My wife and daughter are visiting MSU in a couple weeks. Good luck with the visit. Will be interested to know your impressions. I can definitely see the thought of a UoM grad visiting State. LOL
An update on this. We heard today from S17’s HS counselor that UMD will not be using the Coalition App after all. They have decided to go back to their own app for this year’s applications.
We are not visiting any more campuses before applications are submitted. We are going to do it backward and visit afterward. She wants all applications submitted in August, but it is looking like the next time we will be able to travel isn’t until September.
She may decide not to visit some of the schools until after she hears about scholarships and honors programs. Two schools are way up high on her list, though. They are near each other and since they are her top 2 realistic options, not incredible scholarship reaches, I want her to visit so that she can at least feel like she knows she has one place that she will be happy with no matter what. (We haven’t gotten to that point, yet. 
)
@longwood That is so frustrating! How are these poor kids so supposed to keep everything straight? Dd was on the CO App yesterday and UMD is definitely on the 17-18 list!! She added them!!
And, drum roll, please…Counselor letter complete! Whew, that was a toughie. I struggled with how much information to provide about just how sick she was. I decided I needed to include it b/c her outside activities are pretty much non-existent during those months. But, I am very happy with the final product b/c it really reflects who she is and her personality shines through.
@Mom2aphysicsgeek — congrats!
At this point, you probably know my son as well as his not-yet-hired GC will know him by October!
@longwood—that is great news about UMD-CP…I think. When you say go back to their own app, does that mean proprietary and not CA? I haven’t looked at Coalition. Well, I haven’t actually looked at anything but keep assuming the CA couldn’t have changed much in three years.
@Mom2aphysicsgeek It looks like UMD is on the 17/18 list, but not for this fall’s application cycle.
@ct1417 LOL! I keep thinking about the conversation pages and pages ago about family. My extended family knows next to nothing about my kids. You all definitely know way more than they do!
FWIW, I am annoyed by the UMD CO App issue. Dd has to fill it out for 1 other schools, so this just means she has another single school app to remember to deal with separately. The thing with the CA and the COA is that they both make it easy for recommenders bc they only have to do it once. Having to deal with multiple different applications just means opportunity for information to get mixed up and missed.
@CT1417 Yes Maryland has their own, separate app. Our D15 had to fill it out last year.
@Longwood (I typed 17/18 b/c that is what I have been looking for in terms of looking at scholarship info on websites. The app uses the application year which is 16/17.) I think UMD’s information is incredibly confusing. I can no longer find the quoted info for the CO App, but their website is still listing it as an application option:
http://www.admissions.umd.edu/apply/submittingdocuments.php
@STEM2017: definitely have your son prep for the new SAT. My son hasn’t taken the new SAT but we had him do prep for the old SAT and the ACT last fall and he felt it was worth it. The substantive prep done for the tests is the same but he’ll want to prep to adjust to the format (timing and 4 sections vs 8).
We’re doing it backward, too, @Mom2aphysicsgeek. We’re visiting a humongous school where you have to wear pants in the winter. That is just what D17 said she doesn’t want. Well, it’s a pretty easy trip, the regional admin urged her to come after they met, and he has followed up, they have a good program and solid research opportunities. Plus, it could end up being one of the cheapest choices. We’re going!
Pokemon Go: I can’t believe I am writing about Pokemon Go again. My son just showed me an email he received from Duke. Subject line: Catch 'em all at Duke! I kid you not. These Pokemon are infiltrating.
Just a little helpful primer for those who don’t know about it, but I have mentioned it in the last day or so. It is the “Wayback Machine”. Given a URL, the Wayback Machine can give you older versions of the same page. I have used it to compare information regarding scholarships that have changed from last year to this.
To use it:
- Copy the URL from the current page you are interested in comparing to an older version
- Go to the Wayback Machine: https://archive.org/web/ or Google: “Wayback Machine”
- Paste in your URL and hit Enter
- A calendar will come up showing past dates when copies of the page were made (if the calendar is empty that may mean the page your looking for is new, or has ‘junk’ at the end of the URL that you can remove and try again)
- Click on a past date (I usually look around August of 2015) to see the old versions in a new tab.
- Compare and enjoy!
Dd came into my room last night around 1 am and woke me up in a panic. Her computer all of sudden had a black screen with nothing on it. She turned if off and when it came back on, it looked originally like the blue screen of death, but then it just went black again. She was freaking out bc her entire summer project is on her computer and she had not backed up her files.
I told her to turn it off and not touch it for 10 minutes. To go and get ready for bed. (I was slightly panicking myself at this point. She has spent hours upon hours on her project. It would have been a devastating loss.)
Thankfully when we turned it back on it very, very sluggishly opened Windows. (@motherofdragons, we should have heeded your prophetic warning! Putting it in field and shooting it would have been in line with some of my thoughts last night!)
I went to bed, but Dd was up for a long time afterward saving all of her important stuff that is on her computer.
So, if your kids think their computer is as invincible as they are and don’t regularly back up their files…make them make that a priority! Gosh, I am glad it was this simple and she didn’t lose everything. But I am equally glad it happened bc I don’t think she will make that mistake ever again. (Dear professor so and so, my laptop died and now I can’t turn in my paper…)
@dfbdfb Have you made arrangements to meet with Dr. Sharpe or Ms. Batson? http://honors.ua.edu/contact-us/staff/ If not, you really should. Your Dd sounds like CBH would be a great fit and they are the ones in charge of the program.
@Mom2aphysicsgeek Your D is much smarter than I am, I’m sure. I lost a hard drive last year and spent 2 weeks doing HD forensics to retrieve as much as I could. 3 weeks ago I was told my HD was in early stages of failure. Have I backed it up yet? Maybe today.
Glad your D was able to save stuff.
I do feel secure that all my college stuff is in the cloud.
@snoozn – really appreciate your report on RIT and UoR! Very helpful.
re disclosing ADD, ASD, LDs, etc – as I understand it - this is general advice – disclose perhaps if challenges have been “overcome”. These days though, many colleges have support programs and assistance for students with various conditions so that’s good. At the College App stage though – I don’t mean to be harsh – but I tend to think that many selective colleges are looking out for their interests and may not be willing/able/comfortable doing a thoughtful review of a student who discloses a chronic, ongoing challenge if the college does not have an establish support system in place and that parents/students should look out for their interests during the process - trying hard to make sure the college would be in fact a good match of course. I do think checking out services on campus during visits (or if not possible making phone calls and looking online) is a good idea if relevant and there is supposed to be a firewall- no communications bt offices of support services and admissions. My DS has some exec functioning issues but continues to mature and with his accommodations, he excels (with some bumps along the way of course!) - not sure what will end up being the best option for him but at this point we are working hard to make sure he has a number of good ones. Feeling like small classes and accessible professors who like teaching undergrads will be an important consideration. He is loving his physics class at a local college this summer - only 7 students and labs nearly every day (class is 4 hrs long).
Re Univ. of MD App - I just checked online & it says they’ll use the Coalition App - I hope not - I started that App to see what it entails and it seems to require manual entry of every individual course taken throughout high school. Did I click on a wrong button to bring that up? I am emailing Uni. of Md. Admin to inquire about the app for 2017.
QOTD (or QOTM M=morning): Counselor report on Common App - it requires counselors to check a box as to whether the student is taking most rigorous / demanding courses? Is that correct? Imagine that means taking honors or APs across core subject areas if available throughout high school? I see this discussion on CC:
http://www.collegeconfidential.com/dean/how-do-guidance-counselors-decide-which-course-loads-are-most-demanding/
Do you all know what your school policy is or whether how the GCs answer this question is rather important?
Re computers crashing (blue screen of death). We have 2 threatening to go down! I am trying to back up &wiil also email some important docs to myself. I need to get more comfortable using google Docs for sure!! good luck to @Mom2aphysicsgeek & any others with this issue.
@CA1543 I think for some schools how the GC identifies course load is very important. At others, not so much.
Our HS is large and pretty well-known by a large number of colleges I imagine. I think they know the rigor by looking at the courses. I imagine the checkbox more important for smaller HS? What do you homeschoolers do? (I was going to make that joke about homeschool Vals, but I’ll hold off).