rather legal studies. Worried it's a suitcase school with such a high % of non-mainland students…

3.9 UW, excellent EC's and out of school volunteerism both with long time commitment & leadership. Rigorous class schedule, two different Honors science classes per year so far (school offers as EC's in other subjects apart from the usual Bio/Chem etc. e.g. Neuroscience Honors). DC is in 10th grade, we have time but I'd like to learn more about options all over the board vs. just focusing on T20 schools that seem so incredibly hard to get into year in/year out based on what I read on the boards here. Trying to cast a wide net, not have DC get their heart set on one school and feel celebratory when the time comes they get into a school they love based on what it offers and the fit and not that it fits into some mold of a "name" or rank.

A student doesn't have to major in pre-law to become a lawyer. The types of schools my kid was looking at might have a pre-law advisor but not a pre-law major--they'd major in any subject of their choice.

I'm familiar with U of Hawaii. Top students from Punahou avoid it and go stateside for their education. It is a backup school for the better students. I would avoid the Asian studies/Japanese because so many of the students at U of Hawaii are already part Japanese. Lots of inhabitants on the islands are from Japanese/ Japanese, Japanese/Hawaiian or Japanese/U.S. serviceman marriages. No that's not racist, it's a fact. My roommate in college was the latter. If you go into that particular major you are apt to hit the cultural appropriation Japanese who have lived with the racism they've experienced on the islands their entire lives and don't see why a state-side kid should be studying their own culture. That would be her opinion.

Great insight, thank you

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:This is OP: back to see what you all had to say and in reading this thread seeing some comments were deleted which is strange. For PP's who posted school lists please re-post if you don't mind!

Anyone with experience with University of Hawaii? I know that's slightly lower than T200 but curious - DC was intrigued by the focus on Asian studies/Japanese. They don't have a true "pre-law" but rather legal studies. Worried it's a suitcase school with such a high % of non-mainland students…

3.9 UW, excellent EC's and out of school volunteerism both with long time commitment & leadership. Rigorous class schedule, two different Honors science classes per year so far (school offers as EC's in other subjects apart from the usual Bio/Chem etc. e.g. Neuroscience Honors). DC is in 10th grade, we have time but I'd like to learn more about options all over the board vs. just focusing on T20 schools that seem so incredibly hard to get into year in/year out based on what I read on the boards here. Trying to cast a wide net, not have DC get their heart set on one school and feel celebratory when the time comes they get into a school they love based on what it offers and the fit and not that it fits into some mold of a "name" or rank.

A student doesn't have to major in pre-law to become a lawyer. The types of schools my kid was looking at might have a pre-law advisor but not a pre-law major--they'd major in any subject of their choice.

I'm familiar with U of Hawaii. Top students from Punahou avoid it and go stateside for their education. It is a backup school for the better students. I would avoid the Asian studies/Japanese because so many of the students at U of Hawaii are already part Japanese. Lots of inhabitants on the islands are from Japanese/ Japanese, Japanese/Hawaiian or Japanese/U.S. serviceman marriages. No that's not racist, it's a fact. My roommate in college was the latter. If you go into that particular major you are apt to hit the cultural appropriation Japanese who have lived with the racism they've experienced on the islands their entire lives and don't see why a state-side kid should be studying their own culture. That would be her opinion.

Great insight, thank you

You are welcome. Post back if you have any more questions.