Anyone going through the college admissions process?

[SDS]

My oldest has been applying year. So far, he has been accepted at:

University of Rochester
University of Maryland
University of Miami
University of Florida
Pitt
Penn State
Virginia Tech

He has no preference to date. Anyone else going through the process?

[Taro T]

19 minutes ago, SDS said:

My oldest has been applying year. So far, he has been accepted at:

University of Rochester
University of Maryland
University of Miami
University of Florida
Pitt
Penn State
Virginia Tech

He has no preference to date. Anyone else going through the process?

Good for him.

We're just past that.  Older one graduating this Spring, other finishing up sophomore year.

Does  your boy think he knows what he wants to major in?

[GASabresIUFAN]

What no UGA?

What is he going to study? Is money an issue?  How close to home does he want to be?  

My girls made it easy.  They got academic scholarships to Georgia and went.  My youngest just got accepted to a psychology PHD program at GA St. 

One general piece of advice is to go see each school and then talk money with admissions.  The less debt you or he gets now, the better you’ll be later.

 

Edited February 23, 2019 by GASabresIUFAN

[nfreeman]

Congrats SDS.  He's been accepted to some very good schools. 

We went through it last year with my older one.  Rochester and VT were also on his list.  I visited Rochester with my son and my wife visited VT with him.  My wife and I were very impressed with VT and Rochester, and my son liked both as well, although he liked Rochester more.  I have also heard very good things about Florida.

FWIW, if those end up being his options, and if he doesn't have a preference, you can shop around among those schools for the best deal and maybe save a ton of money.

In any case, he'll end up at a very good school. 

[Neo]

One, awesome.   Those are some great schools.

Two, Go Gators!   Two of my four went there and the business world is filled with its alums here in Florida.  I’m not aware of a school where the kids are happier with their choice during and after.  There may be one or two, but I’m not aware of them.  Tampa is a “Go Gators” town.

Now, with UofR and VT and others on that list, I’d be foolish suggest any single choice.   I’m not.  What it’s not foolish to suggest is that you’ve got one smart, disciplined, achievement oriented son!  That ain’t luck ...

[North Buffalo]

I have two years before I have to start that process... gonna need to follow this thread

[LTS]

Just now, North Buffalo said:

I have two years before I have to start that process... gonna need to follow this thread

LIkewise.

[GASabresIUFAN]

Never to early to get a handle on it.  

See if adminissions people from schools your kids might be interested in have a twitter account.  Dr Graves at UGA has a good one.  He talks about their process, the boards and grades they are looking for.  UGA tends to look at rigor over grades.  They would rather have a kid get a B in an honors or AP class vs an A in basket weaving.  They like an extra year of foreign language.  Clemson is the opposite.  They tend to go for kids with big GPA regardless of how acquired.

For people in Florida, the Admission person at Florida St told me that do to grade inflation in Florida they use different numbers for in state kids vs out of state kids.  My youngest had no where near the published in state numbers grade wise, but was given a huge scholarship offer by FSU when they looked at her grades and boards for a kid from Georgia.  This is why you visit the schools and meet with the admissions people.  

Also various programs at certain school have tougher standards. Tenn takes about 70% of their applicatants.  However the Architecture and Nursing schools are very difficult to get into.  Alabama is relatively easy to get into and they have rolling admissions so you find out quickly. However they have a great Honors program with seperate dorms, computer labs and other programming and events for these kids and the school is a great value because of scholarship if you get into the program. 

Also look at their published admission standards and their acceptance rates both in state and out.  Also look at the thresholds for any type of scholarship.  Many schools now favor the ACT over the SAT because studies have shown that the ACT is a better predictor of college success. This lead to the SAT being revamped a few years ago. Have the kids take both and see which one suits their skills better. My kids it was the ACT.  I hired a tutor to help them where they were weak on the standardized test and it paid big dividends.  Most schools, but not all, will take the kids highest section scores and combine them.  

Also look at things like the rankings of the programs by US News and others.  Good to know if the school they like has the program they want and it’s of quality.  

You may also want to pull up some college applications now to let the kids look at potential essay topics.  

I placed all this info, including application dates and admission dates on a spreadsheet to help use through the process.  

One last piece of advice.  Money is a huge factor. College is expensive.  Unless the kid is going to a Harvard, Stanford or Duke (or similar), where they go to school will make less of a difference then how they do there for graduate school. Save money if you can.  College debt is one of the largest growing problems in our country. Avoid it or minimize it if you can.  That said where you go can make a difference when looking for an initial job in a certain locality.  For example, GA\GA Tech and Fla alumni have a leg up in places like Atlanta and Tampa. 

I hope this helps.

One other note:  If your child has a learning or physical disability go meet with a counselor at that school’s Disability Resource Center (or something similarly named). The Americans with Disabilities Act requires Universities to accommodate kids with special needs.  For example at UGA, learning issues are accommodated with scheduling preferences, note takers, quiet testing rooms, etc.. 

Edited February 23, 2019 by GASabresIUFAN

[Eleven]

11 hours ago, SDS said:

My oldest has been applying year. So far, he has been accepted at:

University of Rochester
University of Maryland
University of Miami
University of Florida
Pitt
Penn State
Virginia Tech

He has no preference to date. Anyone else going through the process?

What's the difference between in-state tuition at Maryland and the rest of the schools?

[SDS]

 

24 minutes ago, Eleven said:

What's the difference between in-state tuition at Maryland and the rest of the schools?

$45k-$50k for any out of state public schools. MD is $24ish for us. Rochester would be $57K. Miami $70k. 

[Sabres Fan in NS]

3 minutes ago, SDS said:

$45k-$50k for any out of state public schools. MD is $24ish for us. Rochester would be $57K. Miami $70k. 

That's some very serious money.  Please tell me that's for the four year degree and not each year.

Can you tell we don't have kids.

Congrats to your son and to you and your wife as well.  Good work all around.

[SDS]

3 minutes ago, New Scotland (NS) said:

That's some very serious money.  Please tell me that's for the four year degree and not each year.

Can you tell we don't have kids.

Congrats to your son and to you and your wife as well.  Good work all around.

Each year.

[TrueBlueGED]

Money is obviously a hugely important factor, but I'd argue it's secondary to institutional fit and sense of belonging. I'll spare everyone the specifics of cautionary tales, but feeling like home away from home is a critical factor in academic success and overall well-being. 

[Sabres Fan in NS]

4 minutes ago, SDS said:

Each year.

Holly!!

[Eleven]

17 minutes ago, SDS said:

 

$45k-$50k for any out of state public schools. MD is $24ish for us. Rochester would be $57K. Miami $70k. 

That is a LOT for an in-state public school.  Wow.  I had no idea it had gotten that bad.

[SDS]

5 minutes ago, TrueBlueGED said:

Money is obviously a hugely important factor, but I'd argue it's secondary to institutional fit and sense of belonging. I'll spare everyone the specifics of cautionary tales, but feeling like home away from home is a critical factor in academic success and overall well-being. 

This is my opinion as well. Money isn’t really an issue for us if there is a sound reason to choose one over the other, although we have pretty much eliminated Miami since it is the most expensive with no particular upside and Rochester ($75k) came through with a decent $18k grant. We are both Rochester alums, so that is where my heart is. 

2 minutes ago, Eleven said:

That is a LOT for an in-state public school.  Wow.  I had no idea it had gotten that bad.

That’s total cost. We aren’t considering the commuter route. Tuition is only about $14k. 

[SDS]

Public schools have really upped their game the last two decades. 

https://www.aau.edu/who-we-are/our-members

These are the research rock stars. Look at all the top tier public schools in there. Right there with Harvard, Yale, Penn, etc...

8 minutes ago, TrueBlueGED said:

Money is obviously a hugely important factor, but I'd argue it's secondary to institutional fit and sense of belonging. I'll spare everyone the specifics of cautionary tales, but feeling like home away from home is a critical factor in academic success and overall well-being. 

I prefer to hear everything. I’m an information gatherer. Don’t spare me anything. 

[dudacek]

53 minutes ago, New Scotland (NS) said:

That's some very serious money.  Please tell me that's for the four year degree and not each year.

Can you tell we don't have kids.

Congrats to your son and to you and your wife as well.  Good work all around.

 

If always had the impression there is a huge cultural gap between American post-secondary reality and ours.

I've just never had the sense kids here feel the same pressure to "get in" to "move away," to select "the best school," and make "the right connections."

It's not that all those things aren't present, it's just the degree seems significantly amplified.

And the cost is simply not comparable. My eldest just graduated with her degree last spring, which she paid for. She had no debt and enough money in the bank to spend six weeks in Europe post-graduation. And she got a job in her field shortly after returning.

[spndnchz]

1 hour ago, SDS said:

Public schools have really upped their game the last two decades. 

https://www.aau.edu/who-we-are/our-members

These are the research rock stars. Look at all the top tier public schools in there. Right there with Harvard, Yale, Penn, etc...

I prefer to hear everything. I’m an information gatherer. Don’t spare me anything. 

Don’t forget the study abroad programs each may have. Studying abroad is a great experience. 

I studied in England for a whole semester. Was a big growing up experience. 

[SDS]

1 hour ago, spndnchz said:

Don’t forget the study abroad programs each may have. Studying abroad is a great experience. 

I studied in England for a whole semester. Was a big growing up experience. 

I’ve been encouraging it. He’s not overly adventurous. 

However, he met a girl from China at a Rochester summer program and they stayed together for 7 months via FaceTime, since she actually lives in a China. She visited over Christmas for a week and another week in January. So, there’s that. ? 

[Eleven]

8 hours ago, SDS said:

This is my opinion as well. Money isn’t really an issue for us if there is a sound reason to choose one over the other, although we have pretty much eliminated Miami since it is the most expensive with no particular upside and Rochester ($75k) came through with a decent $18k grant. We are both Rochester alums, so that is where my heart is. 

That’s total cost. We aren’t considering the commuter route. Tuition is only about $14k. 

Yes, that's what I understood it to be.  Still a lot!

[Taro T]

13 hours ago, SDS said:

This is my opinion as well. Money isn’t really an issue for us if there is a sound reason to choose one over the other, although we have pretty much eliminated Miami since it is the most expensive with no particular upside and Rochester ($75k) came through with a decent $18k grant. We are both Rochester alums, so that is where my heart is. 

That’s total cost. We aren’t considering the commuter route. Tuition is only about $14k. 

Expect that you've looked so this won't be new info for you, but there are a LOT of sources for scholarships.  My son gets a $4k/yr scholarship outside of the university stipends/scholarships that makes his out of state tuition not much more than the other one's in state tuition.

 

[Hoss]

On 2/22/2019 at 11:03 PM, SDS said:

My oldest has been applying year. So far, he has been accepted at:

University of Rochester
University of Maryland
University of Miami
University of Florida
Pitt
Penn State
Virginia Tech

He has no preference to date. Anyone else going through the process?

I was accosted at Maryland (twice). Absolutely love that campus. Couldn’t do it as an out-of-stater, though.

[SDS]

12 hours ago, Taro T said:

Expect that you've looked so this won't be new info for you, but there are a LOT of sources for scholarships.  My son gets a $4k/yr scholarship outside of the university stipends/scholarships that makes his out of state tuition not much more than the other one's in state tuition.

 

Honestly, I tried to look a couple times but did not make any headway. The vast majority of scholarships I have seen are need-based, as they should be. Other than that, a cursory review of what I have seen did not appear to be applicable to him. 

12 hours ago, Hoss said:

I was accosted at Maryland (twice). Absolutely love that campus. Couldn’t do it as an out-of-stater, though.

I assume the love for the campus is sarcasm then?  What happened to you?

[SDS]

On 2/22/2019 at 11:32 PM, GASabresIUFAN said:

What no UGA?

What is he going to study? Is money an issue?  How close to home does he want to be?  

My girls made it easy.  They got academic scholarships to Georgia and went.  My youngest just got accepted to a psychology PHD program at GA St. 

One general piece of advice is to go see each school and then talk money with admissions.  The less debt you or he gets now, the better you’ll be later.

He looked at GT and Emory. He didn’t have the GPA for GT and Emory is a peer of UR, so we figured UR was the more likely option for him. (I’m an active alum).

We are a full pay family.  My expectation is that there probably isn’t much room to haggle on the merit side. (He’s more of a 75-80% student at these schools intentionally. He not an upper 5 percenter academically at these places).

On 2/22/2019 at 11:59 PM, nfreeman said:

Congrats SDS.  He's been accepted to some very good schools. 

We went through it last year with my older one.  Rochester and VT were also on his list.  I visited Rochester with my son and my wife visited VT with him.  My wife and I were very impressed with VT and Rochester, and my son liked both as well, although he liked Rochester more.  I have also heard very good things about Florida.

FWIW, if those end up being his options, and if he doesn't have a preference, you can shop around among those schools for the best deal and maybe save a ton of money.

In any case, he'll end up at a very good school. 

You have in one in Rochester now?  What specifically do you mean about shopping around and do you think this is me and/or merit dependent?