Parents of the HS Class of 2013

[napalm2013]

pigmom, don't worry about AP scores. As far as I know no college requires them until the summer when you can send an official report to get credit/placement or whatever, but they aren't needed in admissions. A lot of the apps I've seen (commonapp for one) have a place you can self report them, or you can put them in "additional info" if you wish.

[ugadog99]

The final performance was excellent, but that is what is normal for one act from our school. No doubt that the director is brilliant in his direction, set work, etc, but what he lacks his tact and positive relations with kids/parents. At the end of the show he acknowledged the stage manager and all the "stage ninjas," plus the cast. Who didn't he acknowledge? Lights and sound, of course. Lights = my D.

As bittersweet as it was, I'm going to be glad when this bit of "drama" in drama is done.

[SteveMA]

Ok, caught up on the pages. I was out of town for work so not much time to be here. Nothing new to report, same old thing here, DD dragging her feet....she was supposed to contact 3 schools for various information, she didn't. I told her if she doesn't get information by Oct 31 from those schools, they are no longer options for her to attend, which includes her #1 choice . She just doesn't realize how lucky she is to have all of her acceptances AND $$$ in the door this early. I'm sure everyone here would love to be in that position so we can just be DONE. Oh well. the 2 choices she has now are the two I like the best .

DS got some nominations into various National Honor Societies type things this week. I suggested that it would be a good excuse to contact the ad comm at his HMFR to update his application. Good idea?

[Carla2012]

coralbrook- we were at an essay impasse for months (DD did nothing and I stressed her out, or so she says). I finally broke the impasses by forcing her to sit with me and look at the application together. We had tears and stomping as part of this process, and she could not look at me. She was grounded at one point until she made some progress, etc.
However, it was important that she got going. And now she says she loves her final essay. Do I think its perfect? No, i'd like to see a few more edits - but I need to draw the line somewhere if my relationship with her will survive this.

Coralbrook, you know your kid best, but for some of us this process includes tough love and not always being the nice mom. It was really hard, but now that the applications are almost done I think I am forgiven. And maybe if she gets into her dream school, I will get a thank you?

[Carla2012]

Stevema- Congrats to son and yes, good idea!

[our2girls]

The thread is still moving fast, so I know I cannot remember all the congrats to give…
To all who are finished with apps – Yeah!!

For those who have kids not making progress…I like SteveMA’s advice about the 10/31 deadline in getting info or the schools are not an option

ugadog99 – what an imbecile!! I’m so happy your D has three shows in the local theater company to look forward to…the goofball in her hs will soon realize what he’s missing without your D. Hugs to you both {{ }}

89wahoo – love your little guy’s plan to play “football” in England…if he says soccer, well, he may not make it there

Anniezz – the best way to learn how to juggle is to use lightweight, sheer, silk scarves. You can toss them up high and have plenty of time to grab the next one to throw in the air! We learned about tossing/playing with silk (silk-like?) scarves in our D's Kindermusic classes.

For our D, the only item the two CA schools were missing was the teacher LOR. I kept asking my D if she talked to the teacher, and so on, and she said I was stressing her out, and so on. I finally emailed her teacher, who said she was waiting for the CA form. What?? So I asked. Apparently when the teachers snail mail the LOR they also have to fill out a form that THE STUDENT MUST PRINT AND PROVIDE TO THE TEACHER. Good job, D’13! So, form was printed and LOR with form were in the mail that same day to the two CA schools. The teacher’s last email to me said to “Hang in there – this too shall pass.” Thankfully we have a good relationship with this teacher and I felt comfortable enough to email her, otherwise, when would our D have figured out she had to print this for the teacher?? Ugh!

And I repeat – for D’17 we will NOTbe using the CA if we can avoid it. Too many questions, not very clear info, etc. Especially if they change the essays and remove the “your choice” prompt…I don’t see a benefit unless a student has A LOT of schools s/he wants to apply to, and they are on the CA, and they can all be the same.

[wherenext]

Good morning! It has been hard to keep up with everyone but I am reading along and cheering for everyone in the group!

It is nice to be done but like Carla says, it didn't come without coercion, pushing, pulling our hair out and threats (:, cocktails (for us) The best tool ever this summer was that D couldn't take a friend to Santa Barbara with us until her essays were done in August. And done well. That took three tries! I erally think it was finding this group who were getting "brag" sheets together and asking for LORs last spring that made this much less painful when school started. Thank you all! Being Done is one thing, checking schools websites to see if everything has been received is another... I am not sure which is easier, dealing with a teen and her apps or figuring out how to get info on naviance and CA and LORS where we want them to go!

Uga- been following your "drama". Sorry for the bittersweet end of one but I am sure the door is opening to another great place for D!

Greekmana- I think the school report is what the counselor sends with the transcripts describing the HS, student body etc...as a point of reference for the transcripts.

congrats to S SteveMa!

[Vitrac]

Love our2girls' story about the LORs. It speaks to all of us, I think. Parents walking on eggshells, kids overwhelmed and all the while the teacher is waiting for the student to produce some piece of paper. At the risk of offending my kid, I email teachers/gcs with questions, comments, nudges, etc. if I think my kid should be doing it but isn't. There is just too much at stake, especially financially, to let a kid drive this train.

[cromette]

Vitrac,

I agree. I am probably way more involved in the actual process than a lot of people think is appropriate. But for us, the money is too important to leave in a 17 yr. old's hands.

My common question: Would you let a 17 year old manage an $80,000 budget/project?

I wouldn't. I'd let them work on the project with me and TRAIN them how to manage it - give them tasks, make them watch everything I do, copy them on every email, talk to them every day about status and what needs to be done, etc.

[drmom123]

a question: if DD is applying RD or EDII....(basically all 1/1/2013 date), should we request all scores to be sent now, or wait till we see everything?

[SteveMA]

drmom123--I am assuming you mean SAT/ACT scores right? If so, you have 4 "free" sends with each test otherwise it is $11/test/school so it depends on how confident you are with scores (has she taken some yet) also, this is your last chance for her to take the tests so you need to send the scores one way or another so I would send them via ACT/SAT as much as you can just to save the money.

[GreekMana]

drmom; I know you want to see the scores before you send them, but you don't have the time. My kids reasoning was that all of the schools they were applying to had a policy that they wanted to see all scores and they only use the best ones-- so whether or not they were good or not, they were obliged to send them anyway so it didn't really matter if we saw them first or not. Of course that all depends on the school's policy if you can only send your best scores...but check and see, it might make the decision easier.

[SteveMA]

cromette--2 of our kids, yes, I would let handle an $80K budget, the other two, NOPE.

GreekMana==good point about time. drmom123--it can take 30 days or MORE to get the scores sent after the fact, which puts you WELL outside of the deadline.

[drmom123]

okay. that is helpful. I think she is "okay" about sending her SAT (reasononing). It is the ACT she does not know about. She got sick half way through the 1st try---so, some scores are really teriffic, and two (eng/scienc) are really poor, not at all an idication of her ability). she is taking it again next weekend---but she is not sure she wants to send the scores until she sees them. The SAT II's....well, she is stuck. The schools require them and she has to probably send them sight unseen.....(is that the phrase?)

[RobD]

Morning all! I've been reading along, but it's almost impossible to keep up! Congrats to those who have submitted applications & gotten acceptances! Sympathies to those who are still herding cats, um, I mean their kids to get essays & apps done.

Special shout out to Swizzle for speaking at what sounds like an amazing event. You go girl!

D2 is job shadowing today. Seniors are required to shadow while Juniors take the PSAT or ASVAB, and Sophomores take the PLAN. 1st marking period is in the bag, report cards are mailed today and she couldn't have done any better.

Chicago trip this weekend to visit Northwestern & U of Chicago, so the final list will be complete by Monday night. We chatted about where the six "absolutely applying to " schools rank and no big changes in her mindset.

I got to listen to D2 college counsel a friend last night; no beating around the bush Apparently she does listen to me natter.

TN is doing a pretty cool thing next week; they've named it "College Application Week" and each HS is supposed to have an event to help students complete one college application. Our HS is setting an aside an 2 1/2 hour afternoon block of time for our seniors with counselors on hand to help them complete an application. D2 kind of scoffed until I reminded her that there are kids in their school who don't have access to the internet at home, and have no idea where to start.