Where should this kid apply

[Anonymous]

The daughter of a friend asked me for college advice. She is a really wonderful young lady, just so kind and hardworking, and I'd love to be as helpful as possible. DCUM, will you help me help her?

Stats:
GPA: UW 95.5 / W 101.3 HS known to be pretty good locally
SATs: She and everyone in her family had covid at different points and the test didn't happen. Trying again soon.
Curriculum: Hardest at school, 11 APs total with Sr year (several 5's but not all. does this matter?) and the rest Honors
Extracurriculars: leadership position in organizations inside and outside school related to mental health, has done some cool things with this but no national awards or anything
Essay: she's thinking about discussing her passion for mental health, her father's PTSD from being a 9/11 first responder. He never went to college and it's important to him that she goes, and I suggested mentioning this.

She really liked Clemson and wants to try for their Honors program. Also likes Boston College but the net price calculator made it seem cost prohibitive. She loved UNC but knows how hard it is to get in out of state. She is particularly looking for more matches and reaches. (She seems to have enough in-state, public likelys on her list.) I suggested Davidson and she looked into it a little and said, wow it's hard to get into but looks amazing. She's just a really nice person whose parents don't have a ton of knowledge in this area. Great head on her shoulders. Realistic about money and her chances, but also is realizing she wants to try for some 'name' schools, too.

Please be kind! She's not a kid that can afford help on this and I'd really love to be able to be useful to her. Thank you!!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:The daughter of a friend asked me for college advice. She is a really wonderful young lady, just so kind and hardworking, and I'd love to be as helpful as possible. DCUM, will you help me help her?

Stats:
GPA: UW 95.5 / W 101.3 HS known to be pretty good locally
SATs: She and everyone in her family had covid at different points and the test didn't happen. Trying again soon.
Curriculum: Hardest at school, 11 APs total with Sr year (several 5's but not all. does this matter?) and the rest Honors
Extracurriculars: leadership position in organizations inside and outside school related to mental health, has done some cool things with this but no national awards or anything
Essay: she's thinking about discussing her passion for mental health, her father's PTSD from being a 9/11 first responder. He never went to college and it's important to him that she goes, and I suggested mentioning this.

She really liked Clemson and wants to try for their Honors program. Also likes Boston College but the net price calculator made it seem cost prohibitive. She loved UNC but knows how hard it is to get in out of state. She is particularly looking for more matches and reaches. (She seems to have enough in-state, public likelys on her list.) I suggested Davidson and she looked into it a little and said, wow it's hard to get into but looks amazing. She's just a really nice person whose parents don't have a ton of knowledge in this area. Great head on her shoulders. Realistic about money and her chances, but also is realizing she wants to try for some 'name' schools, too.

Please be kind! She's not a kid that can afford help on this and I'd really love to be able to be useful to her. Thank you!!

What is the budget. Is it $60k/yr? $30k/yr? $15/yr or less? (Yes there are options in all of those ranges)

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:The daughter of a friend asked me for college advice. She is a really wonderful young lady, just so kind and hardworking, and I'd love to be as helpful as possible. DCUM, will you help me help her?

Stats:
GPA: UW 95.5 / W 101.3 HS known to be pretty good locally
SATs: She and everyone in her family had covid at different points and the test didn't happen. Trying again soon.
Curriculum: Hardest at school, 11 APs total with Sr year (several 5's but not all. does this matter?) and the rest Honors
Extracurriculars: leadership position in organizations inside and outside school related to mental health, has done some cool things with this but no national awards or anything
Essay: she's thinking about discussing her passion for mental health, her father's PTSD from being a 9/11 first responder. He never went to college and it's important to him that she goes, and I suggested mentioning this.

She really liked Clemson and wants to try for their Honors program. Also likes Boston College but the net price calculator made it seem cost prohibitive. She loved UNC but knows how hard it is to get in out of state. She is particularly looking for more matches and reaches. (She seems to have enough in-state, public likelys on her list.) I suggested Davidson and she looked into it a little and said, wow it's hard to get into but looks amazing. She's just a really nice person whose parents don't have a ton of knowledge in this area. Great head on her shoulders. Realistic about money and her chances, but also is realizing she wants to try for some 'name' schools, too.

Please be kind! She's not a kid that can afford help on this and I'd really love to be able to be useful to her. Thank you!!

What is the budget. Is it $60k/yr? $30k/yr? $15/yr or less? (Yes there are options in all of those ranges)

Thank you for responding. I honestly don't know and didn't want to pry with my friend. The daughter did say "I ran the NPC for BC and it only took a few thousand off and came out to like $70 something K." If I had to guess, their contribution would be in the $30K-ish range. They also talked about a willingness to take out loans, but they are aware of the dangers there.

I apologize for not having a good answer and would appreciate any general advice you have. Thank you.

[Anonymous]

If she is open to it, she may do very well at one of the "seven sisters'. Supportive environment and scholarship opportunities.

[Anonymous]

University of Florida. Chomp chomp.

[Anonymous]

You have not told us what SHE wants, just given hints about whether she will appeal to schools.

Does she want large? Greek? Rural? What major? East Coast?

No one can advise, based upon what you have provided.

[Anonymous]

Why are you even getting involved? They need to talk to someone at school.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:You have not told us what SHE wants, just given hints about whether she will appeal to schools.

Does she want large? Greek? Rural? What major? East Coast?

No one can advise, based upon what you have provided.

Thank you for your comment. Yes, talking to an eager/excited 17 year old, our conversation took the shape of, where can I get in. If you cannot advise, please do not feel the need to.

She is very open. Her perspective is that all of the colleges she will apply to have so much to offer, it's more what she does with her time and experience there. She is mostly looking on the east coast, but has CU Boulder on her list and would love to go to California if the UCs offered more scholarships, but won't be trying.

[Anonymous]

Roll Tide

[Anonymous]

I think she will have a lot of options. Her school guidance counselor may be overwhelmed. For MERIT aid she really needs to take those SAT or ACT's. If she scores high that will help. Get her to study with a tutor or a good online program or even a book and then, once she knows her scores, it will be easier to make recommendations.

[Anonymous]

Don’t have any suggestions, just here to say she sounds like a great kid!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Why are you even getting involved? They need to talk to someone at school.

Thanks for your helpful comment. Guidance counselors have varying levels of expertise. If your kids' counselor provides every bit of assistance they feel they need, that's great and I'm happy for you. I got involved because I make my living as a writer and I was initially there to talk about her essay. When she asked me for additional information, for some reason I didn't curse her and storm out but instead thought, let me think about this and see what I can do. I know, it's weird.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I think she will have a lot of options. Her school guidance counselor may be overwhelmed. For MERIT aid she really needs to take those SAT or ACT's. If she scores high that will help. Get her to study with a tutor or a good online program or even a book and then, once she knows her scores, it will be easier to make recommendations.

This is great advice. Thank you so much! She definitely was wondering is test optional really test optional and fretting over the lack of score. I'll definitely share this. Thanks again!

[Anonymous]

I’d also suggest looking at the small liberal arts schools in New England if she’d be open to a smaller school. They get way too many similar apps from the boarding school kids and are always interested in someone with a different background. They are big on first gen college students. She may appeal to them and would definitely find a supportive environment

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Don’t have any suggestions, just here to say she sounds like a great kid!

Thank you! She really is so lovely and the kind of teen you want to support.

In fact, she served me at an ice cream place before I knew it was my friend's daughter and I left thinking, 'wow, what a great kid!' by the way she handled the interaction and treated me as a customer. (It was busy, there was a problem with one of the items, etc.)