<p>I read every day during my short commute on metro. I found the book the Immortabl Life of Henrietta Lacks very interesting. I would recommend it for any potential pre-med or science students.</p>
<p>Her name was Henrietta Lacks, but scientists know her as HeLa. She was a poor black tobacco farmer whose cells—taken without her knowledge in 1951—became one of the most important tools in medicine, vital for developing the polio vaccine, cloning, gene mapping, in vitro fertilization, and more. Henrietta’s cells have been bought and sold by the billions, yet she remains virtually unknown, and her family can’t afford health insurance.</p>
<p>Ok we made it through three Regents exams: Global, Trig, and English. Monday is the Spanish final and Tuesday is the health final and chem Regents. Then she is officially done. Next week my older one is getting her wisdom teeth pulled, my younger one has a driving lesson, we have a drivers Ed meeting, and my daughter is doing some community service hours and a freshman mentoring program. Oh- and she goes to the dentist. All of this with me having a job… ! I think that once the summer begins I will find a good book to read. 4Cookie maybe I will take your recommendation.</p>
<p>So far we have visited the following schools- if anybody wants some info please ask.
SUNY Binghamton, SUNY Buffalo, SUNY Geneseo, Univ of Rochester, Cornell, Boston U, Northeastern, Muhlenberg, Lehigh
We will be heading to Pittsburgh ( U of Pitt) at the end of the summer, and we will be heading south in February ( Emory, UVA, U of Richmond, Elon ?, Wake Forest and Duke). There are a few schools on the list that she may apply to without visiting first: Maryland, Ohio State, maybe Vanderbilt. These schools do not track interest. She will have to narrow it down a bit and create a list with no more than 15. Of course this list may change and we may add Georgia Tech and some DC schools. Who knows…right now she is a bit clueless, but that’s ok.
Off to walk the track and enjoy the rest of the beautiful day!</p>
<p>@4CookieMonster, we loved, “The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks.” D had to read a biography or autobiography on a person who influenced or changed scientific research and do a 7-10 minute Powerpoint presentation along with a paper. D originally checked the book out of the library, but asked for a hard copy. She received an As on her presentation and paper.</p>
<p>Also, anything on or by Vivien Thomas and the Blue Baby operation pioneered at Johns Hopkins U. There is also a movie, “Something The Lord Made,” that also tells Thomas’s life story. This was my son’s favorite, and he wants to go into the biomedical technology field since interning with a major biotech company over the past 3 summers.</p>
<p>@TwoGirls- I wish I had 1/10th of your organizational skills! If I could not work from home at least 75% or more while also setting my own schedule, I’d never get Bunheadgirl to all her ECs, appointments or activities.</p>
<p>BunHeadMom wrote: “I guess my kids and I are an exception and not the norm, as reading is a huge part of our daily lives. We even collect 1st editions of our favorite titles via Ebay, 2nd hand stores, thrift shops, and estate sales.”</p>
<p>I wonder how many of us on this forum fit this exception, I’m guessing there are many of us here. Reading is a huge part of our lives too. As I mentioned earlier, our family problem with reading is that we can’t stop. I’m probably the worst offender and a terrible role model. Things don’t get done because I’m always waving everyone away and muttering, just a minute more, just a minute more, just until the next chapter. </p>
<p>Does anyone else use goodreads? I’m really enjoying this site, far more than any other social media site I’ve encountered so far. I just finished “How to Get Filthy Rich in Rising Asia,” “The Burgess Boys” (by the author of Olive Kitteredge which, if you’ve not read it, you MUST, “Life After Life”, and “The Golem and the Jinni.” D has been into Kate Morton and Gillian Flynn (“Gone Girl”). D and I are both trying to add reading in a second language (different languages) but that still feels like a lot of work to both of us. </p>
<p>Sorry to digress! I couldn’t help chiming in on my favorite subject.</p>
<p>3girls reading in another language is quite impressive! Bunhead I am cheating a little by taking off Monday and Tuesday for the wisdom teeth. I don’t work too far from home and my hours work for me: I leave at 6:45 am and my husband leaves at 7 am to drive my daughter in. She often goes in at 6:30 to " ask the teacher a question." When he is away i take her in early. I leave work at 3:00 and pick my daughter up on my way home because 90% of the time she stays after for something- otherwise she takes the bus. Medical and dental appts are usually made for after work, although I took Wednesday off to deal with their doctors appts. My older one is home so she helps me drive my sophomore around right now- ie next week she will be a big help. I walk around with lists and I am constantly checking things off.
3girls I just took a quick look at goodreads- looks interesting!</p>
<p>Twogirls, your family sounds amazing. 6:30 am!? My D is barely conscious at that time! And starting work at 6:45! Wow. We try to leave the house at 7 and it feels like a monumental task to do so.</p>
<p>My wife regularly listens to audio books on her commute, and she talked a lot about the Lacks book. There is that question about whether listening to a book is reading. </p>
<p>^ I saw that article in our local paper - planning to read it later.
3girls I get to work by 7:15. My daughter’s school begins at 7:25 but she is usually there by 6:30 to talk to teachers, ask questions, have her papers read etc. We are up so early during the week that I am beginning to think 7 am is late!! My daughter recently commented that she lives at school- she is usually there from 6:30 until 3:30.</p>
<p>A reading suggestion especially for the boys: <a href=“http://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/0307887448/ref=redir_mdp_mobile[/URL]”>http://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/0307887448/ref=redir_mdp_mobile</a> All of my sons (S11, S14 and S18) loved this novel featuring a treasure hunt through a RPG in a future society where people live their lives more in the virtual world than real life. The main character is a teenager but the book was originally written for adults and features 80’s pop culture references, including the early computer games, tv shows and movies. (As a high school librarian I couldn’t resist making a book suggestion)</p>
<p>It just hit me that my son is now a so called raising Jr. I no longer have to feel funny talking about college tours. </p>
<p>Anyone else going on tours this summer? We are hitting up Vassar, Wesleyan and Yale in July. While, doing day trips to more realistic schools like Fordham, Sarah Lawrence, and Adelphi throughout the summer. </p>
<p>August we are going to LA for a week and while there will look at Loyola Marymount, USC and Occidental.</p>
<p>Enjoy your trips Shacherry!! My daughter was not thrilled to visit schools initially because she was a sophomore and felt silly. When we went to Boston that feeling disappeared because she saw that other sophomores were there as well. Now she is fine with it because one of her friends has a trip planned for July- she finally realizes that it’s not too early.</p>
<p>I never thought about doing summer visits to local schools. We can see the campus even if there is no official tour. The University of Connecticut is one school that comes to mind.</p>
<p>Apollo, I put your book recommendation on hold at my library. Thanks for the recommendation!</p>
<p>Welcome Shacherry. The schools you are visiting sound like a good mix and I’ll look forward to hearing your impressions.</p>
<p>Twogirls, I was pleasantly surprised by UConn back when I visited. It’s enormous but their honors college is small and populated by very bright kids. They were working to build it up when my girls were looking so both were offered extremely generous scholarships to attend.</p>
<p>Apollo–I picked that book up off the library shelf and brought along with me on a family vacation last year. All three ‘boys’, husband and then 13 & 15 year old sons, loved the book and read it in succession during the week on the beach.</p>
<p>I am making a list now for summer reading- thanks! 3girls my husband and I seem to be at odds over summer visits. I think there is some value but my husband disagrees with me. Uconn is close enough so if she likes the campus we can return once school begins. U of Pitt has an August 17th date that we can do but my husband wants to do it in early September as we originally planned. He thinks it’s worthwhile to see the students. U of Pitt is a 7 hour drive so I am not going to argue- we may only get there once. I wanted to set up an interview at the U of Rochester for junior year, but when I looked at the web site it seems as though they interview seniors. I need to check that out further- maybe I misunderstood something.</p>
<p>3girls3casts, my son also has a few audition based BFA theater acting schools on his list. He is unsure if he will take the BFA or theater BA route. </p>
<p>It’s hard to know where he is going to fall in terms of schools that may look at him holistically. His grades and scores will put him in the low range stat wise for the reach schools I mentioned above. However, viewed in the context of his life his stats may not rule him out. </p>
<p>He has been acting professionally since the age of 6 with movies and tv roles that make him a recognizable actor. My hope is that his 2 years so far in the public high school where he has juggled his acting commitments along with new endeavors in sports and German club, society and exchange program will enable him to be given a good look when it comes to application reviews. </p>
<p>I suppose only time will tell. And I’ll be able to report the results on this thread.</p>
<p>D took the 3 hour Regents Algebra 2/Trig yesterday and felt that she did all right–I really hope so! Her tutor told us that he thought she had worked hard and should do very well–fingers crossed that he was right and that it’s not hundreds worth of tutoring down the drain. It’s an 11th grade subject in her school, which was both a problem (she’s shy, didn’t know any of the girls in her class and had a hard time finding people to study with) and a long-term advantage–she can take a Math course for college credit in 12th grade. </p>
<p>Just one final exam left for us, the Regents Chemistry on Tuesday, another 3 hour test. </p>
<p>For summer reading, the Henrietta Lacks is on the list at D’s school, but for the regular (Regents) Junior class and not the AP class that D is taking. I have to say that I do like the books on the Regents list and plan to have her read them as well as the AP list:</p>
<p>JUNIOR CLASS (Regents)
Austen, Jane Pride and Prejudice
Shelley, Mary Frankenstein
Skloot, Rebecca The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks
JUNIOR CLASS (Honors) A. P. LANGUAGE AND COMPOSITION
<p>twogirls, since you offered, yes, I’d be interested in hearing your impressions of SUNY Binghamton and Geneseo, Boston U and Northeastern. All of those are possible schools for D. We’ve seen the campuses of Binghamton and Northeastern (just passing through those areas on the way somewhere else) and wonder whether the tours would be worth taking.</p>
<p>SUNY Bing- nice school but not what I would call pretty, they are doing a lot of construction and building some new dorms. It seemed like a comfortable school. There is no college town- the school sits on a main road similar to what may be seen in down state communities with some restaurants etc. The kids are smart and it’s one of the more competitive SUNYs. They had a " no party" dorm which impressed my daughter. They have a decent number of majors to choose from and they have an early assurance med school option if interested. My only concern ( and I may be completely wrong here) is that it will feel like high school to her- same types of kids. She liked it enough to go there if she had to. Not sure about the " rah rah" that she wants.
SUNY Geneseo- I liked it. Smaller than Bing ( about 5500). Cute town. Enough variety of majors to choose from. Their big sport is hockey which she is fine with. We were told that there is a lot of " rah rah" with the hockey. The academics are very strong but my daughter felt it was a bit too " sleepy" for her. I think there are research opportunities.
Boston U- they did a great info session and tour. The tour guide used a microphone type thing so everyone heard. They did not discuss finances at all. They definitely track interest- they make note of every single email, phone call etc. great academics and research opportunities. They pay close attention to the essay and do not want something generic ie why I love Boston. The school is nice but is definitely a city school with city blocks. The kids were friendly as they were all greeting us as we walked down the street. They had an " eat lunch with a student" which my daughter participated in for free. Parents are not invited.
Northeastern- this school has a campus within the city, with grassy areas to hang out on. Not a particularly pretty school but nice enough. The tour and info session was awful. It was spring break and they did not have enough tour guides to handle the crowds. The room was packed, there was no microphone and we could not hear well. Our tour had way too many people and the tour guide was inaudible. The co-op program is very very nice and a great experience. We spoke to a random student who told us that although she made friends, the friends seem to come and go depending on the co- op program that they are doing. I think that there may be opportunities outside of Boston as well, if I understood correctly ( need to investigate further). It’s expensive- this random student told me that she got no merit aid despite being in the top of her HS class with a 33 ACT. She felt that the school is becoming much more competitive lately. Kids from my daughter’s hs have gotten merit aid. The school seemed a bit " cold" to me- my daughter wants to go back.</p>
<p>Our school’s suggested AP lit books:
The Theban Plays by Sophocles
Return of the Native- Thomas Hardy
Mythology- Edith Hamilton
How to Read Literature Like a Professor- Thomas Foster</p>