QOTD: What schools? Would it be a good or bad idea to mention the chief rival of the school at which you are interviewing? I tend to think it’s a good idea as it shifts the conversation to “sell” mode for the interviewer. If you’re at Lafayette, mention Lehigh. If you’re at Bama, mention Auburn. Any thoughts?
@STEM2017 I think that strategy would be OK too. Honesty is good. It lets them know that you have at least considered other schools before visiting their school. I don’t think it would hurt, not sure how much it helps either.
I don’t think schools are trying to “sweeten the pot” with potential candidates, unless you have that pointy spike some of the schools want.
@Gator88NE you and I are looking at the same data set. The answer given by Vandy blogger would suggest that of the 63% of students who apply and submit ACT scores, 25% of the admitted students would have a perfect ACT score.
Just seems highly unlikely that there is a clean break between 35 and 36 right at the top 25%. No matter, 35 or 36 are still great scores. About 1600/year get 36 and about 8500 get 35.
http://blog.prepscholar.com/how-many-people-get-a-34-35-36-on-the-act-score-breakdown
@STEM2017 If I place myself in the role of interviewer and a student interviewee answers that question as if they haven’t considered a rival school that is similar, I’d think they were not being completely truthful. It seems obvious that most candidates aren’t considering only one school or only one school of a certain type.
But I agree with @RightCoaster in that they may not switch to “sell” mode and try to convince the student that their school is best. It just gives the interviewee the opportunity to say why this school is better for them than the other one(s) they’re considering. That’s not to say the student couldn’t point out other features in an interview on the other campus, but it does show thought about the college selection and a desire to attend the one they’re interviewing for, which I have to think is a + in the interviewer’s score book.
This thread moves quickly and it is difficult to reply to a post three pages ago. Can someone tell me how to quote an old post (so it shows up in blue) at the top of my reply?
QOTD (my favorite one yet)
Colorado College - That block scheduling is neat. And I absolutely love the state of Colorado
College of Charleston - East coast on the beach - tons of history - learn to sail!
Vanderbilt - Mostly because I just love the town of Nashville. I’d be sure to take a class or two in guitar and/or songwriting (even though I have no musical talent - but why not?) And that campus is beautiful.
Eckerd College - tiny college in St. Petersburg FL - Waterfront campus on the beach and warm weather year round. Watersports and Maritime search and rescue. Sounds like a 4 yr vacation 
** QOTD ** I’m pretty sure I won’t make it into any of my dream school (Harvey Mudd or MIT or Olin would be nice) so my safety would be… local CC ?
@stlarenas LOL! My reaction to the QOTD was thank goodness I don’t even have to think about it. I have zero desire to go back to college. My brain wouldn’t even go there!
@lkg4answers
[ quote ] text to be quoted [ /quote ] but taking the spaces out from within the brackets
QOTD- Not sure where I would go to school, but I went to a small LAC in Central Florida. I loved being in Florida and would totally do that again, but probably just a larger school. I loved being an hour from the beach!
QOTD#2- Don’t really have an opinion on that. I will say the one thing that caught our attention at one school was not pushing their school down our throat, but what we could expect if my DD went to there school.
Driving- D17 got her permit at 16, took drivers ed and got her license 9 months later. I love having a third driver. Buying a third car and insuring a teen sucks, but it is what it is. D19 is about to turn 16 and all signed up for drivers ed this fall. Not looking forward to insuring 2 teen drivers and buying a fourth car.
Rant of the day:
OMG, i almost totally barfed. My son left multiple pairs of soaking wet,muddy soccer socks, several shirts and a towel sitting in his soccer bag, that must have fermented in the heat we have been having. Literally close to barfing from the stench as I pulled them out of the bag to try to clean them somehow. I need to spray down the bag with sports cleaner, wash it and let it dry.
I don’t remember being so gross as a teenage boy. I had a girl friend when I was in high school and I’m sure she would have dumped me if I was walking around smelling like my kids. My kid will spend 20 minutes fixing his wicked cool haircut in the mirror but can’t take 2 seconds to throw smelly socks in the wash. Arrgghhh. If he was here I’d just chuck the bag in his room and shut the door 
@rightcoaster Vinegar is your friend.
@RightCoaster Also a mask like what you wear when stripping wood. :)) Two other (besides vinegar, in case you’re short on that) tips I have for sports laundry: 1) Soaking in vodka. The cheaper the better. Apparently the bacteria evaporates with the alcohol. I have had good results with the UnderArmor type sports shirts with this. 2) Febreze laundry additive. (not the regular spray) Soaking and then adding with detergent during the wash.
@RightCoaster You mean you wash those socks? I put them in the bag and threw them in the garbage bin, not inside the house.
I suppose the soccer bag needs saving.
When boys return from scout camp, without changing for a week, while the neatly folded week-worth clothing still in backpack, I throw the dirty clothing away.
No amount of washing will save the mud-caked socks.
What I really want to do is not to let the boys inside, and strip them and hose them down before they enter the house. =))
However my across the street neighbor has three girls. X_X I’m pretty sure they feel the same way after girl scout camp though. :))
@payn4ward My D21 soccer bag is worse than my S19 soccer bag. We have a house rule that her shin guards and cleats must stay in the garage or on the porch! They are not allowed in the house because the stench is so bad.
However we did have a recent incident where we found a rotten apple in the bottom of S19 soccer bag! We had to toss the shirt it was tangled up in.
Re driving: Out here on the east coast, where roads are congested, narrow, winding, and often hilly, driving practice is a hair-raising event. Public transportation is good. A driving test requires 60 logged hours of practice time.
On a college trip to the Midwest a few years ago, we had an aha moment on the wide, flat roads of Iowa. D15 passed her driver’s test two days before leaving for college. S17 takes his test next week.
Another QOTD: for those with band kids, are you listing all the different types of school band as separate ECs? S has marching, jazz, pep and concert band. Marching and concert are required for all band students; pep and jazz are optional. Section leadership applies by type.
I guess I should add that S doesn’t have an extensive list of ECs so limiting them to 10 lines won’t be a problem.
Regarding stinky socks:
I need to keep them because they are for his club uniform and they are these weird striped socks you can’t find in the stores and cost a bunch. I’m usually able to keep the socks pretty clean. I’ve used vinegar, never tried vodka.
I buy this spray on sports cleaner from Amazon which is great for pads, shin guards, bags etc. Spray it on, it gets rid of the smell. I wash everything in hot water too. Spray and wash gets rid of any stains.
Usually I’m not too grossed out by my kids. Son17 is better at managing this, son19 is brutal. I’m going to have to make it a priority to teach them the process for college.