I am so far down the rabbit hole trying to understand UC/Cal State requirements that all I can think of when I see AF is A-G courses 8-}
I must have 15 windows open attempting to plan visits to three more schools that will require multi-city plane trips. (One flight to each city, but not coming home between cities.) Between the airline schedules, the colleges’ tour/info/interview schedules and the travel time to and from airports…am ready to scream. Shutting down computer and starting again in the morning.
@CT1417 that was me earlier this week. Once I figured out what could work with the various schools, flights and hotels and crunched the numbers I gave up.
We will visit if accepted. It was ridiculous. I must have spent 8 hours mapping it all out, booking, rebooking and cancelling.
Good luck!!!
@BlueAFMom, Great choice of honorary home state on your D’s part – yes, I’m a (transplanted) Coloradoan! My oldest D and her BF are both at CU-Boulder, so let me know if you have any questions pre- or post-visit. I’m glad to hear you’ll be looking at CSU as well. D17 and I enjoyed our visit there and so far it is her top safety pick.
@MichiganGeorgia, H and I are GT grads and I agree with you about the campus! I think that’s why it was so off-putting when D and I visited Boston University – “Ummm, where exactly is the campus???” I like a bit of a bubble.
@BlueAFMom: FWIW, I recognized the slang reading potential, but got ‘Air Force’ as the most likely intended reading, and went with that in my head—so be assured, even those of us with dirty minds aren’t necessarily reading your username dirtily! 
Unusual majors: My daughter’s interest in neuroscience goes back to 6th grade, when she took a minimester-type class in her middle school that dealt with the brain. (She even got to handle real brains from various animals, which we thought she’d freak out about, since she goes faint at the sight of light bleeding, but she absolutely loved it.) Since then she’s been hooked on everything having to do with the way the whole system works.
Conflict studies came about, actually, from paging through the College Board’s Book of Majors back the summer before 9th grade. She found it and saw the affinities to what really interests her about the systems side of the way the brain works—how it is that there can be a disconnect between the way people interact as individuals and the way they interact in groups. (So, for example, individuals may conceptualize Muslims generally as being terrorists or at least having inherent tendencies that way—but simultaneously have really good friends who are Muslims who they know for certain don’t lean in that direction.) She isn’t interested in the anthropology or sociology behind that phenomenon, though—she’s quite focused on the biological bases underlying that.
@whataboutcollege we visited Duke last summer. I have been before and loved it, but D17 didn’t care for it. She cancelled the tour as soon as we arrived at the campus. I will say that we then headed over to UNC and she loved that. two very different schools.
We are counting down the hours until those darn ACT scores come out tomorrow!
Ah, another countdown to the recycled test with terrible curve.
It was given February 2015 and was a relatively easy test so a steep curve [-(
Waiting here too for the ACT. I am not hopeful getting the score tomorrow since her status hasn’t changed to ‘tested’ like others have been reporting. 
@payn4ward @greeny8 well at least you don’t have to wait months for the results of a recycled test with a mystery results.
@jeepgirl Anything particular your D didn’t like Duke about?
Good luck to everyone who is waiting for scores tomorrow!!!
Catching up! It’s been a crazy busy few weeks and I’m just coming up for air. Spykid is working as a camp counselor this week and I’m getting ready for our trip out east, while juggling a thousand things. This whole college thing still doesn’t feel real :0!
My DD leaves for her UPenn summer program next week. We went shopping yesterday and I spent over $200 buying stuff she needs for the trip/dorm. Then another $90 on Amazon for the stuff we couldn’t find at Target. She can use most of it next year when she goes to college so I guess it’s not so bad!
@whataboutcollege it is just the feel that it had. She describes it as goth. She felt the same way about Villanova as well. She is one of those people that either likes or dislikes a school with in the first couple of minutes. We even went to Villanova twice and the second time just reinforced her feelings.
DS is starting to work on his resume today. As a project manager, I can’t help but manage this as a project. I bet he is loving it. 
I have a drop dead application date of 9/1 for his top three schools. Once Nutcracker rehearsals start, his weekends will be gone. I really hope this schedule doesn’t slip. Instead of a binder of destiny, I am using a shared project planning site and assigning tasks. He will get texts and reminder emails, all of which he will probably ignore.
@BlueAFMom Since you mentioned military, I just assumed Air Force. I had no idea it was a slang term. I am so behind the times.
@MSHopeful Similar shopping story here. We haven’t really done much clothes shopping for DS in awhile even for back-to-school. I think he’s finished growing, so the clothes should last awhile. He has to wear collared shirts and pants at dinner at the summer program, and he’s usually a t-shirt and shorts guy. But, we got some nice things that he likes.
We also got a checkable baggage size rolling duffel bag. All our current luggage is roll-aboard carry-ons. DH travels a lot for work and recommends strongly against checking bags. But, the amount of stuff S needs to take won’t fit in a carry-on.
I am taking DS to visit later Ole Miss this week. We are chasing merit aid and want to see how it compares to University of Alabama. Has anyone visited both? or has had someone that went to either and has opinions?
@whataboutcollege my DD doesn’t like Duke either. She spent three weeks there for Duke TIP Summer Center and left saying she would never go to school there. Like @jeepgirl said, it was the feel of the campus. My DD couldn’t really put it into words as the experience was a great one.
@MichiganGeorgia Looking forward to your report on Ole Miss. We will not be able to visit until August. Its at the top of D’s list right now. We have visited Alabama and D loved it. Gorgeous campus, strong honors programs and they really treat those kids special, loved the business school, lots of school spirit, everyone was friendly and polite. Unfortunately, it has now fallen off the list because their Arabic program doesn’t fit D’s needs.
@MichiganGeorgia anxious to hear about Ole Miss. My DD loves Alabama as well and we were thinking about adding Ole Miss, but have not had a chance to see it yet.
UNC Chapel Hill is on our radar since it was rated one of the best pre-med programs. Good luck to all those who are waiting for ACT scores.