Girlie AGDee's College Search Thread

[Low C Sharp]

AGDee, what are her match schools? Or is she fond enough of her safeties that matches are beside the point?

[psusue]

I'm pulling for American, Northwestern, Barnard, and UMich, in that order. Not that I have any say in this, but this IS far more exciting than a recruitment thread IMO. I loved college searching, it was a huge process for me and I am beyond happy about where I ended up.

In that vein I also want to say that I absolutely did NOT want to go to Penn State at first, for a multitude of reasons, but now I absolutely love it. So even if for some reason (and not that I think this would happen, but still) she does not end up at her first choice (for financial, distance, whatever reason) she could still end up being very happy somewhere else. In terms of schools, I ended up where I belonged. I can only hope the same for hypoallergenic.

Also, is it bad I'm hoping she chooses UMich just so she could go AGD? Yes I did check the Greek systems of all the schools to see where it was located. We always tell high schoolers not to do that, but I'm not one so I hope I'm exempt.

[southernbelle14]

While her sat is very respectable, I encourage not relying on it. I don't know much about your daughter (haven't read anything you've said about her on here so I don't know any other stats you've specified), but I assume she has a high gpa and has taken the more challenging classes that her school offers. Also, assuming good extracurriculars. At this point she should really work hard on the essays. Everyone who applies to schools like northwestern and Columbia have sat scores that are around that, and many are higher. It will of course be the extras that can make or break her chances. Essays can play a pretty good role in that.
Good luck to you and your daughter! Applying for colleges is one of the most difficult, stressful times!

[Munchkin03]

Originally Posted by southernbelle14

Everyone who applies to schools like northwestern and Columbia have sat scores that are around that, and many are higher.

That's probably why it's called the "mid-50% range." 25% of the applicants have scores higher than that; the other quarter have scores that are lower.

[alum]

Originally Posted by Munchkin03

That's probably why it's called the "mid-50% range." 25% of the applicants have scores higher than that; the other quarter have scores that are lower.

And the kids in the bottom 25% are many times the ones with the hooks such as athlete, legacy, URM, etc

[AGDee]

For me, there were three schools in state that had my rare major (Occupational Therapy). One of them was a commuter school, so that was out. One offered me a partial scholarship. The other offered me a full ride (tuition) and was where my boyfriend at the time was a student. It was a no brainer decision. I had also felt "at home" from the first time I stepped foot on Eastern Michigan's campus so it just all fit into place.

Hypoallergenic still has a 4.0 (AP Calc and Physics are threatening that at the moment but her Calc teacher said at conferences that she has the highest score in the class so she shouldn't worry) and has taken as many challenging courses as she can at her school. Her extracurriculars are good with a lot of community service and leadership- NHS, Girl Scouts, Interact (youth Rotary club). Her 1's at state solo & ensemble along with five years of marching band with two of them as clarinet section leader shows her dedication (and an additional talent, even though she's not going to major in music.) She also works about 15 hours a week. Her test scores are not as good as a lot of those applicants and she knows that. She isn't a good standardized test taker because she is slow with test taking. Her recommendations are also very good.

We know that this is true of every single student applying to some of these schools. I believe her essays and her Scholastic Arts & Creative Writing Silver Key will be her strongest assets. She is a writer.. it's what she is, and her essays are very different, very creative. That will appeal to some schools but they may not appeal to other schools. The people who ran the Young Women's Leadership Institute told the young ladies in that program that, while most of the pre-college programs don't help that much, they are much more selective about admission to that program so their participation in that will be a point in their favor at Barnard. She did receive an excellent evaluation from that program but I don't know if there is a way for her to attach to the applications or not. I feel pretty certain that Barnard will have that on record for her though.

Her "match" schools are U of M, American, and Tulane. DePaul is a safety for sure. The rest are reach schools and she knows it. Barnard is pretty close to a match though. They simply don't get as many applicants because of the misconception about it being an all girl's school. She has a slight advantage that we live in a primarily blue collar area and someone in the know has told me that this area, for schools like Brown, are considered geographically diverse because most applicants from our state are from the wealthier suburbs.

We had a long talk the other day, on the way home from Chicago, about rejection and how she will handle that. She hasn't failed at anything in her life because she just has this inner drive and she makes things happen when she wants it. She will get rejected from some of these schools. She said "I will be fine because I know I'll end up where I'm supposed to be". Does that sound like a recruitment thread or what? LOL

We also talked about sororities because she mentioned replacing U-Chicago with Syracuse. She is not at all sure that she would be interested in joining a sorority. She thinks my obsession with squirrels is very weird...lol. I very honestly told her that it would be really hard for me if she went to Syracuse and didn't at least check out our chapter there, especially since it is our Alpha chapter. I would have an easier time if she went to U of M and didn't go through recruitment. It is almost a relief to me that the other schools she is going to don't have Alpha Gam chapters. I told her I don't want to pressure her and the decision is totally up to her but that I will honestly struggle, especially if she was at Syracuse. Personally, I think she will want to join a sorority because she is a joiner person. The sorority would give her the same kind of bonding that she experienced in marching band and she will miss that "family" feeling. I really don't want her to join Alpha Gam just to please me though. At the same time, I really want her to be an Alpha Gam. If she goes to a school that doesn't have a chapter, then all pressure is off for both of us.

She did get in touch with admissions people from Northwestern this week because she's really torn between Medill (Journalism) and SESP (Social Policy). She wanted to know if admission criteria was different for different colleges within the University. She was told that there is not a difference. Her letter to them was very enthusiastic about how much she loved the school... it was cute (to her mom anyway).

And, this is probably my last update for a while because we won't know anything until December 1st for the schools that have early action. My gut feeling is that she's going to end up at Barnard. That's just parent's intuition. We have a long wait to find out if I'm right or not!

[DeltaBetaBaby]

Originally Posted by AGDee

She did get in touch with admissions people from Northwestern this week because she's really torn between Medill (Journalism) and SESP (Social Policy). She wanted to know if admission criteria was different for different colleges within the University. She was told that there is not a difference. Her letter to them was very enthusiastic about how much she loved the school... it was cute (to her mom anyway).

And, this is probably my last update for a while because we won't know anything until December 1st for the schools that have early action. My gut feeling is that she's going to end up at Barnard. That's just parent's intuition. We have a long wait to find out if I'm right or not!

Where has she applied early action?

I'm sure you know this already but NU has deferred rush, so she'd be in a position to get to campus, check things out, and then make her decision on that.

And while the formal "admission criteria" may not be different, each college at NU makes its own admission decisions. I don't know if you can still do this, but back in my day, people would get rejected from one and reapply to another.

[southernbelle14]

Originally Posted by Munchkin03

That's probably why it's called the "mid-50% range." 25% of the applicants have scores higher than that; the other quarter have scores that are lower.

Well, that would be correct. If it fell into the middle 50%.

According to Princeton Review, the middle 50% SAT score for Northwestern is:
Critical Reading: 670-750
Math: 690-780
Writing: 670-750
So if we add up the lowest of the middle 50% scores, we have 670+690+670. This equals 2030. Which is higher than her score.

For Columbia, the middle 50% scored between 2100 and 2330 (according to Columbia's website)

Looking up Barnard, Brown, and University of Michigan, they are all pretty high.

This is not meant to put down, just stating facts.

Directed toward AGDee now: With your daughters extracurriculars and work, along with being from a more blue collar area, I still think she has a good chance at some of these schools. They do look for diversity.
But please make sure she does not get her heart set on just one or two. When my first choice rejected me, I was absolutely crushed and though my life was over and it didn't matter where I went. I was heartbroken and apathetic for quite a while. I really hope this doesn't happen to her.
It sounds like she will end up at a great school no matter what. She sounds pretty impressive

[AGDee]

I'm pretty sure Columbia isn't happening. I think she knows it too. With Brown, from what she's read, they like the creative type essays so that would help her there. I should also mention that her SAT scores are really skewed. She did exceptionally well in English and Writing and closer to average in math. For some schools (like Medill at Northwestern), this could help her too, because it's writing and English that will be her focus in college. We'll see though. I am working on her not getting her heart set on one or two.

I don't remember which of the schools she's applying for early action other than U of M and De Paul. There are two others, I think, that have that option without it being binding.

[Munchkin03]

Originally Posted by southernbelle14

Well, that would be correct. If it fell into the middle 50%.

According to Princeton Review, the middle 50% SAT score for Northwestern is:
Critical Reading: 670-750
Math: 690-780
Writing: 670-750
So if we add up the lowest of the middle 50% scores, we have 670+690+670. This equals 2030. Which is higher than her score.

For Columbia, the middle 50% scored between 2100 and 2330 (according to Columbia's website)

Looking up Barnard, Brown, and University of Michigan, they are all pretty high.

This is not meant to put down, just stating facts.

I'm actually really, really familiar with the facts of two of those colleges in particular. Private schools have the benefit, that most state universities don't, of being very holistic in their admissions processes. At least one of those colleges above does not include athletic recruits in their SAT accounting, which probably skews it up a little bit.

My niece starts the admissions process (officially) in two years. Eeeek!

[AGDLynn]

Tulane is warmer!!!!

Just sayin......

[AGDee]

She is using collegeprowler to determine target versus reach schools. She updated her SAT scores there and it's something like (she didn't tell me all of her percentages):

De Paul- Target 81% (highest one)
U of M- Target
Tulane- Target
American University- Target


The lowest percentages were Columbia and Brown at 45%, Northwestern was 48%, Barnard was 53%. I think Wash U was 46%

[southernbelle14]

Originally Posted by AGDee

The lowest percentages were Columbia and Brown at 45%, Northwestern was 48%, Barnard was 53%. I think Wash U was 46%

Wash U is not need blind (dumb), also, which could be a hindrance to being accepted if you cannot pay fully.

[AGDee]

Originally Posted by southernbelle14

Wash U is not need blind (dumb), also, which could be a hindrance to being accepted if you cannot pay fully.

They claimed they were at the presentation we went to, but I'm not sure I believe that about any of them anyway.

[AGDee]

Oh, the other factor, which nobody prints, is SAT II scores. We have no idea where she really falls with those scores, but they were above the 70th percentile and we figure, since only kids trying to get into these kinds of schools even take those, that's pretty good.