<p>cgpm - I’d love to hear more about Southwestern and your impressions - My S is interested, but won’t get to visit unless admitted as we are on the west coast.
Did it seem so small that your student might “outgrow” it? Does it seem like there is plenty to do on campus?
Thanks!</p>
<p>Beautiful, beautiful choir concert tonight. The first time ever for our Japanese exchange student being in a concert! She was so nervous, and then so happy.</p>
<p>Senior D did so wonderfully! I was proud of her - she has really blossomed through the past 4 years. She arranged a song for the a capella group that the girls run themselves, and it was just stunning. </p>
<p>Another “last” for us … there will be more concerts, but the fall one is special in its own way.</p>
<p>blueiguana,
We are in the same boat here with the really early acceptance. It was very hard for S to get in gear school-wise. He has submitted some EA apps including the common ap and is working on some RD. I wouldn’t have minded if he decided not to complete any more apps if that was what he decided 
but I think he wanted to make sure there were no “what ifs”. I did chastise myself to myself about pushing him to get the early admit prior to school starting. But I’m over that now ;)</p>
<p>Today was parent conference day. I asked him to prepare me when I was walking out the door and he said everything was pretty good. I was pleased to find out he is currently doing very well except for the AP stats class that they let him add 2 weeks after school started. He has never been a great math student, so it is a challenge but he is getting through it. There has been so many trips, events, missed days of school that I was a little concerned.</p>
<p>My son spent a year at Southwestern. Here is the good thing I can say about it: It gives fantastic merit aid and they just changed the rules so that you only have to maintain a 2.0 to keep it. If anyone wants further impressions, PM me.</p>
<p>Amandakayak, CONGRATS!</p>
<p>EmmyBet, glad all is going well. Sounds like the concert was fantastic.</p>
<p>Tomorrow is our Opening Night. Slipped in to final dress rehearsal and it looks to be a terrific show. This cast, orchestra, and crew definitely have it down, and there’s a lot of talent there. Should be a fun weekend.</p>
<p>My sympathies to all with ill/recovering parents. My mom (she of the recent shingles episode) is having surgery Mon. She still has significant residual symptoms of shingles, but the surgery is of an urgent enough nature that her docs feel they should go ahead with it. Although not feeling well, Mom has her tickets in hand for all 3 of songbird’s shows this weekend and is hoping to be well enough to see them all. Then Monday morning, we hope all goes well with the surgery.</p>
<p>I’m keeping all of you with ill parents in my prayers and would be most grateful if you’d feel like doing the same.</p>
<p>I’ll be praying for your mom, momofsongbird.</p>
<p>And good luck to songbird this weekend!</p>
<p>Good luck mosb and songbird! Keeping your mom in our thoughts - hope everything goes well.</p>
<p>mosb - enjoy your weekend! Have a great show! </p>
<p>Then I guess move on to the next thing. My very best wishes to your mom.</p>
<p>As we head to this all-day music competition (which of course involves much sitting around) we are bringing the laptop for D to finish tweaking her essay. I haven’t sent any scores until the CA is done and she decides once and for all which schools to send it to. But that will all happen immediately. One thing she’ll hear from me today is that this essay is gumming up the whole works - her GC and teacher for the rec won’t get their e-mails from CA until D finishes it. I know they have things ready to go, but she has to start the machine. So that’s the agenda for this weekend. </p>
<p>Now how many weekends have I said this? I do think it will happen now. There’s actually breathing space this weekend, for once.</p>
<p>This is such a nice group of people. Have a great day, everyone!</p>
<p>So, yesterday was a sublime to the ridiculous day. With the rest of the IB science students, our son presented the Group 4 Projects to the superintendent of schools, the principal and several school board members at 3:30. The rest of the school had a two-hour early out day, but the IB science kids had to stay to prepare the presentations.</p>
<p>Then he gathered up his toga, home-made Roman seige weapon, scuba gear and other costumes and props to represent the Latin Club in the Mr. CHS male beauty pageant to benefit the show choir. The pageant was a hoot and I’m proud of our son for actually lip synching in that part of the competition. He did the “Double Rainbow” song of youtube fame while most of the other 13 boys just danced to Beyonce, etc., in drag. Mr. Cheerleading won the overall title, probably because he looked best in tight spanky shorts and a bikini top than the others. (No spanky shorts or bikini top for our son, only his board shorts and life jacket.)</p>
<p>SAT Subject test tomorrow. Just a typical senior year week!</p>
<p>And an addendum to the male beauty pageant, for the first time in about 12 years, the National Honor Society had no representative. The Latin Club had already picked our son, the school newspaper picked another NHS guy, a third was too busy directing the fall play (that debuts tomorrow) and the other two refused to humiliate themselves. Yes, only 5 senior boys and 30 senior girls in NHS. Little wonder that our son had a difficult time finding guy friends for the first two years of high school.</p>
<p>^^^OWM…the thought of that show cracks me up!</p>
<p>That’s priceless! It’s fun when they finally decide they can let go and have fun. I think this is more a factor with boys…I may be wrong.</p>
<p>My son did the toga on the last day of spirit week. It’s a tradition for the seniors only. They wait years to get to wear that toga. He and his friends decided that they should just randomly declare a toga day here and there. Why give it up so easily. They are going to be freshman again very soon. Enjoy the ride! :)</p>
<p>OWM, I am loving the male beauty pageant. Sounds like a riot. Your son is nothing if not versatile.</p>
<p>Emmybet, I’ll send some get the essay done vibes your way if you will send some this way. I think we are looking at a free and clear afternoon and evening on Saturday and, following the MOSB playbook, I have a bag full of yummy snacks to keep her going. I don’t expect a final version this weekend but at least a good first draft. D has some 12/1 deadlines looming so I think it might finally start moving forward now.</p>
<p>OWM - great to hear about the show. Must have been a lot of fun. Our school does something very similar - a Mr HS kind of a show, sometime in March. D has attended the last couple of years and said it is a lot of fun.</p>
<p>Wow, I took a day off from this thread and lots to read this morning!</p>
<p>MOSB: good luck to songbird this weekend and my very best wishes to your mom for a speedy recovery from her surgery.</p>
<p>Congratulations to all the acceptances. Seems like we’ll have a contingent from this thread w/ UPitt acceptances!</p>
<p>OWM: loved the description of your son’s day. a really nice “day-in-the-life” of a high school male senior.</p>
<p>Update re: my S’s missing ED agreement. I called the school yesterday morning and although just last week they had a live person answer the phone when my S called w/ a question, yesterday it was an automated answer detailing tour/info session info and then click – it hangs up w/out the possibility of leaving a message! Maybe they switched over to this after Nov 1 b/c the office is now inundated w/ calls re: apps. So, I decided I’d just write a cover sheet w/ explanation and attach a copy of the agreement and copies of the PO receipt, etc. and mail it again. Did that and then my younger son got sick at school, had to pick him to go the doctors. Thought I’d mail the letter when I returned. Lo and behold, when I got back home, the green return receipt card was in the mail. That letter was supposed to arrive on Oct 27th; instead, it arrived on Nov 2 and was returned to me on Nov 4. It took 8 days to arrive in a state that is 3 hours away, and a day and a half to return. All I can say is, “Thanks for rattling my cage and wasting a morning, US Postal Service.”</p>
<p>To Puma12 and Missypie – Puma, perhaps Missypie could answer your questions better since her son was actually a student there. But no, I don’t think you would outgrow it. Georgetown is about 25 miles or so north of Austin, so there are lots of activities and opportunities in Austin (internships, jobs, entertainment, etc.) and Georgetown is a nice town that’s growing (fairly new large shopping center, more restaurants, etc.) </p>
<p>Southwestern does not have a graduate school; when we were on the tour and going through the science building, there were large laminated posters in the hallways explaining various projects that students had done. Our guide said that because they don’t have a grad school, the undergrad students are the ones who help the professors with their research projects. In a larger school, that would be pretty much reserved for the grad students. I believe he also said that some large percentage – maybe 80%?? – of their graduates go on to post-graduate somewhere. </p>
<p>My son is considering a computer science major, which is why our tour was set up with time to talk to a comp sci professor (or you could have the choice of sitting in on a class). One of the things she talked about was a project that’s usually done in the spring (and I confess, I don’t remember what class this was part of, or whether it was an independent studies type thing). Last year, the project was helping a local nonprofit group organize their records. Some were on paper, some were on a few Excel spreadsheets, all very disorganized. So the students interviewed the “clients”, who were not computer professionals, determined what the needs were, wrote the programs to automate all the records, etc. etc. Much like you would do in real life. This year’s project is going to be something to do with android phones – which lit up my son’s eyes!</p>
<p>They have a lot of study abroad opportunities, both during the school year and in the summers. Our guide said that he had done an internship with a local radio station’s morning show program, and had just completed another internship working at the state capitol with a local state representative. </p>
<p>Missypie, I’m sure you can add more, having had a student attending there. Can you share why it was only for one year?</p>
<p>I’ll share about Southwestern by PM. My son’s experience was so terrible that I don’t want to risk libeling an entire school in case it was an isolated thing. But I’ll be glad to give you my thoughts in private.</p>
<p>As far as social life, what there is to do is to go to parties at frat houses. Drinking is optional, but the parties are pretty dull if you don’t, I guess.</p>
<p>MOSB you absolutely have mine! I hope she gets to those shows.</p>
<p>Good to hear Emmybet that the show went well! </p>
<p>fogfog I hear you on the FA-although when we seems to qualify for need at certain schools they will give us a loan so we are basically full pay everywhere. </p>
<p>I almost missed the signup for the December SAT Subject tests. S has been dragging his feet on deciding-so I realized this AM to check and I find out yesterday was the last day of regular signups-but I signed up right away and seemed to have avoided late charges.</p>
<p>Missypie, I just PM’d you.</p>
<p>Tomorrow is the LAST test for bluejr. He came down at 10pm last night and declared he was done studying. There was not another page to turn, problem to solve, test to take. It’s a retake on a single subject test so he knows what to expect, that timing is his biggest adversary. Some days you’ve got it, so let’s hope tomorrow is it!!</p>
<p>Good luck to any other students taking SATs or subject tests tomorrow!!</p>