Congrats to @GertrudeMcFuzz and her D!
@mommdc She re-emailed Thursday night and did get a reply on Friday, in the end. So she has a time set for Monday.
We checked her spam folder and there was a message in there with the subject “your visit and interview” but it turned out to really be spam, from some random school. We unsubscribed from that one.
Does anyone know how involved the University of Georgia application for admission and / or the application for merit scholarships (Foundation Fellows and Bernard Ramsey) are?
The application for admission does not open until September 1, by which time school and S’s fall sports season will be in full swing. There is a quick turnaround on the Early Answer deadline, which is October 15, and the merit scholarship application deadline is November 1, while the fall sports season is still going, which means all the deadlines occur when S will be at his busiest. S is so slooowww about writing essays, and I’m assuming there will be one or more between application for admission and application for scholarships. We need to evaluate whether S can put his best foot forward under these circumstances, and if not, might need to replace U Ga on his list.
I’m new here and thought I would join in the conversation. I’ve been lurking on CC and have found a lot of useful information. I have a D18 and D16. Even though I went through the process with D16 it is so different this time around. I think D18 has decided on nursing and we live in Indiana so she has been investigating a lot of the close by options. About a week ago she started mentioning options that are a lot farther away (USCe and Alabama). I really don’t want her to go super far, but am trying to be supportive in her exploration. We visted Purdue, IU, UK, and Butler. I’m a PU grad and I think she would love it there, but trying to not say too much. I’ve been on a major search for automatic merit awards for her. She has great stats, but not NMF type. She seems to like the draw of the big name schools and has hard time showing interest in schools she has never heard of. I’ve enjoyed hearing about some new ones from people in this discussion and have mentioned a few to her. Anyway, just wanted to “introduce” myself. Looking forward to joining in.
Welcome @katstat1 !
Congrats to @labegg and @GertrudeMcFuzz on the recent admits!! <:-P So exciting!!
@daffodilpetunia glad the interview situation got sorted. Puget Sound is on my Ds list too. She and H visited in spring but she didn’t interview.
I’m curious about the interview process in general. None of her schools require them but a few offer them as “optional” or “recommended” which I sort of read as better do it. BUT my D isn’t going to be a good interview. She doesn’t really even like talking casually to admissions people in a college fair setting. She’s awkward and uncomfortable and obviously so. 
So I’m not sure if interviews will help her or hurt her honestly. :-/
@katstat1 Another nursing parent! I live in Ohio, so let me know if you’d like any info on schools across the border.
So happy for the kids who already have an acceptance in hand! I’m even happier for the parents. 
@1822mom None of my daughter’s schools require interviews either at this stage of the game. One requires a nursing interview of everyone in the spring, and one might require it in the late fall if she is on the bubble of acceptance. We have had interview sessions of a sort with nursing profs and admission staff, but none of that was official. But, we are not looking at big-time schools, either.
With rolling admissions at most places, including nursing notifications, she could have an acceptance or two in hand by Thanksgiving. [-O<
@gcisports…DD is finding that she is able to recycle her 3 main essays with just a small amount of tweaking for most of the schools on her list like USCe, Auburn, Florida etc. Her essay topics are 1. Diversity (this one seems to be a favorite topical with ad coms this year) 2. Tell about an event that sparked a period of personal growth or shaped your character (which is a common app/coalition app essay) 3. Tell us about the environment you grew up in and how it has shaped you (tweaking the diversity essay worked for this one). 4. Tell us something about yourself that we can’t see from your application or a similar colorful essay topic.
So maybe your kiddo can work on the essays now any get them out of the way and just recycle! UGA has an admissions blog you might find helpful. http://ugaadmissions.blogspot.com
Here are the UGA admissions essays…
Here are the five essay questions, with Essay 1 being required and Essays 2-5 being four options from which the applicant selects one.
(Required) The college admissions process can create anxiety. In an attempt to make it less stressful, please tell us an interesting or amusing story about yourself that you have not already shared in your application.
Choose one of the following four:
- UGA’s 2017 Commencement speaker Ernie Johnson (Class of ’79) told a story from his youth about what he refers to as blackberry moments. He has described these as “the sweet moments that are right there to be had but we’re just too focused on what we’re doing …, and we see things that are right there within our reach and we neglect them. Blackberry moments can be anything that makes somebody else’s day, that makes your day, that are just sweet moments that you always remember.” Tell us about one of your “blackberry moments” from the past five years.
- Creativity is found in many forms including artistic avenues, intellectual pursuits, social interactions, innovative solutions, et cetera. Tell us how you express your creativity.
- Tell a story from your life, describing an experience that either demonstrates your character or helped to shape it.
4.Describe a problem, possibly related to your area of study, which you would like to solve. Explain its importance to you and what actions you would take to solve this issue.
So far it seems for DD, who is not looking at top 50 ranked schools, admissions essay topics are some variation of the ones above. I can’t speak to the scholarship essays other than to say they are generally very specific and require a good deal of work.
Thanks, @labegg It helps to at least have a starting point.
Welcome @katstat1 !
Congrats on the acceptances!
S has been saying medicine and nothing but medicine since the beginning of 9th grade. Rock solid, no wavering at all.
His EMR final is on Tuesday, and there were mandatory study sessions this weekend. So I’m driving him home and I remark that what are the odds that he manages to pick two universities that both have a medical trifecta: a med school, a physician assistant program and a BS in EMS / paramedic academy. (Texas Tech has all three, too. Didn’t know that when we were touring.)
He understands that the BS in EMS is not a good choice of major for a pre-med, but he also knows that there’s enough room in his schedule that he can do a regular degree and get his paramedic certification before his scholarship runs out.
Anyhow, we both laugh, and then he says, “Yeah, about that…medicine, I mean.”
Mom hears imaginary squeal of brakes “What about it?”
“I’m thinking that if I like EMT as much as I like EMR, that maybe I try a class or two in EMS and then look into disaster relief or disaster medicine.”
“Disaster relief, that’s a Masters in Public Health. No med school?”
“Yeah, maybe no med school. Not for sure, though, but maybe, after I try some classes and work in EMS for awhile.”
Coulda knocked me down with a feather. I’m not upset or disappointed; medicine’s always been his thing, not something we’ve pushed. I’ve mentioned PA or MPH a couple of times before and been totally pooh-poohed.
“No, Mom. Meh-di-cine.”
It’s the first time I’ve head him deviate from it in years. He still planning to do all of the pre-med requirements, but I guess he’s more open to exploring alternatives than I thought.
@DiotimaDM It is so neat when they arrive at things on their own. Makes me wonder what the thought process is and sometimes why they don’t “hear it” when we say it as parents. Emergency Management is an exciting and fast paced world. That is great that he is open to exploring new paths. Sometimes it is hard to accept that it is ok to change your mind, especially when you are fixated on an end goal for so long.
Interviews: In general, at most schools where interviews are optional, I have read that they are mostly about the student getting more info and the admissions team getting another dimension to look at. They might help, but supposedly you can’t lose an admission offer over a bad interview. Of course, schools may vary on this.
D18 is doing interviews because she is pretty outgoing and thinks doing them will be an asset for her. She really enjoyed the first one she did (last spring break) and so has signed up for them for the 3 schools she is visiting this summer. For Whitman, they told her that since she is interviewing, she doesn’t need to go to the info session. So I guess that one will include a fair bit of info coming from the AO.
If you truly can’t lose an admission offer because of an interview, I’d think it would be good practice for a shy student. Job interviews will count later on.
So D is home from Montreal and is all smiles. She had such a great time. I’m glad to have her back. >:D<
@DiotimaDM, it’s been awhile but I used to work with someone who was involved in disaster relief policy. Not surprisingly, he was an ED doc. Going into that specialty might serve your S well and give him lots of options.
Just an FYI: If you are calling an admissions office for a general question, make sure you talk to an AO and not the person answering the phone (who is probably a student).
On Friday I called the last university we are visiting because I wanted clarification on something I read on the website about the program. He told me something that almost had me wanting to cancel the visit. At the last minute, he gave me the name and number of someone in the program (administrator not a professor). She told me the opposite - more in line with the other schools we’d visited. Not only is the visit still on, she volunteered to meet with us before the general talk and tour to speak specifically about the major. It was also the only university where we hadn’t been able to plan anything with faculty or staff in her major, so it’s just as well the student was wrong, lol.
So, I believe our list will stay at seven schools. There is one that is definitely at the bottom of the list. A few are in the first tier, very different from one another. It will be interesting to see what t shirt she is wearing in my Facebook post come decision time. :-?
@bearcatfan can I ask what your list of colleges is for nursing for your daughter?
Messaged you, @katstat1
OK, a sort of college question.
Has anyone just eaten (not shopped) at an IKEA? There is one near the college we are visiting later this week, and I’d like to do something nice for my incoming freshman who has been dragged to every college visit without complaining on her part. She is a foodie, and talks about IKEA a lot.
Can you just go there and eat? Is it at a particular end of the store?
Yes you can! There’s a restaurant area.
Can I avoid most of the store, or do I have to walk through the store to get there?