Question about our academic recruiting

[Rutherford B Hays]

My daughter is a high school senior. She made 32 on the ACT and she plans to take it again because she thinks she can do better. She will likely be her school's valedictorian.She is in a Mississippi public school.

The University of Pittsburg contacts her every 2-3 weeks, Furman calls her on the phone, some school in Minnesota that I've never heard of contacts her regularly. And yes, TSUN contacts my girl.

MSU has only sent her one postcard.

What is wrongwith this picture?

</p>

 

[Rutherford B Hays]

My daughter is a high school senior. She made 32 on the ACT and she plans to take it again because she thinks she can do better. She will likely be her school's valedictorian.She is in a Mississippi public school.

The University of Pittsburg contacts her every 2-3 weeks, Furman calls her on the phone, some school in Minnesota that I've never heard of contacts her regularly. And yes, TSUN contacts my girl.

MSU has only sent her one postcard.

What is wrongwith this picture?

</p>

 

[Rutherford B Hays]

My daughter is a high school senior. She made 32 on the ACT and she plans to take it again because she thinks she can do better. She will likely be her school's valedictorian.She is in a Mississippi public school.

The University of Pittsburg contacts her every 2-3 weeks, Furman calls her on the phone, some school in Minnesota that I've never heard of contacts her regularly. And yes, TSUN contacts my girl.

MSU has only sent her one postcard.

What is wrongwith this picture?

</p>

 

[615dawg]

It usually has to do with the high school counselors. Most of them in Mississippi suck. Get on the phone, call MSU admissions and tell them what you've got there - a five star recruit academically. Also tell your high school counselor to get off her ***.

Your daughter should have $1 million in scholarship offers, minimum. If she participated in the National Merit Scholarship program as a junior, $1.5 MM. If your high school counselor can't do it, you need to find someone that can. PM me her high school and I'll give you a contact.

This pisses me off.

 

[AFDawg]

http://www.honors.msstate.edu/scholars/

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[aerodawg.sixpack]

Not sure how your daughter's high school is run but our guidance counselor definitely had too much on her plate when I graduated. I had to go to her twice to get my transcript resent to MSU for scholarship purposes. Your daughter has a really good chance of getting a Presidential Scholarship here at State. When I graduated I applied but did not receive it, but my ACT score was not that high. I think the minimum then was 29 to apply.

For some reason being the Valedictorian in your high school is nothing more than a note on your scholarship resume about equivalent to being in the band (at least at Ole Miss and State). When I was applying for schollies you could get about $1500 per year, but only if you did not accept any other academic scholarships. With her ACT score she would get way more than that and therefore being Valedictorian is just a note on her resume. I feel bad for people that worked really hard to be the top of their class then it not really do anything to help them. Because of this, my high school Valedictorian went to junior college to be a nurse.

But anyway, congratulations to your daughter. Oh, and go ahead and fill out her scholarship applications everywhere with that 32 even if she is taking the ACT again. They will let you revise it, and the earlier you get it in, the better.

 

[UpTheMiddlex3Punt]

If not, then State probably doesn't know. If so, then State needs to step up their game on academic recruiting.<div>
</div><div>However, it wouldn't surprise me if this is true. I wanted to go to State because it had a great Engineering program and generally liked what the school offered. I was a National Merit finalist and of all the schools that did recruit me, State was one of the weakest in its efforts. If I wanted to go into just about any other field, I wouldn't have been at State.</div>

 

[dawgnautique]

of student recruitment. He is now director of the alumni association but when he was head of recruitment....it was a night/day difference to what it is now. I have no doubt that MSU may have missed some back then as well but I hear this same chorus being sung over and over the past 10 years or so. I think in your case, I would start with the guidance counselor at your high school....but, a simple call to the admissions/scholarship office to send up an alert should awaken them. I agree that it should not take that but it appears we aren't being as proactive and we once were/should be.

 

[Hotel Roosevelt]

but I had a similar situation not quite a decade ago when I was about to graduate high school. Ole Miss and out-of-state schools recruited me but I got almost nothing from State. Ole Miss contacted me regularly and invited me up for some recruiting weekend they were having in the fall. At 17, I didn't want to leave the state yet, so it was State or Ole Miss for me. I went to State because my parents were both State grads and had raised me as a die-hard MSU fan. I was far more concerned about rooting for our sports teams than anything else at the time. Had my parents been neutrals, or I less of a sports fan, I have little doubt I would have ended up at Ole Miss, they actually acted like they wanted me.<div>
</div><div>I'm glad I went to MSU, but it was despite their "recruiting" efforts, not because of. I can only suggest being proactive. My high school guidance counselor was terrible (meaning she didn't do her job). So maybe that was the problem. I'd definitely contact State like others have suggested.</div>

 

[DawgAtDuke]

Your daughter is having a completely different MSU recruitment experience than I had. Similar to your daughter, I was fortunate enough to have significant academic interest all over the US due to my academic performance. But, what I noted to everyone when they asked about my college recruitment was that MSU recruited me harder than any other university. I received weekly phone calls from the university, multiple colleges (arts/science and engineering), and specific departments in which I had interest. I received recruitment mail from them at least once every other day, and was effectively given season tickets for football that year. I thought that must be the norm for academic recruits in MS, but perhaps it was simply an accident that I was contacted so much.

My guidance counselor at my high school had *nothing* to do with my college recruitment. He was such a joke that I ignored him in every situation possible. I'd encourage you to go to bat for your daughter at any school she may want to attend, but truly you shouldn't have to at in-state schools. If they want to be serious about recruiting academically talented students, they should be aware of and actively recruiting all the in-state students of your daughter's caliper.

 

[Maroon Eagle]

When Jimmy Abraham was in charge (and when I was in high school), I got a lot of attention from MSU. The only recruiter who made a bigger push at getting me was the local Navy recruiter because I scored a 99 on the Academic Ability portion of the ASVAB (then and may still be a required test at the academy I attended) when I was a junior in high school.

32 is a fantastic score. Congrats to your daughter & do what 615 said.

 

[drt7891]

couldntresistku

 

[TBonewannabe]

My wife made a pretty high score and got all her Juco paid for but found out she would have had almost all 4 years paid for at MSU. Most guidance counselors do almost nothing that I can tell. Ours did more with the yearbook than actually advising students.

 

[Shmuley]

The current economic climate is putting the squeeze on scholarship money. There were kids who graduated last May who threw up 30s and 31s on the ACT who got a max of 1/2 tuition scholly to state and TBUN. I thought this was about as ****** a scholly offer as I had ever heard of. Don't be surprised if there is not nearly as much scholly money getting thrown at a 32 as you would otherwise imagine. You can thank the f'n tanked economy for this ****.

 

[615dawg]

The thing about it, she was the sponsor for the academic team, which I was a 4-year member of. I had a 31 on the ACT (including over 24 on the English portion). She got pissed at me and my family for not considering junior college. When I got a very generous offer from dear ol' State, including an out of state waiver, she made fun of me in front of a group of seniors - fortunately, people looked at her like "you're making fun of him for getting practically a full ride to a big college."

Only when I made it clear that I was going to State did she put anything in front of me that wasn't junior college. And it was the basic UAB, Auburn, Alabama, UNA crap. Back then before them there interwebs, the counselor was way more important. I found out later that the local junior college awarded counselors that put their top students in some sort of plaque. My dad told me that he would have bought her a damn plaque if she would have done her job.

Now, in retrospect, I met my wife at State, and I bleed maroon now, so its alright. But those of you with kids in 8th or 9th grade - stay on your counselor's *** from day one. My niece entered 9th grade this year. Her older sister is at Vanderbilt. She's taking visits to Duke, Rice and Penn this year.

 

[beachbumdawg]

My little cousin (whose dad is a MSU Alumnus) was valedictorian (in Alabama) and made a 34 on his ACT had a pretty damn good offer from State beginning this fall....full paid ride with a stipend, BUT he chose to go to Auburn </p>

 

[dawgatUSM]

.

 

[Shmuley]

is pretty damn wide. The numbers start f'n with the kids in the 30 range since there are a lot more 30s. What I'm trying to point out to those who are out of the loop is that they may find themselves shocked by how little fanfare is made over a 30 as far as schollies go. It used to be that a 30 was in big money range. Not any more.

34s continue to get big money, as they should.

 

[Shmuley]

 

[UpTheMiddlex3Punt]

You can miss 2 questions on an ACT section and be down to a 32 in the section. Miss 2 more and you might only drop 2 more points. The scores are put on a bell curve such that at the median score, you have to get a lot of questions right to raise it a point. Once you're in the high 20s, you can answer just a few more questions right and significantly increase your score. Only problem is that usually those are going to be the harder questions.

 

[Shmuley]

nm

 

[boomboommsu]

nm

 

[lariverdog]

My son is a senior and has a 34 ACT. I have no clue how to start the money thing going. HS has not provided much help, yet.

 

[boomboommsu]

Mississippi Eminent Scholars Grant. it's like a super-MTAG for smart kids.

http://www.mississippi.edu/riseupms/search-results.php?article_id=228

my HS counselor never told me about it, and once you're in college you can't get it (unlike MTAG).

another tip: pay attention to those deadlines! i missed applying to MIT because i didn't realize the deadline was way earlier than others.

 

[Shmuley]

If I were you, I'd be sitting in front of the guidance counselor this afternoon demanding all available info.

 

[DoNotWakeTheGimp]

My daughter had a 31, salutatorian,4.O etc. and could only garner a 1/2 ride in engineering at State...I was told that due to the economy and the fact that the average ACT in the school of engineering is 30 meant a half ride only... full rides began at 33...on the other hand UA offered a full ride if she came to their engineering school... the major also makes a diffrence as well...she was accepted at Purdue, GT and Tulane well but their schollys were less....did not really matter anyway as she was set on Vegas.

 

[boomboommsu]

not only are there deadlines, but some operate on a first-come first-served basis, either officially or unofficially. and the topschollys require interviews, and they usually cram them all into a handful of dates. if you want to hit several schools, then you have to have the dates planned out and start early.

 

[615dawg]

Get your principal on it. And if your principal sucks, go up the ladder to the state department of education if you have to. The High School Counselor is the most important position in a high school and more often than not, its filled by the worst person possible. If your school has multiple counselors, find out which one is the best and get your kid in front of them, no matter what their last name starts with. (Usually one counselor has A-L, and M-Z or whatever goes to another one)

A parent can do so much, but many times, counselors have to sign off on scholarship applications. I've seen many of thousands of dollars left on the table because a counselor didn't sign something.

 

[dawgstudent]

what am I saying - we talked about hysterectomy scars and smegma yesterday.

 

[gravedigger]

Happen to know the person that can get you an answer pretty well.

 

[DawgatAuburn]

If she does, PM me and we'll talk about her coming to Auburn.

 

[Arthur2478]

FYI, the deadline for scholarship applications at MSU has been moved up. Beginning this year, December 1st is the new deadline. You need to contact the Admissions office and find out what all you need to do to apply:

http://www.admissions.msstate.edu/

 

[EAVdog]

cause we could have used them.

 

[leftydog]

Have he send her act scores to state and email the alumni association saying you want her recruited. You'll have roadrunners and orientation leaders mailing you in no time. I did this for my step-daughter and they were great with her.

 

[jethreauxdawg]

My younger brother madea 31 and State only offered him slightly more than waiving out of State tuition, which they do for everyone from Memphis. I think he got two cards from Stateover a 6 month period. Alabama sent him crap all the timeand threw large amounts of cash at him, more thana full out of state ride.As a result he is at Bama getting paid to go to school.

 

[gravedigger]

please tell me I just missed your sarcasm.

 

[goodknight]

We live in the East Georgia and my son receives something from MSU about every 3-4 weeks. Invited to something that coincides with a home football game. Didn't take the ACT but took the SAT, 2100. Don't know how or why he made their list but I can tell you ir probably wasn't his guidance counselor.e think it has to do with the SAT service collegeboard.com He gets more mail than we do currently.

 

[Rabel.sixpack]

First, I agree on high school guidance counselors. Clinton, I'm looking at you.
Second, State did a good job of recruiting my kid but he ended up at MIT.

The story- Back in the dark ages I was a candidate for a Carrier scholarship at Ole Miss. They sent a student down to interview me. Her name, whichI remember to this day, was Walterine Permenter. I was a 16 year old goober. She was a Goddess. The interview didn't go well. The drooling and inability to form thoughts into words might have hurt. I didn't get the scholly.
This thread led me to google ole Walterine. She was a Senior cheerleaderat the time of the interview. Doesn't seem fair now that I think about it.

 

[agame]

But my daughter scored a 30 on her ACT, and State by far out-recruited her more than any other school. She got accepted into every school she applied to, but no school showed more interest, and offered more in scholarships, than State. I would definitely be pro-active.

 

[onedawg]

I took the ACT three times (hadn't taken trig yet the first time so it dragged my math score down) and scored a composite 29, then 30, then 31. With a 31 Auburn didn't offer me a dime, Alabama gave me what MSU offered but it was specifically through their College of Engineering (and I wasn't sure I really wanted to be an engineer), so I turned them down and went to MSU majoring in Aerospace Engineering. Wound up changing majors several times and eventually graduated with a music ed degree. MSU's music dept. may not be large, but it has excellent professors.

And the first time I took the ACT I scored a 36 on the English section, even though I missed a question. Then naturally I never scored that high again (I got a 35 in English the last time I took it).