Parents of the high school class of 09

historymom · 05-05-2008, 06:20 PM

sign in please: Include any info you want about you and your kid(s)

I've got two (twin Ds), my first to go through this process. Both want to major in Bio at this point and have their hearts set on vet school in the future.

NorthMinnesota · 05-05-2008, 06:28 PM

D2....well in to the process of picking a school. Wants to be within 4 hrs of home and will play a college sport. Could decide to verbal this week!!! Not sure of what she wants to major in but is leaning towards health sciences or business/marketing. Oh...and she is going crazy with getting ready for AP exams right now.

crm86 · 05-05-2008, 06:30 PM

My son will be joining the history twins in the class of 09.

He has no idea what he wants to major in... So far, the college search criteria are (1) medium large campus, (2) lots of school spirit, (3) sufficient distance from home to discourage mom from popping by unannounced.

Flutemom · 05-05-2008, 07:18 PM

My D is also in the class of 09.

Wants to double major in International Studies & Spanish. Her criteria for a college is nothing rural,and a music program she can participate in for pleasure,and preferably out of the state. She is entertaining the thought of law school someday.

TheAnalyst · 05-05-2008, 07:52 PM

S2 is class of 09. He wants a large public with good sports teams. We want to pay in-state tuition, if possible, largely because this child is an underachiever and we don't feel like shelling out big bucks when he put forth very little effort in high school. There are a number of schools in the southeast that offer in-state tuition to out of state residents depending on the major (The Academic Common Market Program). We are exploring The University of South Carolina and University of West Virginia right now.

The University of South Carolina web site showed a chart where 97% of those scoring in excess of 1200 on the SAT were accepted. I like those odds since S2 should clear that. They have an actuarial science major that offers in-state tuition to Virginia residents. S2 is good in math (thinks he knew all but a couple of the math questions when he took the SAT last Saturday and scored above 700 on practice exams), so that is a program he will explore further. Going in an entirely different direction is a Sports Psychology major at the Univ. of West Virginia he likes. He plays football and loves all kinds of sports. I think this program prepares kids to be high school coaches, among other things. UWV accepts more than 90% of applicants and even his GPA (which is low but above 3.0 unweighted) is fine for them. That is a rolling admit safety he should be accepted into by October.

In-state schools, like Virginia Tech, will be a reach for him based on GPA. I think he may get into James Madison and he would want to go there to be with his friends but that school is not a great fit--too liberal arts based (he hates/is poor at English) and no nationally ranked football or basketball team.

historymom · 05-05-2008, 08:32 PM

North Minn what is you D's sport? How exciting that she is being recruited!

crm My DDs criteria includes: small or small feeling. They also do not want to go to one of the schools "everyone" from their hs goes to so that means it will be aways away. So far they have developed lists that include schools in our home state, in a neighboring state and in two states which don't border ours.

flutemom one of our Ds also wants to pursue music for fun. She plays mallet percussion and is hoping to get some $$. Her director says that mp players are rare so maybe that will work in her favor.

analyst an actuary! wow he must love math! Good luck with your search. My DDs also enjoy a big sports scene but would be content with a competitive intramural program as long as there is some copetitive soccer to cheer for.

momreads · 05-05-2008, 08:45 PM

My son, too, is a Class of 2009 member. He is interested in the sciences, but also likes political science/languages/finance. He will apply to UVA and William & Mary, his in-state choices. But he also likes the U. of Richmond, U. of Rochester, Duke, Wake Forest and a couple of Ivys. Sports are not high on his priority list, although he probably would like to work as a tutor for the athletes, especially in math. (But if he went to Duke, I can see him painting his face for a basketball game!)

Right now, he's not thinking about college. He has two AP tests this week and two next week. And he'll have lots of summer AP work, because he's ticketed to take five more APs next year.

SJTH · 05-05-2008, 09:00 PM

S2 is taking a wholly different route to college from S1 (who applied ED to one school, got in and that was all she wrote.) S2 is a jazz musician and is looking at music schools or jazz depts. within liberal arts schools (aren't very many) mostly in the east. The spreadsheet of pre-audition and audition requirements has begun.......

and my husband and I can barely carry a tune in the shower, so this music stuff is dang new to us! We are so grateful to CC and the excellent guidance we've gotten so far!

PRJ · 05-05-2008, 09:01 PM

My D is also class of 2009. At the moment her college selection criteria include a LAC or smallish university in or near a big city. Possible majors change frequently and include psychology, math, English, or Jewish studies. The latter is a passion; whether it turrns out to be her major or not, a strong Jewish studies curriculum is key. So far we've looked at Oberlin, Macalester and the Claremont colleges.

I wish she were just a wee bit more concerned about her upcoming AP tests

momreads · 05-05-2008, 09:19 PM

SJTH, take a look at Shenandoah University in VA. I have a former student who majors in jazz studies there. It is a wonderful school for music! Our band directors are graduates. We've even been to some concerts there.

Hope that helps.

PRJ: You know when she'll get concerned? The night before that AP test, and then, look out! Right now, my son is sitting on the sofa watching TV. He figures that he can study just so much.

srobin · 05-05-2008, 09:27 PM

DS is also class of 09. He's looking at schools all over the place, a couple of Ivies, Rice, Vanderbilt, GA Tech and a couple of state schools. He wants to go where he is free to change his major. Right now it seems like he wants engineering or something to do with science, he talking about Biomedical Engineering. Other days he switches it to majoring in Math and teaching at some point in his career. He is keeping an open mind but definitely loves Math and Science. He is attending the Univ of Alabama this summer for a month long honors program for Juniors. This will give him the opportunity to sample college life with supervision and get his feet wet a little.

Is it just me or do others think this time is just flying by? I guess it's knowing that in a year he will be leaving and I will no longer be part of his everyday life.

boysx3 · 05-05-2008, 09:27 PM

S3 is my last to go through this. He is a middling-to-good student with scores all over the board. He's mildly dyslixic/dysgraphic but generally copes so well that teachers generally aren't aware until he tells them--he emphatically did not want any special things at school.

He's looking at relatively small schools that have good business/econ/international studies programs. He loves sports and is talking to a few schools about playing DIII soccer--he is keeping doors open because he has not made up his mind either way. He needs a school with a decent sized Jewish presence. He keeps semi-kosher but will eat vegetarian.

fireflyscout · 05-05-2008, 09:35 PM

Add my son. He's my second (and last) to go through the process. The ideal college will allow him to do computer science 24/7, and be in a cold climate. Too many band practices in Texas. In August.

The Mom · 05-05-2008, 10:04 PM

Second S is class of 09. Looking at small schools, less than 5000, at this time anyway. Plans to major in music business or music industry and still play his instrument. Oh, also would like to play D3 soccer. Lots of factors and most aren't compatible, but a list exists. Trying to narrow down and/or decide which is more important, size, conservatory or not, D3 soccer or just club......

Of most interest today, Belmont U, Capital U, Loyola-NO.

pumpkin65 · 05-05-2008, 10:12 PM

My D is also class of 2009. She is the first of our 2 Ds, 2nd is class of 2015!
She seems to have a preference for urban campuses, or a campus connected to a town. Liberal arts orientation, or possibly psychology, also exploring music ed or a music minor. She plays trumpet and wants to continue playing in college, at a minimum, recreationally. (SJTH - I can completely relate to the music stuff being foreign - no experience in our household - we like to listen to it, it sure sounds nice)

We've taken her to visit small and large campuses, she does not seem to have a strong preference - she is one of those 'might be happy anywhere' people. Seems NOT to want anything COLD though (unlike fireflyscout's DS!)

She's visited University of Maryland, Washington College, Elon, University of Richmond, Wake Forest, College of Charleston, and Catholic University so far. Local colleges we will look at are Loyola College in MD, Goucher and UMBC.

We are not opposed to travelling long distances to a school, but flights/train fare need to be reasonable from our area. We also have many good choices within 2-3 hours drive from home.