ha, @stem2017, maybe you should create a new username VENT2017. Dude, it’s all going to work out!!
Feel free to vent away and please let us know when you tell that one school to go suck eggs.We’re all ears.
@dfbdfb good thinking on football thing, but it doesn’t look like that was it. They won is 2012, so Jan 3rd of 2012. The big increase was 2014. Maybe a late trickle down factor? Who knows. I’m going to have to ask a GC when I see them again.
@STEM2017 I had to go back and find your comment about dealing with Admissions as a parent. Ha! I haven’t run into that yet, but I usually send emails from my daughter’s account so they “don’t know” I’m a parent (I at least TRY to sound like a teenage girl). =))
Usually, I’ll draft them or put some bullets and ask my daughter to edit it and hit send. But, sometimes I just ‘do it’ because it is so simple and minor.
@christygb Sorry for your situation. I know I have seen threads from other parents similarly affected, in case you wanted to seek them out.
If there’s a seasonal component, we’ve found the info at www.cet.org helpful. I purchased, and use, both the Smart Lamp Dawn Simulator and the Light Box recommended on the site for myself.
We have a kid who has struggled with the pressure of high school (anxiety + depression) and it got worse leading up to and during application season. So much pressure on one’s self-worth!
It took a couple therapists, but the one that resonated for her was a skilled DBT therapist. D has learned a lot of good, solid coping skills for when everything feels like too much. This practice also recommended a psychiatrist. Although I was initially reluctant to take a step in that direction, D was willing, and we are both thankful we explored that avenue as well.
We are grateful we had a year+ to get in some intense therapy, plus work on setting up a support plan for when she went away.
I’m so pleased to read your son told you about his struggles. That’s not easy for a lot of kids to do.
Good luck! You are not alone!
@christygb Hope things get better for your son soon, that must be tough. I wouldn’t force the issue with him at all. Let him figure it out when/if he’s ready. Maybe it makes more sense to take a gap year, or study locally and transfer?I really don’t know what I’d do, I’m just offering some suggestions without knowing a lot about your son.
I’d just keep helping him navigate senior year while staying happy and healthy and worry about the other stuff as it comes along. Good luck, keep us posted.
Communicating with admissions offices: I have full access to the throwaway account my daughter has for college promotions/admissions emails. Occasionally (and I do always get her permission to do this) I will contact a college through that account; in very small-scale cases I’ll simply use her voice (which doesn’t sound very teenage girl—she writes more formally in email than I do!), but in larger ones I’ll identify myself as her father writing at her direction (sometimes blaming me stepping in on time zones, where I can use that excuse).
@christygb I agree with many of the above that getting your son healthy is the only thing that matters and maybe it means having to take a gap year. I wouldn’t push colleges right now.
My question for you all today is regarding Honors Colleges within schools. My son got an invite to apply to one and said he is the type of high achieving student they are looking for ( he really is high achieving in video games, lacrosse, sleeping,snowboarding, lol). Do schools just send these invites out to a bunch of random kids or do they really want him to apply? His new ACT scores have been sent into the schools he is applying to, and while I think they are decent they are not on super great. Why would schools want a bunch of kids to apply if they really have no chance? Is it a trick to get the kids to definitely apply there?
We’ve never looked at honors college stuff before so new to me. Thanks for info.
@RightCoaster I think the invitation is genuine. Especially if they have access to his scores. In their mind, if he has the right stuff for their program and he is accepted, then there is a higher chance of him actually enrolling. JMHO
ETA: My opinion holds true for schools that he has already been accepted to, not schools that are randomly sending mass mailings. Just to clarify.
^^^Well he hasn’t applied there yet, but he sent his test scores in. Like I said they are fine, but I’m certain the school could find a bunch of other kids with similar or higher scores. Just struck me as odd. .My son forwarded the email to me and was excited. Like I said, he is planning on applying there regular decision, and we have not sent in the app yet, I’ve only paid to have scores sent. They probably just got the scores in the last few days. So, I wondered if they have some sort of system that generates mass mailings to all kids at a certain threshold? That way the kid definitely has some incentive to send in the rest of the app.
** QOTD? Prestige** is an odd thing. Honestly, if our financial category were different, some prestige schools might have made it on the list, but more because of fit than status. The only Ivy D seriously considered is Brown, which she calls the “Hippie Ivy.” She loved Vassar but it is not affordable for our family. Happily, she came to love other LACs that offer merit aid equally well.
I met a parent from D’s school the other day whose kid was applying to top 20 places because of their generosity with respect to need-based aid. She was a single mom in graduate school. So prestige happened to coincide with her financial parameters.
I am always amused that after all of the drama and status jockeying at the top two private high schools in our area, the majority end up at the state flagship. Happily D’s school is relatively drama free - her friends are genuinely curious about her college list and are not being critical or dismissive. A lot of families can afford to send their kids anywhere but many also end up chasing merit and end up at regional colleges and universities that are a tier or two below the tippy top. Every year, a few end up at a very good quality directional university - Western Washington.
@eandesmom Thanks for elaborating on the distinction between directional universities and branch campuses, very helpful! I didn’t come across the term directional until I joined CC.
@christygb So sorry for what your family is going through. Don’t worry about the deadlines, his health is more important. There are worse things in the world than taking a gap year if he needs time to figure things out.
@STEM2017 I communicate with admissions only about financial matters because at the end of the day, we’re paying the bills. Sorry you have been treated rudely. You’d think they’d know better about treating a potential customer well. Oddly enough, we just put in applications for D21 for HS and at that level the parents are supposed to fill them out and run interference with the schools. It felt really weird.
@christygb Hugs to you and your son. Hope he feels better soon and learns to cope better. =(( :x
I feel for the kids who are under tremendous pressure for such extended length of time. I can’t wait to have this over with. I really feel kids should spend time preparing to be in a college, any college, not preparing for an acceptance as a goal.
@christygb …welcome back and I’m sorry you are having to deal with this and sorry for your son. It is a crippling disease for sure and flaring itself now during this time makes it even harder I think with all of the decisions that need to be made.
I’ve worked with lots of kids professionally–the ones who do CBT PLUS the meds do great. Also what seems to help a lot is for them to have a long list of “doable” options. Lots of kids see a psychiatrist, but only a few are really seeing someone who specializes in real deal CBT. It makes a huge huge difference.
My own D tends a smidge towards anxiety and so I have forced her to have a list of choices for colleges. Sometimes just knowing you have options makes it all so much more tolerable. One of her options is literally within 5 miles and with her stats will be FREE for her to attend. Can’t get much less stressful than that!
@rightcoaster - Yes they probably do. DS sent his scores to a school back last year… They are bombarding him with emails about honors college apps and scholarships even though he hasn’t applied.
@curiositycat333, On the directional California topic, I would consider UC Merced and Riverside the equivalents of directional schools…and with the exception of San Luis Obispo, the Cal St. are directional equivalents…just my opinion…not to be argumentative…
@MichiganGeorgia so do you think he will apply? Would he want to? Does he have a chance to get in? I just find it interesting. My son has applied to a couple of safety type schools and they mention they automatically consider the kids for merit and honors college, and none of them have asked him to apply to them individually. I don’t know any college kids in honors colleges so I really am totally clueless about the whole process.
@RightCoaster Maybe you’re underestimating your S’s score. A 30C is 94th percentile.
@RightCoaster – is there any harm in applying? Additional essays?
My older son applied to Tulane kind of on a lark, although once we started digging, it appeared to offer a lot. His GPA and SAT were mismatched, so I wasn’t really sure where he would be admitted/not sure how his app would be received.
They accepted him within a week and followed up a few days later with $25K/year + Honors College.
I know of students who have turned down the honors college and just enrolled at that same college—no issues.
Seems prudent to apply just to retain the option.
Thanks guys, he’s going to apply. Was planning on it. It’s a good school and son liked it. We were just going to wait until 1/1/17 though for regular decision. So he’ll apply to both I guess, it can’t hurt. It’s just an extra essay. He’s done with everything else, so it shouldn’t cause any duress. My son looked into it more and said he thought it looked interesting, so at least he is thinking about schools now. 
A bit of a hair-raising day at CU where oldest D is a full-time student and D17 is taking DE classes. D got home an hour early and I asked if her second class had been cancelled. Apparently yes, due to a reported active shooter at the student center! These reports turned out to be a hoax, but there was indeed a shooting on campus this morning. A man was in the athletic center raving about sinners and commandments while wielding a machete. He was shot and killed by police when he wouldn’t drop his weapon.
According to CU they sent out texts to all students after the morning incident, but D didn’t get one. We’ll be making sure she gets on their list immediately.
Such days we live in. 