<p>FogFog - please pass the sugary adult beverages -</p>
<p>I love the Chance Me threads because it makes me feel sooooooo great I’m not applying anywhere :-D. Really, if those kids are telling the truth and aren’t ■■■■■■ - WoW, they are some amazing kids. </p>
<p>What I don’t particularly like about those threads is some of the harsh and insulting feedback, but hey, don’t put yourself out there if you don’t want to get slammed. Or the kids who are “hoping” for a 100pt increase on their SATs (doesn’t anyone tell them that there is a chance their score might actually go down??)</p>
<p>Oh, am I already at my olive?</p>
<p>Congrats to everyone for all the great news and thoughts floating to Oregon for a quick and safe passage.</p>
<p>^
^
Too funny.
That olive shows up quickly…yet think of it as part of those 5 servings of veg/fruit per day! A friend of mine swears an extra cherry or two in her Manhattan is a veggie serving! :D</p>
<p>I thought the article about apps was interesting.
And if you read say the MIT stats–ALOT of Val get passed over…
It is so much more than SAT/GPA…</p>
<p>I realize they are kids–yet some of these “brightest” threads are just lame. Maybe they are really just insecure or lonely?? The rude ones who ignore good advice are the worst.</p>
<p>Agree, hate the chance threads. Also make me even more stressed out about my son’s chances, although I try to remind myself some of these people are probably exaggerating at best. Also hate the “should I retake the 2380” threads. </p>
<p>By the way I notice that noone on this thread has reported any rejections and noone (except me) admitted their kid may be slacking off just a tad as a senior. So I think the temptation to present oneself in the most flattering light even on an anonymous internet board is always there…</p>
<p>^^ true, Aniger, but at this early date, it is unlikely that any rejections/deferrals have been sent out. Rolling usually rolls out the accepts in waves first. Hang on to the lower applicants for a while. EA holds those deferred or rejected until official Dec 15 deadline. Every applicant may live in a cloud of hope and dreams for now.</p>
<p>As for slacking off, my senior is seriously under the belief that his 1st semester grades will pull his GPA up since his school offers very few APs and most of those just Jr and Sr years. While true, I don’t think this whopping .1 boost to 7-semester averaged WGPA (if all goes well) makes a significant dent, and I can’t imagine a merit award will be altered by this small rise. Still, this hope is motivating him to stay focused. I’m sure he’ll join all the others on a 2nd semester slack-fest. :)</p>
<p>I have to teach tonight (I teach at UCLA) so must pass on the beverage. But please do send over a few olives.</p>
<p>Aniger - I dunno, when my kid gets his rejection letter, I am pretty sure to share it here before telling the nosey neighbors or my mother. In fact, my ds has always been under “senioritis”, if procrastinating was an olympic sport, he’d have the gold medal and world record, he drives me absolutely bonkers, he is extremely charming and slacking off is just something he always does so I just can’t attribute it to this year or century. In preschool he would direct the building of the blocks and sit back while some cute chick shared her cookies with him. Really. He never studied for the SATs or wrote a comment on these boards. He doesn’t know what a “chances” thread is but he can sure beat anyone at Halo. The one nice thing about him is he hugs often and well, he cares deeply about people and he plays a mean sax.</p>
<p>AK- my D also wouldn’t go near CC with a ten foot pole! and I can only wish that she would hug be often and well!!! I am lucky to get a hug on my bday or mothers day!</p>
<p>just popping in. congrats to everyone who has heard good news or has submitted more apps. i’m in over my head hosting my mom and the in-laws arrive on Wed. it’s hard to give either of my sons any attention right now but S1 did write the drafts to two more apps this weekend and had his ED interview and a RD as well. both went well but as you guys mention above, who knows if they carry any weight. still, they took a number of hours each b/c they were conducted in NYC and my S had to take the train back and forth and prep for them, and then write thank you notes. this process just seems never ending.</p>
<p>he has so many more apps to go and was hoping to do them over thanksgiving break but he’s been assigned so much homework. i’m not sure what we’ll do to get them out. maybe some will need to be dropped off the list. aniger, if he could indulge in senioritis he would but since school has started he hasn’t gone out one evening, missed homecoming and other events, but from what I hear from the kids in my car pool, all of whom are in the most demanding classes and are on the same varsity team, they are all working in high gear and are putting off their social lives until mid-Jan when 1st semester ends.</p>
<p>to tell you the truth, I’m feeling his stress a lot and behind closed doors yesterday, I had a teary break down. I just don’t know how all this schoolwork and app work is going to get accomplished and at what cost. his school is known for its rigor and God knows, I pay a lot for it, but right now I’m distressed at how much his teachers are piling on. a couple of years back there was an article in the NY Times education section called “The Incredibles,” which quoted a girl who was an alum of my son’s school and at the time, a junior at Yale. She said she had worked much harder at her high school, had more reading assigned, than she did at Yale. Really, is this necessary? i’m glad my younger son has opted to attend our local high school. i don’t think he could tolerate this stress level as well as his brother, and i don’t think he’d be willing to put his social life on hold during an entire semester. my mantra for now: this too shall pass.</p>
<p>oh, and any rejections that come our way, you guys will be the first to hear. i think our mutual support will mitigate some of the sting.</p>
I have actually PMed a couple of them when I have run across them. Why would someone ask a factual question on CC that can be easily (and probably more accurately) answered on a college web site or by a quick email to the AdCom? If they are too lazy to do that, how can they expect to survive this rat race? Definitely one of my pet peeves.</p>
<p>Aniger - I think we all (or most of us) were pretty honest about our angels lovely procrastination tendencies. Just as y’all were the first to know about my S’s acceptance, you will be first to know any other type of news. Pooh pooh!</p>
<p>oh, I am sure ours are coming. The first three acceptances were from safeties/low matches. Plus S goes to a Jesuit school and the Jesuits take care of their own so getting into two of S’s 3 schools was not big feat. I will be sure to report the rejections when they arrive…and they will.</p>
<p>As for slacking off, well S just got the worse report card of his HS career. The worse. Most important report card and it’s the worse. Would you think he might have clued us in? Nope, anytime we asked we were always told about the great grades, tests, quizes. …sigh </p>
<p>I keep telling myself he is a good kid, he really is.</p>
<p>fogfog, I saw that thread with the kid asking about HYP. What I want to know is how a kid with such miserable writing skills supposedly got an 800 on the writing part of the SAT. :D</p>
<p>AmandaK, rivaling your 2 words a mother doesn’t want to hear are these 3 words: Septic Tank
Blockage. Oh yes! The week of Thanksgiving. The week of a major deadline with my work. The week when my schedule has absolutely no give.</p>
<p>I will spare you the details. I will simply offer this advice, in case you (poor wretched thing) ever need it: 1) Pay whatever it takes to get someone who really knows what he’s doing to come fix it. 2) Get bleach, and I mean a LOT of it. 3) Try not to look too closely at what you’re doing while also trying to do a VERY thorough cleaning job. 4) Thank God that it’s the basement, it’s an “unfinished” basement, and all the Christmas decorations, etc are on the other side, which is not affected. 5) Determine which pair of gardening shoes/boots you can part with because you WILL be throwing these out immediately when finished. 6) Do the cleanup yourself, even if help is offered; later you will need the peace of mind of knowing that you scrubbed and bleached every square inch of the area. 7) When finished, take off every stitch of clothing downstairs and dump it immediately into the washer with…you guessed it, more bleach. Do not, under any circumstances wear these clothes upstairs where you plan to shower. They should be treated as HAZMAT Level 5. 8) Walk swiftly (yes, au natural) up to your shower, being careful to touch nothing on the way. 9) shower, shampoo, repeat, put on clean clothes, and try very hard to forget this nightmare ever happened. 10) Thank God it only happened once in your 5 decades on the planet, and ask Him to protect you from it for another 50 years.</p>
<p>I’m sorry I had to vent this sordid tale on you nice people, but my sister’s already heard it twice, and I think she’s now screening her calls from me.</p>
<p>MUCH HAPPIER NEWS: songbird got the big, fat envelope from Augustana College today. She’s accepted with their President’s Scholarship (very generous) and may get a stackable vocal scholarship after her audition.</p>
<p>Sorta makes up for the septic thing…but not really. I’m not over it yet. :(</p>
<p>Momofsongbird: sounds like a sh***y day! I’m so sorry. Congratulations on the big envelope and big scholarship. Your daughter is going to have lots of great options.</p>
<p>MOSB- oy…this happened to us about 12years ago when my husband had gone back to school and I was home alone with a five year old (he was away during the week). I thought I would lose my mind with the cleaning! And of course the major expense of replacing the septic system at a time when we had only one income!!!
congrats on your d’s acceptance!</p>
<p>MOSB - well yuck. We have sewage thank goodness. Although I suppose those pipes can block up too. Congrats to your D! Guess the scholarship money will offset the cost to repair the septic system. What do they say, there is no such thing as free money?</p>
<p>Our house was not a happy place last night. Despite his 3rd acceptance, H was in a tizzy over S’s grades. I was suppose to drive D to gymanastics, sit in the car during her class and make bows for the wreaths that S’s boy scout troop is selling. I ended up staying home and helping S work on some AP physics problems. H drove D to gymnastics because he was getting so worked up over S’s grades and S’s lack of concern ove them I made him go. (no H did not sit in the car and make bows) Despite the fact that I am an engineer, and somewhat math/science inclined, it has been a very, very long time since I have done physics. It is not that S couldn’t have figured these problems out himself, he didn’t or wouldn’t. I previously purchased the study guides that go with his book, and the “getting ready for Physics B AP” book. Something in one of those two books or his text would have pointed him in the right direction. Although math and science are not his favorite things, he has an apptitude for them, if he puts the work in. oops, there is that bad word, “work”. I am beginning to wonder if S needs a gap year or if once he goes off to college and is studying what he wants he will put the work in.</p>
<p>MOSB: The amazing thing about your story is that I can hear your sense of humor coming through the words, even though it’s a really disgusting thing to deal with! Congrats on our calm temperment and the acceptance.</p>
<p>November SAT scores are up this morning. Good luck to everyone whose child is checking in. (Subject tests required by MIT for our son.) May your scores be what you hoped for!</p>