@mamaedefamilia that’s hysterical. I feel the same way after yesterday’s activities session! And am looking forward to my own business trip on Weds for exactly that reason.
@MichiganGeorgia – expelled for “making out” in a cap in the parking lot before school – what??? that seems really harsh unless there is much more to it. How sad for the kids.
Someone mentioned my name with Additional Info. Here is how we did it for D2 (who got in everyplace she applied, including some top schools).
If you have an activity that has a lot of related components and awards, create an activity called “Music” and say “See Additional Information”.
Then in additional info, have a heading that says “Activities - Music”. Underneath, concisely bullet the related items. For example:
- Clarinet - Symphony Band 10-12, section head 11-12. 10 hours/week, 36 weeks/year.
- Pit Orchestra - 10-12, 3 school and 4 community production. Clarinet & oboe. 8 hours per week, 10 weeks/year.
- Solo & Ensemble - 9-12. "I" level awards 11-12 for solo performances.
- Blue Lake Fine Arts Camp - Summer after 9-10. Clarinet and conducting focus. Received "Top Conductor Award" in 10th. 40 hours/week, 2 weeks/year.
Our basic rule was any activity that fit into one of those categories OR where the kid or team won an award OR was related to their major went on the application. So 9th grade volleyball that was not continued, not listed. But 9-10 Future Problem Sovers where the team won at the state level was listed. We also pushed a few things together. Like, Quiz Bowl was an activity heading. She put History Bowl in those bullets because it is closely related and fit there.
My take is that admissions reads it all. If you are concise & organized, they like that. I think it helps them see the related items (even awards) grouped together.
@MichiganGeorgia not sure of your definition of ‘making out’, but kids do that in the hallways of my daughter’s school. Holy mackerel. Religious school?
@MichiganGeorgia That must have been some epic making out!
I hope ‘making out’ definition is not similar to one used by one ex-president.
In an effort to answer my own question about what is the Optional Report in the counselors section of the CA I found this:
http://topscholars.me/common-app-counselor-form/
It is a detailed guide with screenshots of what the GC needs to submit for each student. Very interesting.
That said - I have no idea how this new GC, who is responsible for 400+ seniors and I am quite sure has only spoken to my D once, can be expected to fill this out accurately. I can only hope she looks at the teachers my D asked for LOR and talks to them briefly about my D before hitting submit.
I just looked at the HS profile and it states for 2016 of the 419 graduates, 48.6% planned to attend a four-year college and 32.4% planned to attend a two-year college. And then the list about 60 colleges in a “Sampling of four-year colleges 2016 graduates are currently attending” and there are no Ivies and very few selective schools (only 1 school from my Ds list of 18)
So I guess maybe she won’t have too many of these to do. Still I am glad we started early in the fall with this.
@intparent – if I may bother you a bit further in this 2017 thread…
Would History Bowl appear as bullet point below Quiz Bowl in that extra info section as a second entry after the Music category OR would you suggest listing QB & History Bowl in the regular Activity section of the Common App?
Thanks!
@MichiganGeorgia that must have been some naked “making out” or something. That seems pretty harsh.
We almost had a kid arrested and charged with some sexual thing last year when he streaked across the field naked during the homecoming game. 98% of the adults thought it was kind of funny to see a streaker, but I guess the 2% thought it was totally offensive. The kid was a very smart kid, track star, recruited athlete. They let him of the hook I think, on super secret double probation.
My Dd just finished a very long exam and came up for air. I asked her if she out anything in the additional info section. She did, but doubtful the info will help anyone else. She said that is where the CA told her to list her smiling who did not fit in the sibling info section. :))
Yes the word is it was more like the Presidential “oral” version of making out… But still their futures are toast.
@CT1417, we put it under the Quiz Bowl heading in Additional Info. My D was super into Quiz Bowl. She had summer camps, and team & individual high rankings/finishes. She only did history bowl because her whole QB team went – she did no extra prep, but being a strong QB player paid off, and she finished 3rd in our state. But it was really so much like QB and just that one line item, so we put it there.
I just gave the music example because it is easy to understand – my kids had few musical accomplishments, but this method can apply to many “groupings”.
Colleges know that the Common App makes it hard to communicate. They aren’t super sticklers about what section stuff is in – they just want to get the info and understand it.
Ugh, autocorrect. Just saw siblings was corrected to smiling. I guess she was smiling when she entered the info.
@intparent I appreciate the music example! We’ve been struggling with the music and theater activities, this is very helpful.
@WhereIsMyKindle and @itsgettingreal17 I don’t know if you saw my thread on the parents forum, but I thought I would mention it bc your dd’s are interested in possible IR/IS/security (analyst) work. I’m entirely confused about this whole issue right now. I think I am going to have dd talk to her French tutor’s dh. He is the main supervisor for the company that brought a bunch of European employees to the US to work. I think it would be interesting to hear his perspective. One thing I do know is that it is a fallacy that all of the workers they brought over are fluent in English. I have met many of them and their English skills are rudimentary.
QOTD 1: Yes S will be using the additional info section, because he can’t fit the name of one of his activities (research) into the tweet space provided. Can’t even begin to describe it in the box below.
Thank you intparent for your advice!
In every cloud there is a silver lining…
D2 wasn’t able to work on college apps yesterday because she was having a reaction to her infusion. She wasn’t allowed to go to school today until we determined if her doctor wanted to see her.
The lining? She had all day to work on college stuff! (Of course, her homework tomorrow will be awful, but that’s a different cloud.)
Question: Will your senior watch the debate tonight? Are they interested in politics in general?
My D is not voluntarily but she might have to… since we only have one TV hooked up with cable :))
DS18 and DS17 will watch some of the debate - but have more homework to do too. Actually it is homework for DS18.
S is listening to the debate with me now on the radio. He has an EC that I mentor in 15 minutes, and he is advocating skipping so we don’t delay hearing some of the debate. He is so bummed he won’t be 18 in Nov.