Any recruited athlete or any kids filling out recruitment questionnaire? D just decided tonight to fill out for some schools. Any schools where she saw swimmers slower than her 
@payn4ward Thank you! He was happier about it than I thought he would be. I know your DS will get that essay done and I’ll be sending you congratulations in no time.
Essay Fatigue S dropped BU after looking at the GPA requirement to keep a scholarship and the extra essays required. He said he doesn’t want four more years of super stress over his head like high school. So, no Common App essays for him. Just one more state school honors essay unless he adds another school to the list. His list is pretty small at only four schools. He keeps things close the the vest about college stuff and I wish he would talk about it more.
@SincererLove – is she registering with the NCAA clearinghouse? No recruits in my house, but the HS is filled with them, so I hear a lot of chatter about it.
Did she check championship post-taper times? Also helpful to look at graduation year if she swims a stroke where they won’t need multiple athletes.
@jedwards70 …sounds like a move forward if he admitted why he didn’t want to do the BU app. Very insightful to recognize he doesn’t want four more years of the same craziness that is the Texas ranking system.
Congrats on A&M! Off to a great start!
Schools with swimmers slower than D may not exist.
She’s going to get cracking on her USA Swimming coaching credentials the minute she turns 18. That’s where her talent lies.
It is so nice to know I am not the only one with a roller coaster kid!
Progress here, final draft of the essay went to his reviewer over the weekend but I only actually looked at it today when the guy emailed S back. He really really worked on it this round (wants it to be truly final draft and it showed), a dramatic improvement, really solid and I’m incredibly pleased and proud. Very very much all his voice. He mentioned he realized he didn’t touch on one point in it that had been in earlier drafts but I personally think the reader can infer it without calling it out specifically and it’s stronger without.
The school has made some progress as well. They had a LOR session for the kids on Monday, Caps and Gowns today. I am very very glad S had all his requests already in, both live and via Naviance prior to the meeting…so as to beat the rush lol. None of our state schools take them so “rush” is likely overstated but still.
Siblings…it’s a funny thing. My kids have older step siblings who they get along with quite well, always have. Enough of an age gap to not compete. My two however can be oil and water and fight like cats and dogs and really push each others buttons. Very very different kids. And yet not in many ways with shared activities and interests. They have each others back no matter what. We found out tonight who made it into what Jazz Band this year. S17 is in the top one as expected and sadly, S19 is in the lower one. Which was also expected (only one open trumpet spot) but I could tell that S17 was really sad and bummed his brother wouldn’t be in it with him. Which was sweet.
@jedwards70 Congrats on A&M and I can’t blame him on the BU.
@flatKansas one of his required classes disappeared from last year or from this year? That’s crazy to have it just go missing! I’ve been after S to pick up a copy of his for a few weeks and reminded him again tonight.
@SincererLove S17 just started filling out recruiting forms for some of his schools for sailing. Very few schools actually recruit for sailing and I highly doubt he is good enough to be recruited. But I guess he figures it can’t hurt to fill out the forms and get in touch with the coaches, since he would like to be on a sailing team at college. I thought it was kind of late to fill out recruiting forms, so I am glad to hear he is not the only one deciding to do it this at this point. Sailing isn’t an NCAA sport, so he doesn’t have to worry about that paperwork.
Essays completed = 0
Siblings are 2.7 years apart and have very different personalities, but get along well. In fact, S17is on his way to visit D15 and check out her school.flight has landed safely, currently Ubering to campus.
Just gonna be honest…it is really really late to get in the athletic recruitment game…invites to all swim recruits are being arranged as we speak, if not already on the books. Swim folks I know have been in contact with coaches for SEVERAL months…now is the end game to that process. That’s not to say that it’s not gonna be possible, but you’re definitely behind the 8 ball. Good luck…
I’ve got to check that out. S17 loves twirling things. He took Lewis & Clark off his list, that might get him to put it back on. 
It’s something I could really see him doing. (But hopefully not at home… S. California & fire not a good mix.)
@curiositycat333 one of my friends from college is a comp sci prof there and is the faculty sponsor. Here’s a video he posted.
We’ve got a pretty decent-sized Polynesian population up here in Alaska (yeah, I know, go figure), and so fire-twirling is just a thing you get to see at lots of cultural events. My favorite is when it’s on weights at the ends of ropes—men (always men, in my observation—I don’t know if it’s that strongly gendered, or if it’s just what I’ve had the chance to see) who are really good at it can almost make you think they’ve got a sphere of fire circling about their torso and head.
I guess many of us are in the newly named September lull. This will probably be followed by the October panic, November madness, December sprint, the January wait… etc. For D’17, I think there is a lot of progress but it is time to start closing. If D drank coffee, I could slap it out of her hand and in my best Alec Baldwin voice shout “Coffee is for closers!”
D '17 has submitted a form to be considered for nomination by the school to a very selective scholarship. She turned it with having me review. +1 for drive, -1 for not having an extra set of eyeballs review it. Massive longshot, so I didn’t want to get too invested. At some point, you must trust. I prefer trust, but verify; didn’t happen this time.
Homecoming is this weekend, and some energy has been spent dealing with that. That’s good. Can’t forget to enjoy the ride.
QOTD: Sleep.
We are pretty strict about strongly “recommending” sufficient sleep. D usually goes lights out at 10:45 with a 6:15 wake-up. Some days she adds a power nap.
S’14 almost completely runs his life around getting enough sleep. I think that is why he’s no longer pre-med. Doesn’t want the lifestyle of the resident for 4+ years or whatever it is. This one might have a post-baccalaureate shock coming, but I sure he’ll find a way to get 8+ hours everyday. He has said he “can’t nap everyday now.”
S’20, another story. At bedtime, we must sweep the bedroom for stashed electronics. I probably need some of @Agentninetynine technology for the bedtime routine.
Responding ironically as I have a couple hours of work remaining and must get up in six hours.
I see a lot of the fire twirling when in Hawaii, can’t say I’ve ever seen it in Seattle though there is a strong Hawaii contingent at all of our colleges, 4 of my sorority sisters were from Hawaii and all my Hawaiian cousins have come to the PNW for college. So…I can see the link…sort of lol. Granted none of my cousins twirl fire though the girls can hula.
@VickiSoCal I could so see my son doing this. I watched some really cool fire dancers in Europe years ago, seems very similar.
Both Oregon State schools are high on his list wonder if it’s a big thing at OSU & UofO or just the private schools in the area. I tried pushing L&C for him, I honestly think it would be a good fit. I loved the campus. (But expensive… he’d only likely get in full pay.) But when we toured he though it felt, “not real” and more like an elite summer camp and he didn’t like it.
I am on a business trip, and when I flew out this morning, I was on the same plane as S’s school counselor. She was on her way to the NACAC conference in Columbus, OH. So if your kid’s GCs is not around for the rest of the week, they may be at this conference!
Yes, tons of GC and college Admission folks to be in attendance; that’s exactly why S17 had to meet with his CC at 7am yesterday (out for remainder of the week) and why the last 2 days at his school have been a logistical nightmare for the CC department trying to accommodate visiting college Admissions folks (8 colleges yesterday!) who, in the mass migration heading to Columbus, swing through.
@vandyeyes , D was not going to swim in college. She just wants to have an enhanced lottery ticket at the one school with painful application. I believe you commented on that application in your previous posts as well
I have a case of essay nag fatigue