<p>Our High School is a bronze level school. It has one of the top SAT scores in the state but because our school does not do AP or IB, it won’t ever go beyond bronze.</p>
<p>No graduation party here - just going to take DS and some of his friends out somewhere. Kids like nothing better than to do things on my dime. LOL…</p>
<p>Thanks kleibo, I’m trying to figure out how to avoid unneeded unsub loans for her but not have too little available in case anything prevents me from helping her out during the year. </p>
<p>I don’t want her to start getting charged interest immediately on any unsub loan that she may not even need to take out. Trying to figure out how much her grants and scholarships will really cover. Luckily, they’re going to cover a lot.</p>
<p>love it, college_Query, on the “win - win”</p>
<p>and . . . it’s Friday, Friday, gotta get down it’s Friday - everybody’s looking forward to the weekend . . .</p>
<p>Today is one of those mornings where I was wondering what would happen if I just didn’t get up or call in - I’m looking forward to sleeping till 8 or so tomorrow.</p>
<p>Our neighbor and carpool partner have a HS class of 2014 and they are working with a very hands on college counselor guy who thinks kid is “Ivy Material”. He is a great, bright, nice kid- very good student - but doesn’t do stand out stuff. The guy had him apply to Cornell Summer College business program and I had a text from his mom and dear friend last night the he “got into Cornell!” </p>
<p>Q: can anyone give me the “nut shell” version of what this is? Is it competitive admissions or if you do the essays and complete the app and there’s room you get in? Is it a school money maker type of thing? Does it help with future admissions? </p>
<p>I’m just trying to get the back story so I can be suitably supportive w/o adding to hype. This family falls into the dread FA middle ground - doing pretty decently financially but not well enough to just write big checks willy nilly.</p>
<p>Glad it’s Friday. S and I both slept through our alarms this morning. Oops. So I drove him to school chattering about the Cold War in preparation for the two history papers today. He and a couple IB-mates spent from 3:00 - 9:00 at the library going over all of their notes from this year. I think that’s the most studying he’s done for that class in the two years he’s had it!</p>
<p>He says they’re doing next to nothing in the classes where he’s already had exams. After they’re done next week, they’ll start working again since they DO have a month of school to go! But mostly fairly fun projects and such.</p>
<p>When he’s not studying for the third HotA paper and Spanish this weekend, he needs to go order his tux for prom! And make sure the friend who says he’s reserving a limo has actually done so.</p>
<p>I think one of my favorite things to read is the reason for edits - lol</p>
<p>My impression of the summer college programs is that they give you no advantage to admissions, but can be good programs for the motivated student. My s did cty, didn’t mention it on apps, but did in interviews. Whether it meant a hill of beans I don’t know, but it’s not why we did them.</p>
<p>S has his last field trip of his life today. He and his 2 matlab classmates are going to the local navy airbase to see matlab in action. They also get 2 hours on the simulator and will get to see a lot of hands on engineering. This base tests fighter jets among other things like carseats. This is a really big base full of engineers with tons going on and every big name govt contractor you can think of works either on or around the base. Since it’s in a rural area they actively recruit hs kids who live around here to come back there to work. They also do internships which would be very convenient.</p>
<p>And he wanted to skip it so he could hang out at lunch time with his quasi/semi girlfriend whose birthday is today. They are going out to dinner and a party tonight so we made him go on the trip.</p>
<p>College summer program is better than if a kid was sitting at home. D2’s counselor told her to apply to few college programs in case she didn’t get into a competitive program because it could help with her essays. I don’t think those programs are competitive. You have submit your transcript and write some essays. The one at Yale needed teachers’ LORs.</p>
<p>I left this morning at 6:15 to go to the airport. I called D2 at 7 to make sure she was up. She asked me why I was calling her at 6. Ahh, no, it’s 7. She jumped out of bed because the driver was to pick her up at 7:15. Her IB exams start at 7:45. It’s going to be a long day for her.</p>
<p>
</p>
<p>Hahahahahaha</p>
<p>
</p>
<p>We got this laundry bag at Target for S1. It’s 2 years old now and in great shape – not ripping anywhere. [Michael</a> Graves Laundry Bag : Target](<a href=“http://www.target.com/p/Michael-Graves-Laundry-Bag/-/A-13080104]Michael”>http://www.target.com/p/Michael-Graves-Laundry-Bag/-/A-13080104) He has a tall plastic laundry basket that this bag fits inside. He likes the shoulder strap on the bag – makes it much better to carry around.</p>
<p>
</p>
<p>Good save, oldfort!</p>
<p>Saintfan: college summer program. Nephew attended 2 summers at Yale, applied ED and got rejected. From the pacific NW, brilliant young man, gifted writer, thought he was a shoe-in. So not sure it gives a student a step up. Just a decent summer opportunity.</p>
<p>Nephew ended up scrambling with applications, rejected from ivies, attended JHU–creative writing major, now works in natl sports news.</p>
<p>[Time</a> Cover: ‘Are You Mom Enough?’ - By Greg Pollowitz - Media Blog - National Review Online](<a href=“http://www.nationalreview.com/media-blog/299565/itimei-cover-are-you-mom-enough-greg-pollowitz#]Time”>http://www.nationalreview.com/media-blog/299565/itimei-cover-are-you-mom-enough-greg-pollowitz#)</p>
<p>saintfan - most colleges have summer programs as revenue generators. Some parents have mentioned earlier that they have been able to some scholarships for them but otherwise 6-8k in fees, room and board is pretty steep.</p>
<p>OTOH, 11th grade summer is something people need to brag about in terms of what they did. So it is important that they find something worthwhile to put on the commonapp. So they need to fill the time meaningfully which means spend the money if you got it or find a service project on the cheap if there is nothing else to do.</p>
<p>So if you are in Seattle and can find something at UW that does not cost as much…</p>
<p>thanks all who chimed in on summer college program - again, this is a kid who I’ve known since he was 3-4 and see daily - mom is close friend It’s one of those parenting decisions where it’s not what I would do given the circumstances, but not my business either. I’m just trying to get background so I can respond appropriately and answer if asked and frame it in my own mind. Also, I drive him daily and he is a pretty quiet kid, but will volunteer some info to me and ask questions that his parents don’t get - that teen thing.</p>
<p>p.s. I have a certain amount of scepticism that counselor wants to “get him in to” an ivy non-competetive summer program to prime the pump for further ivy push with parents who are a bit out of the loop.</p>
<p>
</p>
<p>This could so be my D! Our 18 year-olds are all so bright, independent, competent and yet … there’s sometimes a little gap in that competence, where a mom is needed.</p>
<p>Mind you, I suppose I could still use a mom from time to time myself. Like that time I was overwhelmed with work, the beastly water bill (has no auto-pay option) got lost in papers on my desk, and I didn’t realize I hadn’t paid it until the county cut off our water. Major domestic embarrassment, and I was in my forties at the time.</p>
<p>Vaguely annoying morning. When I hopped in shower this morning, there was no hot water. When I mentioned it to D15, she goes “I had the same problem last night.” But did she think to mention it, nope. So I’m going into work long enough to grab laptop and then go home and work while waiting for repair guy.</p>
<p>D12 was stressed last night, because she’d forgotten that a major assignment (the last) for theater was due today. It is the portfolio of drafts and research for her 1 person show, that she’d sworn she had been doing all along.</p>
<p>As an added bonus, our soccer league made a scheduling misstake and dropped off D12’s coaching game for tomorrow so I spent last night emailing parents (I am D’s assistant coach) to tell them game was cancelled only to find out this morning that we are playing after all.</p>
<p>Oldest D just found out she got into a very competitive Professional Program where she doubles down on her classes and ends up with an MBA and undergrad degree in only 4 years total (she has finished 2 years already). We just brought her home yesterday and next week she moves back to take a full Summer of classes! The bill is over 4K so we will be forced to use her offered unsub loan. We were so proud she was loan free so far…but we just don’t have 4K laying around. However, when she graduates she will make 6 figures according to others who have done this program. Wow!</p>
<p>Debbie7452-- Congrats to your D</p>
<p>congrats to Debbie’s D!</p>
<p>re summer programs- I am also in the camp that they don’t give you a leg up in application to the hosting school. However I feel they can be very valuable to have a kid learn to live on his own and manage homework, laundry, free time, etc away from home. I did a program which was truly life changing for me. D1 did one from which she did benefit, but she has more opportunities during the regular year so it wasn’t as drastic for her to expand her horizons. Never fit in the schedule with D2, she has been away from home for most of the summer past few years, but not in an academic environment.</p>
<p>ps- for those heading to Chicago next year, scav is happening now, check out the antics</p>
<p>Does anyone else read “grad cap candy” as “grad crap candy”?? I cannot not see it otherwise now. </p>
<p>And you’re welcome, 'cuz now you’ll see it that way too. </p>
<p>Got my Tinyprints announcements in the mail yesterday. Purty.</p>
<p>Congrats to your D, Debbie!</p>
<p>That Time cover photo freaks me right out, sorry. When my girl was born, we were living in Hiram (college town) and I went to a LeLeche Leauge meeting of some very crunchy granola moms. When the speaker’s 5-year-old went up to her and started nursing while she was speaking I decided it wasn’t the group for me. I did breastfeed the first year, but that’s it. I think she turned out okay :)</p>
<p>It’s a beautiful spring day here and all the seniors got to school on their last official day on bikes, scooters, golf carts–I even heard one tractor–anything but cars. (No reports of horses so far.) They’re having a fun “spring fling” day after 3rd period/AP tests.</p>
<p>Every Friday the president of Tulane, Scott Cowen (formerly of CWRU, yay Cleveland ties!) sends out an email. Today’s was about the Class of 2016. Very interesting, esp this:</p>
<p>After Katrina, many thought Tulane might be so desperate for students it would lower its admission standards. The exact opposite is happening. Since Katrina, we have accepted about 25 percent of the students who apply to Tulane. In 2003, two years before Katrina, our acceptance rate was 55 percent; in 2000, it was 73 percent. Our yield rate – the percentage of accepted students who actually enroll at Tulane – has also risen 10 points since 2006.</p>
<p>Good luck to all the test takers today!</p>
<p>Scones and bacon for breakfast as a celebration to the end of AP tests were a hit. AP Euro this afternoon and he is done with AP’s.</p>
<p>jmnva06–I’m having an annoying morning as well…woke up to an email that one of our credit cards was compromised.</p>
<p>Saintfan,</p>
<p>I share your leeriness about GC’s motives and I think your plan to draw the student out is a good one. For example, does this student actually have an interest in the program? What does he hope to gain from it, or is it just a way to fill some space on a app?</p>
<p>My S’s junior summer was spent at two different medical programs. One at Georgetown, one at St. Louis U. Both required applications, references, essays and $. These were programs that he applied to in January and there definitely was a degree of competitiveness, especially with the St. Louis one b/c it was so small. The kids viewed live surgeries and had sututring labs. S felt that both gave him very valuable insight into medicine and med school.</p>
<p>So, moral to the story, I would encourage the student to be sure that he has a real reason that he wants to be a part of the Cornell program. There are so many of these, I can’t see it making a kid really standout, especially if it isn’t tied to what they hope to study at the school they are applying to.</p>