<p>tpcrd66 - DS’14 has a draft for the Common App essay of his choice (625 words). His first choice school requires a seperate essay (500 words). He just got started on that one - it is going pretty slowly.</p>
<p>He wants to get those two plus one other (state flagship safety non-CA school) drafted before the first day of school . . . next Tuesday! Don’t know if he will make it, but at least he has started. I don’t know how he feels, but I am less stressed.</p>
<p>The good news? In about 54 weeks we will be helping our 2014’s move into their first dorm room at their chosen home/college for the next 4 years. :)</p>
<p>The bad news? Its 54 weeks. 
(Actually less as all of the indecision will be over by the end of April.)</p>
<p>We are still on a college visit road trip and I will be reporting our findings and opinions when all done and back home on the 20th. We are also taking a week of vaction starting Sunday and I will be offline for the week, therefore the delay in reporting. For thos interested, the schools on this week’s visit list are William & Mary, Wake Forest, High Point, Elon and Emory. I will say that this is quite a range of schools and the presenations and information are all different. We finish our tours at Emory tomorrow and then head south towards Florida and a week of pure R&R before heading home to senior year, the common app and a million other senior year activities and distractions.</p>
<p>Safe journey, Captain!
I just booked 2 trips for me and S - Hobart; then Furman & Rhodes. Didn’t think I could afford all the airfare, then I realized H had enough points on his card to make it doable. I’ll report back once we’re done.</p>
<p>Glide, next Tuesday?! Seems unbelievably soon, but I guess it is August. D’14 has had back to school day (but naturally, no schedules were handed out. . . . Grrrr). I go back to work Tuesday. D’11 moves back to school Thursday;same day as d’14 starts senior year. Gadzooks. I’m going to blink and it’ll be May.</p>
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<p>Exactly. It’s not the 54 weeks I’m worried about. (Though I know it’s going to be very emotional for me when it is time to get into the car and say goodbye.)</p>
<p>What is driving me crazy is the next few months … applying and waiting for decisions. I will be extremely happy when this entire process is over.</p>
<p>AvonHSDad…have a wonderful time! Looking forward to your reviews!!</p>
<p>Spygirl is nearly done with the CA, but that’s only because her school held a class this week. She says it was really helpful as the process seemed confusing. Three essays were written, she’ll choose one, which still needs to be edited.</p>
<p>Only one of her choices has the supplement posted and that’s the lottery school so there is still work ahead. The state flagship has not posted their app yet.</p>
<p>Hello all! Haven’t posted in a while as we were on vacation in Maine last week. We started out by having DD14 drive through Boston for the first time last Friday morning! I thought it was a good time of day for her to practice - she did fine! She also got confirmation before we left that she’ll be directing a musical for elementary kids this winter so she the rest of the car ride when I was driving she spent planning out casting and other ideas for the show.</p>
<p>We had a wonderful week away and didn’t have wifi so no CA work for her. We did discuss that there were five spaces for awards/honors and 10 for activities. It will take some thought and juggling to fit the ones she wants in and we brainstormed a bit but she’ll deal with it all next week. Basically what to combine with what and what order to list things in.</p>
<p>All the friends she wanted to bring with her on vacation were busy/working so she was on her own (with us) - with all her summer work to be done! I’m very proud of her - she managed to get her AP Psych essay written, one more AP Chemistry section done and finished two AP English books and questions. Plus she spent the ride home working on her regular summer reading project in the car (I drove so she could work!) Still one more AP English book to read/answer questions and more AP Calc and Chemistry to do.</p>
<p>She did write a CA essay (actually two to see how they came out but likes one better). She told me earlier in the week that she was going to write it on the rock in the middle of the lake. I asked which topic that fit. Answer, “No, I’m going to write it ON the rock!” So she did - kayaked out to the rock and spent the morning out there writing! Seemed like a nice idea and a pleasant place to write if you had to do it on vacation! So at least she has one she thinks came out better and then can rework that one.</p>
<p>She’s off this weekend volunteering with HOBY alums and will have a blast and get a much needed break from schoolwork. And just in time as school starts in a couple of weeks! Her comments - “I can’t wait until next summer when I can read what I want! No summer reading! Save me the Rizzoli and Isles books for next summer!” It’s really bad when she feels like she hasn’t had a summer break but has been doing homework all summer long!</p>
<p>Hoping all of you on college tours have good weather. The pouring rain finally stopped here and it looks like a nice weekend.</p>
<p>tpcrd66–Hello! It was so funny because we thought we would like TCNJ and dislike Rutgers, however, it turned out to be exactly the opposite! D was not interested in Rutgers because of the size as well; also the area and the fact that you have to take buses to get to classes. But we thought we’d try it anyway. What we both liked most was the impressive academic credentials…lots of “top rated” stuff like research, programs, etc. Lots of majors and minors to choose from. We also liked the diversity…so many cultures wrapped up in one college. The admissions building was beautiful as was Livingston campus which has many brand new buildings for the business majors. There was a whole block of stores being built so that you dont even have to leave the campus if you dont want. Another “like” ended up being the size after all because the campuses are mini-colleges. You can stay on one campus, however, you can also jump to each one to get the benefits of all. For example, the Mason Gross (music) campus was beautiful and they do a lot of music/theater productions. You can jump on the bus and go to their productions. Also, it is becoming a “big 10” school, and the stadium was impressive! All games are free for students. The bus system seemed easier to swallow when we realized that it can be manageable once you get used to how it works. Hope this is not “TMI.” LMK if I missed anything. Will definitely be applying.</p>
<p>Also…we toured Quinnipiac U again today for second time. LOVED IT!</p>
<p>Hello, all! I just realized … SUMMER is over! 
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<p>DS starts school on the 19th, but all next week has to go to school for calculus class. And he’s only allowed one day off per semester for college visits and he received an invitation to state flagship (safety) for their honors program on a MONDAY! He NEEDS to go to that, just because it is his safety. But that eats up his only permitted day off. Yes, he can take parent permission days, but he’s only allowed three of those. And if he uses more than that, he’ll have to take final exams. I guess it’s not the end of the world, but he really doesn’t want to have to take them. </p>
<p>We took a college visit vacation early in the summer, but were wanting to head up to Michigan and we just didn’t get it done. I told him if that’s what he wants, go ahead and apply and then if he gets admitted and scholarships we can visit over spring break.</p>
<p>I sure wish I was made of money!! :)</p>
<p>beadymom, have you checked with the school to see if that’s really strict? Our school says 3 days for college visits, but I’ve been told “off the record” that good students can really take as many as they need, within reason.</p>
<p>mathmomvt - funny you should say that. I don’t know if it is strictly enforced or not. But DS said he’d just go up to the principal and say “yo, I’m going to visit schools”. ;)</p>
<p>Admissions looks at the total grade picture, and is most interested in the most recent grades. Junior year is much more important than sophomore year, because the work is usually harder. And not everyone is a math talent. Algebra 2 is a completely different animal than MS math, and far more difficult. My daughter struggled with math in HS after 9th grade, and I agreed with her that it was not important to be taking AP and pre-AP level math courses when it would not be part of the major (music) she wanted to go for. She was AP in all her other courses, and did well in them. I wouldn’t explain anything - the grades will show that your daughter did fine when she was in a less difficult class the following year. Not everyone is a genius in all subjects - most people arent! - and there’s nothing wrong with that. Far more important will be her application in total - are her grades and SAT/ACTs within the parameters of admitted students at the schools she is looking at, are her extracurriculars interesting, does she have a decent essay, does she have meaningful community service. Focusing on a D in one math class in sophomore year will not improve her application.</p>
<p>First post in this thread (although clearly not my first post in CC - I do recognize some of you! :)) . . . but the last time I checked, you were all posting about the CA essays your kids were writing . . . and I felt so inadequate!</p>
<p>No essays here at all, but it was also a very short summer. The kid had to be back at school on July 30, but left a week and a half earlier to attend a one-week university summer program on the way.</p>
<p>College list mostly set . . . problem is that it’s longer than a five-year old’s Christmas list! The good news is that our state U has REALLY good food, so it’s officially joined the ranks as semi-affordable safety.</p>
<p>And even though no essays are done, he finished his SAT’s last fall . . . and has visited 18 schools! (Do I get any brownie points for that?)</p>
<p>And, no, don’t ask me about the schools. I visited a grand total of TWO, and ate dinner (yup, that’s all I did, just found the dining hall and got something to eat!) at two others. He did all the rest on his own.</p>
<p>Good to see you, dodgersmom! Wow – 18 schools – I think you qualify for a free facial or a hot stone massage (your choice). I have to check :)</p>
<p>I have to laugh at the Xmas list reference. Every year, I’d tell the kids to make our their list. I told them I would then upload it to Santa dot com. You know, the site where parents get the special password every year at Thanksgiving?</p>
<p>This is my son’s CA essay progress – we discussed the prompts; brainstormed a little; he likes the “peaceful place” one, which fortunately overlaps with one of the choices for Elon (which doesn’t use the CA). Has he put pen to paper (or fingers to keyboard?). No. I told him I wanted a draft; he hasn’t done one. Our school doesn’t start til Sept 3 so I figure as long as he gets one done before school, he’ll be on track. </p>
<p>If he isn’t working again this week, I will withhold food and laundry until he gets a draft done.</p>
<p>My son has officially started work on his Eagle project! At one end zone of the high school, they have the school mascot name spelled out in aluminum edging letters filled with white rocks. The letters are weather worn and misshapen. There was no border around the entire thing so it was difficult for the lawn maintenance crew to weed whack around them. He has torn out the existing mess and is making new letters. He will fill in the letters with white rocks again but it also creating a rectangular border around the whole thing and will spray paint rocks to put into that border area using the other school color. So, tear out is done. He’s making letters out of wood at his grandpa’s house today so he can shape the aluminum edging around them on site. He should be able to finish the whole thing in about two weeks if he gets enough guys to help out with shoveling rocks. </p>
<p>I have to say, I thought I would be having to do a lot of pushing and prodding to get him moving on this but he has it totally under control. He had done research on costs and developed a budget. He went and got an estimate for materials and made sure the landscaping store would have enough materials when he needs them. The budget was exactly on track. He secured funding and has a date with the principal to shop using the school’s credit card so they don’t have to pay sales tax and arranged for payment in advance to the school. The only thing I’ve done is give him a ride to the landscape store one day. I thought he should have an adult with him so they took him seriously. I didn’t have to say a word. He did all the talking. </p>
<p>He’s got this totally under control and I am very impressed.</p>
<p>Bless you all. We are done with college visits, according to DS. He is planning on applying to four colleges and should be accepted to all of them - no reach schools on his list. Only one uses CA. Essays are not his cup of tea, so he has gotten his account set up for CA and that is all. Hasn’t even typed in his address.
Here it is, the weekend before school starts, 1:00 pm, and DS is still abed. Has he finished his summer reading? Of course not!
He did manage to get the college packet the counselor sent home finished and turned in.
Sigh.</p>
<p>I haven’t checked in here much because I am staying in denial as long as I can. I told my friends I am getting ready to descend back down into hell for 9 months. I have a 2012’er who took a gap year, so I am at the moment trying to get him ready to fly 3000 miles away to check into his dorm and Pre-O trip a week from Wednesday. My DS14 has only been home a total of 2 days this entire summer. He is very lucky his school does assign AP homework over the summer. He took a one day college essay writing class the day before school got out, but he only came up with some brain storming drafts…sigh.</p>
<p>I can relate to the 5 year olds xmas list. My S is a theater kid, but hasn’t decided if he is going to do a BA or a BFA, so he has a HUGE list right now. I am sure he will be auditioning at some schools, so this will add to the amount of work that is required. Extra essays, head shots, resumes, etc… and is absolutely ridiculous how complicated this whole audition process is. You have to be a rocket scientist to figure out all the different schools criteria and deadlines. I have opened up the common app for him and at first glance I hate it… I liked the old format much better. I really don’t know when my S will take a look at it? He gets back the day before school starts and he will go right into his HS production auditions. He is also finishing his Eagle Scout( finished project but has a few merit badges to still do:(), and also 4 AP’s, his advanced acting and choir commitments, SAT prep for the OCT test… AHHHHHHH!! See why I want to stay in denial as long as possible. </p>
<p>We have only done a few college visits, but will head out to visit Kenyon, Wooster, and Oberlin in Oct. He will also be auditioning at Muhlenberg sometime in Nov. All the biggies are doing auditions in Jan/Feb, but the good thing we only have to drive 2 hours to LA for those. He has a few schools that are not on the CA, so I signed him up for accounts and he ill work on those first, since most of them are his EA schools. Wooster is sending him a priority app, so that will be quick and easy. I think the trick is taking this whole thing in chunks, instead of trying to think of the entire big picture. Do rolling and EA app’s first, then work on the RD app’s a little later. Some of his schools have Feb deadlines.</p>
<p>We will get though it but now it seems like a HUGE mountain to climb. I am glad I have been through this before though… it definitely takes the edge off of the worry.</p>
<p>Congrats, BarnardSon on starting to work on the actual project for Eagle. And to 5boys DS for completing the projects with only a few merit badges still to complete. My DS is still in the planning stage. Just got word that his project has passed the first draft, now on to the final draft before he can begin the actual work. Seems to drag on with all the pre-paperwork!! :)</p>