D20 also starts driving on a permit in about 9 months! She has driven our van on back country roads already. We are bad that way, but she drives a John Deere gator (like a golf cart) all over the place when she goes to see her grandparents, and she was just ready. She will be a very confident driver if and when she can see over the steering wheel. She’s the 4’ 11.5" gymnast in the family.
@2muchquan ACT report shows an ELA score that is the average of English, Reading, and Writing scores. I wonder if they meant the ELA score… I’d contact the school for certain.
@Dave_N Whoa, that’s crazy. Is that a public school? We’re looking at $90 for the “gold” card which includes entry into all football games (and other sports) and a yearbook. I think the senior activity card is another approximately $200 but haven’t got the info on it yet. We don’t pay for books and last year the district covered all AP tests (though the year before I paid $92).
Yes, public school. It’s a good school, but I like said, sometimes it makes me grumpy.
Our school fees were $290 and that included 55$ for the yearbook. Parking permit would have been another $15. Guess I shouldnt complain.
@payn4ward I was referring to the Common App section of the CA, but yeah I can ask them too. For now it’s her Writing score
That would not fly here to turn 16 and then take driving test right away. They have to have 65 hours of supervised driving time, including inclement weather, night, interstate. Also a new male driver will increase insurance costs alot.
I want to be comfortable about letting him drive alone, especially at night, in bad weather.
I will gladly keep driving him places as long as it takes.
DS passed his drivers test today! Now, if only he didn’t get lost every time we drive, I would let him drive alone. We are going to have many trips to school together before I let him navigate alone. His driving is fine but he couldn’t make his way out of a paper bag if he tried. :-??
I guess he will have to rely on his phone navigation to go anywhere.
Those requirements are similar to what we have in order to get a license @mommdc. They are taken care of during the time DC has their permit, prior to turning 16, if desired.
Now D17 can drive D20. It’s great. But, yes, expensive. Insurance doesn’t go up while on a permit, thankfully.
@ynotgo - sorry, no UCSD report. We were delayed almost 4 hours due to airplane mechanical issues and additional delay with rental car pickup. I guess no college tours for us!
QOTD: Unwritten rules: Whatever the unwritten rules are, S17 will be sending in what is required (and I view recommended as required). There will be no additional LOR from a well intended neighbor. He will only be providing his resume to the schools that specifically request a resume be uploaded. I think that may only be Georgetown on his list. The resume will be 1 page. There is no HS student that can’t fit all of their accomplishments on one page no matter how accomplished they are. For activities, I don’t believe students need to fill in every line provided. It depends on what the ECs are and how important they are to the applicant.
I’m super late to the party, but hopefully I’ve made it in time for cake and ice cream! I skimmed my way through the thread to try and make up for my tardiness and you all are an impressive, supportive group so I’m happy to be here!
My DS17 has great test scores (took the old SAT and very glad he did), strong grades (other than weak grades in math for the first semester of both freshman and sophomore year), and solid but nothing spectacular ECs. Little bit worried about the perceived rigor because he was advised to only take one or two honors classes his freshman year (bad advice from the GC) and he took two. Since then he has maxed out on the rigor – took 2 APs this year and will take 4 next year (wanted a fifth, but was conflicted out of AP Spanish which is a real bummer). The college guidance counselor (his school has a dedicated counselor for just this function which is great) says she plans to not check the rigor box and then explain that he followed the advice that the school gave him when he moved into town for high school.
He’s fortunate to have generous grandparents who have provided him with a college fund so he is chasing strong schools with good weather, although certainly any merit awards would be welcomed and taken into account! He’s thinking he might try for Rice ED.
He is starting to work on his main common app essay, but no applications in yet. Very impressive to those who already have applied!
He has had his license for almost a year. Our state allows you to get a permit at 15 1/2 and your license at 16 and he has been ready to drive since he was a toddler. It is SO helpful to have him driving. Unfortunately, I don’t think DD19 will be similarly eager and comfortable to drive when she turns 15 1/2 in a few months.
@pittsburghscribe Any GC who says that 6 APs does not qualify as rigor is just dillusional. Yikes. What in world makes idiots believe that 9th graders have the foresight to understand their “destiny.” Geesh. Yes, 14 yr olds should have all of the answers.
Re: common app - the common app section of the app saves some time, but I think the time saved is not as significant as it seems on the surface. It seems to me that many colleges have added additional essays and supplements over the years that make a high number of applications just as, if not more, time consuming than filling in the biographical information over and over. As for LORs, back in the day, you handed the teacher the LOR form, the correct number of stamped and addressed envelopes, and the teacher wrote one LOR, ran off the number of copies, and stuffed the envelopes. A little more work, but not that much. I can definitely see the time savings if a student can identify colleges that want little more than the common app essay and fire off up to the max applications. But having finally seen the CA up close, I’m more inclined to believe that the increase in applications, especially to selective schools, has more to do with increased competition for admissions than the CA.
@IABooks I am with @canypava on listing pre-college summer programs. S17 has listed his pre-college summer programs on his apps. He attended Duke and Brown programs. He did not apply or attend those programs because he wanted to put them on a college app. He attended them because he thought the courses sounded interesting. I was willing to pay for these summer programs because they were solid programs and there is so much to be learned at these programs both in and outside of the classroom. S17 has friends that he is still in contact with that reside around the world. The other aspect of attending summer programs for us was S17 is an only child; he is not used to having to share his space. Some suggested he would do better at a small college, some suggested a medium college. S17 has figured out what is going to be the best fit for himself and attending these programs played a part. He can go away to college in another city and will be confident and prepared for the experience. I don’t for one second believe that these programs get kids into the school but they in no way are a negative against the applicant.
In 2013 17,600 students applied to GT. In 2014 when they went CA, 27,300 applied.
@Mom2aphysicsgeek, the problem is that the form asks the counselor to check off whether the student’s schedule is the most rigorous, very rigorous, rigorous, etc. If there are other students at the same school who have taken all honors or AP classes starting from 9th grade, it wouldn’t really be fair/accurate for her to say that my son’s schedule was the “most rigorous.” It’s a weird new world of college admissions that we are in.
@STEM2017 That is frustrating about the GC leaving. Sorry to hear it.
Thanks @paveyourpath They promise me that her replacement is just as good. But that doesn’t replace all the meetings and brag sheets and relationship building we’ve been doing for the past 6 months. We’ll see.
@pittsburghscribe I do understand that, but no, I don’t understand it. If a high schooler taking what should be equivalent to 6 college level classes is not rigorous, then the system needs to start recognizing its defects. (Which are many.)
Fwiw, my comments aren’t personal. I have no horse in that race. I am my kid’s GC. I do believe that APs are way overrated.