Parents of the HS Class of 2018 (Part 1)

Parents of HS Class of 20xx
7881

I haven’t been following this thread close enough of late. I was more active last year on the 2017 thread as my S17 was searching. I was far more involved (pushing and shoving him) to make progress. Not at all the same with S18. When the Common App opened, he completed it. Once completed, he wanted to use it to apply to the schools on his list that were Common App schools. He completed all supplemental essays and submitted them. He applied to several more schools in the following days and he was complete by the middle of September. We added one more school so he is now up to 15. He has received 7 decisions so far, all accepts. Here is his list in alphabetical order

Arizona State - Accept - Considering the Barrett app now
Colorado State University - Accept, Honors app submitted
Colorado School of Mines - Accept
Creighton University
Northern Arizona University - Accept, WUE & Presidents scholarship awarded. Honors app submitted.
Montana State University - Accept, WUE scholarship awarded
University of Wyoming (Visited) - Accept, WUE scholarship awarded, Honors app submitted
University of Central Florida
University of Colorado Boulder
University of Denver
University of Portland
University of South Florida (Visited) - Accept
Miami University Ohio
Ohio State University (Visited)
University of Minnesota Twin Cities (Visited - His brother attends UMN)

We are from Fort Collins so are visiting CSU on Thursday. We are visiting School of Mines on 10/28. He is very close to confirming with Mines even if he has not heard back from the others. He did not think he would get into Mines so added other schools just in case.

7882

Our area has a vibrant theatre community, not just in the high schools, but in our entire valley. Several months ago, the area non-profit theatre league nominated S for Best Supporting Actor, Youth Division. The League sends judges to each show, and they fill out scorecards for each actor.

Last night, there was an awards ceremony for all of the nominees, professional and adult community amateurs as well as youth theatre. Nice dinner, formalwear, sort of a mini academy Awards.

When “the envelope, please” happened, S was announced at the winner in his category. He received an engraved trophy and got to make an acceptance speech. He’s over the moon right now. :slight_smile:

7883

@traveler98, well at least you have company; my D is dragging her feet on the McDermott application as well. Still no progress (or interest it seems) in doing the little intro video.

We’ve met the last couple of Sundays (our new day to discuss college issues) and she says it’s on her list and that’s about it. She has most of the other application requirements finished already, but she seems to be getting starry-eyed about the ivy’s again as I guess that’s all her friends and counselor talk about.

She says her counselor can’t wait to start putting flags on her wall to represent all of the great schools her students wind-up attending.

I reminded D that she should pick a school based on the best fit for her and not one that would just put the most prestigious flag on her counselor’s wall !!

7884

@DiotimaDM Wow! How cool for him! Congratulations.

7885

@jpc763 , congrats!! You must be thrilled! How does your other son like UMN?

7886

HELP! Please, I have crafted my nasty but nice email to the GC. DD put in a request to see her GC over a week ago amd has yet to be called down…I am about to send this and plan to bcc the head GC. Does anyone have any input? Am I being ridiculous amd over bearing? Anything you would cut or aaadd?

Dear GC

I am just checking in on the status of DD’s college application requests. Brag sheets & resume from DD, as well as the parental brag sheet, have been complete since June/July. I believe that teacher X has had her recommendations complete since mid-August. DD’s applications have been complete and submitted since August 1 (Sept 1 for TAMU) with her naviance/common application requests completed at the same time.

Is there any further information that you need us to provide in order to help you wrap things up?

If we have tracked properly these applications still have outstanding items:

  1. Loyola University Chicago - 1 teacher recommendation (x), 1 GC report
  2. University of South Carolina - 1 GC report
  3. TAMU - 2 teacher recommendations (x,y) because DD is a review admit...
  4. UT-Austin - 1 teacher recommendation (x) because DD is a review admit...
  5. Florida State University & Clemson University - 1 teacher recommendation (x). We are not sure how these letter are received by these schools. Do we send these electronically or via paper?

Common Application Schools:

  1. University of Colorado - Boulder - GC/school reports, 1 teacher recommendation (x), transcript (which has been requested and shows as sent in Naviance? But has not been received by school).
  2. Fordham University- GC/school reports, 1 teacher recommendation (y), transcript (which has been requested and shows as sent in Naviance? But has not been received by school).
  3. Trinity University - GC/school reports, 1 teacher recommendation (x), transcript (which has been requested and shows as sent in Naviance? But has not been received by school).
  4. High Point University - GC/school reports, 1 teacher recommendation (x), transcript (which has been requested and shows as sent in Naviance? But has not been received by school).

I suspect that the issue with the transcripts not being received by the universities is that they are held and sent with the bulk of the common app documents sent by the GC? The University of Colorado actually followed up with “our school” on this issue after not being able to locate DD’s transcript in their system and that is the answer they received. Which is just confusing, from the student/parent end, because Naviance indicates that the transcript were sent and when DD addressed it with you, you said to follow up about transcripts with the registrar.

At this point in time, DD has applied to 17 schools (probably far to many…lol) Not sure if this list below will help you to prioritize but DD’s order of preference is:

  1. University of Washington -Seattle
  2. Clemson
  3. Auburn/LSU - accepted to both already
  4. TAMU/ UT (given that DD is a review admit, we are not anticipating she will be accepted at either school. DD says she is not interested in either school's alternative admissions/Blinn/PACE programs, otherwise these schools would appear higher on her list!)
  5. University of Colorado - Boulder
  6. Loyola Chicago
  7. Florida State/University of Florida
  8. Fordham/Trinity
  9. High Point
  10. College of Charleston/U of South Carolina
  11. University of Mississippi/Stephen F. Austin - accepted to both

DD has applied EA/Priority for the bulk of her schools and some of the application deadlines are fast approaching. We tried to ensure that her applications were complete on DD’s end in a timely manner, prior to school starting, to accomodate DD’s busy fall schedule and to facilitate your end of the process to meet the early deadlines. I believe that you have meet with DD briefly, once or twice, since the school year began, but mainly covered senior classes, class rank/gpa, and graduation requirements. At any rate, is there an anticipated time frame for completion? Please let us know if there is anything further that you need to help complete this application process.

Thank you,
annoyed, impatient parent

7887

@labegg I can’t believe you’ve managed to hold it together rather than storming the gates of the HS. Since August 1st, and still nothing!!!

7888

“Equally remote Oberlin”. .??? Our impression was that Kenyon was far more remote. Maybe it was the confederate flags we saw in the neighborhood. Odannyboy- you might want to ask the students at each school about locals protesting the student bodies. This is a recurring issue on Kenyon campus. While Oberlin also has some rub between towns and gowns it didn’t seem nearly as notable as at Kenyon. Fwiw, my oldest went to CMU for computer science and had a great experience. It is a city campus tho as u r well aware.

7889

@traveler98 I know my DD has politely asked me to refrain from bringing up her missing merit at several of her schools by 1 ACT point again. It’s so hard…

7890

So S pressed the submit button on NMF application last night. Looking at the essay again, there are couple of typos. I don’t think we can fix it now. Not sure how much it matters.

7891

@labegg, respectfully, I think you’re letter’s too long. I’d get rid of everything from “I suspect” on down. No need for you to guess anything, or try to prioritize for him/her. Even the last paragraph, while helping to frame your comments, is superfluous because you set everything up in your 1st paragraph.

7892

@labegg, I also admire your restraint.

Personally, I think it’s time for a meeting. Maybe the way to do it is to request a meeting with the principal that includes the GC. Go through the principal to get to her. That way she can’t blow off her boss.

How involved are these for the CA, anyway? Isn’t it just a matter of a couple clicks and uploads?

7893

your, not you’re. autocorrect, got to love it.

7894

I agree with @melvin it’s too long.

7895

I just put down a tuition and housing deposit. Shhhh.

It is refundable until May 1, and hopefully assures her of a double instead of a triple. I talked to admissions to make sure this is not committing her to anything, since we need to see how financial aid shakes out before making some decisions. But so far this is her Number 1 school (the one where the freshman dorm is the pits, and she still likes it lol).

This is the only school that has come out and said early deposits get you better housing. They said that even during our visit in the summer, so at least they are open about it.

7896

OMG a tuition and housing deposit already? I have feelings of inadequacy now. :slight_smile:

7897

Why do I want to be in their financial data system? All the schools say, applying for need-based aid is optional. All of them say merit aid does not require need-based application.

But the high school and many people here say, you have to do it because all the colleges want you to or the merit aid might require it.

But they don’t. I checked. I don’t get it.

7898

@sushiritto This is a rolling admissions school, so don’t feel too bad.

I would have waited, but there is the issue of trying to avoid a triple. I think she will end up going there, but if she doesn’t it is refundable.

7899

If the schools you are interested in do not require FAFSA for merit aid, there is no reason to apply (if you are only looking for merit aid). Some schools require the form for merit aid. Just varies by school.

7900

@pickledginger - S17 loves UMN. He is in the marching band and is having a great time. His classes are fine but he is unsure what he wants to major in at this point.

@bearcatfan - I will probably be doing the same thing for Mines in 3 weeks. The sooner you put your deposit down, the farther you are up in the queue when it comes time to pick.