Any College Admissions Experts Here?

[wilnj]

My oldest daughter is in her Sophomore year of HS. She is attending the County Technical HS which required an admission exam, review if transcripts and an interview. She’s doing well there but she’s having some regrets in not attending the local HS.

Primarily it is because of 2 reasons; the selection of electives is limited (she enjoys learning about a variety of subjects) and the difference in school hours limits her ability to participate in extra curricular activities.

The local HS does well with college acceptance but the tech school is a Blue Ribbon school and US News ranked if that means anything.

Any thoughts on which path would give her the most options when it comes to college admissions and scholarship opportunities?


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[nota]

what is a County Technical HS sounds like trade school
do they offer college level and credit classes ? some better local schools do that !

female sports is a scholarship path , are those limited at the tech HS ?

btw Jr college is far cheaper then transfer to the big name school for the last 2 years to a degree

[wilnj]

Originally Posted by nota

what is a County Technical HS sounds like trade school
do they offer college level and credit classes ? some better local schools do that !

female sports is a scholarship path , are those limited at the tech HS ?

btw Jr college is far cheaper then transfer to the big name school for the last 2 years to a degree

Traditionally, it would be known as Vo-Tech but they offer college prep curriculums targeted at kids who think they know where they’re headed for a career. Law and Public Safety, Education, Healthcare, etc. Those are the courses my daughter is taking in lieu of more traditional electives like art, music, wood shop, etc.

For the sports that are not offered at Tech, she can participate at the local school (she already has Varsity letters in Marching Band and Swim from the local HS) But because Tech starts and finishes a half later she can’t participate fully in things like the jazz band and Spanish club at Tech because she has to get to home for Band or Swim practice.


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[fintstone]

It is a balancing act. While the selectivity of a high school helps, one must remember that three things are weighed heavily. SAT/ACT scores, class standing and GPA (assuming similar levels of courses are taken). Often, unless a schoool is dangerous or the student is band help her achieve her goals moreso than another school were she is more typical/average (and you can make somewhat of a better story of overcoming obstacles than one that went to a fancy school. Of course, it the education is poor, the student will suffer on the SAT/ACT.

Activities help with an application if the other squares are filled. They also lead to a happier high school experience for most...and those activities often have an impact later in life (as they seem to broaden a person make them competitive and (if sports) teach them healthy habits/fitness. Tough call. Especially since a lot of her performance is based on her attitude (she sorta has a vote). Good luck!

[fintstone]

Originally Posted by wilnj

Traditionally, it would be known as Vo-Tech but they offer college prep curriculums targeted at kids who think they know where they’re headed for a career. Law and Public Safety, Education, Healthcare, etc. Those are the courses my daughter is taking in lieu of more traditional electives like art, music, wood shop, etc.

For the sports that are not offered at Tech, she can participate at the local school (she already has Varsity letters in Marching Band and Swim from the local HS) But because Tech starts and finishes a half later she can’t participate fully in things like the jazz band and Spanish club at Tech because she has to get to home for Band or Swim practice.


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Clubs are really not of much value...unless the student is a leader (like "President") or similar and leads some sort of major, interesting and successful effort. Sports are better if continued into junior and senior years. Leadership like being a "Captain" of a team sport is helpful. I always encouraged potential scholarship kids to do cross-country as almost anyone can do it and running seems to give them them with a healthy lifestyle later.

[nota]

Originally Posted by wilnj

Traditionally, it would be known as Vo-Tech but they offer college prep curriculums targeted at kids who think they know where they’re headed for a career. Law and Public Safety, Education, Healthcare, etc. Those are the courses my daughter is taking in lieu of more traditional electives like art, music, wood shop, etc.

For the sports that are not offered at Tech, she can participate at the local school (she already has Varsity letters in Marching Band and Swim from the local HS) But because Tech starts and finishes a half later she can’t participate fully in things like the jazz band and Spanish club at Tech because she has to get to home for Band or Swim practice.


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not prep but full on college credit classes offered at the high school ?
that is what the better local schools do here
and they can complete the first year college credits while still in high school in grades 11-12 that is a big leg up
but with all college check if the credits are approved and transferable to the school they want to attend

[nota]

an other money saver is IF they want to go to an out of state school
fake a in state address there and get a driver license [pay a starving student to be a fake room mate]
that can save many thousands
and many schools offer more and better scholarships to locals also

[wilnj]

Originally Posted by nota

not prep but full on college credit classes offered at the high school ?

that is what the better local schools do here

and they can complete the first year college credits while still in high school in grades 11-12 that is a big leg up

but with all college check if the credits are approved and transferable to the school they want to attend

Yes, that’s the single biggest upside for here. Her senior year will be taken at County College. Depending on the school, the credits will likely transfer even if the classes don’t transfer like for like.


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[Sooner or later]

Do not listen to nota advice on faking an address Bordering on fraud if not outright fraud.

[McLovin]

I have a lot of experience with this.

Some depends on what her goals are. For example, what kind of college is she realistically looking to get in?

But, very generally, the single most important factor at first and second tier colleges is ACT/SAT. That's at least 50%.

Weighted GPA is next. Combined with course load. For top colleges she should be taking the most challenging courses her HS offers, i.e., AP courses. That's 40% or so.

So, if you had for example a 33 or 34 on the ACT and a 4.3 weighted GPA, you're going to get into a lot of top 30-40 colleges, guaranteed.

You're also going to get a lot of scholarship offers at lesser academic places. LSU and Alabama, for example, offer automatic scholarship money for certain ACT/SAT scores.

So my advice would be to start preparing for the ACT/SAT soon. They are very "learnable." And take the most challenging course load available and get the best grades possible. That gets you 90% of what you need.

[wilnj]

Originally Posted by McLovin

I have a lot of experience with this.

Some depends on what her goals are. For example, what kind of college is she realistically looking to get in?

But, very generally, the single most important factor at first and second tier colleges is ACT/SAT. That's at least 50%.

Weighted GPA is next. Combined with course load. For top colleges she should be taking the most challenging courses her HS offers, i.e., AP courses. That's 40% or so.

So, if you had for example a 33 or 34 on the ACT and a 4.3 weighted GPA, you're going to get into a lot of top 30-40 colleges, guaranteed.

You're also going to get a lot of scholarship offers at lesser academic places. LSU and Alabama, for example, offer automatic scholarship money for certain ACT/SAT scores.

So my advice would be to start preparing for the ACT/SAT soon. They are very "learnable." And take the most challenging course load available and get the best grades possible. That gets you 90% of what you need.

Thanks, this has all been very helpful.

She took the PSAT last year as a Freshman. She scored in the 91st percentile.

She also found out that many schools like to see a subject matter SAT so she took that last year as well. She scored a 710 out of 800 but given how highly competitive those are, that puts her in the 64th percentile.

I’m a big proponent of going to the school that offers you the most so for me a big scholarship at Alabama is better than no scholarship at UNC Chapel Hill.


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[RWebb]

except those 2 Univ.s are not at all comparable - if she has that choice, I'd advise UNC for sure

what is she interested in? is it a science/engineering area or more liberal arts?

[Eric Coffey]

Originally Posted by Sooner or later

Do not listen to nota advice on faking an address Bordering on fraud if not outright fraud.

+1

Most good schools are wise to this anyway, and you will have to prove established residency by several means to qualify for in-state tuition.
This usually means a local address, driver's licence, vehicle registration, job (with tax returns), etc. for a least 1 year prior to enrollment.

[stomachmonkey]

More and more schools are not looking purely at academics, GPA, test scores.

They are taking a more holistic approach and are looking for well rounded individuals.

My daughter got accepted to every school she applied to and had friends who applied to the same schools with better grades but get declined. Tulanne, BU, Northwestern, Smith, Rice, were a few.

While she did absolutely crush her ACT a big difference was her friends were about as interesting as wet socks. If it were just grades they would have gotten into better schools than they ultimately did.

She is in her Sophomore year at Wash U in St Louis.

When we were up there with her one of the deans we met with confirmed what they were looking for and it's not just grades any more.

[aigel]

What are her goal schools?

[flatbutt]

Originally Posted by wilnj

Traditionally, it would be known as Vo-Tech but they offer college prep curriculums targeted at kids who think they know where they’re headed for a career. Law and Public Safety, Education, Healthcare, etc. Those are the courses my daughter is taking in lieu of more traditional electives like art, music, wood shop, etc.

My son teaches AP courses at a Vo-Tech high school here in jersey. All of his courses are by application and his standards are very high. Most of his kids go on to 4 year colleges.

As far as what college to choose...if the kid is offered a free or partial ride to a name school yeah you take it. But don't overlook a decent state school. I built a good career in Pharma with a degree from my state college. Yeah I worked hard to prove myself but you get out what you put in.

[wilnj]

Originally Posted by flatbutt

My son teaches AP courses at a Vo-Tech high school here in jersey. All of his courses are by application and his standards are very high. Most of his kids go on to 4 year colleges.



As far as what college to choose...if the kid is offered a free or partial ride to a name school yeah you take it. But don't overlook a decent state school. I built a good career in Pharma with a degree from my state college. Yeah I worked hard to prove myself but you get out what you put in.

That’s another of her laments, Tech offers few AP courses so she’s taking AP Bio online in addition to her regular course load.


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[fintstone]

She will not be excluded from any school for too high an SAT/ACT, GPA and class rank...but many schools and scholarships will rely heavily on these.

My daughter had tons of scholarships, both for undergrad and grad school (actually was able to bank money in college and had $20K in the bank when she graduated)...but she struggled to get into med schools to use those scholarships due to an average MCAT. Always take care of objective things before subjective ones. Often, subjective scores are overlooked, but objective ones are rarely.

I worked in admissions at a major school and was responsible for the award of many hundreds of full ride (and lesser) scholarships. Not one was ever below our floor for objective scores (SAT/ACT and GPA). Class rank helped/followed (to show if GPA was simply due to an easy-grading school/school system). AP courses are nice, but not at the expense of other courses or GPA.

[McLovin]

Originally Posted by wilnj

Thanks, this has all been very helpful.

She took the PSAT last year as a Freshman. She scored in the 91st percentile.

. . .

I’m a big proponent of going to the school that offers you the most so for me a big scholarship at Alabama is better than no scholarship at UNC Chapel Hill.

With that PSAT she’s well on her way. I’d suggest that she keep studying to really master it. With that PSAT this early there’s no reason why she can’t get a 98-99 percentile score on the real thing.

She’d then have many very nice options.

If it’s scholarships your after, she’s already in the money at places like LSU and Alabama (and others). She’ll likely end up getting full scholarship offers at those places.

[aigel]

I still would like to know the target schools!? I would have different advice depending on the goal.

Lots of good advice on standardized tests, GPA and class rank being the most important factors. As mentioned they are necessary to get into a top school, but not sufficient. So if there is a top school goal, there definitely needs to be more than just academics and you should build out whatever you can there. It needs to be a natural activity that's been present before sophomore year, not a sudden extracurricular whipped up to hope to impress an admission board.

As you probably know, the top schools don't have any merit based scholarships. But they have need based scholarships. If you can't pay for your kid's school, they will subsidize all the way down to a free ride. So, don't let your kid settle ahead of time for a lesser school getting a merit based free ride. Not if they have a shot to go to a top tier school. Of course if you have the dough to pay for a top tier private school, count your blessings and pay up!

Good Luck,

G

PS: With top tier private school I mean in the top 20 of the country. Don't pay for an unknown liberal arts college.