jobs: Summer job only. During the school year, dancing is her (unpaid) job. Between class and rehearsals for her ballet company, she averages about 20 hours per week for 7 months of the school year. That’s more than enough!
@WWWard - I think @payn4ward and others got most (all) of them, but this was my off-the-top-of-my-head list:
Georgetown, Chicago, MIT, Notre Dame, Tulane, U Mich, UNC, UVA, Case Western. Not sure if they’re all in the top 50, but probably close. For an LAC, you’ve got Beloit.
The reachiest reaches (HYPS), as others have indicated, are all single-choice/restrictive and you can’t apply to any privates EA (publics are fine).
@stlarenas - I would check online. DS17’s permit was expiring and he was able to renew it online. They just sent him a new one. He is supposed to take the road test on Friday after school… I am hoping it’s not raining because if it is I think it will be harder to pass the parallel parking part since he hasn’t practiced that in the rain.
@curiositycat333 DS17 most likely choice will be UF (his other choices are reaches, academically or financial). He’ll be a freshman, while his sister would be a senior. Her being there isn’t really playing a role in his choice, it much more has to do with UF’s low in-state tuition rates, and the quality of it’s aerospace engineering program.
Last week they both panicked a bit when my wife joked about making them live in the same apartment, but after watching them freak-out for a few minutes (very entertaining…), I assured them that’s not the plan. DS needs to live on campus his first year and start creating his circle of friends, while DD14, as a senior, will have a completely different focus (and group of friends).
Of course, if they are at the same school, it would make visiting them easier, and DS17 could go his first year without a car (UF Parking >>> Dante’s ninth circle of hell). DD14 would also make a great peer advisor.
**siblings going to the same school: ** D’17 is our first. S’20 is already going to a different high school. I think the chance of them ending up in the same college is low.
Just in case any of you are rookies with the driving test like we were here are two tips:
- In Texas, the road test can actually be scheduled at private locations, usually a driving school. It costs a bit sooooo well worth it to not have to spend hours at the DPS. Do other states allow this?
- Parallel parking practice-- the DPS and the driving school had parallel parking practice areas (also used for the actual test) whee you can go after hours to have your kid practice. Very helpful!
I know in NY you have to take the test through DMV and they book out 2 to 3 months in advance!
@carachel2 We did the same thing in TX and it was so much easier than going to the DPS.
@LoveTheBard It was UT Austin that said to put as much info as you can on the expanded resume. I’m not sure that info applies anywhere else.
jobs son17 does not have a lot time during the year between playing sports, tutoring and 2 clubs Deca and Model UN. In the summer he plays on a travel lacrosse team and a high school soccer team. So, he got his license to referee soccer games and does 2 games per week Sept thru Oct and then between April and June. He gets paid $25 a game, so in two hours he makes $50. which is plenty. It looks good on a resume I think because he it combines an interest with work. He is usually the head ref, so there is some responsibility too. He is looking forward to working next summer when he has more time and wants to intern in college.
Possible my kids will attend same college. They get along very well. Its a big college and they would have different majors. Don’t think it would be a problem.
No private driving tests that I have heard of in any state I have lived. It would be a nice option because DMV sure can get scheduled out. Luckily, S has his license so we don’t have to complete that hurdle. DMV allows practice for parallel parking when they are closed. The most crowded time is Sunday afternoon. There can be quite a line for rotation through the cone area.
2 kids, Different schools:
My two kids are interested in totally different stuff. Older one wants to stay near home and study finance and live in the northeast permanently.
Son19 wants to explore and is much more comfortable being on his own and fully independent. He’s mentioned already that he might be interested in going out to California for college, studying engineering. Zero chance he picks where his older brother decides to go.
The only chance is if I somehow convince them that going to UVM would save me a bunch of cash and I resort to bribery of cars,toys, and cash gifts. :)) If they both went to UVM it would be so nice on our finances. Slim chance at the moment though.
@mtrosemom …I had never heard of this rule either until I started digging around the DPS website. I saw a small note about “3rd party testing” and wow…couldn’t believe it! Our local DPS did not have road test availability until late September!
Ohio has a maneuverability test rather than parallel parking. Basically pulling through series of cones to get into a position to back through those same set of cones (backwards part is essentially the same as parallel parking). Unfortunately a lot of younger people do not think they know how to parallel park. Can make it easier to find a parking place though because a lot of people have to pass up spots that require parallel parking.
Kids where we live take the test at their driving school. They pay an extra fee, something small like $20.00, but it’s so worth it not to go to DMV. The test is also easier to pass due to the nature of the roads being easier in our town vs the roads/area near DMV.
My son did driving school and took a defensive driving course which he really liked.
There is a reasonable chance, say 20%, that S’14 and D’17 might end up at the same university. I don’t forsee any problems unless they travel to the airport together for flights home. Left completely to their own natures, D would head to the airport 13 hours before the flight and S about 90 mins.
In fact, S almost missed his flight home when two full airport express busses passed him by. He did not consider that possibility but went “further up route” for the third. I do believe D would have called 911.
And a belated apology to @payn4ward for referring to S’17 as her daughter upthread. I hope S’17 doesn’t read CC. (Really, I hope most kids don’t.)
Passage rates for the different DMV locations are available online. Some kids take their tests at locations with higher passage rates.
@jedwards70 - Thanks for answering my question. That strikes me as odd for a public, as publics tend to be more stats driven than holistic. I would have thought this to be even more the case for the U of Texas, which guarantees admission to the top X percent of graduation classes (unless, of course, you are talking about their special scholarships (the 40 acres, for example), or their signature programs like Plan II Honors). As a general rule, however, I can’t imagine the adcoms taking the time to peruse 8 page resumes for their 40K applicants. It just doesn’t make sense to me.
My cynical self thinks that the Coalition’s “locker” and the CA’s “zeemee” and the aforementioned 8 page resumés are generally there to give students/parents the illusion that schools are diligently pouring through anything and everything that the little snowflakes applying to their schools have accomplished/written/achieved when, in reality, the adcoms will, for the most part, ignore them. I recall a thread in which a certain highly competitive full ride scholarship application (American’s I believe) asked the finalists to create and upload a 4-minute video which, according to Youtube stats, was promptly ignored.
@LoveTheBard It was not UT for us (we didn’t tour). I actually don’t recall the school, but we got the same advice at multiple schools. The 8 pages just happened to stick out to me.
D’s resume is only two pages. 8 pages is excessive but the AO (and me) are just using it to make a point.
@itsgettingreal17 - thanks. Strikes me as odd, as I said in my post of 3 seconds ago.
@Dave_N - are you afraid that kids are going to realize just how obsessed and neurotic their parents are? (as if they didn’t know already!) Hat’s off to students like @readingclaygirl (if I’m not confusing her with someone else; I think there is also a kid at UConn that has floated in and out on this thread) that have already been through the process and read this for fun and support!
My kid does her own thing on CC but just in case she’s silently stalking – Hi Babe! Love ya!