<p>Welcome to Upper Valley & Billythakid 
Upper Valley: close friends of ours have triplets who are now 24; they are our empty nest heroes. </p>
<p>I feel somewhat guilty. D2 hasn’t gone to bed after 11pm yet this year; most nights she’s done with homework & reading in bed before 10.</p>
<p>I have to say, D is doing well. She’s not home until 6:30 because of band. She eats dinner, does chores, hits the homework/scholarship work and is in bed by 10. But she’s really fortunate. One of her main classes is online, and she can do most of the work for it on the weekend, and she, in effect, has 3 hrs. Off from school on fridays, so that helps. After marching season, she has to get a job though.</p>
<p>Ds sounds like he had a great mtg with the adcom. He’s one of two kids at his school who is doiing EA. The other is a girl and is quite different from ds. How do these adcoms decide??? I hope they take both. :D</p>
<p>He also was motivated to do some work on that app. Sooo glad he’s finally really tackling it.</p>
<p>And speaking of no sleep, his principal has asked him to be at school at 5:10 in the morning. Don’t ask!!!</p>
<p>This thread moves way too fast for me! Sorry for not responding to all new issues, but you know I wish you all and your kids the best. Way to go class of 2013!</p>
<p>About the sleep issue. We have two overachievers here, but still are trying to insist on some sanity. DS last year (junior) insisted that he only needs 3-4 hours of sleep/night. It was absolutely crazy, we fought over it a lot, but he really did not get much sleep. On some nights he got none. As crazy as it sounds, it is the truth. And here am I, a person who needs good 8-9 hours to function well. It was hell, I am actually surprised he did not get a mono or something. Must be my home cooking from scratch 
Comes this year, and we have a total opposite. Suddenly, he believes that he needs 8 hours/night and goes to bed at 10 P.M. ! Most nights anyway A total shocker for both myself and my husband.</p>
<p>Ahhhh … Sleep? What’s that?? It’s nearly 3 am here and we just got back from “Stuffmart” for some last minute items for D’s trip to Cali about 1/2 hr ago & D is packing. </p>
<p>Call me silly, but I am so nervous that she’s going to be clear across the country from me. <em>sigh</em>. We are Hispanic and I’ve taken a lot of flack for allowing her to travel so far - especially since her boyfriend was selected to attend also - so I’ve gotta play it cool with my family!! </p>
<p>A “normal” night here has us both sleeping between 12:30-2:00 am. Wake up at 5:30 and D is at school by 6:10 for her “0” period math club/leadership skills class. Volleyball, waterpolo, service clubs, or tutoring others after school until 5 or 6 and then math club 2x a week from 5-7 pm. So dinner and homework, virtual school classes (she’s taking physics & Physical Ed to make room for AP classes), college stuff, and family stuff for a few more hours. Wash, rinse, repeat. You know?? This was x2 but S’16 is living w his dad this school year. Crazy, crazy year. </p>
<p>I’m nearly as busy with a full-time job, my Mary Kay customers & a little cake business. And I took this semester off from school … Think I’m going to take off until she leaves for university. Hats off to everyone with multiples. IDK how you’re doing this x2 or x3 simultaneously!! You guys are champs!!! I’m a very young mom with just one senior & I’m still super exhausted!!! LOL!! </p>
<p>Love hearing all the updates. Congrats to all those with acceptance or scholarship notices in-hand and to everyone pressing those “SUBMIT” buttons!!!</p>
<p>I have a friend who has quadruplets that graduated in 2011. They had completely different interests. One was a recruited athlete & two others were Val & Sal. They had a crazy year but they all are doing well !</p>
<p>mommydearest - My kids also don’t start high school swimming until Nov 1st but all of their “training” is done with their club - they actually never leave their clubs around here for high school practice - but after they start competing for their high school they can’t compete for their club until high school season is over. The swimmers that aren’t club swimmers have “high school” practice but that is only for an hour and 4 days a week - There is no way to make State without being a club swimmer (maybe with the exception of getting a spot on a relay or sprint freestyle) - my kids are distance freestylers!</p>
<p>Some states have high school swimming in the fall so some are getting ready for State now.</p>
<p>So, on the way out the door this morning, DS asks me “which schools need LOR’s again”, um, I gave you that list 6 WEEKS ago when you were supposed to meet with your GC. I’ve been telling you for 6 WEEKS to ask your sister to address them for you (his handwriting is horrible), NOW you are going to do this, as you are walking out the door, sorry, figure it out yourself :mad:.</p>
<p>Heard back from one Ad comm yesterday telling us that she had DD’s application on hold because they thought she might be interested in applying to their auto-admit med school program, well, um, yes she is but how about if you CALL her and ask her about that. DD emailed her back, no reply on her questions about applying for that though. Frustrating. Did get partial numbers from a couple schools yesterday though.</p>
<p>S2 finally met with the counselor yesterday. He says as he rounded the corner into her office she saw him and said “I bet your wondering about your transcripts!” Apparently she finished his rec over the long weekend and mailed everything on Tuesday. Fingers crossed. I hate that our school only uses snail mail. It just seems so inefficient, but I suppose “if it ain’t broke, don’t fix it.”</p>
<p>I hate to say it, in case I jinx something, but I think we’re making progress. Still have 3 more apps/prescreen tapes due Dec 1 but at least I see light at the end of the tunnel.</p>
<p>Ahsmuoh its totally opposite here club is only 1.5 hours 4x a week and HS is 3-4 hrs 6x a week. S13 is also a distance freestyler with that training, Im sure your D could kick his butt! Sending you a PM.</p>
<p>Megp so how does the tape work? Does he send the same tape of an actual performance to all schools or does he record himself until he gets it perfect? Im thinking of that episode of Glee where Kurt was commended for doing something risky, but then not accepted to NYADA. LOL</p>
<p>DS came home yesterday with a LOR his teacher wanted him to proof-read before he sent to CA. He wanted DS to check for inaccuracies and grammatical errors. Crack me up!</p>
<p>Swimmers here too. My kids swam year round until they hit 14. At that point DD13a realized that her small stature was gonna be a very limiting factor. DD13b made the choice to focus on her theatre stuff. They have swam for their schools since 6th grade. We started dryland in Sept. and were in the pool on 10/1. We have a very hard time here with pool space. We also get kicked out of the cafeteria where we do dryland (even though it is reserved for us) frequently. No storage, no pool, no weights or room for dryland. Yes, we ARE the redheaded stepchild of sports. One of the other HS coaches here in our district (only three HS) doesn’t allow anyone who is not a year round swimmer on his team. Isn’t that nice? I would be screaming if I was a parent at that school.</p>
<p>DD13b’s friend (the one that lost her mom last spring) is going to call me today. Her dad is completely clueless about college and she wants to do vocal performance. Aaaaannnd she is starting about 6 months or more late. I’ll give her the info that I have but I’m too far away to be hands-on (she lives in CO now). Poor kiddo…</p>
<p>Re prescreen tapes: Luckily they get to record over and over til they get it just “perfect.” Most schools tell you exactly what they want to hear. For voice it’s usually - one 18th century Italian, one English and one of your choice. But for some instruments they tell you exactly which composer, which concerto, which movement. It’s very intimidating! We’re waiting until the last minute to make S2’s recordings as I think he’s improving every day! But, of course, I don’t want to wait too much in case he gets a sore throat or a cold. Ahhh, so much stress (for me, not S2)</p>
<p>Prescreen tapes: We feel your pain megp… we have a couple of schools that require prescreens. I really wish all schools requirements were the same. It is hard to keep this many schools and their needs straight!</p>
<p>Does anyone have any experience with a child putting his/her art portfolio online for an application? Dd has some colleges that want it online, but who don’t subscribe to Slideroom. (I’m assuming that you cannot submit a Slideroom account to a college that doesn’t subscribe as an institution?) Ideally, she’d like to be able to put a title and brief description next to each image (mostly stills, maybe one video) and to make the URL available for colleges to see (with a password?) but not the general public. I don’t mind paying a small service fee. Any recommendations? I’ll check out the fine arts threads too.</p>
<p>Additional repeat warning to y’all: dTwin’s school changed information on their transcripts in September without telling them. Make sure you get a copy of the transcripts two days before you know they are sending it out and look them over with a fine tooth comb. We are now up to six mistakes we have found on just my twin’s transcripts!</p>
<p>And yes, my dtwins are NOT having fun in high school. Very little support in their school except for only a handful of great teachers.</p>
<p>How about making a very simple web site, where she can attach links to her portfolio?</p>
<p>My S, who has been playing violin x 14 year BUT is not applying to a music program, still wants to show his proficiency. He has a video of him performing Four Seasons as a soloist with an orchestra, which he thought he could attach to his applications somehow. I like the idea, especially since he is dressed up for this performance (a’la Vivaldi and looked and sounded really cool. This will be coming in addition to his movies. Hopefully…Eventually…When he has time to get to it (don’t get me even started).</p>
<p>re: accuracy of transcripts: he has been checking his transcript several times before rankings were released, making sure all the classes are there (school, college, online credits). It took forever for the school to calculate weighted GPA (that is how they are ranked), but finally last week they made it official. I hoper we do not have to check that transcript yet again…
But yes, I have read it several times here - do not trust the school, check the transcript yourself.</p>
<p>Kelowna, how is your S attaching his movies? Are they full length films or what? I have a couple things like that that I’d like to attach, but I’m not sure where.</p>
<p>The play starts tonight. S is feeling pretty good about his lines and part. I am so glad they are out of school today as he didn’t get home until 11:30 last night and will not get home tonight until midnight. I told him to take a nap. </p>
<p>After Sunday, S’s life should settle down a little and I am hoping we can our essays finished and uploaded. Scholarship deadlines are only 2 weeks away.</p>
<p>Bedtime</p>
<p>I can’t wait til next year when I don’t have to see Son slept with the laptop like it was a Teddy. He sleeps more often on a recliner than in his bed. </p>
<p>Now DS2 (7th grade) is starting the up all night routine. I told him he has to transfer schools if he doesn’t get it under control and to bed by 11. School pushes for the kids to be involved in everything, then gets frustrated that homework isn’t done or isn’t done well. Can’t get home at 9 pm and get everything all done.</p>