My son is attending a college application writing “camp” next week with his high school’s college guidance counselor and they work on the common app, particularly the sections with the ECs etc. My son does band. It is a class and also an EC for him so I will let everyone know what she says about how best to do it.
All you people picking Rice make me wish I wasn’t so full of hatred for Houston…we should probably visit!
Cannot STAND Houston. It stinks, it is so humid and always seemed so stinky every time we visited family who attended school there. UGH. Traffic is horrible too. But maybe I need to go with an open mind?
Texting: I just texted D…she is in the office and I’m on the couch. “Let your dad know when you want to go practice parallel parking.” So flipping hot today and I was in and out of the car all day. I’m DONE.
And my son’t reluctance to text while in the house, just got him in hot water. He disappeared on me today. No big deal he was out, but I ask for some basic respect and expect him to keep me roughly informed of his schedule. Otherwise I’m a mom & I start to worry. He didn’t want to interrupt me at the time because I was in a online meeting, but that’s why texting me is a good solution.
All I can say is this year is going to be fun.
I think Rice would be one of my choices,too. I would say Tulane, but I would probably flunk out after a year. I did do one spring break in New Orleans.
We visited Rice with DS '14. We really liked it. It is in a very nice part of Houston. He applied, was accepted but didn’t receive enough merit. No Fiscal Way.
And in my recurring unsolicited dining advice, if you go to Rice try benjy’s in Rice Village. You must try Mom’s Chocolate Cake. http://www.benjys.com/menus.html
In another life, I should have been a restaurant critic. Except I like too much; I’m not really critical.
I’m not at all interested in Houston, Texas either. Although I do hear nice things about Rice. Much more interested in the Pacific Northwest.
How can you fill over 10 pages in one day? I am breathless … but will try to remember some QOTDs.
@Driver’s License: My DC got it at 16 and 4 months after a full year of permit driving. We still need to practice parallel-parking and highway-driving. Other than that: So far, so good!
@AP and parking fees: No cost for APs. They are covered by the school district. Parking is $20 but only seniors get a numbered spot; others have to come really, really early.
@MyFavoriteCollege: I’d say Boston University - big, urban, with a multitude of majors. My kid hated it though.
@stlarenas LAC CTCL? I don’t know these terms - can you spell them out for me?
LAC liberal arts college
CTCL colleges that change lives
Back to school - I’d choose Stanford. Great academics, weather, and sports teams. It was my dream school once upon a time.
Rice - I love Houston…for a long weekend. Couldn’t live there. The humidity is just awful. Everything else about it is great.
I feel like I the answer to this question is probably no, but maybe some lurkers will come out of the woodwork and commiserate with me on this one:
Do any of you have a kid that is just really apathetic about the entire process? My D has no idea what she wants to major in. I am OK with that. However I feel like we at least need to know where her interests are. So I printed out the list of majors and minors and had her cross about anything that she absolutely was not interested in studying.
There was nothing left when she was done! Seriously! She doesn’t hate school, she gets good grades and does the work without complaining, but it’s just work to her. Something she is supposed to do. And she has a similar response when I ask her if she has a preference over one college or another, or how she feels about a visit.
(She’s also the one who’s had a drivers permit to almost 2 yrs with very little interest in actually learning to drive)
She is not depressed or stressed. She is generally a happy, well liked, well adjusted kid. She doesn’t cause trouble, she does what she’s asked. She is involved in some sports and clubs but doesn’t really love them.
I’m sure she will do well wherever she lands, but I wish I knew what it will take to spark an interest and excitement in her…because that’s where I want to send her to college.
The college mail - and stalking - has ramped up again. The Commom App is open…we get it!
@stlarenas, in our high school they really encourage job shadowing, they have lists of businesses and professionals where students can sign up to shadow. It doesn’t have to be about a major yet, maybe just see what might be interesting?
D wrote several essays today. (She was a total slacker yesterday and spent all day on 1/2 an essay.) A couple of them were excellent. I had to tell her to toss one and start over though.
@mommdc I wish we had that. She isn’t a slacker, she really is trying. She just started a job at Kuman learning. She enjoys it but knows she doesn’t want to be a teacher. And she had an interview last week at the local hospital to volunteer, and she was approved and called back to set up the orientation…but they haven’t returned her call (I keep telling her to call again…). Honestly she isn’t immature…but she’s still a kid. I know she just needs some time to experience more stuff.
@stlarenas would a gap year help? S is pretty apathetic about the process. He does know what his major will be, and that he doesn’t want to live anywhere near us, but other than that he has zero opinions about anything. I’m hoping he’ll get more excited due to peer pressure? Either that or we’re banking on visits to spark something (if I can get him to complete some apps…)
@stlarenas I’m going to make a few suggestion. Most are along the line of Don’t Panic. You might need to figure out what’s not motivating your teen.
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It’s OK to not know what you want to do. Find a school where she can enter undecided. (Hard to do art or engineering that way but not for other majors.) Honestly I think it’s quite healthy at 17 to not necessarily know what you want to do. It used to be more common to enter university undeclared. Some few tops schools still insist you can’t declare until sophomore year. (Rice for example.) My S17 doesn’t really know what he wants but at least he has a direction & few possibilities. And he’s highly motivated to move away from home.
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Despite the panic on this board. It’s still very early to apply for colleges. Many have applications open till mid-Feb, and some even have rolling admits till August. Perhaps getting back to school & seeing her friends excited about college applications will help get her interested.
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Maybe a community college is a good fit. At least where I live community colleges are a great alternative when a kid’s not sure what they want to do next. In CA you can go to community college for two years & get transfer into University of California schools. It’s really a great option for many young adults.
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How about a gap year? My D12 had a friend who was like this. She applied to a tiny number of places to please her parents and because it was expected. Got in most of them because she was a good student. Ended up going to none of them, and took a year off. (Lots of options here… don’t want to share what this particular student did as she’s not mine.) Was a lot less stressed & happy about the whole thing second time around. Landed in a perfect small LAC, and the only downside is she still has one more year when many of her H.S. friends have graduated.
What I wouldn’t do is PUSH her to apply if she really isn’t interested. In my experience that is just throwing your money away. I’ve seen kids get pushed, go off to college and drop/fail out after a semester or two. My experience is young adults take different paths to adulthood, and 4 year university isn’t the only path to happiness.
@Ghibelline2017 Boston University?? Really, when you could choose Harvard or the other ~30 universities in the general Boston area. I guess we each have our favorites & different things we look for. Boston is a great college town & I choose a different one in the area.
BU just leaves a bad taste in my mouth because of a junior high trip to Boston. We were housed at their dorms, big tall building who’s stairwell smelled of vomit. Bad memory, of a trip I was miserable at. I knew people who attended in the 80’s who didn’t like it & never finished. They loved Boston on the other hand.
But in BU’s defense it’s changed a lot in the past 25 years. I know a student or two that is happy attending now. Many people wouldn’t have recommended USC in the 80’s either. BU has closed a few streets to make more of a campus feel. I walked through it a few years ago & it really does look a lot nicer than it used to.
Hey, I went there in the early 80’s. I had a great time at BU, and loved going to school in Boston. Lived in that dorm with the vomit smelled. I thought I cleaned mine up…Sorry
I’m not ready to consider a gap year yet…she needs more experiences and I’m not sure a gap year will provide more than going away to college.
I am gently pushing to a smaller LAC because I think it maybe easier to get involved in more stuff quicker :). We are visiting Rhodes College in Memphis this Friday. I have challenged her in a playful way to ask at least 5 questions while we are there … Hopefully she will (I may have to bribe her with Dunkin Donuts :D) Otherwise she will not say a word the entire visit.
Maybe senior year will help. Classes start next Tuesday. She has some great, caring teachers looking out for her. Unfortunately she is definitely near the top of her class and most of her peers are choosing the school based on where their BF is going and the bar isn’t set real high.
She’s a smart kid with fairly high test scores and I want her to take advantage of the best opportunities she has.
@stlarenas Have you thought about books like What Color is Your Parachute?