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OneSeniorMom
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Posted: Sat Oct 6th, 2007 11:56 pm |
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Hi,
I'm a mom of 2 girls from Southern California. I found this site through CC forum. I've been happy lurking for a while except I think I need help expand my D private college list. My daughter is interested in literature, film, creative writing, and marine biology. Her stats are 2300+SAT 1, SATIIs{790 (Bio), Literature(800), Math(750), USHistory(730)}, AP scholar, National Merit Finalist with a UC GPA 4.0, she is top 10%. She is an excellent writer(at least I think so and her classmates who read her essay think so). She is currently attend a very competitive high school that sends lots of kids to top 25 colleges. She has excellent ECs with leadership positions that are related to her interest and will have excellent letters of recommendations. D is friendly, outgoing, independent, but I'm not sure she can handle New York City. Here is her list:
Super reaches: Stanford
Reaches: Pomona, Darthmouth, Cornell, UCLA, UCB
slight reaches/match: UCSD, Wellesley, Washington & Lee
matches: UCI, Rhodes college, Smith, USC
Safety: Baylor
We have visited Pomona, USC, UCLA. However, I feel guilty for not having time to visit more schools(due to work) and I'm worried that we might have left some schools that could be greater fit.
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DesperateDad
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| Joined: | Tue Mar 14th, 2006 |
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Posted: Sun Oct 7th, 2007 12:43 am |
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Hi senior mom:
I would probably drop all the UCs a notch. UC Irvine for example, is nearly assured with those stats. USC loves NMFs so that's probable as well, including merit money.
As far as additional help, I'm trying to understand the theme, if there is one, with the privates.
Last edited on Sun Oct 7th, 2007 12:45 am by DesperateDad
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OneSeniorMom
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Posted: Sun Oct 7th, 2007 01:02 am |
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Not terrible sure. I got those private colleges from her high school 2007 admission statistics. Kids got into those schools that got acceptances to those colleges have those stats except Stanford. I also made sure she has a slight geographical and gender edge. My daughter is pretty laid back and easy going, not particularly picky. I think the major theme I was looking for is comparative literature(or literature) and film/media studies with a great marine biology program(or bio program). Those are her main interest. Also big thing on her list is the excellent study abroad program, particularly England/Scottland/France/Spain.
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Alumother
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Posted: Sun Oct 7th, 2007 01:29 am |
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OSM - What are your daughter's preferences other than academics?
Urban/rural/suburban, Conservative/middle/edgy, Large/medium/small, East, South, Midwest, Wesst.....
Parties held by school, by dorms, by frats, by eating clubs, private groups only.
These are the kinds of things that make kids like your daughter, with high stats, prefer Dartmouth to Columbia. Or Swarthmore to Williams. Or Rice to Carleton. Or UCSB to UCSC....
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OneSeniorMom
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Posted: Sun Oct 7th, 2007 02:04 am |
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She told me her preference is urban and not too small like her high school. At first, she refused to look at Pomona , but after we visited she said she liked Pomona. I think she does not know herself, hence the list is fluid. She thinks UCLA and Stanford are her dream schools but I encouraged her to look beyond those schools. We visited USC and she did not like it as much as her friends, except the film school. Her high school gets at least 40-50 admits to USC. I think this is the right time to expand her horizons, so she will not regret later on. She's happy to go to UCI even. However, I find that she will do well at the UCs but may not bloom as well. Just my hunch.
She does not drink but love to party, doesn't anyone? She does not spend all of her time studying. She would be in the category of work hard/play somewhat hard. But no drink/drug, at least so far. Very responsible, mature, and quite social person.Last edited on Sun Oct 7th, 2007 02:51 am by OneSeniorMom
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Alumother
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Posted: Sun Oct 7th, 2007 02:44 pm |
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OK.
Just a few more questions...as they say in surveys . Is she edgy and arty or more mainstream or is she conservative? As you describe her I'd say mainstream but please correct me if I am wrong. And you say she has great ECs - can you tell us what they are? Different schools have different sweet spots in terms of their social environment and in terms of the ECs they support. Also the level and uniqueness of the ECs for this kind of student can make the difference between attending Stanford or UCLA - neither of which is a bad outcome BTW. And oh y es, for the UCs, is she ELC, i.e. top 4% of her class in the UC grade average?
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OneSeniorMom
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Posted: Sun Oct 7th, 2007 04:46 pm |
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She is not edgy nor is she arty but she is creative and somewhat conservative. Her counselor said her ECs are great. Our neighbor has a kid who just graduated from Stanford with similar EC, but not exactly the same. Her ECs are related to film/literature/marine biology. I think they are average ECs, ie she has not cured cancer nor found the vacinne for HIVs. She spent on average 30+ hours on her ECs. However, I don't worry whether she gets into Stanford, that is a reach school for anybody. Our school gets between 8-10 acceptances to Stanford every year. For UCLA, I'm not sure she will be competitive, considering they are given kids from disadvantage background more weight. On paper, she does not appear to be disadvantage. That is why I'm looking out for more private schools. However, I ruled out some schools that track student interest simply because she missed many opportunities to talk to them when they came to the school or when they visited the area due to her involved with her school activity such as Brown. Any advice?
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Alumother
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Posted: Sun Oct 7th, 2007 07:02 pm |
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Brown has a marine biology program in conjunction with Woods Hole. So does Boston College apparently. And as Warbler said on other thread, UMiami has fantastic marine bio that they are increasingly opening up to undergraduates. My son is very interested in UMiami, and like your daughter should qualify for some of their very good merit scholarships. His other interest is music production, UMiami is great. They also have a good communications program.
Conservative and social for a reach I'd say Princeton - however, they don't have a lot of marine bio, focusing instead on tropical biology overall with a semester program at a biological station in Panama ( I think it's Panama)...
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OneSeniorMom
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Posted: Sun Oct 7th, 2007 07:25 pm |
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| Thanks for your suggestion. Brown is out because it requires a separate application. So is U of Miami(beautiful brochure though) because it also require a separate application ( besides, I threw away the pin/code they sent me) and the extreme heat. D does not tolerate extreme heat very well. Princeton is out of her league and Princeton application requires a lot of essays. She has finished her Common Application essay(s) and want to stick with school that use the common application. I recently thought of these schools but have not got a chance to do research whether they are fit or not : Northwestern(received brochures), Barnard(excellent undergraduate advising), Claremont McKenna(something about able to major in two opposite fields), what do you think?
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Alumother
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Posted: Sun Oct 7th, 2007 07:36 pm |
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I don't know much about those schools.
I guess I also don't understand not doing another application. My daughter didn't use the Common App at all when she applied, so we are used to the idea of multiple applications. If your daughter is a good writer, it's not so hard. And it's only October. My D was turning those suckers in January, me reviewing from China where I was on business. But to each family their own choices.
Lost PINs and additional essays in our family aren't as big of a deal as feeling that the process was well done on our part. But maybe I missed something?
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OneSeniorMom
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Posted: Sun Oct 7th, 2007 07:52 pm |
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| She prefers to spend time hang out with her friends, sigh!!!At least I got her to agree to look at more schools. Before that she said if she does not get to any school on her list, 2-year community college is fine with her.
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CarolynLawrence
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| Joined: | Sun Mar 5th, 2006 |
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Posted: Mon Oct 8th, 2007 12:36 am |
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First, welcome Oneseniormom! It is nice to see you here. I am going to send you a private message in a second - look for it in the upper right hand of your screen.
Second, I don't think there's any chance that your daughter will end up at a community college next year! She should have many great options, even if she just sticks with her current list. I do, however, have a few additional suggestions for her to consider, all of which I think will be good solid safe matches or even safe bets.
I agree with DesperateDad - UC Irvine is almost a certainty for your daughter. The other UC I was surprised to see isn't on her list is UC Santa Barbara. They have a superb oceanography program, an excellent film studies program (which is building a wonderful new facility as we speak), and even offer a solid creative writing program. Like Irvine, I think with your daughter's stats, UCSB is a good safe match.
In terms of a drop dead safety for her, do check out Cal State Long Beach. They have a good marine studies program and a great film school as well. Additionally, if she is a NMS semi-finalist, she will automatically qualify for a full ride on tuition there in their Presidential scholarship program (same goes for valedictorians).
In terms of private schools, the first school I looked to see on her list was the University of Miami. Again, they have a wonderful marine biology department and an excellent film program. I feel it would be a safe match for your daughter as well, with the possibility of some merit money.
If she's looking for safer bet privates, check out Eckerd College, Ithaca College, Chapman University, and Loyola Marymount. All might work for her interests in one way or another.
Finally, guilt has a sneaky way of driving all parents insane at some point during the college admissions process. The truth is, however, that there are only so many hours in the day, and no one can really get their kids to every single college that might be a possibility or, for that matter, get them to write the perfect applications we all believe they can and should produce. 
At a certain point, we have to just let go and go with the best we can do, and not beat ourselves up when great schools can't be visited or are dropped off the list or those essays get written at the last minute.
Honestly, cases where kids don't get into ANY college are really few and far between and those cases are almost always because the student/parents totally ignored the idea of having a safety net. I think your daughter DOES have a safety net (actually, several) on her current list -- adding a few schools just to round out the foundation is never a bad idea, of course, but don't stress if it doesn't happen. Your daughter is going to be fine when all is said and done, and she isn't going to a community college next year (unless of course she decides she really wants to!)
So, hang in there!
Last edited on Mon Oct 8th, 2007 12:38 am by CarolynLawrence
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CarolynLawrence
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Posted: Mon Oct 8th, 2007 12:40 am |
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| By the way, while it can get hot in Miami in the summer, if you check out the temps during the months school is actually in session, they are very similar to Los Angeles. A little more humidity, but there is no more "extreme heat" in Miami between October and May than there will be at Los Angeles --- and there's a lot less smog in Miami!! In fact, I'd venture that there are probably more 95+ days in Los Angeles over the course of a year than there are in Miami. Last edited on Mon Oct 8th, 2007 12:42 am by CarolynLawrence
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Consolation
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Posted: Mon Oct 8th, 2007 01:30 am |
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I can't see that Wellesley has what she is looking for, although as an alum I certainly think it is a fine school. But film and marine biology aren't the first things that leap to mind....I think that Brown would be a better fit, if you can persuade her to fill out another application!
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OneSeniorMom
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Posted: Mon Oct 8th, 2007 01:50 am |
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I think Wellesley appealed to her becauser it's a women college. She gets along very well with both gender but seems to get more laughs with girl friends. She is not a serious person. She tried to join the comedy club but they said her jokes were not as good.
I think her main interest is literature and second interest is film or media studies. So I think there is a great connection between literature and film. Marine biology is a third interest. I checked Wellesley has great humanities and bio/science program( just in case she changes her mind).
I might talk her into to applying to UCSB and Brown.
Thanks for all your suggestions.
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Alumother
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Posted: Mon Oct 8th, 2007 02:18 am |
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I think Brown and UCSB are great additions at opposite ends of the spectrum.
Is there an ethnic community you all are looking for at all?
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Consolation
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Posted: Mon Oct 8th, 2007 02:35 am |
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OneSeniorMom wrote: I think Wellesley appealed to her becauser it's a women college. She gets along very well with both gender but seems to get more laughs with girl friends. She is not a serious person. She tried to join the comedy club but they said her jokes were not as good.
I think her main interest is literature and second interest is film or media studies. So I think there is a great connection between literature and film. Marine biology is a third interest. I checked Wellesley has great humanities and bio/science program( just in case she changes her mind).
I might talk her into to applying to UCSB and Brown.
Thanks for all your suggestions.
Wellesley definitely has a great English department (I was an English major  ) and other excellent offerings in the humanities. Biology is probably strong, given the large number of pre-meds. The economics department has produced virtually every prominent female economist in the country, as someone recently pointed out, including advisors to Presidents. And it has cross-registration with MIT, which offers great stuff in the sciences and engineering, although I don't know that Marine BIology is one of their strengths. (Marine architecture, as in ship design, yes.) Another advantage of Wellesley is that it is right outside Boston and Cambridge, which are hog heaven for students. And there is a free bus that runs regularly. Boston was always a great town for film, too, with several theaters showing independent and European films.
Far be it from me to discourage any bright young woman from going to a women's college! Perhaps she would agree to apply there and Brown. Then, if she gets in, she can visit both in the spring and make up her mind. As Carolyn always says, having choices come April is a good thing.
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OneSeniorMom
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Posted: Mon Oct 8th, 2007 05:52 pm |
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Alumother, she does not need to be near any ethnic community. However, she loves sushi so near some Japanese restaurant would be great.
Consolation, she will be taking economics next semester, maybe she will identifying an area that she might like.
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