@Ynotgo – he will not be taking an art course. So, don’t waste the money applying to Berkeley? I didn’t love it anyway…
@CT1417 Yup, if there’s no art, music, or drama course, don’t apply to Berkeley. Sorry. 
Uh oh. One of D’s stalker schools just emailed her for the umpteenth time. . . “but this may be the last time you hear from us unless you request more information.” Our response: Do you really really mean it this time? [-O<
Lol @itsgettingreal17, that wouldn’t perhaps be a school starting with a P? S just received a very similar email. I’m ok with them no longer contacting him.
@mtrosemom Yep. Multiple emails and snail mail every week from them.
That would be a great QOTD for tomorrow: most aggressive stalker schools for the class of 2017…
is there any value in contacting the schools under consideration? DS have no time to visit any schools. He gets emails and snail mail from few schools, but he never responded.
@srk2017 In my personal opinion, there is, and it definitely can’t hurt. D has interacted with regional reps and department heads of some of her top choices. From these interactions, she has gotten information that isn’t on the website as well as application tips. And for those schools which want demonstrated interest, she’s got that covered.
@itsgettingreal17 - Thanks. Only issue is DS hasn’t settled on major yet. Since he is a pre-med, he is interested in different majors (related to Chemistry and Biology) at different schools. Also, how do you find out about regional reps?
How decisions get made: Really, though I don’t think my daughter thinks this is as big a deal in her decision making as I do, my daughter’s choices in which schools to keep on her list have come down to personal connections. This might be a personal connection at any sort of level, from a faculty member met while visiting a campus to an admissions rep at a college fair, as long as a genuine connection has been made. If that happens, she’s more likely to keep you in consideration.
Rec letters: Two LoRs, one from her bio teacher that she took a couple of advanced courses with, and one from her drama teacher—thus covering both the sciences and (fine) arts angles for those schools that require two. (For schools that require one, the main letter is the one from the bio teacher, who handed my daughter a copy of it already because the teacher’s the sort of person who finds confidential rec letters at least mildly unethical.)
Why us? essays: I think my daughter is dreading these above all others—not because she has nothing to say, but because she realizes that the things she’s got to say are going to overlap so incredibly with half of everyone else, and for good reason.
@CT1417 writes: “There really should be one format for the school profiles. Some are fantastic and include almost every piece of info you would want on two pages, and some are garbage, fluff pieces designed to reveal nothing.” Amen, and amen!
Changing majors: My daughter is interested in two very different fields that aren’t really all that widely taught. The first pass in narrowing her list was getting every college in the country that offers both of those fields—she thought it was so she could be sure of getting what she wanted, but I figured that another good reason for it was that if she did change her major, any school that offered both of those would have a wide enough range of other stuff that she could certainly find something interesting.
Most aggressive stalker schools: St Joseph/St Benedict. She’s requested being unsubscribed from emails from lots of places, but that’s the only one she’s requested to be taken of the snail-mail list for—at one point she was getting more than an item a day. My Holyoke and Macalester are pretty aggressive in the couple-postcards-a-week sense, but she isn’t as annoyed by them, since they’re on her list. Sewanee and the University of Puget Sound were pretty intense for a while, but they seem to have backed off.
@srk2017 Regional rep information can usually be found on the school website. Some contacted D after she expressed interest at a college fair or on the website. It’s perfectly okay if your S doesn’t contact particular schools/departments, especially as he is considering very popular majors that are offered practically everywhere and taught very similarly.
Random grumble of the day: D has a scholarship that is supposed to be more or less full tuition, but instead of it being set =tuition they set it to an arbitrary dollar amount. Then the regents raise tuition. Every year we end up paying more and more because the the FA dept is always a year behind with values. (#firstworldproblems) New goal: make sure S finds merit aid with less annoyance.
LORs: is there a tip guide or link somewhere for LOR advice? I am unsure what types of teachers he should ask. His gifted teacher probably knows him best, but that seems a bad idea? Band director is complicated. AP teachers?
Why us? Essays: I definitely advise reading the thread @Ynotgo linked to. It has a lot of really valauble information on those essays in particular. D is terrified of writing college essays for some reason, but she is currently reading all the literature she can find on them. I don’t think that is the best method, but we’ll see. I’m backing off and letting her enjoy her summer, but she is tasked with finishing up a college list.
LORs: D will be getting a counselor rec along with one from her APES teachers and AP English teacher. Both teachers know her very well and are known for writing great college recommendations.
Testing Mayhem: I am really glad D took the ACT and knocked it out of the park, so she doesn’t have to worry about how colleges will view the New SAT. She did take it in June though to get a confirming score for NM. We are relatively confident she will qualify, but considering how much of a mess everythng had been this year, who really knows?
SAT vs GPA: I think test scores capture performance or aptitude in a snapshot of time while GPA and course selection gives a lot more information on the student’s long term performance and their decisions. What classes they choose to take, which ones they avoid, all of that comes through on the transcript. So, I would think more weight needs to go to the GPA but especially to course rigor. The problem obviously comes in when classes are given titles of AP or honors when they shouldn’t really qualify. In that case, I think colleges should look at AP scores or something to check that the rigor actually exists, but from what I’ve heard, AP scores don’t matter in admissions. I do think sending all test scores may not be a bad idea.
Also, I missed the day where everyone learned how to bold things. Can someone help me out?
@flatKansas Definitely choose the teachers that know your son best, assuming they like him and will give him a glowing recommendation. D’s GT teacher will be writing one of her recs, so nothing wrong with that as a choice. I would aim for 1 STEM, 1 Humanities. If only 1 required, send STEM if your child is interested in pursuing a STEM major and Humanities if pursuing a Humanities major.
@mtrosemom & @itsgettingreal17 – the trouble with that ‘last chance’ email from the P school is that he actually visited same P school during April break: info session, tour, and attended a class, and still the same generic email.
@BusyNapping, this is not CC specific, but the coding format from this webpage works on CC as well: http://www.teamopolis.com/tools/bbcode-reference.aspx#quote
for example to get bold font put the text you want bold between the text:
[ B]Text[ /B] w/o the space after the opening bracket: Text
For color, do the same (minus the space after the opening bracket: [ COLOR=Blue]The Color Blue[ /COLOR] will be [COLOR=Blue]The Color Blue/COLOR
I’m just curious. How do high school students have a gifted or GT teacher? Is there a class period or is it an advisor? We haven’t had a teacher for a gifted class since 6th grade.
@Ynotgo At D’s school the GT program continues in high school through the 4 year English sequence. The classes are titled, e.g., “English I GT” and is weighted as an honors class for 9th and 10th and AP in 11th and 12th. An explanation is provided on the transcript. It’s a lot of extra work, so many kids dropped out from the program when they started high school.
In middle school, IIRC, the GT program was comprised of both English and History classes. Very humanities focused program, which is not a bad thing, but D is very much a STEM kid.
@Ynotgo, I think it depends on the state and school district. Our dist has a separate program in middle school for those tested as “gifted”. High school tracks them differently, but offers internships and other opportunities. Then there are some schools (magnets and other similar programs) that basically only have gifted students and are very accelerated. It is very location-specific.
@ynotgo in our district at the MS everyone has a “study hall” block that is replaced with gifted if they have an IEP. At the HS level it becomes an elective class (which is frustrating as the gifted kids tend to have the most packed schedules anyway) that they can take any or all semesters.
@itsgettingreal17 not sure why I thought G teacher would be a bad idea. I will def have him start there. S is STEM so we will probably go with his AP Phys1 teacher (which could be interesting as that guy is a nut).