<p>Kelowna, I don’t think that your son’s friend make a mistake necessarily. He may have decided that the only schools worth turning down a full-ride at flagship state were the ones he applied to. My DS did something similar.</p>
<p>Hello all! You have been busy. I wasn’t able to pop on yesterday and am going to have to dig in to catch up. </p>
<p>D received great news yesterday! She was elected Student Government President for next school year. We took her out yesterday to celebrate. She will have a board to manage, a budget of a couple thousand, some events to put on for the school, and fundraisers to oversee. </p>
<p>AP tests- parents here pay, but we do not pay for the IB exams. Fee waivers are based on free/reduced lunch applications. </p>
<p>Our school does not have a NHS, an honor roll, or class ranking. The school itself is a public magnet for honors students only. </p>
<p>Reeinaz- I keep adding as well (and D takes them off). She has here heart set on two (much too expensive options). </p>
<p>Vandy great news on prom for D. Going, and getting pretty dress is often more important that the date. </p>
<p>Congrats on the Kenyon writers program. </p>
<p>Rob D- great reminder on yearbook. Our school does the same, most include a younger photo of the graduate- usually K graduation. Never hunting LOL- east coast urban school . </p>
<p>D is opting out of the Class rings, but has requested a special ring as a grad gift. </p>
<p>Letter jackets are not done here. D has “letters” . She has pinned them on her bedroom curtains. </p>
<p>Regarding debt. I have learned that many of the students from Ds school take on huge debt or receive large amounts of financial aid. (wide variety of income). Parents act as if the debt is not a choice. It makes me cringes. D has selected some potential majors that will not earn a huge salary. I am fine with that- as long as she earns enough to survive. I cannot imagine taking on 100000 in debt to work as a community</p>
<p>Class rings…what a blast from the past…and I have no idea where mine is, either! Glad we don’t have to deal with those or letter jackets here in Europe…instead we have quasi-mandatory class trips every few years, and both kids end up going at the same time. Nice for some quiet time with DH, but a hit to the pocketbook…which reminds me, it’s nice to see there are financially balanced people out there, i can’t imagine 25K a year for undergrad (to be a teacher!). My husband and I were emotionally scarred by my $13K debt from grad school, which looks like a drop in the bucket these days!</p>
<p>Thanks so much for clarifying all the ED/EA/SC…a big help, as always, you guys are great. Dare I ask what Naviance is?!</p>
<p>nellieh: congratulations on your D’s election as Student Government President. She is going to enjoy it. </p>
<p>Kel: I too agree with anniez, Your S’s friend must have thought of stateflagship as a safety. However, reading CC has made us aware that it is better to focus on safety schools!! </p>
<p>with so much activities here, I too struggle to keep up and often forget what i was going to write.
earthmother: Naviance is college and career planning resource. If your school has Naviance, you can look up college, see what the acceptance history for each college from your school etc. There is a scattergram that helps you see where you stand against the other applicants from your school to a perticular university. It is a great tool. But is only a lot helpful if your school is participating.
You might want to check in with GC to see if your school has it.</p>
<p>Just got back from a sports pasta feed. All the seniors were wearing the tshirt or sweatshirt of the schools they would be attending next year. It gave me a lump in my throat! They all looked so relieved and happy. It was an interesting mix of schools. It went from Stanford, Navy Sailing to a girl with American sweatshirt, stars and strips dolphin shorts and red, white and blue socks and everything in-between. What will our kids be wearing next year? I am comforted that we will all be sharing the ride here…</p>
<p>nellieh - congrats on the presidency! My S run but lost…</p>
<p>
I don’t know - he was very depressed with the outcome.</p>
<p>I didn’t read the posts before posting myself. </p>
<p>Congrats to your son Nellie and congrats to you to Kelowna that yours would be brave enough to run!</p>
<p>Rings: both DD13a and DD13b got rings and have worn them all year. I didn’t mind spending the money. Seems like a rite of passage!</p>
<p>Letter Jackets: Neither of the girls wanted one from high school. Both still wear the ones they earned in MS (different state). They have letters and pins and crap from HS, but they are all in my drawer. </p>
<p>College debt: I’m balking at paying for much at all. One of the reasons we moved was because they can go to a state flagship FREE because my DH is on faculty. Seems like a no brainer for the most part. Of course neither kid really wants to go there. Sigh. I’m willing to pay for room and board somewhere else, but not much else. DD13a also was named a Governors’ Scholar, so ANY state school is free for her. Yeah, I’m a cheapskate…</p>
<p>Yearbook: <em>rubs hands and smiles evilly</em> I’ve been planning full page ads in my head for years! I can hardly wait! I plan on three full pages: one for each individually and one for them of their lives together. It’s gonna be great!</p>
<p>Senior portraits: haven’t picked a photographer yet. I may have to sell a kidney to pay for it.</p>
<p>Awards: went to our ghetto awards night yesterday. DD13a got the usual; top 10%, recognition for GSP, blah, blah, blah… Sports are separate and she cleaned up there. DD13b got recognition for selection to state for choir and that was it. Glad she had left to go to dance or she would have been all depressed and driven me crazy.</p>
<p>NHS: you have to fill out a huge packet and essay here and have the GPA to get in. I don’t think there has been a meeting since induction. Doesn’t mean much in my book. Shrug. Both my girls are in Beta and NHS. Whoop-de-do.</p>
<p>I may lose my mind before this college thing is in my rear-view mirror. It’s ME doing everything. Kids don’t have time. DH doesn’t have time. I have to make the time. Sigh,</p>
<p>A tip I picked up on keeping up in with a fast moving thread when you’re trying to reply: open two windows. i.e when you’re reading the replies, right click on the first link that says reply & ask for it to be open in another tab. Then you can toggle back and forth, replying as you go along without losing where you are in the thread. I manage to remember to do that about 1/12 of the time ;)</p>
<p>Thanks for the good wishes on Kenyon!</p>
<p>No class rings here; I think they were ordered in September. No letter jacket either, although D2 did earn a varsity letter this year. We still have DH’s from HS though; not much call for those heavy jackets here. </p>
<p>We’ll get the announcements about graduation pictures in the next month. Lifetouch does ours; the cap & gown & “drape” one are free & need to be done to be in the yearbook. When D1 was a senior, I dropped the cash for the additional “candid” pose. I was so disappointed. Only got 8 candids to choose from & I didn’t like any of them. We were supposed to have new ones done by a coworker, but unfortunately Nashville had epic flooding the day we were scheduled. I’m already planning on using him & just using Lifetouch for the school mandated shots. </p>
<p>Word on the current senior class is that we have a student going to Harvard and another to Princeton. Highly unusual. Not because of the caliber of the top kids but because it’s not something on most people’s radar here. I asked a mom with a 2011 student to grab a graduation program so I can spy on this years results. </p>
<p>Congrats on student presidencies, and honor societies & proms. Hugs for those who need them!</p>
<p>Lurker here – decloaking (StarTrek reference, not literally). I’ve been following the HSClass of 2012 and this thread for awhile and appreciate all the great advice.</p>
<p>I have a D13 and S15. They attend a large public hs. Both are very much STEM types (as well as DH and I). D is very interested in computer science and music (percussionist). She’s taken ACT and SAT with very good scores and should be NMSF based on historical cutoffs. We won’t qualify for FA and like many posters here, we don’t think a lot of debt makes sense for undergraduate degrees even in STEM fields with good job prospects. We have not had good experience with our instate schools, so we are looking particularly at OOS state schools with honors colleges and merit aid, as well as some privates known for merit aid. She is also looking for a particular type of marching band (with front ensemble) or opportunities for participating in concert ensembles or percussion ensembles without being a music major so that is restricting the choices. So far we have visited Georgia Tech and Arizona State and she liked both of those. Have visits planned for Case Western, UMass Amherst, and U. Delaware this summer.</p>
<p>We have the same problem with people asking why D isn’t looking at more highly-ranked computer science schools, particularly those in California (for which we are OOS). We have heard a lot of dire things about budget cuts in California and about difficulty getting needed classes but are having trouble gauging how bad it really is and whether it would even be worth applying. Anyone here have any experience with this or seen comments?</p>
<p>Our GC’s are assigned by alphabet, so in theory, kids would have the same counselor for all 4 years. In reality, there is a lot of turnover, so D has had 3 in 3 years and the current one has been out ill for most of the year. The substitute is fantastic but only filling in until the end of the year and I fully expect it will be someone completely new come fall. There’s 5 for 2200 students.</p>
<p>
</p>
<p>Our school purchases a full page add featuring all the graduating kids and where they are matriculating.
No way to figure out where else they got admitted…</p>
<p>Walker: you are cracking me up…lol</p>
<p>RobD: Good advice. I seem to be at lest 3 to 4 comments behind…</p>
<p>Jr told us at dinner tonight he still plans on applying SCEA to Stanford and RD to Harvard, Duke, USC and who knows where else. I am really hoping he can limit it down so it doesn’t cost me an arm and a leg in app fees.</p>
<p>In the mean time, I think I will enjoy my glass of wine and try to catch up on some threads :)</p>
<p>Ohh…and welcome STEMFamily!!!</p>
<p>MDmom: wine is saving my family from me choking the very life out of them whilst they sleep right now 
<em>clink</em></p>
<p>My DD13a is also going to apply to Stanford. Just because she started telling us in 4th grade that she was going to “study hard, make good grades and get a scholarship to Stanford”. Really? How does a nine year old even KNOW about Stanford? We don’t live anywhere near CA. WTH put that idea in her brain?! At least she is old enough now to see it as a 50-1 shot (or more, I don’t know jack about stats).</p>
<p>My D14 happened to tour Stanford when she was about 9 and told us that is where “Jr needs to go. There are nothing but smart athletes!”</p>
<p>Now…she is completely freaking out at the thought of him going back east. She is refusing to go on his “unofficial” visit with us to Harvard…which is really messing with my Chistmas Card picture :(</p>
<p>Anyone else have an issue with this? Or are my kids just freakishly close…</p>
<p>STEMfamily: I know what you mean. We live in CA. DD wants a big school with big marching band and football program. We can’t afford private but will get no need based aid and don’t want our kids to borrow.</p>
<p>DD’s major isn’t at a lot of schools</p>
<p>When she told one teammate some schools she was applying to, she was asked why she wasn’t applying at any good schools!!!</p>
<p>Sigh.</p>
<p>STEMFamily–our son is also looking for marching band. We haven’t come across any, other than Notre Dame, that have front ensembles in our search but most schools do allow non-majors to participate in concert bands, etc. Our S is looking at one state school in Wisconsion (Eau Claire) with a 300 piece marching band–and they have his major so that is a bonus, Truman in MO-150 piece marching band. Those are the only 2 he is considering that have both his major and marching band. What about U of WI-Madison? They have a large marching band, good football, great school, etc. University of MN also has a fantastic marching band…football, not so much. Their new stadium, however, was built to house the marching band program and has amazing facilities.</p>
<p>Kel- so sorry your S didn’t win. Elections are fairly low key at Ds school. There was no campaigning, just a nomination followed by elections. </p>
<p>Walker- we may be in a similar situation. I have heard from our GC that D may get full tuition at any one of our state schools. The problem is we are not crazy about them at this time. It is a hard decision. Congrats on the awards. </p>
<p>Our GC are also alpha assigned. D has been very close to one GC through her activities but she is not officially Ds GC. D cant even tell me the name of her GC. I think we are flying solo. </p>
<p>D has now told me she wants to remove any school that requires SAT 2. Sigh, my go-getter has lost her get up and go. Future slacker? </p>
<p>D also gets some raised eyebrows at her potential selections- top liberal arts schools are very much the norm here. The very poor students in our school I understand- it can be very cost effective. However the students in our income bracket? Parents act like the 15000 scholarship makes up for the 55000 cost. Do the math people. (You all may need to remind me of this next year). When D has mentioned IU or Mizzou to folks, she gets the looks. </p>
<p>Stemfan and kangamom- welcome. Sounds like your kids have specific requirements. That helps so much.</p>
<p>Both kids decided to take the ACT one more time. DD “needs” to to bolster her chances for more merit aid, DS wants a better score to bolster his chances to get into his 5% selective school :D. Deadline for the June ACT is Friday so if kids are wavering, best to get them to decide, today.</p>
<p>Fast-moving thread, indeed! </p>
<p>There’s at least one thread on the Parents Forum about 2012s applying only to high reaches / HYPS, and the outcomes. My linking skills on CC are poor, but I’ll try: </p>
<p><a href=“http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/parents-forum/1314179-angry-over-college-admissions-process.html[/url]”>http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/parents-forum/1314179-angry-over-college-admissions-process.html</a></p>
<p>Searching for “Angry over the college admissions process” will bring it up, also.</p>