@labegg: thank you for clarifying. Yes, I can now see how your husband’s remark makes sense.
My daughter who was looking for fields of green and lovely trees is now in love with a campus that is nothing but concrete. Go figure lol. I swear she falls in love every time we visit somewhere. She has a definite “last on the list” school but the others are all on the “it was pretty” list. My youngest and I are going to secretly bet on where she ends up.
@ShrimpBurrito: Please do. There are a number of informative threads about Edinburgh on CC too. I am now steeped in UK app protocol.
My DD’s June ACT score is still not in. Anyone else? She switched at the center from “with writing” to without, don’t know if that’s an issue.
It seems that lots of kids got theirs right at the 2-week mark.
@Astro77 Wow I am sorry her score has not arrived yet.
Hi Everyone! I’ve posted before, but I didn’t realize that most people start off introducing themselves and giving some background for their child when they decide to de-lurk. Sorry! But honestly, it does feel a bit weird to post stats and stuff.
My D18 has a 34 ACT, and an unweighted 3.9, school doesn’t rank. Only APs are Chemistry 5, US History 5, and Computer Science Principals 4. She’s thrilled with the 5s but totally bummed about the 4 because she was a star in her CSP class so she doesn’t know what went wrong. She’s waiting on SAT 2s in the same subjects. Next year she will take four more APs - 2 sciences, 1 math, and econ. We are in awe of the kids who have taken more APs than this. She started off HS at a deficit because her grammar school was so academically weak, so she’s had to take a summer class and double up on sciences to be able to catch up with her HS classmates. Our family falls in the “donut hole” - we don’t qualify for financial aid, but tuition will hurt. We live in the Southeast, but moved from the Northeast a couple of years ago. ECs are primarily tutoring (she does this A LOT, and a lot of this is done via Facetime to her friends from her former grammar school) , quiz bowl stuff and Pres of language club.
Summer is flying! I’m so impressed that some of your kids have been getting their applications done. Mine hasn’t started hers yet, but she just got back from language camp and starts a job in a lab on Monday. I’m hoping she will work on her apps now because she still has 4 more college tours to take that will require her to fly there for the weekend - Maine (Bates, Bowdoin), Missouri (WUSTL), Texas (Rice), and California (Scripps, Pomona). Wish there was more time! I feel like we’re behind the curve on getting things done, and I’ve had such a steep learning curve on everything. Thanks so much to all of you on CC for sharing information; there is so much to learn!
@droppedit I saw your post about discouraging your daughter from applying to reach schools because she didn’t do great on the APs.
If your comment is that you think she won’t get into reach schools, it’s my understanding that she does not have to submit her AP scores as part of her application, so a bad score isn’t the kiss of death. But it’s also my understanding that at the very top competitive schools almost all the kids post their AP scores anyway so the blanks on her application might put her at a disadvantage to the kid who lists all 5 on theirs. I’ve also seen the results of a questionnaire that asks colleges how much weight they put on the various parts of the admissions process, and the weight for AP results is something like 2%. So my take-away is this is only significant for the very tippy top schools where they have so many candidates with perfect ACT/SATs, and perfect grades, that they are looking to find anything to differentiate the applicants.
If your comment is that you’re concerned that she won’t do well in the reach schools because you’re concerned that she doesn’t have a sufficient background to do well, I understand that comment since my daughter’s grammar school was so academically weak that she had to really put her all into catching up with the kids in her HS. It can be done, it’s just a question of how much effort your daughter wants to put into it, and how many years it will take to catch up with everyone else. She might also have to take some summer courses to catch up, which increases your expenses. If she’s behind in areas that aren’t related to her major, though, that shouldn’t be a big deal.
Welcome new members!
So, I had a nice discussion last night with D, at around midnight. (
We discussed the various colleges she’ll be applying to, including her ED/REA school, which is the one I thought anyway. Less wishy-washy, much more definitive. And she might even consider an LAC now. Maybe.
The other news was that she is interested in knowing her AP score, but not enough to “break the rules.” She’ll wait until Sunday. <:-P
@MomtoCon I totally hear you about being in denial for our kids flying the nest next year! I’m so not ready!
@ShrimpBurrito and @CuriousInCincy I had been really interested in the UK schools too, but there is a possibility that my D may want to apply to med school. When I posted in the pre-med threads about the UK schools, several informative people let me know that attending non-US undergrad schools is a problem for when you apply to a US med school. Evidently you have to get a special waiver for the coursework, and the waiver isn’t guaranteed, and even if you get one you might be a less desirable candidate. It seemed odd to me that if you go to one of the top UK schools you could be prejudiced against, but that’s what I was told. Just thought I’d share in case this is an issue for you.
That’s a bummer. My guy wants to study History and Archaeology, so it seems like a good fit.
@CuriousInCincy . yes, it’s a total bummer. What a great opportunity to steep himself in another culture and also be a part of the international student group - your son is getting an education within an education. And, at a much cheaper price than full pay here in the US. Good luck to him!
@sushiritto Your D sounds like my S with the AP scores. His friends are all talking about their scores so I mentioned it again last night. He wants to wait until tomorrow and check it “legally”. Can’t fault him for wanting to follow the rules. Just sitting here waiting while everyone already knows theirs… lol
Welcome @melvin123!
@melvin123 I’ve also read that it’s difficult to get into US med schools from international undergrad. For the record, in case your D would consider Canada, Canadian undergrad schools are okay–no waivers are required. It’s still a different culture, especially McGill in Montreal. And cheaper than sticker price at most US schools. I could tell you alllll about the Canadian Big Three (McGill, Toronto, UBC), as I’ve made the campus visit rounds with my D twice now.
D’s friend who is starting at U Aberdeen this fall is here now. She of course is encouraging D to apply to Edinburgh. I have mixed feeling about it. Although, after questioning this young lady today (whom I’ve known and adored for ~8 years), I can’t help but be proud and excited for her. She doesn’t know a soul over there. She’s never even BEEN to Scotland (or Europe, for that matter). What a brave, inspiring person. This is the season of life to explore and take risks, and she is doing it WHOLE HOG.
@ShrimpBurrito Yep, another lurker here… thanks for the invite.
So if I’m introducing myself - I am the mom of a DS and we are in this rat race called the college search. It is somewhat stressful. A little about my DS. He attends a performing arts school, but is a techy nerd. Has ~3.9 UW GPA, a 34 ACT and his ECs are a bit odd, as a result of the art school. He does the regular MUN, YIG, and NHS. He also does yearbook and graphic design for the school performances. He also coaches the MS Science Olympiad team (they don’t have HS) and he works on the HS website as well as supporting IT needs around school. His biggest EC is competing in Destination Imagination, which is an international creativity competition. His “performing art” is writing/communications.
We are looking for a medium sized tech-centric school and are open to suggestions. We fall in the UMC and won’t qualify for aid, only merit - and we are hunting it.
We have been touring colleges and have seen: UVA, W&M, TN Tech, Auburn. We have scheduled: GT, UAlabama, Vanderbilt, MIT, Northeastern, URochester, RIT, RPI and Case.
We live in TN and would like to identify those lesser ranked hidden gems that maybe offer liberal arts in addition to the Engineering we must have. (we have heard of the three big ones with engineering, Lafayette, LeHigh and Bucknell - still reaches for anyone, especially if seeking merit) He plans to study CS/CE, but is unsure, thus we have eliminated any schools that do not have Engineering - he is not unsure about the “C” in those, it will definitely be computers.
Thanks for all the great advice posted daily and the welcome!
We patiently waited to check AP score until today, when first available. Not that it was too hard; as he had only one AP this year (his school is not big on APs until senior year), he felt pretty sure he would do well, and he is at camp having loads of fun. 5 on Latin. Hope next year’s go as well.
@vistajay Wow, a 5 on Latin! That’s spectacular.
For anyone else interested in Bama, D18 submitted an app earlier this week and it could not have been easier. It probably took 10 minutes and was very straightforward. Online app was step 1, ACT score sent step 2, and transcript sent via Parchment step 3. Done!
D18 falls on the UA Scholar level which is pretty generous and automatic - $76k over 4 years - competitive with our instate options in California, and other merit friendly schools, and Canadian schools she would consider. A solid safety in the bank.
That’s a nice feeling to have one in the bank.
For my D, I might mention the 10-minute app for enticement. However, my previous mentions of attending Alabama have been met with dismissal based purely on politics. And she would qualify for the $100,000 over 4 years, if I’m reading the 'Bama site correctly.
@melvin123 – my post about D18 was one of frustration with her lack of effort. She didn’t prep for the tests (e.g. only did 3 of 13 packets her teacher gave out for the AP Calc AB test even though she knows that’s her weakest subject, and did nothing for AP Chem). This has been a long term issue and I’m afraid it’ll bite her on the behind if she manages to get into a top college.
And yet … we talked to the professor at her internship this summer and he was thrilled with her performance. The prof said she needs to shoot for the top schools (“she needs to be around kids like her”) and that he’s an alum interviewer for one of them (“ask them to have me interview her and she’ll get in”). She won the prize for best presentation of the group of ~40 kids, mostly because they had two checkpoints along the way and that forced her to make progress ahead of time.
I don’t know…