<p>Wow. Took me awhile to catch up this evening! Welcome to all the newcomers!</p>
<p>MommyDearest, My D wants to do CS also, and even though she has been insisting that WILL be her major for several years now, we are strongly recommending that she go to a school that also has engineering, just in case. Plus many of those schools have ABET accredited CS programs which is one indicator of quality (though not strictly required for CS). She also hasn’t decided on her 2 NM choices. The only one on her list that might consider demonstrated interest is already sending her mail and we’ve already signed up for a tour this summer.</p>
<p>Wherenext, We haven’t received a lot of mail or emails lately either. My D refuses to look at anything that comes snail mail anyway. Says they all look alike and I couldn’t really argue with her.</p>
<p>Burnout: D thinks she did fairly well on the BC Calc. Hope she’s right. That’s 3 AP’s in three days and APUSH coming on Friday. She want’s to skip the last period Friday to work with other juniors to decorate for the band banquet on Friday night and we just couldn’t say no but we won’t make up an excuse for her either.</p>
<p>Congrats to those who have already survived the AP exams and good luck to those who still have more to go. DD just has two: APUSH and Language.
Then the following week is finals (the week before Memorial Day weekend)</p>
<p>We have been looking more closely at colleges and have discovered that you can generally only enter her major as a Pre-CD. You apply to the major 2nd semester sophomore year. One school gets 80-90 applicants for 30 spots. Pretty common scenario. Feeling a little overwhelmed. Them the odds are worse at grad school…200-400 applicants for 20 spots!</p>
<p>It’s been a very difficult week for dd. Her coach of 11 years died unexpectedly over the weekend. She works with her three-four times per week and has been doing so for most of those 11 years. They were very close. DD cried alot the first night, but this whole week has been very calm…to the point that she seems unaffected. People have hugged her, and she is almost stiff. Given that this is the third death in 8 weeks (my mother in law and uncle died) I am feeling overwhelmed as well. I’m really waiting for this school year to end!</p>
<p>mommaof5–for the Ivy’s–after the base of $65,000 or whatever (each Ivy is slightly different) you pay a percentage of your adjusted gross up to about $180,000. So, if you make $100,000, AGI, you pay $10,000 to attend Yale, Harvard, etc. Harvard converts any loan aid granted into grants so you also graduate debt free if you don’t take out any private loans. Not sure if they all do that but it’s worth looking into.</p>
<p>VBCMom–that is so sad. Hugs to your DD and your family.</p>
<p>@ SteveMa, a critical part of what you left off regarding what a parent may require to pay to either the H or Y’s is “Depending on Financial Assets”. It’s not cut and dry that you pay a percentage of your adjusted gross.</p>
<p>tx5athome, congratulations to your S for his great tennis play this season! Sorry his team lost. D’s doubles team drew the number one team in the district in the quarterfinals of the district tournament this week and lost. Very proud of them, however, because they played them strong and competed well! District tournament crowns singles and doubles champions only so D’s team is on to the regionals which is team competition.</p>
<p>D took the AP Calc AB test yesterday. She thinks she did well. Thought the calculator portion of the multiple choice was harder than the rest of the mc. APUSH on Friday.</p>
<p>Update: D has naked teeth but terribly swollen gums! Had a prom dress fitting after the orthodontist and the dress is almost ready for the prom on Saturday. I’m so relieved because we bought the dress on a wing and a prayer that it could be altered the way she wanted. Going to get a spray tan today. Tan lines got way worse after two days of district tennis this week.</p>
<p>VBCMom, so sorry for your and your D’s losses.</p>
<p>Ive been reading the CC site for many months, but this is my first post Our D13 has pretty much figured out what she wants to do and where she wants to go to college, so I think we are pretty lucky. She has taken the ACT 3x (same score twice, one point less on the third time - ugh!) and the June test will be her last time as she intends to be finished with college applications by the end of September. Ill ease into my requests for advice concerning number of schools to apply to, and how to (hopefully) get the best merit aid when your child is set on one school :)</p>
<p>So - for my first goofy question what is OP? Ive tried to figure it out but thus far have not! I know what LAC, OOS, and a bunch of other acronyms mean, but not the most obvious one. Im sure Ill feel like a fool when someone answers, but oh well.</p>
<p>WELCOME…our2girls…
OP… Other poster
I don’t even know OOS
but I think there is a post that explains all the letters…</p>
<p>You are Lucky that your D is focused…Mine is 90% sure …makes searching for programs much easier :)</p>
<p>What does yours want to study?</p>
<p>Mine Sociology…Not a great career path for taking care of her Old Mom…but if it makes her Happy that’s whats important…mine also wants to be 3/4 hrs from home and where we live that’s not a problem as we have a variety of great schools including Safety to Far Reach for her. And it makes visiting not so tricky :)</p>
<p>Thanks, Ama308! She has an extreme passion for music, and wants to go to Belmont University for Music Business. Unfortunately this major is not in many state/public (more affordable!) schools. We live in St. Louis and Belmont is in Nashville, so that location definitely works for us.</p>
<p>As stated, OP = “original poster” - usually the initiator of the thread, although in long rambling threads like this it could mean the initiator of the issue under discussion, often the one seeking advice.</p>
<p>OOS = “out-of-state”, usually referring to students who are not from the state in which a school is situated.</p>
<p>Other frequent abbreviations for newbies:
HYP(S)(M) = Harvard, Yale, Princeton (Stanford) (MIT), used jointly or separately
LAC = Liberal Arts College
AWS = Amherst, Williams, Swarthmore (i.e., highly selective LAC’s)
CS = Computer Science
CC = College Confidential
DS/DD/DH/DW = “Darling/Dear” son/daughter/husband/wife, often used ironically
WGPA/UWGPA = weighted/unweighted GPA</p>
<p>New to me on this thread: “D13”, “S14”, etc. I was surprised at how many posters had huge families (!) until I realized that in these cases the reference was to HS graduation year. “D’13” (as above) makes this much clearer.</p>
<p>Wherenext on the PSAT test form, I think the kids have to choose to allow colleges to contact them. Im pretty sure the SAT and the ACT both have check boxes for it when you register for the test. A lot of the mail/email states the college got Ss name from Collegeboard or ACT.</p>
<p>Earthmother thanks for sharing a prom story from the other side. Interesting how they serve liquor here, the kids have to take a breathalyzer before they can enter!</p>
<p>Wrldtravlr welcome, and congrats to your son for landing the prom date of his dreams! Hopefully, his AP Calc results in July wont be as bad as he thinks.</p>
<p>Dadotwo I feel the same way. I can help with stats, economics, accounting, and finance, but other than that, S is already way beyond my math level. I dont recall him ever asking for my help in math though! </p>
<p>VBCMom What is pre-CD? My condolences to your family for your losses. </p>
<p>Our2girls Welcome! </p>
<p>As for HYPS financial aid I think the best way to do it is to get your 1040 and fill out the net price calculator. It sounds like theyve been pretty accurate for families without unusual circumstances. With less than $50K in assets, the PARENTAL contribution for Harvard appears to be 0-10% from $65k to $150K total income. Once you get over $150K, it rises pretty dramatically. The student is also expected to contribute $4,600 from summer and term earnings. Size of family and number of kids in college is also a factor. Some colleges also take medical expenses private grade school tuition into account.</p>
<p>I agree that adding the apostrophe to 13 makes more sense (S’13 instead of S13), but I admit I am lazy sometimes with that one. I also admit that I like it better than the DS or DW. The “dearest” part feels funny to me, but different strokes and all. So long as we all get it…</p>
<p>Today is the only day this week S’13 does not have an AP test. APUSH tomorrow and Lang next week. I think APUSH will be his most challenging test - lots of ground to cover.</p>
<p>Welcome our2girls and others new to the thread. I’m not sure how I would react if S’13 had his heart set on just one school. I don’t think you want all your eggs in one basket. So, I guess I would encourage him to find other schools he would feel comfortable attending in the event he did not get into his dream school. In our case (at least at this point), he is going to be using state schools as financial and academic safeties and casting a pretty wide net for the right combination of academic and financial fit elsewhere. I think he understands the lottery nature of admissions at some of his favored schools and the financial aspects of the final decision (at least he says he does).</p>
<p>Socialdrama heres a list of schools that requires subject tests, requires subject tests only if ACT isnt submitted, or recommends subject tests: <a href=“http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/14314359-post4.html[/url]”>http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/14314359-post4.html</a>. If your D is applying to any of these schools, you should check to see how many they require and what type (ie, MIT requires one math and one science.) I also have never heard of throat coat I assume your daughter is a vocalist?</p>
<p>Oh . . . meant to ask . . . did any other kids take the AP Art History exam? Talk about a lot of ground to cover! </p>
<p>My S said hed be lucky to get a 4 the essays were very specific, and they didnt get to choose from a list like APUSH or APEuro. Im hoping he did better than he thinks looks like a lot colleges require a 5 to get any credit. Euro is tomorrow and Physics on Monday. Good luck to all the APUSH and APEuro testers tomorrow! </p>
<p>Last night he told me he is leaning toward the STEM summer program because he defied the odds by getting in and it seems like its just meant to be. He also added that since it was a bona fide miracle, he only needs two more to achieve sainthood. Always the funny boy!</p>
<p>About SAT II’s - I know that Johns Hopkins states they recommend SAT II’s but the admission officer said they “STRONGLY RECOMMEND” meaning they would like to see them. S decided he would take them so if he decided to apply to JHU he would have them. Two weeks ago JHU wasn’t even on his radar and now he is very interested. We are going to be on the safe side and over test.</p>
<p>MommyDearest13 - My son took the AP Art History exam. There was so much ground to cover that I think he went in hoping the test emphasized the periods he knew best and focused on that material. He felt, like your son, that the essays were pretty specific and he hopes the examples he gave were what they were asking for.</p>
<p>I like your sons perspective on the summer programs. If he feels it was “meant to be” perhaps that’s the program he’ll enjoy more? He really can’t go wrong either way.</p>
<p>CBG, we have always considered something a college ‘recommended’ as something that was a requirement. D took US Hist and Math II subject tests last year, and is signed up for Chem in June in case she decides to do engineering, which is not currently under consideration. After Euro tomorrow, D has AP Eng Lang and Stat tests next Weds, and Microecon Thursday. Then some time to relax, I hope!</p>
<p>My daughter finally finished AP exams. Now, she has to decide if she is going to take a different SAT II in June, or stick to the origional plan to take SAT for second time in June. She can’t seem to decide which to do and I really don’t know how to advise her. She also finally asked one of her teachers if he/she would write a recomendation for her. moving in the right direction, I suppose…and she was less panicked last night after her exams were done. So, of course, I am too!</p>
D’s doubles team drew the number one team in the district in the quarterfinals of the district tournament this week and lost. Very proud of them, however, because they played them strong and competed well! District tournament crowns singles and doubles champions only so D’s team is on to the regionals which is team competition.</p>
Our D13 has pretty much figured out what she wants to do and where she wants to go to college, so I think we are pretty lucky. She has taken the ACT 3x (same score twice, one point less on the third time - ugh!) and the June test will be her last time as she intends to be finished with college applications by the end of September. Ill ease into my requests for advice concerning number of schools to apply to, and how to (hopefully) get the best merit aid when your child is set on one school :)</p>