<p>NHS: compared to what other folks have posted, our small public HS (under 1500) makes it pretty easy – GPA of 3.5 or higher; community service/volunteering sheet, signatures from teachers/coaches/adult-in-charge on everything listed. Short essay on how one of the volunteer experiences impacted you personally; helped community. Six or so teachers on our NHS committee review each app. I think the kids self-weed – those w/o any outside volunteering hours don’t try. About 80 out of D1’s class of 369 juniors were inducted this spring. Next year, before-school tutoring shifts are required to stay in, and maybe other stuff. NHS has new teacher lead since D1, so don’t know how much things have changed, yet.</p>
<p>Kenyon: BIG congrats to RobD’s and wherenext’s Ds – that is one excellent program, from all I’ve heard. D2 is dipping her toes into writing programs this summer – did not try for Kenyon or Ohio (not ready to run with the big writing dogs and knows it.) Applied to Sewanee (rejected) and Denison’s Reynolds program (got in!) She’s planning on giving Kenyon a shot for next summer. Loves to write, but hasn’t done enough of it on her own. Not a big part of the HS curriculum, unlike literary analysis. (Sadly, the only Creative Writing course offered is on the English regular track – not honors, not AP – so…
Anyway, we’ll be visiting Kenyon and Oberlin (and maybe a CTCL) on our way to Denison.</p>
<p>SAT IIs in May: Yow! That’s an awful lot to handle, with APs coming up. D2’s taking hers in June; after her finals, which end on 5/25. We’ll see how motivated she is to study for MORE tests after finals…and the following week will be another go at the ACTs. Yeeesh.</p>
<p>NHS is not a big deal at our HS. I’m not sure what the criteria are but it seems like every other kid is inducted. S2 did not even apply - even though he is ranked near the top of his class, etc. He’s just not a “joiner” and didn’t really see the benefit. My older D was inducted but never attended a meeting or did any community service, etc. She was told that she could wear the NHS stole at graduation, but didn’t bother. Don’t think it will have any bearing on college applications.</p>
<p>Just thought of another “something” to consider for you first time senior parents: yearbook ads. At our school, parents can purchase a 1/4, 1/2 or full page ad in the yearbook and put in pictures & quotes & a “gosh we’re just so proud of you!” statement. I didn’t realize it for D1, the deadline was in September & it stressed me out. In our school a good number had a bible verse included, and I especially loved the ones that included a picture of the young man with his first hunting kill, whether it be a deer or a turkey ;)</p>
<p>Our school doesn’t do yearbook ads but along those lines, start saving for senior pictures–wow are they expensive now. Our school deadline for getting photos in is December 1st. Kids usually take photos late summer since they all have their summer tans :D.</p>
<p>D’s school does the ads in the yearbook as well. I didn’t do one for my S and felt bad about it later. He’s not one to care much about these sort of things, but I think he might have been disappointed. Now I am perplexed about whether to purchase one for my D or not. Don’t want to disappoint her either, but it feels kind of icky.</p>
<p>I don’t think I ever congratulated Rob and wherenext on the camps, so congrats!</p>
<p>I am so looking forward to the senior ad. Ds1 loved his, and everyone told me how cute they thought it was. I’m not sure what I’ll do for ds2 to match or top it.</p>
<p>Ds was bummed because on the practice BC Cal test he took yesteday he was back in the 4 range, breaking a streak of four 5s in a row. He said it was really hard and he actually had one of the best grades in the class. He also told me that last week his teacher told him how proud he was of him for turning it all around and doing so well on all these practice tests. Hard work really does pay off, ds!</p>
<p>Congrats on Kenyon!! Your kids will love it. My son went last year. </p>
<p>Are any of your kids ordering class rings? Jostens is coming to my son’s school next week to take orders. I know my son is not going to be interested. I know I will have to force him to take senior pics just to have something in the yearbook. The last school pic I have of him is from 7th grade. He would never give me the order form. He’s not at all sentimental when it comes to stuff like that. </p>
<p>I have a question. My son has an IEP. He’s on the Autism spectrum and has some executive functioning difficulties. One of the components of the IEP is that he takes a study skills class which for him is basically a twice weekly study hall and homework check in with the learning specialist. He opted out of it this year and did ok. Or at least as well as he did when he was in the class. Given his schedule for next year, his advisor suggested that he take it senior year. I ran it by my son and he’s not going for it. He feels like study skills is for kids who are having problems with the work. And granted, most of the kids in that class do have various learning differences and have difficulty with the work. None of his teachers feel like he has any difficulty with the work, it’s just a matter of his being consistent with turning in homework and classwork. I even suggested that if after the 1st semester he feels like he doesn’t need it, he can transfer out and take an elective for second semester. He’s still not going for it.
I don’t know if I should force the issue or not. I’m leaning towards letting him figure out what he needs. I’m trying to teach him to be more proactive and advocate for himself in preparation for his college independence. Part of me trusts that he knows himself and his needs. But the other part of me doesn’t trust that so much. He has been showing greater maturity these last few months and my showing confidence in him seems to just increase that. But I’m certain many schools will want to see his first semester grades before making a decision so he can’t afford to bomb it.</p>
<p>Ok, now that the May 1st deadline passed, friend’s DD applied to 5 Ivy’s, MIT along with Grinell and Carleton as “safety schools”. Well guess what, declined at all but Carleton and parents are now mad because she is such a “top student”. Yes, she is a very good student but, she isn’t Ivy material and honestly got into Carleton as a legacy. PLEASE, PLEASE, PLEASE do NOT do this to your kids. She has dreamed of going to school out east for YEARS but they didn’t apply to any east coast safeties because they thought she was a “sure thing” into all the schools she applied to. Graduating #1 in her class, 35 ACT, 2380 SAT…no one is a “sure thing”. Not only that, they were planning on the income based tuition for assistance at the Ivy’s and now, they get to foot the full bill at Carleton, or most of it anyway. Guessing that with their income they MIGHT get $5000 above any loan aid.</p>
<p>Yearbook ads–the year my D was a senior, the school started requiring us to pay for the second child’s yearbook (the first child’s was free, as in–we paid for it already when we paid for tuition). I bought one for my second child (even though we had paid for tuition for him, too) and considered that extra payment my support for the yearbook program; I didn’t have time to gather all the photos and write something for an ad, and she didn’t care if she had an ad or not. </p>
<p>reeinaz–I understand your thoughts exactly; my S doesn’t have an IEP or a LD but is making some decisions about his senior year courses that might not be the same as my decisions would be. I’m letting him make his own decisions, which means he takes ownership of them and the results. It also means that he can’t blame me if things don’t turn out as he wished! This is the key sentence from your post, in my view:
<p>ree, I have no experience with the spectrum on an IEP, but I have a couple of questions. Will you disclose this information in his college apps? And do you think having an elective rather than a study skills class will make him a stronger candidate? What would the elective be?</p>
<p>Steve, she is lucky to have gotten into Carleton. I wrote just a couple of weeks ago on the Grinnell board about how people are using the top-notch Midwest LACs as safeties when they really have Ivy aspirations. At least that’s what I’m attributing the huge increase in apps at Grinnell to. Grinnell has merit aid that Carleton and others don’t, making it much more attracitve.</p>
<p>Thanks for the congrats on Kenyon everyone. I am taking my DD to Washington DC to tour and interview at a couple of schools this summer and drive from there to Gambier, Ohio (7 hours) I need your help on some beautiful spots along the way that we can stop! We will also likely stay overnight somewhere between Pittsburg and Gambier…looking for a cool experience for me and my girl, since my DH will be with the other to in the mtns. </p>
<p>Youdontsay- YOur DS is taking ownership of that class! Good for him! He deserves that 5 in the end!</p>
<p>SteveMa- Always good to remember those fantastic safeties!</p>
<p>reeinaz- If he won’t lose his IEP status, can he take it as an extra period, before or after school if he shows signs of faltering? I would want him to get to be independent but I see your concerns! Those oops of not turning in HW or classwork kills me!</p>
<p>Carleton admits 30%, vis-a-vis Grinnell at 50%, so she is indeed fortunate to have made it into Carleton. Not a “sure bet” for anyone, but she’ll come out with an excellent education.</p>
<p>It is, however, a 100%-need school, just like the Ivies, so some aid should be coming her way if appropriate. As mentioned it also provides little merit aid (just like the Ivies), although it does give a $2K/yr NM scholarship. Grinnell is much more generous with merit aid (and is also 100%-need, which is a fairly rare combination).</p>
<p>Yearbook: For D1 we got a half-page ad, for S2 we got a full page ad. At our school you can put it together yourself or if you give them the pictures the yearbook staff will do it for you. I let the yearbook staff do it and it turned out great. For the big picture we put a picture from when they were little. They turned out cute. I do remember the deadline sneaking up on us. </p>
<p>Scary story SteveMA!! Her stats are great, but what you have to realize is that there are lots of kids with great stats. Always remember safety first!! LOL!</p>
<p>Speaking of sure things, a kid is only a sure thing at Ivies with high test scores, excellent grades, and has done something significant on the WORLD level. The only kid that I know of that got into every IVY that she applied to was Valedictorian, a great athlete and held a wold title for Tap Dancing - that’s right - tap dancing. The other kid that I know that has his choice of Ivies has similar stats but played competitive tennis INTERNATIONALLY…and the last one is a junior girl that has OK grades…but has qualified for the Olympic trials in swimming…she had her choice of Ivies, schools in Texas and Stanford. She did/will commit to Stanford…Ok grades…Ok scores.</p>
<p>One student from our high school got accepted into every Ivy, Notre Dame, Stanford and MIT, as well as some “lesser” schools :D. He wasn’t class Val, wasn’t even in top 10 of grad class, but top 10%. What he was was an amazing all around kid. He was state finalist in a couple sports, music contests, etc. had pretty good test scores but not perfect, 3.8 GPA. He is very well spoken, very confident without being cocky and just the kind of kid you want your daughters to marry type kid.</p>
<p>S is officially signed up for Physics and Math 2 subject tests for 6/2! FYI - deadline is Tuesday to avoid late registration penalty.</p>
<p>SteveMa, my S told me last night how his friends are telling him how he can get into ANY school he wants with a FULL RIDE and how he had to set them straight! Ive had parents say that to me too, and I explain to them that schools like Harvard and MIT accept maybe 15% of kids with 35-36 ACTs, which means they reject 85% of those kids and they all have perfect/near perfect GPAs, etc. My own misconception was that only the very wealthy could afford to go to those schools and we werent wealthy enough I now know were not poor enough too! The financial calculators dont work for us, so were really unsure how full need schools would play out but my guess is NOT good. </p>
<p>Another thing that Im starting to learn is that many of these local kids are taking out full loans to go away to school, when I assumed the parents were footing the bill. We live in an area with many options to commute 10-30 minutes 3 universities, 3 directional unis, 1 community college, and 5 privates. One parent was complaining to me how expensive it is for kids to go to college now and that her daughter will be taking out $25K in loans every year (and rising); and shes not sure, but she thinks she wants to be a teacher! I politely said that I will not cosign for that sort of debt for my S and he can only get $5-7k a year in loans on his own . . . and if he doesnt get enough scholarships to make up the additional cost, hell be living at home and commuting to one of our very close by affordable options that can be covered by our contribution and small loans. S said hes very grateful for my guidance as he wouldnt understand the financial impact if no one explained it to him. </p>
<p>Ss current list consists of 6 rolling admissions (1 guaranteed full ride, 1 likely full ride+stipend, 1 guaranteed full tuition+), 3 EA (2 competitive scholarships, 1 need-only), 1 SCEA/RD and 1 ED/RD the last two are need-only and hell have to apply RD. Trying to keep the list small basing it on the schools hed likely get the best merit from, but its hard to know for sure Id hate to cut one that could be a big winner!</p>
<p>YDS, His electives would be either some type of engineering class or digital film making.
More than likely he will be disclosing on his applications even though he won’t be seeking accomodations. His gc and I will discuss if and how to disclose when we meet later this month. His grades definitely don’t reflect his ability but since he technically isn’t really overcoming his challenges, I’m not sure if it would be better for him to come across as the somewhat typical underachiever who will likely mature in college or a person with definite challenges who may or may not use the resources available but is still quite capable anyway. </p>
<p>wherenext, our school system here isn’t that flexible But he has always been free to check in with the learning specialist. He just doesn’t feel like he needs to.</p>
<p>Schokolade, thanks. I’m really feeling like the mamma bird ready to push her baby out of the nest.</p>
<p>SteveMA: Stories like yours is what keeps me up at night. I just CRINGE every single time someone tells my S that he can get into any school he wants.</p>
<p>Reeinaz – I keep adding to the college list too! Every time my kid makes a comment, I go and find more schools. He isn’t going to look at my list until after school lets out, but by then I may just be handing over a list as long as the Princeton Review book.</p>
<p>My son also refused to use all his IEP resources. </p>
<p>My son came home last month with the class ring paperwork. </p>
<p>He hardly ever shops and asks for very little. He could not comprehend the prices of the rings. His school doesn’t permit the kids to pick – The school has a set ring and each class has a color (His is black). He was dead set against getting one until his friend talked him into. My son has been at the same school since K and his friend thought anything for that long a time deserves a ring. I told him I’d pay for it.</p>
<p>Lord give me patience to make it thru the next 2 weeks without arguing with my son. Between SAT, AP exams, class projects, ordering prom tux and his 120 mile bike for scholarship money ride, we are both short tempered.</p>
<p>“My own misconception was that only the very wealthy could afford to go to those schools and we weren’t wealthy enough – I now know we’re not poor enough too!”</p>
<p>Great line, MommyDearest.</p>
<p>We couldn’t afford to do both a ring and a letter jacket, so we did the jacket.</p>
Now I am perplexed about whether to purchase one for my D or not. Don’t want to disappoint her either, but it feels kind of icky.</p>
Hard work really does pay off, ds!</p>
But he has always been free to check in with the learning specialist. He just doesn’t feel like he needs to.</p>