<p>Oh and I had a question about ACT scoring also. I see colleges reporting composite, English, and math scores. I have never seen science and reading reported. Do colleges care more about English and math? Say a kid outstanding English and math scores (30s) but poor sience and reading scores bring down the composite. How would that compare to a kid who has ok score across the board? Do the more holistic colleges look at the individual subtests?</p>
<p>I wish the Exploring receptions were at our school wed have to drive over an hour to get to them. </p>
<p>S13s ACT writing score was posted along with the composite on the first day they were available I was surprised to see it there as Id read that those get posted later. </p>
<p>Regarding how the scores are interpreted . . . the only school Im clear on is Georgia Tech. They translate ACT score into SAT numbers. SAT CR=ACT English, SAT MATH=ACT Math, SAT Writing=ACT English+ACT Writing. So in this case, English get counted twice, and reading and science dont get counted at all. I imagine every school is different.</p>
<p>(Warning: This is SUPER LONG!)</p>
<p>Oh my gosh, it is so wonderful to be home! My dogs about had a fit last night, they were so overjoyed when ALL of their family members returned home. 
It’s almost 10 AM and I have yet to see my 10 and 13 year old sons. They were asleep when D and I got in last night and are still asleep now!</p>
<p>Okay, so I want to try to finish these college reports- it was just too difficult to type a long document on the iPad. I ordered a TouchFire keyboard for it that should come in May and that will help.</p>
<p>So, Wednesday morning D and I got up. We had spent the night in Cleveland in anticipation of our visit to Case Western. (On a side note, our hotel view in Cleveland was the single most awful hotel view I have ever seen, bar none! The sides of buildings formed a square and we were on level two or three- industrial fans just below eye level and pigeons roosting in the window sill just to side of us, with droppings everywhere. Shudder…) I had my preconceived notions all set: Case was a very geeky STEM school in an urban area. D wouldn’t really like it and I wouldn’t like it…</p>
<p>Well, that’s not how it went at all. First, she LOVED CASE. And as the tour went on, I started to really, really like Case also. If any of you watch the Big Bang Theory, it just had that vibe all over it but in the best possible way. Smart kids, like to learn and not afraid to show it. Clever, tongue in cheek humor was in evidence in the buildings, even down to their structure (a building, I want to say Molecular Biology, was built to look like a virus! lol) Located in University Circle, the school is surrounded by museums and awesome things to do. Public transport is also available to students. The tour guide was geeky but funny and down to earth and extremely likable and knowledgeable. He was able to answer our questions and did so honestly. The information session was also very good. So Case is now a real contender for my D. That being said, Case is enormously expensive, so I don’t know that she would qualify for merit aid. If she does not, it really doesn’t make sense to have her go there as an UG. She is interested in Social Work and that have a top ranked Social Work program at the Grad level, so if no merit money comes for her, she should save it for Grad school. Very impressed though! D was allowed to choose a clothing item from the bookstore of two schools she liked best and she chose Case as one of them.</p>
<p>Moving on from Case, we headed to College of Wooster. Now I was thinking she was going to hate Wooster. Small school, pretty remote-- quite a massive change from Case in urban Cleveland. How could it even compete? </p>
<p>Interestingly, she seemed to like Wooster pretty well also. She has an awful time with the name… FYI, if you don’t know, it isn’t WOOster (like Rooster) but Wuster (like Wuh-ster.) She can’t seem to wrap her head around that! lol I had to laugh when we first arrived- the receptionist, who was very nice, seemed to have a British accent but as the time passed it seemed to disappear… lol</p>
<p>Anyway, we started out with a tour. It was a bit disconcerting because our tour guide looked like a family relative (my husband’s brother) so I felt very familiar with him. He was very good- affable, pleasant but seemed smart and knowledgeable. Even though it was just him and us, he did the backwards walk as he was doing the tour. Everything you hear about Wooster being a friendly school is absolutely true. The two students we asked questions of (how to get to point A or B) immediately invited us to walk with them, answered our questions and spoke very positively about their time at Wooster, their professors and their classes. The campus is not large but pretty. Love the tradition with the Arch. I was concerned to read that there is what seems to be a large problem between the townsfolk and the students, that has even come to altercations and violence. 
And it is definitely out there (remote) although there are some local establishments fairly nearby. </p>
<p>So overall a very good day on Wednesday. Two colleges that she liked, one that she REALLY liked. :-)</p>
<p>Thursday had us waking up just outside Granville, OH. By this point we were really starting to drag. A different hotel every night is just exhausting. But we trundled off to Granville and had breakfast at a nice little place called Aladdin. It was very good and I’d recommend it. It is right at the base of Denison’s campus. </p>
<p>It is really lovely to drive up the main street and see Denison’s campus rising up on the hill above. Very breathtaking. We got parked and we were helped to the admission’s building by a professor who was walking by. She was very nice but honestly, was struggling to breathe to the point that I was worried for her! We checked in and were whisked away on tour, by ourselves, with a nice young man. According to him, everything is really funny or really cool. 
My daughter liked him though. Something about Denison just didn’t do it for me. I don’t really know what it was. Somehow, something just felt detached, or a little cold. I can’t really put my finger on it. It just lacked a vibrancy somehow. This was disappointing to me, because I think Denison is an academically strong school and has a lot to offer its students. The dorm room we saw was very large. D’s comment was " I was prepared to dislike Denison but I kind of liked it." So positive but not raving about it. Right now, it is sort of off/on her list. I think we both kind of feel “Eh” about it.</p>
<p>From there, we headed over to Delaware, OH for Ohio Wesleyan. We ate lunch directly across from campus at Dinado’s pizza (or close to that spelling- can’t remember the name exactly.) We checked in and were given a brief overview of the school (mostly a video/powerpoint with some commentary by the lady with us.) It was informative but I had seen some of it already on YouTube. Then, we left to go on our tour with a wonderful young lady. She was definitely the best tour guide that we had… intelligent, well spoken and down to earth. We very much enjoyed our tour with her. At first I wasn’t sure what I thought of the campus. It is shaped like a barbell- all the academic buildings are in one area, then a long thin section that is called “The Jaywalk” that has the library, student union and cafeteria, and a nice new fountain in the middle currently being constructed. This is clearly a big hang out spot. The other end of the barbell is the residential section, which includes dorms and some SLUs, which are single living units that are themed single family houses. A very cool concept and anyone can be involved, whether they live in one of those homes or not. There are several fraternities and sororities and the frat boys live in their frat houses. Sororities girls don’t live in their houses (is this a law in Ohio or something? I think it is. If so, WHY? ) We saw a dorm room, it was kind of standard fare, and got a peek at the honors dorm but not an honors dorm room. We then got in an OWU van and were driven to take a look at the little town of Delaware and had a few things pointed out to us, like the Stadium. We hopped out at that point and saw the new Meek Aquatic Center, which was nice, as well as the Branch Rickey athletic complex. From there we walked back and D met with her Admissions Counselor. I talked with him briefly at the end as well. He and D got along wonderfully- he was a sociology major at OWU and had been to Tanzania with the school. OWU has some wonderful opportunities not just for study abroad but also for students to come up with a grant idea, write it and get it approved. They are then given money to travel and accomplish what they want to with their grant. I figured this was being sold as something that students “could do” but then it would turn out that only like 4 out of 500 would get it. Nope! About 50% of kids who take the time to write grants (with a professor’s help) get them approved and get to travel fully paid for. What an opportunity! </p>
<p>D absolutely loved OWU. We got her signed up to attend a class the next day, which she did (and this was set up at after 5PM the day before the 11 AM Class!) She sat in on a class in Social Psychology and liked it very much. She told me what she had learned. I was eavesdropping in the hall and the Prof did a good job of delivering the material in a way that was both educational and entertaining, and easily relatable. She said that no kids were on cellphones or passing notes and were attentive, taking notes and asking questions. Prof called kids in class by their name. After the class, the prof gave D his card with his cell phone number on it and encouraged her to contact him if she wished. :-)</p>
<p>Afterward, we walked over to the student union. D chose a clothing item from there as well, for her second college. We ate a donut from the bakery and watched the students. These are happy kids. Lot of laughter and “loud happy” noise. Lots of greetings called across the way, hugs given. Kids just seemed very comfortable. </p>
<p>So Case and OWU were the big winners, with Wooster also liked. Denison is sort of on, Grove City is sort of on, Juniata is sort of on. CMU is off, Pitt is off. We decided, together, that we were just going to skip Miami U and Xavier. We had done enough, we were tired, we were satisfied. We drove straight through from OWU home.</p>
<p>It was a great trip. Exhausting but without a doubt so very worth doing. D and I had a really nice time together and I can already tell that I will hold this time we just spent together as a very dear time in our lives before she prepared to leave for college. </p>
<p>Feel free to ask questions, make comments etc!</p>
<p>So, DD heads out the door at 7:00AM to go to her boyfriend’s house for breakfast, with STRICT orders to be back here BY 7:30 to pick up her brother so they could get to school early for the test. Last night I set out their admission tickets, extra batteries for their calculators and sharpened pencils so they wouldn’t be running around doing that this morning. DD grabs her stuff on the way out the door. Gets back here about 7:33, they go to school. 10 minutes later DD is running in the house “I CAN’T FIND MY ADMISSION TICKET”. Somehow she lost it in the car??? I quickly print one out and she flies out the door. I’m assuming she got back to school by 8:00 or she is hiding somewhere until the test is done because she knows she will be in DEEEEEPPPP Do DO at home…</p>
<p>Vandygrad: Thanks for the great re-cap. About the sorority houses, I have heard, but I don’t know if it is true, that certain cities (maybe states) have old laws on the books that prohibit more than a certain number of women living in a house because it is considered a brothel. So that is why some schools don’t have sorority houses.</p>
<p>tx5athome—FUNNY!!! We visited one school that didn’t have sorority houses and didn’t really give it a second though (but they had Frat houses). Given that this school was in Iowa, that just might be why.</p>
<p>Vandy–open the mail today–2 letters from Wooster–we get a LOT of mailings and emails from them.</p>
<p>Vandy, so glad the trip was positive. That will be a nice memory.</p>
<p>@tx5athome- That would make sense, I suppose. But you would think they would make an exception for on campus sorority houses. Seems unfair that boys can live in frat houses with a cook and not the girls! But on the other hand, there are real advantages to being in the school community instead of in a singular sorority house.</p>
<p>Sounds like a great trip, vandy! I’m glad you ruled some in, ruled some out and, most importantly, had a great time. I loved college tours with ds1.</p>
<p>Good luck ACT-ers!</p>
<p>Ds came home from school yesterday, and the first words out of his mouth were, “Guess who has a B in calculus?” He was so happy. It was a looooong week and a long semester digging out of the BC hole. I’m really proud of him. He was <em>this close</em> to going pass/fail in that class, but he really felt, after doing the math, that he could get out of there with a B. He We took ds and his bff to a baseball game last night (a nailbiter!), then out for ice cream to decompress. Today, he’s working for several hours, then I’m hoping we can go look at tuxes for prom.</p>
<p>Hope everyone has a great weekend!</p>
<p>Oh, Bernese, we have been to that roadshow and are going to two more in the next month. I was surprised how well-attended the Exploring Education Excellence was. Hundreds of people there, IIRC. So, unfortunately, that doesn’t mean a lot of face time, but, of course, it counts as demonstrated interest and you can stand in line and get to meet the particular rep you want. I loved the “pearls of wisdom” section of the presentation. This isn’t as intimate as it would be if it were just one college at a time, but it is an efficient way to see multiple selective schools. And what they say about admissions are really pretty transferrable from one school to another at that tier. And I love Rice. It was ds1’s first choice for a long time, though he didn’t have a great overnight there. Which turned out to be a blessing, as he was WL’d!</p>
<p>Vandy: It doesn’t make sense, but that is why I heard they don’t have sorority houses at Chapman (Orange, CA), and my daughter was in a sorority in San Diego (where they do have houses) and that was why the houses were not allowed to be open when school was not in session. Seems quite stupid. The nice part about living in the sorority house (D1 lived in her house 1 semester sophomore year and 2 semesters junior year), was that it was significantly cheaper than living in the dorms or her off-campus apartment.</p>
<p>YDS: congrats on the Calc BC grade! Woo hoo!!!</p>
<p>FOrgot to say good luck to the ACT test takers! And S3’s writing score came about a week or so after the other scores.</p>
<p>Best wishes for those taking the ACT today!</p>
<p>Stevema, Too funny! I remember when my S11 took the ACT during the spring of his junior year. I packed him a snack as I had always done. As soon as he got in the car after I picked him up he said, “why did you pack me that dumb snack and no calculator?” I could have killed him! Of course I assumed he was mature enough to bring his own calculator and did not pack one the way I did when he was doing middle school talent search. I was so mad, I cried. Forward to fall senior year when I insisted that he take it again with a calculator: He got the exact same math score but brought his composite up to 34. It all works out… (And now he is perfectly happy studying computer science at IU but gave up math after having to work too hard in 1st semester calculus and is studying logic to fulfill his math requirement)</p>
<p>Vandygrad, great descriptions and sounds like a great trip! I really appreciate hearing about all the road trips!</p>
<p>I am assuming the kids will be home relatively soon. Let’s see what kind of mood she is in :D. Hopefully she was mature enough to blow it off by the time she sat down to take the test…</p>
<p>Omg…S was in such a foul mood when I picked him up that I got lost on the way home.</p>
<p>reeinaz–I have a feeling it’s going to be the same thing here, times 2–somehow it will be my fault too :D.</p>
<p>Well, they are done. DS said that it was about what he expected. One question asked “which one” and nothing else. He thought that was “stupid”. Writing question was on text messaging and interpersonal communications. DD went to Starbucks so no idea what kind of a mood she is in. DS said that they said they didn’t need their tickets as long as they had a photo ID–now they tell us.</p>
<p>Received rejection letters for Governor’s school for the Arts today for both girls (creative writing and MT; 1750 applied for 225 slots/9 disciplines). Accepted letter for Governor’s Scholarship Program for my daughter that applied. I’m supposed to weep and dance at the same time and that isn’t working so well. Sigh.</p>
<p>Vandy, what a great trip report! Thanks so much for that - I think that many of our kids are looking at the same schools and it’s so helpful to get different experiences.
That sounds like a good success if your DD found 2 good schools that she is excited about!</p>
<p>tx5, seriously, brothels? LOL!</p>
<p>Sorry for those of you dealing with kids in less than perky moods. Hopefully, they’re just tired and will be happy when scores come out. Those tests are just so grueling!</p>