<p>Regarding the detergent sheets. We have a vacation place and RV and have to occassionaly have to use commercial washers. I find in general they are awful. A lot do not have hot water and they have small tubs compared to what I have at home.</p>
<p>sigh</p>
<p>our gc is just not going to be very helpful…
we haven’t gotten guidance about selecting schools
and
since the school does not allow us access to Naviance…
we have to go by what we read on each schools web page–in the freshman profile–
and just look at our hs’s profile etc.</p>
<p>So what exactly is she being paid to do??</p>
<p>fogfog, remind me how many students your GC is responsible for. You’re looking to cut the list, right?</p>
<p>D2 comes back from 3 weeks of camp on Sunday, so there will be laundry. </p>
<p>Do any of you have kids whose speech is a bit too colloquial? In preparation for interviews, we offered D1 $5 a day if she could avoid using “like” when talking with her parents. It was, like, really, like, annoying. 
Saturday, she couldn’t do it. Sunday, she did. She’s now trying to hit me up for payments on weekdays, when we don’t see her for as much as the day. I negotiated a reduced rate. It’ll help her pay off her parking ticket. :)</p>
<p>Our GC has about 50 students to handle…
as the sr advisor and gc…</p>
<p>Its summer and not ike many kids are doing much–</p>
<p>Our student has to start essays–</p>
<p>testing may be done–unless kiddo retakes the ACT…the score was nice and could be a couple of points higher</p>
<p>The list right now is very reach heavy–in part due to major and sport
and the safeties are VERY SAFE–meaning our students GPA and scores are far above the profile–</p>
<p>so we need to trim and be sure we have matches etc.</p>
<p>During a conversation about scheduling–the gc basically said kiddo was no where near the ballpark for reaches…and that is not what I am seeing in the freshman profiles of the schools…
from ACT scores, etc…
we know they are reaches–however–she was so not helpful…</p>
<p>Each GC has 500-550 students. Assuming that 1/4 are seniors, that’s 125 students. Our GCs don’t even begin to pretend to advise the students regarding where to apply.</p>
<p>Senior year starts for us tomorrow. I get to go pick up class schedule since D is away at church camp.</p>
<p>GC called today as they were trying to figure out schedule. We had to drop AP Micro/Macro Econ due to conflict with yearbook. D loves yearbook and hopes to be sports editor this year so didn’t want to give up the EC. Luckily we were able to pick up AP Lit. I am glad about that change because all of her AP credit has been History courses, which will only satisfy elective requirement. Now she will be able to get English credit, which everyone needs. Since she had to drop to Honors Econ, its only a one semester course, and since she is taking AP Government, she got to pick another elective and decided on Sociology. Good thing is that it is considered an academic course and should be an easy A to boost her GPA instead of picking a PE elective.</p>
<p>SlitheyTove -D uses the word “like” a lot as well. I think it is very common with teenagers these days. We do try and ask her to talk in somewhat coherent, complete sentences!</p>
<p>While D is very articulate, when you talk to her, that might not be the impression you get. There are a lot of “I don’t know”, “whatever”, “like” words in the conversation. Not good for interviews. GC mentioned that they are offering some interviewing techniques/advice early in the fall - I guess a lot of the students could use this. D has been only on one interview with an admission counselor so far - I think she could use some interview practice time!</p>
<p>“our gc is just not going to be very helpful…
we haven’t gotten guidance about selecting schools”</p>
<p>“the gc basically said kiddo was no where near the ballpark for reaches…”</p>
<p>I apologize if this comes across as too harsh…but…I think the GC was giving you some guidance. </p>
<p>If you have “very safe” safeties, that your kid would be very happy to attend and you can afford…why do you need any match schools?</p>
<p>^ Well I think safety schools are not always a challenge academically as matches or reaches.</p>
<p>We have the problem of too many safeties and not enough reaches. Problem is S’s SAT scores make every school on his list a safety whereas his GPA make a lot of schools reaches.</p>
<p>D is finding it very hard to determine matches and safeties. Scores, GPA, rigor of courses are Ivy/top LAC range. Sport will be a “tip” at best at Ivy, possibly a “hook” at DIII. Problem is sport takes 25 hours a week so ECs are spotty and she has few leadership experiences. With yields below 10% at some schools, who knows? She really does not want to apply to a ton of schools just for a “lottery” chance at selective school. Starting to outline the essay. Tring to avoid the cliche sports essay, but her sport is pretty much how she sees herself, who her friends are, where all her emotional ups and downs have been, etc. Any advice? I love this forum!</p>
<p>I think counselors tend to be way too discouraging. Ours also is very focused on what I consider super safeties. I wd take whatever little is useful and ignore the rest. I wd much rather maximize chances by increasing the number of reaches he applies to!</p>
<p>mnmomof2: I would recommend that you have her apply to at least one selective school EA (non-binding). That will give her an idea of where she stands - and it might give her a school she really likes that she can know all year that she already is accepted at. </p>
<p>When you have the stats where top schools are “matches” but their acceptance rates are very low, it is very difficult to feel confident. An EA acceptance comes in very handy. If she’s rejected, she shouldn’t take it personally (although that’s hard), but it may motivate her to spread her net a lot wider.</p>
<p>I would suggest where the essay is concerned that she go ahead and write about her sport, but just try to make it as personal as possible. No generalities like “I feel great when I do it” or “I learned to try my hardest and push myself.” Tell a story that’s uniquely hers.</p>
<p>mnmomof2 - re: essay - I agree with Emmy that it is important to find something that is uniquely your daughter’s. Maybe an experience on the bus going to a game or sharing one of those emotional ups and downs. She probably can find some good examples online as well as things to stay away from.</p>
<p>"Problem is S’s SAT scores make every school on his list a safety whereas his GPA make a lot of schools reaches. "</p>
<p>School would only be a safety if SAT is the primary tool used for evaluating applicants. It isn’t in most schools. Even most of the very numbers drive schools look at a combo of test score and GPA.</p>
<p>I know there are a bunch of threads about “lopsided” kids. EA and Rolling admissions are really great for everyone (if there are EA/Rolling schools your kid will gladly attend and you can afford) – but are especially important for lopsided kids. If you can know by November if things are going well or you’re striking out…you have at least a month or two to re-group. Very little time to regroup…and lots of heartache…if you have to wait until April.</p>
<p>I know some people struggle with so many school options. That’s so foreign to me. One safety (at my insantance), one good match (scores are above the 75% range), and one semi-reach (state public, but reach for most, scores in range). S2 is meeting with the regional advisor from his safety in August. We’ll see how much love they want to show :). Luckily he understands the game of a good honors college with $ for grad school.
Right now I just want to see him start on his essays for his first choice. I have very mixed feelings about that as the gf also wants to go there. She is a legacy and completive in her own right so there’s a good chance she’ll get in. I don’t want him making a decision based on a gf… Then again his top two are schools any student would be proud of, and they’ve been dating a year. I’d prob follow a bf to that school if I were him :)</p>
<p>Oh, regarding GC. I can commiserate here, overworked to say the least. I was pleased that they answered a summer email personally requesting S2s transcript be sent to his safety prior to a meeting with a regional rep in Aug. We had not anticipated the meeting. We received a niched note back saying how pleased she was in our progress and keeping in touch regarding his plans. I think that can only help that I have pointed out what his first choice is when she writes the recommendation. Maybe? Who knows?</p>
<p>I am truly amazed that any of you are hearing from GCs over the summer! Our school website has a note that the counseling office is closed for the summer, and counselors are not available to help students, but will return in August. Kids don’t find their schedule until they go to registration a few days before classes start. Problems are dealt with then.</p>
<p>about speed reading program…</p>
<p>I was wondering if any of you have your son/daughter take speed reading program.
[Reading</a> Program | Institute of Reading Development](<a href=“http://readingprograms.org/]Reading”>http://readingprograms.org/)</p>
<p>If so, what do you think about it? Thanks for any thoughts.</p>
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<p>I agree that GPA is usually most important and that is our problem. With his GPA most schools are reaches. Thankfully Naviance has helped some but it is still going to be a crapshoot at a lot of schools except the safeties. GC suggested he apply to a larger number than normal reaches and matches so I expect in the end S will end up applying to about 15 schools. GC does not want him applying EA to any schools in hopes that he can pull his GPA up, but I want a yes from someone early on in the game.</p>
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<p>D did it last year. I was dubious because I researched them…high pressure sales and very unhappy employees. But I still had her do it and it was pretty worthless.</p>