Good Luck @STEM2017!
For those with sick kids, it isn’t fun but hopefully we can get all of our kids healthy. My kids aren’t sick, but they all have Celiac Disease. It took us years to get a diagnosis and it is not fun dealing it!
Hi. I’m a newbie.
First, my sincere thoughts are with the families working through illness and my heart goes out to the family that just lost their Dad.
Just a thought for those kids with serious illnesses that require specialists. Have you looked at Universities that have associated medical centers with specialists? If the campus health center can’t handle the situation, they could refer you to the associated medical center. Usually the medical centers associated with universities have specialists that are quite up to date on the latest in their fields.
I’d like some help re-capping what’s happening this year because I feel I may miss something. Please add or correct, thanks.
Summer 2016: Our kids should try their best to pick schools Reach/Match/Safety, fill out the Common App, get the essays done (if at all possible), get senior pictures done if possible. (Athletes check NCAA reqs)
August: Register for SAT subject tests in October if you need it.
September: National Merit Commended/Semifinalist # comes out. (Does your school notify you or do you look it up? If you are a semifinalist you follow directions they send you and you send your SAT scores to them?)
Oct. 15/November 1/Nov: EA/ED/U. Calif/ apps are due (Some may be earlier)
December: ED2 apps due (Early responses back)
January: RD apps due
February: NM Finalist comes out.
April: Regular responses back. Go see schools if you are unsure of choice.
May: Responses due back to colleges.
June: Graduation!
Summer 2017: 1.Call auto insurance- ? discount if not bringing a car to college but remain on policy in case they drive a zip car or drive when the come back to visit. 2. Check vaccines like Meningitis B vaccines (2 or 3 depending on which one you can get), Tetanus, HPV, etc… 3.
Anyone else think of anything
:bz
@carachel2 Yes. She has been going to school on the northern side of Frankfurt. She has been doing well and having a great trip so far. School is pretty relaxed there. Classes get canceled regularly. Kids talk in class while teachers are talking. Cheating. Rarely get homework and when they do, kids do not do it. Probably not that different than a lot of high schools in US but not what my daughter is used to seeing with her group of friends.
My heart sank when I saw reports of the gunman in the theater. Hold my breath every time I check CNN online.
Glad to hear everything is going well for your daughter.
@BeeFriendly that’s a good list, you have a lot of good stuff on your list.
Welcome to this thread!
Don’t forget to add a note about starting a list of items for their dorms and early shopping for next spring.
@BeeFriendly The college app dates will vary for everyone depending on the schools on their list.
Welcome all former lurkers! I’ll be dropping back to mostly lurking now and again starting next Tuesday. :(( With D only a year from college and needing me less and less, I’ve given up my awesome flexible position to get back on the proverbial corporate ladder. Therefore I’ll have little time to keep up with the speed of this thread.
** T-2 DAYS /b
Welcome to the new folks!
We just got the Yale book in the mail. It is quite lovely (especially the photos of the stunning library). But clearly not meant for the parents as the print is teeny tiny! 
@saillakeerie …WOW! That is crazy about your daughters school report. I have not heard that from D but honestly other than a few brief texts a day, I have not had a conversation with her. Is your daughter at a gymnasium?
I can’t wait to talk to her and get the details. They are traveling to Bonn tomorrow for an overnight. ::::holding breath::::
@carachel2 Yes. She is at a gymnasium. Her statement about the relaxed view of school is surprising because based on her visit with us in the spring, the German exchange student definitely has not had a relaxed attitude about her own education. She is very bright, speaks amazing English (as well as German and is taking French), knows a lot of world history, etc. I have asked my daughter to check with other kids on the way home to see if the experience has been the same in different parts of the country. One issue I have heard is that once the kids are slotted into the 3 different tracks, there is a tendency to let up somewhat (figuring your path has been set). Not sure if that is happening there.
@RightCoaster,
I have been wondering how to get a kid exposed to the world of business. How did your son get interested? My D is class of 21 and has been to engineering camp, science camp, coding camp, but nothing else.
I would like to expose her to different fields looking for something that might spike an interest. I know nursing but nothing outside of that.
Just a quick reality check: Even with the recent shooting near Frankfurt, you’re much, much safer in public places in Germany than in the United States. So there’s that, you know?
@dfbdfb … Yes! I keep telling myself that but it’s good to hear it from others. Thanks!
@VANURSEPRAC regarding an interest in business. My son has not had a lot of exposure to people in other fields. Literally every single one of our family members is involved in business in some way, consulting, finance, CEO, internet start ups, sales, etc. He has discussed with these people what they do for their careers and why they like it. He has also asked for feedback on careers that people regretted. He has seen some friends and family work very hard and not make a lot of money and then he has seen some family who have done very well financially. I think he likes the idea of working in a field where he can make money. He’s not greedy and he doesn’t even spend much, but I think he likes the idea of living the high life, lol.
When he got to high school he joined DECA and liked that. He has enjoyed it more every year. This year they learned about Wall St and other finance related jobs thru some mentors, and he loved meeting a guy who entered the world of hedge funds. He was fascinated by that encounter and has tried to learn more about that field. My son loves playing strategy board games and I believe he thinks he the stock market is like a big game, so that is appealing.
I’ve tried to get him interested in other things, robotics, coding, teaching, science stuff and it just hasn’t worked.
Maybe if I had some doctors,nurses, professors, scientists in my family things would be different.
So, business it will be!!
It is so hard to keep up with this group. Wish everyone get healthy and stay healthy!!! Nothing is more challenging than seeing a child sick.
On a happy note, D’17 has completed her CA essay and actually shared with me yesterday :)>-
We have a lot of newbies coming out to play!!! @lemetz @BeeFriendly
Thank you @RightCoaster
hi @lemetz , and welcome. You wrote
In our house we are not dealing with chronic health issues (knock wood, because tomorrow isn’t promised), but we are giving serious thought to living close to wherever our younger daughter goes to college. Not because she can’t handle herself, but because she doesn’t seem to want to go far from us, and does seem to want to go to college in florida which is where we’re thinking of moving to once she graduates. So, for us, we’re definitely going to move at some point (we like exploring, and staying put for the past ten years for the girls has been a challenge for us).
I got an 82 on my comp sci midterm, which is lower than I expected, but it was super stressful. The teacher had put on her website that she would “open up all the quizzes again” so we could study from them, and that didn’t happen (she’s an idiot who has yet to grade anything and it’s over 4 weeks in). So I zoomed through 500 powerpoint slides.
Then the proctorU website that watched me for the midterm turned out to be SUPER intrusive. They literally turn on your webcam, take control of your computer AND your mouse, and watch you take the online midterm from their computer. It sucked and it creeped me out. They said they needed to check to make sure I didn’t have “cheating” software (whatever on earth that could be for lame-o level introductory comp sci), and looked at all my chrome extensions, etc. Yuck yuck yuck.
So, be aware for those of you who might want your kid to take an online course that I had no less than 4 different guys watching me through my webcam (it took four guys to figure out what was wrong with my microphone-I ended up fixing it because they couldn’t figure it out). The bandaid is happily back over my webcam, and there it shall stay.
Hi @BeeFriendly that’s a great list! You forgot to add Create Binder Of Destiny, White Board Of Destiny, or SOS ( @dfbdfb what does that stand for again?) 
I’m following each day but haven’t had time to post at all. S17 finally finished his junior year, still waiting on a few final grades but all in all a good year. He and dad went on 2 college visits last week, University of Maryland and UVA.
** Day 1: UMD**
Really liked it. Loved the overall feel of the campus and all the people he met. Felt they were very encouraging of his desire to double major in Accounting/Russian. My son liked talking to them in the Business school and really could see himself there. Liked the feel of the campus being close to town but having some feeling of separation as well. Liked that sports were important but not everything and that students and that students were abel to get tickets to sporting events. Definitely felt like even thought it was a big school it felt smaller the it was. Moved it to a top 3 spot in his list of potentials so far.
** Day 2: UVA**
Beautiful campus but didn’t feel the same love here. When asked by an Admissions Dean what he was thinking of majoring she wasn’t very encouraging of his choices for double major and that just put him off. Overall he just felt like they were telling him how lucky he would be to go there instead of why he should want to go there. It’s still on the list but it dropped much lower down.
He’s busy working and doing community theater this summer. His schedule exhausts me! Went through Sr year schedule and he is taking 2 APs-AP Gov and AP AB Calculus (our school only offers 7 overall), Marine Biology and Forensics, ROTC, Band/Chorus, 2 Business courses and a TV production class. It is not full of all the hardest classes but it allows him to take some courses that he’s really interested in and after all the work he’s put in it was our compromise. I’m happy for him to get a chance to do some new things. He will also be starting Russian with a tutor. Our next visit is University of Kentucky. I really hope he loves it but I’m keeping my mouth shut! (it’s not easy).
I really love hearing about all the summer adventures of all the students in here! I wish I was 17 and could do some of these things!
@itsgettingreal17 good luck heading back into the corporate world!
@Mom2aphysicsgeek hope your daughter is feeling better and the adult dr can help. So frustrating when you need your dr and can’t get in for a month! Drives me crazy!
@MotherOfDragons ewwww! I’m creeped out for you! I am taking a bunch of classes for grad school online and thankfully have not had proctored finals like that. I would have spared. Heck I do most of my schoolwork in my pajamas!!!