<p>D interviewed there last summer. It was a very relaxed interview with a student and he was very friendly. They talked about her interests and she said it was a nice, fairly substantial conversation. They went on beyond the expected time. </p>
<p>She loved Oberlin even though our entire tour was in pouring rain. They provided nice big umbrellas but we were pretty wet anyway.</p>
<p>mathmom - thanks for those reviews. Iāve heard mixed reviews about Brandeisā appearance - now I understand why. This is the first time Iāve heard it described as resembling an office park. I think D has Brandeis in the back of her mind as a possibility - just because so many people at her school apply - but so far she hasnāt added it to her list. </p>
<p>Liz L. - congrats to your sister. As everyone else has said, your sister can easily raise that math score, so no worries there. </p>
<p>Jackief - I didnāt say we had good food at Tufts, just that our tour guide talked about how great the food was (we didnāt have time to eat there because we needed to get to another school). He also said food was available 24 hours a day. Never verified this info, so Iām not sure whether thatās true.</p>
<p>Here is an update on the āschedules for next yearā topic.</p>
<p>After much convincing, the administration (I chuckle at the ādoes the principal know your childā thread, boy to they know her) has agreed to let my D submit the following course selections:</p>
<p>AP Eng Lit
AP Calc AB (BC is not an option, must take AB first)
AP Stats
AP Latin Vergil
H Chinese III
Greek II
trimester History electives: ancient, greco roman, middle ages
ā¦
and if there is a conflict and canāt take one of the above, then AP Physics C</p>
<p>This is a major victory, as I have said previously The school does not recommend more than 2 AP classes and the typical load is 5 or 6 total classes. They have never let anyone take 7 classes before. Last year she got a partial compromise to audit chorus as a 7th class.</p>
<p>Congrats on the scheduling victory, jackief! So your D will not be taking any science, best-case scenario? I wish I could do thatā¦ my choice of HS means that I will graduate with 10 math/science credits. Letās seeā¦ my projected schedule for next year, if there are no conflicts (and thatās a huge if):</p>
<p>AP Eng Lit
AP Calc BC (took AB this year; required 2-year sequence at my school)
AP French Lang
Advanced French Lit (independent study, honors replacement for the now-nonexistent AP French Lit)
Physics
PE (full year because of the way my scheduling worked out in the past, required to graduate)
AP Comp Sci (school graduation requirement of math/sci elective)
Wind Ensemble (band cross-enrollment, prerequisite for All-State auditions)</p>
<p>We are only allowed to take 7 credits, so I will probably waive band credit in favor of French Lit, which is honors weighted.</p>
<p>The danger spot is that AP French and Wind Ensemble are only offered 1 period each, Wind Ensemble in a specific locked period. I may have to make some hard choices. If so, Comp Sci is first on the chopping block, probably to be replaced by AP Stats or Discrete Mathematical Modeling (the latter looks really interesting but is considered an elective).</p>
<p>Good luck with your schedule also K. Many of the classes D wants to take are singletons. H Chinese III may be embedded with the rest of Chinese III, there are only around 10 kids in II this year and the numbers probably wonāt support a separate class. A group went to the administration today to petition for Greek II which isnāt usually offered, Greek I alternate years. (She didnāt take Greek I but teacher says she can pick it up over the summer, I think she is crazy for wanting to take this) Only classes which may have multiple sections are the maths (and preference is given to kids taking only one math) and maybe Eng and Latin.</p>
<p>jackief - congrats to your D on her hard-won concessions. I canāt get over her taking three language classes! And not just any languages, but Latin, Greek and Chinese! Your Dās schedule sounds pretty intense. Not that I should talk as my D isnāt exactly going to be slacking next year. </p>
<p>Keilexandra - in NY, 4 years of PE is required for all students, so my D always has it in her schedule. Itās on an every other day basis and for her, itās always alternated with her science labs which are also on an every other day basis. She also plays in wind ensemble, and that may cause some scheduling issues for her too.</p>
<p>Yes LIMOM she is pretty lopsided and will be missing a 4th year of sci if this schedule works. But Iām sure with our schedule constraints there are many who do not have 4 years of all 5 core areas. She had to rank the classes in priority and put Greek above the maths, I put my foot down and wouldnāt sign off on that. </p>
<p>Luckily we do not have PE requirements but have required sports participation. There are non-competitive offerings (Zumba is popular this trimester) and team manager positions also.</p>
<p>Ok, Jackief, what the heck is Zumba?</p>
<p>If your D doesnāt want to be a science or math major, I donāt think not having a 4th year of science will hurt her too much - though I probably wouldnāt have been to happy if my D had left that out, I have to admit. Sheās already had 4 years of science, but she signed up for AP Bio anyway - and I tried to talk her into AP Computer Science instead as I think that will prove to be more useful to her - but I havenāt had any success. She hasnāt had the prerequisite for the class, but Iām sure she could talk her GC into waiving that requirement for her - but she isnāt interested.</p>
<p>I wish sports at Dās school counted as a PE requirement like some other schools do - but since everyone has to take it, it doesnāt put her at a competitive disadvantage, and it gives her one period every other day where she can ārelax.ā Plus, thereās no homework. 
D does participate on 3 varsity teams though, so Iām sure she wouldnāt have minded giving up the PE requirement if that had been an option.</p>
<p>I think it was K who brought up the lack of science, saying she wished she could get rid of her science requirement.</p>
<p>D would really like to take AP Phys C next year (first time being offered) but I think that is the best choice to drop as she has had non-calc based mechanics this year and although it is different I think the mechanics rehash would not be the most useful for her. Not at all destined for a math/science major. She does have the big three Bio/Chem/Phys.</p>
<p>Zumba is a jazzercise/aerobics/dance type thing. Iām sure it has a wikipedia entry.</p>
<p>Private school can make up their own rules wrt PE and other requirements, Iām not sure what the state mandates are for the publics.</p>
<p>jackief:</p>
<p>Glad the scheduling worked out for your D though it sounds like she will be quite the busy student. However, it sounds like she will be in her element.</p>
<p>Per my DS, it appears they had enough students sign up for AP Chemistry so it looks like it will be going on next year, so weāre happy over here. Our last piece is waiting for the HS to approve the various options for multivariable calculus and then having one in place come August.</p>
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</p>
<p>jackie, my D didnāt have a fourth year of science (she took a third year of Ancient Greek instead) and it didnāt hurt her in the least, since it was pretty clear she was going to be a Classics major. She did have a fourth year of math, and I think youāre right to put your foot down about that.</p>
<p>So Iām up early, noodling around the Internet and trying to keep quiet while S and H snooze in our hotel room in Berkeley.</p>
<p>Good drive up yesterday, and we had fun celebrating Sās 17th birthday last evening in Berkeley. He wanted a new hoodie, so while we waited for a table at the Jupiterās pizza place, we went next door to NorCal Sportswear. He quickly found one he liked. When we went to pay, the shopkeeper noted his HS water polo sweatshirt and asked us, āOh, do you still live in XXXXXXX City? We used to live on XXX and XXXX. Is XXXXXX Tacoās place still there?ā (This taco place is so well known I had someone ask me the same question in Denali National Park, Alaska.)</p>
<p>We were perplexed at one street sign in downtown Berkeley. It was the universal no (red circle with the diagonal red slash) with the letters āHMā inside the circle. We had no clue but had a fun time at dinner trying to guess. Our waiters didnāt know either. I hope weāre not in violation today!</p>
<p>Today is the campus tours of Berkeley and Stanford. Yesterday afternoon, we drove high into the hills of Berkeley and got some great views across the bay of San Francisco, the Golden Gate Bridge, the downtown, etc. On the way up, we drove past the football stadium, which is carved into the hill so as you drive by, you can partially look down into it (canāt quite see the field.)</p>
<p>Campus reports back in the next few days, folks.</p>
<p>FAP- good luck on the schedule and sounds like you avoided the rain in SF? I really like that area of CA having visited both SF, a friend at Berkeley, and silicon valley area several times over the years. </p>
<p>Booklady- thanks for the validation. She isnāt currently leaning to classics but up in the air right now. One of the possible majors is psych for which the stats would be useful. I wouldnāt mind Greek over one of the maths, but not over both. Although the administration has agreed to offer Greek, it might not work out schedule and therefore number wise for the eight interested students, so we shall seeā¦</p>
<p>My D has been getting really nervous about AP Stat. Sheās been doing very well in the class all year, but when D looked at the review book recently, she said everything seems different than what they were taught. That might be a problem.</p>
<p>Off to pick up some stuff for the holiday - weāre having a houseful this weekend.</p>
<p>BTW, if you want the complete reports for Tufts and Brandeis they are posted in the college visits section.</p>
<p>FindAPlace: We had an apartment around the corner from XXXXX Tacoās!</p>
<p>Just back from a 7 college trip. Did the drive to see William and Mary in addition to the northeast schools.</p>
<p>William and Mary: Looked so great on paper and it really held up in my eyes. Beautiful campus, nice people, great academics, beautiful weather also helped. I donāt know if the Williamsburg tourist attraction would get old as a 18-22 year old. Info session and Tour on a Saturday morning and the campus was definitely NOT dead. Lots of students up and about, events about to begin.</p>
<p>Columbia: Great. Compact campus, but a āreal campusā feel.</p>
<p>NYU: Bustling, good school for the right student, who wants to be immersed in the city. Same campus concept as George Washington University. The city is your campus. NYU president saw our tour and stopped and talked to us enthusiastically for quite a few minutes, he teaches 3 classes at NYU.</p>
<p>NYC notes: Had a rental car so stayed in NJ at a hotel I found on tripadvisor. Reviews of hotels in the area commented on how easy the bus to the city was. Used it with great success, bought a metro funpass for the day to maneuver around the city. Subways were way nicer than my memory served.</p>
<p>Brown: Great.</p>
<p>Tufts: I have been there several times and think that it is a terrific school. My kids have all had a blah attitude that I canāt figure out. Too cold? sterile?</p>
<p>Clark: Great school, Worcester is only fair. </p>
<p>Brandeis: This is the school that I have a blah attitude about but my kids react well to it. Hmmm. Transportation to the city is easier than I remembered but it is a suburban school. The commuter train (not the T)is at the school gates. In addition the University runs a van in and out of Cambridge and Boston Thurs-Sun. We saw the school on the afternoon before break, so most students were on their way out.</p>
<p>Hi parents! Sorry to highjack your thread a bit, but Iām a high school junior whose parents havenāt always been very helpful with the college process (they do mean well, but weāre immigrants and theyāre stuck on the idea that the only good schools are Iviesā¦Iām trying to convince them otherwise), so CC has been incredibly helpful to me.</p>
<p>Iām on spring break til the 20th and Iāve convinced my father to go college tripping with me next week. Weāre on the East Coast and a fair number of the schools on my current college list (there are about 20 now, but Iām hoping to lower that number to 12 or so by the fall) are in the Midwest, so weāre flying out and visiting Carleton, Macalester, Grinnell, UChicago, and maybe Beloit next week. Itās my first college visit experience so Iām very excited!</p>
<p>I have to put in my vote for XXXXX-Tacos. There are reasons why my screen name is ILoveLA.</p>
<p>teenage_cliche - Welcome! Have a great time on your college visit, and if you have the time, feel free to report back on your visits - weād love to hear about the school from a studentās point of view.</p>
<p>DeniseC - glad you had such a successful trip. </p>
<p>mathmom - thanks for posting visit reports - Iāll go read them now. :)</p>
<p>Mathmom - Hi. Just read your reports, and I thank you again for posting them. Sorry about your speaker at the Tufts Info Session, but the rest of the visit sounded ok. I wonder if we had the same tour guide. We had a guy - I think heās a senior now, and he really liked to project his voice. Also very into drama. Both of my kids got a kick out of him. He did the tour barefoot (that was in August, not April), and made Tufts seem a lot more laid back than it probably is.</p>