Parents of the HS Class of 2017 (Part 1)

Parents of HS Class of 20xx
14921

Surgeries went well. Both girls are resting and watching Netflix. Icing and taking meds, but thus far recovery seems to be going well. Thanks for all the well wishes.

QOTD: I applied to four schools all in California, and had to laugh about the search for colored correction fluid. I remember typing all 4 applications, struggling to line everything up, and panicking when I made a mistake. I remember taking the PSAT, but did not prepare for it at all. Took the SAT twice, and the ACT once. The biggest differences to me with the college search today vs. “back in my day” are how much more information is readily available and how competitive the admissions process is.

14922

Back in the day, the subject tests used to be called achievement tests, I think.

14923

@longwood – yes, subject tests were called Achievement Tests. Somewhere in the middle of my last long post (#14900), I mentioned that I registered to take three tests, but decided I had had enough after two, so I left, but then waited an hour outside for a ride.

@MichiganGeorgia – would your school GCs know the admit GPA range to UGA for students from your school? GPAs vary widely from HS to HS.

I just looked up UGA on Naviance for my CT school. 43 apps during past six years. Lowest accepted RD = 3.32 & lowest accepted ED = 3.09. (Just realized that 16 of the 17 admits were Early so the one RD cannot be considered reliable.) Average early = 3.63 with 1900 SAT.

Now, this is OOS data so not relevant to you.

I recall attending an info session at Villanova and the Ad Com quoted middle 50th % accepted GPA of 3.9 to 4.2. I raised my hand to ask if they recalculate GPA for variations across high schools, and they did not. The reason for my question is that the avg accepted to Villanova from our HS is 3.75 (and that has increased since I asked the question a few years ago). Our Val only has a 4.35 so students from our HS with a 4.2 are not applying to Villanova.

That was long-winded, but hopefully you understood the gist of what I am trying to relay!

14924

Ah, achievement tests. That is why I didn’t remember taking SAT subject tests. I think I wrote my college apps. I was a terrible typist to the point that my college profs let me write papers. My writing was better and more legible than my typing. Thank goodness for word processors.

I applied to two schools, one in the UC system and one in the Cal State system. You could only choose one first choice in each system, so the schools were not over run by people applying to multiple UCs. It also made me think up front which school would be the best fit for me.

14925

@pokerqueen

What is the general perception of Texas State? I’m trying to figure out why it is never mentioned with the Texas big mac schools in posts like your #14865.

School selection in the old days- I was an average student, that might have been better if I had parents like the ones in this thread. Mom was a professor and that did zero helicoptering, I went where ever she was teaching at the time for the free tuition.

14926

@mtrosemom Curious…

I don’t remember if you could apply to more than one UC at the time. (As I only applied to one school. A UC but my reasons were because I had as I’ve posted before I this harebrained idea of graduating early, that worked.) The reason I think this is curious is because I really feel the UC system really should go back to a system where student “rank” the schools in order of preference. That it would be better or the students & easier for the schools to predict what percentage of student will accept.

14927

My memory is that back then you ranked your top 3 UC campuses. If you didn’t get into your #1, the next campus would look at your application, and so on.

14928

Back home from a super quick trip to University of Alabama. I would not recommend the type of blitz style trip we did but we saw the basics…and it was good! We arrived in Tuscaloosa at 7pm on Thursday night, did the tour and Honors meetings all day Friday and then left the campus right around 2 pm. This is LONG…stay with me!

Background info: D wants to study bioengineering. She currently has a #1 school that is collaborative, will expose her to a variety of disciplines within engineering and has some unique classes we have not found anywhere else and is in the perfect location for what she wants in a campus. Since she is also aware that most industry “experts” recommend a major in mechanical engineering, she plans to build her major accordingly with more of a MechE focus than bioE. Additionally, if she gets into this program and realizes E is not for her, she has been assured she can switch to another major readily and smoothly.

She is aware that this school may not work out (i.e. merit is not guaranteed) and we needed to visit some of her safeties in order to be “true” CC followers who heed the mantra “have a safety and make sure it is a school where you would happily attend.” She qualifies for the Presidential full-tuition scholarship so it is a school we at least had to go and see for ourselves.

SO…off to Alabama we went after communicating with the honors coordinator and having a nicely laid out schedule. The parking was easy to find, the Welcome Center a very short walk from the parking and the tour started right from there with us hopping on the bus. Taking the tour on the bus was soooo nice. IT wasn’t even hot yet (a nice cool front blew in the night before) but wow, so time efficient and we saw so much in such a short amount of time.

CAMPUS: beautiful. Prettier than A&M by far. I’m not going to lie, I’ve NEVER seen anything like those sorority and fraternity houses that are ON campus. At A&M, all Greek houses are required to be OFF campus and frankly since I’m not a fan of the Greek system, I prefer them that way. Those houses are huge, imposing and very much front and center. On the other hand, their location right across the street from the stadium is very strategic lol…those would be good people to know on game days, ha!

Otherwise, the green quad space on campus is very nice–tons of kids and dogs out yesterday. The campus seemed accessible to us–walked easily across to the student center, the engineering quad, Lakeside dining hall and the dorms after the tour was over. It did not seem too huge to me.

We both loved the retirement center and the special needs/integrated preschool that were right on campus. VERY cool. What a fantastic way to integrate seniors and kids into the campus and a way for students to get involved with their needs as well. Gorgeous rec center and pool also.

DORMS: The suite style dorms are very very nice. I guess you have to know your kid. My kid needs some space, is not a huge joiner (i.e. will NOT be pledging) but she also will put herself out there, join a few things that interest her and will find a way to connect to a smaller group of kids. We both liked that she could have her own space but still have a big common space.I like that all freshmen are required to live on campus.

FOOD: I’m not a fan of being forced to purchase the unlimited swipe meal plan. Seems a waste for some kids, especially my picky eater who really wants to keep some of her own food for preparation in the dorm. Oh well, that’s a small thing.

After the general tour and info session, we hoofed it over to Nott hall to meet with the honors program. The student rep gave a good overview of the program. I like that they can get honors credit for activities that pull them OUT of the classroom. The priority registration seems like a good deal too.

LUNCH: we walked to the cafeteria together but I let my kid eat by herself with the Honors student who was assigned to eat with her. And also, I wanted to ditch my kid to meet up with another CC family (shout out to @jedwards70 !)…so fun to meet her and her husband and eat next door at Canes! Our kids have a lot in common and we have a lot in common.

We were walked across campus and were handed off to a ChemE student named Tommy. This kid has it going on. Smart, well spoken, knowledgeable–he gave a fantastic tour of the engineering quad all while answering a whole line of questions. He has friends who are doing health related research–one with the 3D printer and prosthetics. While we still would need to meet with faculty, I think it is possible to find some research and classes that have a bioE emphasis while pursuing a MechE role in general. I did probably pepper this student with too many questions but he totally kept up!

He walked us all the way back to our car across campus by the stadium (above and beyond what he needed to do_ and we started the long trek back to the DFW area. That is a LONG drive. IF she goes there, D will definitely be flying back. We passed a major major wreck on the way back. UGH. So sad.

Long story short: We now have a solid choice. D can see herself here. This is a thriving community of students and in particular, a thriving Honors program…not just a token one on the website. She met students who she said she can see herself being friends with and she can see herself in the program and making a life for herself there.

Regrets: we did not see much of the perimeter of campus at all. A second and longer trip will be necessary to check all the surrounding area out more thoroughly.

14929

@carachel2 thank you for the report! We’re going over there later this month, and it’s also going to be a whirlwind-4 hour drive over, do the tours, 4 hour drive back on the same day. D may do some of the driving, depending on how tired I am. I’m trying to decide whether we should skip the general tour and just do the honors tour because D does not care about greek life or football at all. On the other hand, she does care about nice suite-style dorms, so it may be that we have to do the entire thing.

D17’s best friend is also a girl in CS with high stats, and we met up with her and her mother on senior night. They asked us a lot of questions and I got the feeling they don’t know as much as we do, so I offered to help. I have to tread carefully because in some instances they would be directly competing with each other, and I don’t want to hurt either of their chances. They asked us what we thought about Sarah Lawrence and I said “no grades, no majors” and they were like wow, I had no idea.

D’s friend’s first choice is Stanford, so I also recommended Harvey Mudd, which was good because they’d never heard of it. So I’m sort of recommending around D’s choices with the exception of Northeastern, which can take both of them and make sense for both of them. D’s friend is going to check her selection index on the PSAT, and if she made NMSF I can send her the yolasite for those scholarships (she’s also merit hunting like us).

14930

@MotherOfDragons …oh I hear you about not telling direct competition kids about your kids #1 choice lol! But when they need help there are things you can step in and tell them about so they don’t make crazy decisions.

We found the general tour to be very helpful. It left from the stadium, but it was not rah rah football at all. NOW…that could be because it was led by an adult in admissions b/c all the student ambassadors had left for the big game that is today in Dallas? But really, we are very sensitive to an overly rah rah football type of tour and this was NOT one of them. We were dropped off in front of the dorms, the rec center and the quad.

14931

Labor Day weekend project: updating the Binder of Destiny. It keeps me busy so that I’m not talking to S17 about colleges. Each college has a tab/section and includes info on curriculum for his major, minors and concentration info, and availability of research/clubs he’s interested in. S seems relieved. He has 9 schools but one or two (or three) might come off of the list soon.

14932

Good report, @carachel2. Seriously, the love you see on CC for Bama seems over the top when you read about it and are on the outside looking in, but when you are on the inside, you understand why bc it truly is real.

I am enjoying ds being home from UA for Labor Day weekend. He doesn’t have any T/TH classes this semester, so it is a 4 day weekend for him. So happy he could come home bc we only saw him for a few hrs between the end of his REU and classes starting back up. We are getting ready to be invaded by the rest of the kids and grandkids for a cookout, swimming, and major board game events. (We are such huge gamers that any excuse to play is a good one!).

I need the downtime. I have been going over every document with a fine-toothed comb bc I am crazy stress about hitting submit on all of dd’s documents on the CA. But I have finished going over every single one. All I have left to do is hit preview and submit and I am done. I am not doing that today, though! Today is for fun and relaxation.

14933

Great report @carachel2 Glad your D liked it!

D and I are spending some time this weekend getting her apps finalized and submitted. She’s like, they’re done, can I hit send? And I’m like, let’s check everything over one more time. :-)) She will also work on her final essays. She’s very much looking forward to being done.

QOTD: Going off @MotherOfDragons comment, how is everyone handling helping others with the college admissions process and not hurting your D/S’s chances? Do you worry that helping others, sharing info about where your D/S is applying will hurt your D/S’s chances?

D and I are struggling with this right now. Generally speaking, I am a help-as-many-as-I-possibly-can kind of person, and that has definitely rubbed off on D. So she has been freely sharing where she is applying to and what scholarships she is applying for to anyone who asks and offering advice to anyone who asks. I have been doing the same. But lately I’ve been questioning whether we should share as much. And of course, she thinks I’m being silly. Then I think, she’ll end up where she should be and trying to limit competition is kind of silly. Not an easy situation. I may be overthinking it.

14934

I enjoyed your report too @carachel2 even though S is not interested in going that far or that south. It sounds like a really good choice.
And @Ynotgo, you are right that I had to rank my first, second, and third choice for the UC system. I got into my first choice since I wanted UCSC and not many did at that time. It had only 5,000 UGs at the time and had more of a LAC feel with a research U intent.

14935

@Ynotgo Yes, your memory is correct about ranking the UCs in your order of preference. One app, one fee. Berkeley and UCLA may have been the only impacted schools in the 70s, so if you put anything else as #1 you basically knew where you were going. UC to UC transfers were also much easier and you could do it as early as after your first year.

14936

@MotherOfDragons Yeah, I’ve wound up being the go-to information person for the mom of one of D17s closest friends. I’ve wondered about the competition thing. Can kids from the same HS really knock each other out of contention if they apply to the same colleges? D’s friend’s dream school is URochester, which is a low reach for her but it would be more of a solid match for my D17 going by our school’s Naviance data. I’ve been thinking that we shouldn’t even really investigate the school as an option so as not to spoil things for D’s friend, is that thinking correct?

14937

@itsgettingreal17 I absolutely do not think it is a realistic concern to be worried about mentioning schools to people you know locally. Applications for top programs or scholarships are going to be competitive nationally. One more applicant is very unlikely to alter much, not to mention that they actually have to follow through with applying after you mention it.

14938

We are home from a long trip visiting U of Alabama, U of Central Florida, and U of Oklahoma. The common theme with these three is the NMF scholarships. We expected D to make the NMSF cutoff, and luckily it looks like she did (though we don’t have official notification yet).

There were positive things about each school, but we have a clear winner: Oklahoma!

I don’t think D will be applying anywhere else, except our own state flagship as a just-in-case-of-illness-or-cold-feet. Her attitude is that she loves UO, and it’s affordable, so we can be done. It is a relief to be past the big decision. I would not be surprised if she changes her mind and decides to also apply to a lottery school in the next couple of months, though.

14939

@Mommertons that’s awesome that she found one she loved! I want a doughnut.

14940

@Mommertons could you elaborate on what she liked didn’t like about those 3 schools and what made Oklahoma stand out. Thanks.