@srk2017 I think the difference in scheduling creates varying opportunities for ECs. Band events and practice plus soccer and a part-time job is about all DS has time for while maintaining grades. Maybe adcoms have their own system for comparing those as well.
@Gator88NE congrats to your DS!
Yay!!! School is out today!! S is meeting with GC tomorrow to make sure everyone is on the same page regarding his applications/recommendations. We do not have Naviance, so GC and teachers submit through CA. At the meeting we will confirm that next year’s schedule is correct, confirm that everything on the transcript that will be submitted with apps is correct, turn in his brag sheet and discuss what should be highlighted in counselor letter, verify that the counselor will check off “most rigorous” course of study on the CA, and talk about possible scholarships for which S might be a good fit.
Then next week, we are taking a college tour to look at the last few schools that he is considering (among them are possible ED/SCEA schools…so he wants to make sure that he loves them if he is going to commit in that manner). When we get back from the college trip, he starts his paid internship. Mid summer, he will be attending a 2 week summer leadership program. For fun, he will be writing a lot of essays for his applications…LOL All apps will be complete and ready to go once the National Merit semi-finalists are named (fingers crossed).
My college kids will only be home for a couple weeks this summer. 
One has a paid research position through his university and the other one has a summer job in the big city. How quickly the dynamics of a family change once the kids go to college!
Speaking of school start times, is anyone following the national movement to delay the high school start times? Our district is thinking of changing it from 2018.
@srk2017 I would LOVE to see the start time for high school be later! There is a lot of research to support that transition…better grades, fewer car accidents. I spoke with our superintendent about it and our district is watching to see how an adjacent district likes it since they recently changed the start times…they switched the high school and elementary start times.
@Felicita You sound like your ACTUALLY organized, while I’m just a poser THINKING I’m organized.
I have a CA question perhaps you can answer: Does your kid ‘request’ a recommendation from teacher (having already spoken to teacher) through the CA, and then the teacher uses their login to submit it. Then, your S has to do the same thing for every school he is applying to and wants that same teacher to submit a rec? Not sure that makes sense…can’t use TOP 'cuz I’m on a computer LOL.
You made me think, I should order a transcript after this year is complete (i probably can’t do so until summer is over) to see that it looks good.
School is 8-2:30 - there is a 4 day schedule - 6 periods meet each day and lunch, 2 classes drop. And there are a few long periods sometimes. But several days a week there is orchestra class at 7am (too early!) WE’d love school to start a little later!! how about 8:30-3??
My kids school goes 7:10 am to 1:50 pm. Early! It stinks.
7 classes.
@2muchquan I guess I am organized, but only because we’ve done this twice before and we know how busy senior year is…the more that can be completed in the summer, the better! Definitely look at the transcript before it is submitted, I have found incorrect test scores on them. Easier to correct before they are sent out.
My kids ask for the recommendation in person with their teachers in May. If I remember correctly from my older kids, they each got three recs. When they completed the common app, they included the teacher’s email. The teacher then uploads the recommendation onto the common app. The student can then select which of the teachers they want for each school. For example, if one school only wants one rec, you can select which of the 3 to submit to that school. Some schools that require only one rec will allow you to submit up to 3 on the common app.
only 6 periods a day here unless you take zero period which is only available for jazz band, one choir, one orchestra and PE. I am not sure if that’s when leadership is, I have to think so, or that is their homeroom or I don’t know how those kids would fit it in. There is also a “homeroom” period daily which can be used for makeup work or homework time. Most kids have 6 periods/classes. Mine have always had 7 and will continue to have 7 though their senior year. However, after this semester is completed S will only “need” 3 credits to graduate so technically only has to take one year of music or occupational class, 1 year of english, a semester of senior civics and a semester of pe. There are many kids who take advantage of that and do not take a full load senior year. Not any of S’s friends mind you but certainly there are kids who who do so.
School day is 7:30-2:35 with an A/B/C day schedule but zero period is each day from 7-7:30.
I would love a later start. I wake them up at 5:30 am every day. During play/musical season they might be out until 10:30-11 at night on school nights. It makes for long long long days!
S actually looked at the sticky noted Fiske! I am shocked. He said there were too many sticky notes and had me pull ones I really felt were a long shot financially even with the possibility of CSS profile adjustments. So I did.
But still, he looked!
And, even better, turns out a friends ex is a solar energy engineer here locally, with his own company. I had no idea ( I swore he was an attorney, what do I know!). He is going to meet with S to chat and there is a possibility of some summer grunt work there! Not maybe a strong possibility but…still, it’s great exposure to the overall field.
Now if we can just survive the next 4 weeks of Spanish 3 for him (and French 3 for his brother). Clearly my kids do NOT have a gift for languages!
Our district is so overcrowded that the board is threwtening double sessions at some schools. 2 6hr sessions from 6-noon and noon to 6. Glad I’m almost done!
@2muchquan The way the CA works is that everything only needs to be done once. Transcripts are uploaded once. The counselor letter is uploaded once. Same with LOR. Etc. Then as the student selects the schools they are applying to, the information is automatically dispersed to all of those schools.
There is a grid on the CA which displays schools and parts of the app completed. It is easy to check and make sure that everything has been submitted. Once things are uploaded, it really just becomes a matter of a few clicks.
The counselor also has a page which shows how much of an application has been completed and what parts need to be finished.
I can’t remember the differences between the student pages and the counselor pages, though. Once we get to that point, I can share the differences that I notice.
@mtrosemom When we lived in Brazil that is exactly how the private schools did it. They had morning schools and afternoon schools. Our ds loved it bc it meant he always had kids to play with whenever he wasn’t doing school. But, yeah, I thought those hours were rough for the kids.
Schedule: D’s school has the same block schedule as @Gator88NE. 4 classes a day for 90ish minutes each and a 30 minute lunch right smack dab in the middle.
Technically that means each student can take 8 academic classes, but the school automatically schedules every student for one study hall period. So, usually kids have 7 academic classes, although last year, D only had 6 since she was taking AP Biology which was a double block class. Next year, she has 7 classes and a study hall which is the accepted trend. Her school goes from 8 to 3:30, but I would love if it could start later!
@srk2017 Our district change from 7.15 to 7.45 this year. I find it much better for my D. Everything shifts by an half hour. So no change as far as EC etc
D’s last final is tomorrow. I’m so glad they get out this week. Our town does a great Memorial Day celebration. There’s a festival all weekend. On Monday there is a really cool 10k citizen’s race that draws about 50,000 participants. Lots of racers dress crazy. Along the course are live bands, gymnasts, Elvis and Blues Brothers impersonators, belly dancers, etc. People whose houses are on the route cheer racers on, offer a hose spray if it’s hot, and one house has a slip n’ slide if racers need a break. There are also a lot cowbells. Super fun and my sister, dad and niece are visiting to walk with us (that’s right – you don’t even need to run!) It would be disappointing if the kids still had to be studying over this weekend.
We should have a thread celebration when the last kid finishes junior year.
We aren’t really looking at compromises yet. D has a few deal-breakers and wants a particular kind of program, so that’s what we’re looking at now. I think we’ll only look at compromise issues after acceptances come in. (I’m hoping there will be a few acceptances!)
D’s school has 7 periods of academic classes. Next year she will only take three classes (or four, but I think it’s a bad idea) because she’s taking two concurrent enrollment classes at our U.
Our school distract is changing start times next year. D is glad because her school starts at 7:30 and we live about 40 minutes away.
@Ghibelline2017 Welcome! How many safeties does your kid’s GC recommend?
@MichiganGeorgia Many of H’s family love UGA. I pretty much only know my BIL’s experience. He loved every bit of it. I do think of it as a party/football school, but BIL got an excellent education there (history major).
@picklesarenice Yay, another de-lurker! My D also hasn’t received April 19 scores yet. According to her school, the latest date the scores will come (in the mail) is June 10. Maybe just in time for you.
@mtrosemom Ooh, I want to hear more about Western Washington after the trip! We will visit either summer or fall.
@eandesmom I love the Viking mascot! My mom’s ancestry is all Scandinavian, so she used to tell my sister and me that we were descended from vikings. now that I do genealogy I’ve found that they were mostly farmers. Also a few paupers, a mayor and a constable. No vikings.
@Felicita Yes, my D will also be writing essays for “fun.” And test prep under threat. I have an older D in college, but she is local, so I see her a decent bit. D17 will probably go OOS, so that will be a new step for me.
@payn4ward …I love that you are helping your sons best friend! A friend of mine has a daughter who just finished her plebe year at West Point and it was an incredible, jaw dropping amazing journey watching her start the application process. Her mom said it took a village to get all the paperwork done in time. Does he have somewhat knowledgeable parents on board with the process?
@carachel2 Yes, he just earned his Eagle, and there are older scouts in the troop who went to service academies, so there are knowledgeable folks in the community. Not me though 
It certainly seems a lot of work! and earlier deadlines!
First, the good news keeps pouring in, so I get to brag: A few weeks ago I mentioned my daughter (interested in neuroscience, plus conflict studies) had applied for Muhlenberg’s Brain Camp, which is a free (aside from transportation costs) week-long neuroscience intensive. Well, she just found out she got in! Now I have to go burn some frequent flyer miles to arrange her flights…
Next, to remind, the Question of the Day was:
The biggest concession my daughter had to make was that we’re only letting her apply to one (at most!) school that doesn’t offer merit aid. She won’t get to go, of course, but she wants to see if she can get in to one of them.
That was a big issue of contention at first, but after touring schools last year, my daughter decided she wanted her list to be as close to entirely matches and safeties as possible (aside from the basically-for-fun no-merit-aid reach mentioned above). She likes sure things, basically. When we suggested she might want to keep Reach College and Hyperselective University on her list, she countered with some really, really good arguments about why she wanted her list constructed like that, and so we backed off.
Also, we’re reasonably devout adherents of a not-terribly-well-represented-in-the-general-population religion, with our daughter probably more thoroughly so than any of the rest of us. As a result, my daughter wanted easy access to a congregation of our faith (so goodbye, Grinnell!), though there’s one exception still on the list.
And travel and such didn’t enter into our considerations, since we’re in Alaska and travel’s going to be pretty crazy no matter what. A couple of the schools remaining in the Spreadsheet of Serendipity may not be in the middle of nowhere, but you could see it on a clear day from there, and I think my daughter’s gotten a bit more skeptical of such cases as we get to final decisions on where to apply—so she may have a couple cuts remaining on those grounds.
@Mom2aphysicsgeek: Our kids’ schedules are 6 credits’ worth of courses (with semester courses counting as a half credit) for the year, plus 2 more credits’ worth of courses spread over 3 minimesters and a half-credit homeroom-type class that actually has some real substance, plus a credit of orchestra across the full year if they’re in it. Last year the child took 8 (not including the minimester courses or homeroom) due to a clerical oversight we didn’t catch until too late, and she nearly had a nervous breakdown. I suspect she won’t be taking any 21-credit semesters in college, and I support that.
Nearly no school-sponsored extracurriculars (including no sports) offered at the school, by the way, which makes for interestingly different dynamics.
@snoozn Kids don’t want to do the 10K anymore unfortunately. One year DS19 and I walked so slow and came in so late that they blocked the finish, we did not get to finish! X_X the pro runners were already reaching the finish line. :))
The first year, DS19 (walking holding my hand, maybe in 3rd grade) finished it in 2 hrs and 45 minutes :)) We were ranked something likes the 50,588th “runner” =))
I had searched the record by my street name. We were the slowest in the block of course. Our neighbor’s son who was an athletic scholarship winner ran it in less than 31 minutes. 
@Felicita @Mom2aphysicsgeek Thanks for the information about how recommendations work on the common app. Our high school uses Naviance, so I was trying to understand (according to our counselor) why we need to ask each teacher to submit a recommendation for each school we asked them to. They can’t just send it in once and be done because then if we add on another school to our list they have to do it again.
I guess I just don’t understand well how the two work together. I will be talking to GC before the end of the year.
Also, sometimes there are separate recommendations for scholarships that might ask a slightly different question for the recommender. So then do you have to get a second recommendation from the same recommender? Then, send rec 1 to school A, and rec 2 (same recommender) for a scholarship at school B?