@CaucAsianDad Had testing done on D too and same results the other way. I do find that her verbal is starting to catch up finally. Can we merge our kids’ brains? lol The merged kid would test off the charts! lol
@Mom2aphysicsgeek I’m surprised you can find even 5! Visiting UofSC and? (Don’t tell if it’s a secret…I forgot @Agentninetynine is on this thread)
I do like getting books on CD from library. I do rip them 
to iPod/phone.
My 16-yr young car (obviously we needed a reliable car with birth of DS17 
and it still is good to go for another 10 yrs, knocking on wood) does not have a USB port but has a cassette tape player 
When I get a rental car, I get pleasantly surprised at all the technology. They don’t come with a CD player anymore
I still have 120 hours of Harry Potter on my computer somewhere. DS17 used to listen to it on his iPod doing his homework during 4-5th grade. 8-| I can listen to music but I cannot understand listening to audiobook while doing homework. 
Now kids put big headphones over earbuds because they play videogames while skyping or watching some videos on iPad and texting on phone. Kids these days. 8-|
@MotherOfDragons My D loved those Raven books! She tore through them, even with all the school work and ECs she’s had going on this year.
Sadly, my own time for reading has become nearly nil these days. I’ve been working my way through Jonathan Strange & Mr. Norrell for the better part of a year, lol. Granted, it’s a mammoth book, but I go through periods where I just don’t have any time to read at all, then I have to go back a couple of chapters to remember where I left off. I do recommend it though - it’s a cool (and witty!) alternate history about two dueling magicians in 19th century England.
Wow! Busy busy yesterday and lots to comment on. Books, scores, etc!
We did a couple of tours over the weekend so while they are fresh in my mind, I’ll comment now. They are a bit long and windy, sorry for that! so it will be two posts. We hit Western Washington University and University of Puget Sound (UPS) which is a CTCL school. Basically the only 2 schools in state that S17 will consider at the moment.
Western Washington University
This is a well-regarded public directional that has some unique programs that I know a few here are interested in. We went for their spring event, targeted at Juniors. The day had a loose agenda, with lots of free time to explore built in. The day was also scheduled around a weekend long celebration in the town, targeted for alumni but also for the entire town.
It is a lovely campus, with one of the largest outdoor sculpture gardens in the west incorporated into the campus. Up on ridge, parts of the campus overlook Bellingham Bay and much of the rest is nestled into the woods. We did the basic general tour, lunch, admissions/honors presentation and then dorm tours. Interestingly for a directional, 3 of the 4 guides we had…were from out of state. One of our first tour guides happened to be a freshman, studying one of the major/minor combo’s S is interested in. She also happened to play his same instrument in the jazz band. All performance groups are available to non-majors and she talked him through the process. S took the time to chat with her quite a bit after the tour ended and got some great information on both the academic, and the music side of things. The fact that she clearly thought S was cute, didn’t hurt. Campus is fairly spread out but in the woods, as it is, even with hills, it didn’t feel too open and sprawling to S. It is about as PNW as I think a campus can be in feel. Very outdoorsy yet still with many many lovely buildings, in fact the vast majority of the campus. Of course the ones in which S would likely spend a lot of time were the least attractive. Strong fine arts program with a gallery dedicated for student art.
Dorm tours were self-directed. A total of 6 dorms were available to view, and the showcase rooms were actually students’ own rooms, with those students just hanging in their rooms to answer questions. 3 different areas of campus, some nestled into the trees, others with a view of the bay and a wide variety of option available. Sub-Free dorms. Sub-Free floors within dorms. Honors dorm, one gender inclusive dorm, and a dorm for Fairhaven. Fairhaven is their college within a college that is kind of an alternative school, ala Hampshire, that replaces the WWU core with its own set of small seminar-style classes (as does Honors), but has a very large social justice component. About 400 students are in the Fairhaven program. It is a separate app, the recommend applying at the same time however it does sound as if you could migrate over later. It was unclear as to whether it was competitive or not. Evaluations versus grades on the Fairhaven classes and then you can do a traditional WWU major, or, create your own upon approval. This had huge appeal to S as he might be able to beef up some of the areas of interest not fully covered with the major/minor lineups as they seem to stand. He would also likely do much better in seminar style classes. Fairhaven is part of (Consortium for Innovative Environments in Learning) CIEL includes Hampshire and several of the CTCL schools. Fairhaven has its own college (building) for its core classes, and dedicated area on campus however there are about 6 or so dorms there and only 1 I think it dedicated to Fairhaven students and not required. We ran into cute tour guide in front of Fairhaven which reinforced that she thought S was cute. “We would be such great friends!” Adorable.
No Greek life. 96% of freshman live on campus although it is not required. There are on campus jobs available for about 3,000 of the 15,000 students and if employed by the school (work study or other), the max allowable hours are 19 per week and they work around your class schedule.
The town is a 10-minute walk and is a great little town. There is also a Historic area (called Fairhaven) in the opposite direction, probably a 15-minute walk. Easy access to Seattle or Portland via a bus ($5 and $10 respectively) or Amtrak and Greyhound. Very big music scene on campus, as it is in between Vancouver and Seattle, a lot of big artists actually stop there. S got a bit of info on the student run radio station as DJ-ing could be fun for him.
Western has some really great programs that fit S’s interests, ones we haven’t found elsewhere so had an advantage before the tour. He loved the campus, everyone he met, favorite dorms so far. It has always been thought of as his back-up plan but moved to the front of the list by the end of the day with the only “sour” note, being the mascot and school colors. He allowed me to take pictures and wanted a hat, which was a first. Upon arriving home he asked if I could sign him up for a summer session that is in his area of interest so will be taking a 1 week, 1 credit, academic class there this summer on International Energy and Environmental Policy, which is taught by an Econ Professor at the school who is also part of their Institute for Energy Studies (Duke undergrad, UC Davis PhD and Post doc at Vandy). The faculty at Western has an impressive degree line up in general. We’ve a conflict on his return so he will be taking the train and he is extremely excited about that. So much for the free jazz camp! He is intrigued by Fairhaven and if he wants to pursue that, we will go back for an academic program meeting to see if that really makes sense. Western was, and is, an academic and financial safety and while we did not get deep into the academic programs on this visit, S felt he could be very happy there and we know he has multiple program options worth exploring.
University of Puget Sound
We had an in-service day today so filled it with another college tour, followed by a practice ACT Test. I had looked at UPS a long time ago but didn’t think they had enough in his area of interest so had discounted it. Our “free” counselor put it on her list as a match so we decided to take another, closer, look. UPS is a medium sized LAC and CTCL school. I had been avoiding LAC’s due to the lack of engineering but the reality is S may not go that route and we do need to look at all options and he has always been drawn to LAC’s in general. It is a stunningly beautiful campus. As one mom told me at a race on Sunday, it’s what you “think” college should look like. Very traditional yet somehow not pretentious at all. Unfortunately, when I booked this, I thought school was still in session. I realized a week or 2 ago that was not the case. They actually ended the Friday before our visit and had moved out on Sunday. There were still a few kids around and S made the remark that he felt like everyone there wore Patagonia. We were a bit early so checked out the student union and grabbed a coffee. Upon arriving at our tour (which funnily enough had one other kid, from our same school district/rival school, that S knew from church) we met our tour guides. Who were wearing school logoed Patagonia Fleece. It was pretty funny. The anti-Vineyard Vines group I guess! We had a building tour, then a meeting with admissions, followed by a residential life tour.
UPS is relatively small, though on the larger side for an LAC at 2600 students. Smallest schools we’ve seen so far but are just starting our LAC visits. 95%+ of which are undergrad, meaning classes are taught be professors. The largest class you might have is 50 and that is only first year. After that they go to 19 or less and many/most of them, seminar style. Majors are not declared until end of sophomore year to allow for exploration and their unique core curriculum really forces that. Very big on double majors, minors, to allow kids to get what they want out of their degree. Also very big on graduating on time, the academic support system in place was phenomenal. You really would have to work hard to fall through the cracks here. One of our guides had S’s area of interest as one of his majors. We learned, but hadn’t realized ahead of time, that with that major a dual is required (as they want them to be able to get jobs lol…I liked that part). The buildings S would be in, are gorgeous, all of them. Funny part of the tour, over by the science building there is a gorgeous café that joins the traditional classroom side of the building with the modern lab side. Oppenheimer Café. S asked if it was named after Robert Oppenheimer, the physicist and our tour guides were like “um, I think so”. They had no idea who that was. Of course it isn’t, it is named after an alumni couple and large donor but it was kind of funny.
He was supposed to give our tour but ended up with a conflict. UPS has about 1200 jobs available for its 2600 students. High degree of internship placement (most paid) with a very strong alumni network aiding in that. The admissions meeting wasn’t what I would call an admissions meeting. More of a general info about UPS meeting but all good info. Heading out to see the residential life part of the tour, I look back and S is off hugging some guy. Who apparently was a senior when S was a freshman, someone he sees as a mentor. He was supposed to give our tour but ended up with a conflict. UPS requires a 2 year on campus commitment. Freshman year it is in the residential halls. Second semester of freshman year is when rush commences for those interested in Greek life. About 1/3 of the school is Greek, something which surprised both of us. All of the Greek houses are owned by the school and considered on campus living. As a result, they do not have the “freedom” Greek systems elsewhere may have and it didn’t sound like much of a party scene. Minimum GPA’s to rush, minimums to stay in the house and a very strong mentor network in the house, should grades slip, to ensure that kids remain in good standing. Both of our guides were in the Greek system (both OOS) and S, shockingly, asked the one who was in his major are of interest a ton of questions about it. S has always been extremely anti-Greek. Our guide had actually chosen to pledge as he saw it as a GPA booster. I can honestly say (having been in the Greek system at my Flagship) that I have never, ever heard the Greek system referred to as a GPA booster. LOL! There are also campus owned houses that are ”themed” each year by kids banding together and submitting a theme. Not necessarily academic or serious at all. One this year was “Pancake House”. That house serves pancakes to anyone who walks in Saturdays and Sundays.
After the tour, per S’s request, we went off to wander through the music building (scholarships available to non-majors with audition) and every floor of the library. This was a first, he will want to wander outside on campuses, but I have to drag him into an empty building if it’s not part of the official tour.
S absolutely fell in love with the campus and really, everything about the school. He could see himself there and feels that the smaller seminar style classes and the strong academic support would be very good for him, that he would be likely to do better in this type of school versus the larger where he might get more caught up in the social aspect. We need to do a lot of digging into the academic side of things to see if his program needs can really be met although it seems possible. They do require 2 years of FL as part of their core unless you have a 4/5 on a FL AP or test out. S is not convinced he could rest out but that didn’t seem to be a deal breaker which was surprising. He will go back in the fall for an interview, sit in on a class or two, discuss his program goas with them, music program tour and possibly an overnight. They “may” be offering EA this year which would be wonderful. I do not think ED makes sense as there is a decent chance we cannot afford it without the right offer. He also needs to spend some time poking around town, seeing how close and far things are from the school although we got a ton of good information from our guides. It is a solid match for him.
And now he has two hats. Interestingly, UPS is the one on his head today. In general, S is not a hat person.
FSU is after USC. FSU is going to depend on cost.
I am trying not to get depressed about her options. This week she was paid 2 huge compliments. Her French tutor showed an essay she wrote to a high school French teacher (as in France French, not American high school) and she said it was on par with what she gets from her native French high school students. And her Russian teacher told her that she thinks she is the best non-heritage speaker in the country her age.
She inquired at USC about grad level classes, but the response was that students do great in their regular sequence classes. We’ll see when we get there and talk to them.
This is so far removed from engineering and physics. Those are pretty standard from school to school and progression is pretty linear. She has a gift, but it doesn’t change our budget. I just keep praying that we can find a school that will allow her to grow with appropriate levels of challenge.
@CaucAsianDad @itsgettingreal17 I did not think of doing such testing. I bet both my kids will come out with significant disparity although in opposite ways. Both kids have been doing well in standardized school setting in spite of disparity. DS19 is an outlyer in my family who cannot multiply two digit numbers in the head. He still counts/adds with fingers. I came across and looked up a word Dyscalculia, and that was the end of my assessment. Dyscalculia or not, it certainly did not abate DS19’s enthusiasm for science and technology.
I met a well-known physics professor who said he could never memorize the multiplication table. So my worry ended there. 
The Binder of Destiny currently has 16 colleges.
Thank you for the tour reports @eandesmom. S and H are going to WWU at the end of this month for one of the explore days. He is going to sit in on an honors class and hopefully get to talk to someone in the CS department too.
my D17 has 20 colleges. Plan to get it to around 12 before applying. Some of those are safety schools - she has to pare them down and is researching them to see which fits her
@RightCoaster - It’s in Boston. Here’s the info & link to registration. Monday AM will be less crowded, but S has a game that afternoon so can’t miss school. We’ll have to brave the Sunday crowds!
Location:
Boston Convention & Exhibition Center
Hall C
415 Summer Street
Boston, Massachusetts 02210
617/954-2000
Fair Hours:
Sunday, May 22, 2016
2:00p.m - 5:00p.m.
Monday, May 23, 2016
8:30 a.m. -12:30 p.m.
http://www.nacacnet.org/college-fairs/springncf/pages/default.aspx
D still has 25 schools on the list. I don’t see how to pare it down until after NMSF announcement since most are competitive full rides and the competition is stiff. Have to cast a wide net in hopes of reeling in a big fish.
@mtrosemom the Honors dorm
is lovely, definitely larger rooms and a lovely central location. We met 3 honors students and all had nothing but good things to say about the program.
@eandesmom Wonderful posts! It makes ME to visit them 
Great to hear that S had a great visit and found a match.
Thanks for all the descriptions of WWU—it offers everything my 15-year-old is interested in, and it’s a WUE school, but we’re probably not going to get a chance to visit ourselves.
@MotherOfDragons The binder of destiny, love it!
@eandesmom Thanks for the write up of WWU. We will be visiting in August. It’s a great WUE option that checks most of her boxes, at least on paper. We know a girl who is in the honors program there who is very happy. Personally, I want D17 to go so I can say “dub dub U” for four years. 
@dfbdfb I suspect that 2 of the 3 OOS state kids (CO and AK) were WUE. Keep it in mind when the time comes for the 15 year old.
@mamaedefamilia we saw a ton of kids with shirts that said that, pretty funny. I am a little bit sad, but not surprised that S wasn’t interested in the Honors program. He said he felt stressed walking into the Honors dorm. I personally think that may have had more to do with the vibe from one of the Honors students at the admission presentation and the fact that all of the honors students we met were girls. Conversely, UPS, which to me gave a campus wide vibe that was very comparable to the WWU Honors dorm…didn’t bother him an iota and he was scoping out places he’d be studying in the library and how he could improve their composting program.
@payn4ward it was a good weekend. 2 solid front runners and a distant third in his virtual “binder of destiny” to use @MotherOfDragons term. Right now I think we have a working list of 10-12 (things drop off and on). We have seen 5 so far, 3 are still on the list. Of those remaining we will most likely tour 5 though I personally suspect only one of those 5 is a real contender. The others, if they stay on the list, are likely to be application only and visit if accepted due to location.
@eandesmom Thanks for the tour writeups! I have a friend whose daughter went to Puget Sound recently. She really loved it. She started a Harry Potter themed house with some friends. The themed houses do community service as part of the theme. She and the friends had education as their back up career plan, and did community service at local elementary schools. I think she majored in English or writing and is doing an MFA now.
My son’s realistic list is 4. I’d like to add a few more, but his interest level in other schools is very low at this time.
2 are slam dunks for him, 2 of them borderline. 2 of them are located in Boston area,2 in northern New England. He could really use some matches, but he really likes his safeties, so I think he’s fine just sticking with those. He has a few friends graduating and going to his safeties, so that was comforting to him. I don’t think he has any realistic chance at getting into a true “reach” school that he would want to go to, so I doubt we will waste time and energy on that. We could add some safeties, but why bother if the other 2 are his faves anyway? I think he will ED his top choice, and EA his second choice for sure.
@jmek15 of course, the 1 school I was hoping to be on that list, is not registered for the fair. Maybe we’ll go anyway. we’ll see. Thanks for info.