@mom23travelers Great news, congrats and good luck with the interview!!
@petrichor11 I am starting to wonder if the colleges and the adult beverage industries have some kind of covert working agreement to drive every parent to drink at some point in this process (-;
Senior year stress is full-on in my house. The teachers at my sonās school keep the classes very difficult. He is taking 5 AP classes this year. We have to pay $100/class to take the AP exams. The two that are particularly challenging are AP Physics and AP Calculus BC. In both those classes, they went through the whole curriculum in one semester!! Mid terms were last week -my typical straight A student ended up with a C in calculus and a B in physics. My son says they went through so fast he doesnāt feel like he has a good grasp on the fundamentals. Second Semester started this week and they are basically going to be answering every single question in the Barrons AP review book for each class. No tests - just an AP style multiple choice question on Mondays, (0/12 if miss, 15/12 if correct) and on Fridays an AP style free response question (graded like the AP exam) This is tough. My son is stressing big time!
Eek @laroyri sending good thoughts to your S as tries his best and battles the stress!
For my D, the class rankings are done, b/c they finalize those after the first semester grades. She slipped from 3rd to 4th, but having that one acceptance in her back pocket did a world of good for her - it didnāt faze her at all, especially b/c she ceded the position to a friend. Exams are over, but thereās still a lot of work to do ā the local scholarship applications are opening up in February, sheās thinking about applying to that presidential scholar program, and conditioning begins for her spring sport and sheās got a bit of work to do in that area. And there is also the matter of getting in some driving hours and classes so that she can get her license. Then she thought it would be āfunā to set up an ACT tutoring business with a friend! (Not my idea of fun at all). Sheās not worried at all about her APs (6 of them). I donāt know if she figures sheāll do fine, or there will be a mad, panicked period in late April / early May where very little sleep will be had and the stress levels will be surreal. Being so busy, however, has a benefit, b/c sheās too preocupied to think about March 31 / April 1st, and thatās good.
@Skates76 Sometimes I feel like all these merit scholarships just increse the angst. My D isnāt even that excited about her admissions because she is waiting for scholarships. And even with those, there alwasys seems to be something bigger and better just out of reach. I guess it is a lot like life, so maybe it is preparation (i.e. there will always be someone stronger/faster/smarter/richer than me!). Hugs.
We have an unhappy kid who feels like we are going to force her to take the biggest merit package.
@laroyri what an awful approach to class. Not just stressful, but not likely a great way to learn the material either
@Midwest67 Are you? Not judging if you are. But your D would likely feel better if you explain what you are or arenāt going to do. @carlson2 Not my idea of fun either but maybe sheāll make some nice money from it.
An attorney friend told me that she paid $70 per hour for ACT prep for her kid. I told my D that and I think it gave her āideas.ā The prep that went on in our household was me handing her a John Chung math book and saying āyou know what you need to work on.ā And that was it. @Midwest67 - I commiserate with you. I told my D that she needed to work this summer, b/c the expectation was that she would contribute to her education.
@readingclaygirl Our kid has 2 full tuition offers. And, one full ride. The difference between four years at full tuition and four years at full ride is still a lot of money (for us). Iād like all of us in the family to come to an agreement and make a smart financial decision (free ride, no debt for anyone), but oh boy, itās so emotional for our kid as if her entire future was riding on this one decision. My adult brain doesnāt think that way, and I am cautious and debt-averse. We are not getting any younger and stuff happens. Canāt say what weāre going to do because we havenāt decided & we are waiting on one competitve scholarship that might offer a compromise. Parents donāt agree 100%.
āDoes anyone else find the wide variety of notification dates frustrating?ā
Oh yes! That, and the random way merit and FA is awarded throughout the year. D is READY to make a choice, but she canāt.
That said, all of Dās apps went to rolling admissions schools but one, though they all have an EA deadline. She missed only one of those, though in that case, it didnāt matter and we got a quick answer. At this point, weāre waiting on 1 very important admission decision and a couple of promising honors college decisions. We actually have release dates for the honors decisions (D emailed both schools and asked). So that helps. A little.
Weāre in the final week of 1st semester here. D had one midterm last week (got an A) and one tomorrow. The other classes had projects that are due tomorrow, but could be done sooner, if they chose. The big push after this is the all-school science fair in mid-February. D and her partner are working on several pieces of a plan to help a school in South America become more sustainable. Theyāre communicating with the actual school so the science fair will include only a portion of one part of the project. Itās a huge undertaking, but at least there is no AP test associated with it. There are no APās at Dās school.
Then D will be working on her senior project in earnest-she has her internship going, and will need to be designing and teaching a unit at at least one local elementary school. First she has to observe the class in action, preferably two classes at two schools. Luckily the school a block from our house will let her work there. Then there is a detailed research paper, a formal presentation and I donāt know what all. I expect 2nd semester to be hard core, but hopefully in the next month, D will at least know where she is going.
@Midwest67 , it might help to sit down with your D and spell out exactly what you plan to do or not do. D knew what she was willing to do to get to the kind of school she wants, and we were up front about our financial limitations. Weill not make her pick the cheapest option, but anyplace costing beyond what we can contribute would have to be on her, and she understands that. Sheās trying for a balance of affordability and a good education, and I think sheās got some good options.
@MidwestMomTo2 - when are you heading to ASU? Weāll be there the second week of February for S16ās visit. Heās beyond pumped to participate in a Physics Lab while weāre there.
The waiting game is wearing a bit thin at our house as well. Waiting on merit scholarship offers from a couple of schools to help make a final decision, and waiting on one final acceptance from an RD (all of the other schools he applied to just happened to be RA). Iām still just amazed - even though I shouldnāt be - that he has out of state flagships being incredibly generous with merit aid, but our in-state flagship (and even Tier 2) have barely communicated with him (other than to constantly remind him to accept his admission offer).
@lvmjac1 I am so with you on being super careful with my questions and requests now that we are post meltdown and he seems more at peace.
@MidwestMomTo2 Itās true, they seem so much alike! I wish I knew where it all will end but Iām bad about being impatient.
I agree about the wide variety of dates just adding to the stress. Itās hard when two of the top choices heās considering have both accepted him, but one came through with large merit within a week and the other will supposedly be sending this week. I feel like itās easy for one to take a back seat in those circumstances, but I suppose if they are similar in merit aid, he might regain interest. As it is, heās spent almost a month talking about his possible plans at the other place and then throwing the state flagship back into the mix. Itās a scary ride sometimes lol.
@midwest67 Hopefully D likes both of the full rides and if needed could choose one of those. It is an emotional process. AndI can say as a student, this whole process is (atleast for me) the first in depth look at money which can be very overwhelming and even a bit scary. Wishing you all the best. @sseamom Your Dās senior project sounds great! Iām taking an internship course next semester (starts Monday) and my placement is in a self contained special education class in the middle school. I would have done an elementary school if I drove but the middle school is attached to the high school. It should be a good experience- 54 hours worth.
All the people I know who had not heard from USC got their āsorry but continue to waitā notice yesterday. S called and they told him that because he had submitted his supplemental essays late that he is still in the running but wonāt find out for a few more weeks. I canāt imagine they saved some scholarships just in case there was someone further down to look at. On the other hand, this means they have not finished checking everyone who may get a scholarship. At least the anxiety is no longer there.
As for grades, S had not shown any signs of slowing down. As for breakdowns, been there, done that many times. The stress they place on these kids is really too much. It would be nice if CA limited the number of colleges a student could apply to simply because in the old days we only applied to a few because everything had to be done by hand.
@Mysonsdad What a relief to hear that!
@mysonsdad art least he is still in the running. I will keep fingers crossed for both of you. He deserves some good news.
@Mysonsdad Great news. As far as scholarships left, they still will be awarding few deanās scholarship in March. And about 30% turn down even trustee as they get other acceptances.
@Midwest67 Your and your childās situation mirrors our own almost exactly. D16ās favorite school offered her full tuition, as did her safety which has a lower total COA due to lower R&B costs. Her full ride is an NMF school that actually moved into the list of her top schools and out of being classified as a āsafetyā after we visited. She has two others where she is waiting to hear on those scholarships that might provide a compromise. Using our trusty spreadsheet it was pretty amazing how the required fees, R&B and books at her full tuition offers add up, especially when multiplied by four years. The full ride is a total COA scholarship and if she chooses a cheaper meal plan or housing option (the former is likely, the latter is not as the Honors dorms were mind bogglingly nice and come with a full kitchen in the suite), she will have more money refunded to her each semester. Both she and we are debt averse and she wants med school which will add plenty of debt on its own later. She definitely has choices, but also knows that some of those choices might require UG loans despite being full tuition. As for not getting any younger, I am old enough that my college tuition and R&B total was less than R&B alone at several of her schools.
@readingclaygirl , your internship sounds awesome. Iām going to PM you with more about Dās project-itās about teaching, but a very specific topic and a very specific population all tied to her research paper.
@Skates76 mine too, even as an OOS student. Hās tuition as an in-state commuter was crazy low-l think he paid about $500 a semester.I made him show me the receipt he had kept.