Smart kid wants a party/sports school (ugh)- Penn State, Ohio State, Wisconsin, U Florida?

[Anonymous]

HELP! My kid does not want UMD. But he does want a big sports school. Great grades (3.95UW, lots of AP's), high scores but he doesn't have the scores for Michigan. (SAT's high 1300's). He has no idea what he wants to study, but he's good at STEM. Anyone out there who can help me understand the difference between these big out of state universities? We do NOT have the $ for private and would like to keep total costs at 50K/yr or less. Where can he go where he will be **employable** after graduation in the DC area. His dream would be UCLA but at 65K/yr we can't swing it.

[Anonymous]

Not getting into UCLA with this stats.

Wisconsin is the best academically of the schools listed, but 1300 may still be tough to gain admission.

[Anonymous]

People on here will clutch their pearls but Baylor gives good merit aid for kids with your DS' stats. They have huge sports scene, enough parties, and lots of fun traditions. At 14K undergrads it's big enough but not huge.

[Anonymous]

Penn State would be an easy match. It was too rah-rah for my kid, but it has a really passionate alumni base and a solid reputation. I would recommend getting summer internships in the DMV, because there aren't many possibilities near campus.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:HELP! My kid does not want UMD. But he does want a big sports school. Great grades (3.95UW, lots of AP's), high scores but he doesn't have the scores for Michigan. (SAT's high 1300's). He has no idea what he wants to study, but he's good at STEM. Anyone out there who can help me understand the difference between these big out of state universities? We do NOT have the $ for private and would like to keep total costs at 50K/yr or less. Where can he go where he will be **employable** after graduation in the DC area. His dream would be UCLA but at 65K/yr we can't swing it.

Ohio State and Arizona (and undoubtedly many others) have GPA/SAT tables that make it simple. Find your coordinate and it’ll show you the tuition. No guesswork at all. Ours is at OSU and it was about the same as UMD.

[Anonymous]

Unfortunately, no school is guaranteed even with those stats. All of those schools will meet your needs- they will have plenty of things to study, plenty of parties, plenty of graduation prospects. Of the listed schools, Florida is probably the hardest for admission with Penn State being the easiest.

My suggestion would be to visit them and see where he feels comfortable. Then he should apply to ALL of the schools where he feels comfortable and not set his heart on any of them.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Not getting into UCLA with this stats.

Wisconsin is the best academically of the schools listed, but 1300 may still be tough to gain admission.

My 33 ACT big 3 kid was WL at Wisconsin this year.

[Anonymous]

UCLA is not looking at scores this year so it's a crapshoot with high grades. Depends on rigor. But don't expect any money.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:People on here will clutch their pearls but Baylor gives good merit aid for kids with your DS' stats. They have huge sports scene, enough parties, and lots of fun traditions. At 14K undergrads it's big enough but not huge.

Excellent for hyper-religious weirdos.

And pearl clutcher #1 has already shown up. DCUM never fails to disappoint.

[Anonymous]

If he has stats for and interest in UF that's a good option. Tons of grads in this area if he wants to come back, great sports and plenty of social options. Every grad I know from there loved it and is happy /successful now.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:UCLA is not looking at scores this year so it's a crapshoot with high grades. Depends on rigor. But don't expect any money.

UC's are a better bet than a lot of other big public schools. 3.95 UW and paying full freight OOS with no SAT scores helps a lot. Weirdly enough, this kid could get into UCLA or Berkeley. Both have passionate sports programs + very rigorous curriculum.

[Anonymous]

Penn State is over 50k for room board and tution just FYI.

Wisconsin is the best academically. It was my kid's safety for UVA.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:UCLA is not looking at scores this year so it's a crapshoot with high grades. Depends on rigor. But don't expect any money.

UC's are a better bet than a lot of other big public schools. 3.95 UW and paying full freight OOS with no SAT scores helps a lot. Weirdly enough, this kid could get into UCLA or Berkeley. Both have passionate sports programs + very rigorous curriculum.

Right, but OP says they can't really afford full-freight, and there won't be any merit aid at a UC school for an OOS kid.

Places where he might have a shot at merit aid and/or OOS tuition might not be prohibitive: Pitt, UConn, UVM, Indiana, Gonzaga, NC State, Alabama, Arizona, Arizona State.

Have him take the ACT and see how he does on that.

[Anonymous]

You don’t put smart and SAT 1300 in the same sentence. While high SAT scores don’t necessarily indicate you’re smart, 1300s almost certainly indicate you’re not (because SAT tests are so easy these days).

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:You don’t put smart and SAT 1300 in the same sentence. While high SAT scores don’t necessarily indicate you’re smart, 1300s almost certainly indicate you’re not (because SAT tests are so easy these days).

Just. Stop. It.

It's the opposite. High SAT scores probably DO mean you're smart. Lower SAT scores don't necessarily mean you're not.