Parents of the HS Class of 2011 - Original

<p>MOSB: Awwww s**t! Commiserating with you as we had a sewer line blockage a few years ago with a similar result. Unfortunately, this affected the finished portion of the basement so, while there was no septic system to replace, the carpet all had to be replaced, some toys and furniture. Yikes! I feel your pain.</p>

<p>amandakayak: I think I may have your son’s twin at my house. S1 is the master of procrastination – really world class stuff here. I truly didn’t think I would survive the college application process with him. Made every single application deadline by the skin of his teeth. And yet, he is fabulous with our daughter who has special needs, cares deeply about people and plays a mean sax!! ( I could always use a few more hugs!)</p>

<p>Omom: Hope you’re getting some relief!</p>

<p>And to whoever thought we might not be reporting rejections – that would require applying! Something that we are woefully behind on at our house. And the two (wow!) applications that he has hit the submit button on – one he will hear from in January, the other in April. So, no acceptances, no rejections here. Just a long, slow trail to the end of the application process. (And, funny, this is not even my procrastinator son!)</p>

<p>Just checking in-too long since I posted to really address anything specific but I read everything with interest.</p>

<p>Bad day here. Subject test scores out and worse that I had even feared. Want to tell S “I told you so” but he already is pretty down so why bother. He has his second and last chance to take them in a couple of weeks. He is sick of the whole thing and I can’t say I blame him. He looked at me and said-after all this-all the good things I have done-does my future come down to one test date in December? I would think his Ivy aspirations do but I reject that his future does. </p>

<p>Now of course he wants to “rehire” me-long time readers here will know what that means!</p>

<p>On a happy note the essay was written and that led to the logjam of applications being addressed-I believe six are out and the rest will be gone by Friday. We are still debating how many-I also read the application inflation thread and surely don’t want to contribute to crazy numbers of apps but for a kid like him if he wants to apply to these “reach” schools you have to send out many more than I would like.</p>

<p>This can’t be over fast enough.</p>

<p>Hi All</p>

<p>MOSB so so sorry to hear about that mess. Years ago a problem on the street backed up all of the sewage from the street into the basement of my parents home (70s)…we had been out for the night during the holidays–It was a mess–
You are brave to clean all of that yourself. Talk about HAZMAT!!</p>

<p>On Apps, our student applied and is accepted at first choice, and the other two apps results wont be in til spring. There are about 5-7 apps “done” , yet won’t be pressing send. </p>

<p>On Apps and inflation–we had said that our student shouldn’t apply to tons of schools that weren’t in the “love” category and our student had to defend why that school for it to go on the apps list in the end…Only one financial saftey went on the list (per the dad) which our student did not like, yet understood.</p>

<p>Our younger student is the one with creative management skills…
Had to laugh about the pre school blocks and the cute girl reference…
Is a very very compassionate person, a hugger, played the sax in elementary school (wish it had continued) and while executive skills and keeping tabs on hw, tests and long term projects can have me pulling out my hair–our kiddo has such a sweet sweet spirit. Already talking about what to buy for DH and elder kiddo for Christmas</p>

<p>Interviews–our student had one for MIT–
MIT specifically uses the interviews as an important part of the process…our student went to it relaxed…
Our student has also had an interview with an alum for another school though dont know much about the weighting and it is an opportunity for our student to get to hear first hand more about the undergrad experience.</p>

<p>On those chance me and lazy student threads—Truly it says so much about them when you consider the questions they ask while they write about loving/hoping for hyp “all my life”…</p>

<p>Soooo happy that it’s a short week and looking forward to the holidays.</p>

<p>Pepper03: I’m sorry about the disapointing test results. This process can really beat kids down. Try to remind your son that those scores are just one piece of his application. My older daughter procrastinated about taking the subject tests and got what she considered a low score on the Spanish listening test. She knew that she was in trouble on test day when she was the only student in the room who wasn’t bi-lingual. I remember a major freak-out in early December when she was convinced that the score would keep her out of Penn. A week later she got in early decision. </p>

<p>MOSB: Sounds like quite a mess. I’m glad your daughter got some good news to balance things out.</p>

<p>I hear you on the apps-I want less but Dad wants more as part of his “negotiating strategy”. It really has gotten out of control and I am ready to step in and referee between the two of them-or maybe not.</p>

<p>If your S has been accepted at their first choice it would seen your work is done, no?</p>

<p>Yikes I re-read this thread-how did I miss the Kidney stones (hope they passed) stomach virus (agreed on the dread scale that is right up there) and sewage backup (my tops for worst house disaster right after total destruction). </p>

<p>Lots of good news too so congrats to all!</p>

<p>Pepper03, for your son, the critical thing is that there are many paths to success in life (and many definitions of success, too). Going to Ivy League schools is one path, and it doesn’t guarantee success either. They key is to keep his eye on the ultimate goal, which is to have a rewarding life. Although both of my kids are very bright, I advised my son against going to his first choice school, which was an Ivy, to attend an LAC that I thought would be better for him in terms of the ultimate goal. So far so good. My daughter would be unhappy in a really pressured, competitive environment. I’m keeping my eye on the prize for her and she has found schools that I think can help her in that regard. [I’m not at all anti-Ivy as I went to two and taught at one, but I just don’t think that kids need to feel that they have somehow ruined their lives by not doing well enough on some test to get in].</p>

<p>Why, oh why, do I venture over to the discussions of SAT scores? None of us know each other here, but I feel like we all have a good perspective on our kids and this entire process.</p>

<p>But some of the kids posting make me want to scream. Here’s an example:</p>

<p>damn 790 math ii 790 physics
collegeboard hates me</p>

<p>Seriously? Sometimes I lament living in a town where most people have no clue what an SAT subject test is, but today I am grateful for living in a more balanced, less competitive environment. (And grateful for the AP Chem teacher who spent time with our son after school, preparing him for that test.)</p>

<p>Incidentally, I don’t think all the kids and parents who post the “my son got a 2350. Should he retake?” posts are trying to be obnoxious. They may well not know enough. I didn’t. Guilty confession: I made one of those posts after my son did pretty well but told me he thought he could get an 800 on each section if he adjusted strategy a bit. I honestly didn’t know whether it would make a difference, So, I posted to ask if it was worth it. The overwhelming opinion was no and so he focused on apps.</p>

<p>The SAT threads make me want to break out in hives. I try to avoid them at all costs.</p>

<p>My daughter just came home from school with nausea. She is dealing with boyfriend break-up drama which already had her stomach in knots, but I think this is the real deal. We’re having 18 people for Thanksgiving on Thursday, so I will join Amandak in disinfecting like crazy.</p>

<p>Shawbridge you are preaching to the choir. My number one choice for him isn’t an Ivy at all-and I think after all is said and done he ends up there-if he gets accepted and we can swing it financially. I think the whole process takes on a life of it’s own and once he fell in love with a school we visited it was all over-that’s where he “needs to be” and he will be “crushed” if he doesn’t get in. I need to remember he is seventeen years old and doesn’t have much perspective on life-I mean for his age he is pretty mature but he’s a kid. My job is to support him in trying to fulfill his goals while at the same time supporting him when his reach exceeds his grasp. I think that’s what we are all doing here and I think our children are pretty lucky to have parents who are that involved. In the end though, this is his life and his decision-including when he chooses having to weigh the financial implications of where he would like to go. I give him a lot of credit for even applying to some of these schools-he knows he is setting himself up for a lot of rejection but he is willing to try-something I wasn’t able to do at his age. He’ll be fine-he has a very good head on his shoulders-but there will be days like this that really hurt-but it’s all part of growing up and really all part of life.</p>

<p>Thank you for your kind words.</p>

<p>Yes older-on a day like today I will avoid those threads!</p>

<p>Oh lets hope momjr it isn’t contagious-fingers crossed here.</p>

<p>My best wishes to everyone - on good news and hard news. I’m right in there with you!</p>

<p>Nothing in particular going on here, just some last tweaking on round 3 of apps which will be submitted tonight. Looking forward to D1’s arrival home tonight for the holiday. </p>

<p>Musicians can tell you that certain personalities are drawn to particular instruments … I guess we all know the “sax” type now! (Although it sounds like fog’s S is too much of a “sax” type even to continue playing the sax!)</p>

<p>Yikes! Septic Systems, Stomach Viruses, Sat Scores…The trifecta of “S” seems to be the theme on the board this morning. Big congratulations to the acceptances that are coming in. Lots of patiences to the moms and dads who are hovering (lol) over the submit button. I am doing some hovering of my own, trying to get D to fill out the major scholarship app to her school of choice (we have taken the plunge by the way, and paid the enrollment deposit and filled out the required forms to accept the honors college acceptance) When she opened the app, she let out a big sigh and said “oh no…more essays.” I then proceeded to tell her those essays were worth big $$ (merit four year award for everything! Even study abroad), so she better get writing…lol. Hopefully she will work on those today. Her birthday is this week so its a trip to the DMV, etc…so much fun.</p>

<p>Here is to a day filled with happy, moving forward kids!</p>

<p>momjr - wow, I hope we didn’t pass it through the internet to you! ds still horizontal, at least slept through the night. Jazz band auditions are today and my email to the director explaining he won’t make it and get back a terse “we want to wrap this up before the holidays” - almost feel like sending my son all green and wretched over to her so he can share the love of jazz among other things. grrrrrr.
mosb - not thinking a can of lysol would be enough. ewww.
pepper3 - there’s always next month!
oregonmom - how are you doing? :)</p>

<p>Can I please ask my friendly 2011 parents for some help with this rather than going over to that nasty SAT forum? Here’s the question:</p>

<p>DS took the SAT in March – we had the four free scores sent to four schools. He didn’t do great (he is not a great test-taker) but he did good enough to get into his first-choice school for both his major and his sport. </p>

<p>He retook the Nov. SAT and those scores are out this morning. We had those freebie scores sent to the original school (at the time we registered for the Nov. SAT, we didn’t know yet that he had been admitted) plus we sent to three different schools.</p>

<p>One of these different schools is his second-choice school, where we had a great campus visit, admissions interviewer loved him, coach loves him, etc. </p>

<p>But . . . his Nov. scores were lower than March. Not even superscoring will help. So, I want to pay to have the March scores sent to this school, not the Nov. scores. I think I have until midnight tomorrow night (Wed. night) to cancel the Nov. scores and then I can pay to have the March scores sent to School #2.</p>

<p>Is that correct? Or when you cancel Nov. scores, does that cancel the scores from going to ALL FOUR of the schools? The third school getting the Nov. scores is a financial safety school that also has his major and sport, but we have not toured and he’s not all that interested, plus his Nov. scores are good enough to get in to that school, so I don’t care as much about it. The fourth score report went to the NCAA clearinghouse, but it’s okay for those purposes.</p>

<p>Thank you, kind Parents of the Class of 2011.</p>

<p>cgpm: When I checked our son’s scores today, I also checked the score report status. CB sent the Nov. scores on 11/21 to the schools requested in the “freebie” function. So I’m not sure you can recall them now. </p>

<p>However, this is our first go around with SAT. (Older son took ACT only.) So I’m not completely sure. Others with more SAT experience may know differently.</p>

<p>Best to call College Board.</p>

<p>I think you can cancel each school but I wouldn’t do anything without talking to them first.</p>

<p>Oh just see the freebie may be different if already sent.</p>

<p>When D took her SATs in October, the free report got to the colleges the day *before *the official score release date. Therefore, I agree with Olderwiser that it might be too late to cancel the scores.</p>

<p>If it helps at all, we’ve had questions regarding my D’s ACT where the second one went down. Everyone I talked to (including here!!) said colleges tend to “forgive” the weaker scores. So if you can’t pull them back, try not to think about it. He has higher scores, which prove that he is capable of getting them, and that is what is important to the schools.</p>

<p>I feel for you. Good luck!</p>