<p>Wahoo, great news on the summer program. Lots of good news today.</p>
<p>Ama: Thanks for the advice 
Working out details later this week for the trip. We may plan on going to down to Princeton and Duke while we are on the East Coast.</p>
<p>Running D1 is important to S13 as well as high academic standards. We are hoping that Harvard is a good fit for him. If not, it wouldn’t break my heart for him to stay on the West Coast ;)</p>
<p>Got bored at work today and went to college websites. Of the colleges that S2 is interested in (that aren’t pure conservatories), he should qualify for $8,000 - $20,000 of automatic aid based on his SAT and GPA. Those include Oklahoma City U, Baldwin-Wallace, University of Miami (back on his list now) and Rider University (Westminster Choir College). So, add in a music scholarship and Stafford loans and they all are in the ballpark. That makes me breathe a little easier. </p>
<p>Next worry - writing essays. Not S2’s favorite thing to do. I’m thinking that when I have some more free time I might investigate how many/what topics/etc. that each school requires and make a list for him. I’d like for him to write them over the summer, but that may be wishful thinking.</p>
<p>Megmom: A few months ago I printed out the Common Ap essays adn then the essays from the supplements from teh schools he was thinking about. I am sure he hasn’t looked at it, but I thought it would give him an idea of what was coming.</p>
<p>MDMom1314…If you are coming to my neck of the woods and want a beautiful drive…have you checked out Cornell or Colgate( Both Div1)…not a terrible drive from Boston…then shuffle down to Princeton…but Fly to Duke…way too long a drive…
We went to Colgate and I was surprised how much I liked it…D wanted to visit and I was Ho Hum…but it is Beautiful…Admin office was nice…a little stuffy…but nice…Academics are Top Drawer…
Depending on what yours wants to study…Mine Sociology/Business
Funny you are coming here and for the longest time D wanted a school in Calif…now she wants to stay closer ( 4hr radius) and I’m glad…</p>
<p>Megpmom…I know a young gentleman at Rider in the theatre dept and he LOVES it…the kids are great and he’s having a blast while getting a great education…this was his first year and he was so nervous…you can’t get him away from the school now.:)</p>
<p>Congrats on all the great scores and a letter from Harvard!</p>
<p>I kind of envy all of you with the kids who know which direction they want to go. S has no clue - he has so many interests - it is making it really difficult to pick schools as we can’t really look at majors :(</p>
<p>MDMom - Son has visited both Duke and Princeton. He loved Princeton but not enough to really consider it since it is so selective and he doesn’t want to take the ACT again. Duke, on the other hand, was ok. Duke has to accept a certain percentage of its students from NC/SC so he took a look. He liked the school but hated Durham. That was enough to put it on the bottom of his list. He has lots of friends at Duke and one of my close friends went to Duke they all love it.</p>
<p>Sacchi, congratulations to your D on the great ACT score!</p>
<p>SteveMA - son has looked at the Macalester website. His only “problem” with the school is the size. His high school has on 1400 students and his IB program for 11th grade only has 40 students and he said everyone is pretty sick of each other right now. These 40 kids have been together since 6th grade. I still think we may plan a visit.</p>
<p>I think son has done the unthinkable of falling in love with a dream school and I’m not sure anything will measure up to it.</p>
<p>Congratulations to all the ACT takers! I’ve only just caught up on the thread.</p>
<p>SteveMA what a great way to spend 4 days of the summer for your S!</p>
<p>MDMom1314, what a great score your S got on the ACT and wonderful to get the recruiting letter from Harvard!</p>
<p>MDMom1314 - you can make the trip to Harvard a little cheaper by staying at a hotel a little further away and taking the train. There is a T-station just a few feet from campus. I can attest to the parking situation there - and I have the parking ticket to prove it. </p>
<p>Duke is a very long drive, but I imagine it can be done in a day from Princeton (a very long day - maybe 9 hours of driving if you are not bogged down in traffic around the major cities). You could always check out another school or two in the middle. Durham is not the best, but Duke campus is beautiful and lots to do. Many of the kids live on campus all 4 years and don’t leave campus very often. Very different feel from Harvard. Is having a lot going on off campus important to your son?</p>
<p>Congrats all on the ACT scores. Sounds like we have some great results. </p>
<p>MD Mom, great news on S recruitment for track at H. </p>
<p>CBG- D attends a small IB school (starts with the IB MYP) and they have been together since Middle School. They are all getting a bit sick of each other like brothers and sisters would. </p>
<p>Also great news on all the summer programs. D also is staying home to work. She worked this weekend (she has a job that earns tips in addition to hourly). She was so excited to have her first pile of cash!</p>
<p>Congrats MDmom on your S’s wonderful news. We stay close to H, so any advice on where to stay etc…ask me. It is easy to go to H by trian as dadoftwoboys suggested, when we went there first time, we drove a lot to get a parking spot and finally when we got one, it was further away from the T.</p>
<p>SteveMA: Congratulations to your S’s summer acceptance. What a good opportunity!</p>
<p>Congrats on all the great scores! A little bit of envy that you are able to relax…I see a tense few weeks before the June SAT and probably one last hurrah in October. </p>
<p>I have a close friend with a child accepted at Duke and Harvard this year. She just made the trip to visit Harvard for accepted students and for her, it’s a no brainer…and, sadly, is choosing Harvard. I think it is funny because her mom and I were close friends at Duke for all 4 years and now her D chooses H over Duke. Even 30 years ago when Duke was not prestigious it would have been my first choice…mainly because our val was going to H and I was tired of always getting lower test scores than him. Seriously, I wanted to stay in the south…Duke was scary enough…I was poor and ignorant and the Ivies intimidated the heck out of me.</p>
<p>In hind sight and a grad degree later I would have chosen UW-Madison over both…I like space, I like a very large campus and student population, and I found that profs at public universities were more accessible than the terrified-they-won’t-get-tenure-at-prestigious-U young profs I had at Duke. My son’s friends at Yale and Harvard confirm that this is a real problem, still, at the Ivies. It is really important, but difficult, to do whatever possible to get older, tenured professors for your classes in the first few years. </p>
<p>I actually think that my friend’s daughter will do just fine at H…she has chutzpah…will have no fear asking questions or going to office hours and hounding a professor if necessary. She is psyched, not intimidated even though she knows she is going to be a bit of a hayseed…especially on the technical side. She horrified her mother and I by admitting that she had never learned to use MS Excel …what?. But she laughs and says she will figure it all out…she can’t wait to find out everything she doesn’t know.</p>
<p>I believe you choose a college (or a job or a spouse or a city) that brings out the best in you. When my son was trying to decide between two very different schools…that was the question I asked him to answer…where do you think you will be most inspired to do your best? (not really a question of happiness but obviously related)…they are young, but they can usually answer this and explain why. That is what I tell my D…forget the name, forget who has heard of the school…will you do your best there? Do you think you would be proud of the person/student you would be at that school? If you are too intimidated to ask a question in class, too bored to make the effort, too distracted by parties, too concerned about the cost…etc to enjoy your studies and try hard…well, that is not the school for you. I think it is great that some kids can try on these schools for size this summer and learn a lot about what inspires them to do their best. I hope they have a wonderful time!</p>
<p>^^ will you remind us all to ask our kids those questions in a year?!</p>
<p>Evening all! I attended a junior college night tonight and heard a few things that were news to me that I thought I’d share:</p>
<p>1) Our state flagship (UT-Knoxville) is adopting the Common App for the next application season. They’d been asked to for quite a few years and finally decided to. According to the Adcom, using the Common App “adds to freshman class diversity both in terms of geographic diversity & racial diversity.”</p>
<p>2) UT-Chattanooga indicated that they ran out of merit money early this year. They’d never seen anything like it; higher stat students applied earlier & in bigger numbers than expected. So apply early.</p>
<p>3) The rep for the state scholarship authority (that administers the lottery scholarship) said you should have all your applications & scholarship applications in by Halloween to make sure that you meet all deadlines no matter where you’re applying.</p>
<p>ETA: someone point blank asked about advising students about their social media. Adcoms said variations of “I have 900 students that I look at their files; I don’t have time to spend on Facebook looking at their profiles.” And one of the schools was religiously affiliated.</p>
<p>Lots of great news and info! Everyone seems to be shaping up great with your fabulous guidance! You all are sooo helpful! Sometimes I have been a nervous wreck about decisions or hiccups and your info has been invaluable!</p>
<p>My d is very relieved to have gotten a 34 ACT tonight. She had a big hiccup in February when she was sick for two weeks. 4 AP’s wait for no one (: Several D/F’s later she has worked her tail off all semester to recover and this ACT has given her some relief…and me too (as I type with a glass of read by my keyboard (:</p>
<p>tx5athome…I am printing essay prompts as I type…great idea!
MDmom- As my kids would say “wow, just wow!” So fun for your S!</p>
<p>I am taking notes on all the college visits!</p>
<p>Are the essay prompts for this class out yet?</p>
<p>I bought a college essay book (don’t remember the title now) a while ago, should get it on my nightstand now! DS is a good writer but his essays for TASP (did not get in) were too difficult IMO. He wrote about the way we perceive, about religion and belief. To me his language was way too difficult . </p>
<p>How are your kids getting ready for APs? Mine hardly sleeps due to DECA nationals , crew competition this weekend and all the insane homework. He is supposed to take Chem on Monday but I think it will be wise to postpone till second date. He flies back from Sacramento Sunday night after rowing 3 races. I am sure he will be exhausted!</p>
<p>Kelowna-from what I understand the essay prompts for the common app. are not changing. I guess someone will correct me if I am wrong. </p>
<p>My D is reviewing in class and has a study guide for each AP class. She has only had time to study for one because she is taking a cram class which forces her to do it. It is a crazy busy time to squeeze it in! </p>
<p>She was handed down 5 steps to a 5 in two classes but I don’t know how they compare to others. Hoping she uses them this weekend. Her tests aren’t until the 16th.</p>