<p>WOW you were all busy today. I just got caught up on 4 pages and can’t remember most of what was talked about. :D. As for ED, none of the schools the kids are considering have ED. DD will apply EA at most schools because of athletics. I think DS will apply EA to all but one school just because he will have everything done to do so–or that is the plan anyway. One school he will apply RD because they only suggest students with perfect everything apply EA (they don’t have ED). I hope I got all of those acronyms correct :D.</p>
<p>~sigh~ I just keep ADDING colleges to the list. Shouldn’t I be narrowing them down?? I’m almost embarrassed to imagine what my son’s gc is going to say when we meet at the end of the month. But once I start running numbers through the npc, I know a lot will drop off. I think I’m just giving myself something to do over the summer…lol.</p>
<p>Ama308, it’s great to have CC as a resource, isn’t it? So many parents here have experience that they are willing to share and we can go through the ordeals together.</p>
<p>I expect that if DD’s top choice school offered ED we would do it as we know that they have good financial aid, but it is just EA. The other EA school is a safety and is for comfort - if nothing else works out she can go to college with some of her friends. Although she is being recruited for her sport she would prefer to apply RD as the main contenders now (other than the EA one) are all ED and not her first choice. Of course this may all change by the fall but she has remained pretty consistent!</p>
<p>Wow, a busy day around here! Welcome to the new posters!</p>
<p>Re AP tests - DS had one day where he had 2 in one day. It was long, but he made out fine. Our kids have more stamina than us! lol.</p>
<p>DD will apply EA where it’s available, but no ED because we need to sort out financial aid.</p>
<p>It is a pain to take two AP exams in one day but sometimes it just has to be done. My sophomore will be taking English language and statistics on the same day but fortunately, those are the exams he is least concerned about. Thank goodness he doesn’t have Spanish language on the same day as another exam! That’s the one that worries him most. I don’t think my 2013 has ever taken two in one day but her IB schedule is pretty intense.
She’s a top student but she’s pretty serious about University of Mississippi because of their Chinese flagship program, Croft Institute of International Studies and Lott Public Policy Leadership Institute. Over the weekend I was trying to help her plot courses out to see if she could double major in International Studies and Public Policy leadership while studying Chinese. She just might be able to do it since she has AP and IB credit to cover most of the general distribution requirements. Ole Miss is one of the only schools that looks interesting that we can actually afford.</p>
<p>Rob- DD will be at Kenyon session 1. Too bad they are not in the same session, from what I have read your D seems similar to mine! She is very excited and looking forward to experiencing a rural LAC to see if that is even a possibility for her. She has only liked urban schools so far. Kenyon told me the same thing about enrollment. They even added 10 kids to each session and they are about 20% acceptance.</p>
<p>D came home today and said that she cannot even think about studying for Subject tests until AP tests are over in two weeks, she is exhausted! She has a huge US History paper to work on as well. So glad tennis is a fall sport for her! STAR testing starts tomorrow. I feel bad for all you parents with spring sports, musicals, drama…so time consuming! </p>
<p>I love that my middle schooler is having her first dance on Friday. She is so excited! My freshman is rolling his eyes. Before he spouts off about middle school dances being lame, I will remind him that he did the worm for so long at his first dance that I had to apply bandaids on his chest… Does that qualify as being lame? (:</p>
<p>@apollo- when considering Ole Miss, factor in Greek fees. Being Greek is almost mandatory there and can get expensive.</p>
<p>What a busy crew - you’re starting the year off right! the class of '13 starting gun goes off at midnight, right?). I’m looking forward to traveling with you - and will be happy to answer any questions if I can (or just offer condolences/support) since I’ve just gone through it (DS is taking a gap year; for the record he applied to 11 schools, all EA, rolling or “Early Notification” - sort of in between EA and RD - he found out in February).</p>
<p>He did not do ED because FA was a big factor. I will say that for those of you hunting for merit aid, T<em>lane and U R</em>chester were both very generous without basing it on a GPA/SAT formula (DS is an NMF but his GPA is, um, suboptimal). I think they really did walk the holistic talk.</p>
<p>I’m sorry so many of your kids are exhausted - I’m so glad DS’ school hasn’t gotten completely caught up in all the craziness. His junior year was busy but not awful and senior year has been a breeze. It helps that he’s taking some classes that he’d really looked forward to for 4 years.</p>
<p>My DH graded one of the AP exams for several years. He read some CRAZY essays from students who decided they just didn’t care about the test - I remember him telling me about one girl who wrote about her upcoming prom (including some pretty inappropriate content :-), and another one who drew a picture of what she saw out the window. I suppose they were required to take the test as part of the class. And it did liven up the grading week - the graders read essays 8 hours a day for a week. Ugh.</p>
<p>@wherenext: Haaaahahahahha! Oh my gosh, I so needed that laugh about your DS doing the worm so much he needed bandaids on his chest!! I think that just made my whole day.
:-)</p>
<p>Congrats to RobD AND wherenext’s kids on the Kenyon Writers program. It sounds like it was <em>really</em> competitive so that is such an honor. It really is too bad they aren’t going at the same time!</p>
<p>Back to prom- Remember I told you all that D had asked a very good friend of hers to go and he was unable to b/c he was going out of town? Well, the good news is that she was asked by a boy at school last week. 
Her heart doesn’t really pitter-pat over him but they are friends and flirt a bit and I think they will have fun. She just so wanted to go with a date so I’m happy for her. All her friends are coming over to get ready and then the guys will come over to have heavy hors d’oeuvres and have pics taken. After the hell week we are having, it will be nice to have something to look forward to!</p>
<p>Thanks for the feedback re: the free SAT prep class. She thinks she wants to do it but I told her to think on it another day. I’d like her to but I also know she is feeling so pressured as of late. </p>
<p>Also, thanks for the explanations about the different admission choices. It now makes pretty good sense to me. I still don’t really get the advantage of SCEA, as it compares to ED. Either way, we need to see merit offers for most schools before deciding, so I am assuming we would be mostly RD. Do merit offers come in on EA decisions?</p>
<p>@walker - The Greek thing is one of the reasons my daughter really has to visit. She would NOT be interested in a sorority. She is more of a “hang out with the international students and liberals” kind of person. The South might be as much of a foreign country to her as a different hemisphere. Trying to find a way to fly her out for a visit this fall… I do get a sense that the kind of kids that are involved in the Croft Institute are not the typical Ole Miss Greeks.</p>
<p>Otherwise, we’ll be hoping for enough financial aid (and to get in) at Grinnell, Middlebury, maybe Scripps and Beloit. Finding a great honors college, international studies and Chinese is not easy.</p>
<p>Ahsmuoh what about Cincinnati? Especially since she might be NMS and if she wants to stay close to home. I think their sports are pretty big not exactly tOSU though. If shes looking for NMS scholarships, I think a lot of the schools that offer the big ones would fit the bill. If youve been lurking for awhile, you probably already know these, but heres my list for NMS scholarship schools:</p>
<p>University of Alabama [National</a> Merit Finalist and National Achievement Finalist Scholarships - Undergraduate Scholarships - The University of Alabama](<a href=“http://scholarships.ua.edu/types/nms.html]National”>http://scholarships.ua.edu/types/nms.html)
University of Alabama-Birmingham [Out-of-State</a> Residents](<a href=“http://main.uab.edu/Sites/students/69026/]Out-of-State”>http://main.uab.edu/Sites/students/69026/)
Auburn [Office</a> of University Scholarships - Auburn University](<a href=“http://www.auburn.edu/scholarship/national-scholars.html]Office”>http://www.auburn.edu/scholarship/national-scholars.html)
Arizona State U <a href=“https://students.asu.edu/scholarships/estimator[/url]”>https://students.asu.edu/scholarships/estimator</a>
University of Arizona [2012-2013</a> Terms and Conditions | Office of Scholarships and Financial Aid](<a href=“http://financialaid.arizona.edu/scholarships/terms/2012-2013#National_Scholars]2012-2013”>http://financialaid.arizona.edu/scholarships/terms/2012-2013#National_Scholars)
University of Southern California <a href=“http://www.usc.edu/admission/fa/private/docs/1112/uscScholarships1112v3.pdf[/url]”>http://www.usc.edu/admission/fa/private/docs/1112/uscScholarships1112v3.pdf</a>
University of Central Florida <a href=“https://admissions.ucf.edu/files/2011/09/National-Merit-Newsletter-2011-12.pdf[/url]”>https://admissions.ucf.edu/files/2011/09/National-Merit-Newsletter-2011-12.pdf</a>
Northeastern [Scholarships</a> | Admissions](<a href=“http://www.northeastern.edu/admissions/costs/scholarships.html]Scholarships”>http://www.northeastern.edu/admissions/costs/scholarships.html)
University of Minnesota [University-Wide</a> Scholarships<a href=“levels%20vary,%20but%20known%20for%20being%20generous”>/url</a>
University of Mississippi [url=<a href=“http://www.olemiss.edu/finaid/scholarshiptypes.html]The”>http://www.olemiss.edu/finaid/scholarshiptypes.html]The</a> University of Mississippi ? Office of Financial Aid](<a href=“http://admissions.tc.umn.edu/costsaid/schol_campus.html]University-Wide”>University-Wide Academic Scholarships | Office of Admissions)
University of Rochester <a href=“http://enrollment.rochester.edu/admissions/res/pdf/meritscholarships.pdf[/url]”>http://enrollment.rochester.edu/admissions/res/pdf/meritscholarships.pdf</a> (sounds like they were generous this year)
University of Cincinnati [Cincinnatus</a> Scholarship Program, University of Cincinnati](<a href=“Student Financial Aid - About UC | University of Cincinnati”>Student Financial Aid - About UC | University of Cincinnati)
University of Oklahoma [Non-Oklahoma</a> Residents - Future Sooners - The University of Oklahoma](<a href=“http://www.ou.edu/content/go2/home/nationalmerit/non-oklahoma_residents.html]Non-Oklahoma”>http://www.ou.edu/content/go2/home/nationalmerit/non-oklahoma_residents.html)
Baylor U TX [Baylor</a> University | Texas Undergraduate University Admissions, Texas University Undergraduate programs at accredited Baylor University || Scholarship Calculator](<a href=“Undergraduate Admissions | Baylor University”>Undergraduate Admissions | Baylor University)
Texas A&M <a href=“https://scholarships.tamu.edu/tamu_scholarships/freshman/national_merit.aspx[/url]”>https://scholarships.tamu.edu/tamu_scholarships/freshman/national_merit.aspx</a>
University of Texas-Dallas [National</a> Merit Scholarships - Office of Undergraduate Education - The University of Texas at Dallas](<a href=“http://oue.utdallas.edu/aes/national-merit-scholarships/]National”>http://oue.utdallas.edu/aes/national-merit-scholarships/)</p>
<p>Wow Apollo6…your D sounds sooo interesting! Having you on board will help her find her place! Ole Miss reminds me of the Blindside!</p>
<p>Vandy, soooo happy for your D! Heartbeats are optional anyway! Having the kids at your house will be a blast! Girls getting ready is when you hear it all! Fun! You will have to fill us in!</p>
<p>Ama308 I feel the same as you!</p>
<p>Check out the residential college at Ole Miss. Perfect for liberals I think.</p>
<p>[The</a> Residential College A New Campus Community](<a href=“http://www.olemiss.edu/rcollege/Main_Page.html]The”>http://www.olemiss.edu/rcollege/Main_Page.html)</p>
<p>PghMom, you strike terror ( we ARE up now, aren’t we? Yikes) then turn around and make me laugh with the AP essay tale. Think I will keep that to myself though. D13 would be horrified but would tell S14 who would likely write about something like a video game or the Steelers draft selections. ; )</p>
<p>I posted this befor but it’s not showing up [Chinese</a> Flagship Program](<a href=“http://www.wku.edu/chineseflagship/]Chinese”>Chinese Flagship Program | Western Kentucky University). There is nothing remotely liberal at ole miss.</p>
<p>I’m with Steve; by the time you catch up, you can’t remember what you wanted to say!</p>
<p>The one thing I remember is the advantage of SCEA. For the student, it’s knowing you’re in (or not) early without the binding aspect of ED. And the fact that you are doing the SC part shows a lot of love. For the college, it knows that you must REALLY like it in order to do the SC part, which helps it protect its yield. In other words, you’re more likely to come than if you’d gone regular EA.</p>
<p>Oh, and someone asked about NHS. Maybe I’m jaded because of the go-go kind of school my ds attends, but most of the class makes NHS and it just doesn’t do a lot. His only requirement once inducted is to maintain a 3.75 weighted and do five hours of NHS-sponsored community service a semester. That’s not much, IMO.</p>
<p>Ds1 had to do two AP tests in one day. Ds2 doesn’t have that complication this year. Yea!</p>
<p>Add DS to the list of exhausted juniors. Up past midnight every night prepping for 2 APs and 2 SAT subject tests. Plus a piano thing. All in one week. I really think it is excessive (analogous to my middle-schooler’s 10-pound backpack) but I am not sure what I can do. Wish it wasn’t so intense. Don’t want him burnt out at 17.</p>
<p>MomofNEA- It is such a bummer that at 17 they are so tired without the fun that was exhausting us back in the day(: I pick up my middle schooler in the car because of the weight of her backpack.</p>
<p>Youdontsay: I understand the jaded thing. The CSF here is just like your NHS. NHS is much more difficult at our school but if nationally it is like your school, sure isn’t apples for apples! 30-40/2000 kids at most accepted in a year.</p>
<p>At a lot of schools ED can provide an admissions boost. At selective schools, there is no guarantee of admission even if your stats are within the range of the enrolled students. Looking at the Naviance scattergrams is eye-opening: at selective schools there are many rejections in the same stats ranges as acceptances. At less selective schools, and especially for public schools, there seems to be more of a stats floor, where virtually everyone with stats above a certain level will be accepted. It is important to understand which type of school you are looking at when you try to decide if a school is a safety/match/reach. The question is not just if your stats are within range, but what percentage of students with stats similar to yours were accepted?</p>
<p>For students within the stats range for a particular selective school, ED can increase the odds of being accepted. But it’s not a magic bullet that will get students outside of the normal stats range accepted. </p>
<p>ED is not for those looking for merit aid, and wanting to compare offers. But for schools that meet financial need, it may make sense for those who need and qualify for financial aid. </p>
<p>My HS2010 S was accepted to his ED school, and it made senior year much less stressful.</p>
<p>Regarding NHS- My D’s school of 2500 inducts 40-50 students into NHS at the end of junior year. Students have to complete a large application packet detailing the activities they have participated in that demonstrate excellent and sustained effort in the four core areas of NHS. It is a prized selection and every year there are students at the top of the class that do not make the cut. NHS at my D’s school operates a very successful tutoring program for the school that every member is required to participate in.</p>