@endesmom I’m so releived. S17 had to drag it out till almost the last minute.
Our school also used to get out LATE June. But they pushed the start date back into August and now we get out early June. The late June schedule was a real frustration for the H.S. students, because the AP classes were basically done by mid-May. And after that there was mostly make work.
OH well… I need to get going. Up early since I’m going into the office today. Woke up a few minutes early so I’m checking in.
Taking a moment to say I really love this thread! I don’t know any other hs senior parents locally and CC threads can be a little “high-powered” – even the good ones. Like it or not, you guys are my tribe. >:D<
D finished her main essay for CSU honors and it looks really strong to me. She just has to finish a few shorter questions and she’ll be done, so I think it will go in by Dec 1. I’ll be on pins and needles waiting to hear back. With CSU being her safety, I want everything else to work out like dorm choice and being in honors.
I hope she’ll have everything done before winter break so I can claim that tumbler of pinot noir from @klinska
Portals! I hatez 'em. Why, in 2016, can’t all colleges have portals that are intuitive and show the basic information needed on one page? Or at least have it somewhere? Michigan Tech sent an email that they received her app but didn’t have any portal info. The app was on-line (not CA), so I logged into it and it appeared to be the portal as well. It goes to a page that says they will need more info if the status is listed as incomplete. Below is basic info from her app, like address, program applied to, etc. But it doesn’t say “status” anywhere on the page. I doesn’t say either “incomplete” or “complete.” Clarkson is even worse, but I’ll spare you the details! ~X(
Our schools start August 20-ish and finish end of May. Finals for her DE classes at CU-Boulder are next week (!) and hs finals the following week. No more hs finals after that - yay! Just two AP tests in the spring and finals for any DE classes she takes next semester.
@eandesmom, thanks for mentioning the departmental scholarships at OSU. It looks like the main engineering one is automatically applied for with the regular app, but there is one with a separate app for women in ECE that would be an extra $1000/year if she gets it.
@klinska, woot on the fantastic news from Wooster!
@CAtransplant, I hear you on the nagging. My D also needs an LoR (for that stinkin’ honors app) and I’m not sure if she’s remembered to ask the teacher today.
@curiositycat333, so glad your S got those apps in after all the stress – what a relief! The score mix-up seems relatively minor in comparison. I agree the OSU and CU-Boulder essays look ugly. Hopefully he won’t stress over them too much. D is leaving the option open to apply to CU RD, but she probably won’t, as she’s pretty confident she’d prefer CSU.
Looks like several of you have kids racing to the finish line.
I’m looking forward to seeing where your kids get accepted!! How many of you are waiting on EA decsions due shortly. My son will be waiting on 4 more I think. He has 3 or 4 RD apps in too. The suspense is building, I can not deny.
@RightCoaster, we have one more early app to hear back on, and it’s the granddaddy of them all, the ED school. Expect to hear mid to late December. So far all D’s EA apps have been admits. The EA apps were either likely or fairly confident match schools, though, no reaches. It gets more interesting for ED and the RD schools. But at least we know she’s going to college somewhere next year!
@snoozn, I always love your posts!
Yay, @curiositycat333! Sometimes they just need the drama!
@eandesmom, I agree that those pithy essays are the hardest. I thought my D did OK, but nothing truly stunning or compelling. I can’t tell if the schools limit the responses because they just don’t have the time/don’t want to read lengthy essays, or if it’s some sort of test to see what they do with that kind of constraint.
We started in late August (usually it’s after Labor Day, but in years when Labor Day is late, we start the week before. Won’t really do much to the end date–with snow days it’s usually around June 20ish or so. I don’t even know if seniors have final exams (that’s pretty bad). Mid-term exams will be in late January.
@RightCoaster 7 total EA’s, one acceptance so far. We should hear from 2 by mid December and the rest anytime from then until Mid Feb. It’s possible he could hear from all but one by new years. Maybe not probable, but possible. That last one though I don’t think will be any earlier than their 2/15 posted date. But it’s not a top choice that requires travel so I guess that is ok.
Unless things go really badly with the 6 EA’s I don’t expect any RD’s to get added. Hopefully he hears sooner than later on them though so that decision can be made.
@snoozn UGH on the portals. Every single one of them couldn’t be any more different and frankly none of them are incredibly helpful! I guess if it says “complete” we just trust it, even if there is zero detail. Sigh.
I want portals to be like UPS. I want an expected ship date and updated status tracking. LOL!
@klinska pithy is about right. Blunt and to the point is probably more accurate in S’s case. Which may or may not play well but what can you do in 10 words or less.
@snoozn hope your D asked for the LoR! Mine did email the teachers yesterday after school and one emailed back right away and said he will do it this weekend, so that’s good,
CSU honors app is DONE!
@RightCoaster, will mid-December ever get here?! We’re expecting three decisions then and a fourth by mid-January. The four RD decisions should arrive by the end of March. And then a whole new panic sets in?
@klinska, I am feeling some suspense about your D’s ED decision myself, so it must be really tough for you and her. You must post as soon as you hear!
@eandesmom, yes exactly, UPS. If they can tell me exactly when my package was shipped, where it is at any minute, and when it has been delivered…how hard can it be to have a simple portal telling us what has been received, what is needed, and whether the status is complete or not?
@CAtransplant, yes, my D had good LoR luck as well. She asked her teacher today and all they needed for the app is the teacher’s email.
I agree, the portals are kinda ridiculous. They vary so widely in quality and the amount of info they provide. Sigh.
D17 submitted Goucher and St Edward’s today, so we are now done with the EA apps. She also decided to take Juniata and Skidmore off the list, which were RD schools, so we are left with 4 potential RD schools [Smith, Mt Holyoke, Muhlenberg, and Denison]. Might wait to see some EA results before deciding if all 4 will be a go…I know Smith and Muhlenberg will stay but the other two might not. I am not really attached to any of those 4 so she can do whatever she wants about that. I like Smith a lot but she won’t get a penny from them, and I think she could be happy and successful at her schools that do offer her money, you know? We shall see. 
I’d like to join the portal hate! As a 100% CA family, I’d just really like the CA to go both ways–schools should be able to communicate what has been received (in excruciatingly granular fashion), what’s still missing, and what the status of the application is, right there in the CA. One stop shopping. I do like that UPS tracking feature, though.
@snoozn, my D is pretty chill about all of this. I’m the one who’s freaking out (but trying to keep it together around her). I think getting in to her #2 has taken a bit of the edge off. But believe, me, you people here will be among the first to know once we get the decision!
Congrats on getting the EA apps done, @kt1969! Will EA decisions have any bearing on whether or not your D will submit the RD apps?
I have to confess that our outstanding apps are starting to fall by the wayside. Goucher is now off, and I’m not sure there’s a real point to Temple unless she all of a sudden has a burning desire to go to Philadelphia. I’d love to hear what people are getting in terms of merit there this year, though. The last one, St. Lawrence, I’m kind of thinking we won’t get much, if any, merit, and without it we won’t be able to afford it–seems like a waste of $60 to apply.
Congratulations to all the students (and parents) who’ve received acceptances! So far S17 has 1 out of state academic safety acceptance (rolling admission). The last of his applications were submitted prior to Thanksgiving – the final count of 8 includes 1 ED & 7 EA apps. Now we’re patiently awaiting mid-December & January notifications.
Portals … so annoying that universities don’t have better systems in place to verify if items have been received. The rolling & ED universities didn’t offer a portal – just an acknowledgement that the application was received. Several portals list “complete” but don’t indicate what items were received. One portal indicates his transcript hasn’t been received even though numerous e-mails with the Admissions Office finally acknowledged it arrived. Only one portal actually acknowledged every item sent was received (required & optional items).
LOR … S17 finally gave up on his English teacher’s LOR. She agreed to write it over the summer & he approached her the 1st day of school (she implied she had written it but hadn’t uploaded it yet to Naviance). He e-mailed her in October (& copied the school counselor) – this time she indicated she needed more information (he gave her his resume). He e-mailed the teacher & counselor once again in November (still no reply or LOR). Fortunately he had also asked his AP US History teacher to write a LOR & all the universities only required one teacher and/or counselor LOR. BUT … SO frustrating!
@klinska Yes, I think it may…I think Smith and Muhlenberg will be a go either way but the other two may well fall off if she gets in a bunch of places EA. Fine with me. She may have essay fatigue, but I have “dealing with my daughter during college applications” fatigue.
About Portals. I do agree they need to be better designed and organized. My experience is they were better back in D12’s day. I think they have the same problem as many software projects. Mission creep. The portals do more & more and thus have more features and things get buried.
Top front & center when you log in it should say in RED & BOLD what a students needs to fix. The one portal S17 has experienced so far you have to tap through several screens and then infer that you are missing something. When I finally saw the portal, I knew something wrong wrong but it wan’t obvious to him. He honestly looked at me and asked “wouldn’t they get back to you if there was something wrong with your application.” He didn’t realize that this lack of information on the portal was their getting back to him.
So - if you apply via Common App (and only Common App) do you also need to use the college’s portal? Or is that just for schools that either require or offer their own online application? If you only use Common App, any idea how you get notified (of missing items or of a decision)? I am largely out of this process so this is just plain ole curiosity!
@london203 After you apply… The school will give your teen a login to their portal.
Portals vary wildly and it seems every school has their own. You can use that portal to do everything from see the status of your application, or what’s wrong with your application. And once accepted through this portal is how you say your accept/decline, set up housing, find out more information. Etc…
(Even in large state programs where you use the same application like the Cal States, each school has it’s own portal.)
@curiositycat333 Thanks! Our school and the student handle 99% of this process so I am a bit out of the loop…just wanted to know more so I can (discretely LOL) follow up…
@snoozn I’m sad that you don’t know any other senior parents locally! I am grateful to have quite a lot here, both at S’s school and then my college girlfriends who I see all the time. I’ve learned different things from all groups and the combination of it all has been wonderful.
YAY for the honors app being done!
@london203 the portals will vary tremendously. We have the gamut of ones that simply say “file complete”, ones that show what is actually in or missing by line item. Some will change to show admission status, some will not. Some will be used for housing and deposits, some will not. At present, none of ours shows any financial information and only one has a spot where it implies it will show up. It is all over the board! But, at a minimum all seem to let you know if they have everything they need or not.
@klinska I am a bit sad about Goucher. But if the school isn’t that high on the interest scale, especially as EA’s come in, things should drop off and why spend app fees for a school they have no intention of going to. I’ve yet to see any announcements of what folks are seeing for Merit at Temple but boy if Pitt is any indication…yikes. I assume it will be lower this year based on everything but as you know it fell off for us as well. Is UVM her #2? I can’t recall.
@kt1969 lol on the “dealing with my daughter during college app season fatigue”! Totally.
@snoozn Glad you feel comfortable here. I agree sometimes the other board can be a bit too much.
I’m not quite in your boat. But most of my close friends have kids my older D (who is 22). ALL of them are DONE with this application process and are already empty nesters. One of my best friends went of them went on & on about the process with her kids (and where I got a lot of my info… she was a CC regular). But she is re-evaluating her life, decided she got too obsessed and doesn’t want to hear much more than the basics. Plus I see her a whole lot less, now that I’m working.
I do know other senior parents but they are mostly from band. Now that marching band season has closed I see them less frequently. Don’t really talk to them on a regular basis. My S17 went through 6-8th grade with ZERO friends. It was a real rough time for him. He has friends now, but except for those who are also in band I have no contact with those parents. I do have a nephew who is in the middle of this process himself, but SIL & I aren’t really that close.
Klinska & KT1969–Your children seem to be very similar to my D who will be in class of 2018 so just starting…I’m interested in the omission of Ursinus from your lists given the inclusion of Goucher/Muhlenberg, et. al. Did either of you visit? did something turn your kids or you off? Asking only b/c the enticement of the Gateway scholarship (automatic $30,000 Merit for 30-ACT or 1260 SAT) is very appealing to me as a parent…Thanks in advance for any insight!