<p>Wow madbean, that is a tough call. I’m sorry I don’t remember your S GPA, but regardless if he had a marked increase in his SAT scores then I say…“Why Not”. The only harm will be a denial. Lots of kids get denied. If he doesn’t apply then he might always wonder…if he decides to apply then he will know if he was able to get into the reaches. I know it is a crapshoot but what the heck. My vote is yes!! Just my opinion. I’m sure you will get lots of opinions.
Good luck no matter what you decide:)</p>
<p>Madbean - We had the same experience, one list since Sept. and then an outstanding increase in Oct SATs. I am very thankful that ds has the demand for a traditional marching band because if not, I would be thinking about a whole range of schools! Within our high school, I believe it is past the deadline for requesting transcripts for Jan deadlines so I think for us, it’s too late to add. I wish, with boys, we could have another 6 months of consideration before applications. Mine needs time to grow up before considering all these options. (pls don’t suggest a gap year)</p>
<p>Madbean. The answer depends on the GPA relative to the new SAT scores. If everything matches up, then he should go for it – but only if they were schools that were appealing to him before. If he is willing to do the extra work on the apps, then let him try.</p>
<p>madbean - my D had the same experience, too. She did have a couple of schools she’d always figured would be impossible, but the new score put her in the higher group of accepted kids, even with her GPA staying in the middle 50%. Since kids with those stats get in, she decided she’ll give them a try.</p>
<p>She hasn’t completed those apps (due 1/1 and 1/2). One told us by e-mail that the school stuff can wait, that they only expect her part. We were able to ask her GC for the school stuff for the other one.</p>
<p>She’s ready for rejections, but she, too, feels it’s worth the try. But it wasn’t so much a “Gee, what schools could we look for now?” It was a “I always wanted to apply and am glad now I actually have a chance.”</p>
<p>Best of luck. I completely understand your dilemma, including the artistic review issue. She’ll deal with that, too, to some extent with these reaches, and definitely at one of them.</p>
<p>congrats madbean! go for it! assuming there is the time and desire to do well on the apps and the rest of the app is somewhat consistent with the scores, why not? don’t want to look back and say “what if?” nice dilemma. more work, but a potentially wonderful payoff!</p>
<p>Here’s a funny thing: D asked me today, Did I get into a school yesterday? Which one was it?</p>
<p>She was so exhausted when she was opening the mail last night that it hadn’t even registered …</p>
<p>On hearing the news today, she was very excited!</p>
<p>Dadmm85 - congrats to your S on on the U-Mich acceptance! Good luckwithhonors program</p>
<p>Keylimepie, I hope you can find time to have your son record some piano for you. I can’t tell you how much we are enjoying D’s audition CD, and it’s just 2 Art Songs.</p>
<p>She recorded a CD when she was 13 and I still cherish it (though it knocks our socks off to literally hear the growth and development of her voice over the past 4 years).</p>
<p>A few weeks ago she asked me for my Christmas wish list, and after thinking about it I decided to tell her there’s only one thing I REALLY want, and I’ve wanted it for quite awhile but it’s something that requires lots of time and logistical work. What I want is for her to spend next summer recording a Christmas CD for me. She’ll record pieces we both love…some of which are in her current rep, some of which she’ll need to put together.</p>
<p>We have a friend with a semi-professional recording studio and a passion for music (and he’s been a fan of hers for years). I know he’ll help us with the project, I’ll produce it, and she’ll recruit a few talented musician friends to play accompaniment and do background vocals.</p>
<p>She’s put a few small things under the tree for me, but was thrilled to tell me she really wants to spend next summer making this CD as a gift for me and devoting the time to really doing it right. She’s already started designing the cover art, creating the potential song list, searching for scores…some of which are hard to find in arrangements we like…</p>
<p>This will be the best Christmas gift I’ve ever gotten, and I’m so excited to look forward to it and to be able to help her with the production aspects of it.</p>
<p>So…even if your son doesn’t do anything on this scale, do have him sit down and just record some of his current rep. I know you’ll cherish it.</p>
<p>If you’re like me, the daily practicing over the years (and for me it’s been her voice and piano) has been the soundtrack of my life. I really grieve to think of that coming to an end, but the recordings will be a huge help.</p>
<p>Madbean,congrats on those terrific new scores!</p>
<p>I know you’ll hear lots of viewpoints. Here’s mine, for what it’s worth: we’re done. We have so moved on into decision-making mode, evaluating scholarships, finishing auditions, doing second visits, etc. For us, the whole "what schools to apply to, and applying to them, phase is completely over. Fini. Done. We feel way down the road.</p>
<p>BUT…that’s a psychological mindset thing. If you and your son feel mentally and emotionally up for it, it might be a great idea to explore some of the “what if” schools.</p>
<p>Don’t mean to rain on the parade at all…just saying that for us, it would cause severe flu-like symptoms and we would go pull the covers up over our heads. :)</p>
<p>Thanks mamom - he got an email from the U-Mich honors program today asking him to apply. Not guaranteed but a good start nevertheless !</p>
<p>MOSB- How nice that your D will do that CD for you! I can’t even get my kids to clean my car…;-(</p>
<p>madbean, I agree with some of the other posters that if your son already had reaches on his list, the new scores simply make them less of a reach. If there is another school or two that your son didn’t even consider because of his scores AND your GC office can get the paperwork out in time, then why not apply? Whatever you do about new applications, make sure that you send in those scores to all the schools that he has applied to- even the ones he has heard from -for merit offers.</p>
<p>MOSB, Your next-year CD sounds like a wonderful gift! </p>
<p>My grad school daughter is coming home this afternoon! She attends Vanderbilt. Her room has been my holding area for presents, so I’m going to have to spend a couple of hours wrapping things up!</p>
<p>Hi all. As you can see I obviously don’t post much for a variety of reasons, but I want to let you all know how wonderful it is to read all of your posts and know that there are many out there in the same boat!</p>
<p>I had an issue rear it’s ugly head last night. My S was reading over his application (who knows why —) to his #1 school, a very competetive one, and realized that all of his supplemental essays were too long. He was working off the Common App character limits, but saw last night that the instructions used a word count limit of approximately 150 words and 2 of his were over 220 and one was over 320. His applicaton numberswise (SATs, AP, ACT GPA) is strong, but certainly not a guarantee. Should he email the admissions counsellor and ask to email her shorter versions? Or just let sleeping dogs lie?? He is so upset, he worked so hard; both of us are not sure how we missed this.
Again, thank you all for making a nervous mom feel better about this process. May eveyone have a Happy 2011!</p>
<p>kmc - If you S’s responses didn’t get cut off by the Common App character limit, don’t worry. I can’t imagine adcoms counting the words on the application and making notes when applicant is over the limit. </p>
<p>Mosb – Now I am even more jealous. You are right, the daily practicing is the soundtrack of our lifes and it will be missed. </p>
<p>Madbean – It’s a tough one. If your S is happy with the college list he has now, then the best thing to do is to move on. But imagine that your S gets accepted to all the schools that he applies. Will he wish that he aimed higher?</p>
<p>Hello fellow parents! I haven’t been able to get to this thread for a few days and now I’m hopelessly behind! Congratulations on all of the recent acceptances - your kids are awesome! And condolences on the deferrals and rejections - your kids are awesome too, and will end up at the right school for them.</p>
<p>My D has finished all of her 12 applications except one. She has to write a “Why X school” essay yet, and the app isn’t due until mid-January. So far, we have one rolling acceptance to a safety school, one expected acceptance to another safety/match in January, and one ED rejection. With lots more news to come in April. Almost all of her schools are reaches, so it might be a tough week when decisions come out.</p>
<p>
Did the essays actually get cut-off? Look at print preview to be sure. If not, I would be inclined to let it go. When my son applied for college three years ago, he sent a really long essay with his application. It was twice as long as it should have been, but I only realized that after the fact (and I was worried, like you). He was accepted and is mid-way through his junior year. In your son’s case, I think if it’s a strong essay, and Common App didn’t cut it off, I wouldn’t worry too much about it. But it probably wouldn’t hurt to email his admissions rep and ask.</p>
<p>madbean - I’d say if the additional app doesn’t stress both you and S out, and the transcript/recommendation letters can be sent in time, go for it! D has a saying on the wall - “you miss 100% of the shots you don’t take” - there’s no way you will know if he could have gotten in if you don’t apply. Be realistic about his chances though.</p>
<p>D has a couple more applications to go - almost there. She was working on the essay for one last night and hopes to hit the submit button today for both apps and call it done!</p>
<p>About longer essays - it frustrated D a great deal - she worked hard to write the Why College X, Why this major kind of short prompts - but then discovered that the supplement for the school would not let her go beyond a set character limit. She had to cut down the answers a great deal - it didn’t feel like her original answer when she was done. But, she couldn’t enter the answer in as is - so she didn’t have a choice. Irritating.</p>
<p>Congrats to all the recent acceptances and good news holders.</p>
<p>kmc, some advice I’ve heard about essays running long is to hold up the essay, then stand 10 feet away and see if the essay looks longer than the limit. If your son can tighten up the really long essay and make it shorter without affecting its quality, go for it. If he feels that making it shorter would make it a weaker essay, let it ride. </p>
<p>madbean, I’m going to go against the trend and say that S2 should let the list stand, unless he is the one who really, really wants to see if he could get into some super reaches. The score zoom is going to really help with the merit money pursuit, possibly opening up opportunities further up his food chain, and that’s the big push for him.</p>
<p>D2 got her first acceptance this morning, to Clark University. Their site says they notify only by snail mail, and they’d told us that letters were mailing on Monday, but they must have been overwhelmed, because they notified by e-mail and said letters (with merit aid awards) won’t go out until January. I’m assuming they had a larger than expected applicant pool, which seems to be happening with a lot of the EA schools this year.</p>
<p>Anyway, she is thrilled! Such a happy thing to get that first acceptance! And it’s one of her top-three schools, so that’s even better.</p>
<p>Hurray, hurray! What wonderful news!</p>
<p>Here is a phone call that puts the college applications in perspective (I am double posting this from the “Actual calls that parents don’t want” thread.)</p>
<p>“Dad, can you add $500 to my debit card?”</p>
<p>My son and five friends from his study abroad program were traveling from Quito, Ecuador, to the coast for Christmas. They were robbed at gunpoint, and lost all their stuff. He is out a backpack, carry-on bag, Iphone, notebook computer, glasses, spare contacts, clothes…</p>
<p>He was able to slip his ID, debit card, and cash out of his wallet as the robbery was going down. Passport was not along on the trip.</p>
<p>They only had to walk about 150 yards from a bus station to a taxi stand. En route, three guys on motorcycles swooped in and pulled guns. After it happened, everyone they meet says “oh, that town is very dangerous” but no one warned them before.</p>
<p>He has six more weeks in country, including field research on the Galapagos and in the jungle. Losing the glasses may pose the biggest issue.</p>