Time to start thinking about college

[tractor]

It's fall, and for those of us with seniors in high school, it's time to start getting those application together. This thread is intended for those with questions, frustrations, or general bragging about your son or daughter. Let the fun begin.

[saveinla]

Mine just graduated , but will be writing the Physics GRE to try to get to Grad School.

He has a backup school in case his GRE tanks, but we are hoping for the best.

[Deleted]

tractor - Is this your second one heading off?

[milee]

My oldest son is a senior this year, so starting the applications.  He's got good SAT/ACT scores but since he didn't start getting his butt in gear until the last two years, his grades are not at the same level as his test scores.  

I paid for my own college with a combination of scholarship, working and a small amount of student loans, which I was able to pay off within a year or two after college.  I'm disappointed that the cost of college his increased to the point where that plan is not realistic any more for many colleges.  

[Deleted]

We are taking the slow, late?, meandering route, lol. 

[alabamagal]

DH and I are celebrating the first year in 21 years that we do not have any kids going back to school!

[giramomma]

Aug 18, 2017 9:42:19 GMT -5 alabamagal said:

DH and I are celebrating the first year in 21 years that we do not have any kids going back to school!

I think we're looking having kids in school for about 29-30 years. That's if this last one graduates at 21.

The only way to sum it up is and

[tractor]

Aug 18, 2017 8:25:48 GMT -5 minnesotapaintlady said:

tractor - Is this your second one heading off?

Yep

[tractor]

My son is interested in engineering and will be applying to several schools this fall. He has a decent gpa (3.85), and did ok on his SAT, but not hit it out of the park guaranteed admission anywhere (1390). He still has a good chance, but might not make it into U of Mich like his older brother. He has several other good colleges to choose from so it will be exciting to see what the next few months hold.

[milee]

There isn't a high enough score to guarantee admission anywhere from what I'm seeing.  Of course there are all sorts of other factors that can be hugely helpful (first generation to go to college, applying from a state that doesn't have many college applicants, race), but if you're just a middle of the road (parents went to college, lots of other applicants from your state, white or Asian) applicant even a perfect SAT doesn't guarantee admission.  Last year one of the seniors at DS' school had a perfect SAT and 4.0 unweighted GPA and there were several top schools that he wasn't admitted to.

Especially for kids applying to the competitive programs within the schools - like Ross at UMich or even just the engineering or computer science programs at tech oriented schools - top test scores will get your admission application looked at, but no guarantees.  

[alabamagal]

Aug 18, 2017 9:53:11 GMT -5 giramomma said:

Aug 18, 2017 9:42:19 GMT -5 alabamagal said:

DH and I are celebrating the first year in 21 years that we do not have any kids going back to school!

I think we're looking having kids in school for about 29-30 years. That's if this last one graduates at 21.

The only way to sum it up is and

Mine were close in age, so 1 started, 2nd was 1 year later and 3rd was 2 years after 2nd.  1st graduated college in 3 years and 2 summers so she graduated just before #3 started.  May 5th 2017 was our school/college freedom day!

[debthaven]

I did it the Gira way ... four kids, with the oldest and youngest 11 years apart. I'm on my 27th "back to school".

DS1 (30, the oldest) finished his Masters in 2010. He's starting a second Masters next year but he's paying, he's financially independent and has been for years.

DS3 (19, the youngest) is starting his second year of college.

I will be eligible to retire at some point during DS3's grad school, depending on whether he goes immediately after college or takes a year off. I'm not even looking to retire at that point, but I hope to slow down a bit when he finishes college in three years.

Good luck to your son Tractor!

[The Walk of the Penguin Mich]

Aug 18, 2017 10:16:31 GMT -5 tractor said:

My son is interested in engineering and will be applying to several schools this fall. He has a decent gpa (3.85), and did ok on his SAT, but not hit it out of the park guaranteed admission anywhere (1390). He still has a good chance, but might not make it into U of Mich like his older brother. He has several other good colleges to choose from so it will be exciting to see what the next few months hold.

TD graduated from HS with about a 3.75 GPA and he got into the engineering program at UBC.  A few months ago, he had coffee with a recruiter (for more money, natch!) and she told him that the engineering program has gotten incredibly competitive.  She told him he would not have gotten in with his GPA!  

[The Walk of the Penguin Mich]

My niece is going to U of MN and she didn't get into her first choice school.  She is just short of 4.0 and graduated HS with 20 college credits.

[Lizard Queen]

I wonder if it has anything to do with the way a lot of schools allow for > 4 points now. I had never even heard of that until after I graduated.

[Deleted]

I specifically didn't give straight As because a 4.0 on a homeschool transcript is treated like a lie.

Son is back dooring into the local tech college at any rate. If he wants to transfer later, he can deal with that then.

[muttleynfelix]

Not my kids, but sister's middle one is a Senior this year. She's set on going to a directional school. She's already applied and really excited for that school. Her brother is a sophomore at the CC and still has no clue on a major or a 4 year school to transfer to. He hasn't gotten closer to making a decision in the last 4years! I'm not sure how to help him. He keeps taking intro to engineering courses, but doesn't seem sold on them. I think he thinks he should be an engineer, but maybe isn't that into it.

[giramomma]

Aug 18, 2017 17:00:26 GMT -5 oped said:

I specifically didn't give straight As because a 4.0 on a homeschool transcript is treated like a lie.

Son is back dooring into the local tech college at any rate. If he wants to transfer later, he can deal with that then.

I'm kinda hoping that DS strongly considers this as an option.

We have a program at our tech college where you do 2 years of general electives and then you transfer in to 4 year.. Credits are guaranteed to be accepted.

[Shooby]

Do you hace have money saved and/or a 529?

[Deleted]

He took English and Math classes last semester and actually is taking school specific classes this semester in the industrial design program. Again, being there, you talk to the counselors, who introduce you to the deans, who are like, sure, we'll let you in even if you are non degree...   it's not a high powered school or anything, but it's working for him, giving him a chance to try some stuff out.  

[giramomma]

Aug 18, 2017 17:50:12 GMT -5 oped said:

 it's not a high powered school or anything, but it's working for him, giving him a chance to try some stuff out.  

I think there's an advantage to not going to a high powered school.

The master's program I'm in is from a pretty no-name school (in my opinion). It's clear they don't have the resources that my University has.

But getting stuff done, even from far away..is amazingly easy. After I got my acceptance, I had 2 days to decide if I wanted to change my start date from Fall to Summer. I decided I wanted to change my start date, and it took one 10 minute phone call, and an additional 10 minutes of work from my advisor. And that was it. I could register the next day.

At my University, a simple change like that could never happen in 20 minutes. You'd be lucky if it could happen in two weeks, with constant follow-up.

[Deleted]

Aug 18, 2017 16:45:49 GMT -5 The Walk of the Penguin Mich said:

My niece is going to U of MN and she didn't get into her first choice school.  She is just short of 4.0 and graduated HS with 20 college credits.

That's still pretty good.  There's not many schools in MN more selective than U of M - Twin Cities.  Just a few private ones that cost a boatload.

Currently that's my son's "probably doesn't have a chance, but is going to try" school.  But he also wants engineering, so the odds are pretty much nil.  I heard they had 14K applicants for 1000 spots last year.  

[zibazinski]

Aug 18, 2017 10:16:31 GMT -5 tractor said:

My son is interested in engineering and will be applying to several schools this fall. He has a decent gpa (3.85), and did ok on his SAT, but not hit it out of the park guaranteed admission anywhere (1390). He still has a good chance, but might not make it into U of Mich like his older brother. He has several other good colleges to choose from so it will be exciting to see what the next few months hold.

Purdue!! Much better school for engineering

[MJ2.0]

Aug 18, 2017 17:09:18 GMT -5 Shooby said:

Do you hace have money saved and/or a 529?

This is the guy who is putting a family friend's child through college. I think he has it covered.

[justme]

Are there that many schools that require you to apply to a specific major/college? Damn, that's intense. The ones I did didn't, but I'm coming up on my ten years out.

[milee]

Aug 19, 2017 20:43:40 GMT -5 justme said:

Are there that many schools that require you to apply to a specific major/college? Damn, that's intense. The ones I did didn't, but I'm coming up on my ten years out.

It varies by college.  Some do not.  But some - and engineering, computer science and some of the other highly competitive, highly concentrated programs - require you to apply to the "school" of ____ within the university when you apply to come in as a freshman.  Other schools are a sort of hybrid.  You technically don't apply for a specific major but you list an area of interest and they use that to see if it matches your extracurriculars and classes you took - can help or hurt your admission chances.  

[justme]

Aug 19, 2017 20:55:12 GMT -5 milee said:

Aug 19, 2017 20:43:40 GMT -5 justme said:

Are there that many schools that require you to apply to a specific major/college? Damn, that's intense. The ones I did didn't, but I'm coming up on my ten years out.

It varies by college.  Some do not.  But some - and engineering, computer science and some of the other highly competitive, highly concentrated programs - require you to apply to the "school" of ____ within the university when you apply to come in as a freshman.  Other schools are a sort of hybrid.  You technically don't apply for a specific major but you list an area of interest and they use that to see if it matches your extracurriculars and classes you took - can help or hurt your admission chances.  

Interesting.

Mine had a decent engineering and computer science, but I don't remember hearing anything about that. I'm honestly not sure if they had to "apply" like I did for business school either, but I believe it was very similar and the applying was after you were already a student...often junior year. Though the application was just to prove you did the pre-reqs before they let you take major classes.

[Deleted]

Aug 19, 2017 22:23:12 GMT -5 justme said:

Aug 19, 2017 20:55:12 GMT -5 milee said:

It varies by college.  Some do not.  But some - and engineering, computer science and some of the other highly competitive, highly concentrated programs - require you to apply to the "school" of ____ within the university when you apply to come in as a freshman.  Other schools are a sort of hybrid.  You technically don't apply for a specific major but you list an area of interest and they use that to see if it matches your extracurriculars and classes you took - can help or hurt your admission chances. 

Interesting.

Mine had a decent engineering and computer science, but I don't remember hearing anything about that. I'm honestly not sure if they had to "apply" like I did for business school either, but I believe it was very similar and the applying was after you were already a student...often junior year. Though the application was just to prove you did the pre-reqs before they let you take major classes.

Most engineering programs you have to start with the major courses the first year or you'll never get done in 4 years.  Of the 5 schools my son is interested in, three you definitely have to apply to the specific college and be accepted into the degree program, and it's crazy hard to get in.  I don't know what happens if you're not accepted into a program, if you're allowed to start in another college or as an undeclared and then reapply to the program the following year or what.  The other two schools, including the one in our hometown that I attended, it looks like you just get accepted to the university and take whatever classes you want, which is still how it was when I graduated in 2005. It says you have to be admitted to the College of Business, Nursing, or Education to take upper level courses in those, but no mention of any of the science or engineering majors.   

[tractor]

Aug 19, 2017 17:54:27 GMT -5 zibazinski said:

Aug 18, 2017 10:16:31 GMT -5 tractor said:

My son is interested in engineering and will be applying to several schools this fall. He has a decent gpa (3.85), and did ok on his SAT, but not hit it out of the park guaranteed admission anywhere (1390). He still has a good chance, but might not make it into U of Mich like his older brother. He has several other good colleges to choose from so it will be exciting to see what the next few months hold.

Purdue!! Much better school for engineering

Much more expensive for out of state students. My niece is in the engineering program there.

[tractor]

Aug 18, 2017 17:09:18 GMT -5 Shooby said:

Do you hace have money saved and/or a 529?

Actually, no. I was told about these plans early on and choose to ignore them. One of my regrets, we always planned to cash flow college by concentrating on paying as much off as we could before they started. That plan worked to a point, and possibly just as well as a 529 plan would have.

Plan "B" involves using a portion of my mothers estate to cover and student loans. She has things set up to do just that, but if we can avoid it, the boys can use that money for their first house instead.