I just want to say hi here – I’ve been reading CC for a few months now and finally decided to make an account and say something. My DD18 has 3 weeks of school left. She’s doing full IB and is right at this moment furiously working on her extended essay, which is due on Monday.
She wants to attend a LAC, major in biology or similar. We have a list of 20 schools which she is supposed to work on to trim down over the summer.
Welcome @daffodilpetunia Full IB gives plenty of options!
On a different note, I have a rant about guidance counselors that I really need to write up someday. This week’s frustration was around Dual Enrollment and the complete cluster that is attempting to have a face to face with someone who actually knows anything…because the documentated steps are apparently incomplete. Sigh. I am terribly worried they are going to screw us over on NMF paperwork (again! S15s fell into a black hole). Argh.
And on yet another different note, we have a trip planned out west this summer… looks like we will have a chance to have an extended layover in Chicago for a visit to UChicago which is still first choice. He is even leaning toward ED. Only way I would do that is with a visit. I am also trying to set up a Caltech visit, too. It will be interesting to see his top reaches back to back. Was not expecting that when we first started planning this trip!
So my daughter got called down to the principal’s office this morning for a “quick conversation,” according to the summons. Through a mad texting marathon, we tried to figure out what she could possibly have done wrong. Anything we could come up with would have been dealt with by a teacher or possibly a guidance counselor - and to our knowledge there was nothing.
It turns out she had perfect attendance for the year. She said she joked with the principal that she almost ruined it by nearly having a heart attack when she got the note. =))
Welcome @daffodilpetunia - sounds like you are well underway! :-h
Officially survived junior year! APs, ACT, ECs, and all the rest of it. Kid has summer job at a local sandwich shop and is doing his own creative writing for fun. A nice respite before the college app process begins in the Fall. Congrats to all parents and kids out there making it work!
All year in AP Lang, the teacher has been trying to keep a lid on S’s tendency to make points with sarcasm / dark humor in his writing. The issue for the teacher is that the assignments in question call for the use of specific rhetorical devices, and that while, yes, S may well accomplish the stated objective (argue this or that point), by relying on sarcasm / humor as his primary tool, he’s failing to develop other strengths in his writing - a position I agree with. S’s rhetorical toolbox needs to hold more than just the sarcasm hammer, you know?
Anyhow, the final assignment was to write a letter of gratitude, and for this one, the teacher told S he could go full bore with the sarcasm. S read the final product aloud at breakfast this morning. Day-um!! That kid is funny!
I wish I could paste the piece here, but he might be able to adapt it for a brilliant (albeit slightly risky) essay if it turns out he needs one.
In fact, S has a second essay candidate up his sleeve that involves a burrowing were-rodent and a minor historical figure. I’m almost disappointed that he won’t have to write admissions essays because both of these have the potential for brilliance.
Have to share a dream my D had the other night. She was told that she could not take AP Chem next year as she’d planned. Instead, she was put in the class “The History of Chandler Bing.” D was shocked and disappointed only because it wasn’t an AP class.
;))
My D had an AP Lang assignment over the weekend to complete her main common app essay - mission accomplished! Not 100% perfect but some minor editing and we have one box checked!
Now my only concern is that we really don’t know what to expect on the various flavors of college apps coming our way - Common App, CSUMentor, UC, and several that are apply direct. Know we can probably access this year’s Common App but think maybe we will just leave some work for August which seems to be our app season opener although I know a few open in July. >:D<
We created a parent practice account in the common app. It was useful to add all the colleges on the maybe list and see what extra questions they have. It’s a bit more than I expected – many schools have a supplemental essay question, which I expected, but several them also have some hidden additional short questions that we didn’t see until we dug in pretty deep. Surprise! Click in a few levels and there are 4 more 200 word questions.
Well maybe after a trial period on the regular Chandler Bing, they can expand to an AP.
Could that dream BE any more strange?
S18 has a great assignment in AP Lang - research and do a presentation on his top 3 college choices. I’d say that’s a great way to bridge the long gap between AP test and end of year
Overheard conversation at my house yesterday…DD’16 advising DD’18 to consider taking AP Chem or AP Bio, as she regrets not taking one or both.
Do I want my daughter’s state ACT test on her transcript?
If not, we have to opt out through a letter which I’m find sending, but they also said they’d input future college tests on it if we didn’t. I’m not so sure I want them on there. She did … okay … but superscoring will help.
What say you?
DD’18 had a meeting with her XC coach this morning - he named her one of the team captains for the 2017 season! She is really starting to feel like a senior.
What’s the point of having test scores on the transcript? Don’t you have to send the official scores anyway?
Anyone (especially those with older kids who’ve gone through this process before) have any insights into when is the best time to do interviews? I know some interview places fill up fast, so I’m wondering when to nudge DD to start setting them up.
@bearcatfan @daffodilpetunia I’d probably prefer not to have them on the transcript and simply decide which test (s) you are going to have sent to a given school. If it’s a solid score and your D/S is only taking the test once or twice nothing to worry about. My D is on test #4 in June and possibly #5 in Sept and while scores all fine there is no need imo to show 5 tests on her transcript - we will likely delete any that don’t help her superscore and have GC remove from her transcript.
@bearcatfan, I would not include it on the transcript. If she takes again and does better, she can just send that one.
@odannyboySF, I remember my older D waited too long to sign up with Wake Forest and was unable to get an interview. I guess it can’t hurt to start early.
Thank you. I’m typing the letter right now asking that they be left off. We usually get a transcript the first week of school at the parent meeting, so I’ll be able to doublecheck that they are not on there.