<p>Swizzle, how frustrating!</p>
<p>Ds just left for his second interview. Fingers crossed!</p>
<p>Swizzle, at least your counselor talks to you! I have no idea what mine is even doing. On naviance it says “Get your brag sheet and parent brag sheet in 3 weeks before your deadline, and then schedule a meeting with me and then I’ll write your rec.” Well, I had that done last week, for Nov. 1st deadlines. That’s on time, right? Except it turns out there’s a two week waiting list to schedule a meeting with her, and on top of that she will only respond to emails from parents. Ugh. So I guess I have to get my parents to work this out, as much as I want to do it myself… Because I am not missing these EA deadlines. Honestly, I wish I could have the gifted/talented counselor write my rec, who has known me for ~10 years, or at least my normal counselor instead of the college counselor who doesn’t know me at all. But I digress.</p>
<p>Anyway, I just got back from my second interview for U of Rochester! It was really good I think, pretty short but it was a conversation unlike my last interview. I came out of it really liking the school.</p>
<p>Annie- As you know the transcripts aren’t important on the UCAS. She is sending transcripts directly as you thought. St. A and the rest suggest getting the app in early for 28 day turn around. As soon as the LOR is uploaded…been waiting since end of August! BTW- went to your S’s college info meeting. Needless to say, you have a smarty pants (:</p>
<p>146th reason that I love this thread - SteveMA introducing me to the phrase “head-slappage line.” ha ha ha ha ha ha ha. And Swizzle - boy! Does it sound like your GC needs to be in it - PRONTO! : - ) </p>
<p>Just found out Step-D has been selected for the Homecoming Court! Hooray! This was totally unexpected and she is thrilled!</p>
<p>Sounds like a lot of us are having trouble getting the counselor to write recs and send transcripts. It’s been 4 weeks since S2 submitted all his info to her and had a sit-down meeting and she STILL hasn’t done anything. I’m going to have him schedule another meeting on Wed and see if there’s anything he can do.</p>
<p>On a good note, Monday and Tuesday are “fair days” for us, also know as fall break. Kids get free tickets to the state fair and we spend all day eating corny dogs and riding the Zipper! S2 is also going to the fair on Thursday to see The Addams Family touring show (the Broadway version). So, all in all, a very short week for him.</p>
<p>megp - Saw the Addams Family on Broadway. - Outstanding Show! So excited for your S!</p>
<p>Wooo! Sent in my first app to my local state university (: It feels unreal. I just applied to college, how did that happen?!?!?!</p>
<p>After my public freak out on the last page about my extra curric answer thing, I finished it (on the second subject) and just finished my resume! It’s five pages long, though…I condensed it once and took some of the information out. I explained the clubs that needed an explanation in like two sentences, and then talked about what I do in one or two other sentences. I have 21 things on it (I condensed three clubs) including awards and “leadership” (aka things I couldn’t figure out what category they went in). But really, is that toooooo long? Each section is labeled clearly, so it’s not like a rep has to read through my whole thing just to see where I’ve worked. It’s all clearly labeled.</p>
<p>Congrats to all the Parents with acceptances in the bag for their kiddos!</p>
<p>I’m on the opposite end with my GC, as she’s been great! She knows my situation with my pregnancy ,which really helps, in fact, I got an email from her today (on a Sunday!). This is also my first heading to college, so she knows I’m clueless lol.</p>
<p>My D is almost ready to hit submit on the Common App. She did four supplements ahead of time and sent them on. If she submits the CA, can she then complete the supplements for her other colleges after that, or does she need to complete all supplements before submitting her CA? </p>
<p>Does that even make sense? This is so confusing!</p>
<p>Vandygrad87 - I think the CA colleges you are submitting to will “let you know” when submitting apps via the comman app…our D had one school with a supplement and D had to submit the fee first, then the supp, then the actual app. Her other CA school had no fee and no supp. Maybe that helps? Perhaps she just better finish the supps first?</p>
<p>I was not impressed with using the CA for just two schools. I would have rather paid the fee for using the school app and have D just send the school apps to all her schools. The CA was really confusing, and we are still not sure about some things. SHe got an email from one of the schools that said she did not waiver her right to see the LORs, and I have printed the CA and the “right to waive” and called the school and they said they don’t send emails about the CA. WTH?? For D’17 we will just send school apps…unless she has tons of schools to apply to…</p>
<p>…sorry for my rant :/</p>
<p>swizzle, as everyone knows I’m a firm believer in shorter is better. I mean, I know CEOs who get their CV down to two pages. As a HS student, I would never send five! 
What all is on there?</p>
<p>Ds came back from his interview BEAMING! He said it went really well and is ready for the next one! Uh, we don’t have a next one. I was a little worried that it was less than an hour. He said she was supposed to limit it to 30 minutes, but when her alarm went off she said, “I’m having so much fun and still have so many questions that I’m going to keep going!” So, 50 minutes ended up being really good!</p>
<p>Here’s a question: One thing he said made this interview really different than the other one is that they spent the whole time talking about him, as opposed to the college. But I guess that’s the difference between an informative vs. evaluative interview – if it’s evaluative, they want to know about you, right? Any alumni interviewers out there? He thought she asked great questions that really required introspection. He was kind of unprepared for that and probably was quite candid because he wouldn’t even tell me what he said. And they also talked about a Supreme Court case that’s pretty political, so that surprised me. I thought they tried to avoid those topics. Anyway, the way he described it makes it sound like he did a great job! :D</p>
<p>Hi everyone! Anxious mom here because D still hasnt finished her CA essay and hasnt started the supp essays. I know she is stressed…school, sports and apps are all getting to her. She has one 11/1 deadline and several 11/15 dates, and 2 that she should submit asap for merit aid. Like many here, still waiting on LORs to get done, and worried about transcripts getting out.<br>
I just have to keep breathing, and keep D calm enough so that she gets things done, but not so relaxed that she puts things off more.
Hang in there everyone!</p>
<p>Wherenext, if it helps, DS got a response from Edinburgh in 2 or 3 weeks, and St As was around 6 I think. ( I think he sent the transcript several weeks after UCAS.) I hope your D’s teachers sort it out. </p>
<p>Sent from my DROID2 GLOBAL using CC</p>
<p>I will go on the record and say that ds’s counselor and teachers rock! Letters done.</p>
<p>A couple days ago, Tvenne asked,
I don’t have a child with autism, but I do have a 9th grader (an international adoptee) with ADHD, depression and oppositional behaviors. She has been driving me crazy this weekend. Sometimes I feel like I am on the verge of schizophrenia advising D13 long distance on CA supplements while I can hardly get child #4 to even put pen to paper to finish her homework and prepare for midterms. All I’m hoping for the latter child is that she graduates from high school and gets some post secondary training so that she can be employed and live independently. It is a completely different world. The one thing that has helped me is that I just discovered that there is one low cost accredited university in our state that takes anyone who graduates from high school. I think I might just stop nagging D’16 about getting her work done. I think she’ll do the small amount necessary to pass and graduate with the regular, not honors program and as long as she can go SOMEWHERE and leave home in four years, it doesn’t matter to me where. It’s a pity that she is not self motivated like her three older siblings, but nothing I do can change that. I feel for anyone who is dealing with other challenging children and high school seniors the same time!</p>
<p>vandy - S’13 has been submitting one at a time - so no, you absolutely don’t have to have all supplements done before submitting app(s) to some schools. He submitted the first supplement, then app, then realized he needed to change something on the app, so created another version, submitted supplement for school #2, paid and submitted app, then realized he needed to revised app again. He might end up with the maximum app versions at this rate. :X</p>
<p>YDS - Yay for your S! How awesome his interviews are done!!! So is he now back to the original plan for EA? (Or did this interview change his mind back???) </p>
<p>Aside for the one transcript mishap, S’13’s GC has been on the ball. His teachers have been great with the LORs too. I feel bad because keeps having to request more for different scholarships, etc. </p>
<p>S’13 submitted two scholarship apps this weekend!!! He’s almost ready to hit the button on one of two schools with a 10/15 deadline. He says he’s going to get it done. He also has an interview set up for next week. He said he wishes he could just interview instead of write esays, because he “rocks” interviews. Hmmm . . .</p>
<p>YDS- great that your LORs are done and the evaluative interview sounds great. I am an alumni interviewer and know that some of the questions can be tricky. I am glad he was candid. So often there are kids that come in with amazing credentials, wonderful essays and fall flat in the interview because they are too practiced and deliberate. BTW anything over the designated time is a plus. Sometimes, for fairness sake especially for merit scholarships, we have a timer so we are equal for all.</p>
<p>Annie- Thanks for the timeframe. I sure hope your D gets her stuff done! Is it harder second time around? It is stressful all the way around.</p>
<p>I hope the teachers and counselors, bless them for all the pressure they must be under, don’t blow it for our EA and ED kids. Has anyone ever had a problem with that with their older kids?</p>
<p>TV- I bow down to you for handling senior year and a bed-rest pregnancy plus everything else in the same school year!</p>
<p>Where do we get info for merit aid? I haven’t started that yet.</p>
<p>Walnutcreek- I am often at Broadway Plaza! (: Welcome!</p>
<p>MommyD, his interviews aren’t done – just done for now. 
I think he’ll have two more by the time he’s finished. And, yep, back to G’town EA. If he were to get in there, we could save ourselves a couple of app fees! This interview was for neither the new or old EA choice; it was for a school I love and hope that he’ll seriously consider. IF he can get in.</p>
<p>For some reason, I almost feel more stressed with ds2. I think because he’s aiming higher so all the choices are beginning to feel like crapshoots. I know I was conservative with ds1 (11 apps, only one rejection), so I’m trying to be more “realistic” with ds2, but that feels scary. And why I couldn’t sleep well last night.</p>
<p>He preregistered for Lit and Math, but had decided to take World History instead of Math. He thought he could switch on the day but they did not have the WH test available. He took the Spanish one instead. He thinks he did ok on it but we shall see…</p>
<p>Youdon’tsay- I’m pretty sure I will join you with the not sleeping well tonight.<br>
I had finally gotten to a good place with this process. D making positive progress on her list; working on supplements; and working on CA. She told me she had been working on the CA essay with her English teacher and had shown it to the GC who loved it. I finally got to read it tonight. I know this is not my area of expertise, but I think its terrible. It doesn’t sound like her at all. It doesn’t convey enough about her. And it needs some major transitions as it seems to jump subjects and tenses at will. I cannot believe that this has been editied and approved by the school and now I’m the “bad guy” for saying it doesn’t work. Plus, its so late now for getting outside help and starting over. And mostly, its so bad for my relationship with her. When I told her I didn’t love it, there were tears. ugh.</p>
<p>Hope everyone had a great weekend. Congratulations to all the new acceptances. </p>
<p>Been a non-college weekend here. Spent all weekend preparing for out of town guest for the Play next week. One more week of his vacation from College Prep and then we will spend time in overdrive trying to catch back up.</p>