Parents of the HS Class of 2011 - Original

Parents of HS Class of 20xx
6561

<p>Not sure if anyone else will need this info - but S ended up creating a new version of his Common App between School 1 and School 2, and it worked just fine. The instructions were clear and helpful. The versioning capability has come and gone over the past few years, and it was not so straightforward a couple of years ago.</p>

<p>He made the new version because he (and I) didn’t realize that if all of his text didn’t display for him in the activity description fields during print preview, then it wouldn’t display for the colleges either. The text was in there, but truncated when printed.</p>

6562

<p>D learned a lesson tonight - don’t start an app and then wait a month to do anything with it. You get locked out. She can’t even start again as a new account. I’ll call tomorrow, surely can fix it with the school. But I hope she understands she can’t just do these things however she wants.</p>

6563

<p>EmmyBet - is it non CA school’s app or the common app account? I am sure it can be fixed if you call.</p>

6564

<p>dadmm, I was told by CMU that they do not require the subject tests to be taken in the junior and senior years. I saw that here last year and e-mailed admissions to ask. The website does say that, but it is not correct, according to the e-mail they sent back to me. This was the reply - </p>

<p>Thanks for your email to the Carnegie Mellon University Office of Admission.</p>

<p>Your SAT II Subject Tests are accepted taken from your freshman and sophomore year. We apologize for the misunderstanding.</p>

<p>Best regards from Carnegie Mellon’s Office of Admission.</p>

<p>I see you say you called them, so I am confused.</p>

6565

<p>Thanks, keylime - this is a specific school app. And they called us a couple of weeks ago warning her to get moving or it would be disconnected. There’s a number to call to reset it, and I’ll do that tomorrow - no worries. It’s my D that learned that you just can’t fool around with these things, and that’s good. She’s been playing a little with fire with her apps, deadlines, etc. and I secretly was glad for the wake-up call.</p>

6566

<p>^^ It’s still annoying that they do it, if the deadline didn’t pass yet.</p>

6567

<p>Calreader: Thanks for the info. I noticed that my son’s did the same thing. Sheesh! Why do they give them more space than the colleges will be able to access??? I let his go at the time because he had attached an “activities sheet” that gave more detail about his most significant EC’s, but noted that they would miss a little bit of info for his class officer/student council and band activities. I figured they’d know what those were all about so didn’t sweat it. Good to know he can go in and make another version before he sends the next one.</p>

6568

<p>mamabear1234 : Thanks for the update from CMU. Will call them again - it’s possible that the person answering was just stating the info from the website. Wish they would update that.</p>

6569

<p>Arisamp, thanks for letting me know you’re also in the high-stats-looking-for-merit-aid boat, though with a slight variation.</p>

<p>I think we all have some nuances to consider; for my D fit is extremely important (we’re not the most adaptable, flexible people on the planet), and then there looms the music dept quality issue…and whether a school offers the BMus or BA w major in performance.</p>

<p>She’s weighing the latter issue…not at all sure whether the BMus degree is worth sacrificing fit and merit $ for (and it might come down to that tradeoff).</p>

<p>2 respected friends have recently listened to my D’s situation and likely dilemma, and both - without missing a beat - said emphatically, “Fit trumps quality of dept, as long as they have a reasonably good (not the best or even great) program in your field.”</p>

<p>Case in point: one of these people is picking up her freshman D next week at the end of the quarter and bringing her home. Very savvy family (about college choosing process), already have older D in college…but D2 fell in love with a school because of its awesome dept in her field. She knew it had a reputation as somewhat of a party school, and she didn’t want a party school, but convinced herself and parents that “surely out of 18,000 students, I’ll be able to find some people like me.”</p>

<p>Well, no. She’s had a miserable 10 weeks. She says on Mons and Tues all everybody talks about is how hung-over they are, and starting on Wed, all they talk about is how drunk they’re going to get next weekend.</p>

<p>She tried 3 different ECs, but was very disappointed to find at the first meetings that only 2 or 3 people showed up.</p>

<p>She’s happy to be coming home, is already enrolled in CC for rest of this year, and is accepted (to one of the schools that accepted her this year) for enrollment fall of 2011.</p>

<p>But her mom told me, “I can’t emphasize enough how important fit is. No “terrific program” or “fantastic scholarship” will make up for a bad fit.” </p>

<p>Of course I knew this intellectually, but it really hit home hearing it from this family I know, and whose D is very level-headed, and whom I respect.</p>

<p>We’re all gonna have lots to mull over and talk through with each other in the next few months, that’s for sure!</p>

6570

<p>S2 has been working hard on his apps, supps, and art portfolio. Still a long way to go and many deadlines looming. I’ve been excited to read about the kids here who have already received good news! Congrats to all families! And I was quite unprepared to discover (upon frankly obsessively re-checking to make sure all docs were received on one of S2’s EAs) that there was a cheerful “Congratulations!” message. OMG!!! I felt really torn–so happy for S, but then telling him would spoil his own surprise? Yikes!! This is a school that says they inform EA by Dec 15. Anyway, I suggested S sign on and check for docs—and of course, he knew something must be up. He was so delighted and relieved and a little stunned. Very nice bit of encouragement to help him finish his zillion more apps.</p>

<p>This is a very nice school that S likes a bunch. We’ll have to wait until the big envelope arrives to hear about merit, but it’s rather a long shot. Like many here–we need merit aid, but we’ll see. </p>

<p>So glad to share this wonderful surprise.</p>

6571

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<p>Congrats to your S! What a nice surprise.</p>

6572

<p>madbean: what a delightful surprise to learn of an acceptance when you don’t expect to hear for another month! congrats!</p>

<p>MOSB: your post was so insightful and a very good reminder that fit is probably the most salient characteristic that our kids should consider. i know from personal experience that you do your best work when you’re most happy. and after all, college isn’t only about the academic but also about finding your “people.” some of my husband’s and my dearest friends are our college friends.</p>

6573

<p>Can we join the “tippy top stats looking for merit $” club? We’ll be comparing prices when he (hopefully) has some acceptances in April. In the meantime, though he doesn’t complain, I can tell he’s a bit envious of his friends who have applied ED to their dream schools without worrying about the cost.</p>

6574

<p>madbean: What a wonderful surprise! Congrats!</p>

6575

<p>Madbean: What a great surprise! Congratulations.</p>

<p>MOSB and RM make great points about the importance of fit. In many cases when kids are unhappy at college, it is because they haven’t found a good group of friends. A lot of kids change majors, so it can be risky to choose a school just based on academic program.</p>

6576

<p>thanks for the reminder about fit! hopefully she has applied to schools that are a good fit for her</p>

<p>madbean-great surprise!!!</p>

6577

<p>ohiomom24: I hear what you’re saying about kids who can apply ED to their dream school without worrying about the cost.<br>
I had a sit-down with my D and asked her to be honest - if money were not an object, is there a school that she would really love to go to that’s not on our list because of no merit money. She said that she had thought about it, but she likes several of the schools on her list so much - she’s really excited about the possibility of going to them - that she does not feel at all deprived of options. Now I don’t know that that’s the case for everyone, but there are so many schools out there, with so many different attributes that can appeal to so many different aspects of someone’s personality, that if you’re fortunate enough to have high stats, the likelihood is high that you can find a great fit at a more affordable cost. In D’s case, the two that are her top choices at the moment are so different that other threads on here have said that anyone who is attracted to one wouldn’t be attracted to the other. Not true in her case. Very different schools (other than both being small LAC’s) - but each with unique attributes that would make her very happy.</p>

6578

<p>cooker: I actually think that my son’s dream school is on his list and is one that he will apply to, but probably won’t get any merit $ as so little is available. Definitely a “merit reach”. Though his stats are excellent, I think he’ll end up in a pool of students with excellent stats. My guess is that he’ll get accepted, but without any merit money. He has others on his list that would be a good fit, and that I think he would enjoy, where he has a much better shot at getting some merit money. It comes down to moving further down the “top 100” list to find the pot of gold. Worst case, his financial safety is a good fit, but perhaps a bit more limited as far as opportunities for a really strong science kid – fewer research opportunities and opportunities to get experience in the medical field. He’d be okay there, just a bit more limited.</p>

6579

<p>Haven’t submitted any apps here yet , except one safety McGill, but son finally made enough progress on essays that we are hoping to hit submit on the first batch of 5-6 schools this weekend, including many of the top choices and the ones wih hardest supplements. Will be very exciting though will leave a dozen or so to do. Except for McGill we wont have any answers until April.</p>

6580

<p>DD sent 2 applications so far. Has/had several transcripts LOR’s sealed in her room.</p>

<p>Received her first acceptance. Nice scholarship. Visited the school and made her decision! Will not be sending any more applications. :)</p>