It Is 10th Grade and College Talk Begins With Peers

Parents Forum
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<p>Another new parent just checking in. I have a sophomore and she is already driving me crazy with college admissions stuff. I look forward to a maddening year and a half after which I will be ready for a padded cell.</p>

<p>I read a few of the posts on this board and I can only say that I hope application numbers fall for 2010ers or D will be going to our local community college.</p>

<p>She, of course, has her sights set on 2 VERY competitive schools, one a leading U and one single sex LAC. God give me strength.</p>

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<p>Joining the club…parent of HS senior DS1 and 10th grade DS2. Signed DS2 up for the SAT-II USH the day after DS1’s last college acceptance came in, so I guess we’ll be here for a while longer! DS2 <em>said</em> he checked the box for college mail from the PSAT, but we’ve gotten nothing, and his score was high enough that there should be plenty. </p>

<p>DS2 went along with us on several of DS1’s visits, not that it will be terribly helpful in the college process – DS1 is a techie, DS2 is not. He’s thinking smaller schools where he could play football. He doesn’t think he’d be recruited, but he’s a full IB diploma candidate w/3.5 UW/4.0 W (and rising trend), likely to score in the 2200 range, and he’s a 6’3.5", 235 lb DT (and just turned 16). Also likes LACs.</p>

<p>Possibilities: Reed (though no football), CMC, Brandeis, Georgetown SFS, UMD, St. Mary’s of MD, W&M, Chicago, Bowdoin, Middlebury, Colorado College, Pitzer, Pomona, Dartmouth (We visited the Claremonts with DS1 and DS2 liked them too!). Leaning towards history/polisci, possibly to teach. Also into enviromental science. Would love to go some place where he can ski. </p>

<p>My sense is that if this is his target tier, he’ll need to apply to a number of them to have a shot, just because these are fallback schools for tippy-top candidates and he doesn’t have anything yet that screams “ACCEPT ME,” though I think he’ll be in range – along with thousands of other applicants. He has a really eclectic mix of ECs, though, and I think a couple are starting to really blossom into leadership, so we’ll see.</p>

<p>I could see him being very happy at two of our in-state schools (one large, one small) and would have a decent shot at some merit money – he is much more interested in the full college experience than his brother. DS2 is more likely to use what IB/AP credit he gets towards taking time off for study abroad than accelerated placement. However, he is not proactive or likely to go out and seek profs/assistance when he needs it – so the self-advocacy part of succeeding at a big university concerns me. Then again, he is 16, very mature and responsible, and we saw huge leaps in the self-advocacy stuff with his brother junior and senior years, so maybe when a little more testosterone kicks in… (yikes!)</p>

<p>We started the college dialogue with DS2 over spring break – of course, he’s been hearing and participating in DS1’s deliberations for the past two year. Given the bloodbath so many kids experienced this year, we talked about looking at a wide variety of schools that aren’t just the name brands. I’m trying to make it clear that his strategy needs to be different than his brother’s, not because of grades/scores, but because the admissions landscape has changed.</p>

<p>Would love suggestions for strong, small/medium-sized state schools with LAC-like feel!</p>

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<p>countingdown, here is a link for d2football. i think many of these are state schools and are of a size that might appeal to him.</p>

<p>[D2Football.com</a> - Division II Football](<a href=“http://www.d2football.com/]D2Football.com”>http://www.d2football.com/)</p>

<p>click on the left on Team and you’ll see the various conferences.</p>

<p>The MIAA is usually a very strong conference. Maybe some others here on cc can tell you something about the strength of the other conferences. I know student athletes that have gone the D2 path and they have been pleased with both the academics and the sports. Merit money might be a real possibility considering the strength of your son’s academics. Being d2 there is also the possibility of athletic scholarship money which likely would be partial not full. combing the academic $$$'s with the athletic $$$'s might make for an appealing package to your son. </p>

<p>one school you might check out is western state in colorado.</p>

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<p>Father of 10th and 8th grade girls. My older daughter is a very motivated and competitive student.</p>

<p>We will be doing some college visits this summer. She plays travel softball and we have a two-week roadtrip from Pennsylvania to Virginia. Being from New England, that will give her a chance to check out some schools she is not familiar with. Any ones that she likes we can re-visit later when the schools are in session.</p>

<p>Oh, and speaking of college names. She loves history and will not even consider Hamilton as she detests Alexander Hamilton. Go figure!</p>

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<p>So happy to see this thread pop up to the top again! Welcome!</p>

<p>If there are any tenth grade parent lurkers out there, or others just noticing this thread for the first time, please sign on and say hello.</p>

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<p>Last weekend my D2 10th grader made her first college visit with me, in combination with a sports competition. </p>

<p>She was silent and seemed overwhelmed, until we got to the gym. She’s a good student who also goes to the Y every day to train and socialize. Suddenly, she got a big smile on her face. She had found the place at this school that would meet one of her basic needs. I felt stupid that I hadn’t figured this out about her before that moment. Now I know a key piece on her decision matrix. </p>

<p>My point is that we learned just as much about HER as we did about the school last weekend! Very worthwhile visit.</p>

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<p>riverrunner,
That’s a really good point. My S is used to the gym, track, karate, etc. being several miles away that it probably hasn’t really ‘clicked’ that thse things would be available (and free) on campus. We’ll have to make sure to visit the facilities when we visit.</p>

<p>Just another reminder of how different this college search will be!</p>

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<p>We made our first college visit last summer while on vacation. D loved the school - and yes, the fact that the gym, the student center, and so many new friends would be so easily available to her made a huge impression. Prior to touring that campus, those aspects of college life had not dawned on her.</p>

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<p>I really really love CC. I have a 9th grader, it that too early to join this group?</p>

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<p>Our first college visit was over spring break this year, followed by a second one a couple of weekends later. In both cases, we attended the official information session and the obligatory campus tour. What was most interesting for DD was walking around the campus and getting a feel for the place. We had also set up meetings with kids that we knew who were currently enrolled at that campus. DD was able to spend some quality time with these students, get a peek at the dorms, and ask HS-student type questions without me hovering over. I strongly recommend making such a contact before the visit - it gives you a behind-the-scenes perspective that can be very helpful in choosing between colleges.</p>

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<p>We are planning some college visits this summer and over the next year. My D has already decided where she definitely wants to apply (and they are both reaches) so my plan is to take her around to some less competitive schools to see if anything “clicks.” It really is a little early right now to do anything but fact finding about as many colleges as possible. The winnowing out will come later.</p>

<p>In the mean time, I told her she is forbidden from accessing this site. She does not need anymore pressure than she already puts on herself. ;)</p>

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<p>The nice thing about having a D2 in the 2010 class, following D1 in the class of 2008, is that we will know lots of kids at schools all over the place to give us the private tours sxm2872 is talking about. </p>

<p>Piece of advice for those without older kids: pay attention to where this year’s high school grads are going next year, so you can visit them! If they can help you at all, they generally will. D2 will be sending her recent tour guide a thank you note with a coffee gift card. It takes a village, and sometimes the villagers are slightly older teenagers!</p>

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<p>OMG. </p>

<p>I have a D who is a junior in college and an S who is a high school senior. We are in the final decision throes. I have high hopes that as of May 1 I will be done. Of course I may just expire before that happens…</p>

<p>When I am done, I will start to send all my qi to you all. What is qi? The Chinese belief it is the energy of life. When my son was applying I would send him my qi, envisioning him floating in the air.</p>

<p>You think I’m kidding. You think I’m crazy. Let me just tell you. I could have done a lot worse, gone a lot more nuts through this process. Be glad you found CC. I predict it will keep you all from driving your kids nuts, however, the rarefied air here may increase your anxiety a little. Breathe deeeply…</p>

<p>Breathe deeeply. As of May 1, I will send you all my qi:).</p>

<p>I am not kidding.</p>

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<p>Alumother, thanks for your wisdom this year. I hope you’ll stick around CC in ways besides sending us virtual positive energy. I can imagine some CC alums want to click “post” on their last reply sometime in May of their last kid’s senior year, but we so appreciate those who stay and give us a kick in the pants, a quick shake, or a shoulder to cry on from time to time. </p>

<p>Best wishes surviving this month’s ride.</p>

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<p>What riverrunner said. And may you (and your S) survive the rest of this month and emerge happy and at peace with the decision!</p>

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<p>Class of 2010. I’ve got a real anxiety prone d, and I’m kind of panicky myself… decisions like this really stress us out. Add to that that we’re middle class (amazing to think that $200K/year is considered middle class!) at a posh private school. D knows what we can afford, and is working with it. Her #1 choice is St. John’s college…$35K/year. Oh my.</p>

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<p>Hi, I’ve been away from CC for a while, but I noticed this thread and had to join in. I have twin girls in 10th grade and a son at Drew (sophomore) and sometimes feel overwhelmed. My girls are great, good students,but very different. One is motivated and very into the college prep and learning about new schools, the other is “let me do my work and don’t push me to do anything”. I kind of like her attitude, she’s very honest and wont do anything for “show”. She says if the colleges are that dumb, she doesn’t want to go there. (sigh) I wish it were that easy. ; )
I hope to make some CT trips this summer since my son wasn’t interested in CT colleges at the time, and try to see some others In MA and NY. My daughter might go to Wash.DC and see a few with her class, but that isn’t set in stone yet. I know they would like to be together or near each other, but that has been a recent thing, they always said the opposite when it wasn’t pending. I wouldn’t mind if it worked out that way, make it much easier to visit and plan things, but time will tell. The money aspect makes me wake up at 3am in a panic, so I try to learn from past experience, mistakes and success’s and take one day at a time.</p>

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<p>

</p>

<p>I know this won’t help with your anxiety, but consider two points:</p>

<ol>
<li><p>Maybe the families at your “posh private school” would cosider you middle class, but I’m guessing 97% of the country would not. $200K is top 3% of US household income. </p></li>
<li><p>$35k for St. Johns? Try $45K including R&B: (St. Johns Annapolis)</p></li>
</ol>

<p>Tuition: $36,346
Room and Board: $8,684
Required Fees: $250</p>

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<p>Debruns - I understand exactly how you feel. I only have one 10th-grader (and a 6th-grader), and I am already so worried about financing for college - I would probably be waking up in a panic at 3 AM as well if I had one in college and 2 more on their way in at the same time! I spend a lot of time researching which colleges have merit scholarships in hopes that she might qualify…lol. It’s just so, so competitive!</p>

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<p>You cannot stop it. So your S has to be strong and ignore stuff that he feels is not appropriate for him.</p>