<p>None of my kids had any interest in school rings or letter jackets. Although both are popular at our school.</p>
<p>All of our kids asked for rings, I asked them “will you wear it”, they all said 'no", soooooo, why do you want one exactly?? None of them have rings :D. They have letter jackets and it’s expensive to keep adding all the “stuff” each year to the jackets. That’s enough for me.</p>
<p>Longhaul- I am surprised about the lack of choice in the school ring! Part of the fun, at least for my D, was picking out the color and what she wanted on the sides. I was really incensed b/c her school had them ordering rings their SOPHOMORE year but now I’m glad because she has gotten a full year’s use out of it already. :-)</p>
<p>MommyDearest- we are in the same position. Full pay but not rich enough to pay full pay, but not poor enough to get any aid. Shame on us that we want to fund a retirement and two other children’s college funds! We are on the lookout for merit money. :-)</p>
<p>Figuring out what to do with all of the “stuff” without the jacket is tough as well. I often think it would be so much easier if they had just gotten the jacket.</p>
<p>So many things to comment on I’m sure I’ll forget something.</p>
<p>Class Rings - S had no interest in purchasing a class ring. The rep was at the school in November and I think the rings come in this month. S wouldn’t even look at the brochure so that was an easy decision. No ring.</p>
<p>SAT’s , AP’s, IB exams, state exams - Overall our teachers are very good about scheduling major projects before any of the major exams come up. All major papers were finished last week, IB orals for Spanish and English are over. Spanish exam is after AP’s. Only one class this year has a state exam and that is easy after IB history. S decided to sign up for the June ACT to improve his 33. He will have a good two weeks to just study for ACT. We are busy but not as busy as we are during competition season.</p>
<p>Prom - our prom was a few weeks ago. Major girl drama for the 4 days leading up to the prom so lots of stress with that. What’s funny is son was caught in the middle of it because it started between one of his best friends and his date. S said as the gay male in the group he is the least into the drama. Even the straight guys got into it. But the prom went off without a problem. All of the kids had a ball and all are friends again. </p>
<p>SteveMa - your story is really scary and happens often. One girl last year applied to all the Ivy’s and didn’t get in. The only school she got into was Duke. She didn’t apply to any real safety schools because she didn’t need FA. Another girl applied to all of the Ivy’s and Standford and several others and the only school she didn’t get into was Harvard. You just never know. </p>
<p>S’s top choices for schools are all top 20. Have no idea how we are going to find safeties. He could go to our state schools but being in the deep south and gay doesn’t make for the greatest environment. </p>
<p>Our GC isn’t very good and doesn’t really know the kids. Fortunately, we have a fantastic teacher that understands the admissions process and “guides” the students. She has a way of explaining the burden loans can be, finding a place to fit in, etc. She tells the kids all the things that the “wise ones” on CC say and the kids listen to her. </p>
<p>NHS - not sure how the students are chosen but I do know that the subject honor societies are a big deal - Art, Science, Math, etc. </p>
<p>I think without a doubt we will apply to one of S’s top schools ED. And some others EA. Would love to have this process over with in December.</p>
<p>The kids don’t do class rings at our school…most wait for some sort of Championship ring in the their particular sport.</p>
<p>Jr got his Varsity Letter his Freshman year, but waited until last summer to get it. I think I wear it more than he does. But I will admit, there is something pretty cool about seeing his “All-State” patch on there.</p>
<p>D14 also has her Letter Jacket (Cheer) and got her’s as soon as she got her letter.</p>
<p>The ring I ordered in hs was hideous!!! Instead of just picking the school color, I went with my birthstone, emerald. I had the school mascot engraved on one side and a runner on the other (I ran track). And it was square!! And I couldn’t afford real gold and the fake stuff turned within the year …lol. I would’ve been better off with less choices.</p>
<p>DD’s letter jacket is “full”. She got her first letter as a 7th grader and with all the “patches” they do here for various things she is about out of room. I don’t plan to add any of her senior year stuff to it (we usually do that over the summer so no reason to). I’ll just stuff the bars, etc. into the pockets and save it for the grandkids :D. They do get letters for academics, band, clubs, etc. not just sports. It’s nice that they recognize those too-but it’s also about $100 each summer to add the crap, I mean patches :D.</p>
<p>LOL…tell me about it SteveMA!!! My H went into MAJOR sticker shock over the prices of the kids Jackets since we did them both at the same time. Luckily, I found a local tailor who will put the patches on for $8 and does a great job!!!</p>
<p>Ree: My HS ring was probably worse than yours!!! Blue stone, fake and dingy “gold”. I think it is somewhere at the bottom of my jewelry drawer.</p>
<p>Just wanted to point this out to parents who have kids in large, public high schools. This is new to the Common App for next year under the section where the school GC submits school report.</p>
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<p>I wonder how adcoms will react to this.</p>
<p>BerneseMtn - I love that has been added. For some reason at S’s school they have the same GC moves grades with them from the 9th-11th grade. Then in 12th grade they get the senior GC. She only does seniors. She knows nothing about these kids. The 9-11th GC knows my son well and could easily write a rec for him.</p>
<p>No ring here. We will probably do an ad in a yearbook. Senior pictures here are taken at the school at the beginning of the year.</p>
<p>Admission at our HS this year were strange. They did really well in EA round (Harvard, Yale - though Harvard legacy did not get in) but not so good in RD. We do not have Naviance so it is kind of difficult to gather correct info though.
S’s good friend didn’t get in anywhere but our local flagship (where he gets a full ride at honors college). He applied to MIT, Caltech, Stanford, and two other reaches. Of course this was a mistake to begin with. Another mistake on his part was not to let his parents in on those college applications. His mom told my H that he would get mad when she even asked questions. Not the best time in life to suddenly become very independent. </p>
<p>Mommy - we are getting similar comments due to S’s good scores. I am actually tired of explaining to people that ACT 36 does not mean anything. Important part is that S understands.
S is working very hard to obtain a summer internship at a local advertising/video company.
Many of his friends have research internships at the flagship but he decided to follow with his true passion. Fingers crossed he gets something - there apparently is a problem as he is not 18 yet. Do you know how to navigate around it?</p>
<p>Our GC’s are assigned by alphabet so they have the same one all 4 years in high school. I’m very glad about that!</p>
<p>Kelowna, is the research he would do something that would involve machinery, chemicals, etc? I’m guessing it has something to do with insurance/liability.</p>
<p>Both of my kids skipped the HS rings. In fact, by the end of junior year, both kids were/are ready to move on. </p>
<p>D13 did fairly well for her target schools on her first SAT but is taking it again on Saturday to see if she can get further into the range for her reaches. Right now her scores are just below the 50% mark at her reaches and she is striving to move it up. </p>
<p>She is currently in dual-enrollment classes, no APs until next year so she doesn’t have AP tests coming up…and the prom was several weeks ago so the prom drama is over…so it is pretty quiet here. She is receiving some type of academic award in a couple weeks, we have no idea for what, but we will attend. NHS is a big deal at her school and even if you fit the criteria, you may not be selected to join. She was inducted as a sophomore so we know it isn’t that…D11 just finished her first year at college and has moved home but leaves in a couple of weeks for study abroad. D13 will finish up the first week in June, will be a leader in a leadership camp and then head out for a month long service trip in Africa.</p>
<p>Regarding GCs: Our school is large, urban magnet school (7 different magnet programs housed in one building), not known for their college counseling. The theatre and music departments usually guide the kids for college applications/auditions. The school did set up a college advising office this year, but I think it is mainly for 1st generation students and those interested in in-state schools. </p>
<p>But, S2 surprised me the other day and said that he had been called down to the counselor’s office. He thought he was in trouble, but she just wanted to congratulate him on making NM commended list. Apparently, she told him that she is a “big fan” of his and that, even though she doesn’t know anything about music/theatre admissions she will do anything she can to help him. She’s new this year, but is a friend of a friend and has seen S2 perform since he was young. Proves to S2 that you never know who is watching!</p>
<p>Just run some net price calculators. Of course it is more than I can afford…
Princeton seems to be less expensive than MIT - those are the only two I checked so far.
State school looking better and better every day ;)</p>
<p>Mofboston- My DD would love a big urban high school! She is in a 2000 student suburban school. Yet no one took any notice of her school for being NM commended letter. (:</p>
<p>Megp- Our NHS is the same as yours. Hundreds of applicants, and very few get in. DD turned in her Individual Service Project today, one more thing over for the school year! Yeah! </p>
<p>When you guys are talking about Ivy’s, to make it clear the closest my 3 are getting is the Ivy growing on my trellis!(: DD is probably an okay candidate for a low Top 25 school at best. She is truly an intellectual liberal arts girl and loves the process of learning but goes off on tangents like no mans business!</p>
<p>I completely agree with Steve and Youdon’tsay, wayyy back on the thread! By the time you’ve read through all the posts you’ve forgotten what you wanted to say! Sometimes I even go back and write things down!
It looks like there will be no Awards Ceremony this year with the teacher’s job action still in force. I think that it’s rather disappointing as the kids work so hard throughout the year - all that work should be recognized.
About school rings, my parents offered us the choice of a school ring or a ring with our birthstone in it. We all went with the birthstone and I still wear mine.</p>
<p>^Great idea about the rings. My D received a birthstone ring from her grandparents for graduation and treasures it. No class rings for either kid.</p>