@mardeebo I would call the schools in question and explain your situation. Maybe there is flexibility on a case by case basis.
I would absolutely put the perfect score on the app. Somebody at our school got a perfect score on both AP econ tests I think it was last year the school made a really big deal out of it. Its.quite rare.
My kid really only has three activities if you count everything she does with Girl Scouts as one activity but we ended up splitting it up since she does/did several things. The other section is really skimpy. Honor roll, AP scholar and that’s about it
I feel like there should be a Yelp site to post reviews of the admissions offices at various schools. One school we’ve been trying to track down when admissions rep is going to be in our area and she emailed several people, have gotten out of office, no replies, etc it’s very frustrating. Why send all this marketing material if you’re not even going to answer a simple email. Or why not just post your visit schedule on your website.
@pittsburghscribe – QUESTION: Don’t mean to brag, but DS just received a letter that from the College Board that he was one of 25 students to receive a perfect score on the AP Gov exam.
That’s great – I think would be great to mention either by GC or teacher. My DS got a letter last year that he got a perfect score on the Computer Science exam as a sophomore- he self-studied and took it on his own bc he could not fit the course in his schedule. Anyway, we asked the GC to mention it bc no CS teacher rec & she was happy to do so. This is noteworthy I believe for your DS. It might though in your case be stronger from the AP Gov teacher who can speak to his mastery of material & love for the course. Also you could put it on his resume and possibly mention on the common app under “Additional Information”. Huge congrats!
um, I’m not even sure what to put in that section… honor roll… will anyone care that she’s helped her high school team win several national titles if she’s not majoring in dance?
On the perfect AP score I think that’s amazing, talk it up!!!
@socalmom007 Yes. Honors are not restricted to major.
Your app
Yes, S is getting several of those, almost all from schools he has never, ever expressed interest in. Certain stalker schools have really ramped up the emails…and not the ones S is interested in either.
Interviews
3 this week but thankfully all with AO’s. While none are required (and billed as informational conversations, not interviews) they are key for S to show interest as he will not be able to visit any of the schools unless admitted.
Cell Phone
Yes on the C/A and when booking interviews. I feel if a school is enough of an interest level to apply, you should be comfortable providing your phone number. We just gave up the home number and no one ever checked it or answered it so that would have been a bad idea. I’m a big fan of real info when it makes sense. S signed up for a FAFSA ID last year, forgot he did, forgot the password and what email he had used (which was a spam email he has). Total P
Activities in HS/College (for me)
I worked in HS and worked close to fin College so that was really the bulk of my time. Acapella choir sort of translated over if you count singing during rush in duets and trios lol. I went to two tryout sessions for cheer and then bailed on the idea in college as there was no way I could manage that and a job.
@mardeebo can you just show her as living at her Aunts and the mail goes there? How would they even know?
@pittsburghscribe I would definitely have it reflected somewhere in the app. If you have confirmation that the LOR writer or GC is doing it, that is probably enough but if you
@socalmom007 if it makes you feel better we have nothing to put in the honors section. Nothing academic at all of note. Sigh. What little he does have is covered in activities as they are team/group EC based (marching band awards, environmental group award), that kind of thing.
My daughter has titles for her high school as a soloist, top 10 placement as a soloist, national titles for group dances she competed in… literally nothing academic other than honor roll, NHS, etc… That’s what happens when your EC takes up 20+ hours a week, she should have been doing math olympiads or something.
My son is the same. Got his acceptance to UA and Honors and crossed everything else off his list. I’ve brought the subject up a few times but he feels UA is the best fit for him as far as flexibility in changing majors, opportunities, cost and “mom- everyone I meet there is always so nice and friendly”. I think for us we needed to accept that this was a well thought out decision and ultimately a good fit for son.
We don’t even have honor roll or soloist type things lol. EC’s take 20+ hours a week but there aren’t awards for theater tech, just increasing levels of responsibility and our band director doesn’t believe in chairs so…
Oh well. I can only hope his EC’s, clubs and work are enough, combined with solid LOR’s. NOw if he could get that essay done…
<slow_clap></slow_clap>
@socalmom007 – I think all those things are definitely worth mentioning under honors/awards! It doesn’t matter that she’s not majoring in dance, schools still want/need kids with talent like that for their clubs, shows, etc., plus it shows that she was very successful in her area of interest. Much more impressive, in my opinion, than honor roll.
@eandesmom, have you thought about doing a zeeme page or something where your DS could show photos or videos of some of the work that he’s done in theater tech?
@socalmom007 – I agree with @Mom2aphysicsgeek about including honors in ECs or academics, even if the applicant may never pursue these activities again.
Older son was beating the bushes to fill the ten lines on the CA Activity section. They were all legit activities, but he was not leaving anything off! Different child, different process this time.
@mardeebo I agree with @eandesmom. Why can’t you use her Aunts for the purpose of distance. That way she could be a commuter and you could afford the school.
^^ Don’t think that would work as she attends a different high school I assume then if she lived with Aunt.
I was thinking that if it’s a public school and they do allow students that physically live further due to the zip code that maybe you’d have a legal threat you could use to get them to acquiesce. Do you have access to free advice? I only ask because I pay $15 a month at work for the Legal Plan which gives me access to a Lawyer for legal advice.
If the college doesn’t require students to live on campus though, why couldn’t that be her off campus housing address?
@pittsburghscribe - Congratulations! I would mention in Honors section.
Wow. UDel is coming to our area, doing interviews where you bring your CA/LOR/Transcript and receive a decision in 1-2 weeks. Oh, and you get a fee waiver.
Any UDel peeps out there? I’m really tempted to have D interview 
Ahem @hadmeathello 
Message me!
@mamaedefamilia; @dfbdfb; et al., I really like your strategy of finding schools where the student will fit nicely within the top 25-30 percent of the class! We’ve been using a similar strategy by using the common data sets to find the 75th percentile SAT/ACT scores for the incoming freshman class. If D’s scores meet or exceed the 75th percentile for a given school, we assume she’d be in the top 25% of the class. She also meets the criteria of being in the top 10% of HS class & having UW GPA above 3.75.
Question: Is this a sound strategy? Are there other ways of determining top 25-30 percent that we’re missing?