<p>It makes me cranky to hear about kids applying to so many schools. It really just clogs up the whole system. Even if the counselor only spends 10 minutes on each app, that’s .yikes…
380 minutes - 6.3 hours!
Mine has a list of about ten, of which two may be dropped. He is using ED, too, which means he may actually only send out five applications. (Two are UK and due now, two to state schools with priority deadlines.)</p>
<p>Hi All</p>
<p>KeyLime–please don’t think my comments about not beig able to leave our kiddos as any veiled judgement…I think if we were in state or close enough, I would possibly hazard doing it…however being “out of the country” and also a few days before exams…I am inclined to be a little more conservative. Our kids are great–and I think they’d do fine under most conditions…</p>
<p>As far as NYC is concerned–have a great great time and definitley eat at some fun and different places. Whenever we travel–we try to eat at places that aren’t here in town, like ethiopian, or a lobster/clam bar place, vietnamese food etc…</p>
<p>As far as # of schools–If kiddo gets into first choice–it’s one and done…If not, then the EA app for another top chocie as well as maybe 5-7 more…don’t know…will be in order. We are in a “waiting” mode in this household til mid/late next week -we think.
We will have a pow wow and maybe meet with the GC about adding to list and taking some off…its all TBD. “the list” is not bad, yet could use a match/safety. DH has piped in that if it comes down to another saftey–that the state flagship shoudl be added… Kiddo absolutely doesn’t want to attend said state flagship and its NOT a shoe in for any kid in our state. We will see…</p>
<p>38!! I cannot believe that a GC wouldn’t tell a student that 38 schools is ridiculous. And frankly-what were the parents thinking?? Consider this–just with the ivy league alone–all of those schools are different, kwim?. There is no way a kid LOVES each one of them, yet you will see a kid apply to all of those schools…and I woudn’t be surprised if many have never even been to the colleges they are applying to…they are choosing a “brand name” , not looking for the match of a college experience.</p>
<p>Or you read about kids applying to HUGE flagship schools clear across the country and tiny LACs…with a huge list…where the campus culture, etc etc of each is sooo different. I think some pick the schools by stats (SATs and major) not the college culture/ethos which is also so important when it comes to fit.</p>
<p>When visiting, we went to several schools that on paper seems to be great fits…and when we took tours, walked around etc…they were not the right fit at all…
So was the travel to visit 13 schools alot of $, yes.
And are there a few “safties” we may add on and then have to visit before May 1 IF the current “plan” doesn’t fly, yes…</p>
<p>I am glad I am not the parent paying for 38 apps for my kid, nor paying to visit 38 schools!</p>
<p>^ Agreed w/ fogfog about schools that seem to be great fits on paper. I thought D would fit well academically and socially at Ga Tech, Emory, Vandy & U of Chicago- but nope. She removed all from her list after visits. Glad the effort paid off in shortening her list.</p>
<p>Keylimepie, no judgment here either about your decision. Glad it works for you to do that. And major kudos to your 10 yr old D. A piano competition at Carnegie Hall is pretty impressive. Enjoy your trip to the Big Apple!</p>
<p>^^ True</p>
<p>Great on paper but off the list</p>
<p>BC
Tufts
Holy Cross</p>
<p>…to name a few. All nice schools and were not the right pair of shoes so to speak…</p>
<p>I hope things go well for all, Keylimepie. Hugs for your little one! I hope you enjoy some terrific Ethnic food in NYC. I can hear Sechuan West calling me now… We left our 17 y.o at home with the dog for a week this summer while we drove across three states to pick up our 14 yo at camp and take 16 yo to visit colleges. Oldest son is not a partyer. He was fine. The neighbors knew he was by himself and so did grandparents. They checked in on him and he called us a couple times but everything was okay.</p>
<p>Funny, I’ve been reading this thread for the last two days and just now realized that I left my son’s alone one night last weekend when we went away for a wedding. They’re 23 and 17. None of us gave it a thought except to figure out driving arrangements. My youngest had homecoming on the same night. Except for feeding the dog late, nothing exciting happened. None of our kids have large groups of friends and my youngest has friends that are more likely to have a LAN party then a kegger.</p>
<p>Lok at this…how fun as we go into the holidays…
[Slow</a> Cooking Surprises! 10 Warm, Gooey, Wonderful Desserts in a Pot - Food on Shine](<a href=“http://shine.yahoo.com/channel/food/slow-cooking-surprises-10-warm-gooey-wonderful-desserts-in-a-pot-2397634/]Slow”>http://shine.yahoo.com/channel/food/slow-cooking-surprises-10-warm-gooey-wonderful-desserts-in-a-pot-2397634/)</p>
<p>Our son is taking the SAT this morning. Anyone else? The closest testing center is 50 miles away so we decided to spend the night in a hotel close to the testing site so he would not have to get up as early. Went to dinner, then to see “The Social Network.” Got to bed at 10:30. At 12:30, I hear my son in the bathroom throwing up. This is not what we needed!</p>
<p>Finally got to sleep at about 2:15. He felt better after a shower this morning, but not rested. Had a banana and apple juice this morning. We bought some crackers and a bottle of water for the breaks in the test.</p>
<p>This is his second SAT attempt. The first was the morning of prom, so he defnitely was not totally focused that day. That resulted in a 1980 total. I hope that’s good enough for National Merit finalist status. We were hoping for improvement today, but I’m much more concerned about his health than the score at this point. </p>
<p>SAT II’s in November. That testing site is about 30 miles away. Taking the SAT is a challenge here in ACT country!</p>
<p>olderwisermom - Do you think it was nerves or is there some stomach bug going around school? Poor kid.</p>
<p>Olderwisermom: I hope your son feels better and the test goes well. My daughter was sick the day of her 2nd ACT, but took it anyway. Her composite went up 2 points. It’s rough that you have to drive so far for testing. It adds another level of stress.</p>
<p>Thanks, kajon. Hard to tell. We ate the same pizza for dinner–although he had wings as well. He’s not the nervous type. He has never been outwardly nervous before testing. There has been a bug but none of his friends has had it.</p>
<p>We’ll just hope for the best.</p>
<p>Olderwisermom: My daughter is taking SATIIs this morning, but she only had a 15-20 minute drive. Sorry to hear about your son. My daughter wasn’t 100% on the PSAT, so I know it’s disappointing when health issues pop up on these important days. Earlier in the week, my daughter asked me to get up this morning to make the “traditional” chocolate chip pancakes for her test day. And last night she went out to buy the pencils she uses on tests. Apparently, she always has to have a new set.</p>
<p>My D is taking the SAT this morning also. This is her 2nd time taking it and she prepped pretty extensively for it this time. So, we too, are hoping for the best… She was outwardly in good spirits, but I could tell she was nervous. Me? I’m a nervous wreck and probably will be until it is done and over and results are out. Fortunately, she did fairly well in her first sitting, so that if she doesn’t improve, it is not the end of the world for her applications. She will be disappointed though. </p>
<p>Sigh, why does the SAT have to be such high stakes for these teenagers? It was such a breeze back in my day. I told my H this morning that the current SAT mania reminds me of the test mania surrounding the CA Bar exam. I think I set two alarm clocks each day, planned all meals and snacks with great care, and of course prepped A LOT. But, at least I was a mature (?) 27 when I took that exam.</p>
<p>I still remember that when I took the SATs, I did absolutely no prep. I did bring a lucky charm to the test, but didn’t give the whole thing much thought at all. Nobody I knew studied for them at all.
And now it’s just too darn long a test. Kids coming out afterwards look (and are) exhausted. Mine and his buddies took the SAT 1 in March last spring and all just had no energy afterwards.</p>
<p>Nemom-And now it’s just too darn long a test. Kids coming out afterwards look (and are) exhausted. Mine and his buddies took the SAT 1 in March last spring and all just had no energy afterwards. </p>
<p>I agree. Last time my son went to work @4 after taking the test and this time he asked off. He was beat. He was a bundle of nervous energy this morning. He said he was fine but I could tell he wasn’t. He even asked his dad to drive him and pick him up (it’s about 20 mins away) and I just think that was because of his nerves. I guess it will be time to look at sunject tests for November but honestly, I am not sure I understand what they are or which ones he should take. It’s so much more confusing now. I’m glad I only have 1 to navigate through this.</p>
<p>“Nobody I knew studied for them at all.” </p>
<p>Nemom: So true. And we only took the SAT once — in the fall of Senior year.</p>
<p>I grew up in a blue collar town in the 70’s. I think we were told on the morning announcements the day of the test that all seniors should report to the auditorium. (I learned much later that there were a handful of kids who were prepared for the test - children of the town leaders)</p>
<p>The point is this. We basically had no stress and we now watch our kids head off to the big test carrying the weight of their future on their shoulders and knowing that how they perform on this ONE morning could have a huge impact their entire life.</p>
<p>My son took the SAT this morning. Our little hiccup was over-sleeping but it was given at his school so the only impact was taking a shorter shower.</p>
<p>Good luck to all who have kids testing today.</p>
<p>Olderwiser–my guess would be food poisoning from the chicken wings…Hopefully he rebounds and does well today. Will be a good story to tell years from now- though not fun now.</p>
<p>When we took SATs many moons ago, no one prepped for the PSAT nor SAT…you took it once and that was it…If kids were prepping–no one talked about it and it was probably rare.
I recall one girl who took was “smart” and she transferred out of our public to one of the big name prep schools in the NE…I forget which one–That was the far exception and I think her scores were pretty amazing at the time.</p>
<p>Most kids who did go to college went to the LACs in PA, and schools primarily in the NE. I looked back on stuff from my hs–and I had forgotten how some girls went on to beauty colleges/etc to become hairdressers–it was the 70s…so I have no idea what that trend was about… :rolleyes:</p>
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<p>Kajon, I think we as a society and as parents and kids have talked ourselves into a lot of this weight of the world on their shoulders stuff. One can get a good education at many, many schools. Some are big, some small, some rural, some urban (though I tend to think schools in urban settings don’t engender the same kind of bonding among kids as rural schools, but that’s not my point here), some well-known and some not. I believe that there are 15-20 schools that can offer more than that in terms of setting one’s horizons higher (I want to be the best in the world in what I do versus I want to be the best in Georgia), in terms of contacts/networks, and in terms of the signal that one’s graduation (perhaps with good grades) from such a school sends to employers and others. There are probably another bunch with field-specific strengths that will have that effect within the field (e.g., Waterloo for computer science, RISD for art, a number of schools for engineering, etc.). Beyond these schools, we should send our kids to places where they will learn to think and learn how to learn. But, there are many of these. ShawSon was applying to the top 15-20 so he did feel (as did I) that the tests really mattered – they did. ShawD on the other hand explicitly did not want to go to places that are high pressure – and at various score levels, she can get into schools that will work for her. Tests will not make or break whether she gets a good education and thus she shouldn’t feel that the tests will change her life forever.</p>
<p>I’m fortunate to travel the world and typically work with and am friends with people who would be considered very successful people. I can see that there have been a lot of paths to success (and a lot of definitions of success). Going to the top 15-20 does help but there are no guarantees and many successful people who did not attend the top 15-20.</p>