S16 showed me one of his supplemental essays a couple of days ago. It was pretty good. Well, actually it was more that it was much better than his common app essay, so by comparison it was pretty good.
One of Sās recommenders has been slow to write his rec, and another is struggling with Common App. Fortunately, heās in the sort of odd position of having four recommenders. (He was shooting for three: he only needed two, but we assumed someone would forget. And then apparently another teacher justā¦assumed.) So the pressure is off a bit.
Heās seen one of his recommendations and it is awesome. He hasnāt seen the others (he waived his right to, and they havenāt given him copies), but weāre pretty confident theyāll be good ones. He was lucky with the teachers he got last year-- they were hands down the best in the school, and he did well in their classes.
Thanks to a link on the NMSF thread, I just saw a list of the NMSFās from S16ās school. Out of his class of 95 kids there were 20 semifinalists.
^^^Thatās quite impressive! There are 43 in our entire stateā¦and 5 of them are homeschooled 
@petrichor11, my daughter actually asked quite a few people for recommendations, thinking that not all would come through (people have good intentions, but letās face it, writing a rec can be a hassle, and from previous experience, she knew that technology would trip up some.) So, she really has plenty of decent recs, but the must-have was the GC, and she was really struggling! Itās all in now, as of a couple hours ago.
Wow! @AsleepAtTheWheel We had 28 out of a class of 601 and I thought that was impressive. Iām guessing this is the difference between public and private schools. Your school should be very proud! Iāll bet the college admission folks know your school very well!
Our class of about 200 students had only 1 NMSF, one of my S16ās best friends. I think weāve succeeded in the messaging so the near miss has not de-motivated him. Spent a little time on the Common App tonight, and heās VERY frustrated at schools that require him to declare a major. They are also starting to work on CA essays in his English class. Heās still working to get his recommenders what they need to do those. Weāre behind many of you, I know, but still on track in general I hope.
My school had one NMSF out of a class of 462. He happens to be my sonās best friend , and we are so proud of him.
@crowlady ā I know that youāre aware of the following, but:
Given that, as I understand it, he wouldnāt have made finalist status because of his grades, his near-miss probably doesnāt affect his standing all that much. I am sure that itās a significant disappointment to him (and you), given that (like my S14) heās a really bright kid who ?hasnāt received a whole lot of academic accolades. Iām really sorry. Itās definitely a tough break.
It sounds like overall he is getting into gear better than you might have predicted, and certainly better than worse case scenario. This near-miss will hopefully motivate him for his next/last shot at the ?SAT (canāt remember if itās the SAT or ACT). And heās clearly on target with his applications/essays. Even if heās applying somewhere EA he has until November to get things done ā Weāre barely over a week into September ā He has lots of time.
S14 applied everywhere as either a Chemistry or Marine Science major. He ended up majoring in business. Iām not sure how (if at all) the schools use this info. Do they look for a major that makes sense with the rest of the applicants strengths/interests? Do they try to avoid over-admitting āimpactedā majors (like pre-med, etc.)? ā I know that out here oneās chance of admissions to the UCās is affected by oneās declared major (on the application).
This can be a bigger issue for colleges where one has to apply to specific āschoolsā, like the school of engineering, business, etc. I think itās silly to ask an 18 y.o., especially an 18 y.o. boy, to start narrowing down his/her options by specializing so early, or to give up a shot at something (like engineering) if one doesnāt choose to go for it before graduating high school.
Hang in there. It would help a lot if he kills that last standardized test. It will make him hard to ignore when his scores are sitting right in front of his admission rep. Good luck.
Our high school had no NMSF out of about 350. We have two who might be commended, but theyāre borderline by last yearās numbers. Itās just not that kind of school. Theyāre still talking about the one kid who got into an Ivy likeā¦a half dozen years ago.
@petrichor11 Your childrenās school sounds a lot like our school .
@petrichor11 this sounds like my daughters school.
@GoodGrief16 I wish she enjoy her essay writing but I doubt it. But itās good to see her writing very often and more importantly, she revise her material all the time.
I asked my daughter regarding NMSF and how many students in her class get it. She said she does not know. I assume itās similar from last few years and number will probably be between 70-80 out of 200. In her school, kids are trying to avoid any talk about NMSF, I guess.
Wow, some of your kidsā schools have a lot of NMSFās! Dās large public school had 7 out of a class of around 800 or so, and she was one of them. They were all called down to an assistant principalās office yesterday morning to get their letters and application information. We are so incredibly proud of her.
Iām dying here. While her main essay is fine, my D16ās supplemental essay to be used for 5 schools is soā¦dry and plain. She said what she wanted to say directly and without flair. Her message is a very common one told in a common way. Well, Iāve encouraged her as best I could and will let it go. Letās hope the GC report and LORs are insightful. Itās going to be ok (repeat to self).
I just realized that it is only 3 weeks left until SAT subject test day. All essays will have to go on hold. If she has to retake it in November she cannot apply to one of her EA schools. She really needs to get her target score in October. So for the next 3 weeks it is only studying for a test and finishing revising her research for the competition.
On another note she won that scholarship she was a finalist for.
Just a word of caution about designating a major at certain schoolsā¦ D14 applied to, was accepted, and is attending a school that had students apply to a certain ācollegeā within the university In her case it was engineering. The Engineering College is the one who reviewed her application and accepted her. When she started as a freshman, her adviser was in the engineering school, she was part of the engineering school from the beginning. Her first semester she decided she wanted to switch majors (if within engineering it would have been easy, but she was switching to a different ācollegeā at the university). It took from early Nov. of freshman year to June after freshman year to successfully āinternally transferā to the new ācollegeā. Meanwhile, she had to get creative and take courses that applied to both majors during her second semester, because she did not want to get behind on requirements for her new major, but she had to take courses that would apply to the old major since one of the requirements to āinternally transferā is that you are in good academic standing and are āshowing progressā in you major (the original one). It has all worked out okay, and we a keeping our fingers crossed that she can still graduate in four years - but knowing now what we didnāt realize thenā¦We definitely caution S16 to watch out for that potential pitfall at schools he will be applying too and to know what their requirements are to change majors.
@4kids2graduate ā Thatās a really informative story, and exactly the sort of thing that I was alluding to.
When D14 applied to that school, I would imagine that beyond designating a major that she had to designate which āCollegeā within the school she was applying, yes? Or did she just check off a check-box for the engineering major?
I think that itās a consideration when comparing schools ā by designating a major are you locked into a specific college within the school, and if so how hard is it to transfer colleges.
That all said, whether itās within a specific college or just part of the university as a whole, engineering is one direction that typically has to be taken at the outset or itās hard to get it done in four years.
@Mom2jl ā Congrats!! You should be proud of her!
@dyiu13 ā you appear to be better at āletting goā than Iād be.
@Ballerina2016 ā Big congrats on the scholarship. Thatās fantastic.
Iām sure that youāve checked the specific collegeās website, but when S14 was applying EA to two schools with Nov 1 deadlines, the scores from the Nov SATās were in early enough for them to be included/considered. But maybe schools have different policies on this test date.
@dyiu13, itās going to be okay! (Iām so glad I was clueless when D13 was applyingā¦I would have had a heart attack at her application efforts, no doubt! )
@crowlady, yes, he has plenty of time. Honestly, I have encouraged my daughter to move things along in hopes of creating a situation where she can relax a bit after so much go-go-go the last few years.
@Mom2jl , congrats to your daughter!!
@Ballerina2016 , thatās so wonderful! I know there are lots of smiles around your house this week!!
Good advice, @4kids2graduate
I donāt know if you are aware, but the SAT industry has it rigged such that you wonāt get your scores for the Oct test until after the Nov test, forcing you to sign up for both tests anyway, hoping to improve score and prolonging the anxiety around test taking for your child. We arenāt playing the game and will likely just take the SAT once.