Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I don’t understand this post at all.

+1 humble brag disguised as a "help us out" post.

That is what I thought. OP- try Miami of Ohio. It is public but looks private. Great alumni network.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Tulane will almost certainly defer/waitlist her (yield protection) unless she applies ED, and she can't apply ED if she needs competitive merit. So, Tulane is unlikely.

Can you explain why you think this will happen? Why would they defer/waitlist her?

Because her stats (3.87, 1500) are high for Tulane (avg GPA 3.55, 1360-1470) and Tulane has a reputation for yield protecting high stats applicants.

Anonymous wrote:Tulane will almost certainly defer/waitlist her (yield protection) unless she applies ED, and she can't apply ED if she needs competitive merit. So, Tulane is unlikely.

Can you explain why you think this will happen? Why would they defer/waitlist her?

Anonymous wrote:Is she open to women colleges? Then Simmons and Mount Holyoke.

Have a friend who sent a similar kid (but much lower grades!) to Simmons. Mt Holyoke is good on need-based aid but I don't know about merit. Muhlenberg is good on merit from what I hear.

PP here. I will say that I do not regret a thing and ultimately had a very relaxed and enjoyable college admissions process and high school experience. Your daughter has a good head on her shoulders and will likely find a place that suits her and recognizes her academic potential thru scholarships. Definitely apply early to a safety that she loves - it's nice to barely have started senior year and already know that you have an affordable option.

I kind of understand where the OP is coming from. I graduated in 2020 with a 3.95 UW, a 33 ACT, and 5 APs and a handful of ECs including 2 sports, and while I did push myself in my classes, I didn't try to go all out and secure research positions, additional leadership roles or selective internships. I was happy with my instate options (Pitt and PSU), so I didn't feel like doing much more although it drove my parents a lil crazy that I didn't study for ACT or retake it. Looking back, I could have done a couple more APs, another leadership position in HS and studies for the standardized tests more but it worked out for me.

I understand why parents whose kids are either aiming for T20s or need significant merit aid are concerned when their kids have pretty darn good scores but also could do a little more. However, I do think it will work out since your kid is pretty impressive.

I ended up with merit aid offers of 25k+ from Oberlin, Wooster, Kenyon, Macalester, Case Western, St. Olaf, and Occidental. My cousin with similar scores also got 25k+ from Scripps, Simmons, Mt Holyoke, Bryn Mawr, Smith, Rhodes, Tulane, and Northeastern.

Once you have made the threshold at schools who don't offer full rides, the law of diminishing returns kicks in. I got 32k for Oberlin and 30k Case and a girl with 4.0 and a 36 ACT got 34k from Oberlin and 32.5k from Case.

The class valedictorian was another kid who lamented that she could have done more if she had known more about the admissions process. As a super high achieving kid who had a 4.0 UW, 4 APs, and a couple of sustained ECs, she was aiming for Ivies and ended up in a WASP LAC (ofc these are great schools, not saying they're not) where I hear she is very happy. This year's top 5 needed merit and ended up at Northeastern (2), Kenyon, Case Western, and Muhlenberg.

Good luck to you and your daughter!

Forget the merit aid: how are you going to pay for the therapy she will need when she realizes how toxic and destructive your understanding of her as an "underachiever" has been?

Add Muhlenberg

Anonymous wrote:Look at the SUNY schools in NY. They tend to be small and affordable. The types of scholarships and majors differs between all of them.

+1 SUNY Geneseo
Also St. Mary's of Maryland, The College of New Jersey

^^ PP, and meant to say Davidson has become Greek Heavy.


Also, add that Richmond is a reach. They don’t spread merit out (480 kids were full pay in 2019-2020 and 88 got merit aid) and they are very Southern. Greek, frat, etc

Tulane could be a great school, but there is just an unbelievable amount of alcohol use.

Also realize that some schools use merit money as tuition discounting, and almost every kid who is full pay will get something (Oberlin is one) And, some are more traditional merit, and give merit aid just to exceptional students (Davidson). I mean, your kid should try for the Davidson scholatprships if that’s what she wants. But make sure she is realistic.

You also need to talk to your DD and get a read on whether she wants a more Southern Greek feel or not. Most kids are not neutral on that and your list has some very Southern, boozy Greek schools and some not.

I have a class of 2020 kid and a class of 2022. We are donut hole and my kids have similar starts to your. So, we have BTDT. I think you are real, and that your college list is a mess. So, here are my suggests. Don’t roast me if it’s TL;DR:

Pitt as soon after 8/1 as possible. Get an acceptance around the time school opens. It’s actually a nice campus in a great location to enjoy, intern, volunteer, etc in Pittsburgh. Good to visit this summer.

Be aware Pitt shifting money from merit to need based. It’s much harder to get merit than it was a few years ago. For reference, my 4.2A, 1530 (780M/750 V) kid got $5k a year in 2020 (but Honors College, probably because he had an eclectic set of rigorous classes and interests).

Safeties with good merit: Wooster, St Olaf, Clark (MA), Lawrence. St. Olaf is a really special school. It was my kids second choice, and I would have felt great about him attending. Have not done the app process with Clark and Lawrence, which are my Kid2’s safeties.

Solid matches (SLAC) with good merit: Oberlin and Kenyon. On the W Cost, maybe Occidental?

High matches (SLACj with good merit: Grinnell

Things to be aware of:

Macalaster may not be great because they are stingy with merit. My older kid had great stats, admitted 9/10 schools. And this was the only one with $0 merit.

I grew up in the South, and was accepted at Davidson myself. It was a a great school back then. Academics are still top notch. But they have moved almost all sports teams to D1 and allowed frats on campus. Your kid would need to be comfortable with an Active free system and an emphasis on sports (See also: LAX Bros). And, it’s SOUTHERN.

Earlham concerns me. In was on my 2020 list, but was having huge financial issues before COVId.

Things to do:

(1) Form a Riase.me account and enter everything your kid has done. Some colleges give micro-scholarships through this program, which is legit. For DC1: at Oberlin, we got $2500/ year on top of merit package due to raise.me and were guaranteed $35k/ year at Wooster

(2) Google “common Data Set” college name. You get things like the 25-75 SAT /ACT scores (you want to aim for 75%+ for a white or Asian unhooked girl). Davison is 75% SAT 1460 but this is 2020-2021, so that’s unusual circumstances) and a 3.81 GPA.

But the financial aid piece (Section H) is your friend. For Davidson you can find out that in 2029-2021:

520 Freshmen
276 got need based aid
Of the 244 kids left, only 15 got merit (at an average value $40k) and there were 35 Di athletic scholarships (average $22kj)

So, realistically, merit is not likely from Davidson.

(3) read “Who Gets In and Why” By Jeffery Selingo. Pay special attention to his definition of “Buyers” and Sellers” and that dynamic.

(4). Since you have a girl, consider a women’s college. Many are in costumes with larger and not gender related schools. They are places women won’t have a harder time than men, have lower admission standards, but still rank well, and several are generous with merit.

Good luck!

Muhlenberg
Oberlin
Wooster (personal experience- she will get a lot of merit)
Susquehanna (same)
Duquesne
Miami of Ohio
University of Hartford

Basically, apply to schools with higher acceptance rates that are known for giving merit aid. Your dd has good stats. My dd had much lower test scores and grades and she got merit aid. She also did not have EC’s to speak of. She applied wisely. Note, though, that even in if your dd thinks she is going to a “lesser” school, there will be tons of kids there with equivalent or higher stats.

Is this satire?

My smart and wonderful DS with similar stats got enough merit aid from the following schools to bring the cost of attendance to about or below the cost of W&M (his preferred in-state option):

Clark
Wooster
Lawrence
Kalamazoo
Eckerd
Trinity (TX)

Also got a merit scholarship at Mary Washington that would have brought the cost of attendance to about $15k per year.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:St Joe's
Dayton
St. Mary's College

Dayton is a hardcore party school, I don’t picture OPs kid there

OMG! I don’t think you understand “hardcore party” if you think Dayton is one.

If you want to know the true culture of any school, look at their barstool account on insta. Dayton hides theirs under barstool flyers. Those kids are having a blast. Then compare to WM. Literally nothing going on.

If you are in VA, choose from

UMW
CNU
Longwood

In state prices, great small school experience

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:St Joe's
Dayton
St. Mary's College

Dayton is a hardcore party school, I don’t picture OPs kid there

OMG! I don’t think you understand “hardcore party” if you think Dayton is one.

I have one kid at Lehigh and one at Dayton. They are very similar. Parties every night of the week.

worked GOTV in that part of Dayton in '08. So yeah, got accustomed to waking party hard students in the afternoon when door knocking.