<p>Count us in as one application officially in! We have to wait for school to start to get the transcripts sent. </p>
<p>D started on the Common App tonight as well at the kitchen table while I was canning salsa. I was tired and a little distracted and I couldn’t figure out how to find the supplements - is it so obvious I’ll figure it out when I’m not frazzled? Once we can get to the supplements that’s 3 more. </p>
<p>Then just 5 more after that - lol. In my control freaky way I’ve been setting up the accounts and filling in the basic info. Once she saw how easy the first one was she was like - hey, that’s not as big of a deal as I thought! She says now, we’ll see.</p>
<p>Eyemamom, I’ve read that a lot of schools’ supplements just aren’t there yet. There’s a silver lining to my recalcitrant spawn not starting yet.</p>
<p>Congrats to everyone who has a jump on getting applications completed !
Congrats to Creekland for visit and flight schedule ! </p>
<p>I am not sure if I ever introduced myself to this forum! I usually post on the 3.0-3.4 forum and lurk on this one.</p>
<p>My son has the lazy smart boy syndrome even when looking at schools! He has good SAT scores with avg GPA 3.4-3.5 …
We only visited about 8 schools. He is interested in a sm LAC - NE/NY area. There were other schools I wanted to visit but he just does not want to -so why push it. S said he would be happy at about 6 of the schools we visited. At this point he is applying ED at his top choice school (reach) and maybe apply EA at another school.
He will have a busy Fall - taking ACT in Sept -first time, retake SAT Oct., plus AP classes.
He scored over 2000 on first SAT so with a little effort he could get a higher score- I actually found the SAT prep book in the bathroom - lol- it’s a start! </p>
<p>We met with a CC ,who feels S has a good chance of getting in ED. Just needs to present his strengths, write a great essay and increase his SAT scores! That’s all…no problem lol… I offered to hire a tutor for S but he said “I am just going to do the online prep” ok …when? I decided just to see how it goes…if he doesn’t put the effort in and not get in ED, he has other schools on his list that are safeties… This is easier said than done …I can be helicopter- ish…
We are heading out this morning to a lake side cottage in midcoast Maine- going totally unplugged! S will start his essay and finish up his AP work…see you in a week! Time to pack!</p>
<p>I was looking at an app today for one of her favorite colleges. It’s requiring we essentially put in her entire transcript, grades and grading scale. Why on earth would they do that if we have to send the transcript anyway? I didn’t even keep all her end of the year transcripts, and she transferred at the end of 9th and I don’t know how they officially recorded her grades. Now I have to get the gc office to shake a leg and get me all this info, school hasn’t started yet. </p>
<p>Any of your apps require that? If it wasn’t such a top choice this app would have had me say forget it, not worth it, next!</p>
<p>Grades for the last three years? I can’t even remember what classes my kid has taken! </p>
<p>Thank goodness for schools that post the kids’ transcripts online! But the year before my kid’s transfer? Forget about it - might as well be a black hole! That has to wait ’til the GC is back in the office.</p>
<p>Interesting. They’re getting you to do their data entry. It probably takes forever to go through all the transcripts, especially if they want to recalculate GPA.</p>
<p>We spent a week on a lake in Maine and D spent it doing summer homework! I’d been hoping she would spend more time this summering studying to raise her scores but there was too much AP work to get done. Maybe he’ll do some up there. The generally unplugged part was nice though!</p>
<p>D has finally started her last AP English book this summer (there were three for AP plus two others for the school in general!) She’s not a terribly fast reader and all the books required note taking and or answering many detailed questions as she went along so that makes it even slower. And certainly takes the joy out of reading as far as I’m concerned.</p>
<p>But she has made progress on the CA. I actually filled out all the biographical info for her. Figured it would take less time than her asking me all the questions. The other day she figured out what she was putting in the honors and activities section. She’s so busy it was tough picking and choosing and trying to combine a few things. And some of the categories don’t work very well. She choreographed a show of elementary kids last year - is that theater or volunteer work? (choose volunteer) And what if she does something throughout the year but not every month of the year. She’s got things down but I’m sure they’ll need some tweaking once she can talk it over with guidance.</p>
<p>Hope everyone enjoys the weekend. It’s one of the last one’s of summer for us. She starts the week after next, but I expect a lot of next week to be taken up with finishing AP work. Sad!</p>
<p>My son has 3 application done and already admitted to two of those with no word from the third. I think 2-3 more applications including 2 stretch schools and he will be done. Then he can just have fun his senior year (except maybe the AP classes) and keep up the good grades. And he doesn’t have to take any more ACT/SAT tests! I know many of his friends are still worried about the standardized tests.</p>
<p>We are just keeping our fingers crossed for his #1 choice.</p>
<p>update on my computer woes – called Microsoft with S’s laptop in front of me. Described the problem (after I downloaded Office for Mac again but when I clicked on the download, it wouldn’t lead to the install menu). I asked if we could do a screen share so they could see what the problem was; they said it would cost $200. I hung up (after wishing them well in my own distinctive way).</p>
<p>I looked up FAQs on the MS website. It said the file is supposed to end in .dmg. I looked for those again; tried them; it didn’t work. I then clicked on “download” for Office for Mac 2010. I got a dmg file that I could then install, but what was installed was Office 2011. Go figure.</p>
<p>At least I saved $200 and he has word on his computer so he can work on you-know-what.
The ESSAY!!!</p>
<p>Solved our issue with the transcript. D just looked at me and told me it was on powerschool, even the previous school. </p>
<p>She has a one page personal statement to write. We’ve been talking over the topic and I think she has come up with something she likes. Now she needs to get it on paper. It’s a school I think she’d really like that she’s borderline, so I think it has the potential to be the deciding factor.</p>
<p>Where do you all stand on helping with the “secretarial” aspects of the app? When my son applied 2 years ago I was firmly in the camp, you do it all. And it got sent out with errors, took a long time for him. This time I’m the spreadsheet keeper with logins and passwords and I set up the online accounts, I also just filled in all the basics, the demographic stuff and our college info while she sat working on the essays, questions, deciding how to put in the activities, etc</p>
<p>it depends on what it is. Things like ordering SAT/ACT scores with my AmEx can be done by anyone here.
Essay writing/typing etc is K2s. I will read and say “nice start” and encourage K2 to massage it more.
I will “brain storm” on essay topics, which ones can cross over from school to school app and can be tweaked…so K2 can work smarter. That’s a skill not every adult has and I prefer to work smarter (multi tasking) and teach that life skill…</p>
<p>I have a spread sheet with the stats as I did with K1–so we can judge which stay on the list… and I have kept those passwords since not all schools use the same length of fields etc. </p>
<p>K2 has been corresponding with coaches as well. K2 does all of that- its a potential relationship so it’s all K2s.</p>
<p>On FinAid–we will do the FAFSA and Profile (and IDOCs). It’s confusing for us and for a kid who hasn’t done taxes, is waaaay too much</p>
<p>Hi, all. Been mostly lurking these past ten days or so. Fall sports has started and I am one of the team parents so very busy at school every day serving lunches between practices, coordinating team functions, etc.</p>
<p>DS is on draft 2 of the CA essay and actually asked if we could sit down today and go over any suggestions I might have. Will wonders never cease?</p>
<p>He has done all of the CA stuff, as well as apps for schools that do not use it though of course we have helped out with answers to questions, such as for residency purposes.we have a google doc shared between the two of us where we keep all login credentials. </p>
<p>I order standardized test scores since that requires money! He is done with all standardized tests.</p>
<p>Thankfully we will not be filling out FAFSA or other financial aid profiles so at least that is one headache out of the way.</p>
<p>The first two weekends of September are filled with recruiting visits but DH will be going with him on those. I had already been to the two schools in question and DS asked hubby to go this time so he could get his input.</p>
<p>Welcome aboard to all new posters! Now back to laundry for me so that my DD (2018) can have clean clothes for her trip to California to visit grandparents!</p>
<p>Happy to see all the progress. D is still in the process of writing the essay, filled in CA though not complete. We do not have final list yet and a few colleges that were on the list are dropped. This is my first time going through this process and it is confusing. Thank you all for posting your progress and that has been a big help. </p>
<p>D will apply to two engineering schools in the state and a few OOS reach/safeties.</p>
<p>In regards to the secretarial stuff - For DS & I, it has been a team effort, and that is what works best for us. If it’s truly something that either of us could do (as in, not an essay or something), it just depends who’s free at the time to do it. I’m a single parent and work full time, he has school and marching band and his own job. We have busy lives – and we try to have each other’s backs. But it has been just us since he was 2, so that’s just how things have naturally evolved for us.</p>
<p>Hi. We’re getting ready to leave later this week for our 1,500 mile Illinois to NYC college tour road trip. While looking at the big, old Rand McNally atlas this morning (yes, it still comes in handy once in a while when you want to see a really big map instead of a 14" screen), I noticed that we’re going right through Buffalo, NY on the I-90 on our way to Syracuse. </p>
<p>What kind of time frame realistic to get a quick glimpse of the Falls from Buffalo? Is it worth a stop? We’ve never been to upstate NY. We’ll have a long day of driving so our detour time is limited.</p>
<p>Mom - it’s at least an hour and a half from Rochester and I’m going to guess it will take an hour from Buffalo - plus you want to see the falls from the Canadian side.</p>
<p>It’s getting really exciting here. I checked and re-checked that common app. I’m soooo glad they updated it. They let you read the pdf, and it was there we saw two errors we didn’t notice after many reads. </p>
<p>One college didn’t put up their supplement yet. So we’re 4 down, 5 to go. </p>
<p>So what’s with having to pay more if you’re out of state? It costs the same to read it. One school was 50 if you were in state, 65 for out of state.</p>
<p>I told d, we know 9 is a lot, but it’s a variety. However, she has until winter break to decide if there are any other she wants to give a shot. If she can actually get it all done before school starts it will be a much easier fall for her.</p>
<p>Toss the stop in MapQuest to see the additional time needed. We actually prefer seeing the falls from the NY side, so don’t let that stop you if time permits. On the NY side you can get right next to the falls and in between them. On the Canadian side you’re looking across at the American side and don’t seem to get quite as close to Horseshoe as you can from Goat Island. If you can swing the time, the Maid of the Mist boat is a “must” for us.</p>
<p>Now, if you were staying at the falls, I’d highly recommend the Canadian side… but just to view? Given a choice of one side or the other I’d stick with the US side due to the closeness to the falls. (There’s nothing like walking across a bridge just over the falls and thinking “water slide,” but knowing what is really there.)</p>
But it has been just us since he was 2, so that’s just how things have naturally evolved for us.</p>