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<p>glido - we do the same. Double check everything the day before and have it all ready to go in a gallon size zip-loc bag right by her purse and keys. We all know kids think and deal differently (can you say procrastinate!) so this bit of help is vital. I really feel for these kids whose parents just don’t have a clue regarding this entire process and are depending on the kid and/or the GC to handle it all. Very scary!!</p>
<p>Great news Moonmaid! That book must have contained a seed that took root. Essay completed - great job!</p>
<p>I am sure this is an unpopular opinion, and perhaps I should keep it to myself, but I am really bothered hearing about people filling in their kid’s applications. I am as big a (or bigger) nagger as the next mom, but it just seems to me that as busy as all our kids are, they ought to be able to make time to do their own college applications. There are lots of ways to rationalize this, but the bottom line is if they are ready to go to college, they should be able to figure out how to get this step done.</p>
<p>^I hear you. I go back and forth. Since S has 2 schools not on the common app, he filled in their boilerplate stuff and I did the common app. Questions like “what date did you start high school?” I know the month and year; who cares about the date? They do, so I looked it up for him (thank God the school archived the 2010-2011 calendar…) His SS# for one school (he doesn’t have it memorized so I looked it up and entered it). To me, it’s like the ziploc bag for the ACT. Yes, I could let him do it on his own, but the consequences are so bad (see AvonHSDad’s post) that I feel like a little assistance is not going to cripple him. </p>
<p>glido, AvonHSDad, onyonemom – sounds like you’re forgetting something in the Ziploc bag – the remote (duh)! :)</p>
<p>susan4 - pretty sure Moonmaid is referring to “Accepted! 50 Successful College Admission Essays” by Gen and Kelly Tanable. It is a wonderful book with great “do’s and dont’s” and 50 accepted essays with the schools that accepted them listed, as well as the reason why they were accepted. It is a great book to get the creative juices flowing. </p>
<p>Another very helpful book is “Confessions of a Scholarship Winner: The Secrets That Helped Me Win $500,000 in Free Money for College. How you Can Too!” by Kristina Ellis. It is a very easy read - I think I read it in 2 afternoons, and has some very helpful hints on wording accomplishments in applications to make the application stand out.</p>
<p>Last ACT & SAT done for DD14.</p>
<p>And … first ACT & SAT done for DD15. </p>
<p>Whew.</p>
<p>DD14 will be a direct admit for our flagship’s honor college. So yay! Except she would really rather go to Vandy. But since she’s applying ED, we’ll know by 12/15 … so two months to go. </p>
<p>I’ve pretty much thrown up my hands with DD14’s admissions process. She knows what she needs to do and I’m keeping tabs on deadlines and progressions from afar - she’s really not a procrastinator, and at this point … college admissions are in her hands (as it should be). So, I’ve basically parked my helicopter. 
Whatever will be will be.</p>
<p>DD15’s ACT score really surprised me. She’s a smarty but definitely not as driven as her older sister - she’s an A/B student but VERY socially well rounded and more artsy than her sis. And she’s not a good tester overall. She pulled a very respectable score - even more respectable when you take into consideration it was done during the first month of her junior year. We’ll be going to a college fair next Sunday with her that’s all arts centered schools/programs. She plans on being a music major … couldn’t be more polar opposite than her science sister. (Though both girls are more alike than different - they’re both very musically gifted.)</p>
<p>Anyway … I haven’t popped in here lately and just wanted to stop by with a wave!</p>
<p>And @Goldenwest … I’m right there with you! We were NEVER the parents that helped our kids in a hands on way. We guided them but never did it for them. It was never more apparent than in elementary school though - we’d see these elaborate projects done by 3rd graders that couldn’t possibly be done by the kids themselves. And there would be our childs project - looking fantastic for an 8 year old but definitely pale in comparison to a lot of others. Whatever our children earned grade-wise, they deserved because THEY did they work. And we always made sure they knew it and were proud of themselves - knowing no one else but themselves were responsible gave them a great sense of pride in their accomplishments. </p>
<p>But that doesn’t change the fact that I wish my senior WOULD GET HER ESSAY COMPLETED ALREADY!! ARRRRRGHHHHHHH!!! lololololol!!!</p>
<p>Good morning. </p>
<p>I love the Ziploc bag idea! A friend shared this with me recently but when I tried to pass it off on 2014DC before the SAT, I got a great big, “You have got to be kidding me.”<br>
Oh well, maybe it will work someday on one of my other children. </p>
<p>Essay status in our house: Negative. Fun, fun, fun… </p>
<p>How do you and your kids feel about self-reporting ACT/SAT/AP scores on the Common App? My DC has the desired ACT score but it took a few tries to get it. The Common App asks how many times you sat for the test. Hmm. To self report or not when a child took the test four times? What about AP exams? If you report these scores, is it an “all or nothing” deal? </p>
<p>Hope you all have a nice Monday!</p>
<p>Because it’s the “mom” in me, I even tell my students who are testing about packing a ziploc bag of essentials – calculator, pencils, admissions ticket, wallet (including drivers license or learners permit), water, snack and of course, peppermints. No kid ever laughs. Maybe it’s because some of those students know I did the same for my older son many years ago, and he got some big scores. He told all the kids he was into eating pretzels. So, naturally the kids thought pretzels were brain food.</p>
<p>As for filling out applications, my son asked that I fill out the “parent” part – names, addresses, where we graduated from, what our degrees are in, etc. To me, that really is no big deal, because he would have to ask me everything anyway. When everything is done, we’ll proof everything together to make sure it’s right. The funny thing is, I did my part on the Common App. He filled in most of the rest. And he may never send it to any more schools, because he likes the schools that already have accepted him.</p>
<p>GoldenWest, I hear you and I see where you’re coming from. </p>
<p>I look at things a little differently though. I liken DD to the CEO of a company. They have so many things to focus on, they utilize administrative assistants to handle a lot of the minor things. </p>
<p>Sure, the CEO can book his own hotel and plane ticket for his conference, but if the admin. assist does it for him, the CEO can do other, more important things. Sure, the CEO can type up a letter to be sent out, but the admin. assistant can probably do it even faster, which helps out the CEO greatly. By doing these things, is it somehow enabling the CEO? </p>
<p>For my DD who will be pursuing a major in an audition based art, filling in a lot of the CA info wasn’t necessary, but definitely helpful. She is filling in some non CA apps and working on not only her essays, but coaching and training for her auditions. </p>
<p>Each student is vastly different in what they can handle in their plate. I don’t think that not being able to juggle all of these things well at the age of 17 is an indication of how she will perform in college. Heck, I couldn’t imagine doing all of this stuff for myself without help!</p>
<p>It certainly is a tough balancing act. Wish I could figure it out, or better yet, wish we were done with this process!</p>
<p>I think if you have a kid who has plenty of time in their schedule having them fill in the no-brainer but pain in the you know what parts of college applications is a good idea. But if your kid is taking a gillion AP classes, a CC class, plays a sport etc. etc. this seems like a waste of time to me. Obviously they must do all the parts that require thought - essays, supplemental questions. And I think they should be responsible for thoroughly reviewing the aps before they go out, but I am not sure that its necessary for them to do every aspect of their apps. My kiddo is pretty stressed out this year as it is. She is doing the heavy lifting - writing up activities, doing supplements, writing the main essays. I am just helping with the light housekeeping.</p>
<p>@college4many
My D’s 1st and 2nd ACT are comparable, although her second is 1 point higher (composite). On the other hand, her first 1st SAT attempt is almost 300 point lower then the second one. So we’re in the same boat as you if we need to do this section. I found this article regarding this:</p>
<p><a href=“For Those Withholding SAT Scores, Advice on Completing the Common Application - The New York Times”>For Those Withholding SAT Scores, Advice on Completing the Common Application - The New York Times;
<p>As for the AP scores, I don’t know the answer. My D’s AP scores are mostly 5s and 4s but she has one 3. Fortunately she has taken enough AP to fill up the allotted space w/o reporting that.</p>
<p>My “wondering” about self-reporting scores is if he self-reports the ACT and the only SAT subject test he took, does he also have to report the SAT I? It’s not horrible or anything, but it’s not as good as his ACT and SAT II scores. But it seems like once you’re in that section you’d have to answer the SAT question too. </p>
<p>My line is that I won’t actually type anything in on the application. I’ll sit next to him and give him the answers (to the mundane things like where I went to college etc.), but I won’t enter them for him. But everyone has a different line. OTOH I’ll do the FAFSA and CSS Profile entirely without his involvement.</p>
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<p>I’m with you mathmomvt. Me and my D sat down Saturday afternoon when she started her UC and CA applications. I sat next to her, but I didn’t type. I want her to OWN the process with my supervision of course.</p>
<p>Kids these days though, I tell you. They’re not detail oriented. Or it could be just her. On her UC application, she made a mistake of selecting the wrong school for the classes that she took online. There are 5 almost identical schools, 2 of which with almost the same name and the same city as hers. Of course, not being detail oriented, she took the first one on the list, which is the wrong school. I noticed itwhen I was reading the hardcopy that I asked her to print. For some reason, I can spot errors easier on hardcopies that when I’m reading it on a screen. That’s also true when I’m proofreading documents @ work.</p>
<p>2018dad, I also am much better at spotting errors on paper. My Ds groan when I ask them to print things out for me, but they’re accustomed to it. </p>
<p>It’s good to know that the apps can be printed for review - D is not quite there yet. While she insists on doing it herself, I have reserved the right to review everything before it’s submitted.</p>
<p>I also draw the line at filling in the Common App. I will certainly ask to review it for DS before he sends it, even sit with him and give him pointers, but I’ve never filled one in for either of my other two, and they were both ADD kids who managed to get into Tulane and Vandy.</p>
<p>College requires a lot of attention to detail, filling out forms, answering emails and multi-tasking. The Common App is a good place to start. They won’t have us there next year, and they will be even busier. But that’s just MHO, worth no more or less than anyone else’s. ;-)</p>
<p>BTW, I have the login for his 2nd ACT test results, but am controlling myself (it’s hard!) and not logging in and looking before he has a chance to. He has football practice until later on this evening. Helicopter grounded, lol.</p>
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<p>Yes that’s the one. It really is quite helpful. I’m going to add it to the HS library where I work, once he is finished with it.</p>
<p>2018dad</p>
<p>Did your D report all of her SAT2s results or just the best ones on the UC application? D is not sure.
Thanks.</p>
<p>Hi All</p>
<p>So K2 got the last essay finished (finally–I have been hoping it would be done for more than a month…) and the essay was approved by the GCs AND I think all of the apps have gone in…several went in here - via priority apps…and K2 took all of the paperwork in for the transcripts etc
and then K2 met with the Gc today to send the others via common app.</p>
<p>Evidently K2 even applied to safety in state because it was free… hahahahah</p>
<p>and K2 sent the tests scores etc…</p>
<p>The follow up is to make sure the teacher who said they’d write the LORs back in Aug–actually have cone it and uploaded it to Naviance because evidently the GC couldn’t find it…yikes</p>
<p>OTOH It looks like by the middle of the month all of the apps will be in…and then WE WAIT…</p>