<p>I was a sub today for HS freshman and sophomore English classes. Subbing makes me very grateful to come home to my kids and not the boneheads that I teach. Seriously, working on reading and introductory writing in 9th grade? Sort of shocking. Maybe my expectations are out of line. It makes me fear for our country when kids can’t read well by 9th grade.</p>
<p>Thank you everyone for the congratulations :)</p>
<p>MDmom, I had to go back and find your post - how exciting! That’s an experience for a lifetime. :)</p>
<p>Swizzle, the board of ed sounds awesome. You should put it somewhere… since you were selected for it, I guess it would fit under honors?</p>
<p>Haystack, I think it’s true about creating intensity, but the workload and expectations can vary as well. I know a college prof who had jobs at several different schools and he definitely adjusted the workload and expectations depending on the school. I just want her to have time to get involved in things outside of the classroom. I think in general, it’s harder to do that at some of the reachier schools where you are a littler fish.</p>
<p>Sent from my DROID2 GLOBAL using CC</p>
<p>Congrats to your S MDMom!</p>
<p>Intensity - It’s hard for me to compare this, because I have no idea what “intense” means. I’ve seen some posts of the opinion that high school was harder than college, so I don’t know what to think!</p>
<p>My most recent problem is getting my parents to fill out this survey about me so that my GC will start my rec letter. Hopefully they’ll do it this weekend. :rolleyes:</p>
<p>In other news, did anyone get the novel from UChicago? It’s bigger than the Yale one I think. Pretty soon I’ll have to start a library.</p>
<p>Interesting day. D didn’t have math team practice tonight and was actually able to submit 2 scholarship apps. Hooray for progress, even if it’s slow & steady. LOL! I think she was inspired by the shiny envelope from MIT that came in today. </p>
<p>Better yet, D got an email accepting her to the CalTech Close Up program. She visited MIT this summer and so she’s excited to be able to compare them!! Who wouldn’t be excited to be flown clear across the country to check out one of your dream schools?? </p>
<p>She’s still waiting to hear back from Pomona (she’s interested in their 3+2 program with CalTech). I have to try to set up a trip to visit Alabama (Tuskaloosa & Huntsville) and GA Tech). Not sure how I’m going to do it, but I think it’s important to see these campuses so she isn’t disappointed when the odds are not in her favor for her dream schools.</p>
<p>@SteveMA - thanks for the great descriptions of the college tours! They’ve helped D & I make a list of items to keep a look out for (like if people are smiling!). :)</p>
<p>@Ezilyamused - that sounds like a great community event. Hope it went well!</p>
<p>@swizzle - Congrats on the liaison position! Definitely add it to your application. </p>
<p>Have a fabulous day everyone. You all help me feel so much better about the opportunities that await our soon-to-be high school grads!</p>
<p>My son got the Uofc “novel” … Devoured most of it in less than an hour after getting home!</p>
<p>Hey, we got pushed to the second page. Took the foreign exchange student to get his senior yearbook picture taken last night. Two seniors at one time makes things more hectic. Thank goodness only one is applying to college. Hats off to you, TWIN MOMS.</p>
<p>Funny how kids’ lists keep changing. i thought S2 had a solid list but last night, he had to take 2 schools off of his list because he had conflicts with the audition dates. They were not particularly high on his list, but it’s still bittersweet for me. I could see him at each of them. So, now he’s got a list with 2 EA “probables”, 3 reaches, and 2 backups. He will wait to see how his EA results are before applying to the backups. </p>
<p>His task for next week is to ask teachers for recs. He knows who he will ask, just keeps putting it off. I’m giving him a deadline.</p>
<p>I encouraged D to get her teachers the resume and envelopes for recommendations this week. I even addressed and stamped the 20 envelopes! The contract expired in June and I am worried about the possibility of a teacher strike messing up her early applications.</p>
<p>mamabear, we had a teacher’s strike last school year! Fortunately, the grade 12’s weren’t affected and we didn’t have any trouble getting LOR’s for S’12, but the teachers weren’t reporting marks for students in other grades so D’13 had some difficulties. I hope that it all goes smoothly for you.</p>
<p>WOW-did everyone else get the error reports all day for this site? First football game tonight (and marching band performance). Busy with band stuff all day tomorrow then Sunday is D-Day–our kids will have all of their apps in by the end of the day Sunday…or else :D.</p>
<p>Just got home from Tuscaloosa. I will have to agree with others, the dorm rooms at UA are over the top. It is a mini apartment without a stove. The thing that impressed me the most was all the storage in the bathroom area. No need to keep wet towels in your room. S wants to put down the deposit so he can be on the priority list for housing. I think this is now one of his top choices if Emory doesn’t pan out.</p>
<p>Hi All! First, best of luck to all the ACT test takers tomorrow (my D included!)</p>
<p>Galaxy: glad you had a great visit! D1 has certainly enjoyed her time in the UA dorms. It’s a good thing to like your safety :)</p>
<p>D2 got her Alabama acceptance today! She greeted me at the door with her certificate. I was surprised by how excited she was. She was surprised by how excited she was. She says she is now super motivated to get more apps done because she “wants to get more of those acceptance letters!” </p>
<p>Have a great weekend everybody!</p>
<p>Congrats on the acceptances coming in and to Swizzle on the Board of Ed. :-)</p>
<p>Man oh man, D is feeling stress lately. I’m trying to be patient and work on not being a “sponge” and falling into the pit of ERGH that is teen girl stress. She’s just overwhelmed. I don’t even have words for how grateful I am that we got at least a good portion of the college stuff out of the way before the $h!t hit the fan. The CA is completed except for the essay, which is written but still being tweaked. The supplements still need to be done. Transcript requests are in and LORs have been requested. I still need to order and send test scores. I may do that tonight. In the meantime, I just need to BREATHE. Up until this year my D hasn’t been the “typical teen” but we are certainly navigating some choppy waters right about now!</p>
<p>Hello All,</p>
<p>Ive been lurking on CC for a while now but this is my first post. It has been interesting to see such a diversity of perspectives on the common experience of helping our children take that next step into adulthood. And its nice to know that I am not the only one borderline obsessed with the whole college admissions process, although I am trying desperately to assist my child without co-opting what should be her process and without driving either of us crazy. </p>
<p>I have DD13 and DS16. DD is taking ACT again tomorrow, hoping for a couple of point bump but we will see.</p>
<p>Feel in pretty good shape with the process - have visited lots of colleges, have a decent list, have requested LORs, started CA - but have not submitted anything much less gotten any acceptances anywhere yet! Compared to many of you, we are way behind!</p>
<p>Anyway, just thought I should register and post since I have read so much about all of you. The whole process is both more interesting and stressful than I had anticipated.</p>
<p>Welcome Newcomers !!!
Read ,discuss,learn, laugh and cry along with us. This is a journey that is shared by all. Parents and students alike. And having this support group helps! Hey. I’m not in the rubber room yet :)</p>
<p>Good Luck to all the ACT takers this morning. </p>
<p>I wish I could have convinced mine to take it again. I’m hoping she will in Oct. with SAT subject tests. What’s<br>
another one anyway.</p>
<p>Kids haven’t figured out that the next step in the process is scholarship applications :D. At least many of the deadlines for those are further out, especially for DD, so she will have an idea of what she needs. DS is going to need to get some done and hopefully awarded. Our school has a “common app” for all of the local scholarships so that is nice. There are something like 100 local scholarships with over $1,000,000 or some huge number like that. The local community is very generous!!!</p>
<p>Just a tip for everyone, Kohl’s has a huge scholarship program awarded locally, regionally and nationally so apply to Kohl’s for that. I think one girl from our school got $8000 one year. Most businesses have programs like this-Walmart, various banks, our hospitals all have scholarships for students going into the sciences, etc. (most in the $2500 range so nice money). Our Guidance office is pretty good about keeping up on these but if your’s is not just wanted to give you the FYI!</p>
<p>…had a long message ready to post and POOF - it’s gone :(</p>
<p>So, congrats to recent acceptances, swizzle’s B of Ed appointment, MDMom’s Jr’s Inauguration visit selection, any other congrats I missed, and welcome to the newbies!</p>
<p>SteveMA - thanks for the reminder about Kohl’s - I have it on a list for DD. That is great that your community has a common app for local scholarships! Makes it much easier for the applicants!</p>
<p>Dropped DD off this morning at WUSTL for the ACT…maybe the scholarly walls and halls will rub off on her? Very hopeful she gets a couple of points more. This is the last time, and it will be crazy waiting for scores to be released. Once they are I will send scores (did not do any of the free ones), and she will be nearly complete with apps. All her schools are rolling, and she should be fine with acceptance from all. Just hoping that her #1 school is generous with merit that helps us get to the total cost!</p>
<p>I’ll be thinking about all the kids taking the ACT, and praying that their score gets them where it’s best for them to be! :D</p>
<p>Good morning all!
RobD, congrats to your D on the UA acceptance!</p>
<p>Good luck to all the test takers today - sending good vibes their way.</p>
<p>D asked her 2d teacher for an LOR this week - she was #4. :)</p>
<p>I don’t think any progress will be made on apps this weekend, between games and practice and homework. I’m going to at least have D open the CA and I’ll review the list of essays with her so that she can see what she needs to get done.</p>
<p>Scholarships - have you asked about how outside scholarships are treated? I know that it will usually reduce other need-based aid awarded, but what about school-based merit aid? DS had no luck with scholarships (well, one $100.00 award) because they all required attendance at a US school. I’m hoping for some better results with DD.</p>
<p>anniezz–that is a great point about reducing need based aid. We’ve asked at most schools and so far with the merit aid, it is stacked on that. I didn’t ask about need based aid because we are not anticipating any.</p>