<p>Hi, everyone. I hope you’re having a nice weekend.</p>
<p>Congrats to all with performances and sports and other exciting activities, especially those who tested yesterday. We’re in a lull with all of that, fortunately. So I think the apps will finally go in the next day or so. She’ll have a total of 6 in with the CA essay done (just needs one more “tweak” session). The last 3 she’ll do as their deadlines come up - I’ll be very happy to let her handle those as she decides. </p>
<p>When this group is submitted I’ll feel like we’re on track; they give her plenty of nice options, and she could be done if she wants. Interestingly, for whatever reason, the last 3 are the reaches, and in her words her first choices. Some people would do those first, and others I guess want to sit with them longer, maybe “practice” on the mid-choice schools. I don’t know what’s up with her, but this is how she’s needed to do things. </p>
<p>And if we get the ACT raw score tomorrow that closes our chapter pretty much - she’s very interested in her writing score, but the composite could make a difference … or not. She’ll just see. </p>
<p>I am SO ready to be out of application mode! On to newer and different stresses!</p>
<p>My D needs to clean her room too, and write the dreaded “Why ________ College” supplement question for a school that is not her top choice. She’s also dragging her feet on scheduling an interview with another school (also not her top choice).</p>
<p>So, no application sent this weekend, despite my determination that one would be on its way. Lost Saturday to an all-star game that he was invited to play in for his fall sport and then gf’s fall sport was in the playoffs and he had to go to support her and her team. I was all set for Sunday to be THE BIG DAY! Then, my dad had to go the the ER (pneumonia), my parents needed help, and the whole plan fell apart because I was not there to push it through. He did make some progress and I’m hoping that maybe today will be THE BIG DAY. Sort of silly, really, because I don’t think this school is really high on his list. But…he must get one out the door. Anyway, I think he definitely learned this weekend that waiting until the last second is not the way to go. What if we had been up against the deadline and my parents’ crisis had cropped up? He still has a week to push “send” on this one. Just hoping it doesn’t take that long!</p>
<p>Feeling panicked! I am thinking about S’s essays; they are good but not “take your breath away” good. I was his editor, per his insistence that no counselor be involved. He did have a teacher review and he made a few minor changes. If a student has good grades, good scores, good EC’s, can an okay essay really be the deal-breaker?
maybe I’m just feeling overwhelmed…</p>
<p>SAT Subject tests did not go well per the boy. he took Literature which he thought he did OK on, Math 2 which he said was tough, and Chemistry which he didn’t want to talk about. He is only in Chem 2 now and his teacher told him this would happen-he took it with a friend who finished Chem 2 last year and she found the test easy so I guess the teacher was right. He can take them again in December and may switch to Spanish although I have been told it will be tough since he is not a native speaker. The only good thing about testing I can say right now is one more test date and it is over!</p>
<p>This is the final week of practice for the Senior show which mercifully will take place Saturday night! Then maybe he can get this college work finished. He and his father are having some “issues” with their working relationship! Dad wants S to apply to many more schools than he wants to so he can get some leverage in FA negotiations. My husband thinks all these supplements are easy-so I told S to tell his father to go to each school he wants him to apply to and get all the requirements down that he needs to do-maybe that’ll help him see he is asking a bit much-especially when he hasn’t gotten ONE done yet! I also told H that he has to be careful since some schools want the supplements submitted before or at the same time as the CA-and a few aren’t CA schools at all. Seems their working style isn’t as similar as they thought when the change was made from moi!</p>
<p>CSS Profile is done though-as is CA except for of course the essay!</p>
<p>Re the essay. When we were at the Harvard info tour the admissions counselor said that they know so many people get so much help with them now that they don’t matter nearly as much as people think they do. That’s just one school of course.</p>
<p>I think it really depends on where dd/ds is applying…I can’t believe that essays are read at the big state schools unless it is for an honors app - I know they say it isn’t so and everything is read but I really doubt it gets more than a minute of attn. A teacher went thru it - so gramatically it must be fine, spelling fine so that’s part of it. If it tells something about your dd/ds that isn’t on the app or brings a passion to light, or sets your kid apart from the rest…I think that is great. If there’s time, maybe sitting on it for a few days could help. There was one essay my ds wrote that we didn’t like much but after sitting on it, he saw he could just change the conclusion to make it better, eliminate the trite “lesson” in it…a little time can help get perspective, a little tweek took that essay out of the crapper. In the end though, I wanted him to press submit so bad, I didn’t care! I mean you have 4 years evidence of him - come on, is this a personality contest or a college?</p>
<p>I agree. I think a well written essay that says something interesting will keep you in the running. There may be a one in a thousand essay that tips to a yes, but cant realistically shoot to be that one in a thousand. And they know how much help most kids get with essays.</p>
<p>No submit button pushed last weekend in our house either. 5 more apps to go and I am starting to feel panicked too. S worked hard on applications this weekend (or pretended to work hard) but got really stuck. </p>
<p>Ironically, most of S’s reach schools were the easiest as far as the essays go. They know they are awesome, so no ‘Why X’ essays.</p>
<p>Silly me, I can’t read a calendar. Test results have always seemed to be on Mondays, so I assumed ACT would be online today. Hello, November 9th is TUESDAY. I guess it’s different because of Veteran’s Day. OK, we’ll wait.</p>
<p>D didn’t finish her tweaking, anyway. I agree with the “few more days” idea, in principle, but it sure is hard on my nerves. She, too, needs one more session to nail the ending, and I think some digestion will help. </p>
<p>I heard from many colleges that the transcript is the most important part of the application. But taking our HS as an example - we have about 20 (out of about 450) academically strong seniors every year; about 12-15 kids apply every year to each of HYP, but only 1 or 2 get in. Sometimes it’s impossible to say what made those 1-2 students special.</p>
<p>College4three: Try to relax about the essays. I agree with the others who suspect that many schools barely read them. I think that most kids write decent essays, but few really stand out. This whole process is very stressful, and the essays are one of the last pieces that is still in our control. My daughter’s essays were good, but not great. She couldn’t wait to hit submit, so off they went.</p>
<p>Emmybet: Hang in there waiting for the ACT score.</p>
<p>One more app submitted this weekend, count is up to 7. Really pushing S to get two rolling admission apps in by Wed. Thursday he leaves for a MUN conference at Stanford and will be gone til the 15th. Once he gets back from that he needs to work on the app due Dec 1st and some merit apps due soon.</p>
<p>thank you guys. I know that I am falling prey to my nerves, but I can’t seem to stop the second-guessing. you are such a supportive community. My son was also in the camp where he just wanted to hit submit already, and I can’t say that I blamed him. This process is taxing on everyone. As a parent, I just wonder if I did the right thing by not taking advantage of tutors, services, etc. My son wanted to go at this on his own and I relented, but now am reading of the many services that so many already outstanding applicants get, and I am fearful that we didn’t give him the advantages he deserved. I know that we go back and forth here on the topic of outside help and generally I oppose the idea, but in reality I now fear I may have put principle ahead of practicality.</p>
<p>If he needs tutors, consultants, and packaging to get in, perhaps it is not the right school for him. The Johnny Inc. arms race has gotten out of hand; he has probably learned more useful skills than he would have had you bought him the easy way through.</p>
<p>@ Pepper03: Re subject tests, I’m not sure how much your son has researched scoring on the Math2. If this is repetitive I apologize. Many students don’t finish. The curve is generally 7-8 not answered is still an 800. My son is excellent in the subject, not so fast. He calculates that he finished around 43 of the 50 questions. Then we have to account for how many he may have missed…he feels strong, but some days it’s your day and others it’s just not. And so we wait. He took Chem last year with good results. He said the AP test was harder if that’s any indication for your son. I have also heard the language subject tests are a bear!</p>
<p>I hope that everyone having performances, practices, games, etc, were successful this weekend. There is so much vying for their attention right now!</p>
<p>I don’t have much faith that outside help is better than your own help. All these tutors, SAT prep tutors, college admission counselors…are these “professionals” accredited or certified by anyone? What I found in talking to my friends who have availed themselves of help is that it really depends on the person you are working with, and that quality varies - many are just out-of-work college students or recent grads. I have a friend who spent $2400 on SAT prep for a private tutor (through Princeton Review) and they were just a recent grad of a tier 4 type local college. Her ds also had someone help with her essay and the end result was nothing the mom was thrilled with…</p>