Parents of the HS Class of 2013

[Walker1194]

Hahaha, Steve! That happens to us every year! Cracks me up!

[mommaof5]

anniezz - I believe umich and yale gave the option to pay before submitting the supplement or CA. I don't think the other schools he was looking at did. It was in a little box on the payment page. Hope that helps.

[RobD]

I was a slacker mom & for the first time since D1 was in preschool, I opted out of teacher conferences. Have I mentioned that I have parent senioritis?

D2 pressed send on another app today. 3 down, 3-5 left to go.

[our2girls]

anniezz - Yes, you should be able to pay the fee for your common apps before submitting. Check the ? (help) to be sure, but we had to pay the fee for one college, then submit the supplement and then the actual app, in that order.
Also, I read somewhere that it could take a day or so for funds to go through so if you can pay ahead of time I recommend it.

[Kelowna]

Will have to watch that episode of Modern Family

As for Arizona State - I don't know, we never open those mailings.
I am actually surprised that they are still coming in.
U Of Chicago probably the most. But since I know it does not mean anything, I just put it in the basket with his name on it. Yesterday we got one from West Point with his name on the front I don't think he has ever looked at even one ...view books I put in the bathroom
Working on Chapel Hill app. as it is due October 15...

[Kelowna]

And yes - we payed the fees without submitting app.

Is it possible to make changes to common app. after submitting? Feels like a cheap thriller...

[napalm2013]

Ugh, on the subject of bedtimes.... It's nearly 3:30 here and I'm getting up at 6 to finish homework. My environmental science teacher assigned this massive project of making a powerpoint with EVERY SINGLE (15+) biomes and hardly any time to do it. It was super easy, but the sheer magnitude of it was terrible. This is exactly the kind of busy work I hope to do without in college, I literally just spent 4 hours googling random crap about biomes... Gah I knew I should've gone for compsci instead of environmental. Oh well. Now I guess I'll get some sleep.

Kelowna, you can submit it to one school and then create a "second version" or something if you want to update it for the next school.

[Ama308]

Happy Friday everyone
Welcome newbies
I've been reading all the great stuff here
Wish we had rolling admits my blood pressure would be Much better.
D has overnight at her HMFR on Monday. She's excited. I'm hoping that this will help her decide that this is in fact her #1.
Time is moving so fast my head is spinning.

Good Luck to all of you submitting apps

[SteveMA]

I was talking to a friend the other day, also the mother of twins. Her kids want to go into engineering. They are having a hard time finding schools that are good fits for them so I was mentioning some schools that I thought would work and potential merit aid to bring costs down. Well, we got to talking test scores and her kids got a 21 and a 23 on their ACT's. That changes the picture completely. I really don't think they are cut out for engineering and most of the schools we talked about would be stretches for admissions. We are getting together again in a few days. Before I knew their test scores I told her I would look into some options for her. Now I am stuck with what to tell her. I figure the kids will figure out pretty quickly that engineering isn't for them but I would hate to suggest schools that are heavy engineering schools too. Yikes.

[Carla2012]

Hi SteveMa - maybe help her find some schools that are test optional?

[SteveMA]

Carla2012---there aren't any that show up on the searches that have engineering majors though, that's the problem. I only found a couple schools where admissions for the 23 score was in the very bottom of the middle scores and none for the 21. Again, assuming they won't really end up in engineering but they aren't going to consider schools that don't have that option to start.

[Carla2012]

Do any of the test optional schools have 3-2 programs? (I know that's not a first choice, but they have very low test scores)

[SteveMA]

We talked about 3/2 programs and they would prefer not to do that if possible--but again, I can't see them sticking with engineering but who knows. There are 2 instate schools that have options, one has either a 3/2 option or a 4/2 option that if completed would give them a masters in engineering. Low score for both of these schools for middle range ACT is 26 though so pretty much a reach. They do want to compete in their sport but aren't really recruitable so looking at D3 schools so that complicates things as well. They aren't opposed to other options, just want to be able to be on the team somewhere too. There are plenty of schools they can get into, I'm more worried about bringing up the idea that they might not be good candidates for the engineering program, which I will never say to her, but maybe something like, "well, school X has engineering but also a lot of other possibilities if they decide not to go that route" vs focusing on a school like RIT where there aren't many options if you aren't going into engineering or similar.

[1Rachel94]

Class of 2013 Student here. You all are such involved parents. (in a good way) Mine don't even know my SAT scores. They only know where I'm applying.

[reeinaz]

SteveMA - maybe if you just present it in general terms like "engineering is known to be tough and has a considerable washout rate so having other options available without needing to trensfer would be wise" and not mention the particular kids' abilities, it might be easier to convey. I know that collegenavigator site lets you see how many graduates in each degree is produced by a college. Maybe comparing enrolled engineering students with actual graduating students will convey that message objectively.