<p>Sept is fine and considered early - even late Sept. ;)</p>
<p>Good morning all! Well, we sqeezued in one more visit before S starts his senior year Thursday. A scheduled visit to Northwestern and a impromptu walk through at Notre Dame.</p>
<p>I was surprised by the beauty of ND even though I had heard many remark on it on this and other forums. I guess the Michigan blood in me just didn’t want to accept it! Husband and I reallly liked the feel but unfortunately, S is not really interested.</p>
<p>S did really like Northwestern. Got a very good overall impression. A few disappointing aspects of the visit included no tour of a dorm, the library and the engineering session did not take us to any labs nor did we get to speak with any engineering students. At visits at other, less prestigious, schools these Q&As with current students was the best aspect for my son. Perhaps the summer tour just can’t accommodate with few students on campus at that time. Nonetheless, NU has moved to the top of my S’s list. </p>
<p>Summer reading still to finish but I think this trip has finally nudged him toward looking even a little foward to starting those apps!</p>
<p>Morning all</p>
<p>Coffee is on.</p>
<p>no sleep here (me) as I had today’s busy agenda on my brain.
DH flew out with K1 to help K1 move in. There are boxes in storage (Yale is good about that) and K1 needs a carpet for the room etc</p>
<p>K2 drove off to school—looking pretty excited. In part, I think K2 is happy to have summer reading done, the CA started, emails to teachers asking for recs are out, and an email to the GC and english teacher to comment on the essay has been sent. K2 cleaned the bedroom/desk in the den and organized the closet. K2 always starts off strong…it’s keeping the momentum going after months and months thats the trick …
Great take off so to speak and yet poor maintenance of altitude. </p>
<p>Enjoying reading everyone’s last visit posts. Sounds like this group is very organized.</p>
<p>We too got the Sr portrait proofs. Really great.</p>
<p>As for CA–K2 is at a standstill with some as the colleges haven’t uploaded their supplements (still showing “pending”)</p>
<p>Sorry guys!!!</p>
<p>I re-read the posts and noticed that there was a whole conversation about turning in apps early. Ignore my second post (red in the face) :)</p>
<p>I’m helping my d’s friend with his list, and organizing himself and walking him through the process. It’s really sad to see how much his parents have dropped the ball with him. I just came up with suggestions based on what he told me he wanted and his gpa & test scores. I can’t imagine what kids do who don’t have any idea how to do this and who have parents who either can’t or won’t help either, but who all think college will magically happen for them.</p>
<p>And to the early submissions - no I don’t think it matters if you get apps in August/Sept or October, as long as you make the deadline of the admissions cycle you want. It only really matters for rolling admissions. </p>
<p>This year the school is finally using naviance so I’m assuming, probably a horrible mistake, that the recs will get uploaded as well. Since we do have so much time, we can track it all.</p>
<p>D14 mentioned the Common App over the weekend (so she does know it exists!). She said she’d create her account and asked me to check if any of her supplements were available yet, but she didn’t get around to it before leaving for camp. No words have been put to paper (or file?) for the essays yet, but the brainstorming has begun. </p>
<p>And she has her tentative list of colleges! There are a couple on the fence yet, but it feels good to have some direction. We went back and forth on the number of reach schools. In the end, it’s like the Powerball - you can’t win if you don’t play!</p>
<p>After several discussions with various people, DS has decided not to pursue the BME major after all and stick with a biology or chemistry major in the Arts & Sciences for now. So we are now back in the same spot we were in a couple of weeks ago. Trying to get down to a reasonable number. I too am of the “Powerball” mindset, especially since it all depends on who comes up with the money. And the more applications we put out there, the better the chances someone will come up with a full ride. But the time and expense to apply is a lot and we’re having a hard time eliminating schools from the list. We are at 15 right now. </p>
<p>Is that crazy? Is it way too much? Opinions please.</p>
<p>JRmam496: 15 is not crazy, if you define crazy as far outside the norm of CC applicants. I am sure you can find many people who will say 15 is crazy, but if you look at the threads of earlier classes, you will find that there are many, many students who apply to 15 or more.</p>
<p>Personally, I would love it if our DS applied to fewer than 15. He has 9 on his list right now, but he has another six or seven that he is interested in. I don’t know where he is going to end up.</p>
<p>You should have one (admissions and FA) safety. You should have at least a couple of matches and then, you have to decide how many reaches you want to go for. If you have high stats, there are a lot of reach schools. If you need FA, you can’t rely on the calculators, you will not know what FA you get unless you apply and are accepted.</p>
<p>thanks @Creekland, that’s what I would have thought!</p>
<p>We are back on the grid having returned from our two week long combination college visit tour and vacation. Ended up with just over 3,000 miles of total driving. D starts school this Friday and is already unhappy with her schedule as she has no open mornings. She has started her CA essay but hasn’t shown us anything yet. She says she wants to do all of the app so no admin work for me this time around. The list is still in flux as the final taking of the ACT will make the determination regarding ED and/or any EA schools. I am willing to gamble on the FA with ED based on the school and their level of FA and how we ended up with S-11.</p>
<p>I owe the group our visit review and hope to post it this weekend. I will cover William & Mary, Elon, High Point, Wake Forest and Emory. Let me say, it is a wide range of schools and the visits were all very different from one another.</p>
<p>Also - our 5 year old grandson begins kindergarden tomorrow. HS Class of 2026 !!! :eek:</p>
<p>Should I get the (grand)parents of Class of 2026 started now??? :D</p>
<p>It has been a super crazy week! We have all been working on my son’s Eagle project every single day- about 6 hours Saturday, 6 hours Sunday, 3.5 hours yesterday and 3.5 hours today. If he can get about 6 guys to come help tomorrow, they should be able to finish it up. Some days have been super productive, other days have been really grueling. A lot of it depends on how many boys from the troop come out to support him. There are 6 boys who have done projects this summer so I think they are getting a little burned out. </p>
<p>Today started out discouraging but got better. If this can be done tomorrow, I will be so very happy. I’m exhausted doing all this after working all day and eating so little. But tonight, we wrapped up as the full moon came over the horizon shining down on the stadium brightly and I got pictures of the current state. </p>
<p>School prep day is Thursday when they go in, get their school ID picture done, pick up schedules, get parking permits, etc. Next Tuesday, S is going to try to take the final exams for two classes. If he can pass them, he gets credit and can skip taking the classes. He’s really hoping to do this but he hasn’t cracked those books yet! Tennis has started so he has practice every day too. I think he’ll pass Civics with no problem at all because this kid loves politics and government and watches CSpan for fun. Econ might be another story. He has other classes he really, really wants to take so I hope he can pull this off. </p>
<p>On top of everything else, my Barnardgirl leaves for NYC on Saturday so I really have to take her shopping at some point this week. Hopefully Thursday <em>fingers crossed</em></p>
<p>Good luck tomorrow, BarnardMom! I hope he gets the help he needs. The mental image of the moon shining on the stadium is a beautiful thoughts. Congratulations to him for getting it out of the way before school starts.</p>
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<p>If you are driving from Illinois on I-90 east and want to see the falls on the way, I suggest exiting the NY Thruway (90) at the Blasdell exit (Rt 179 to Rt 5) and head west to Rt 5 which runs along the lakeshore through the old industrial lakefront. Rt 5 meets up with I-190 and runs on the west side of Buffalo along the lakeshore and Niagara River and then splits off to head north across Grand Island and then to Niagara Falls, NY.</p>
<p>You can see a lot from the US side, particularly from Goat Island as posted earlier. Also as posted earlier, go on the Maid of the Mist. It runs from both sides. If you want to go to the Canadian side, you can park and walk over the bridge or you can drive. If driving, the delays can vary from 5 minutes to a lot longer depending on time of day, day of the week, season, weather, etc. Take passports to avoid problems if you are going across the border.</p>
<p>Returning from the Falls, head south on I-190 and then cut east on I-290 east after you cross Grand Island. This will take you around the northeast quadrant of Buffalo and connect you back with the NY Thruway (I-90) east to Syracuse and Rochester. In normal traffic I would allow 35 - 45 minutes from the NY Thruway to the Falls (each way). If you decide to stop on the return, just reverse these directions.</p>
<p>If you have additional time to stop along the way, there is the Rock & Roll Museum and Hall of Fame in Cleveland and Cedar Point Amusement Park (the roller coster capital of the world) in Sandusky, Ohio, to consider. To be honest, they can each take a half day or more to fully experience.</p>
<p>Enjoy your trip!</p>
<p>jrmama496 - My daughter has 15 on her list, but her thought is she will apply to 6 or 7 early, and see what sort of results she gets. If she gets deferred/rejected to most/all of these schools, then she will apply to the remainder regular decision. She has mostly safeties and reaches - it has been hard to come up with matches for her. </p>
<p>I also hear that many kids start out with longs lists, but after completing a few apps, fatigue sets in, and the list gets cut quickly.</p>
<p>jrmama496: My son is the opposite of yours. We had a tough time getting him to list more than one or two schools. He has six, thanks to his older brother who told him about a couple, and his dad,who offered to take him on visits in January. Because two are Common App, he could add another one later. The older son applied to 11 schools, but told me the other day he should have added another Ivy or two. I told him to keep it in mind for law school.</p>
<p>As for applying in August versus September, the only time that is an issue is if schools base your housing on your app date. For example, Son '14 applied to one school the first day he could, because the student ambassador at that school told him if he wanted suite-style living, he had to apply the first day to assure himself of getting it.</p>
<p>AvonDad - looking forward to your trip report! I know a bit about quite a few of them, I’ll be curious about your opinions. I know current students at every single school on the list. </p>
<p>15 is a lot. But if money is a huge factor, I could see why you’d feel panicky. We have 9 and we’re not even applying for financial aid! If everything were common app I can’t imagine how many we’d be doing! My problem is she is a good student, female, suburban - and nothing super remarkable. She’s had a good, normal upbringing so even the essay choices can be difficult when she really hasn’t had much to overcome. </p>
<p>We have a rolling app out there now, I kind of view it as the litmus test. If she gets in, we’ll breathe a sigh of relief and feel like we’ve got the right mix of schools, if she doesn’t we may have to rethink our strategy.</p>
<p>AvonHSDad, looking forward to your trip report. A few of those schools are on son’s short list and I would love to hear your thoughts.</p>
<p>Good morning, 2014 parents! I am in awe of how organized and far along some of you already are in the application process. In our house, one more stab is going to be taken on the ACT, possibly the SAT, the common app has been opened with not much more than an address entered, and the senior class schedule is still undecided. Hmm, which leads me to a question…</p>
<p>Did any of your seniors pass on a rigorous course this year to take something they have had a curiosity about for a long time? My 2014er is planning on putting on a level one language course on the schedule. Our school has a six period day. Four periods are filled with AP courses and one with music. The sixth one is the period in question. </p>
<p>Background: DC has exhausted the foreign language curriculum in one language, which is creating an opening in the schedule that has not existed in previous years. </p>
<p>The concern is will this hurt the rigor of the senior class schedule. Well, actually the answer to that is yes. Of course it will. This open spot could be filled with AP Physics or AP Stats, about the only two options for adding significant rigor to DC’s schedule. DC has not taken a physics course in high school and could also choose to fill the opening with general physics. DC’s case for not taking another AP course or general physics is built on what we heard in information sessions on college tours. A transcript should be a reflection of the student. While rigor is important, the transcript also helps tell the “Who Is this Person” story. </p>
<p>Is this one of those moments when you ignore “rigor” and let the child pursue an interest? Should this choice be explained on the common app? </p>
<p>Thank you.</p>
<p>^ I think both your student’s GC and in the CA it can be added exactly as you describe it. Your student has a passion for languages, and decided to follow up with a new one :)</p>
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<p>Not true. Some schools do admissions to majors based upon application date.</p>