@bearcatfan Yes, that would make for a great Thanksgiving. My son is looking at UK schools and will submit his UCAS application in September with the hope of having some acceptances by the holidays.
S18’s application process will be long and agonizing. He will be chasing some competitive scholarships with fall deadlines so he will have a good number of early applications due. Then he will have music auditions in Dec-Feb. Hopefully he will have some scholarship weekend invites in late winter/early spring. He will have some RD academic apps. He will have to wait for admission decisions from the academic side, then from the music dept, then see the scholarship decisions. I have a headache just thinking about it.
Thanks @3scoutsmom, I forgot about that thread - I should have posted there!
@suzy100 - transcript shows semester grades.
Re: semester Cs - I’ve read (probably here) that if the GC goes to bat for the kid and says positive things (such as missing the B by that much?), that it will help.
There was a thread here on CC awhile back about Purple Hair Factor (PHF) and how it factors into college culture. Well, my kid is soon to be one of “them.” She discovered this new trend–“oil slick hair”–with swirls of purple and blue and such so that it looks like, well, an oil slick. Her hair appointment is next week. THIS is what happens when school is out and D has free time on her hands! :-??
Anyone running into a case where your D/S is pretty firm on only applying to 2 schools? One is a high reach and the other is a safety, and both are in-state public so I’m happy about that. But, whenever I mention the option of nearby out-of-state options that might provide scholarships to make the cost about the same as in-state, she doesn’t seem interested. She plans to apply early to both, but I"m hoping she’ll add one or two more to her list since 2 doesn’t seem like the safest bet.
@lifegarding if she’s happy with her instate safety why not let apply to just two after all she can only attend one anyway. Just make sure she applies early so she has time for a plan B if something goes wrong with the safety.
DS is only applying to ONE school, he’s an auto admit, it’s where he wants to go, where we can afford so why waste time and money on other apps?
My D applied to two, got the merit she needed from number one, and that was it.
My S might apply to about 3-4 or so, trying to get some merit and/or music scholarship. Also each program is a bit different.
@LMHS73 Is the AP score volume discount unique to your school or is it an AP policy across the board?
@grandscheme - from what I read, it seems like each school district does their own thing depending on funding. Some are totally free!!
@lifegarding I think if she is happy with both choices AND they you will receive decisions early in the process it is a solid plan. My D would be delighted with that plan but many of her choices that she would be most happy with fall in the March/April timeframe.
DD18 only applied to one school. I kind of got called on the carpet about it by some long time CC posters. Finally had to ask them how many NMF high stats kids with demonstrated interest get turned away from OU!
@LMHS73 Thanks. That would be nice. This was a hefty year for us. $490. Ugh.
@1822mom Thanks for the welcome. DD’s school had been doing the extended essays in the fall, with time spent on the rough draft over the summer, but this year they changed for the first time to doing it spring semester. Since my daughter is traveling a lot this summer, it is really nice to have it done. This semester has been crazy busy for her.
The essays are apparently not actually submitted by the school until next February. Since DD’s essay was about a current event, I hope it’s clear somehow when she actually wrote it.
@vistajay My daughter is also planning to do some submissions/auditions for music scholarships. She is not planning a music major, but several of the schools offer some sort of scholarship for nonmajors. But I’m not sure yet how many of those she has to do. She really just needs to get her list finalized. I feel like everything else is hinging on that. She won’t really have time to work on it for a couple months.
@1822mom Thanks for the welcome. DD’s school had been doing the extended essays in the fall, with time spent on the rough draft over the summer, but this year they changed for the first time to doing it spring semester. Since my daughter is traveling a lot this summer, it is really nice to have it done. This semester has been crazy busy for her.
The essays are apparently not actually submitted by the school until next February. Since DD’s essay was about a current event, I hope it’s clear somehow when she actually wrote it.
@vistajay My daughter is also planning to do some submissions/auditions for music scholarships. She is not planning a music major, but several of the schools offer some sort of scholarship for nonmajors. But I’m not sure yet how many of those she has to do. She really just needs to get her list finalized. I feel like everything else is hinging on that. She won’t really have time to work on it for a couple months.
Every fall if you go to the parent meeting the guidance counselors give you a copy of your child’s transcript that includes class rank. It’s definitely the carrot to get parents to the meeting, lol.
Our school reports semester grades on the transcripts - even if it’s a full-year course, they break it into semesters. So no quarter grades are on there, and no semester exams are either. That could change if colleges want transcripts before a semester ends … I’ll have to ask about that. Our school also reports rank, at least on the transcript, and the results of the stupid-the-state-changes-it-every-year state graduation tests. She is hovering around the top 10 percent of a big class, but still nowhere near Top 10 (and I honestly don’t care about that).
I did request that the state ACT be off the transcript. It was a proctoring mess. The national exam date was well-run by the guidance counselors. This state one, during the school day, probably would have been invalidated had the ACT known. The teachers just didn’t know how to run it. Every kid my daughter talked to got a much lower score on this one than the national test dates.
I am just resigned to spending hundreds of dollars on the application process (not to mention the cost of visiting, even though all are in-state and within a couple hours’ driving distance).
Our DD’18’s school does not provide class rank to the students (or parents). If a specific college requires it, that college has to write the school and request the rank. The high school will send it to the college, but not reveal it to the student (or parents.)
Rank is a hot button issue at our school. We are officially a non-ranking school but by TX law they have to rank the top 10%. Rank is not reported on the transcript if you are in the top 10% you can ask for a ‘certificate of rank’ be included in along with the official transcript. Many kids that are applying to tippy top schools are advised not to report rank unless you one of the top 10.
We are probably somewhat similar here in CA. Top 9% guaranteed a spot at a non-impacted UC which usually means UC Merced. Anyways, our HS ranks but just by decile and it is on the transcript.
Our school ranks, but is not a running rank like most schools do-you don’t find out where you stand until October of senior year when a weighted calculation is run for the first time and then “Surprise!” In theory is cuts down on competitiveness and grade gaming?