True. Alas we don’t qualify for aid so have no plans to submit the css profile anywhere. FAFSA will do for the loan if we decide to use it otherwise we’re on our own!
S got a 4 on the AP Lang exam; he knows scores ran low this year, so he’s happy with it.
S did his first application today, to University of South Carolina. Couldn’t click submit yet because my credit card was stolen last week and I am waiting to receive a new card with new numbers. Still feels good for me, so must feel really good for him, to have gotten the process started and to know he has one app almost done. Of course, he still needs to do the Top Scholars application … . One thing I didn’t realize about USC that might be good for anyone else who plans to apply there - if applying to the Honors College, they require all scores from all sittings of SAT and ACT.
S also completed his first (and possibly last) college app today. He asked me to sit with him in case he needed info from me, but in the end all he needed was my credit card number. He was able to request transcripts through Naviance today as well, and he already used a free score report for the June SAT to send those scores to UTD. Hopefully he can have his acceptance in hand before school starts.
D submitted her app to UNM. Big day!
I am impressed and a bit jealous of all the submitted applications. Go team Class of 2018! We have several done and siiting in the pipeline waiting to hit submit. But, DD can’t request transcipts until August 1, doesn’t know her senior schedule until August 10 and can’t request teacher recommendations until Sept. 1. She needs a transcript from the end of Junior year to upload to the USC app and even if we request it August 1st it will take two weeks to arrive at home. Safest bet is for her to wait until August 1.
@labegg, at least your D has her apps well on their way! We’re lucky; this year ApplyTexas opened July 1 instead of the usual August 1 and S’s school district responded by getting six-semester transcripts and unofficial class rank done weeks earlier than usual, and the school will start processing transcript requests tomorrow. For senior year schedule he just used course requests…if he has an irresolvable conflict and ends up with a different class than planned I figure he can just update the college at that time. He also can’t get recommendations from the GC or teachers yet, but he didn’t need any for the UTD app.
@labegg I don’t know if this helps you at all, but USC accepts an unofficial transcript, and then if they have questions they will let you know to send an official one. S uploaded a web based unofficial transcript and is hoping for the best.
@GoldenState99 thank you so much for your comments. Grade deflation should be a significant concern for all kids. I have a nephew who is adversely impacted by this. He is now a cop, and his lower GPA follows him around; it impacts promotions, and he isn’t eligible for a program where his employer would pay for law school. This sounds like sour grapes, but how frustrating is it when your professor tells the whole class that this is one of the best papers he’s seen produced, and you get it back with a B+. BTW, my other nephew from another sibling was accepted to that school and turned it down because the grade deflation turned him off. On another note, have you been to Montreal before? It’s a really fun city for college students, but if you don’t know French (for the surrounding city, not the school), you might not like it.
@GertrudeMcFuzz congratulations on your D’s APs!
@RedRose87 thanks for the suggestion! I looked up the program and it looked really terrific for someone who knows that they want to go into the health professions. My D isn’t there yet, she likes all the sciences, and is just thinking of med school as a possibility at this stage, so this program wouldn’t be for her. Hopefully someone else sees your post and gets an aha moment, because it really does look like a neat program.
My son’s CC specifically has requested students not submit any applications prior to their first senior meeting.
He submitted Alabama and A&M anyway.
@gclsports thank you, I did see that! But the last transcript that she has a copy of does not show her spring semester, so we have to request an official cooy with the final grades for the year. Unfortunately we do not have access to an unofficial web-based transcript to screen shot. There are transcript like grades in Naviance for us but those doen’t show Spring semester either. I guess we could cobble together the Naviance grades and the grades that are still showing for Spring Semester on our distrist grade portal…hhhhmmm
@traveler98 I thought it was early for the Apply Texas app this year! She still needs to write the optional Topic C essay…A&B essays are done, but she will be a holistic review for TAMU with her 13% class rank, 4.81 wgpa, and 27 ACT, so that C topic is definately not optional for her! I guess she could hit the submit button on the SFA and TX State apps since she is an assured admit for those schools, but figured she may as well just wait to get the senior schedule.
@DavidPuddy, that’s interesting, did they say why? The head college and career counselor at S’s school has been emailing class of 2018 parents weekly since mid-May, and definitely is encouraging students to work on apps over the summer. She did make it clear that GC and teacher recommendations can’t be requested yet but she was one of the people who pressured the district to get the transcripts available sooner due to the ApplyTexas earlier opening. I can definitely see why the applications couldn’t be completed for colleges requiring recommendations, but I’m interested to know why a counselor would advise not submitting any at all over the summer.
Man, I can’t believe how far advanced so many of your kids are with apps! D will wait until September (at the earlierst) to make sure she gets the NMSF designation before she submits apps. She won’t have her act together before then anyway, I suspect. Slackers/procrastinators, unite!
We are with you, @suzy100! \m/
PS I’ve always wanted to use that emoticon in proper context. 
Newbie Parent here and Ditto
We are definitely trending in the slacker direction, though I am definitely prodding to get her moving along >:) I would say we are doing incremental steps. If I can convince her to look at essay prompts before the end of the month I’ll be excited!
But she doesn’t go back to school until the end of August so has a bit more time than some of your kids I think.
This week, UA, OU, TAMU were started/submitted. Next week, D needs to be done with rough draft of Common App essays. Band starts July 25th for D18 and August 1 for S19.
D wasn’t getting anything done (in all fairness, she is working a full-time job with a 3hr total commute) so I told her no going out until I see some progress…five minutes later, “I need your credit card to submit!” Ha!
I have let her know that if I get too “tiger mom” to tell me to back off. I just showed her the calendar for the rest of the year, there’s just so little time to get these apps done, and a genetic disposition to procrastination 
I’m thinking of waiting until the August 1 date for the new Common App as the get your butt in gear date. High School tells him wait 'till return in mid-August. Seeing all these incredible kids on CC has me wondering what’s best.Last thing I want is my son being as stressed out as I’m getting.
@traveler98
The counselor wants ALL students to be completing a list of 15 items, yes, 15, -the most important of which is the comprehensive brag sheet- which makes complete sense, before submitting. Brag Sheets are due upon return to school the first week. They want to have everything in line (especially for recommendations I suppose) prior to submitting.
I agree, for some “auto admit schools and auto admit students”, maybe it doesn’t make sense. But for the vast majority of families and students it is probably a good plan. Like I said - we disobeyed.