Add us in the “down to the wire” bunch!
Incidentally, is it just me or does anyone else feel like October is nearly over (even though it’s only the 5th)? Time flies when there is so much to be done. I look at our calendar and wonder how it will all get done.
I am looking for some suggestions. We are in CA and targeting for CA Private & Public schools. My S has respectable GPA (3.79) and test scores (ACT: 35, SAT: 2290, SAT2 Math:800, SAT2 Bio:790, SAT2 Chem: 770), NMSF and AP Scholar with Distinction.
There are some colleges in CA which want all the scores, so this is easy. But few other colleges say we can send them ACT/SAT. I want to send all 3 SAT2 subject test. So shall I send both ACT & SAT or only ACT ? Cost wise it is same to me because there will be only 1 SAT report and 1 ACT.
I have another question. My S has been playing soccer for last 10 years (club, varsity, AYSO). He is not applying to colleges as a soccer player, but once in college he plans to play at whatever highest level the college will allow him to play without sacrificing his academics. There are a couple of very high name colleges in CA (which are REACH colleges for everybody) which allow 1 or more extra LOR apart from regular 2 LOR from school teachers. My question is: Will an extra LOR from his club soccer coach help my S in admission process ? What should the coach’s LOR focus on - My S’s soccer skills or his general nature & character or something else ?
No, texas, they are for not-very-selective HBCU’s with online apps. One does have an essay for its honors college app, but she is automatically qualified for honors and will not need to do. I’ve done some digging around CC and it looks like in such cases, schools rely on the recommendations. These are really back-up schools, but which should make it nearly free to attend if nothing else works out.
@carolinamom2boys attire at our church is fairly casual as well–nothing close to a suit and tie–most of the time. The khakis and sweater would work fine but be somewhere in the middle of the scale. I think things are a bit more formal there than here for gentlemen. This is something I have told my son he will have to learn if he goes to school there. :-).
@indsfolax I would definitely include the additional LOR from the coach. He could focus on long term time dedication, leadership qualities, depending on the competitiveness of the team, maybe he has strove to maintain starting roster spot or “fought” to come back from an injury, etc. My D was on an extremely competitive premiere travel soccer team where roster spots for games and tournaments had to be continually strived for to maintain from 8th grade through 11th grade. She would have team practices 3 times per week and private training to improve individual skills once or twice weekly! That kind of time & energy devoted to a team / sport can only speak positively to the character of the individual. Your S has devoted many years to his sport and I am sure that coach has seen him strive, mature and develop from a child to a young adult. I do not think that could hurt when applying to competitive colleges and with your S’s impressive test scores, it will show that he is much more than just a number. If the coach will then I say go for it!
@cheeingsection This is for Wofford. They run the gamut at our other choice.
Whew, I am having a hard time keeping up with all of you! A few weeks ago, we wondered whether Ps of 2016 would catch up with Ps of 2015–someone calculated we’d need 60 posts a day–and the feeling at the time was no, but maybe we will! Goooooo, 2016!!
D16 is still wondering: should she submit Common App before an on-campus interview or after? She has CA done but feels like she’ll look “flat” if she submits it and then talks about what is listed in it. Big debate in our house. Love any feedback from you all.
Second question: D16 was recently nominated by two separate panels of judges after talent and interviews (two series of eliminations) to be a member of the 4-person Homecoming Court (waiting to hear about whether she’ll be “Queen”–this is determined by an election). She considers herself seriously academic–should she put it on the CA? Does anyone else have Homecoming Royalty still?
And: here’s hoping that @texaspg posts something extra special for the 15,000th post. A ode posted on this thread, perhaps? :)>- (BTW, Tex, Harvard required only two Achievement/SAT IIs/SAT Subjects in the early 80s. I am certain about this.)
First acceptance is here - University of Pittsburgh! We are happy, as this school seems like a good fit and not too far from home. Now we wait for the UK schools 
@EastGrad I would submit CA before on-campus interview as it will look as if she is more committed - IMO of course. Regarding the Homecoming court / King & Queen…at our high school its purely a popularity contest and something I would not add to the CA as its a great thing but in regards to college admissions, I am not sure if it will be helpful or not.
@Jupiter98 Awesome Congrats to the first acceptance! May there be many where that comes from!
@Eastgrad I tend to agree with@
lvmjac1. I’ve never heard of Homecoming court requiring talent or interviews in any of the places I have lived. It has been purely a popularity contest wherever I have lived. I would be concerned that the AC may not be familiar with what was involved and view it as a possible attempt to pad her ECs. Good luck to her on her interviews. I would send in my application first.
If khakis and a polo work for interviews, S will survive them. That’s his school uniform anyway, and the subtle monogram on the sleeve would probably not be an issue, if it were to be noticed at all. I think he might reconsider this whole “college” thing if a tie needed to be involved.
He submitted his first app (of 7) yesterday, and then promptly remembered two other activities that he didn’t include on it, so I guess he’s updating the common app to include them on the rest of the applications. Neither is huge, but worth including, I guess. His prioritized list of schools keeps shifting - and the two visits in November may make them change even more. I’m just trying to stay back while he juggles it all. His top two are a school that’s a reach (well, a crapshoot, really), and another quite selective one that he’s definitely a match for academically, but didn’t cram 12 years of ECs into 4 years of HS (oddly enough, he opted for family time, watching soccer, etc. as well) - so may not pan out.
I’m not sure if I’m sad or proud at how cynically he’s looking at some of this process. He’s sooooo not a fan of all of the self-promotion that seems to be part of the game. He’s NMSF, but thinks it’s crazy that the determination of that was based on one test he took on a Wednesday morning last October. So yeah. We’ll see how it goes.
[/quote]
@eastgrad - Fortunately, I have not had to navigate American admissions during the 80s, at least at the undergrad level.
I remember they used to require or recommend 3 subject tests during the early 2000s along with Georgetown and lowered their standards to require only 2. I am paraphrasing here but in 2011-12 time frame, Harvard was of the opinion that they preferred if the students took as many subject tests as possible although they mandated 2 of them.
S will probably wear dress pants and shirt for his interview. I hadn’t given much thought to a tie, but he likes them so he probably will. (He’s recently discovered his inner clothes horse.)
Several of S’s schools won’t schedule interviews until after the app is in. I guess it makes sense-- why use up precious interview time for kids who ultimately may not apply when alumni interviewers are apparently scarce?
We do. S’s best friend was on the court last year, but he didn’t want to run. It’s all about the popularity, though supposedly faculty “screen” the candidates for minimal standards.
And congratulations @jupiter98 !
@2manybooks wrote “He’s sooooo not a fan of all of the self-promotion that seems to be part of the game.”
You are describing my son exactly, and I am slowly coming around to the fact his ECs will be described in a very humble way (and he will probably leave some out), as he is unwilling to “brag” or “put a spin on it”. I admire that on some level, but also know it will probably cost him an acceptance here and there along the way.
S11 (my oldest) attended an area senior awards program a few years ago, and I remember the kid that got one of the four top awards that had scholarship money attached to it - one of his accolades was that he had “mapped the genome/dna of an extinct prehistoric animal”. At that time we were still fairly green when it came to the whole senior year/college app process/scholarship stuff, etc…and I remember we were amazed a high school kid could do that. Now that I look back on it, my guess is he went to a summer program and worked in someone’s else’s lab who was doing that type of research. But at the time, we were picturing this kid in his basement laboratory doing this amazing thing completely on his own! Obviously the folks reviewing the scholarship applications were favorably impressed.
Some kids are willing to spin it more than others…my kid is not one of them.
Mine either.
Mine will self-promote…to a point. If he’s done something, he doesn’t mind saying so, though it might take reminding. But he’s not one to claim a human genome mapping that he only washed petri dishes for, either. He’d be more likely to tell you a goofy story about some really cool slime mold he found living under the sterilisation equipment while everybody else was doing the important stuff.
@eastgrad I would put the homecoming court on her app if it adds a different dimension to what she already has represented on paper. Knowing that she is an outgoing person who is well liked by peers is a positive attribute. My son was Jr Class Pres which is essentially a popularity thing too and I feel like it’s a good balance to his nerdier attributes
@indsfolax We’ve been debating the same issue. My son had a coach forcefully offer to do a rec for him. She has been his HS coach for all 4 years of a varsity sport which he also captains plus she subbed as a coach for his club team for a number of years so she has known him a long time and she can speak to his leadership attributes which aren’t really featured in his academic recs. Only the top tier schools and scholarship competitions will even accept the extra LOC so he decided to let her write it figuring it won’t be so non-specific or similar to his other LOCs that they would wonder why he sent it and that it probably won’t help but certainly wouldn’t hurt. We do know that this coach is a talented professional writer as well; if they were not we probably would have skipped it.