<p>OK – app season is behind me, but I remember logging on to the college board website and paying to send D’s AP scores to every college she applied to. She did well on the APs she took in 10th and 11th grade (4s and 1 5); not as well for the ones she took senior year (2011). D asked me to send her scores because she needs to use them to place out of requirements for next semester. I told her they’d already been sent (during the application process), but she said her college was telling her they needed them.</p>
<p>I just got off the phone with college board. They said they hadn’t sent 2010 or 2009 because they didn’t have her DOB. Which is ridiculous, because they had everything under her AP #.</p>
<p>So now I’m wondering…did ANY of her schools get her “good” AP scores? That would be horrible, wouldn’t it? I never in a million years thought to check. Yes of course it’s all water under the bridge, but geez!</p>
<p>I find myself in the same place as SlitheyTove. S was along for a few of the college visits we fit into family vacations, but he was in middle school at the time. He plans to do an engineering program this summer, like several others above, to test his interest (which I think is waning, but has been his default plan for a long time). So, I think we will hold off on college visits until late summer at the earliest, when we have a better idea of what kind of school he will be looking for.</p>
<p>Re: FB etc., I joined FB when D invited me (!) and find it a useful way to keep up with friends all over the world. At least 25% of my friends are over 65; social media is increasingly comfortable for and useful to people of all ages. As a bonus, I get to see great pictures of D at college and chat with her from time to time.</p>
<p>Classof2015 I think that most schools use self-reported AP scores for admissions and only care about getting them officially once the student is accepted, for credit and placement. So… it certainly stinks that you went to the effort of sending them for nothing, but I doubt it hurt her. I sure hope CB at least refunded you for all the scores you paid for and they never sent!</p>
<p>Like you ST, our journey with kiddo 2 will be different than kiddo 1. We had a clear idea of grades and scores as well as interests etc. Kiddo 2 is needing alot of the charateristics in a school that you have noted…we just aren’t sure what will be a “safety” quite yet.</p>
<p>With kiddo1’s first trip we flew to Boston and stayed a week. Saw a wide variety of schools. Had no plans and just “explored” what schools looked like and it was an eduation about how something “on paper” is so different when you set foot on campus.
Kiddo2’s schools will, I “think” be a better fit if they are nurturing, experiential, wide variety of majors etc…</p>
<p>Proudmomof2, Madbean and MomJr, Count me in as one of the club. My oldest D will be graduating as well. She wants to go to Grad school but was advised by her advisor that working for a year or two would be good as he felt that Grad students tended to burn out and taking some time off from academia would be a good thing. (She wants to apply to a Master’s PhD combined program that could take quite a few years) Yikes. Good luck to your sons and Daughters!</p>
<p>My grad school daughter worked for three years after college and that really did help prepare her for going back to college and helped her focus on a goal. Had she gone straight to grad school, I’m sure her major would have been different. Right after college she taught in three very different places and came to the conclusion that she did not want to teach in a traditional school, and probably not K - 12. I’ve heard that grad school’s prefer students that do that route instead of just going straight from under-grad to grad school.</p>
<p>I am a FB user. I’ve moved numerous times as an adult and I’ve found FB a wonderful way to get back in touch with people that I’ve lost track of over time. I like the casualness of it. It’s like a conversation in a grocery store aisle as opposed to a dinner date.</p>
<p>My middle child (really a full blown adult at 24) has a job! Well, sort of. It’s at an amazon.com warehouse. To keep the job is sort of like Survivor - you have to get there early just to be able to clock in. He’s working third shift, which time wise should be good for his vampire soul. He likes to go to bed in the wee hours and get up at noon. It used to be an English major was a “do you want fries with that?” degree. Now it’s, “can you pick and pack?” . We’re all happy he’s working more then part time and hope he can move up the chain fast or find something better, meanwhile, it will pay his bills.</p>
<p>My daughter is coming home Saturday for her winter break and bringing a friend from an African country. We’re going to do the Christmas tree farm thing with them on Sunday. I hope it’s just slightly cold. We tend to whine and argue if it’s windy/rainy/snowy/really cold.</p>
<p>mathmomvt: My D did the SES program after her junior year and enjoyed it. She had also applied the previous summer and was not accepted. Like your son, she had a very high math PSAT and great references. When she attended the following summer, she saw that most of the students were rising seniors. The only exception to this that she knew was her roommate who was a URM. So, I recommend applying, but to not get your hopes up, as it looks like they clearly favor rising seniors.</p>
<p>I am going to see D this weekend. It is an 18 hour trip one way and I am doing it alone. She is in the Tulane Choir and they are performing the Messiah part one on Sunday. </p>
<p>H and S are staying home so S('16) can go to school and they are both running in a 5K on Saturday.</p>
<p>D texted me today and said that she has a solo at the Wesley House service on Sunday night. That was the whole text. I asked her if she wanted me to go to it since I would be there for her Messiah concert from 1-3 in the afternoon. She said only if I was going to still be around, maybe I would want to head home already? Well, ummm, I don’t drive that far to say hi and turn around and go back. And, if I am there for a concert and my kid is doing a solo a couple of hours later, then I am staying for the solo. What’s a couple of hours compared to an 18 hour drive?</p>
<p>Oh, and I do FB and nothing else as far as social media goes.</p>
<p>thanks camathmom – it sounds like for a male especially it’s almost certainly not going to happen this summer – but maybe by applying this year it will slightly bolster his chances for the next summer. </p>
<p>bajamm, wow, that’s quite a trip! Good luck and enjoy the concert, and the solo! Nice that the ended up being the same day Are you driving it all in one shot, or staying overnight halfway somewhere?</p>
<p>mathmom, I will be stopping part way. My parents live three hours into the trip, so theoretically I could stop there after work on Thursday and go the rest of the way on Friday. I kind of want to see if I can get off work early and drive further on Thursday. I have Monday and Tuesday off, also, so won’t have to hurry home.</p>
<p>I’ll join the ranks of those of you have son/daughter graduating from college this year. My son will be off to medical school next year – not sure which one yet, but he’ll make a decision by spring.</p>
<p>I also have an S’15 who will be starting the college search process. Can’t believe we’re starting again. The search for him will be different than it was for S2. He’s very strong in math/science, but doesn’t really have any idea what he’d like to study. I was just discussing with DH our need to find a way to expose him to some different careers so that something might click with him.</p>
<p>Wow. I spoke with ShawD Saturday morning . She had begun studying for finals over the weekend. She was amazed at how much psych reading there was to review. I suggested that she go to the TA or to students who took the course last year and find out what was important. She went to the TA and I spoke to her again tonight. She said, “I’ve completed a 9 page outline for the first half of the course and a 13 page outline for the 2nd half of the course. Tomorrow and Wednesday, I mostly have to study for chemistry, and then I take the psych exam Wednesday night.” She needs to study for chem because it is the hardest and the 2nd to last exam out of 5. So, she’d planned out (4 pm to 10 pm Tuesday for chem, etc.). Great thing she went to the peer mentor. With a plan, she feels armed for success and then she does it. I hope it works. </p>
<p>We had our first official BF or GF sleepover when ShawSon brought his GF home for Friday night. When I was in college, my mother had insisted that my GFs, whom she knew I was sleeping with every night, sleep in separate bedrooms. It seemed very strange to me and I vowed not to repeat the same silliness (Hey, if you know, you know; why are you pretending?). So, we were very low key. We offered them the guest room if they wanted it – ShawSon has a sleeping loft that is more than 6 feet off the ground, supported by poles made out of very thick, sturdy tree branches. She’s short (5’2"?) and very petite (small frame, might weigh 98 pounds sopping wet) so we weren’t sure she’d want to stay in the loft. She climbed one of the branches to get in and out. A rite of passage as a parent, but I think we both were quite happy with how it worked out. It’s nice to see him happy and affectionate like that. And, he’ll be comfortable coming home with her – or possibly another GF in some later era.</p>
<p>Shawbridge - gulp! We are soooo far from that as a possibility at this point that it made me chuckle. I’m sure the time will be here before I know it. Time passes so quickly.</p>
<p>FlMathMom, yup, although a number of my friends had to decide how to deal with that when their daughters were still in HS. One just decided to accept and accommodate. The girls went to Harvard and Tufts. Two have gotten married this year – one to her older sister’s friend from Harvard whom she met when visiting while still in HS. They are all happy, well-adjusted and doing well in life. It is probably slightly tougher when one’s kid is female, but we’ll get there as well (fortunately not in HS).</p>
<p>I’m actually much more excited about ShawD’s adoption of time management for her exams. I suggested she ask for a peer mentor and that has been very helpful.</p>
<p>I agree that working a year or more before grad school is a great idea (although I did not do so, but probably should have). I interviewed law students for 10 years for summer clerkships and associate jobs, and was invariably more impressed with the students who had been in the workforce between college and law school. They were more focused and seemed to have a much better idea of why they were in law school. In today’s buyer’s market for grad school graduates, I think employers are looking for someone who brings more to the table than things learned in the classroom.</p>
<p>I’m glad to hear the support for working before attending grad school. My D considered applying to law school, but realized that it was just a default move because she wasn’t sure what she wanted to do after college. A career advisor at her school recommended that she apply for consulting jobs because she will be exposed to different businesses. She is currently planning to work for a few years and then apply to grad school. </p>
<p>Good luck to the other 2012’s as they navigate the next step.</p>
<p>We are sooo not there yet…and being on the conservative/faith side of things…I just don’t know how that all will go down in our house.</p>
<p>I recall calling my mom and telling her that to save money (pre-wedding–we were engaged) that I was going to move into DHs apt instead of paying rent at my shared apt…And told her how much it would save in things…
My mom thanks me for saving her so much money --telling me that if I moved into DHs place, I’d be saving them all of that tuition money! Yikes.</p>
<p>Earlier during the summmer–when DH told his dad about how he planned to fly to Europe to visit me (I was at a summer abroad program)and was planning on proposing while traveling together–His dad said No etc.</p>
<p>Fast fwd 10 yrs and my inlaws went on a trip to Europe and PAID for my BiL and his GF (now wife) to go along…and BiL and GF
shared a room…</p>
<p>D’s flight for winter break is booked. Phew!</p>
<p>We’re pretty liberal about the bed-sharing thing on principle. Except our Ds’ bedrooms are practically attached, and D2 is 4 years younger than D1, which also was an issue. As much as she loves D1’s BF, it never felt right to anyone that he would stay up in their “suite” (our BR is downstairs). Sometimes they would share the guest room … except it is in a cat-free zone and D1 would miss her kitty.</p>
<p>Things will be WAY less complicated for D2, when the time comes!</p>
<p>shaw, don’t take this the wrong way, but I always think it’s interesting when people don’t feel as strange when it’s their son rather than their daughter … I mean, the girl involved is someone’s daughter …</p>
Are you driving it all in one shot, or staying overnight halfway somewhere?</p>