<p>Thanks again for all the good wishes. I can’t tell you how much your cyber support has meant to me.</p>
<p>We’re had a really nice weekend. Last night my husband and I took my daughter out to her favorite sushi restaurant to celebrate. She and I had lunch there after both of her ACT tests and it was fun to think about how far we’ve come from those lunches. It’s great to see my daughter so happy. She is thrilled with her choice and can now relax and enjoy the rest of senior year.</p>
<p>Emmybet: It’s funny how alike daughters are. My older daughter continued working hard in 5 APs senior year after getting into her ED school to maintain her 4.0 also. Our school does not name a valedicatorian, but does recognize the top 5% at graduation, and she was determined to stay in that group. She did let up a little second semester.</p>
<p>My younger daughter is taking 3 APs along with pre-calc, Spanish 5 and astronomy, which is the most rigorous scedule she’s had. She’s working hard and doing well. She’s really enjoying the challenge of her classes and admits that she was a little bored last year. I’m a little worried that she will succumb to senioritis now that she’s been accepted, but she has a pretty strong work ethic. </p>
<p>For those of you trying to figure out schedules for senior year, it really depends on the schools that interest your kid. The most selective schools will want to see a full load of AP courses. The next rung of schools will expect a mix of AP and honors classes. Applications and essays take a lot of time and focus, so make sure that your kids will have some energy for them, especially if he or she is involved in an intense fall EC.</p>
<p>Momjr…for us it’s Shark Finn Pie at Mitchell’s Fish Market for each of S1’s acceptances. Went there Fri after getting the “official” acceptance from Purdue Engineering.</p>
<p>Chocchipcookie…it’s my S2 who brings me to this thread, and he told me in tears on Friday how all of this non-stop talk about S1’s college application experience is causing him to lose sleep…he’s in a much different place emotionally and academically.</p>
<p>Congrats to all and thanks to all for all the nice messages! My other twin (the one that I’m on this list for) just got accepted to University of Redlands (which was a safety for him) with a Presidential Scholarship and an Achievement award (not sure how it quantifies into dollars and cents but it was nice for him since his twin was getting so much attention!).</p>
<p>Had dinner last night with a friend who has 4 kids, all either in or out of college. One graduated from Bard last year. She made a comment that there is a sort of a “jewish intelligencia” movement that creates these groups of jewish kids that are very down on Israel. She wanted one of her kids to do Birthright Israel and the reaction was “I would never go to that fascist country”. So kind of a twist. She also mentioned the huge uprising of Muslim groups on the campuses that are very vocal and organized as opposed to the jewish groups which tend to be all about shabbat and hannukkah. She didn’t say what could be done but just mentioned it as a very disturbing trend.</p>
<p>So sad about the kid from Muhlenberg. Does anyone ever really see something like this coming? I don’t think so. Very very sad…</p>
<p>Umich: Congratulations on the Purdue acceptance! I’m glad you got a chance to celebrate.
It’s always hard when the second kid has to follow a very successful older sibling.</p>
<p>2flipper2: I missed your post and was so happy to hear about S2’s success. What great timing!</p>
<p>momjr - agree with you about the difficulty of having a less academically inclined 2nd child following an academic superstar first born - not easy. S2 is planning to take AP Human Geography, honors English, honors calculus, physics, Latin II and 2 electives. One of the challenges at our hs is that there are no study halls - so kids have to take 7 classes. He does not like art or music and does not want to take gym - so maybe marketing or law - I really have no idea. </p>
<p>One think I am adamant about is to get several applications done in August before school begins. I tried and failed to get S1 to do this - with very stressful consequences. Since S2 is more flexible - I am starting our summer planning by reserving portions of August for this task - maybe the 2 rolling schools and the 2 EA schools - that would be fabulous.</p>
<p>I also agree with above posters that a strategy of relying on EA and rolling schools means that senior mid-year grades will be (hopefully) irrelevent. Goal would be 2 have a few acceptances in hand by December and be done. So - the colleges will see the rigor of the senior year courseload - but not the actual grades. Just keep them mostly at B’s so that we don’t have an issue with the final transcript - but I won’t feel the need to be on his case all the time to strive for A’s during the latter portion of the year - which will be a welcome break!</p>
<p>
</p>
<p>2flipper2 - I had heard that about Bard as well. I know we don’t want to turn this into a political thread, but I worry about this a lot and I don’t know where else to talk about it. my D2 is still a HS junior so we have another year to think about it, but we’ve already taken one school off her (very vague) early list because the students passed an Israeli-divestiture resolution. while she is more than willing to listen to two sides of any issue and she can debate with anyone, she just didn’t think she’d be comfortable on a campus where that was the predominant feeling.</p>
<p>this issue has become much more of a concern since D1 was applying to schools in 2008-9.</p>
<p>RVM, that’s a helpful suggestion for our students to set aside time in August to complete a few applications before school starts. That’s definitely something my D2 should do, as senior fall term will be very busy with challenging classes and ecs. We’ve been looking into EA and rolling colleges that might be fits for her. This is complicated a bit by the fact that she would like to participate in a sport in college - not at the very highest levels for that sport, but on a team that would be a rewarding for her. </p>
<p>Agree that it’s not easy for these second siblings who are following an older academic superstar.</p>
<p>Okay College4three:</p>
<p>Out with it! What’s a naked quad run?! Or do I dare not ask?! Sounds intriguing!! :eek:</p>
<p>UMich:</p>
<p>Mazel Tov on Purdue Engineering! My S1 also has a friend that got in to Purdue Engineering this week, maybe they’ll meet up with each other!
And what’s Shark Finn pie? Doesn’t sound appetizing!!?</p>
<p>My S2 is definitely more for this thread…he’s now studying for a Bio test for tomorrow…as a freshman he’s taking 3 honors, but will narrow that down to 2 for next year. He’s also interested in engineering, so his two honors will remain in Science and Math. What grade is your S2?</p>
<p>Momjr & RVM: Definitely a challenge when it comes to child #2…study habits completely different, smart but lazier…</p>
<p>2flipper2: Horrifying to think that Jewish kids think that Israel is a fascist country!</p>
<p>Has anyone sent their kids on Birthright? I thought of that for S1…</p>
<p>PRJ and 2flipper2 - really critical issue - thank you for bringing it to our collective attention. Would you say this is more likely to be prevalent at very liberal leaning schools and less so at more conservative schools? That would be my guess. And I think you have made a very valid point that Hillels tend to be more fun/social/Jewish holidays and culture - and less political action groups - whereas Muslim groups might be much more politically focused. Something else I will be sure to inquire about as we continue to visit schools.</p>
<p>[Campus</a> Watch](<a href=“http://www.campus-watch.org/]Campus”>http://www.campus-watch.org/)</p>
<p>“CAMPUS WATCH, a project of the Middle East Forum, reviews and critiques Middle East studies in North America with an aim to improving them. The project mainly addresses five problems: analytical failures, the mixing of politics with scholarship, intolerance of alternative views, apologetics, and the abuse of power over students. Campus Watch fully respects the freedom of speech of those it debates while insisting on its own freedom to comment on their words and deeds.”</p>
<p>This is a good website to look at on this issue.</p>
<p>My son almost attended Bard. The perception of Israel on campus was very important to him, and he seemed satisfied by his inquiries that a strong advocate of Israel on campus would have a place. The rabbi there is wonderful, btw, and the worship space is called Beit Shalom-Salaam and is shared by the Jewish and Muslim students – I thought this was truly a meaningful statement. To turn away from schools because students are anti- Israel is doing a disservice to the cause, IMO. I guess it’s one thing if different voices can’t be heard (and I assume this would carry over to other issues as well), but all schools need articulate, passionate activists and advocates for Israel.</p>
<p>At smaller schools in particular, the Jewish experience is what that particular cohort of students makes of it, whether it’s ritual observance or political discourse.</p>
<p>RVM- Have your son apply to UCF in Orlando. My D2 goes there and loves it and it is rolling admissions. If your son applies during the summer, he will get his decision around Sept 14-20th!!! It is at least 15% Jewish with a very active Hillel and Chabad house (none of which my daughter is into though). Application fee is only $35 and it the cost for out of state is: about $28,631 a year (tuition/fees:$19,133, Room/board: $8574 and books are about $924). This is based on a 14 credit hour semester, standard room and a meal plan. </p>
<p>[University</a> of Central Florida](<a href=“http://www.ucf.edu%5DUniversity”>http://www.ucf.edu)</p>
<p>Sharkfin pie: ice cream, peanut butter, chocolate, nuts and whipped cream…quite large and shaped like a shark’s fin…special occasion worthy</p>
<p>SDonCC - I think you raise a good point. Even as I was writing that we had taken that school off D’s list, I wondered if we had enough information to do so. And now your comments on Bard are a perfect example - someone specifically told us that Bard could be an uncomfortable place for Israeli-supporting Jews, but now you have provided a much more carefully researched viewpoint. I think we will just have to do what you did - dig deep at the schools D gets serious about. </p>
<p>rockvillemom- thanks for the link. I will definitely check it out. and to your question about liberal vs conservative schools, yes, I think this is more prevalent at very liberal schools. but that’s exactly where my very liberal D wants to go ;)</p>
<p>seiclan - I think UCF is probably a lot bigger than we are looking for - but it has possibilities otherwise. Thanks for the thought.</p>
<p>Naked Quad Run … a ritual that takes place in December before finals, I believe, and it’s just what you’re thinking! Pretty much the whole school streaks through the quad as one. It’s an actual organized event, with campus police protection and no cameras, etc. From what I hear, it is the highlight of the year and even the most reserved kids enjoy it. I think it sounds like a blast!</p>
<p>Also, D1 is registered for Birthright already and was wait listed for December so will probably go this summer. S will definitely do it after his first year. I’ve never met a kid who didn’t love the experience.</p>
<p>As for application strategy and course load: S has five AP classes this year and two academic electives so I knew that apps had to get done in the summer. Was it stressful always nagging? Yep. I felt like a broken record. But by the middle of August the common app essays were done, the ED supplement, and any other essays that were specific to EA schools. We looked at the college list very carefully to ascertain where essays could be used more than once. For example, if College A had a very interesting prompt that could be answered and then submitted to College B for “topic of your choice,” then he was all over that. We scrutinized the list to find essay prompts that he really liked and got those done.</p>
<p>I wish that more schools made the essay a requirement to be submitted to the English teacher on the first day of school. It would expedite the process.</p>
<p>rvm: have you checked out Brandeis?</p>
<p>cherryhillmomto2: Like chocchipcookie, I’m here because of my high school freshman D2, who will be the one to benefit from this thread. D1 has a B unweighted GPA, but everything else about her and her record bumps her up. </p>
<p>I wanted to add to something that EmmyBet mentioned about seniors slacking off because senior year is “for fun”. The Tufts admission committee live blogs the two days of admissions discussion. :eek: Anonymous and somewhat generalized, but it’s a frightening but enlightening thing to read even if you don’t have a horse in the race. One of the things that is striking are the cases where people loved an application, but then noticed not-so-hot first quarter senior grades. Acceptances turned into rejections or deferrals. So, so sad to see an applicant turned down for that reason. :(</p>