<p>Welcome STEMfamily! Have you looked at Purdue? I looked at Purdue a few years ago for my CS DS and they had some decent OOS merit, but I don’t know what the situation is now.</p>
<p>nellieh: my D1 was the same way about SATIIs, then had a brief moment of panic in October of senior year when she was getting the “you’re not applying higher than that?” comments from her classmates. That was short lived and she was fine. You’re really only crossing off 12 possibilities, especially if she’s already taking the ACTs.</p>
<p>Sometimes things y’all talk about are foreign to me…not a lot of high stakes expectations here from others here even though we’re in a top school district & it’s a well off community. I think it’s partially because we’re in SEC country and also because so many people are connected to the music industry; they know you don’t have to have a particular degree to be successful. Dave Ramsey is very popular here so I don’t know many who would passively accept large amounts of debt. The only negative comments D1 got after she chose Alabama was when we went back to NJ for a visit and a good family friend (after D1 said where she was attending) famously said “aw honey, what did you do wrong?” </p>
<p>Off to pick up D1 for the semester later today :)</p>
<p>Y’all are all very busy, I can’t keep up reading let alone responding!
D’13 DE classes ended last week, she got a 4.0 this semester 
HS Progress reports were yesterday and all A’s there too… Only 4weeks left Can’t wait to see her class rank after this semester We know she is in the top 10.
SAT moved to June 2 and ACT is June 9! That will be a crazy week!!
Can anyone think of any schools for marine bio/ science besides the following:
U of Alabama
FSU
Duke
UNC
UNC-W
Rollins
TAM-G
U of Miami</p>
<p>D is interested in attending law school post undergrad.</p>
<p>Morning’ 13’ers. 
</p>
<p>Going back a few pages to Class Rings…as I posted a while ago, we bought Step-D her ring and went to FL a few weeks ago, to watch the “Class Ring Ceremony” whereby the Seniors bestow the rings on the Juniors. Great to see Step-D and our friends down there, but the ceremony was kind of out of control. As many as 8 Seniors (or as few as 2) would go to the microphone and just stream-of-conciousness talk about the Junior they were “giving” the ring to. Some of the comments were nice and heartfelt, but - coming from 17 and 18 yr olds - some of the commentary was just silly and borderline homophobic. It was particularly sad to see the ‘nerdier’ kids whom only had 2 people go to the microphone for them, and then have nothing really of substance said about them (“he’s a nice guy in math class” - for example.) One Senior got up and talked about how he and 'his Junior" pretty much used their I-Phone to cheat in Latin Class! The Junior’s mom was sitting right behind me and I couldn’t think of what to say to her after that! </p>
<p>To be honest, I am kind of wishing we hadn’t attended ( REALLY regretting inviting Step-D’s grandparents!!) Will recommend next year that the school keeps this ‘ceremony’ more private and perhaps only has the Seniors and Juniors participate without the outside attendance. </p>
<p>Step-D is thrilled with her ring, however. It was designed by her (with the help of the ring company) and she was just glowing with happiness about the whole thing (super-nice things were said about her) so I guess - for her- it was all a success. </p>
<p>more on your other commentary later…but I’d like to throw in the U of Michigan for Marching Band consideration! ha Many that I know get chills when we hear (at the start of home football games) Band…Take The Field!!! :D</p>
<p>About marching bands - check Clemson. I think they have one. I don’t know anything about Clemson’s band just know that one of the local Val’s a few years ago flunked out of school after freshman year because he was so wrapped up in band stuff. He was an engineering major.</p>
<p>Morning, all.</p>
<p>Not much happening here except non-academic matters. Picking up the tux this afternoon, and our baseball team starts playoffs tonight.</p>
<p>I don’t get why people care where others apply and go. I mean, I get it – people are nosy. But I guess that I’m surprised that people would actually comment out loud to people’s faces about it! Another useful cc mantra applies: Smile and nod.</p>
<p>Thanks for the marching band suggestions but none of those have front ensembles. I think I found almost all the colleges that do have front ensembles through Google. Gotta love the internet. Sometimes I wonder though whether access to so much information makes decisions harder or easier.</p>
<p>Funny thing about both my D and S. Both love marching band but neither has any interest in the football game. Most of the time when I would ask about the final score, my S wouldn’t even know who won the game! Hard for me to understand since Nebraska football was a staple in my family growing up.</p>
<p>I don’t think class rings are very popular at our school. My D13 has never mentioned them.</p>
<p>Best wishes to all preparing for AP and SAT and ACT tests. D has 5 AP’s but did 2 subject tests last year. Doesn’t look like she will need them but she wouldn’t be able to do them this year anyway because she will be on a youth symphony trip in Europe.</p>
<p>Longsx3, have you considered Stetson University [Aquatic</a> & Marine Biology](<a href=“http://www.stetson.edu/artsci/biology/amb/]Aquatic”>Aquatic and Marine Biology Requirem - Stetson University)</p>
<p>I have been lurking on CC for about a month now, since D got her NM letter and GC had little to no input on implications. I was able to find lots of good info on the NM thread so I was hooked. Looks like this is another thread I will find handy in the next year! </p>
<p>Standard is to reference HS grad year when referring to multiple kids?<br>
If so I have D13 and D15. </p>
<p>I am interested in the marching comments as D15 flipped out when we met with the director at OU on a visit and has already decided that is where she wants to go. I don’t think they have a percussion pit. </p>
<p>D13 has already indicated she does not want a HS ring. She was eligible for a state championship ring which she said was a high priced memento, but after a couple months seeing others with thiers she had regrets so I got it for her birthday as a surprise. Since it has the name of the school on it she has no desire for a class ring. </p>
<p>Well, I am now off to scroll back through the last couple months of this thread to find out what I am already behind on!</p>
<p>I forgot to mention earlier-if your kids took the ACT +writing, the writing scores for our kids are out so your scores might be as well.</p>
<p>Longsx3 - FYI - Two schools in the North east that have good Marine Bio programs with dedicated Marine bio facilities are Roger Williams (right on Narragansett Bay) and Norteastern…both have laws schools on campus. Roger Williams would be a safety and they are very generous with aid.</p>
<p>I cannot believe how poorly my son did on the writing section. I’m sure the only people to score worse would have to be ELL students. The day of the test he told me he knew he bombed it. He had to erase most of his original essay when he realized he didn’t stay completely on topic then became frustrated when the 5 minute warning was sounded and he hadn’t written much else and just turned the test in. He scored a 33 on the reading section and a 26 on the english section. I know most colleges don’t consider the writing score but seriously, it’s bad and it’s there in the score report. Would the other subsection scores balance out an abysmal writing score or might some sort of flag be raised. He’s taking the SAT this week and I am having him really practice the essay, but I’m thinking he might have to do take another test in the fall.</p>
<p>Laurendog, I’ve never heard of a ring ceremony such as you described! Thank you for sharing this – you had me laughing and cringing at the same time!</p>
<p>Nothing at this small public HS compares. Even the Senior Awards are a bit formal and impersonal. Much of the very long program consists of hearing the same high-achieving senior names called, over and over, and watching them pop up from their chairs to be recognized for their many academic achievements – commendable/excellent/superior performance in subject area A, B, C, etc., students in top 25%, students in top 10%., on and on.</p>
<p>As you watch the kids pop up and down and hear those auditorium seats thwacking, it can look a bit like Whack-A-Mole…especially through teary eyes!</p>
<p>reeinaz, check this link for an SAT essay method (and I’m guessing it would work for ACT writing as well):</p>
<p><a href=“http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/sat-preparation/645763-how-write-12-essay-just-10-days.html?highlight=12+essay[/url]”>http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/sat-preparation/645763-how-write-12-essay-just-10-days.html?highlight=12+essay</a></p>
<p>DS got a 6 on the essay the first time around (they’re scored 0-12). He spent a couple days working with this method and writing practice essays and got a 12 the second (and last) time. He thought it was boring as heck, but who cares?!</p>
<p>I just keep CC open on half the screen and Word open on the other half. Once Ive typed up all my replies, I cut and paste! If I try typing on CC, it times out.</p>
<p>No yearbook ads I think my S would be mortified! Unless we did some sort of roast in which case, he would probably think it was hysterical since everyone else would be mortified!</p>
<p>S hasnt mentioned the ring, but I doubt hed want one. The jacket was pricey, but we bought it big so hed get three winters out of it (by time he got the first letter, winter was nearly over.) Schools gives an athletic letter and academic letter the first time they qualify . . . additional sports or second year letters just get a pin to put on the letter (different pins for different sports/academic). So no need to have a seamstress! The kids usually have their sport name(s) put on the back of the coat I suppose if someone took up a new sport in later years there they might want to have that added.</p>
<p>Kelowna a 36 doesnt guarantee anything for sure, but with his dossier, your S has a WELL above average chance! Unfortunately, getting in and being able to pay for it are two different things! Once you do the Collegeboard calculator for MIT, its really easy to run a bunch of others. If you know the Ivies et al wont be affordable, I would target the schools that are a notch down that offer big full ride competitive scholarships like Stamps, etc if your S isnt a candidate, I dont know who is!</p>
<p>Walker not a cheapskate, a pragmatist! </p>
<p>Ivies are not on the radar for kids in this area either. S knows of no one that applied at least none said so. There are probably only a handful each year that get high enough scores to be really competitive, and most probably think the Ivies would be too expensive. Apparently in the schools history, one has gone to Brown and one to Johns Hopkins. I doubt anyone would snicker if S didnt go to a top 10 college since its not the culture . . . they just naively think that hed have his pick of them! LOL</p>
<p>Longsx3 Im excited to see Ss new rank too. A friends S went to U-Hawaii for marine biology. Just found out hes transferring back home couldnt hack the hard sciences and now wants to be a teacher!</p>
<p>Reeinaz - I cant answer your question about how colleges look at it, but I can say that the ACT and SAT essay prompts are very different and I think S would have done better on the SAT writing than the ACT since the questions are answered more like AP essays. Maybe it will work that way for your S.</p>
<p>Longsx3, we visited UCSD this January, and someone mentioned the research being done by undergrads over at Scripps Institution of Oceanography. I don’t know if there is an undergrad major, but they were talking about kids getting exposure there.</p>
<p>D’s ACT writing score is not yet available, so we will keep checking. Thanks for the heads up, SteveMA.</p>
<p>Reeinaz, here’s my thought on it. The essay is the least important because the adcom will have his application essay to evaluate as well. Given the high reading score, I dont think the writing will be a big red flag, as much as an indication of a blip. If you’re concerned, it’s a good question to ask the admissions counselor at the schools where he is looking. </p>
<p>Sent from my DROID2 GLOBAL using CC</p>
<p>Group, May I ask a naive question- What are this letters that you are talking about? Athletic letter and academic letter? No clue what so ever. S didn’t menstion the jacket or ring. I have heard about school ring that people can purchase to represent their class.
Also the school S is in does things in a strange way-They don’t do parent teacher conferences. The school set up a scheduled open house where we can meet teachers and they talk about expectation etc…And that is it. If you want to know your child’s progress or talk to teacher, you can set up a meeting individually and teh teachers are ready to meet any time. That is it. I felt it as a strange thing a school would do. Ofcurse they have edline and once in a quarter they pit their porgress report. Some teachers do more often.
The school does not publish honors list or have any award ceremonies for 9 or 10 graders. I think they have a junior award ceremony coming up in end of May and a senior award ceremony.
Interesting how schools are different accorss the nation</p>
<p>Hi! I agree very hard to keep up! Someone mentioned California public schools and I just want to give my 2 cents. D1 is graduating from San Diego State in a couple of weeks, she had very few AP credits, changed her major 3 times, was very active in her sorority, had major back surgery (double spinal fusion) her sophomore year, and is graduating on time with a degree in Math, and could have skipped this semester if she wanted (by the way, no summer school). S2 is a sophomore at UCLA, has had no problem, what-so-ever getting classes, has changed his major, and he too could graduate early if he wanted to (but he is having so much fun that is the last thing on his mind). BOTH schools said at orientation that they last thing in the world they want is your kid hanging around for more than 4 years. You can get all the classes that you want, BUT, you might have to take a class at 8am or on a Friday. Financially, with 2 in college (which cuts your EFC in half), UCLA was quite generous with us. However, we are in state, and at the financial aid meeting I went to at orientation, the financial aid guy told the out of state families, that the most “free money” they will get will be up to the cost of in state tuition. He said that is the same for most other colleges when our California residents go there. </p>
<p>Elections: S3 ran for ASB Vice President. He should find out the results today. </p>
<p>Tennis: Individual prelims were yesterday and he and his partner moved on to the semi-finals today. Woo hoo!</p>
<p>ree, sorry that the writing score isn’t what y’all wanted. I know nothing about the ACT so no help there, but I did want to say that I think I disagree with annie a little. The schools will have the kids’ essays, but those could be written by a parent or a hired gun so I would think a really low ACT writing score with a gang-busters app essay would raise a red flad, kwim?</p>
<p>tx5, good luck with the elections and tennis! Ds is running for student body president at the end of the month, I think.</p>