<p>S2 met with GC today. Gave her the paper copies of the common app reports needed and transcript requests. She said that he was only 1 of 2 kids that had given her anything yet. No college frenzy at our school. Even the top kids I know are still trying to figure out where they will apply.</p>
<p>S2’s AP English class has to write a college essay this week. He had one left to do so at least this one will get critiqued by English teacher. The other 2 were sent in with no critique, although I did make him rewrite to improve grammar and punctuation. He doesn’t really see the point in either!</p>
<p>Why are the damn ivy leagues mailing us stuff all of a sudden? I thought we were in the clear! </p>
<p>I looked and two schools have downloaded DD13a’s CA. I feel like this whole process is not going to be kind to those of us who want instant gratification! Dd13b will have no idea where she is going till spring. Argh.</p>
<p>In other news, I have skipped ahead to Wine Wednesday. The Basement is open for business.</p>
We are way ahead of most people with this. I nearly freaked when I heard a group of parents at a soccer game for senior boys saying they guess they should figure out where the kids want to apply. Oh. My. God.
Senior year looks to be just as crazy as junior. I knew this was likely. I just wish it was different. There should be mandatory no- homework nights for seniors. There is no time to get everything done, unless they choose not to sleep.</p>
<p>Blueshoe, I completely understand. My D13 was the kind of intense kid who read What Colleges Don’t Tell You… in 8th grade and made a plan to stand out. Now, she does stand out and could be accepted nearly anywhere but I discover that we just aren’t comfortable paying what it would cost for her to go to an expensive LAC when she will have a sib in college the entire time she is there. I think back and hope she did all the things she did because she loved doing them, not because she thought that was what it would take to get into X College, because if it was for the latter, it was “all for naught”.</p>
<p>Walker- that too. Lots of stuff from true lotteries lately. Such a waste of trees and money. Lots of stuff from places which would never happen. Happily, lots of love from her #2 and #3 too. Also getting acknowledgment of her existence from her top choice which is good.</p>
<p>Are there any smart ways to save money on college apps? I think some of you mentioned getting the GC to put SAT/ACT scores on the transcript… have any of you succeeded in doing so?</p>
<p>Blueshoe, not sure how I missed your post. My D and yours sound very similar. Her comment that will haunt me is that while she likes her safeties, she is going to be terribly sad if she doesn’t get in to her #1 because it will seem like she wasted so many hours working for her grades only to end up where people who didn’t work as hard or get the same grades are, and she is afraid she will regret all the times she didn’t go out, or stayed up half the night studying instead of just going to bed.</p>
<p>russgenious–every college except one that our kids are applying to will take test scores on official transcripts. We discovered, however, that our school has a policy to not send scores on transcripts. I had the kids contact their ad comms at the various schools and all but 3 of them took the PDF download of the score report from the ACT site via email. Also, we only had to pay app fees at 2 schools. The rest waived the app fee for applying online or gave us an app fee waiver during our campus visit. I spent $66 sending ACT scores and $75 for an app fee at one school and $45 at the other. Heck, one school took the PDF download of DS’s transcript from the online gradebook!</p>
<p>89wahoo- you said it perfectly. that is exactly how my D feels, and why she is still chasing some schools that may not be as good fits. I totally understand her point of view, she worked her tail off in high school and wants to see the rewards. For too long, the rewards have been framed as where she goes to college. I’m afraid that she may choose a more admissions competitive school over one where she could really succeed and be happy.</p>
<p>I graduated from Northwestern. After graduation my friends and I (from NU) sat side by side at work with graduates from Wisconsin, Iowa, Iowa State, Bradley, Illinois State, Indiana, Illinois Wesleyan. Our bosses were (or still are) from places like Ohio State, Michigan Tech, Wooster, Denison and the above mentioned schools. The best and brightest person I ever worked for or with was from Michigan Tech.</p>
<p>Ultimately, your biggest reward will come from doing well in college academically, and what you do there outside of class, not what you did in high school. Unfortunatley, it is hard for many driven HS students to understand this.</p>
<p>Thanks for the info on grade conversions. Looks like we’ll need to check each school’s policy. I know one scholarship program let is convert 90 and above to an A even though the school’s scale considers it a B.</p>
<p>Now about the mailings. I too thought we were in the clear. List narrowed down and final. My D spent the entire summer in Baltimore and I told her why don’t you visit Hopkins. Totally not interested. Yesterday she gets their big shiny book and guess where we’re heading this weekend. Uggh…</p>
<p>We are getting bombarded with mailings and phone calls–times 2. DD got a call from a school where she expressed interest early in the process but never really heard anything back from them. They offered her a full tuition scholarship, which covers 1/2 of the COA at that school—it might go back on the list :D. They are sending the offer in writing so we will see what all the details are.</p>
<p>Wahoo - I agree with you about the TOO FILLED UP Senior Year. Step-D is currently on her Senior Trip - which is great. But it’s a week she can’t do anything towards college, leaving me the only one to call and figure some things out. While I am so glad she doesn’t have homework or her sport for a week, it is a wrench when you are trying to get things IN and DONE. Lord knows she doesn’t have any time during the regular week when she’s got a ton of assignments to complete and her sport!! Le sigh…</p>
<p>Haystack - I always love your posts. Michigan used to play hockey vs. Michigan Tech, but other than that I know nothing about them. Great to get some insight into their education. I will say, however, that one thing the more ‘known’ schools or the ‘state flagships’ have going for them are facilities. We visited mostly well-endowed schools (that sentence sounds dirty, but y’all know what I mean -right? ) and the difference between these schools and the few schools we saw that didn’t have money was STARK. One school looked like it hadn’t been renovated since the 1970’s. The Student Union, on the other hand, was more dated than that. I believe it could have come straight out of Happy Days. It was depressing. </p>
<p>I do agree that you can be a success coming from anywhere - and I do believe that students should learn more about wildly successful people (Oprah, Murray Lender, etc.) whom went to small schools that most students may not know, BUT, the school also has to have some sort of reasonable $$ so that the student may reach his/her full potential. </p>
<p>FYI about Oprah. When I speak to students I frequently use her as an example as someone who went to an obscure school (Tennessee State) and was a major success. Recently found out that the Director of Admission at my alma mater went there too! Hooray for Tennessee State! :)</p>
<p>S went ahead and pressed the button on two CA applications over the weekend before he got feedback from his teacher on his essay. They aren’t schools he’s terribly interested in but they don’t require supplements, have no application fee, and they already have his test scores so they stayed on the list. They are both in downloaded status. I gave him the list of all the schools he needs to get in the 10/15 transcript send off at his school. Still no indication that the teacher LOR has been started/completed and supposedly, all advisors have to complete the counselor LOR by 10/1. Hope it goes as smoothly as they make it sound.</p>
<p>S2 13 scheduled his first interview for this weekend. S1 13 requested his interview first but still hasn’t heard back which freaks him out. I guess it’s definitely not with the same alum. This is the Rice interview which for my sons should be the easiest, so I’m really happy they got it first. The boys spent 10 years of their lives growing up on the Rice campus, so they should have plenty to talk about! So far Rice seems to be the only school to which they are applying that will offer an interview before they see your application and deem if you are worthy! I guess we have a long time to wait for the rest of them.</p>
<p>D had the day off from school yesterday, and finally got started on filling in the common app. No progress on the essays yet, but at least its a start.</p>
) and the difference between these schools and the few schools we saw that didn’t have money was STARK. One school looked like it hadn’t been renovated since the 1970’s. The Student Union, on the other hand, was more dated than that. I believe it could have come straight out of Happy Days. It was depressing. </p>