This post was originally published in our Paying for College 101 (PFC 101) group. It's been edited for clarity and flow.
Background
Here is the story of my daughter's college journey. It began with a road trip to visit schools in our region last summer.
She did well in her own New Jersey senior high school and took ten AP classes, including English, psychology, chemistry, biology, Calculus AB and Calculus BC. Her SAT score was 1470.
My daughter was very involved with sports, including varsity softball and field hockey. She was voted Best Player (MVP) for and seemed to be the team captain. She did volunteer work, including serving as a mentor. Her GPA was 5.1, and she ranked 7th in her own class.
Her dream? To visit school of medicine. She applied to 15 schools. Of those, she was rejected or waitlisted to 12 and accepted to her three safety colleges.
I attempted to get her to use to some wider selection of schools (the schools she applied to were quite competitive), but she's a pretty stubborn girl.
I should also include that, like many parents, we focused on schools that would give need-based or merit aid. We'd hoped for an expense of attendance (COA) of around $20k, give or take. So, I ran the net price calculators (NPC) a great deal!
College List/Outcomes
The fact that we are a high need family could possibly have hurt her chances using the need-aware schools.
Rejected:
- University of Pennsylvania
- Brown University
- Princeton University
- Northeastern University
- Boston University
- Emory University
Waitlisted:
- Carnegie Mellon University
- Wake Forest University
- Franklin & Marshall College
- Lafayette College
- University of Richmond
- Case Western Reserve University
Accepted:
All accepted schools offered automatic merit scholarships.
- Rowan University: $9,000 merit per year (COA of $20k each year)
- University of Alabama: $28,000 merit per year (COA of $17k per year)
- University of Mississippi: full-tuition scholarship (COA of $12k per year)
Decision Time
We went to tour the University of Alabama (Bama) and the University of Mississippi (Ole Miss). She thought Ole Miss was similar to schools we had toured previously and liked it a lot. Bama would be a different animal, so busy, with buses to consider you places (sort of like when we had toured Rutgers.)
We were lucky enough to get talk with faculty at both schools. The professors at Ole Miss were so approachable, and everyone there seemed genuinely thinking about the well-being from the students. The biology department was excellent, and that we were very impressed. After around three hours of being on Bama's campus, my daughter said aloud what I already knew: Ole Miss was a great fit for her!
When we returned from orientation I knew in my heart this is where she was meant to be.
In true fashion, my daughter visited the “Hotty Toddy hangout” the other night and saw lots of kids in groups that already knew one another. So, what did she do? She rounded up the ones that did not have anybody and formed her own group! Kids from Alabama, Illinois, Texas, and Mississippi have reached a group chat understanding each other!
Lessons Learned
What would I've done differently basically could go back a year? I maybe wouldn't have stressed so much about the process and understood that it all calculates, ultimately, the way it is supposed to. With my son (out of the box always the way in which with second-born children), I think I will trust the process many become more relaxed.
She also learned from the process. The night time she got her final rejections, my daughter didn't come out of her room. I felt bad about this, but there wasn't anything I possibly could do. Sometimes, your kids just have to go through things.
She bounced back, thankfully. We discussed it, and she commented that they will need to go through it can for medical school and her residency, what exactly an eye-opener and a proof of her capability to be resilient.
Good luck to all individuals on the journey, and please have faith that it will all exercise!
You May also Like:
How Chasing Merit Helps Middle Class Families Purchase College
College Choices Easier When Your Student Knows the Budget
Secrets to Winning a Full-Ride Scholarship
How My Average Student Got a Full Ride to College