<p>I think people who are hanging around on cc shouldn’t be surprised that the top schools are a crapshoot, which is why we all keep emphasizing a solid list of reaches, matches and safeties. But, IMO, not a lot of good can come from exposing themselves to the constant barrage of bad news. They’re causing themselves more stress. Sure, check the forums of the schools your kid is interested in to see the trends, but don’t let all the bad news get you too down. 
JMHO.</p>
<p>^^^You are, as always, absolutely correct 
I very rarely look at the specific year threads except for the ones I “belong” to, but figured hey, it’s almost April 1st! Big duh on my part. The most important thing is that D is blissfully unaware…</p>
<p>Hey RobD - would you mind posting your Spring Break trip itinerary? Not that I want to follow you around the country - ha - but because I’m putting together a trip of my own with Step-D this summer and I’d love some ideas </p>
<p>I try to stay away from the 2012 thread, but I can’t. It IS most definitely freaking me out however…</p>
<p>It’s interesting, I hear of people who have applied to 18 - 20 schools this year - I wonder what it will be like next year or in 5 years! It must be hard for the students to write so many essays! It’s difficult to recycle them and so many universities want specifics about their programs!</p>
<p>Fred: With the common Ap it is easier to apply to more schools. A lot of individual schools have supplements, but it is not as hard as filling out individual applications. And for the University of California schools, it is one application (with 2 essays) and then you send it to as many of the UC schools as you want (for a price of course!). But it gets pretty pricey when you add on the price of sending the test scores etc… I think D1 applied to 7, and S2 applied to 10.</p>
<p>I didn’t realize that it was so easy to apply to the University of California schools. DS didn’t really consider them because as an international his chances would have been pretty slim. He ended up only applying to 3 although we had 4 or 5 more just waiting to be sent at the end of December if his EA apps hadn’t worked out. Another safety and a few reaches/matches. We are glad we didn’t have to pay any more registration fees although we had already sent some SAT scores out to them.
DD is considering quite a few right now but we are hoping she will narrow the list down a bit!</p>
<p>RobD~ Our D’s sound a little alike. My D is interested in Oberlin, and her test scores put her in the top 75th, but her gpa is lower. She loves Carleton, and I don’t even really want to take her to visit, even though she wants to, because she has such a low chance of getting in. But, her total favorite right now is Smith, and she <em>might</em> have a better shot at that one. </p>
<p>D is another one that feels that prom is silly, and has no interest or plans to go this year. Mabye next year.</p>
<p>D read “The Raven” at her first poetry slam tonight. She was very nervous, but said it “twas awesome, hurrah!”. She riveted the audience, and got some great reviews and feedback. She is so proud, and so am I :)</p>
<p>A visiting elephant here from the '12 board - don’t panic yet! Plenty of time for that…</p>
<p>I’m visiting b/c my DS is taking a gap year, so although he’s graduating this year, he won’t be moving into the dorm next year - so I’ll probably hang out here a bit, if you’ll have me. And happy to share what we learned along the way, too. </p>
<p>Our short summary: visited 14 (tossed 6 off the list after visiting), applied to 11 (3 never visited), accepted to 10 (no Ivies, fwiw). Significant merit (which was a major consideration for applications) at 6. The FA is do-able at 5 (including his #1, thank goodness), plus one more still to hear from. He’s one of those “split personality” kids - very high test scores, gpa not so much (he’ll finish between 3.4 and 3.5), very limited “normal” EC’s (clubs, sports, arts, etc.), but a demonstrated passion for his academic interest.</p>
<p>PghMomof2: Welcome! We may need to pick your brain about gap years you know
Does he know which of his acceptances he’ll say yes to? And does he have a plan for a gap year?</p>
<p>Yes, tell us more. Will he defer his acceptance to one specific school for a year? Do they promise to keep his FA the same? If he was accepted lots of places, I can’t imagine you and he want to go through the application process again next year!</p>
<p>He’s probably going to say yes to U Rochester - definitely don’t want to go through it all again. They are promising to keep the merit aid in place, but we’ll have to file for need-based FA again - ugh - and I’m really nervous about them trading grants for loans. What I really wish we could do would be to keep U Oklahoma (his #2, which also holds all merit aid) in our back pocket in case Rochester plays the “switcheroo” with us. I’ll be visiting the FA office next month to talk turkey on this issue. </p>
<p>As to what he’s doing for the gap year - he’s going on a Rotary Youth Exchange to Finland and will have another year in “high school” (but he won’t have to worry AT ALL about grades, other than passing and being a good citizen). I guess he’ll be used to hard winters! I will say that if you’re thinking about gap years, RYE is definitely one to explore. In our area, they have some trouble filling all the spots, and the cost is MUCH less than some other programs (essentially, we’re paying airfare, spending $, insurance, and a few other things…but there’s no big program fee).</p>
<p>We encouraged a gap year b/c he’s a year young (not yet 17) and we think another year of maturing will make a huge difference in college. He’s ready to be away from us (as he keeps reminding us!), but not quite ready to be on his own. </p>
<p>Thanks for the welcome. There’s at least one other '12 gap year parent who’ll be joining us as well.</p>
<p>That’s cool, PgH. So it sounds like y’all knew going in that he’d take a gap year? But you didn’t disclose it on apps?</p>
<p>PghMomof2, what does your S plan to major in? My S12 was interested in Rochester as well, especially the physics program, but decided to go elsewhere. The profs there spent a lot of time with him, though and he was very impressed.
Finland sounds like lots of fun! Will he be doing a homestay program?</p>
<p>High school had the NHS assembly last night. On the way home, S actually opened up about colleges and potential majors. </p>
<p>Wondered what college courses were like…were they filled with worksheets, daily assignments, and other busy work ‘crap’ like HS?</p>
<p>My answer…some are, like math, CS and certain other sciences. Some are not, like history, poli sci.</p>
<p>S…I really prefer to read and write papers (he has always been a big reader) and want to major in something with that.</p>
<p>My worries set in. Will he get a job? What if his grades are not high enough as an undergrad for a good grad school? I immediately think Econ major. A social science but with enough math and stats to perhaps make him employable. Also good prep for grad school in a number of fields. Will he consider a minor in CS?..?..?</p>
<p>I always figured he would be a social science major (like his dad) and last night helped to confirm.</p>
<p>We weren’t sure about the gap year going in…it’s just so hard to predict how much kids change in a year. So he went through simultaneous college and gap year applications (no, he didn’t disclose). Fortunately, he heard back from both at about the same time so that we could compare and decide what made sense. </p>
<p>He’s completely on board, though - he’s a linguistics nut (to answer fredricksdottir’s question), Finland was his first choice, and it’s not a language he’d get to study in college. RYE does at least 2, maybe 3 different homestays over the course of the year. He did a 3-week homestay last year on an international service trip, and I think that also helped all of us be comfortable with the gap year plan.</p>
<p>PghMomof2, Finnish would certainly be a hard language to find at a university! It’s quite different from the languages of the countries around, isn’t it. It would definitely be an asset to a linguist!</p>
<p>Pgh, that sounds so interesting. Part of me would like ds2 to take a gap year and go abroad. He hasn’t gotten to travel like his brother has, and I think world travel is so important. And I’d love for him to learn another language. Latin was great in HS, but not terribly useful, kwim? ;)</p>
<p>One of my friend who is my age spent her senior year of high school in Finland and said it was life-changing for her. She recommends it for everyone. Plus I believe college is free for all in Finland.</p>
<p>Welcome, PghMom, so happy to have you here and to hear your story. S, class of 10, did a summer home stay between freshman and sophomore year of college. We were so pleased with his experience that we have signed up to have a foreign exchange student here next year. The school has not approved it yet, so we are still in waiting mode.</p>
<p>Viva la international experience!</p>
<p>Fingers crossed! Just FedExed an application for a summer physics program out east for DS. He was asked to apply 2 days before Spring Break so he sent a quick e-mail to a couple of teachers to ask for reference/assessment letters and wrote the essay over Spring Break. It’s due March 31st so not much turn around time. He dashed out of school at lunch time today with the last reference letter and H hurried off to FedEx the package. The program looks perfect for him (the fact that it is free is perfect for his parents!) and a great opportunity. Unfortunately, we won’t know the outcome for a month… more waiting on applications!</p>