I think my kid is internationally ranked in one of those online games such as league of legends. I’m sure he’d want to include that! My D had fun with her ski ranking because she was internationally ranked. She could actually say that she was ranked something like 350th in the world in one of the disciplines. She kept it general - internationally ranked as a classifier was good enough for her - lol.
Pokemon Go: There’s a new patch out for it on iOS to fix the Google account “scope” issue. snort
On topic: Still trying to chase someone down at the school who can tell us when the transcripts are being sent. We don’t need them NOW, but it would be nice to know if its going to be after school goes back or what (so we can stop checking on them).
@CT1417 Just be careful with the school supplements your S is copying/pasting to Word…as they could likely be last year’s.
I’ve been clicking through the school pages as well, mostly to verify the # of essays needed.
@2muchquan Absolutely! Good catch. Some schools change prompts, so until their apps are open, they may be last yr’s prompts. Some schools are unlikely to change. For example, I think the spiders essay is there to stay at UR.
I’m impressed that so many have finalized their college list and have even started apps. We are still visiting colleges this summer and into September.
@longwood I wouldn’t say that our list is quite final yet. But it’s probably fairly close.
I have a close friend whose S is the same age as my D. Friend is beside himself because for the last year S has been saying he wanted a small school with computer science. Well, he is taking a summer CS class at Depaul University in Chicago and loves it! Loves the school. Now he thinks he wants a large school after focusing on small schools for the last year. You just never know. (what he really probably loves is taking the train downtown Chicago by himself every day.)
Hopefully S17 is not going to change his mind too much with these campus visits, and has a better idea of what he wants at this point than his sister did. I think that if my D15 had not already been through this process, I’d probably be more worried. He does seem to know what he wants and has done a few college tours. This is stage two.
Someone unthread asked about whether NMF should be listed under national award. I recall researching this for DS14 and the Common Application stated that NMF would be under State award since the designation is determined by the state average and not national average. Just want to share what I found out in the past.
@MichiganGeorgia That ACT math/science article is very troubling. Especially with so many, like us, counting on hitting certain scores for merit-aid. Very disturbing.
We have no transcript or school profile so no real info yet about where DS amongst classmates. Just when we thought we had worked out senior schedule, we now have learned school is now not offering AP Chem next year – a course DS wanted to take - (dilemma now: he wants to drop foreign language and not take AP lit but 2 semester course that are pretty good - with a lot of reading/writing required & focus on the election & another is a college writing course. He is taking science research (needs to write a paper and enter competitions) & AP Physics C (and AP econ, AP BC Calc, Orchestra, & PE) . He could take AP Enviro but not a strong area of interest or take AP Chem. through CTY (can get pass/fail credit on transcript so no GPA impact). Any suggestions? He will have to work on apps and wants to do ECs as well in a few areas taking a college physics course this summer - will get credit on transcript - just pass fail per HS’s policy- will end up with LOTs of credits - but does that matter?? Thanks so much!
So @4beardolls if you are NM Commended, is that national award since it’s a national cutoff? 
@2muchquan — yes, fully aware of that, but am just happy that the child has finally looked at an essay prompt. It will require more rounds of threats to get him to actually write an essay. If nothing else, I thought that reviewing the prompts before we head off on interviews might give him some idea of what to expect.
The ‘list’ here is ever evolving, and will most likely change as a result of SCEA and EA results. I am also impressed by those who have final lists. We will be visiting three more schools in early August and another one or two when delivering older son back to college end of August.
@4beardolls —fascinating, as I would have assumed national for NMF. But Commended would be national–ironic!
@2muchquan, Good question but I have no answer! :">
Are there sections distinguishing between national and state level awards? I don’t remember that…but that isn’t saying much!
@CA1543, if he already took Bio, Chem and is now taking AP Physics C that should be good. How many sciences courses in all did he take?
Looks like a pretty full schedule so I would not add AP enviro just to add an AP class.
Science research sounds interesting.
If he has taken chem once before then I would just wait until college to take more Chem.
@mommdc – thanks – in NY DS took (is taking) these sciences – for High School Credit:
Earth Science (8th grade but is a high school course - on transcript)
Biology (NY Regents - required - 99 SAT subject test: 800
Chemistry - NY Regents
AP Physics I - 5 on AP Exam
Original Science Research - (OSR) will take 4 years - will have 4 credits & research paper, projects in competitions etc.
Physics 2 - taking at a local college this summer & will take the SAT subject test in October
Will take senior year: AP Physics C & OSR
Soooo – will have 10 science credits through senior year apparently – all 98-99 grades BUT Regents courses are not that rigorous but are required.
thanks!!
QOTD: – D will be reporting AP scholar levels as an honor as well as NHS - -she just doesn’t have too many honors to put in those sections. The only national award she will have is the Girl Scout Gold Award - and she doesn’t have that yet - so it won’t likely help her.
I have come to realize just how amazing the superkids on CC really are, but this is just a small slice of the college population. Many of the kids on here DO have multiple local/state/national awards - especially the athletes and the kids who focused on college apps and readiness very early – many other outstanding students do not have other honors or leadership. They may be the quiet leaders, the behind the scenes kids, the constant runners-up, the well rounded involved in many things type of kids. There are millions of other kids applying to colleges that do not have long lists of state/national honors - and if D took the time and commitment to take and do well on APs than she is listing the honor – won’t make a difference in acceptance but it is not nothing so it is going on.
Off topic some but related…I personally get a bit bothered by the multitude of people on CC (not this thread but the general boards) who dismiss NHS and other “standard” honors. I am constantly reading that it is a joke, administrators don’t value it, and it is only for kids who don’t have anything else I guess that is dependent on the school and on how the kids choose to spend their EC time. At Ds school NHS it is not a joke and it is highly sought after. Many, many kids with higher rankings were not invited into NHS – others were invited to apply but did not have the volunteer hours or the outside letters of recommendation. Still others did not get 3 different teachers recommending them or they did not do well on their interview. Parents are constantly requesting meetings with the adviser and administration to lobby to get their child in if they have been passed over. Students must have a minimum of a 4.0 W to apply (this seems to be different at different schools), the required volunteer hours are checked, a minimum of 3 teachers have to recommend you, and there is an interview. There is the expectation that the NHS kids will continue to volunteer in the greater community but also as tutors in the school and in the middle school. Many kids have been passed over if they have not exhibited good character as students. My D is proud of her invitation and her acceptance into NHS at her school, takes the responsibilities seriously, and will be putting it on her application. Will it help her??? Who knows – she is not vying for seats at any top 20 schools or any that she is not already above the 75% in stats (scores and grades) - but it is an honor, she does spend her time, and she is proud so it is going on as an honor.
We’re also waiting on NMSF to submit most of D’s apps. She will submit Pitt this week and wait for the rest. But she will be ready to hit submit once the announcement is made. We’re hoping the school lets us know early rather than when the press release is put out. All transcripts and test scores will already be on file so that she has a file started at each school.
@novicemom23kids Agree with you on NHS. At my son’s school acceptance to NHS is similarly difficult. Unweighted GPA of 3.5 or higher just to get invited to apply, a personal statement akin to a college essay, three teacher recommendations, and multiple pages of EC forms. Only about 15% of his class ultimately gain acceptance. And acceptance is really just the beginning. NHS members must perform many hours of service to maintain their status. It’s a big deal to him and we’re very proud of him for it…whether or not college adcomms respect it.
I’m a 2016er but I will quickly comment on the NHS thing. I put it on my application as did everyone I know who is in it. For us you need a 90 average, 100 community service hours, and you have to write 2 essays. There are much higher ranked kids that didn’t get in because they didn’t have enough service hours. Basically the consensus at my school is put it down because it is an honor and it shows character and service on top of grades.