I have recently learned that one parent of my DS’s GF graduated from one of DS’s top choice schools. Since he did not know her when I suggested we go see the school over a year ago I see this as an interesting bit of encouragement for which school he should choose…
wow… a lot of new postings and hard to follow.
We finally got a letter from counseling department regarding my DD’s NMSF letter. Letter says that her school has extension for deadline to apply finalist. Senior year seems all the deadlines.
I and my wife are in STEM area and my DD is more humanity oriented. her most possible major is literature and we have absolutely no idea of future career with literature major. Anyway, I am pretty sure her major hardly leading to lucrative career but as long as she can find a job after college education, it seems good for me.
Interesting discussion. S is one of those kids who’s interested in pretty much everything. We had decided he wasn’t a STEM kid - and that might be true to some extent - although he has taken all the science/math courses available in his school, at the AP levels. He’s drawn to history (loves it!) and is very very interested in political science/international relations etc. We looked around to see what jobs these areas would lead to (very engineering household!) and most things we read seemed to say that a BS in these areas was almost useless - you needed to go further. Very discouraging.
Since then, he’s done a complete turnaround - and decided he wants to try musical theater!! He’s very passionate about this, loves music and theater and has been very involved in this pretty much all through school. You can just about imagine the look of horror on the engineering parents’ faces 
He’s going to give this a shot - and after our initial shock, we are completely behind him. We’ll see where this road leads him!
@arisamp if your son is serious about musical theater, please make sure you educate yourself on the very different application and audition process involved for those types of specialized programs. Many college theatre programs that offer a B.A. for instance do very little in the way of musical theater. I recommend checking out the drama/theater major forum if you haven’t already. The conservatory / BFA programs in musical theater are typically audition only and brutally competitive (although there are slightly better odds for boys than girls).
@arisamp Maybe he could double major in Arts Management. I’m sure that knowing the business side of the arts could be helpful to him in the future.
@arisamp Two suggestions for your son: Oklahoma City University and Otterbein, both of which have a reputation for sending a fair number of grads to Broadway.
@arisamp I highly recommend you get on the MT board here to learn about the process. I have lurked there, because, well, it’s interesting!! Some of the MT schools, notably Otterbein, are super selective. D16 is hopefully going to Otterbein for nursing. It’s homecoming weekend this weekend and I’m taking her there to see Rent. Good luck.
Received an application fee waiver from Cornell in the mail today. Yay! We are up to 3 waivers now, which sure helps my pocketbook.
Son is really starting to work on/ talk about his ED school “why us?” essay. Which is good and bad~ He’ll write a better essay the more he likes the school and sees it as a perfect fit but if he doesn’t get in he’ll be more heartbroken.
Those waivers are great aren’t they. We’ve not paid for one application.
We need to get more waivers. So far she just got Rice waiver and this put Rice on a map for her.
Thanks all. We’ve been reading up and familiarizing ourselves with the process for MT since he decided this sometime last year. Incredibly tough - way worse acceptance rates when compared to the Ivy Leagues! Otterbein takes 4 boys and 4 girls!! He’s preparing to apply - well aware of the odds. He is also applying to other schools (non BFA programs) that he really likes - so not putting all his eggs in the MT basket. Should be an interesting ride for sure!
@carolinamom2boys - you have waivers for all apps? Wow! S had one and just received another one yesterday that I need to forward to him.
Neither have we but one school did want to see AP scores now so had to pay for those. I am willing to pay the fees if he would just finish the applications!!
@arisamp Your son sounds like my senior. We thought he was a humanities guy for sure. His older brother has always been the science and math one. He took AP Calc (got a 5) at his old HS and still had no interest in math. However, when he transferred to a STEM HS for gifted (because of their strong humanities too), he began taking advanced classes and now loves applied math. Our theater, music, history and literature kid (also does stu gov’t and Model UN) is now even thinking of majoring in applied math. I think how STEM is taught makes a huge difference. His older brother has known for years he wanted to major in Chemical Engineering and never swayed, but our youngest is all over the map. Given his varied interests, he is going to apply to large schools with strong diverse programs, so he is not limited to his current interests as he begins college.
@arisamp He’s only applying to 5 schools, but we get 1-2 emails a day with waiver codes. We’ve gotten 2 offers for limited travel expenses.
@arisamp - I feel for you. Not sure when your DS decided on this route but if it is more recent, he will face a lot of obstacles.
I am under the impression that many people planning on MT have been planning for several years and have all kinds of try outs set up by now at different schools and unless you have been doing this already, you might run into lots of timelines missed kind of events.
@Arisamp Sounds like you are on top of it. Are you looking at Ithaca College?
My son is not looking at any very selective schools. Probably why he’s received more waivers
D has completed her National Merit app and essay, I called and double checked that they have her SAT scores and GC is completing her part today:-) The Common App is almost complete, she’s still working on touching up her essays but she should be ready to submit by the end of the week. Next step to start on scholarship essays…
How do/did you get a Cornell fee waiver…??