I’m envisioning a child named “Haggis” now, or “Poutine”. ;o)
S’s nickname will likely be related to his choice of music. He wrote one of his essays about it, and it figures fairly prominently in his resume. And his email address. And…
Hhhmmm. Not sure what DS’s nickname would be because he has not let me read his essay. Based purely on his stats and ECs he might be “scholar athlete x3” but he would be satisfied with that.
@LKnomad, as I’ve already mentioned, my D is on the spectrum. She decided early on to fully disclose her autism because it is such an integral part of who she is. Although I haven’t seen it, her CA essay is about her disability–I believe she responded to the prompt about the student having a background, identity, etc. that is so meaningful that their application would be incomplete without it. I don’t know if this is the best place to disclose, but she feels very strongly about doing it this way. She hasn’t changed that much in HS like your S has–she still isn’t social and only has one friend. However, she has come an incredibly long way since she was first diagnosed (at 3) and I thought she would never be mainstreamed in a regular classroom without an aide. Here she is now, a National Merit Semi-Finalist with great stats, ready to apply to at least some selective schools (even without a lot of EC’s because of her disability).
As far as nicknames, I’m not sure, but maybe “Asperger’s Math Girl.”
I don’t have autism but I do have hearing loss that I self disclosed in my essay and directly to the admissions counselor so I could learn about the available services and meet with the Disability Services lady before I applied. For me it just felt right, it’s a part of me and I’m not ashamed, I’m proud.
@LKnomad My S16 has a physical disability and he is choosing to disclose it as well. If they decline him based on this it probably isn’t a place he would be happy anyway. One of his teachers mentioned it in her rec anyway so it was going to come out even had he decided not to disclose.
Milestone day here…first app is in. It’s a rolling admission school and his safety so hoping to hear some good news in the near future. He had his 1:1 meeting with his GC last week so she should have his rec ready soon. Our GC has a big packet for them to fill out so she can do a good job on the rec, There is also a parent component so if she doesn’t know the student well she has some nice anecdotes to use. The other nice thing they do here is ask for a teacher’s name who you did not use for a rec but would have another nice thing to say about you. That works out really well for my son who used his physics teacher and english teacher since MIT requires a non-STEM rec. That way he gets a little tidbit from his BC Calc teacher from last year who also would have given him a great rec.
Kudos to those attaining so many wonderful milestones while dealing with disabilities. These milestones r stressful n difficult to attain under the best of cicumstances. My S19 n D17 r both on the spectrum n have had varying degrees of difficulties growing up. For my S socialization had to be learned via extensive role play n going over typical conversation starters n things to say depending on how the conversation continued. After many years of varying degrees of small successes each years he is now a successful college sophomore with many friends n many many aspects of a terrific social life n happiness. Focus n anxiety have always been issues to deal with n he does qualify for additional time on exams but if you didn’t know him well you would not realize that he is on the spectrum. My D wasn’t diagnosed until freshman year in high school when the amount of work n degree of difficulty significantly increased BC in our district there is no gifted n talented programs in elementary or middle school. In 9th grade with all honors n AP classes she started having focus n anxiety issues as well. Social issues were present as well but she did not need role play or techniques like that. She had difficulty understanding the conversation subjects her friends chose to talk about all the times etc. Also she did not want to be out socially all the times like her friends wanted to be n wanted her to be also. She finally decided to confide her difficulties with her best friend n that helped dramatically. Her best friend (since kindergarten) many times would intervene with their group of friends when my D was feeling pressured or anxious. They all began to understand that she just wasn’t able to always join in. My D always felt strongly about her school work n attaining n maintaining excellent grades. Thankfully through the years that same group of friends has been very understanding n supportive of her n she has flourished socially as a result. She will graduate in the top ten students of her graduating class (approximately 350 students) just as my S did 2 years ago. Neither has decided to include this information on their applications mostly because I do not think they can truly document their path well in writing. So as a parent of 2 children on the spectrum I commend all who find their way of flourishing! I know how different n sometimes difficult their paths can be!
Inspiring!
School sent another reminder e-mail regarding few deadlines and I could not believe it’s already end of September! Her application process is slow and I don’t want to push leaving almost everything up to her. We have few talks about application but not too much.
She will be given an interview for TA house application which required several long essays. Anyway, if she was accepted to the house and accepted to Cornell, room and board will be free. Finger crossed.
@NYDad513 Is Cornell the only Ivy your daughter is applying to? Or is it the only one that offers free room and board for a TA?
There are two TA houses - Cornell and U of Michigan. My daughter did not want to apply U of Michigan TA house because both require long essays. She had to write three essays with 1250 words each and one essay with 3000 words for Cornell TA house just for housing without knowing whether she’s accepted to the school. I heard that U of Michigan TA house also requires similar amount of writing.
My daughter’s school limits number of school students can apply. Therefore, students cannot apply many ivies because of low acceptance rate. My daughter will apply few more but not many because her GPA is not the end of her class.
@NYDad513 Do you know if Princeton offers such a program? My daughter is applying there SCEA.
Princeton doesn’t have housing like that. Freshmen are sorted into residential colleges.
@ceceliahearst I don’t know Princeton has similar program. The program is independent program and traditionally associated with Cornell.
If your daughter plans to apply to Cornell and you have interested in the housing program, find a link bottom of comment. I think your daughter still can apply to the Housing. Deadline for application as a high school senior who did not attend the summer program is October 5th.
I looked into Naviance and found DD finally moved colleges I am thinking about to colleges I am applying to. But she put 9 schools instead of 8. I am not sure she did it intentionally or by mistake. I will wait a couple of weeks to see she remove one of the schools.
I just realized that by mid-December she probably be done with all applications. Some of her schools have January 1 or 5th deadline, but I guess she can be done earlier. Anything else we have to do after those applications sent in? Trying to plan family vacation for the second part of December.
My GC said FAFSA. You can put in last years information then adjust it when you do your taxes.
Yes financial aid is the next step. FAFSA and possibly the CSS profile or school specific forms. Princeton does not use the CSS profile but has their own form (very easy).
@Ballerina2016 – My wife says that stating the obvious is one of my many annoying habits, but I think that you’re going to be checking the application portals of the various schools to make sure that the applications are complete, including transcripts, scores, LOR’s, etc.
Portals will give you the basics regarding the general application and the other required components. But, let me add…many schools have separate honors program/honors college applications with different deadlines, some schools have their own financial aid application that you do early (way before the FAFSA, etc). Some colleges have general scholarships that every applicant is automatically considered for, but some colleges have particular merit scholarships that require a separate application. My advice is double and triple check each college for any of those additional things that have separate applications/deadlines. Be diligent, look and then look again!