oped
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Post by oped on Nov 14, 2018 10:01:52 GMT -5
Yeah. I wouldn't go to that school. Is that Northwestern? That is frankly crazy that the metrics are so important and an INTERVIEW isn't considered? What?
But particular talent, volunteer work, etc are at least considered.
Where did you find that list? Do you have a link?
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oped
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Post by oped on Nov 14, 2018 10:05:28 GMT -5
Although, maybe that's because of what i talked about with milee a long time ago... maybe applicants are having other people write or coach their essays to the point where they were not useful any more...
This is his senior year? Is it too late for him to dual enroll in a college English class for next term. Seriously, son bombed the SAT writing bit so bad you'd have to wonder if he was capable of completing sentences, but next to an A in English 101 it didn't seem to matter to the university he transferred to... maybe the ACT writing is used more than the SAT writing... they did just change the SAT writing bit.
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oped
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Post by oped on Nov 14, 2018 10:36:13 GMT -5
I don't know MPL. The program son is in is ranked top 10 for the nation, but his school is overall only breaking top 100... so maybe i'm just not going to be able to translate that experience to top 10 schools in general? I know that his essays, interview and portfolio and having a solid block of college level classes already completed with high marks worked for him...
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Deleted
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Post by Deleted on Nov 14, 2018 10:38:34 GMT -5
He's just a Junior. So he has time to retake the test and work on other things. The list was from collegedata Overall the school doesn't look that terribly hard to get into, but you have to be admitted to the specific college and the College of Science and Engineering is extremely selective.
It's also the only school in MN (at least of any that DS was looking at) that care about the writing portion at all. None of the other schools even recommend it.
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oped
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Post by oped on Nov 14, 2018 10:52:50 GMT -5
Have him go now to start talking to the college and school. Be a face they recognize so when his application comes in they 'know' him. Do they have a summer program? I know Bucknell for instance has Engineering Camp in the summer, a great program to get your feet wet but also a good way to be seen by the faculty before you apply. Can he do dual enrollment English next year?
Can you call and talk to someone about how much value they actually place on it... like i said about the 2 minimum (but really we take 1-1.5) ... sometimes the reality doesn't demonstrate actual flexibility.
Although, is your son being motivated by these challenges? Or shutting down because of them?
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giramomma
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Post by giramomma on Nov 14, 2018 10:56:34 GMT -5
Is your son going to try to get some extra coaching in on the writing portion? Otherwise, what's the rush to retake in Feb? After you take out for holidays and finals, that's not much time for any extra prep. There's another exam in April, and one in Cctober. The October test should still be fine even if he's looking to get his applications done by Nov 1. Are you sure he wants to go to Twin Ciites? What kind of engineering is he looking at? Platteville used to be really good for engineers. There's no way in hell my DS is going to Madison. First quarter grades confirmed that. But, the caliber of student here now is crazy. You really need to get a 4.0, take all AP classes offered, and all of that.
But, that's OK. And we've told him so, many, many times. I think #2 could get to a flagship school, but she's my "school" kid. #3 has the moxie, and she could too..It turns out, while she's not always loving school, she's really OK with the soft skills needed to excel..
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Post by Deleted on Nov 14, 2018 11:02:12 GMT -5
Although, is your son being motivated by these challenges? Or shutting down because of them? I wouldn't say he's completely shutting down, but he's not really showing any signs of putting any more effort in either. There were 15,000 applicants for 1500 spots in the CSE last year and I'm pretty sure he's not one of the kids with the drive it takes to pull it off.
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Deleted
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Post by Deleted on Nov 14, 2018 11:13:27 GMT -5
Is your son going to try to get some extra coaching in on the writing portion? Otherwise, what's the rush to retake in Feb? After you take out for holidays and finals, that's not much time for any extra prep. There's another exam in April, and one in Cctober. The October test should still be fine even if he's looking to get his applications done by Nov 1. Are you sure he wants to go to Twin Ciites? What kind of engineering is he looking at? Platteville used to be really good for engineers. There's no way in hell my DS is going to Madison. First quarter grades confirmed that. But, the caliber of student here now is crazy. You really need to get a 4.0, take all AP classes offered, and all of that.
But, that's OK. And we've told him so, many, many times. I think #2 could get to a flagship school, but she's my "school" kid. #3 has the moxie, and she could too..It turns out, while she's not always loving school, she's really OK with the soft skills needed to excel..
He can't take the test in April because it's the same weekend as speech sectionals and the July one he's out of town as well. The June is a possibility as is September to get scores back before early admission, but we were kind of trying to squish them in in case he wants to take it a third time.
I'm SURE he wants to go to TC. Aerospace Engineering at the U of M is what he's been talking for 2 years now, but he doesn't seem to do much about it to set himself up to get there. I think he's hung up on "It's the best!" He definitely would not have subjected himself to taking the extra long ACT test if it wasn't for that school recommended it. I'm trying to just turn him on to a different school. I'm thinking a campus visit to Duluth or Mankato is in order. Him at a school of 51K students doesn't seem like a good fit to me anyhow...after all, he chose the private over the public high school because he thought 1200 students was too many. I also said no retake unless he agrees to do at least the online ACT Academy. There's a free one and then another which is $39.95 for 6 months. He went into this test completely blind. Never even cracked a test book to know what the format of the test was or what was expected of him from the writing portion.
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Deleted
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Post by Deleted on Nov 14, 2018 11:33:22 GMT -5
Have him go now to start talking to the college and school. Be a face they recognize so when his application comes in they 'know' him. Do they have a summer program? I know Bucknell for instance has Engineering Camp in the summer, a great program to get your feet wet but also a good way to be seen by the faculty before you apply. Can he do dual enrollment English next year? Can you call and talk to someone about how much value they actually place on it... like i said about the 2 minimum (but really we take 1-1.5) ... sometimes the reality doesn't demonstrate actual flexibility. Although, is your son being motivated by these challenges? Or shutting down because of them? I'll look into summer programs and going to talk to an actual person-. Dual enrollment is hard with his high school as you have to take the entire high school curriculum and can't double count the credit. So, if he wanted to take a college English class it would have to be on his own time in addition to his HS work. He can take AP Literature and Composition next year if he wants.
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milee
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Post by milee on Nov 14, 2018 11:33:35 GMT -5
Given that he went into that test blind if he even does 10 minutes of the online study a day, I suspect he'd see a fairly large increase in his score. Familiarity with the test format, a few little tips/tricks... very possible he'd land easily within that 31-34 range for TC.
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Post by The Walk of the Penguin Mich on Nov 14, 2018 12:02:23 GMT -5
Is your son going to try to get some extra coaching in on the writing portion? Otherwise, what's the rush to retake in Feb? After you take out for holidays and finals, that's not much time for any extra prep. There's another exam in April, and one in Cctober. The October test should still be fine even if he's looking to get his applications done by Nov 1. Are you sure he wants to go to Twin Ciites? What kind of engineering is he looking at? Platteville used to be really good for engineers.
There's no way in hell my DS is going to Madison. First quarter grades confirmed that. But, the caliber of student here now is crazy. You really need to get a 4.0, take all AP classes offered, and all of that.
But, that's OK. And we've told him so, many, many times. I think #2 could get to a flagship school, but she's my "school" kid. #3 has the moxie, and she could too..It turns out, while she's not always loving school, she's really OK with the soft skills needed to excel..
My niece got waitlisted for Madison...but didn’t get in. She graduated with just under a 4.0, but also with 18 college credits under her belt. That’s nuts!
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giramomma
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Post by giramomma on Nov 14, 2018 12:07:43 GMT -5
Is your son going to try to get some extra coaching in on the writing portion? Otherwise, what's the rush to retake in Feb? After you take out for holidays and finals, that's not much time for any extra prep. There's another exam in April, and one in Cctober. The October test should still be fine even if he's looking to get his applications done by Nov 1. Are you sure he wants to go to Twin Ciites? What kind of engineering is he looking at? Platteville used to be really good for engineers.
There's no way in hell my DS is going to Madison. First quarter grades confirmed that. But, the caliber of student here now is crazy. You really need to get a 4.0, take all AP classes offered, and all of that.
But, that's OK. And we've told him so, many, many times. I think #2 could get to a flagship school, but she's my "school" kid. #3 has the moxie, and she could too..It turns out, while she's not always loving school, she's really OK with the soft skills needed to excel..
My niece got waitlisted for Madison...but didn’t get in. She graduated with just under a 4.0, but also with 18 college credits under her belt. That’s nuts! It is. And to think 20-ish years ago, I got in with a 3.6, no college credits, and some activities. Kids these days are busier and more well rounded.
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Post by Deleted on Nov 14, 2018 12:11:48 GMT -5
The flagships are getting ridiculous. I like this part: Applicants are first considered for admission to the colleges listed in their application, in the order in which they are listed. Then, applicants are automatically considered for other U of M freshman-admitting colleges that may be a good match with their academic interests and preparation.
So he can get denied admission to the CSE, with a letter that says "but we think you really should go into education or liberal arts and have reserved a spot for you there". DS would wig out.
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saveinla
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Post by saveinla on Nov 14, 2018 12:15:09 GMT -5
The flagships are getting ridiculous. I like this part: Applicants are first considered for admission to the colleges listed in their application, in the order in which they are listed. Then, applicants are automatically considered for other U of M freshman-admitting colleges that may be a good match with their academic interests and preparation.
So he can get denied admission to the CSE, with a letter that says "but we think you really should go into education or liberal arts and have reserved a spot for you there". DS would wig out.
Sometimes it's easier to get into these bigger universities after the 2 year community college path. Has he taken a look at that?
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GRG a/k/a goldenrulegirl
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Post by GRG a/k/a goldenrulegirl on Nov 14, 2018 12:15:18 GMT -5
Maybe he should give the SAT a try? Some kids do remarkably better on one test than the other.
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Post by Deleted on Nov 14, 2018 12:35:03 GMT -5
The flagships are getting ridiculous. I like this part: Applicants are first considered for admission to the colleges listed in their application, in the order in which they are listed. Then, applicants are automatically considered for other U of M freshman-admitting colleges that may be a good match with their academic interests and preparation.
So he can get denied admission to the CSE, with a letter that says "but we think you really should go into education or liberal arts and have reserved a spot for you there". DS would wig out.
Sometimes it's easier to get into these bigger universities after the 2 year community college path. Has he taken a look at that? No. I'm a little leery of that because I think it will just add two years on to how long he has to go because for the programs he wants the major level courses start freshman year and because of prerequisite requirements he can't just take a heavier load later.
I just found out that UMD has a Pr-Aerospace engineering program for those looking to transfer to the Twin Cities. I think I can hook him with this and get him more fired up about going there. I don't think he's ready to commit to a specific program anyhow. He might find out he hates engineering. He didn't like robotics and quit. Science is his real strong area.
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Post by Deleted on Nov 14, 2018 12:39:44 GMT -5
Maybe he should give the SAT a try? Some kids do remarkably better on one test than the other. I'll ask him if he wants to try that. He gets the results of the PSAT in a few weeks, so we should have an idea. I can't remember how he did on it in 9th and 10th grade, I should look that up. The SAT isn't very common around here. Almost everyone takes the ACT.
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Post by The Walk of the Penguin Mich on Nov 14, 2018 14:09:04 GMT -5
Sometimes it's easier to get into these bigger universities after the 2 year community college path. Has he taken a look at that? No. I'm a little leery of that because I think it will just add two years on to how long he has to go because for the programs he wants the major level courses start freshman year and because of prerequisite requirements he can't just take a heavier load later.
I just found out that UMD has a Pr-Aerospace engineering program for those looking to transfer to the Twin Cities. I think I can hook him with this and get him more fired up about going there. I don't think he's ready to commit to a specific program anyhow. He might find out he hates engineering. He didn't like robotics and quit. Science is his real strong area.
You might want to take a better look at this, MPL. Locally, the technical college is the pipeline into the engineering program, and is almost comparable to being accepted into the 4 year engineering program from the beginning. Engineering programs can be 4 or 5 years (TD’s degree in engineering is a 5 year degree). I do have a question why you are doing all of your son’s legwork for his college tenure. I know it is confusing, but your son needs to be contributing to this research too. He’s the one this is going to benefit.
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ners
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Post by ners on Nov 14, 2018 14:21:27 GMT -5
minnesotapaintlady At least he has an area that was low that he can bring up with a little work. My younger nephew really wants a 30 so he can get a scholarship to the school of his choice. He scored a 28 composite. I think his lowest score was a 25. Hard to bring the composite up based on his numbers. He will know shortly. He is not sure what his major will be except for something in business. He is interested in completing as quickly and inexpensively as possible. He will have 1 1/2 years of community college completed when he graduates high school in May. His older brother knows what he wants to do. Finished 2 years of community college. Transferred to a 4 year school. Was told when he transferred in he was on track to finish in 2 years. Cannot get into the classes he needs for spring and oh we made a mistake you were never on track.
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Post by Deleted on Nov 14, 2018 15:20:39 GMT -5
No. I'm a little leery of that because I think it will just add two years on to how long he has to go because for the programs he wants the major level courses start freshman year and because of prerequisite requirements he can't just take a heavier load later.
I just found out that UMD has a Pr-Aerospace engineering program for those looking to transfer to the Twin Cities. I think I can hook him with this and get him more fired up about going there. I don't think he's ready to commit to a specific program anyhow. He might find out he hates engineering. He didn't like robotics and quit. Science is his real strong area.
You might want to take a better look at this, MPL. Locally, the technical college is the pipeline into the engineering program, and is almost comparable to being accepted into the 4 year engineering program from the beginning. Engineering programs can be 4 or 5 years (TD’s degree in engineering is a 5 year degree). I do have a question why you are doing all of your son’s legwork for his college tenure. I know it is confusing, but your son needs to be contributing to this research too. He’s the one this is going to benefit. Probably because I'm a control freak. Also, I have lots of time on my hands at work. He does contribute, but it's more of a, I give him info, he provides feedback. He's my compliant kid that actually values all my opinions and is also real easy going, so basically anything not U of M is kind of on the same level to him...he just wants the best bang for the buck and he knows that's my area of expertise. Although he did give me a hard "no" on two schools already.
As for the technical college, we have looked into that in the past, and it wasn't the case here. Definitely not for getting into U of M engineering anyhow. When we looked they didn't even have anything but trades, nursing and business. They just started a program in Electrical Engineering in 2017 that's supposed to be set up to allow it to feed into the local college and Milwaukee School of Engineering but they haven't had any graduates yet, so its hard to say how it's going to go. Plus, he could get into either of those schools right away as it is so I don't see the advantage. Our technical college is not significantly cheaper than the 4 year college. They list the program as costing 15K for 2 years.
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oped
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Post by oped on Nov 14, 2018 17:27:49 GMT -5
Yeah, i'm involved in the college process. Sorry, but something this f-ing expensive is not something an 18 year old should be handling all on their own. Obviously they need to be doing what they need to do in order to get where they need to go, but i'm not going to just leave everything up to them. And guaranteed the people getting in to those hard to get into schools are not doing the process entirely on their own.
Son is also in a program that starts with core classes as a freshman... BUT it still has gen eds and electives and they plugged all his credits from the local tech college in somewhere, even if it was more off the back end. Even the 2 credits he got for a University Summer camp his sophomore year of high school. They gave him options for how his path might be forward. One was doing it in 3 years, one in 4. He probably will do the 4.... caveat that he will use that 4th for something additional... at this point either adding a major, starting a grad program or continuing his co/op job while finishing his final project (the only real thing left in his schedule in the 4th year option without a minor).
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Post by Deleted on Nov 14, 2018 22:04:14 GMT -5
Yeah, i'm involved in the college process. Sorry, but something this f-ing expensive is not something an 18 year old should be handling all on their own. Obviously they need to be doing what they need to do in order to get where they need to go, but i'm not going to just leave everything up to them. And guaranteed the people getting in to those hard to get into schools are not doing the process entirely on their own. Money is definitely behind a lot of my involvement since I'm paying for this. He's getting stacks of marketing mail from colleges all over now and it's pretty overwhelming for a 16 year old. I don't want him picking a school because his friend is going or he likes the dorm rooms. His main reason for wanting TC is because all he ever hears is about how that's the prestigious one, the one to shoot for. That's really about it. Oh, and it has Aerospace Engineering and that's the only school in the state with that program. The ACT I'm pushing because it can mean scholarship money. He's already locked in 4K/year at Duluth with what he has now. It would have been 10K with a 28 if he had the GPA to go with it, but not much he can do about that anymore.
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oped
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Post by oped on Nov 14, 2018 22:06:34 GMT -5
Right, not even 18. Daughter is 17. Won’t be 18 till long after even regular decisions are due...
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Deleted
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Post by Deleted on Nov 14, 2018 22:10:15 GMT -5
Same with my son. He doesn't turn 18 until 2 months after he graduates high school.
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zibazinski
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Post by zibazinski on Nov 14, 2018 22:24:37 GMT -5
DD scored extremely well on ACT and bombed the SAT. Twice. Just not her test. Some students are just like that. DS scored so well on the SAT that taking the ACT would have been silly but now I’m curious how he would have done.
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GRG a/k/a goldenrulegirl
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Post by GRG a/k/a goldenrulegirl on Nov 15, 2018 7:31:59 GMT -5
Yup. Say what you want about helicoptering but I, too, was involved in the college process because of how obscenely expensive it now is. I was solely responsible for my college application process and I paid MY way through college with scholarships, part-time jobs, and summer jobs — not a single penny from my parents. That is simply not an option now unless a kiddo gets a rare true free ride. So, yup, I was involved because, despite our best efforts, with 2 in college at the same time, it is costing us $35k/year. That’s NOT chump change.
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Post by Deleted on Nov 15, 2018 8:57:14 GMT -5
Are you sure he wants to go to Twin Ciites? What kind of engineering is he looking at? Platteville used to be really good for engineers. I forgot to address this, but Platteville is on the short list. I work with engineers from there, so I know the program is good, it's fairly close and getting in wouldn't be an issue. Plus, it's CHEAP. With reciprocity, it's only 16K/year (tuition/fees/room and board). The only drawback to crossing the river is we would lose any eligibility for MN grants and we have a decent grant program here. Of course the grant might not be enough to make up for paying a lot more for a school in MN. I guess those final decisions get made when the aid packages are sitting in front of us.
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Post by Deleted on Dec 3, 2018 9:05:49 GMT -5
So flame away, I've resorted to paying him to study. I bought the online ACT study access for $40 which he wanted me to get, but I wanted to make sure he actually USED it. I put the app on my phone as well so now I can go in every day and check that he completed the daily study goal on the dashboard and see how he's doing as well (so I know he's not just randomly answering questions without thought just to finish for the day). I told him every Sunday if he didn't miss any days I'd give him $10. He thought this was massive since he's trying to save up for something and so far has two weeks under his belt without missing any days. I don't know how great the course is, but it's a lot more than he'd do on his own. It takes him maybe a half hour a day and is set up tp complete by the February test date. What I don't like is it doesn't really cover anything for the writing portion and he bombed that.
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tractor
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Post by tractor on Dec 3, 2018 9:10:06 GMT -5
Consider it a small investment toward potential college savings. The higher his ACT score, the better his chances will be for scholarships. Nothing wrong with a little motivation, besides you can always deduct it from his Christmas present 🙂
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alabamagal
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Post by alabamagal on Dec 4, 2018 22:25:57 GMT -5
Consider it a small investment toward potential college savings. The higher his ACT score, the better his chances will be for scholarships. Nothing wrong with a little motivation, besides you can always deduct it from his Christmas present 🙂
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