<p>Bought the direct hits books…still in a pile of test prep books in our office. :)</p>
<p>Sad scores here too. In Dec, D’s scores were okay in M and R, so she focused on the essay. This time, the essay was better, but M and R, and the W multiple choice dropped!!</p>
<p>We did our first official college visit this week. D has been to several colleges for summer camps and to the local state school for classes, but not a ‘College Visit.’
College is a ‘Plan C’ for D so I wanted her to check out the places nearby in hopes of applying in the fall. We did the Monday at TCU. It was a lot of fun. They fed us breakfast, then took us on a tour. Then there were breakout sessions. Then they fed us lunch and some students talked (and brought tears to my eyes). After that, we checked out the dorms, then visited an area of interest. Finally we had purple popcorn. It was a perfect experience for my daughter. She created a list afterwards of the pros and cons and is now considering college!!</p>
<p>hippiechicken - Great name by the way! Sorry about the scores 
Yay about the great visit to TCU! Sounds like they know how to treat prospective students/parents right! :)</p>
<p>~sigh~ No visit to Lafayette today. There was a thunderstorm going on when the alarm went off at 5:30 though the rain has seemed to stop for now. Once S heard about the rain yesterday, he was resistant to going. “I will hate it. Really, really hate it.” He really doesn’t like rain. Plus the fact that it was an all day program on a Saturday!!! didn’t help. He was thinking it was a 2 hour tour/info session combo. I can’t believe that I’m a bit disappointed though. We won’t be doing many college visits and I guess I was looking forward to the experience. I keep reading about parents having these amazing moments with their kids around the whole college visit thing. I want some of that too!!!</p>
<p>reeinaz, I had hoped that we’d get to the Lafayette program today also, but D had a game and they wouldn’t cancel it until the last minute - by then the coach was already at the school so they are practicing anyway.
I know what you mean about the college visit experience. D and have only managed one weekend visit to a nearby school and we were both underwhelmed.<br>
Unfortunately, sports have made it almost impossible to do any college visits while school is in session. :(</p>
<p>Visited Truman, beautiful campus. D really liked it there, good fit for both her and S. Nice find thanks to CC! It will be going on our list of places to apply. Kirksville is kind of a dump of a town but there is enough to do on campus that it won’t really be an issue for our kids.</p>
<p>I’ve never been to any of the all-day college visit programs with either of my kids. Two hours for an info session + tour is as much organized visit as either of them would have patience for. I think you can learn a lot form just wandering around alone and observing.</p>
<p>D just about lost it yesterday. After an hour in the car with me, an info session, a college tour, and a college of arts and sciences info session, she said, “I have been talked to about college for 4 hours today, can’t we just listen to music?” Sacchi, I know what you mean.</p>
<p>My daughter wants to do something besides visiting colleges, it can’t be just colleges, it has to add something else.</p>
<p>Y’all are not making me feel good about the reception ds2 and I will be attending this afternoon!</p>
<p>First-time poster, with a note on SAT scores. DS1 (now a college sophomore) got a 1950 on his first attempt at SATs spring of junior year (after months of tutoring), then second sitting got a 2240 (said he did a couple of practice tests and went over the questions he got wrong the first time). Big jump. He also got a 34 on ACT fall of senior year. </p>
<p>DS2, now a hs junior, just got SAT scores back, lower than PSATs but not bad for first try. They also had all juniors take the ACT (free!), and just got the scores back. Look forward to sharing this journey with everyone :)</p>
<p>jb…welcome…a 300 point miracle! was their a special offering? voodoo? I will try crossing fingers!
We start off on our tour tomorrow and it is very ambitious…9 schools in 5 days and we are not signed up for tours for a couple…just drive through and if it feels right…stop and wander around. Most days are one school and move on, but we have two days with two each…still, I learned with my S, if they just are in a bad mood or we are just sick of the grind, switch gears and do something else. It is important to remember that the goal of the tour is not to find the perfect school. My son did apply to a few that we visited and did weed out a couple based on the visit but overall it was just a nice experience to focus on him and have him reflect about what he wants out of his undergraduate years. I am just hoping that it is a bonding experience rather than a stressful or, worse, conflict laden trip. We love our family vacations together but since this has an “agenda” and necessarily will layer on some stress about applications/testing/etc it could be a bit of a balancing act. It is not like a trip to the beach.</p>
<p>It sounds like we may well run into a few of her friends on the tours. One kid just stopped by and said we may be in Chapel Hill the same time. Everyone has agreed to tweet highlights such as good frozen yogurt stops. Shillyshally…thanks for the tip about bagels…it has been added to the itinerary. </p>
<p>So I did tell D that I will be a quiet and discrete parent, hanging back in the pack… unless she does something unforgivable like text during an information session…then I will ask about the availabilty of condoms in the girls bathrooms… any other good ideas for humiliating your student on tour…I am sure there is a thread (and an app) for that.</p>
<p>Visited TAMUG last Thursday in a pouring rain storm, it did not make the 6 hr drive to Ft Worth afterwards very fun as we were pretty soaked. Here is my review that I posted on FB, if you have any questions let me know.</p>
<p>Pros:
Population 2000
Classes are taught by professors
Plenty of Undergrad research opportunities
They are a turtle holding facility, currently have 2.
All of the students we encountered we’re very friendly
Awesome Marine Bio program with the added bonus of having Pre law classes like environmental law and others.
Surfboards in the dorms :)</p>
<p>Cons:
Lack of Character… We set the bar very high with Duke
It is a very small school, Bio is a 9am class no other choices, lack of dining options etc
Students use it as a jumping point to transfer to College Station… At least 20% of Freshman class.
Most students are from Tx and I have a feeling a lot leave on weekends ala USF in the 80’s
Houston traffic was worse than any place I have driven, DC, Rome and NYC… Savannah would have to drive it in order to Fly home.
A Florida girl’s lack of knowledge of Aggie tradition …it was like they were talking a foreign language.
They have visiting hours in the dorms??? Hello 2012???</p>
<p>In the end we agree it is a school she will apply to, they told us her stats make her an auto admit to the school and honors program so will see what they offer her scholarship wise vs other schools.
So far Savannah has not let her heart rule the College Search she recognizes it is about getting the best education for the least amount of money. Undergrad is not the last stop on her education train ride!</p>
<p>SteveMa,</p>
<p>Glad you liked Truman. We visited last spring and will be going to their Junior day here in a few weeks. Kirksville is not the greatest but I have seen worse. Pancake City gas a great greasy breakfast.</p>
<p>S2 got his last summer acceptance yesterday - to Westminster Choir College in Princeton, NJ. It is his first choice. Grandma is offering to pay for one camp if we pick up expenses to the other. So looks like he will be spending 3 1/2 weeks in Los Angeles in June and 2 weeks in Princeton in July. We’ve promised to take him to NYC for the first time after he finishes at Westminster. We will tour Julliard and Manhattan School of Music and see a Broadway show. I think we’re all excited for that! Looks like S2’s summer is all set. </p>
<p>Funny thing, today, after all of his summer program acceptances are in, he gets a letter from the Idylwild Music Festival in California offering him a full scholarship to attend their program. He didn’t even audition for them! It is in August so it doesnt conflict with the other camps. But I think he needs some down time before school starts, so I don’t know if I’ll even mention it to him.</p>
<p>Wow, megpmom, I don’t know much about the music world, but that sounds like a great summer. Congrats to your talented son.</p>
<p>congrats megpmom. S2 is very musical (but only in 6th grade). Perhaps you are providing a glimpse into the future</p>
<p>Longsx3 - have you looked into USF-St. Pete for marine bio? I know very little, but I am aware that they have a program over there and that would hold costs down for a Florida girl. Downtown St. Pete has a pretty nice vibe these days and campus is right there and pretty compact.</p>
<p>… and, of course, wlecome jb!</p>
<p>Congratulations to your S megpmom! He sounds wildly talented and destined for a bright future in the performing arts!</p>
<p>D is on her way back from NYC. She had a fabulous time! They visited Times Square, Rockefeller Center, Radio City Music Hall and toured Lincoln Center. She got to play a Stradivarious (a Strad?!) in a violin shop, meet and talk to the concertmaster from the New York Philharmonic, saw Sister Act and met Raven Symone who is debuting in the show this week! They also saw Spiderman on Broadway, visited Juliard, St. Patrick’s Cathedral, Central Park, and saw a performance at Carnegie Hall. They shopped on Fifth Avenue and she bought a dress. Resisted buying an expensive scarf in Soho and bargained for two that were half the price in Chinatown.(That’s my girl, probably still too expensive haha!) They visited the WTC Memorial and she was really moved, but bad weather cancelled their trip on the Staten Island Ferry to see the Statue of Liberty:( Did a bus tour of Harlem instead. What a whirlwind of fun I’m sure she will never forget!</p>
<p>dad: We have not looked at USF-St Pete, D would like to be a little further from home, she is fortunate to have her Dad’s GI Bill to use which will allow her to do so.</p>