Well, just got DD’s latest Act scores. She went up one point with out much preparation! Looks like she will actually have to study for the September test, We are hoping for the full tuition at Bama. Right now she is at 2/3, which isn’t bad, but the full would really help because she really wants to go greek and we are adding those crazy expenses to our budget! We are also waiting on her SAT scores in July, but I feel like the Act is a better test for her!
Re: fine motor skills-older D’s weren’t great until she learned to put on makeup. THEN it became good, lol.
@MichiganGeorgia we got back from Valdosta last night, and Valdosta State is gorgeous, simply gorgeous. The buildings are all red-tiled roofs or red tin roofs, and the buildings are buff-colored. There are a ton of live oaks and spanish moss everywhere, and the neighborhood surrounding it is filled with really cool older homes.
The dorms (at least for the girls) are suite-style, new, and pristine. They have wood-look vinyl floors (which look surprisingly good), and smell very clean. There are sprinklers and high ceilings. It feels much more like Florida than Georgia-the dirt is sand, not red clay, and you can smell the ocean when it rains. The local TV station is Tallahassee.
It is definitely on D18’s list.
We’ll probably bring D17 to U Alabama sometime in the fall.
D17 is reporting that the food is “awful, with limited choices”, so I can imagine I’ll be sending her a lot more ramen, lol. I don’t know if this is a summer thing, or the dining room is that bad all of the time. I think there is a Chick Fil A within walking distance, but I’m not sure.
@CT1417 wrote
It’s like the travelling salesman dilemma! https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Travelling_salesman_problem
Add me to the list of moms nonchalantly flying casually over the act site repeatedly… [-O<
QOTD (although it may be yesterday’s qotd): unusual majors-D17 is CS so that’s not unusual (except maybe that she’s a girl?) and D18, I have no idea-something lawyery and argue-y.
Ah, today’s QOTD: D17 likes Tufts on paper, and it is crazy expensive and has no merit aid. She wants to go look at it with H and Grandpa next month when she’s up in Boston. I gave H a heads up about it and I’ll let him do the NPC on it and show her. I suspect she may not want to go after that, or they may decide to go and she’ll apply with the understanding that it’s too expensive. The rest of the schools should be (god I hope) affordable for us.
She does have one lottery school that if she gets into, we’ll burn that bridge when we come to it. I need to check the ACT scores today-that may kick it off the list before she ever sees it.
@whataboutcollege my D18 just got a classy invitiation to that honor society-she finished the year with a 2.8, so, uh, yeah, total scam.
Ok, about to go hunt down some ACT scores…
I would like to welcome all of my Donut Hole Peeps!
QOTD: Applying to unaffordable schools
At this point, we only have one Match and one Safety on his list. We’re likely to add 2 or 3 more that are slight academic reaches, but will require competitive merit scholarships (with the possible exception of “donut hole friendly” MIT, which is a mega ball lottery longshot).
Good Luck on today’s ACT scores! DS scores were a bit higher (using the new SAT concordance tables) than his SAT scores. He took his 2nd try at the SAT in June, so now it’s time to wait on that score.
** Sizes of “Cities” **
I grew up in a town of 2000 or so, and now we live a big town of 5000. It does feel big, no joke, because it’s the biggest town in the county. So 90,000 seems pretty much like a city to us! As was said, it’s all in perspective. DS’s friends at college are fascinated that we have no sidewalks, that we heat with a woodstove, and that HS classes are sparsely populated on the opening day of deer season. Glad we can expand their cultural horizons 
.
And a question for everyone: DD’14 is getting ready for her semester abroad to China. While she is there, she will be living in a dorm with a student from China and one of the things she needs to bring is a gift for this student. Does anyone have any suggestions for something that a college student from China would enjoy as a gift?
Another wrinkle to the QOTD about chasing merit - I just saw in another thread that Northeastern has announced they are discontinuing their University Scholars program, which was full tuition scholarships. That was my S #1 reach, and it is not affordable without full tuition. So I guess we will have to wait and see what they replace it with, and put our planned August trip to Boston on hold for now. And who knows what other schools will change their scholarship criteria in the next few months. It is so hard to plan when everything is a moving target! I remember last year their were complaints that Drexel changed their merit scholarships in October, which seems ridiculously late.
Re QOTD:
We are lucky enough to afford paying boat for schools.
Unfortunately, my son’s stats/scores/ec’s are not “worthy” of top tier college consideration. So that eliminates some very expensive schools right off the bat
Now, the fortunate thing is his scores and grades may get him some money at a few schools.
Unfortunately, he doesn’t “love” those schools, but he loves a couple of schools that cost a bazillion dollars. /
I will most likely be forking over wads of cash next fall.
Re: reach schools. I am a realist. I talked with my son about the true chances of getting into any particular super reach school. He will not be applying to any, said it’s a waste.
In other news, last day of final exams here for my kids. So far, they think they’ve done OK, so I’m hoping their report cards end up being decent.
So ready for summer.
Merit/affordability
Another donut hole family (and I think @eandesmom is right about the origin of the term). Here’s our list in terms of possible merit:
Three auto-admit affordable safeties (so glad!)
Four low-matches where enough merit seems pretty likely (high hopes in this area).
Four matches where admit with merit seems possible, but differing levels of probability (first and second choice schools are in this bunch)
Three reaches where I’d be surprised at admittance and shocked by getting enough merit.
One of those reaches I’d really like to knock off the list because I don’t even think it’s a good fit. Another we’re going to visit (it’s in the same city as a low-match that we’re both enthusiastic about), so we’ll see if it stays. The third reach is definitely staying because D really, really likes it. Maybe her scores will go up and her merit chances as well. I’m jealous of all those getting ACT scores today. We’ll be waiting until next month for June SAT scores.
Unusual Majors
D17 is going into EE, so nothing unusual there. Older D is double majoring in integrative physiology and dance. Her passion is dance and she is very interested in the anatomy and mechanics of how the body is put together and how it moves (I’m sure I’m simplifying things here!) The two majors go together very well. She taught a dance workshop (students got school credit) at a HS and part of her teaching was explaining the moves in terms of physiology and concentrating on injury prevention. She is hoping to go to physical therapy school as well as being a professional dancer (local gigs here and there, not Broadway or anything) and/or a dance teacher.
I see @WhereIsMyKindle has set the bar high for trip reports! And I’ll be doing a trip report next week. :-S
@whataboutcollege, My S18 got the same letter. We looked it up and determined it is just a knock-off designed to look like the National Honor Society. There was even a HS website specifically telling parents to ignore the letter. No $60 from us!
How did you manage to write in bold in your post? Thanks!
Being told, “of course you can afford to send you kid here, just sell your house” is cringe worthy also.
Today is June 21 (Happy Summer). I know of at least one college on our list that opens their application on July 1. 9 DAYS AWAY!
Its getting real. @itsgettingreal17
@STEM2017 what college? I can’t wait to get this application season started and over with!
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Good luck @STEM2017 I think we need to seriously visit Ole Miss!
Pitt does too! Open application on July 1.
Thanks everyone for the feed backs for the Spam. It is in the recycle bin now 
@whataboutcollege, I’m a bit late to the spam discussion, but both D15 and S17 got that letter. I checked them out and the recycle bin is the best place for that mailing.
Happy summer. S is volunteering at a summer camp for two weeks helping teach physics, mainly optics, to 9-12 year olds. I’m still trying to get him to find a summer SOMETHING that involves more than playing on his computer (which he is banned from for a week). If he doesn’t find something on his own, he will be working at our business doing grunt work. That should get him off of his behind.
Watch out for free offers. For my first kid, I set up common app account and paid for all schools that would take a payment without an app submission on July some date when it opened. Some of them didn’t actually get filed until January 1st and only because the fee was already paid.
For my second kid last year, no payments were made until actual submission of the app (many were done in last week of december). It was surprising to receive 3 separate free offers we were not expecting along the way.
You will also get some free apps for schools with their own apps (or free app links even if they also subscribe to commonapp). My recommendation is to make use of those because it many cases, your child stands a very good chance of - 1. getting an admission and 2. get merit money. D applied to 3 separate direct free apps and each one of them gave a scholarship.
BAMA and new SAT Scores
For those who are borderline for a scholarship at Bama, i thought I would share something I read. According to the site, they will take the highest of New SAT, Old Sat, or ACT. The new concordance table shows that a 1400 on the old test is lower on the new test. That means a 1400(or any other level of award) may be easier to achieve on the new SAT. At this point, they are not raising the qualifying scores for the new SAT. I realize I may not be conveying this clearly. So according to conversions, a 700 math score on the old test is equal to a 730 on the new test. a 660 CR and 640 writing converts to a 700 on the new test. So I guess, if you have borderline student on the old Sat, it might be worth trying the new SAT to get a qualifying merit award if needed…I would guess that by next year, BAMA will make some sort of adjustment for the concordance gap, but the class of 17 may get the boost this year.