@rightcoaster I am a realist. This is my 5th sr. Merit $$ for my kids is a must. Getting accepted for my kids is worthless if they can’t attend bc we can’t afford it. So, I have learned a lot from our mistakes and work harder at finding more likely merit $$ possibilities. And that has meant going way down the totem pole and being a student that does something for the school bc essentially they are buying something to improve their ratings, your student. (Consider it a business acquisition. )
I have also learned that the definition of reach is not really “a reach for everyone.” The possibility of acceptance is greater or less depending on the individual applicant. Being in the bottom 25% of stats and not an athlete or some other recruited student means that your on the definite less end of the reach. Applications are time consuming and costly. I want my kids to find schools where they are in the greater end of a reach. That means making sure they are strong contenders for admissions, at least in the mid 50+. (And at least in the upper 1/2 of that 50. This is where data sets can be incredibly helpful. They are the non-emotional black and white reality of what is happening at individual schools.)
When I look at scholarships or admissions, if my kids aren’t near the top, they can pick 1 or 2 to apply to, but not until every other application is done to the best of their ability bc statistically their odds are low, so the focus needs to be somewhere else.
Nothing wrong with going with flow… stress and anxiety can be contagious.
We all have different kids and different financial and family circumstances.
We can vent, share, and commiserate, but no need to be stressed.
@itsgettingreal17, I have tried find out out about Michigan. Can’t find anything about full rides for OOS. I have heard rumors that they have started to give some aid to OOS, but it is need based…not aware of OOS merit…
Here is a link to a discussion about scholarships at Michigan last year, from someone who received a scholarship. It looks like the Stamps scholarships are full cost of attendance, although there are only 18 of them.
People—you move too quickly! I was only away from Sat morning to Sun evening and seemed to have missed too much to catch up and respond appropriately.
Much more work to move son into an non-university, off-campus apt than into a dorm. Basic cooking & shopping lessons imparted in aisles of Wegman’s. Will miss him massively tomorrow when I have recovered from a grueling drive home.
@STEM2017 --RE: ACT prep. Neither son took that test, but I stumbled across what I thought was a helpful website for prep. Google Quantum ACT Prep and see if the free content helps. If not, I recall a fairly nominal subscription service.
Agree with @carachel2 about ‘one section per day’ for SAT or ACT prep. My older son did that (to the extent he could around homework and sports) on weekdays leading up to SAT. Full length timed practice test each weekend, but then one section of ‘trouble’ section each weekday.
@MotherOfDragons – I have not read all posts, but did your D try using the CB’s Math II book. It includes two real practice tests, one which is the same as the one that appears in the All Subject SAT II book, but IMHO, worth the $12 or $15 even if just to have one more real test.
I do not know how much prep my son put in for Math II as he took it at the end of soph year, but I believe he used one of the real tests, then practice out of PR, then the second real test immediately before the test date. (Not that morning but in the days prior.)
@Dave_N — LOVED your post. Am sure we are all wishing for the same.
@Mom2aphysicsgeek – that link you provided is fascinating, and TY @Ynotgo for pointing out the distribution by major. I too am questioning the accuracy of the counts after glancing at Cornell’s figures and seeing that two programs that should each have 700-900 students appear as 309 & 315. Am not sure what the figures represent b/c it is not just the freshman headcount (too high) and definitely not the U/G headcount (too low). I wish I knew if the figures were consistently inconsistent so that I could just go from there.
@CT1417 My guess is that the numbers shown for majors on that website are the number of graduates in the major for whatever data year. Perhaps slightly larger than number of graduates because of double majors? I looked at Harvey Mudd, and the total looks close to the number of undergrads per year after a bit of attrition.
Still not sure if they are accurate. No idea where they come up with such detailed statistics, because the Common Data Set has general major categories in section J1 and certainly doesn’t have majors by race.
Days until school starts- 7
Books remaining to be read-1
ACT prep done-0
Hours scheduled to work this week- 36
Nights gone out with friends in last week- 3
Essays started- 0
@VickiSoCal …pages of EE done? (just commiserating with another IB mom!!!)
Our house:
Days until school starts: 1
EE pages completed= 1 (maybe?)
TOK summer work completed= all
HOA summer work completed=all
English summer work completed= almost all. Essay on Langston Hughes being completed as I type; entire book annotated, 40 quotes completed/analyzed
Calc BC summer packet completed=all
Bio IA experiment outline/summary=completed
College apps completed: 3
Essays for common app and Apply Texas = 0
Hours scheduled to work this week - just 4 thankgoodness!
Hi all! Seems I’m late to the party! Is anyone having issues getting your child to talk about college? My daughter answers every question with “I don’t know.” It’s seriously starting to drive me crazy, to the point where I am thinking of dumping the whole college thing in her counselor’s lap. We’ve visited schools and she has had two interviews. Her grades and scores are great. I just don’t get it.
EE procedure is done. Not sure how many pages that is. Very confused on how to structure results and conclusion. Need to meet with chem teacher before wasting effort
TOK was last year along with SL Spanish and SL Math
Only 4 classes this year:
HL HOA homework is done.
HL Chemistry home work is done
HL lit, not done
SL Economics- no summer homework, official favorite teacher
@cleoforshort Welcome! Your D sounds like mine. I keep describing her as apathetic. I got tired of waiting as I wasn’t going to let her miss out on opportunities and sort of took over. I know my kid pretty well, and it became easier for me to see where she would do better after a couple of visits. And I ran all the NPC to narrow the list down to only schools we can afford. Started with small group of schools to compare made it less overwhelming. A veteran on cc commented on one of my threads:
And I really think this is what’s happening. This process is overwhelming, and likely the most important and costly decision they have had to make up to this point in their life. My D definitely is somewhat insecure and I’m sure the magnitude of the process causes her to fear making too many decisions. I’ve come to recognize this as her trusting me to help and leaning on me a lot. At first it felt helicopter-y but the more involved I got the more involved she got.
She’s still pretty hands off compared to a lot of kids here on cc, but that’s her personality and I’m ok with it now.
Thank you for your reply. My DD is an introvert and I have taken the lead but I’m afraid of steam rolling her. She is my second of four, quiet, sweet and studious but with possible athletic options. Overwhelmed is a good word, LOL. I know where I want her, but she hasn’t jumped on board.
@payn4ward Thank you for the explanation. So the clubs that are based on volunteer activities are not co-curricular? D belongs to Suicide Awareness Club and other community service clubs. Would you consider them extra-curricular activities?
@cleoforshort Welcome. And you’re in good company. My S doesn’t seem apathetic, necessarily, he just lets me talk at him while he looks interested but has absolutely no comment. We are far behind many of the families on here, but with school starting tomorrow, he has taken a leave of absence from his part-time job while he gets through fall soccer and marching band, but those are in a bit of a hiatus this week. So I’m planning for a come to deity meeting like @Dave_N this week. Doubtful the results will be the same! =))
Welcome @cleoforshort !
You are in good company of @IABooks (not necessarily) @stlarenas and myself in
CASPers - College Apathy Slacker Parents.
I am also a Casper mom because unlike @MotherOfDragons who breathes Fire, what I say and do has no real life impact on DS - Goes in right ear comes out left ear.
I say DS is in denial of growing up.
Accomplishment today - I looked through his room and found a tattered service hour log from 2013 with 12 hours recorded. I am going to turn this in to the Counseling office today.
88 hours left to go for graduation requirement!
He signed up for Student Aide (working at front office) this year and opted for hours rather than grades so he will get 50 hours for both semesters.
38 hours to go!
This is my 5th sr. Merit $$ for my kids is a must. Getting accepted for my kids is worthless if they can’t attend bc we can’t afford it. So, I have learned a lot from our mistakes and work harder at finding more likely merit $$ possibilities. And that has meant going way down the totem pole and being a student that does something for the school bc essentially they are buying something to improve their ratings, your student. (Consider it a business acquisition. 
)