<p>All of my son’s top LAC-ish choices were 60+% female.</p>
<p>Attendance is not referenced on my children’s transcripts… however, if truancy is a concern, it may be conveyed via the guidance counselor’s letter of recommendation, or in response to a direct inquiry.</p>
<p>My son is at an all-male HS… he’s going to be thrilled with ANY amount of women on campus :D</p>
<p>We visited Ithaca on Friday where son was the only male in our small tour group. The next day we visited RIT (Rochester Institute of Technology) and in the group of a couple of hundred students, there were probably 25 females. One of the things that does help the male female ratio there is that they have a very good art and photography department. I asked our tour guide how she felt about being a minority at RIT and she said that she didn’t notice it that much in her major and overall, the gamers spent so much time in their dorm rooms that she didn’t really notice them anyway.</p>
<p>hmmm
I dont think kiddo has noticed the m/f ratio…when we visited most colleges…
I may have to ask about that ;o)</p>
<p>Well, ShawD took her first full dress rehearsal ACT this weekend. She had stayed at her BFF’s house for the 3 nights before that week, which, it turned out meant that she was tired. In the dress rehearsal, she was really anxious and did 2 to 6 points worse than was taking them one section at a time. For example, she’d gotten a 33 on science in practice and got a 29. Her scores are probably still OK for the schools, but she’s going to do another practice session this weekend and she’s agreed that she’ll stay at home for the three nights before. She’s been out and about this week (she is doing ACTs and studying dance by day and was at a dance performance one night and at a concert another night so we haven’t really had a chance to debrief). I’m hoping that her performance hasn’t made her lose confidence.</p>
<p>shawbridge, while frustrating for shawd, it’s not uncommon for scores to drop when they go from taking tests by sections to taking the entire test at once. We insisted S2 do this for the SATs. He was really, really peeved at first but it helped him get his timing and frustration level down. Timing is even more of a factor in the ACT. If they get flustered on one section because they don’t finish, it can be hard to recover. S2 did quite well on the SATs first run and will take them again in Oct (perhaps not according to cc standards :), but at or above the 75th percentile of his target schools. One section needs to come up, but he’ll be fine…he’s still in range.). The practice of the full test is tiring but shawd will be so glad she did it a few times!</p>
<p>Re test prep</p>
<p>Our student did a bit of prep before the SAT and ACT–
not alot like Shaw’sD-- however some</p>
<p>and the scores at home, by section (and not under test conditions like THE day)
did vary from the real thing. Same with SAT subject tests.</p>
<p>One thing to remember is that the body of material varies a bit from test to test.</p>
<p>I wish my student had taken the time to use the xiggi method. I had printed out the info and asked kiddo to read through it and use it as a guideline…Kiddo had little time to prep beyond schoolwork, sports etc.</p>
<p>In the end we are happy with kiddo’s AP results, and SAT2s etc. The ACT was fine and in the range (though on the lowish end of mid 50% of tippy top reacheson the List) so kiddo will retake the ACT in Sept.</p>
<p>Shaw- when is your student taking the ACT? Sept is the first available date–right?</p>
<p>Venting</p>
<p>OK–Our hs requires that the kids use a particular studio for the Sr portraits etc…
and pics have to be done before school starts or they wont make it into the yearbook–
So with kiddo away most of the summer etc–it took some doing to get a slot kiddo could schedule.</p>
<p>And I should add that the web site is how the appts have to be made—Well there was some serioious web site problems–(admitted by the studio) and so they “comp’d” us pics in the garden to make up for it…</p>
<p>Kiddo shows up today–for portrait and the pics–only to be told NO–the garden pics are only for those who pay extra!.. So kiddo is driving home…and said the whole thing was really uncomfortable –</p>
<p>I called the studio and said–
ok so not only was the who process prior to the appt a mess–
Now the appt/sitting was a mess and the promised pics were never taken!</p>
<p>Just great
–a chance to have decent pics --and the studio continues to mess up…
and we are stuck with them for the Sr portrait—</p>
<p>sigh
glad I didn’t pay a ton for those big day photo shoots…</p>
<p>@fogfog. Can you just use them for the yearbook pic only and then use someone else for the “real” sr pics? That is my plan. We just got the notice to set up our appts and we are scheduled for next Sat. I am shopping around for a studio for the pics that will go out with invites and announcements.</p>
<p>Yeah, ds went for his senior sitting last week—for the yearbook photo. If he wants a “real” senior picture, we’ll have my dbil (graphic artist with the fab camera) take some candids somewhere. He’s a very low maintenance kind of guy :D</p>
<p>I don’t know if we’ll do invites/announcements outside of just immediate family who he sees on a regular basis. I expect he’ll put everything up on facebook so MY extended family in California will see it all (I love how he’s friended relatives he only sees every few years or so!).</p>
<p>Was out for a couple of days and the thread is sure chugging along.</p>
<p>Calls from HYPSM - D has received these calls (voice mail messages). Her stats are good, but definitely not above the profile for these schools. She is an athlete, but not one that would be recruited (hasn’t even tried to get recruited). She is not a URM. So, not sure why she was called !!</p>
<p>fogfog - we are trying to figure out the senior portraits deal here at home as well. School does recommend a studio, but apparently, we can go elsewhere. The sitting fees/package deals are incredibly expensive. We need to figure out what exactly we will be ordering for pictures and then pick a package/studio based on that. D also wants to take pictures with her friend - makes things a bit more complicated since friend was going to use studio A and it looks like we will be leaning towards studio B!!</p>
<p>Visited Brown over the weekend. Brown was a packed info session. Not very welcoming, but the students/admission officers did sound very enthusiastic about the school. D liked the open curriculum, the shopping period for classes, the grading policy selections. Campus was ok - a lot of construction going on near campus right now. Would be a reach - and I am not really sure we need more reach schools right now!</p>
<p>Also visited UVM. This is more of a safety school for D and she really liked the campus. Much smaller than UMass that we drove by last week. She thought this UVM campus felt a bit more personal and that you wouldn’t just be a number in the school. Burlington was very attractive - and the fact that downtown with the lake, the malls, the bike path is just 10 mins away from campus was great. Of course, we had a picture perfect day, with temps in the high 70’s, sunny with a great breeze. Winter would be a completely different story.</p>
<p>Thanks for your report. We visited Columbia yesterday. My son liked it quite a lot (somewhat surprising, but he is really not at all put off by the very urban setting). Session focused alot on availability of internships and the joys of being in NYC. My son actually likes the idea of the core curriculum, but we are all concerned that there will be too much overlap with his high school curriculum which is also quite great books-based. How many times can you reread the Iliad? I am torn, would be great to have him so close and obviously a great school if HYPSM are not in the cards, but I am not sure if he will end up applying. Princeton and Amherst visits coming up next… Ironically my son who likes all colleges did not like Brown (he stayed overnight with a cousin who is a current student there and loves it). Not really sure what put him off it, although he did not like the fact that there were no distribution requirements at all, as he doesn’t really know what he wants to major in, he likes the idea of some required classes or guidance on what to take…</p>
<p>I encourage everyone to please file their visit reports in the college vibe section!!! That way anyone interested in the school can quickly access them. I find them very helpful.</p>
<p>I feel weird about posting on college vibe as a parent, and I know my D won’t do it.</p>
<p>I second holliesue’s reminder. It’s so much easier to see the reviews up in the vibe forum then to look through the threads. I don’t think anyone cares if it’s a parent or a student doing the report, I sure don’t. My kids never, ever look on this site unless I send them a specific link.</p>
<p>fogfog, ShawD is taking September and maybe October ACTs. We figured that the xiggi method used in the summer worked so well for ShawSon that we’d use it for ShawD. She is not as driven as he is so she’ll do stuff like go to a concert and then stay over at a friend’s and come back too late to work on some mornings. His was intensely concentrated. Three weeks total. But, each kid is going to be different.</p>
<p>Today, I coached her as she responded positively to the invitation of the president of one of her target schools to meet while she is visiting.</p>
<p>I agree, post your vibe comments even if a parent, although I can see where it might be good to say you are a parent up front.</p>
<p>One thing each of us needs to consider is whether posting visit reports - or lists of applications or acceptances - will out us to acquaintances who may be reading. For example, if you’re from Ohio and you went to visit Seattle U, and you’re the only one at your HS who visited Seattle U, it’s easy to figure out who you are.</p>
<p>This happened to me, with my Son. I had posted on the thread of '09 admissions and someone I (barely) knew IRL recognized the list and asked me, “Are you missypie?”</p>
<p>I almost changed my screen name, but in the end decided I didn’t care. But if you post personal things about your life or your child, you may want to consider this.</p>
<p>The Common App becomes available in 5 days!!!</p>
<p>I do have some questions about that. I know there’s a 250 word minimum but is there some sort unspoken rule about how long the essay should be? Mine is 1200 words and I’m not sure how to revise any further. If a parent would like to give it a read and advise me on what can be cut, by all means send me a PM.</p>
<p>Sr portraits= our kiddo is pretty low maintenance…so while the sitting was cheap - we will see how the proofs are–would be nice to have a nice pic or two…Much prefer good candids - however a nice portrait is a keepsake.</p>
<p>College reports= I like reading the visit reports–I think there is nothing wrong with a parent writing them…hadn’t even thought about it–put in info from what kiddo said/saw etc. I sure hope everyone puts in their visits–it is really helpful</p>
<p>Common Apps= Wow-- cannot believed the clock is ticking so fast…our kiddo did pick up the paper copy of last years–and was talking about essay ideas etc…so its somewhere on the edges of the radar!!</p>
<p>Privacey= yeah CC does open us to intruders IRL…hopefully though its more rare than common. I actually have a couple of friends on here IRL and we dont know eachothers screen names! On the flip side–I have made several new friends from CC–and have met one IRL on a campus visit somewhere and the a couple more parents I will likely cross paths/meet IRL in the next year or so.</p>