Parents of the HS Class of 2017 (Part 1)

Parents of HS Class of 20xx
5721

Woo, you guys move fast :slight_smile:

My D has classes until 6/13, then there’s 2 weeks set aside for NY Regents exams (she’s only got 2, and on consecutive days, thank goodness - am hoping we can sneak in a quick trip upstate to visit a couple more schools before summer madness sets in.)

Our local HS has 9 possible periods, lunch counts as one period (and D must have lunch or she will rip everyone’s head off, lol). She’s usually had 7-8 periods of classes daily, depending how labs and gym work out. It’s pretty normal here for kids to have a study hall at least every other day (again depending on scheduling for gym/labs.) Kids who are in band often give up lunch for it, but my D is not a musician. Clubs/teams meet after school.

Left to her own devices, D will stay up until 2am and sleep until noon - I’m the exact same way, lol, so I usually let her have a couple of sloth days when school lets out for decompression purposes. :slight_smile:

5722

@2muchquan Regarding recs for scholarships…S’s GC and a few teachers will provide hard copies of their recommendations to us, even though we waive our right to see them. So, for scholarships that require you to submit the application yourself, S can use those. Some other scholarships require recs to be submitted online, so typically, the teachers just use the one that they wrote for the common app, making modifications only if the scholarship application requests any information that has not already been discussed.

5723

I missed the QOTD!

In creating your (i.e., your child’s) college list, what compromises are you having to make when deciding which schools stay and which don’t?

Geographic and Financial go hand in hand at the moment. S is fairly restrictive on the geography and climate. Financially I am probably not being as ruthless as I should. However without knowing how Profile schools will interpret our situation, schools that are livable if we can count SD at some level are still on the list for now. Schools that he is just under a certain merit target or have the potential for music $$ are still on the list. S is aware of the situation as as the list narrows we will review which are affordable based on merit alone and which will require special consideration/concession by the school based on our situation. At the moment everything left has a “chance” at being affordable.

Both compromises are limiting the program options so at the moment that is a bit looser and less targeted than might be ideal but does leave room for him to change his mind.

@snoozn that sounds fun! I love family races. We’ve had 2 with S19 in the past month, larger events and it’s a ton of fun. S17 will only run (or even walk) if someone is chasing him! Both kids are off to a youth retreat this weekend so it is probably just as well we do not have a race scheduled. I don’t mind the Viking personally (although he was EVERYWHERE on our day there which was kind of funny, at points it felt like he was following us). It just seems odd for Bellingham and I need to look up the history of it. There is a part of Seattle, as well as another town on the peninsula that is known for its Scandinavian heritage, I’ve just never heard it attributed to Bellingham but there must be something there I am sure. You probably already know this but there is a fall event there. I am not sure how busy summer session is but will know more after S’s week there in July.

5724

@dfbdfb CONGRATULATIONS!!! That program sounds amazing. I can’t wait to hear a report on the program and school. Muhlenberg is on the to be reviewed list that is “possibly” affordable if the stars align just right.

Brag away!

5725

Congratulations @dfbdfb on D’s acceptance!

5726

@dfbdfb What an awesome opportunity for your dd! Congratulations!

5727

Wait, how’d I miss the QOTD? Some biggies for us were also Financial (generally pay as little as possible) and Geographical (no pants). She will bend on the geography to get better opportunities in research, or a ‘better’ major (or faculty). Same thing with money, where we can bend a slight bit for ‘better’ opportunities.

Other reasons things went on/off the list were not so much ‘compromises’, just dumb luck.

@dfbdfb Congrats to your D! That is awesome!

5728

8:30 AM is the recommended start time by American Academy of Pediatrics. Our district is proposing to follow that recommendation.

5729

In creating your (i.e., your child’s) college list, what compromises are you having to make when deciding which schools stay and which don’t?

I haven’t really had to make many compromises. She is applying to one school as her “mom app” which is UChicago. Since our affordability is highly dependent on whether we get a NCP waiver, I wanted one elite school app that doesn’t require NCP info. Plus UChicago has everything she is looking for and is urban and large which is the type of school she is drawn to. Plus the app is free if you apply for financial aid. I think it’s a good fit for her.

Travel isn’t a huge factor as we live close to 2 major airports and all the schools she’s applying to are in urban areas with easy accessibility.

5730

@dfbdfb woo hoo on your D’s acceptance to the brain camp. Looks like her brain doesn’t need the camp… Its working fine already!

5731

@dfbdfb Congrats to your D! The camp looks great. And it’s my favorite kind of camp…free! :slight_smile:

5732

@dfbdfb huge congrats to your daughter - sounds like it will be a fabulous, brainy experience!!

Re the QOTD - no colleges w/o strong EE & CS programs or that won’t allow a double major or at least a minor. DS is angling for schools that have no audition orchestras as well. But not a “gating” item to me. And likely will cut schools requiring application to major after a year or so at a high GPA or that won’t allow change of majors – need to create these lists though!!

5733

Congratulations @dfbdfb!

5734

Re: QOTD: Right now we are desperately trying to keep schools on the list, so no compromises necessary. If she finds an affordable school that really matches her needs, we will deal with travel issues, etc.

5735

I’ve noticed schools almost ‘dying on the vine’ and dropping off our (rather substantial) list. We have a budget well below our EFC, so our list is long. For example, someone mentioned Temple the other day. It’s quietly dropped off the list for no real reason. We are not overly concerned with the crime, it’s an urban campus, good honors, guaranteed merit. It should probably stay.

I think maybe we (yes, I) am beginning to see the real work on the horizon, and want to minimize it. :slight_smile: Gotta pace myself. Came out of the blocks too fast! Slow and steady wins the race.

5736

We already do staggered times at the schools here and I think it’s really smart.

Elementary is the earliest start, with the thinking that you can control your kids’ bedtime and get them down and then up earlier in the morning for a 7:50 start.

Middle school is the latest start at 8:40, because middle schoolers just don’t have their stuff together.

HS starts at 8:25, so not super crazy early, but not so late they can’t do the after school stuff. They also have block schedules and odd and even days-don’t ask me how those work because I have no idea! I didn’t need to know, thank goodness.

I’m really happy with the staggered times. My HS started at 6:50 in the morning, in Massachusetts. I remember clearly falling asleep in class until the sun came up, because I’m pretty strongly wired to my circadian rhythms. (another reason we don’t live up north anymore-sun goes down and DH and I fall asleep, lol).

@snoozn wrote

I agree! I’ll have to go look up emojis that are celebratory :).

Girls’ last day is tomorrow. Today is a big deal for D18 because her AP World History final is today, and she has a 72 in the class. If she aces it she’s fine, if she bombs it and fails the class they kick her out of the IB high school and she has to go back to her districted one (which is fine but has none of her friends or her BF). She was up all night last night studying. Fingers crossed there. D17 almost has an A in AP lang, I don’t know if the final is enough to move the needle into an A. Either way is fine-her GPA for this year is pretty good.

@dfbdfb wrote

Woot! That’s awesome! How long of a plane flight will that be?

Finances, geography, crime, male/female ratio, in that order.

@2muchquan yeah it was me that mentioned Temple. I don’t know why I took it off her list, really. I mean, yes, the tweets are alarming (two campus lockdowns in two days because of shooters on campus), but the merit is good. I just don’t like how it’s “feeling” in regards to the departments and what the tweets are like. Which is totally irrational, but I freely admit to being totally irrational. It’s why I have the BOD-to balance out that irrationality. I suppose if she doesn’t get into any of her first choice EA’s, it might go back on the list, but for now, meh.

5737

@2muchquan, May I dare make a suggestion for the BOD, SOS, or ?? (Lost track of the names, but those 2 are my favorites. :slight_smile: )

Instead of eliminating schools for no real reason, you might want to create a new category, not now under consideration, bc there may come a time later on when you actually have pared down the “keeper” list to a point where you want to add schools back on and in the thick of the process in the fall you might have a harder time remembering schools that might have been a good match but you had eliminated. (And, yeah, ask me how I know.)

5738

@MotherofDragons Sorry your dd has so much pressure riding on this final. I hope it goes well for her today.

5739

Has anyone’s child been able to access his May SAT II test scores today? In the past, the scores posted 19 days after the test date, but they are not up this morning. While the new SAT I format should not delay reporting of Subject Test scores, it appears to, at least for my son. Am wondering if anyone else has experienced the same.

Thanks!

5740

@Mom2aphysicsgeek C’mon, you don’t like my White Board of Death, err, Destiny (WBOD)??

Good idea! Another category! Yes, I will do that. My white board has room for 17 schools, so the bottom ones can be Ranked as NNUC.

Now if I can only get Alabama on that list…

@MotherOfDragons I hear you. D has had 2 lockdowns at her HS this year as well. She may not know what to do without them!