<p>Except - some schools, particularly state schools don’t care about the profile or don’t have time to read each particular schools’ profile- they have strict guidelines about gpa, credits etc. Just found this out when S was applying for summer program in another region.</p>
<p>Neither of my two older kids used the common application. They both had a couple of essays that worked for all of their apps. I wouldn’t start stressing about applications yet. Let’s enjoy the end of the school year!</p>
<p>I think I have a good idea for my essay, but I don’t really feel like writing it until later. I’m finding it hard enough to motivate myself to do my school work at this time of year as is (although I’m still completing it).</p>
<p>I hadn’t appreciated how the Common App not being available until August 1 impacts all of the students whose schools and band/whatever camps start in August. A bummer, but the positive side is that everything can get filled out in advance even on a printout, and then transcribed after August 1. </p>
<p>D1 chose Tufts and GWU as her two schools for National Merit notification. Tufts because she’s trying to show as much love as possible, GWU because she really likes it and they offer NMF money and she’s not yet on their mailing list. I know that most of you are innundated in college mail, but since D1 has never checked off the “please release my name” box on any standardized test, she gets very very little. It’ll be nice to see a little more of it. </p>
<p>Is anyone insisting on a parental choice school? I am putting down my foot about Pitt. My arguments in favor: free easy application (since she visited last year). Rolling admissions. She liked it when we visited. Her arguments against: she now doesn’t like it. Since I’ve seen her interest in schools she now likes wax and wane over time, I’m not taking that as a compelling case. D1 asked why I couldn’t insist on her applying to a hard-to-get-into school. That’s because I know that would be useless, since she wouldn’t put any effort into the app. On the other hand, there was a kid at her school whose mother insisted that said kid apply to a tippy-top LAC. The kid, utterly uninterested, wrote a joke essay about how the women at that LAC were far more desireable than the women at any other school. And yep, he got in, but (of course) chose to go elsewhere.</p>
<p>Slithey, we live in the Pittsburgh area, and my D1 was determined not to go to school in PA, but I did have her apply to Pitt to have a rolling admission result in November (also a full tuition offer). She is at GWU and very happy there, but it was good to have that early acceptance. (she was rejected from Tufts, by the way) My 2011 S really only has one school he wants to attend at this point, so I have been encouraging him to research other possibilities because he needs back-ups.</p>
<p>Slithey, definitely parental choice(s) schools here! I have a mental list–state flagship, UPitt, UAlabama, etc–but S’s Final List will influence my/H’s choice(s).</p>
<p>H asked just now if I thought he and S could swing visits to 3 or so Southern schools on a 3 day weekend. Sure, but the schools he listed (Duke, UNC, UVa and something else?) aren’t ones even on The Big List! S is going to need a few days once finals are over to go through The Big List, laptop at his side, to narrow down the schools.</p>
<p>Thats quite a story about the boy and the LAC (and the girls there) Guess the AdCom liked his brand of humor…</p>
<p>The list is a bit reachy here–
hope to have our student consider some safties/matches </p>
<p>I hope to teach the mantra “love thy safety” however a student in this house isn’t listening much…and a spouse has no clue, expecting I will “handle it”…</p>
<p>Well S has put little effort in reseaching on his own. He has been dragged to 7-8 colleges for tours and info sessions. AFAICT, the tours and info sessions have been helpful and S have indicated things he has/hasn’t liked. He keeps telling us though he will be happy anywhere. I think what he is really telling telling us is “I will be happy at a school that is the right fit, go forth and find it for me.” OTOH, this kid has very little free time right now, so I can forgive some of his lack of interest.</p>
<p>H surprised me last night when we talked about “the list” and I casually mentioned how I had eliminated on my own many, many fine schools because of S’s GPA. H felt Ishould have left the schools in the list. It was an easy way to cull out schools and get the list down to a managable level. Right now the list has about 40 schools on it, many of them reaches, how many reaches do we need? I have already told H and S, that S can apply to any pie in the sky school he wants, my job is to find matches and safeties he might like. </p>
<p>I have passed the “love thy safety” onto many parents and kids who usually look at me like I have three heads.</p>
<p>I am also on the hunt for a safety or two for my son. We need that to be both a financial and academic safety, i.e. a state school. I thought we had found one with a PSU satellite campus but then we found out that it really was a suitcase school and son doesn’t want college to be just about academics. The good state colleges (West Chester, Kutztown, Slippery Rock, etc.) can also be suitcase schools but not so much since freshman are not allowed cars on campus.</p>
<p>We’re waiting to hear if son got a summer job so we can figure out any summer college visits. Working five days a week is going to limit out of the area tours.</p>
<p>The driving energy behind the process in our household has definitely passed from the parents to the student, which has been great to see. One thing that’s fascinating is that when she first started touring schools (at the end of 9th grade), she said she was uninterested in rah-rah football school spirit. Now she’s saying that she’d like to have that. Go figure! Every school on her list (with the exception of some UC campuses) does have a football team, partly because she’s now targeting primarily research universities, ideally in cities, instead of looking at LACs. She’s also morphed from saying that she doesn’t really know what she wants to study to focusing on environmental/political issues. </p>
<p>The other astounding thing is that D1 actually ASKED me if I had any recommendations on other schools to consider…and then said “well, what does CC say?” </p>
<p>She’s supposed to turn in her list today (GC formalism says 3 reaches, 3 matches, 3 safeties). When I glanced at it last night, it was still full of things that were written in and then scratched out. End-of-summer visit list is still in flux. </p>
<p>Yay for everyone else who is trying to pass on the “Love Thy Safety” mantra. D1 caught that vibe early, thank heavens, and has embraced it. Managing Expectations Is Us. :)</p>
<p>Also passed a new driver milestone: getting lost the first time.</p>
<p>mamabear, whoops! Since I keep seeing that bobblehead-looking patriot mascot, I was thinking football. I suppose if she ends up in DC she will just have to find something else to do on Saturday mornings. :)</p>
<p>Coming from sports-obsessed Pittsburgh, the lack of rah-rah stuff is one of the things my D likes about GW. She is involved in many activities, and students do seem to like their school, but if you read the Hatchet newspaper, there are frequent articles bemoaning the lack of sports team followers.</p>
<p>S’s college list has 11-12 colleges on it. It has a good mix of the reaches/matches/safeties. We visited all but 3 schools and I am not sure if we will have time for the remaining visits. Those colleges are not close to each other and all over the country, so we would need to make 3 separate trips. Ideally, I hope he can cut the list to 7-9 colleges before the application time.</p>
<p>The only thing I don’t like about the list is the fact that it doesn’t have a school with the rolling admissions. S eliminated the state flagship from the list and is telling me that he doesn’t mind waiting 'till April 1st for the decisions, but I know, I will go mad. So I’m sure I will put my foot down about that.</p>
<p>It’s hard to find or figure out who does rolling admissions. Are any of the schools EA? That works as well. Also through CC you can find out which schools will give you a quick answer. I agree that having SOMETHING in the bag before January would be wonderful. So far my D does have 2 rolling state schools on her list. I’m crossing my fingers she won’t suddenly turn against them.</p>
<p>It sounds like those 3 schools, if they’re on the list, might as well wait for visits until you know he’s accepted. We have a couple of schools that my D won’t visit unless she auditions at them - there’s just no time to go, and if we have to go for the audition anyway, we might as well not try to squeeze in another trip. Our choir keeps trying to decide if they’re taking a trip next spring break, so at this point I don’t know if we have that week for visits next year, for the leftovers or second visit for a decision. Argh.</p>
<p>D is done with school. There are actually 6 more days after today, but she’s checked out. She finished her last project last night, and due to APs and various exemptions, has no actual finals. (She has to show up to class for some but there is no actual exam.)</p>
<p>EmmyBet, 2 schools on the list have SCEA and one has EA. He won’t apply ED, but most likely apply to one of the SCEA. But this is the high reach school, so chances are he will get deferred in mid-December. One more reasons to have the rolling admission school on the list. </p>
<p>missypie, My S is not even in school this week, but last week they were watching a movie in one of the classes and he chose to sleep on the floor instead.</p>