Parents of the HS Class of 2013

Parents of HS Class of 20xx
5481

<p>89wahoo, my D has also had vocabulary tests every year of high school. There is even a little vocab book that I have had to buy each year that they use for practice. The tests are cumulative and my D has reported that many of the words are used on the SAT. </p>

<p>YDS, I have been trying to figure out why my D applied to the humanities gov school when she has always been a math/sci kid. She said it sounded more fun and she wanted to explore other areas of study that might lead to an unexpected career path. Besides, an attendee from her school to the math/sci gov school last summer reported that the atmosphere was very serious. Humanities is also held on the same campus as performing arts and as my D attends a performing arts hs, she knows how much fun spontaneous outbreaks of creativity can be.:)</p>

<p>I apologize that I didn’t find the time yesterday to congratulate all those with the great ACT scores. Wonderful news for so many…especially laurendog’s Step-D! My D also was pleased with her score as she went into the test unprepped, unpracticed, and unfamiliar. Not sure whether she is done yet, but she is very happy this score places her in the middle 50% of a major reach and boosts her profile for our flagship that she loves!</p>

5482

<p>Mommydearest -I am new to this forum but have been lurking! My d is also an Ohio junior thinking about Ohio State so it is good to know they are now common app. She is actually spending a day on Friday there for a STEM program and a visit with the honors college. This may be her only in state school - we would love to find another Ohio option.</p>

5483

<p>ED/EA, we will only apply EA (not SCEA) to two schools and finances are too important a consideration to apply ED.
I think that I’m not the only one looking forward to the summer! The rat race will quiet down a bit and everyone can recover!</p>

5484

<p>First, what is SCEA?</p>

<p>Second, I TOTALLY agree with Lauren. This is the first year that I have felt that D is overworked. It comes in waves even this year- she is almost always in bed by 10:30 and not working all that time between school’s end and bedtime either. But these last few weeks, especially this week, have been horrible. Huge projects in multiple classes, AP test reviews and tons of reading, SAT prep (at least that will be over this weekend, thank GOD!) It is overwhelming for her. :frowning: But, she will survive and get through it.</p>

<p>I got an email from her GC yesterday. Ten students were nominated to receive a free SAT prep course this summer. She was one of them. On the one hand, this is great news! On the other hand, we had kind of told her that she probably wouldn’t have to take the SAT again after this weekend. The prep class takes place in July. Isn’t the first SAT date for Fall 2012 in like October? Not sure the prep will be worth her taking it again. I have to let the GC know by Thursday. D said today she would take it, but she sounds so tired and beaten down… Help me decide what to do!</p>

5485

<p>SCEA = Single Choice Early Action
Still not sure what it all entails, just know that is my S’s plan for his 1st choice. But then again, it seems to change from week to week. (Pretty sure that it means that you can only apply the one school for “Early Action” and must rescind all other apps if admitted. Please, someone correct if I am way off base.)</p>

<p>And YES!! Can not wait for summer!! Although, with this last minute visit to Harvard for August on the schedule, it is becoming a bit more hectic. But still, can’t wait to have kids with no bags under their eyes for a few months ;)</p>

5486

<p>SCEA is nonbinding, I believe. You don’t have to pull back other apps and have until May 1 to decide. Someone correct me if I’m wrong!</p>

5487

<p>Youdontsay-NHS seems like a lot of work at D’s school. It requires grades, three letters of rec. Positioned leadership, documented community service and good behavior…before they select students to be a member. About 35 kids make it from hundreds of applicants a year. Is it very different elsewhere?</p>

<p>The resume is a great idea to boost deflated, exhausted teens!</p>

5488

<p>ED/EA/SCEA…it’s all foreign to me still. Which is why I come here for help ;)</p>

5489

<p>i’ll second that, MDMom!!</p>

5490

<p>Right now both of S’s top choices have a ED option. Both are need blind and meet full financial need (as determined by the school). I did the financial calculators for both schools and one is well below what we would expect to pay and the other is at the top of the range of what we can afford. I don’t think we would even consider it for a school that doesn’t meet need. We don’t necessary need to compare offers if what they offer is within the range of what is on their sites. At this point we are willing to pay instead of taking a full ride at one of the schools that we know he meets their merit standards.</p>

<p>I will say that we will be visiting and revisiting schools this summer to make sure we want to go the ED and commit to a school early. </p>

<p>Our biggest issue is to make sure that we have true safety schools that son will love and afford.</p>

5491

<p>Anybody else’s kids have to do this, this year or in the past? GC says that College Board does not allow you to move one of the two tests to the late testing period unless they are scheduled for the same time, which is not the case here – one starts at 8 am and the other at 12 pm. Just worried about DS’s brain being a little fried for the pm exam and making stupid mistakes as a result-- 6 hours of AP testing in one day seems a bit much to me!</p>

5492

<p>Wow LCS…that does seem like a lot :frowning:
All of our APs are scheduled for the AM only.</p>

5493

<p>Thanks for clearing that up…I didn’t know what SCEA was. What is “Tufts syndrome”? </p>

<p>Kelowna I know the feeling with sleep. I stay up to make sure that my daughter doesn’ just keep going. I know she is inefficient but she will space out and it’s midnight. She needs sleep!</p>

<p>Vandy, when does the class start for prep? If it does not conflict with family plans and she is planning on taking the SAT again in the fall, go for it. I would ask if her scores turn out great on this SAT, can another student take her place? Just in case…</p>

5494

<p>I think I hit the major points.</p>

<p>SCEA is single choice early action. It is nonbinding but you cannot submit any other application under an early action or early decision plan. However, I think there’s exceptions for early applications needed for scholarships or special programs.</p>

<p>Early Action is non binding and non restrictive. You can submit as many as you want. You apply early and get an early decision. No waiting until April. Under most early action plans you have a decision by 1/15.</p>

<p>Early Decision is binding. If accepted, you have agreed to attend the school and must withdraw all pending applications. You do have an out for financial aid reasons. It is restrictive. You can only apply to 1 ED school at a time. But some schools have 2 rounds, so if you aren’t accepted ED at the first school you apply to, you can apply to another’s 2nd round. You can apply to schools with rolling admissions and regular admissions. Some schools prohibit EA applications at other schools if you’ve applied ED.</p>

<p>Rolling admissions means you get an answer a few weeks after you submit an application. You can have acceptances as early as September depending on when the school starts accepting applications. It’s nonbinding and nonrestrictive.</p>

5495

<p>Boy aren’t we busy ;)</p>

<p>

</p>

<p>Welcome Outinleftfield! I have the same worry for my D, but I think she’s picked up on places that seem too intense and cut them off her list. It’s kind of like Goldilocks: that school is too easy, that school is too hard. </p>

<p>Dadoftwoboys: Descartesz explained it. I’m not letting anyone in my house think that’s an option (basically because it’s not; I think that by doing that you’re screwing up somebody on a waitlist.) Plus jeez, who wants this dragging past May 1? I don’t even like the idea of accepting a place on the waitlist.</p>

<p>ED/EA: No. I know for a few schools it would really boost her chances (Elon has an 86% ED rate vs. 29% RD!) but kids change so much from beginning of senior year till the end, plus we need to look at the packages. Oh well. </p>

<p>MDMom: I’ll probably put together that spreadsheet by the end of May. Remind me if I don’t send it by then :)</p>

<p>wherenext: yes, D is going to the second session of Kenyon’s Young Writers. She is very happy. Interesting note: she’d been waitlisted; when we got the call, I was told that part of the reason was that they’d had a huge response (I think 730+ applications) which they were surprised at since they don’t advertise, but also they’d had some demographic criteria they had to fulfill. So it wasn’t “her” necessarily. Which helped me have the conversation with her about holistic college admissions, KWIM? </p>

<p>Tufts Syndrome: the assumption that a high stats student is waitlisted or rejected from a lower tiered school (i.e. Tufts compared to Harvard, Yale, Princeton) because the lower ranked school assumes that the student is using them as a safety and has no intention of attending if accepted at HYP, therefore protecting the lower ranked schools yield. </p>

<p>AP tests: parents pay for them here unless you qualify for their fee waiver. It doesn’t seem optional (there was quite a buzz last year when 1 girl out of the entire APEuro class didn’t take it) but the score doesn’t affect the grade. I <em>think</em> that if you don’t take the AP exam then you have to take a regular final (if you take the AP exam you’re exempt.)</p>

<p>ahsmuoh: welcome to you as well!</p>

<p>NHS here has a first cut based on GPA. Then the kids who are invited to apply have to submit a resume, application, letter of recommendation from a teacher & one from an outside of school activity. They have a 40 hour community service requirement, but you can’t “double dip” i.e. English Honor Society & Spanish Honor Society service hours can’t be used as NHS as well. D2 is going to help at Vacation Bible School so she’ll have 20 hours right there. </p>

<p>Some of your kids teachers sound sadistic. A 30 page paper before the AP test. Insanity. </p>

<p>Thanks to all for suggestions for the spreadsheet!</p>

5496

<p>Ahsmuoh, S got the STEM postcard from OSU, but I was worried about missing classes right before the AP exams. It’s prom weekend too, so he won’t be doing much studying on the weekend! You’ll have to share what she learns. Lots of S’s friends are heading to tOSU honors college this fall. </p>

<p>Case Western could be an option for a STEM kid. Depending on where you are, Pitt can be closer than in-state schools. Our problem with most Ohio schools that CCers look at is lack of engineering and/or merit aid. What are your D’s criteria?</p>

<p>From the Common App site:<br>
We’re pleased to announce our 37 new members who were admitted to the membership for 2012-13. Nine of those new members are public institutions.</p>

<p>Alma College
Anna Maria College
Blackburn College
Calvin College
College of St. Joseph
Concordia University Irvine
Dillard University
Elms College
Emory & Henry College
Grove City College
Hult International Business School
Keele University*
Keuka College
Lincoln University of Pennsylvania*
Lyon College
Manchester College
Marymount University
Massachusetts College of Liberal Arts*
Mercer University
Molloy College
The Ohio State University*
Rhode Island School of Design
Richmond The American International University in London
Roanoke College
Rowan University*
Saint Joseph College CT
Simpson College
Soka University of America
St. Thomas University
Tennessee Wesleyan College
The University of Tennessee Knoxville*
University of Illinois at Chicago*
University of Stirling*
Virginia Intermont College
Warren Wilson College
Woodbury University
Yale NUS College*</p>

5497

<p>LCSmom: 2 AP’s in one day sounds excessive, but my college kids have had back to back finals, so maybe it is good to get used to it?</p>

<p>Junior year was absolutely killer for S2 (now a college sophomore). He was exhausted the whole year. I expected that with S3 but he seems to have more energy. I would never encourage him to do as many things as he does, it is completely his choice. </p>

<p>ED/SCEA: S2 applied to a super reach SCEA and was rejected. It was great because he got the common application done, an interview done, and a rejection over with, the rest of the process was easier. I am not sure what our strategy will be for S3. </p>

<p>Vandy: D1 took a test prep class in July because that was the only time she could fit it in. They had an optional class every Friday for the rest of the summer and a review class and practice test the weekend before the test. Her scores went up 200 points, but so did S2 without prep.</p>

5498

<p>Mommy dearest. - my d is thinking more about chemistry or pharmacy or research. She is taking an engineering class now and if she goes engineering it will be either chemical or biomedical. She has strong math and science test scores and classes. I think she would think case western would be too STEM oriented. She wants school spirit - wants college football or basketball fun! She is on the cusp of national merit so when we find out about that we will direct some efforts!</p>

5499

<p>Two AP’s in one day. Not this year, but next year, D is taking AP Micro Econ and AP Macro Econ. Some kids certainly take both and the exams are on the same day, which is logical. </p>

<p>D’s short list has six schools. (Long list has 22, LOL.) Three have ED, one has EA and two JUST have RD. Her ACT grade didn’t change the list, but might change her ED strategy. Argh, complicated.</p>

<p>This thread is really moving, and covering lots of topics. It is all very helpful.</p>

5500

<p>I just wanted to say that …
ALL OF YOU OUT THERE ARE GREAT!!!
Thanks for answering so many questions just as I about about to ask them or bring up issues I was just about to raise…
It is so comforting to have found this thread…
Going through all of this for the first time and alone ( single Mom) is scary …Most of the parents I meet at D’s school are so competitive and not really interested in sharing info…
I’m an older Mom and my friends are Grandparents already and very out of the loop when it comes to all this College stuff…
So Thanks for Being There…</p>

<p>And Great Job to all the kids out there working soooo hard at school, sports, Ap’s SAT and ACT testing and let’s not forget Finals…</p>