<p>My friend visited Duke last spring with her daughter. She said it was like Epcot.</p>
<p>Picked up a copy of D1’s official transcript to check for mistakes. Her middle name is misspelled. It’s always been that way, we should have gotten it corrected before, hope we can do that quickly. There’s also a grade she wants to contest from last semester for a non-academic class. </p>
<p>Surprises: no GPA is given, weighted or otherwise. Her high school math classes taken in middle school show up, which boosts her GPA. </p>
<p>Following a CC suggestion I read some time ago, she has a separate email account just for college matters, and she and the parents have access to it. This is very useful, since I can log on and see what colleges she’s contacted.</p>
<p>How does one contest a grade?</p>
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<p>Is it a bad thing? - I love Epcot.</p>
<p>Duke was added to S’s list just recently, we did not visit it and I don’t know if we will have time for a visit before apps are due. But now, I want to go.</p>
<p>Epcot IMO is for old people who can’t ride real rides anymore.</p>
<p>CIA, heck if I know. Start with the GC and say that you think the grade was issued in error. In this case, it was issued by a vindictive old so-and-so who got upset with D1 for reading the NY Times when there was absolutely nothing else to do in the classroom. Since the so-and-so retired, I have no idea if an appeal will go anywhere.</p>
<p>^ Epcot has some new rides that I wouldn’t call ‘rides for old people’. But, it all depends what one calls ‘old’.</p>
<p>SlitheyTove wrote:
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<p>Our hs transcript also shows some of the middle school classes and their grades, but they are not included in the GPA calculation.</p>
<p>keylimepie, that’s what I was expecting. Except there’s no GPA calculation at all. School doesn’t start for a month, so it remains a mystery until then.</p>
<p>D has an AP Language assignment of completing one of the essays for common app by end of August. So now I know at least she will put some real effort into it. And it will be good to get the feedback from the teacher prior to submitting the app.</p>
<p>S2 is flying back from a summer enrichment program tonight. The texts and phone calls indicate that he has had a grand time–the 16 other bright students from around the country stretched him to an extent that our local public school never can. I am intrigued to see how his college aspirations have changed (both school and course of study.) Then we will start having to formulate strategy because I haven’t been able to bug him about this stuff for the six weeks he has been away.</p>
<p>D2 at work on several apps at the moment. Fall will be busy will with her sport, leadership & play on top of academics so she knows what she can finish before school starts will be extremely beneficial. However, she is never able to settle for anything less than what she considers the very best which is turning every short answer and essay question into quite the ordeal. Guess I just need to accept that at least she’ll be happy with the final product when she finishes.</p>
<p>We just returned from the Ohio Six college tour. We visited Wooster, Denison and Kenyon. I know there’s a separate section to comment on campus visits, but these were really too short to go there (I believe). In a nutshell, D and I agreed that she would be happy at any of these colleges. They each had their own special attributes. My summary:</p>
<p>Wooster - Very warm, cozy, friendly and comfortable. Nice philosphy of keeping original campus buildings and rehabbing only the inside, giving a very attractive look and feel to the campus. “Warm and fuzzy”.
Denison - Very dynamic. Nice facilities, very updated, lots of emphasis on an active student body. Very positive vibe. D (theatre techie) wanted to stop by the theater,and we happened to see one of the lighting/set instructors. He and D immediately engaged in a sprited discussion on technical stuff, and he emphasized the collaborative nature of the theater program. He offered to show us another theater, grabbed his keys, and showed us around. D fell in love, although she did say that she knows that as a non-major, technical theater is not going to be a decision-maker, as long as there is an opportunitiy to participate in same. I liked this place much more than I thought I would.
Kenyon - maybe D’s favorite. Loved the traditions, having the town as part of the campus, and the feedback from everyone on how much they loved, really loved, Kenyon. I was surprised that for the school that was the most expensive and had the least extensive merit aid, it was the least updated - I thought the dorm they showed us was appalling (and most of the dorms I’ve seen are old and run-down: this was the worst). D doesn’t care at all about that.
Very positive trip. Big relief that there are such great places out there.</p>
<p>whew…S is wrapping up a yard sale to raise money for his Eagle Scout Project. He raised almost $400, enough to buy all the needed materials. yippee! I will be so glad when this is finished, hopefully before school starts. </p>
<p>H&S flying are flying down to VA on Thursday will tour William and Mary (seeing as he liked W&L we figured he might as well see W&M) and interview at W&L Fri. </p>
<p>Football starts in 2 weeks, school starts the Wed or Thur after Labor Day. S still needs several driving instructor time before he can take his driving test. My fingers are crossed he can get the hours in before school starts. It would be so much easier if he could drive himself around.</p>
<p>oh, btw I like Epcot. We usually spend a day or more there when we go to DW. I do agree about the rides, but the park is a nice change of pace from the hustle and bustle of the MK.</p>
<p>Just as our kids are going thru a process so are we. Our son came back from his summer program at Steven Inst of Tech yesterday (if anyone is interested in ECOES Engineering program I can write more). Lightening forced a very long wait for his luggage which gave us an opportune time to catch up. After listening to him talk about his time away and how it impacted his thoughts about what was more important and less important in applying to college, I’ve decided it is time for me to back off. He is ready and able.</p>
<p>During the past year, we met each Sunday to discuss college stuff whether it was defining his ideal school, reviewing web sites or figuring out our travel arrangements. I ‘controlled’ the process by maintaining a TO DO list and prioritizing our focus. It worked well by getting us thru the year painlessly and my S learned how to organize a huge project. Today I handed him his last TO DO list. I told him that he is now in the driver’s seat. I will help him when and if he asks, but will not nag. His first question was “Who kidnapped my mom?”. It will be hard to not gently remind him to write his essays, make sure to get his recommendations in or request transcripts; however, I need to know he can do all of this without me next year when he IS on his own.</p>
<p>F1, sounds like you have a well motivated kid. Maybe I should back off with mine, but procrastination is his name and I just can’t let go yet.</p>
<p>No, the Epcot description wasn’t meant as bad. No campus was quite like it though. It was a spring day with music, ice cream, games, etc. Wake Forest was a let down after Duke… The academics played a big part too. 
That was just their initial impression. She is a top student so may have her choice of several top universities. Which ones will likely depend on the pure luck that really is a part of admissions.</p>
<p>We are on page four?? Everyone must be busy or on vacation!</p>
<p>D finally did get her schedule two days ago. All her AP classes fit in - but not orchestra 
She does need orchestra (or another arts class) to fulfill arts credits, so she’s looking to juggle some classes around. Initial try was unsuccessful - but we are hopeful that things will move around a bit before school starts (based on our experience the last year). Fortunately, she’s not stressing out about this as much as last year.</p>
<p>Did take D and a few of her friends to visit Amherst College and UMass Amherst the other day. All of them liked the town - but didn’t particularly take to either college. Most of them will be applying to UMass as a safety - they thought they could be happy there if they made it to the honors college. Given their lukewarm response, I am hoping none of them will <em>have</em> to attend their safety!!</p>
<p>We visited Amherst as well. Son is still torn about whether or not to apply to LACs. He liked Amherst better than Swarthmore, but I think may be leaning toward the midsize research universities. My son wants to make sure the school has a good neuroscience department and a good linguistics department and ideallly classics as well (can you tell he is undecided) and it appears hard to find schools that are strong in all of these. If we knock all of the LACs off the list, we will be down to 17 schools so the list will be getting close to done. If not, the list is still way too long…</p>