^^This is GREAT news!
Thank you!
** I had to try this bold thing out too**
Thanks for the tip.
A lot of colleges on D’s list opens applications on July 1. That’s why that’s D-day for D. She will start working on apps in earnest on July 1. The plan is to determine how many essays she can write to satisfy the common app essay, common app supplements, scholarship and honors college essays, and all separate school app essays and get to work on those. The rest of her apps should be out first week of August and we will go through the same process. I don’t think she will be submitting any apps before the NMSF announcement, though she may send off her favorites before then that do not offer anything for NMSF and do not require a letter of recommendation, e.g., UPitt. Teachers won’t have recommendations done until first week of August. We will send off test scores to any school that will make the list regardless of NMSF in July to get her file started at those schools. We’ve got a plan! 
I second what texaspg stated above. Its time to look carefully at all email and snail mail for offers. And I’ll add that connecting with a regional rep or admissions counselor can be very beneficial, so now is a great time to do that. It can yield some freebies and such communications can give you a good sense as to your child’s chance for admissions and merit money. Definitely try to work it from all angles. 
Pitt required a short online app and then they emailed about some short answer questions last year after applying I believe. You could even self report school record, but I think I would send a transcript.
@mommdc Pitt prefers self-reporting to an official transcript.
The way I read their scholarship page is the Presidential Scholarship required a 1400 on the old SAT or if you took the new SAT, a score that converts to a 1400 using the Concordance Tables they linked to. That would mean a 1450 on the new SAT.
I am not sure if a 1450 on the new SAT is really easier than a 1400 on the old, but it may work out that way for some.
@CaucAsianDad I don’t think the Alabama announcement is ambiguous at all - very straightforward. It is 1400 on the new SAT if the student only took the new SAT or only submits the new SAT (since Bama does not require all scores). If, however, the student took both the old and new SAT, Bama will convert the new score to determine the higher SAT score and use that to determine the appropriate scholarship level. So basically, what should happen is a student that has taken both tests should use the concordance table to determine the higher score and only submit that one.
But a 1400 on the new SAT is only equal to a 1340 on the old SAT. Do you really think they are lowering their SAT requirements by 60 points?
@CaucAsianDad I believe Bama is giving students the benefit of the doubt with respect to the new test. I think more schools will do the same. As I’ve said before, the concordance charts are conflicting and seem off. You get different numbers depending on which concordance chart you use. And the charts just seem to be too harsh at the top.
I totally agree with issues with the concordance tables, especially at the top. But that is a more generous approach than others I have seen. I hope other scholarships and honors college do not blindly accept the concordance tables when filtering for talented applicants.
FWIW, I remember that D15 sent in her applications separate from the schools receiving her LORs and transcripts. Most schools don’t expect all pieces of the application to be completed concurrently. She had “portals” that showed what the school had received and what was still pending. So don’t worry if the LORs aren’t done yet. Have your child send in those apps if they have completed them and are ready to go. We are with @itsgettingreal17 in that S will wait until the cutoff score for NMSF are announced before sending in any of his apps. But I want him ready to go well before that date. Most of his chosen schools open their apps in August. That gives him all of July to work on that (painful for him) common app essay and the honors college prompts he could find.
Does anyone know what the common app essay options are? What about the applytexas app essays?
Common app…
I believe for ApplyTexas, each school has it’s own essay prompt, if any.
@Tgirlfriend Common App essay is up to 650 words on one of the following:
QoTD? What are some good books to read over the summer for a student who is taking AP English Lit next year? We don’t have summer AP homework, so no list provided by the school. DS asked for suggestions.
While cleaning his room, he found several books he wanted to read or reread. He’s reread the first 2 Golden Compass books in the past two days. (He says when he read them in ~5th grade he had no context for the Catholic Church references.) He’s read a lot of SF and most all of the well-known dystopian novels.
Of course, I have other priorities for him like essays, but reading isn’t all bad. Some colleges have a short answer question like “What books have you read in the last year?”
It will be nice to hear what Common App prompts your kids are considering or decided on. My S is thinking of doing #1 or #2. I heard those are most popular also.
To help with the discussion, this is what it says on Alabama’s OOS scholarship page (http://scholarships.ua.edu/types/out-of-state.html)
I think it’s a little ambiguous. Is the “highest score” what the conversion tables say is the highest score, thus correcting the new SAT down? (And thus a 1360 or so on the old SAT would qualify for the top scholarship, again via the conversion tables.) Or will they take the highest score, whether straight score or converted? I tend to think the latter is what they mean, but sometimes you see what you want to see…
@srk2017 DS plans to do #4 “Describe a problem you’ve solved or a problem you’d like to solve,” which allows him to talk about the UC research he does and his summer program. He has a 250 word version similar to this prompt from his summer program essays.
If anyone is curious about UC prompts, he is planning to do #1, #2, #4, and #8.