@MSHopeful Make sure you have [ /b] where you want the bolding to end but with the space before / removed.
@Ynotgo Thanks! Duh, I forgot the /. Just went back and fixed it and it worked! Thanks again.
@RightCoaster: Makes sense. I still want to know how 100% of them can be in the top quartile, though.
ETA: Just so it’s clear, my children do not attend school in the Lake Wobegon School District.
@endesmom I think S17 can still fit into size 12 kids shorts. :))
Except the rise is too short. They will be now low rise shorts :))
He stopped growing laterally and grows vertically, now only slowly.
28x32 fits him well with plenty room on waist. 
Some 28x32 pants are too tight in thighs though. I guess slim-fitting, skinny jeans (unhealthy in my view) are trend now.
When we were going on a vacation, I shopped for DH’s swim trunks and shorts (he rarely wear shorts. Long jeans or cargo pants would be a no-no in beach. I found the same brand/style swim trunks/cargo shorts were half price in boys section so I got DH a bunch of size 18-20 trunks/shorts, which worked out perfectly. The waist was around 29-32 on those boys sizes.
I have a small shoe size so I shop at kids shoe section too. :)) The same with ski/boots on-line rental :)) and ordering kids meal for myself and getting adult meal to kids at fast foods.
PE: 4 semesters of PE required. Being on a team, marching band, or even I think drama counts. Independent PE for dancers, fencers etc is tough. 10 hours per week plus you have to be regionally ranked. No online or summer PE.
Several of the athletic teams start practice 6th (last) period, so it takes up a class spot anyway. And, most kids with an afterschool sport have to take a study hall so that they only have 6 classes for budgetary reasons. The GPA they rank by doesn’t include PE.
Leadership: He will be president of Science Club and something (Secretary?) of Math Club. He told Debate Club he couldn’t be president again next year, because he will have a UC class that conflicts during the fall quarter at lunchtime that day. Last year he “founded” physical meetings of his hacking club, which had only met virtually or at houses, because they needed to find and train younger members. (Still not quite sure what adcoms think of “hacking team” on an application outside of the few where it may be a plus.)
He will also be student teaching again for kids having trouble in AP Physics 1&2 classes during their twice a week required study hall. He is almost completely uninterested in the pep rally style activities sponsored by student government.
At D17’s school they can substitute other activities for PE credit including participation in a sport or another physical activity taken outside of school (yoga, dance, martial arts). They need to log a certain number of hours per week over the course of two years and have an adult supervisor sign off on it. Pretty sure that the PE grade is based on effort, not the time it takes to run a mile!
They also have a service learning requirement but it doesn’t specify hours.
No ranking, no weighting.
I would answer Chicago prompt #4.
thank you @Ynotgo B-)
@MSHopeful Yes, those are the HS Class of 2017 prompts. Have at it!
Mom and 2 Ds all have same shoe size, and are all about 5’ tall. Saves a lot of $. $-)
My 5’4" 11-year-old (look up the percentile, it’s frightening) has the same shoe size as her 5’8" mother. This is going to be a tall child, and won’t save us any money after she inevitably has to stop stealing her mother’s shoes, I’m sure.
My D17 has stopped growing at 5’7", and has some quite extreme curves without being at all overweight. D19 has the opposite problem—still growing (though near the end of it, I’m pretty sure) at 5’9" and about as much of an utterly vertical line as you can get. We have started to resort to mail order (from very different sources) for them—we simply can’t find clothing that fits either of them in our commercially isolated town of less than half a million.
At least the 8-year-old falls within the 25–75%ile range on the growth charts, so there’s hope for that one…
@dfbdfb My younger DD (she’s turning 10 next week) is already 5’1" and wears a size 8-8.5 women’s shoe (same as me!). She is going to pass me up soon as I’m 5’4". DD17 is 5’5" so she’ll probably pass her up too. She stopped growing in about 7th grade.
Question: OK, I said the dorm discussion was happening too soon for me, but DS is leaving for 6 weeks in a dorm on June 26. For kids going away for multi-week programs, what to buy, what to pack, etc?
He figures he will do laundry on weekends. (He does know how to do laundry, though with our machines.) They gave us a list of what to bring. We never check bags on airplanes, but I think he will need to, because the list is long.
T-shirts/shorts for daytime, collared shirts and pants for dinner, suit for a couple events, hangers, clothing for cold (outside late nights for astronomy in Boulder; observatories aren’t heated) and rain (we don’t have that here), alarm clock (he probably needs 2), normal personal stuff, things for shared bathroom down the hall in dorm, money/ATM, some office supply type things, swim/hiking/fun stuff …
They say you can bring your own sheets, pillow, towel. They rent “industrial quality” from the university. I don’t think a foam topper will fit in a suitcase, especially with everything else.
@Ynotgo - D15 just left for a 2 month internship in Cleveland and she had almost 100 lbs of luggage in 2 duffels! Granted she had to bring cooking gear because, while they can use the dorm kitchen, that kitchen does not have communal equipment, and that probably took up 1/2 or more of 1 duffel. She needed work clothes, play clothes, bedding, towels, laundry detergent, charging cables, sunscreen, toiletries, etc. Oh, and books. If you can rent the bedding and towels, do it because that stuff is bulky and somewhat heavy. Her foam topper is in her storage unit for the summer. She will have to suck it up and sleep on the dorm mattress.
D took regular clothes, dress clothes, accessories, shoes, toiletries, meds, bandaid, individually wrapped handwipes, notebooks/pencils/other supplies, laptop, kindle, various chargers, an umbrella, a rain jacket, a mesh laundry bag, a new backpack, a set of towels, a set of sheets, a blanket (in case the a/c is too cold), her favorite pillow, a stuffed lovey 
We purchased cheap hangers, a container of cleaning wipes, Tide pods, the hairbands she forgot, and some snacks (she has food allergies) at Walmart when we dropped her off.
She fit everything into 2 small carry-on size suitcases and the backpack. Girl is a minimalist 
ETA she’s gone for 8 weeks. She learned what was really important to pack last summer when she went to Concordia for 4 weeks. I predict she’ll be able to travel very lightly overseas!
Another edit–she uses her phone for an alarm.
Yes, foam topper would be over the top for a 6 week camp. Maybe take a sleeping bag or a worn comforter in case the mattress is concrete again? PM me in emergency, I can driver over and loan him a foam topper.
For a 3-week camp years ago, I sent DS19 with a light weight goose down sleeping bag, which worked well. No need to make the bed.
Send along as much as you can pack in 2x 50-lb suitcases, plus carryon (if necessary) and a backpack. Focusing on less bulky, expensive to buy items.
For the rest, there are Target, Bed Bath & Beyond, REI (for fleece/windbreaker), JAX (outdoor stuff) not far from campus. No one uses umbrella here but we do get fairly strong showers.
New question: What clothes do your kids wear for on-campus interviews? (I’m interested in boys’ wardrobe choices especially, but others may appreciate advice for girls). FWIW, I do alumni interviews (off campus) for my alma mater and don’t pay too much attention to what kids wear to them (but would probably notice extremely inappropriate choices such as ripped sweat pants, dirty t-shirt, etc.). I imagine some alumni interviewers might be more particular than I am, and also wonder if on-campus interviews with admissions staff call for more formal attire. Any thoughts/suggestions would be appreciated!
I have S wear a collar shirt (polo type) and “nice” pants (khaki or chinos, not jeans) or nice shorts if it is really hot. S would live in tees and sweatpants given the choice. D wore nice pants or skirt and a button down shirt of some type. She had some pretty serious interviews for scholarships where she dressed business-like, but mainly dressed “western” business casual (much more casual than east coast) for alumni or basic on campus interviews.
Packing: D also uses her phone for an alarm. Don’t forget power strips for all of the electronics!
I will also caveat what D had to bring with she is on an internship tied to a poverty studies program, so once there she has to live on the equivalent of $00/month for food, transportation, and entertainment. Her room, electricity, internet, and laundry is paid for by the program. And she even had to bring a shower curtain and other atypical stuff. She couldn’t pack too minimalist and still have enough money to purchase the stuff beyond food and the bus pass.
Man, impressed by all the kids traveling across the country and staying in dorms. Impressive. My D has never done that. College will be the first!
Re: Packing: small regular and phillips screw drivers are handy.
Re: Interview attire. DS always wear pressed khaki pants, pressed button-down shirt with no tie or polo shirt tucked in, and sometimes dress shoes (black, his orchestra shoes) for college fair and campus tours. Often that looked over dressed at many places where we go. I guess most people don’t think about clothes much.
S only has one week in the dorm so I figure he can suck it up with the provided sheet, blanket and towel. :))
More profile musings…
Our profile is actually titled profile and transcript supplement. I assume we will get an updated one in August as this one does say 2015-2016.
It does state that 2015 was the last year which rank was run, per school board policy and then gives the average gpa of 3.080. It will be interesting to see if GPA remains listed for our update.
SAT profile is from 2014 though so not sure how helpful that is to colleges and no ACT listed at all. Which granted, in S’s case may be a good thing.
I wonder though how rigor is interpreted. Do colleges look at it and say, “hey” there are xx honors/AP/DE classes available. X kid took x% so that is super rigorous. Y kid only took y%…not so hard. Do they look at it by class type in relation to the major a kid is applying to? As in, would AP in Music/Art/Langugage count more for a kid applying to those majors versus a STEM kid that had them in their line up? Or would that shout “hey” this kid is really a renaissance person, we want them! :-?
@262mom that’s funny. Maybe it’s a west coast thing. Skate shop is targeted towards skateboarders, surfers, snowboarders. None of which apply to either one of my kids mind you. But those kids run long and lean and so there is a decent selection of things that work. Those brands (surf and skate) are good for skinny teen swimsuits and rashguards as well. I’ve found the 18’s to be too big in general, I have to find board shorts that have a real draa
@payn4ward
S17 is so skinny (he prefers “lean” thank you very much lol) that the super skinny jeans are still loose on him, even in the thigh. As in I don’t think he needs to even undo pants to get them off and on even when they are 28’s. And yeah, it is unhealthy BUT both myself and his bio father were built like that at that age and considered underweight.
S19 hates that look though so goes for the slims. Same issue though, doesn’t unbutton/unzip a thing. Strange child uses his jeans instead of sweats over his running clothes. Just prefers it. He looks really odd warming up in jeans. That does not come from me. #-o
@dfbdfb we keep hoping that S17 will hit the 1%…
yep, not even at 1%.
Love the info re dept visits - extremely helpful! We too think they are most meaningful thing to do if possible on tours. in fact scheduling our trips mostly around when they are available.
Re dorms - DS wants to bring way too much and tap into his server rack at home too. hoping for a private room or 1 roommate and a shared common social area.
Our school profile - no class rank, bar chart for grade distributions - gives some sense of where students fall but not precise; lists APs and other basic info about the class and the school. We have over 150 colleges visit our school so many know it well thankfully - though our computer science and engineering is rather new.
Exams next week & then a bit of time off before FBLA nationals, summer course (Physics) & college visits, apps … and finishing that science research project. Will be a busy summer for sure.