<p>Congrats RVM. Seems like my long envisoned meeting of you and Rodney at Elon’s move in day is very much on the horizon!</p>
<p>Mazel Tov, RVM, but you may have to make Aliyah to to the Jewish B, High ACT thread now.</p>
<p>Thanks again for all the kind words. We are beyond happy. I don’t know yet if this changes his college list or how it would do so. I don’t think it will - as he has not had a reach school in mind that might now be a match. I think we are just going to relax and savor this moment!</p>
<p>peonies - I know - they release ACT results in batches. What is so odd is that S2 took the test with a good friend - at the same testing center. While his scores were available this morning - the friend’s were not. And his essay score is not yet available - but I know someone else who was able to view their essay score today. Very weird system.</p>
<p>mhc - is a coup brewing? Am I going to be kicked off the thread now? LOL. But seriously - when I look back at where S2 and I were when I started the thread in May 2010 - I don’t think I could have anticipated how different his stats would be 10 months down the road. I won’t put him in a box in the future.</p>
<p>The only “coup” is your son’s.</p>
<p>So happy for you and your S, RVM. No coup…you started us off, and need to be here for the remainder.</p>
<p>My copy of Bread Givers arrived today from Amazon - don’t forget our Jewish history book discussion group is starting in March.</p>
<p>Lots of mazal tov to Rockville Mom and her son for his fantastic, awesome ACT score! You must be so proud of your son. Way to go!</p>
<p>RVM,</p>
<p>Those scores are a game changer. Congrats</p>
<p>Rockville- WOW! Congrats! I am really happy for you 
and your son! The improved scores are impressive.</p>
<p>Coming in a little late but huge, huge congrats to RVM and her son. I also applaud your wonderful insights. One of my D’s made a huge leap some time during 10th grade and her grades, her engagement in her classes and learning…it was like a switch being flipped. It was awesome to see and I imagine I had and continue to have some of the feelings that you’re having. Enjoy the proud moments!</p>
<p>I was at a dinner last night, and someone suggested University of Tampa as a place for b students. Being 3k miles away, this is not a popular school around here. Can anyone offer insights?</p>
<p>Thanks</p>
<p>socaldad, I have never even set foot on the campus, but my son applied. He got one of those brief, early notice applications, so he applied and was accepted. It was my son’s best package after FA. At the end of the day, I did not want my son to attend because of the “party rep”. That reputation might be unfair, but I did not want to experiment with my child. Additionally, for guaranteed on campus housing it sounded as though I would have put down a deposit before we got all of the packages in. At that point, we did not look into it further.</p>
<p>Holy! why is this thread so huge</p>
<p>Because the whole world (myself included) has crashed it, lol. My kid was not a B student and is already in college, but I hope once in a while I can help, this thread is a little more relaxed than some of the others, I learn interesting things about what’s going on in other parts of the country, and it’s fun chatting with everyone!</p>
<p>It’s not crashing; everyone is welcome to this thread! :)</p>
<p>I have a question for all of you wonderful and insightful people. Many of you have a high achieving S1 or D1 and a lower achieving S2 or D2. I have a somewhat different situation, and sometimes I do not know how to handle it. The very existence of S1 makes S2 the most driven, persistent person who wants to do everything S1 does, only better. I really tried to get them to have different interests, to no avail. I tried to encourage different sports, to no avail. Now, S1 has graduated and is working and S2 is still in college. S2 is now saying that he wants to get the same kind of job as S1! I really wish that he would try to do something different, because I think that he will just drive and drive himself until he outshines S1. The two boys (my middle kids) used to fight when they were younger but as soon as S1 went to college, they started to get along beautifully.
As an aside, S1 has made the connections for S2 to get his summer jobs. If it hadn’t been for S1, S2 probably would not have gotten these jobs.
When they were very young, I tried to emphasize to S2 every time that I was able to give him special attention (“It was so great to spend this time with you” type of thing, even if it was just for a few minutes.) In fact, I still do this now!
Does anyone have any thoughts? Should I try and try to encourage another direction for S2? Should I just butt out?</p>
<p>momjr - thanks for the updated info on the Freshman Connection program at University of MD. I agree with you that this spring admit/Freshman Connection option has kind of had a negative connotation - but there are some pluses. I do hear that the class sizes are smaller since they are taken at off-peak times. I was just at MD 2 weeks ago and saw the new off campus apartment buildings like The View - they are right next to the campus. I like the idea that the Freshman Connection kids can bond together - it’s almost as if they are finding a way to create a smaller environment within the huge Maryland community - nothing bad there!</p>
<p>socaldad - Univ. of Tampa seems to have very divided opinions. I do think it is a safety for a “B” student - I had it on S2’s list as a possibility at the beginning of this process. I have not visited but the pictures I have seen look gorgeous. It does have a party school/non-serious student reputation. They offer rolling admissions - so it is useful in order to have an early acceptance. But, I can’t imagine traveling across the country for this school.</p>
<p>levirm - it pains me to say this - but I see that sometimes I get the best results when I back off and butt out. And if this holds true for having high school kids - I am sure it holds doubly true for college kids. I think many families have the dynamic where 2 or more kids go into the same field - they both go to law school or into the accounting field - whatever it may be. I don’t think you can try to discourage S2 from pursuing the same field as S1. Given that they are a few years apart in age - they will be on different career trajectories - at least for the first few years post graduation. And it is certainly possible that if S2 is more driven - he will surpass S1 in his career. So - no - I don’t think I would recommend trying to discourage S2 from getting the same type of job as S1 - which I’m not sure would be effective even if you did try to do this.</p>
<p>This link gives a nice overview:</p>
<p>[The</a> University of Tampa - University Facts and Figures](<a href=“http://www.ut.edu/ut-profile/]The”>http://www.ut.edu/ut-profile/)</p>
<p>There’s a lot to like here - from the 6500 student population to the reasonable $31,000 price tag. The Honors Program might be worth looking at - I’m guessing this would attract a more serious student.</p>
<p>Re: Freshman Connection, my son, at UMich just mentioned today that has friends who did the FC at UMd and had exactly the same experience as RVM described. Smaller group, more bonding, a way to find a place in a larger UMd community. All very happy they did it. So we’ll probably go visit later this month after the last two decisions come in.</p>