Strategies for narrowing colleges

[Anonymous]

Like most of her friends at her NOVA high school, my high school junior DD says she wants to go to UVA or William&Mary. She's roughly in the ballpark for acceptance at both (4.2 GPA/1420 SAT, ok extracurricular, no particular hooks) though by no means a sure thing. So she needs to find an array of schools--safeties (she currently says JMU for that though she hasn't visited and doesn't really know anything about it), matches, and reaches--that also fit our financial picture. We can afford to pay about 35k/year and she's willing to take up to 20k (total--so 5k per year) in loans if need be. We don't want to take on additional debt--we're older parents and have two younger kids. When I look at calculators they roughly give an EFC of 30-40k a year depending if it's the standard or CSS profile.


What strategies have you or your kids used to find and research additional schools? We've used the College Board's Big Future but it suggests such a broad array of schools and doesn't really let you know without a lot of additional steps where you fall in the SAT/GPA admissions stats. Ideally I would like to find an app where she can enter her SAT and GPA and find the schools (rural and urban universities, in state and out, liberal arts colleges--with higher and lower acceptance rates) that are the strongest safeties, closest matches and reasonable reaches. And then she could enter our EFC and find from those which college's average net price for those with our EFC fits our budget. And then limit it to those within say a 6-8 hour drive. And then she's free to research among those the ones she wants to apply to. Does such a thing exist? Or have you found other helpful strategies?

[Anonymous]

What major is she looking at currently?

Your school’s Naviance is a great resource.

Search schools’s Common data sets. This helps with categorizing between reaches, matches, and safeties.

For every possible college, I also look at the “outcomes” page which lists where graduates go after graduating.

My DC is going for sciences/engineering. So we’ve used asse.org for admitted class profiles for engineering programs.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:What major is she looking at currently?

Your school’s Naviance is a great resource.

Search schools’s Common data sets. This helps with categorizing between reaches, matches, and safeties.

For every possible college, I also look at the “outcomes” page which lists where graduates go after graduating.

My DC is going for sciences/engineering. So we’ve used asse.org for admitted class profiles for engineering programs.

Thank you!
Unsure as to her major--but probably along the lines of economics/political science rather than sciences or humanities. Maybe international relations or public policy? Business? Something with a reading/analytic focus but she's also good at math (just not that interested in focusing on it exclusively).

Naviance has been great for assessing the schools she finds, but I'm unsure how to use it best to generate ideas And so far we can find a Common Data Set for a school once she know she's interested, but I haven't found a Common Data Set Database to search. Am I missing something?

Cool idea to use a field-based site like asse.org -- that would be great if she were focused enough on a particular area.

[Anonymous]

I would start with a map

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:What major is she looking at currently?

Your school’s Naviance is a great resource.

Search schools’s Common data sets. This helps with categorizing between reaches, matches, and safeties.

For every possible college, I also look at the “outcomes” page which lists where graduates go after graduating.

My DC is going for sciences/engineering. So we’ve used asse.org for admitted class profiles for engineering programs.

Thank you!
Unsure as to her major--but probably along the lines of economics/political science rather than sciences or humanities. Maybe international relations or public policy? Business? Something with a reading/analytic focus but she's also good at math (just not that interested in focusing on it exclusively).

Naviance has been great for assessing the schools she finds, but I'm unsure how to use it best to generate ideas And so far we can find a Common Data Set for a school once she know she's interested, but I haven't found a Common Data Set Database to search. Am I missing something?

Cool idea to use a field-based site like asse.org -- that would be great if she were focused enough on a particular area.

The Fiske Guide has a great checklist in the front of the book that asks questions about the students preferences. For example, my DC really wants to be near an urban center for culture, restaurants, etc...but wants a college campus too. These are variables that still matter after the “Does it have major?” part. So it has helped shape his list.

[Anonymous]

Does she want a big school? small school?
urban, rural?
Figure these out, then look for schools that fit the bill within 6-8 hours

[Anonymous]

OP: regarding the financial part, the common data set has a page that lists the average non-need based aid given to first time students.This is helpful in gauging how much money give out.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Does she want a big school? small school?
urban, rural?
Figure these out, then look for schools that fit the bill within 6-8 hours

I think this is maybe why we're struggling--she is open to all and doesn't have a preference. Small rural schools seem cozy, urban schools seem interesting , big schools seem fun and have lots of opportunities. She's a really optimistic and agreeable person who doesn't like to commit. I thought we were able to cross urban schools off the list when on a family trip, she didn't really like Philadelphia ("nice to visit, wouldn't want to live here")-- but on a different trip she really loves Pittsburgh so maybe we should consider UPitt and Carnegie Mellon.

Y'all are helping me think though that we should start with a map, list the schools we have heard of within 6 hours and THEN use the Common Data Set to sort them academically and financially and if there's not enough in each category expand the range a little more. I want her to be the driver of this process, but I'm thinking she needs a more limited menu to choose from as she's sort of in a state of overwhelm by all the options, her limited knowledge about any of them, and that it's probably the most important decision she's had to make in her life yet. So she's just avoiding it all and saying "it's all good."

[Anonymous]

First, strategize re: JMU admission. Don't leave it to chance. She will get into JMU or VT, quite possibily both but she should have a preference and she should maximize her chances at the school she prefers. Those schools are the likelies, where she is likely to end up, in Va at least. Beyond that, apply widely. Research EA or Rolling admission to state universities. Even if there's not time to visit, throw in some applications, as early as August. If so she may get some acceptances before Thanksgiving. Then you will know early re: some actual costs for out-of-state. Regular Decision for Virginia schools is an awful wait. They announce later than everyone else. The Va high schools know this and use it, keeping pressure on the students. For less stress Sr Yr, have some early acceptances.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:First, strategize re: JMU admission. Don't leave it to chance. She will get into JMU or VT, quite possibily both but she should have a preference and she should maximize her chances at the school she prefers. Those schools are the likelies, where she is likely to end up, in Va at least. Beyond that, apply widely. Research EA or Rolling admission to state universities. Even if there's not time to visit, throw in some applications, as early as August. If so she may get some acceptances before Thanksgiving. Then you will know early re: some actual costs for out-of-state. Regular Decision for Virginia schools is an awful wait. They announce later than everyone else. The Va high schools know this and use it, keeping pressure on the students. For less stress Sr Yr, have some early acceptances.

What do you mean by maximize her chances? Express interest via visiting? Spend extra time on the essays? Apply early action?

This seems like good advice--I think she's someone who will make better decisions if she's got 'one foot in the door' somewhere--otherwise she'll put it off forever if she can.

[Anonymous]

There are schools, private and public, who would give her merit aid. Don't rule that out.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:What major is she looking at currently?

Your school’s Naviance is a great resource.

Search schools’s Common data sets. This helps with categorizing between reaches, matches, and safeties.

For every possible college, I also look at the “outcomes” page which lists where graduates go after graduating.

My DC is going for sciences/engineering. So we’ve used asse.org for admitted class profiles for engineering programs.

Thank you!
Unsure as to her major--but probably along the lines of economics/political science rather than sciences or humanities. Maybe international relations or public policy? Business? Something with a reading/analytic focus but she's also good at math (just not that interested in focusing on it exclusively).

Naviance has been great for assessing the schools she finds, but I'm unsure how to use it best to generate ideas And so far we can find a Common Data Set for a school once she know she's interested, but I haven't found a Common Data Set Database to search. Am I missing something?

Cool idea to use a field-based site like asse.org -- that would be great if she were focused enough on a particular area.

On Naviance, under the Colleges tab, click on "college match". Then keep scrolling down the page until you get to a table titled "Colleges that have Accepted Students like you". Those are colleges that have accepted students from DD's high school with similar GPA/test scores. In the upper right you can click on "adjust matches" and then adjust the range of GPAs and test scores to either limit or broaden the colleges listed. Thats one place to start.

[Anonymous]

Pick your schools after you have read these, unless you are an uber liberal parent

http://whatwilltheylearn.com/

https://heterodoxacademy.org/guide-to-colleges/

http://www.leaderu.com/choosingcollege/sowell-choosing/toc.html


Good luck and have fun

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

On Naviance, under the Colleges tab, click on "college match". Then keep scrolling down the page until you get to a table titled "Colleges that have Accepted Students like you". Those are colleges that have accepted students from DD's high school with similar GPA/test scores. In the upper right you can click on "adjust matches" and then adjust the range of GPAs and test scores to either limit or broaden the colleges listed. Thats one place to start.

OP here: Excellent! I've never noticed this before. The one problem is that her test scores (neither PSAT nor SAT) don't show up in the "official things" and it doesn't seem possible for me to enter them manually. Is this something she should ask her counselor to do? (Sorry to treat this forum like my personal help desk, but you are all being very helpful! The old no good deed goes unpunished...)

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:What major is she looking at currently?

Your school’s Naviance is a great resource.

Search schools’s Common data sets. This helps with categorizing between reaches, matches, and safeties.

For every possible college, I also look at the “outcomes” page which lists where graduates go after graduating.

My DC is going for sciences/engineering. So we’ve used asse.org for admitted class profiles for engineering programs.

Thank you!
Unsure as to her major--but probably along the lines of economics/political science rather than sciences or humanities. Maybe international relations or public policy? Business? Something with a reading/analytic focus but she's also good at math (just not that interested in focusing on it exclusively).

Naviance has been great for assessing the schools she finds, but I'm unsure how to use it best to generate ideas And so far we can find a Common Data Set for a school once she know she's interested, but I haven't found a Common Data Set Database to search. Am I missing something?

Cool idea to use a field-based site like asse.org -- that would be great if she were focused enough on a particular area.

On Naviance, under the Colleges tab, click on "college match". Then keep scrolling down the page until you get to a table titled "Colleges that have Accepted Students like you". Those are colleges that have accepted students from DD's high school with similar GPA/test scores. In the upper right you can click on "adjust matches" and then adjust the range of GPAs and test scores to either limit or broaden the colleges listed. Thats one place to start.

Not OP but thank you for this information. Do you know if the info provided in college match is only from those narrowed to students with similar stats as your dc? For example, if they are showing 50% acceptance rate for a particular school, is this 50% of kids accepted from all kids from your dc's HS that applied to this college or 50% acceptance rate from those with similar stats as your dc from his HS?