<p>S1 and I will be going to NY to visit 2 schools next week. One is a 2nd visit for an athletic recruiting event where he will also do an admissions interview; the other, a new school prompted by a coach’s invitation - where he will do a campus tour/info session and admissions interview. </p>
<p>He has two more mini-camp/athletic recruiting commitments in ME the following week, and a final such event, on 8/7 in CT. We may take another daytrip to tour UVM and St. Lawrence Univ, and a final quick hop over to tour Univ of NH - but I really hope that is the end of campus visits for us… at least until/unless the need arises for him to get back on particular campuses in the fall.</p>
<p>Is there any correlation between what a school likes for the SAT1 math section vs the Math 2 subject test?</p>
<p>Meaning --if a kid submits the ACT and 2 SAT subject tests–
can we look at the SAT1 math section mid 50% and figure that an SAT Math2 subject test solidly in that range or better–is fine?</p>
<p>Hey, I am new here too. My son will be doing the whole HYPSM application madness, so it is all pretty stressful. Am trying to get him to get started on his essays and making the final college list decisions, not very easy. Are also trying to get some visits in, going to Columbia next Monday, then quick visits to Primceton, upon and swarthmore, yikes. Regards to all.</p>
<p>Relaxmom’s new post here triggered me to post again. Glad to meet you, Relaxmom, my D’s applying to those exact schools, probably as are others. We visited the Northeast
schools in the summer, but other areas remain to be visited: including Chicago and Seattle.</p>
<p>Haven’t posted in a long while, but reading here now and then. I can identify with a D or S not wanting to settle for the state school +/-honors, a safety, but one D would be depressed to attend. Also I sympathize with the difficulty of getting your child going on the essays. The back to school stuff in the stores is a big visual reminder that the summer is draining away and that the senior year/app process is upon us! Senior pics are scheduled Aug 21!</p>
<pre><code> I am really stressing because D didn’t do any essays yet, but more because now she’s gone for four weeks with the youth conservation corps, working hard on trails in the back country, sleeping in tents in grizzly territory, with no regular shower facilities and communication completely cut off. Cell phones aren’t allowed and they’re beyond the service area anyway- only the adult leaders have radios. 27 days before I see her again. We must have been out of our minds to allow this because I’m the worrying type. I think it will deepen her love for the wild and improve her self-reliance. This will help her in college because most likely she will go to a school/city very distant to us.
So Aug 1- common app’s out and supplementals. When do you fill out FAFSA? USN rankings are due out in Aug, too. (not that they’re important- just fun to see the schools jousting)
</code></pre>
<p>Very cool. I showed my son the info on youth conservation corps and he htought I was crazy. Not a nature or wilderness kid for sure! Thank goodness testing is pretty much done, he is just retaking one satII in fall. But have to get going on the essay… What school are you visiting in Seattle? Uchicago and Northwestern in Chicago I assume? Doubt we will make it to visit those. But will probably apply at least to UChicago. M</p>
<p>stillwater, ShawSon did an Outward Bound session where they were beyond cell phone range for several weeks after his freshman or sophomore year in HS. Great experience. They weren’t clearing trails or doing service work like your daughter, but the OB programs were really oriented around personal growth. They would carry 70 lb packs up the ridges of mountains and ShawSon said a number of the girls in his group (8 girls, 2 guys) were crying as they climbed. He would take stuff from their packs to help them make it. They all did solos (hiking by themselves and sleeping away from everyone, I think). By the end, they apparently all felt like it was a profound experience (even the criers). It also gave him a confidence that he knew what to do and could manage himself in the out of doors. Like you, we were anxious about not being able to communicate, but I think that is part of the growth experience. Best of luck with it.</p>
<p>D’s applying to U of Washington and their honors program. It’s apparently as hard to get into as an ivy. From posts here, it might not be as good a fit for students interested in engineering and possibly the sciences because of course conflicts or something to that effect, but very beneficial for humanities or social science majors. The students can choose a residential program, though it apparently changes dorm locations from year to year. But there is a lot of faculty interaction and it seems to be a good quality program in wonderful Seattle. There are naysayers, but D is buying into the idea of a small college within a big college idea. </p>
<p>The only other West schools D is applying to are Stanford (very top choice and legacy) and Whitman. My parents-in-law are extremely disappointed she’s not applying to the UC system, especially Cal and UCLA, but D shares our concern that with extreme budget cuts, she may not get into the classes she needs to graduate in four years. We’ve told D we’ll pay for four years anywhere she wants to go. After that, she’s on her own. She thinks the risk of having to take out 40K/50K + loan for OOS tuition for that fifth year is too great.</p>
<p>Yes, in Chicago we’re looking at both NW and U Chicago. D has a personality fit for U Chicago, but I’m somewhat worried about the safety issue for that school. Chicago as a city isn’t doing very well in the crime department. We have to see it and talk to people there. Our concerns about Columbia have been eased and D is really excited to apply- what a fabulous place. NYC’s crime statistics have been on a long downward trend. Columbia just won a court case (eminent domain) to buy many blocks to the north of their campus- for a major expansion program. I believe it’s supported by donors not tuition. It’s not clear to me what this will do to crime statistics in the area in the short term. It also seems the new construction will be north of campus, so hopefully noise, etc. won’t affect campus life. Probably 4-year grad rates and crime risk shouldn’t play such a big role when compared to the pure quality of these institutions and their strengths in my D’s areas of interest, but unfortunately they do.</p>
<p>^I suggest you get hard facts from the UW-Honors program regarding the percentage of students who are able to graduate in four years. At the information session I attended several years ago, none of the five student panelists were planning (able) to graduate within four years.</p>
<p>Shawbridge, thanks for your support with your comments about the Outward Bound program. That part where they go off by themselves is scary. What if they get lost, do they have GPS? Is Shawson now an addict of hiking? My D is in a group in which she is the only girl with 5 boys, but there is one female adult with one male adult. Usually they strive for a balance of girls and boys, but this time it didn’t work out. The adults lead the group closely at first, then over time let the kids take over more. They may all get the opportunity to be in charge. D has excellent understanding of people and situations and is supportive and non-judgmental, but it remains to be seen how much the boys will accept direction from D.</p>
<p>Wow, thanks, PBR! We certainly will get the facts. The information we have so far is quite nebulous, and we were planning to travel to UW soon to sort it out. Was there a reason given why they didn’t graduate in four years? It’s bad if ALL the panelists couldn’t do it. Posts on CC document the troubles of students with quantitative majors, but suggest that the program is great for humanities or social science majors.</p>
<p>^As I recall, the primary issue was that courses required for many popular majors are hard to get into; one often is required to wait a quarter or two to take a particular course. The secondary reason (and maybe I’ve got the order reversed) seemed to be the common practice of terms or years abroad, often studying topics not related to their majors. The real reason seemed to be that the kids loved being in college so much, they didn’t want to leave (which seems, at the end of the day, a ringing endorsement of UW-Honors).</p>
<p>Among the general (non-honors) population, I know that graduating in four years is a real challenge, due to course access.</p>
<p>“so hopefully noise, etc. won’t affect campus life”</p>
<p>Didn’t one of your posts say you had visited Columbia? The construction, if it ever really starts, will not be at the immediate location of most of Columbia’s buildings…but…just an FYI…the “campus” for Columbia is the upper west side New York City! The quad and immediate buildings are not sheltered from city life…and there is lots of noise! </p>
<p>I think you will find a few very frequent posters on CC with kids at Chicago who have had wonderful experiences…with no significant issues from the immediate neighborhood. If you and your child really feel it’s a perfect fit…hope she’ll be moving forward with the application.</p>
<p>Over the past two summers D1 was on group programs where she was incommunicato for two weeks. We were never really nervous, just somewhat low-level frustrated that we didn’t know what she was up to. Good training for us for when she goes off in a year. Since we knew that she had no cell or email access, a phone call from the staff/organization would have to be bad news, so we were glad to hear nothing. :)</p>
<p>2boysima, Yes, my D and I visited Columbia in June. It was after this visit that this article about Columbia’s court victory came out. The article said the expansion is planned over decades, so who knows when they will start. It is in the area north of the campus, not on the campus, so I expect the disruption to campus life will be minimal, unless students live in that area. That’s where a little uncertainty lies. Certainly cities are noisy anyway, and D was not put off by this. She loved Columbia and is ready to apply. </p>
<p>You are right. The CC posters I read dont’ seem too concerned about crime in area of U Chicago other than, like everywhere else, you have to be careful. Still, we need to go there and walk around and talk to students there, so we’re saving our trip until after classes have started.</p>
<p>Hi everyone I haven’t been on CC for weeks, busy with life and trying not to stress about the college process. It helped that LuckyBoy’s AP scores were very good (5 Calc AB, 5 Eng Lang, 5 USH, 4 Physics C Mech).</p>
<p>We went yesterday to the Dog & Pony Show at the Oh So Local State Flagship Grabbed a decent breakfast, visited the tables for a gazillion majors, ran into some old friends, toured dorm rooms that aren’t on the regular tour (the freshmen honors dorms, new suite-style dorms), and sat in on a discussion about the Honors College and study abroad. When we got home, we looked up the AP credit given by the school to fulfill various distribution requirements-------he’d have 20 credits from this year’s AP scores! LuckyBoy told me he thinks he wants to go there The school has everything he wants </p>
<p>Oh my goodness, could we actually be done??? </p>
<p>The school does not offer ED. We are 99% sure of his acceptance to the Honors College. Without merit money, the school is <right> on the edge of being a financial safety. Going by friends’ kids’ results from this past admissions cycle, he <em>should</em> get some merit money. (A complicated tax situation this year will probably keep us from need-based aid.)</right></p>
<p>I feel like he should be applying to other schools, probably because everyone else is applying to many schools. His guidance counselor is on vacation until mid-August so we can’t get his opinion. Ds has had this guidance counselor since the first day freshman year, he really knows ds, so asking the opinion of another counselor in the office wouldn’t be as effective.</p>
<p>KLucky - we are basically in the same boat with S2. Over spring break he did the honor’s program info session at our state U, met with the program director and came home ready to sign up and put an end to the madness of college apps. Then our high school had a graduate this year who was rejected from the U honor’s program, but was accepted into Yale and Stanford…go figure. So we have come to this agreement. S2 will apply to one other school of his choice, one selected by mom, one selected by dad and one true financial safety (in case dad falls in a hole).</p>
<p>He is the type of kid who likes to make a decision and move on, but I fear that once school starts up and he hears his friends talking about all the places they are applying to that he may change his mind.</p>
<p>SlitheyTove and stillwater, in the Outward Bound case, we kind of figured no news was good news. Those trips always have a little bit of risk (or maybe a little bit more risk than other things) and we figured if there were an injury or illness, we’d hear about it. That helped in a funny way.</p>
<p>Mamom, Guatemala was amazing. We met up with another church to build houses, hold medical clinics, do repairs to an orphanage for disabled children, do food distribution at the city dump and host a block party. As we were in the airport getting ready to come back home I asked my D if home would be the same, she said yes and no. Physically it was the same but her perception was altered. We want to go back again next year with a bigger group, so we can do more.</p>
<p>Missypie wrote:
I have been sick since I got home, I thought I was thinking straight, obviously not…I did know that it was Texas State - it has a great Sound Recording Arts program that my son is very interested in, but it requires an audition that puts him at a disadvantage. He has to apply and get accepted to both, Texas State and the SRA program in the Music School (only 15 a year) to go there.</p>
<p>Hey am back having changed my login name, my son and I used to use same one which was confusing. Anyway I have a rising sr son, hypsm hopeful, so stressmom is a better name! Schools visited so far are Harvard, MIT, Stanford, Pomona, all of which he loved and Brown and Caltech which he didn’t. He is very familiar with Yale and doesn’t want to stay so close to home, sigh. Trying tondo more visits this summer, Columbia next on visit list, with UPenn and Princeton and Swarthmore visits to follow. Love reading people’s visit impressions onnthis site, spent a log time rereading old long thread on colleges kids decided not to apply to after visiting</p>
Since we knew that she had no cell or email access, a phone call from the staff/organization would have to be bad news, so we were glad to hear nothing. :)</p>
Grabbed a decent breakfast, visited the tables for a gazillion majors, ran into some old friends, toured dorm rooms that aren’t on the regular tour (the freshmen honors dorms, new suite-style dorms), and sat in on a discussion about the Honors College and study abroad. When we got home, we looked up the AP credit given by the school to fulfill various distribution requirements-------he’d have 20 credits from this year’s AP scores! LuckyBoy told me he thinks he wants to go there