<p>Hey All
Well kiddo said the ACT w writing as great—Felt really good about it. The April score was nice - and yet kiddo would like to see 2-4 pts more. Doable–we will see. </p>
<p>I agree about the sr yr and getting the apps done–Why drag it out and have it hanging over your head…?? Who wants to go into the Thansgiving/Holiday break with apps to be done…We have told kiddo that everything MUST be done–before Thanksgiving.</p>
<p>Thank you for the warm welcome to us new posters. Its reassuring that Im not the only one who feels uncomfortable with the peer review of the personal essay. The problem for me centres on the privacy issue rather than the actual peer editing process. Mamoms suggestion to tackle a supplemental essay instead is a good one. I suspect S (and others) will write something quite bland and then have to write another essay when it comes to the real thing. I know my college essay (back in the dark ages) was all about how much I hated highschool I definitely would have felt inhibited if Id known my fellow students and teacher were going to be reading it. H wrote a nonsensical flight of fantasy that got him into every college on his list but which Im sure would have left his peers (and teachers) nonplussed. I think I will ask the GCs opinion on this - due to maternity leaves and sudden resignations, our CCs this year are brand new or part time only. Theres definitely an element of blind leading the blind the English teacher is new too. Glad I have CC to turn to!</p>
<p>^^I was finishing up most of my college apps last year during Christmas break— In fact, I distinctly remember sending in my last application on New Year’s Day :o— It actually wasn’t that bad. Even if your daughter/son finishes all the application before Thanksgiving, it may still perhaps be beneficial for her to send it in later so that she can review her essays again after being away from them for some time.</p>
<p>Welcome to former lurkers/new posters!</p>
<p>Fog, count me in on the weight-loss. I actually dropped some weight over the summer because I was doing so much yard work I didn’t really have time for food plus (strangely enough) I just wasn’t that hungry. Now I want to lose a bit more before the holidays and then stay put until January, when I’ll work on taking off a bit more before spring.</p>
<p>Regarding the peer review of essays, I have concerns about that, too. I asked my D how she would feel about that, and her look of horror/outrage was really pretty funny. She said, “No way…I’d write a dummy-essay for that, but my own, real essay isn’t for public consumption!”. Ok…</p>
<p>I do think for many kids there is a privacy concern.</p>
<p>Sounds like everyone feels the same way about privacey–and that a supplemental essay would be the way to go…</p>
<p>I asked kiddo what the Eng teacher thought–since the GC liked one and not the other…
In fact the English AP Lit teacher Liked the one the GC didn’t Felt it was a much strong essay all the way around and didn’t see the issue the GC had with it! SO --so far a split decision. I am thinking kiddo needs to take a step back–think about them and see what one more reader thinks…now to figure out who that should be to get a balanced review.
No one has tweaked/edited the essays–so they are in original form so far…and we don’t want someone to edit/tweak them…that would be our kiddo’s work to do–preserving kiddo’s voice/tone.</p>
<p>As for the weigh ins—do it soon–and handle the details as per your preference. Looking forward to slimmer graduation pics for all of us in May/June :o) HA!</p>
<p>Any other’s take the ACT today?</p>
<p>My D did. She took it w/o writing this time since the school she’s taking it for doesn’t care about writing.</p>
<p>Missypie</p>
<p>What did she think^^??</p>
<p>Our kiddo was very pleased–had taken it once before and felt really really good about this one–
The last one kiddo did great–with one glitch.
This one kiddo said went smoothly–felt the essay went better than the first time, and also finished all sections comfortably.</p>
<p>Fingers crossed for nice #s ;O)</p>
<p>Hey–I told some parents about CC today. They have a jr…I figured this is the best place to find helpful parents and it prevents parental stress dumps on kids ;o)</p>
<p>ShawD thought it went reasonably well. She thought the essay prompt worked and she wrote the best essay she’s written of the SAT/ACT variety. But, she said, you can’t tell until you get it back. Since she’s applying in science, I hope the math/science scores show as well as they did in her last practice exam. </p>
<p>She’s also scheduled to take it in October. Does one get the scores back soon enough to cancel in the fortunate event that the scores are good enough?</p>
<p>D said the earliest these ACT scores will be available on the website is September 27th, but that’s without the writing. Scoring the writing will add approximately 2 weeks and you can’t get the multiple choice scores until they get the essay graded.</p>
<p>Welcome new people!</p>
<p>My son is going to re-take the SAT in October, we’re hoping for that “maturity” bonus that sometimes happens. </p>
<p>Regarding the peer editing, I agree that a supplemental essay would be more appropriate to use. I never saw my older kids essay’s but they were good enough to get them accepted to several colleges so I’m not going to stress too much about it with youngest son.</p>
<p>Congrats to all whose kids sat through the test today! It’s an accomplishment.</p>
<p>Signed my D up for October ACT. H asked why? She really does have a “good enough” score (not false modesty - just a “good enough” score) and he hated seeing her so upset when there wasn’t any significant improvement from April to June. But I think now he understands that it just means something to her to take it, and he’s proud. It can help if she can get a couple more points, too, of course.</p>
<p>Tomorrow somehow between singing rehearsals and play rehearsal we’ll make our list/schedule/chart. I think she’s committed to that. Tonight she has friends over - also a treat for Japanese D - and I know the subject of apps has come up a little. </p>
<p>I’m not tired of senior activities yet … she’s not that into them … but I’m writing checks for the second of who knows how many “special” t-shirts. That could get old.</p>
<p>Luckily I don’t have to worry about yearbook deadlines or anything; she’s on staff and will let me know what to do, and they surely won’t let her stuff go awry.</p>
<p>We’re going through college senior life, too, although so far it’s just lots of schoolwork and right now 3 on-campus jobs. She’s also making contacts for work next year (luckily she’s in a field that should have plenty of low-level opportunities - lab/field research, in which she has a lot of experience). I imagine second semester will be pretty exciting - but again, mostly in the job hunt/move to the next thing category.</p>
<p>About the essays … I imagine I’ll look through D’s before they go in. And of course I don’t want anything to go wrong, for her to shoot herself in the foot, etc. But just as with grades, scores, relationships with teachers, etc., she’s going to be who she is, and there isn’t much I can do about it.</p>
<p>I appreciate fog’s comments about the kid’s own voice - in my opinion there’s no point in her being able to sell herself beyond what she’s truly capable of, and I trust that colleges will be able to figure this out. I may be crying in a few months if we end up in the bad luck end of things, because I know the process has a ton of holes and weird things happen. But mostly I believe that things will fall into place as they should, and if she nails some application essay in a way she never could duplicate or represent, then what’s the benefit?</p>
<p>I’m not accusing anyone of this - I’m just remarking that there’s no secret formula to success in it, no amount of “fine tuning” that will guarantee anything, nor is there a knowable set of fatal errors we can protect them from making.</p>
<p>I see the essay as a way to answer the questions: “Do we like this kid? Would s/he be fun, interesting, exciting to have as part of our group here?” No need to prove anything else, at least in our case. It would be futile for her to try to seem like the smartest, coolest, MOST fascinating person they’ve ever seen. She can be smart, cool and fascinating enough; my only hope for her is that she sound positive - she can be kind of a sarcastic, cynical type, and she’s faced a lot of really negative situations that she’s pretty angry about. On the flip side, she can be incredibly passionate and giddy in love with things, so she’ll just have to work at showing how invested she can be, and what she knows about finding meaning and moving forward. That’s where having feedback from someone will definitely be helpful.</p>
<p>Add me to the weight loss group. Just got home from dinner. Ate only two bites of amazing chocolate cake. Great sacrifice for this chocoholic!</p>
<p>Son had a good day today. Filled out all teacher LOR request forms and GC request forms for Common App. Transcript requests too. Handing them in on Monday. Will try to wrap up two EA apps tomorrow. He’s moving along.</p>
<p>Hi everybody,</p>
<p>I’m joining your weight loss wagon. I’ve gained so much weight in the last year, thanks to the beginning of perimenopause and stress generated by my son’s junior year! When it came to getting him to study for the SATs, sometimes I felt like I was pulling a dead weight up the mountain. I have never had to nag him for school work but everything related to this college process - the testing, the college researching prior to formulating the initial list, the making of interview appts, and the list goes on - has been a chore. I get it, it’s not as fascinating as reading John Updike, his present favorite novelist, but it has to get DONE. As for me, like some of you above, I just turned 50 and need to lose this tire.</p>
<p>Yesterday wasn’t such a great day. He and I thought he was finished w/ the common app and his EA supplement, all essays included. Since he couldn’t get an appointment w/ his college counselor at school until late Sept (although the all drafts of the aforementioned were due on sept 1:(, I made an hour and half appt w/ a private college counselor to review his application. Well, the guy read the essays and told us that the topics my son chose were great but that the essays needed major revisions. He gave us his very concrete impressions. I walked out not sure if I believed him. Then a few hours later we were having dinner w/ my cousin who it turns out unbeknownst to me worked in Harvard admissions while she was a grad student and she read the essays and had the same exact reactions as the counselor w/out knowing what he said. Son is beginning to rewrite everything as I write this. We’re both so bummed b/c a lot of time was spent on these essays this summer so that he’d be ahead of the game now. He even worked w/ an English teacher at school via email. The fact that 2 people w/ extensive admissions experience had the same exact criticisms make it impossible to ignore. </p>
<p>Re: bed bugs. Dear friends who have twins who just started at Lehigh told us last week that one of their sons has gotten all bitten up by bed bugs. there was a big article last week in the NYTimes science section about how prevalent they are again in the US and how to avoid bringing them home. Even movie theaters in the city have closed down b/c of infestations. One of my clients picked them up last year while staying at a high level hotel. She paid $30,000 to rid her home of them. Every floor board needs to be sealed. every wall needs to be opened to place pesticide. and the list goes on. it’s worth reading the article just so when your kid returns home from college he/she doesn’t bring the critters along. As if the applications weren’t enough stress!</p>
<p>Renaissance Mom - Yikes reagarding the essay. But, better to hear it now than submit and get a rejection because of it. Makes you wonder how kids who do this process completely on their own get in anywhere. </p>
<p>I have a friends whose S is a freshman at Lehigh, she will not want to hear about bedbugs. I read the article and the whole bedbug thing gives me the willies.</p>
<p>About bedbugs…We just did a weeklong college road trip, staying in hotels. I checked all the beds, chairs etc in every room. Put my stuff on tables not on the the bed or the floor, packed everything in plastic bags individually. I personally know people who have had to deal with bed bugs and it has been a tremendous ordeal. I have gotten very paranoid about them! When d goes to school I will be sending her with a special supposedly bed bug proof mattress liner. I am usually not so paranoid about this kind of thing, but a friend of mine in NYC had to get rid of every piece of his furniture, replaced stuff and then got them again (he lives in an apt building). A HUGE expensive and hassle!</p>
<p>You say you checked the beds etc. How can you tell? Are they visible to the naked eye? We had a nightmare with head lice last summer. I definitely don’t ever want to deal with bed bugs (or head lice again).</p>
<p>Bedbugs, ugh! I live about 15 minutes from Lehigh. Hope those critters don’t crawl over to my side of the mountain!</p>
<p>Re Bed Bugs, when we were in NYC, I checked the matteress etc for bed bugs having heard this year about how many places had problems–from hotels to offices.</p>
<p>As far as ACT scores go–
the deadline to pay/sign up for the next session is BEFORE the scores are released. Then if the writing score has to be done–that comes a few weeks after the S/M/R/E scores. When the writing is done–there will also be a joint english writing score.</p>
<p>Kiddo said looking forward to be IN a college…<br>
A friend already has a likely letter for a school!
The pressure through the apps process is fierce and its only mid Sept.!</p>
<p>There are LOTS of articles on how to check mattresses! they leave stains,especially near the head board (although I checked the whole mattress).</p>
<p>D and I had our “app” session, and it was fun! I think an hour was enough (considering she was between 2 long rehearsals), and I’m good with what got done. </p>
<p>We started with her priority app, which she was practically giddy about. Except she misremembered her “app” e-mail address, so we’ll have to send them a correction, AND the site froze before we could pay and finish. So we couldn’t quite have the high-five that we wanted … but we know she’s essentially done with it. </p>
<p>Then we went through her list of schools and started putting in app details … except some schools haven’t posted yet. So we switched to Common App, and she got everything but the essays done. She can work on them this week, made herself a deadline of next Sunday. We also now have a good list of ECs and awards. By the end of the month she’ll have all of her deadline info and be ready to build on her bouquet of essays.</p>
<p>All good with me. It’s a nice feeling to see her so happy with herself - other priority apps are coming in the mail, plus e-mails and a couple of schools that have called her a few times. We’ll assume nothing until we get good news from UMinn, but she should know before the trip we have planned in October to visit.</p>
<p>Actually I recall that I visited my school after applying rolling admissions, and was told to my face when I got there that I was in. That might be fun for her, too.</p>
<p>Don’t want to think about the alternative … but stats-wise she’s in excellent shape. And if the earth shifted and this became the only option, she says she’d be completely happy.</p>