<p>I was also wondering if it helped to get RD in earlier… But really D is just trying to complete EA by deadline. She has an application completion event at school before thanksgiving, so hopefully scholarship apps and RD will get finished before winter sports and holidays kick in!! D has 8 schools total on list 3 EA, 2 roll and 3 RD that are a reach financially, academically or both. I wouldn’t be surprised if 1 or 2 of those fell off the list by the end of this process. Good luck to everyone trying to meet these deadlines</p>
@Momma2018 My D submitted the app for her one RD school in September. Not because she perceives any advantage, but because her winter sport will keep her extremely busy, and she just wanted to get it done, along with all of her rolling and EA apps. She will update her admissions officer with new achievements/honors as needed, to show continued interest.
@sushiritto @suzy100 @Booajo here is another member from procrastinators club. Number of application submitted - big ZERO. Number of essays done - I don’t know. Not sure where this train is heading.
S18 submitted his RD applications at the same time as his EAs. One school waived his application fee for doing that: another way to increase the number of applications they receive.
Nevermine. The date and time stamp suddenly showed up in posts.
@bearcatfan CC is being wiggy for me today.
@momma2018 and @mpt3d When S submitted the EAs that had no supplemental essays, he also submitted the RDs that had no supplemental essays. Part of the thinking was that submitting so early would show interest. But, part of it was to get access to the topics for the merit-based scholarships, which we hadn’t been able to find up to that point. Naturally, we found a way to get those topics without applying, but only after S submitted the RD apps. The downside for S of submitting so early is that his CA essay was about a struggle he was in the middle of experiencing and how he was working to overcome it. The struggle is now over and he has a different perspective on it, and he thinks the new perspective would make for a better CA essay. (He changed it for the 3 he just submitted the other day, and I did think the new essay was better.) Plus, there are new awards to report and now he has to balance whether the awards are a big enough deal to bother the admissions counselors in the middle of app season by emailing to report them.
Just coming on here looking for support for a stressed out, freaking out kid. She is really struggling with AP Calc BC. Just not clicking with her this year :(. Her grade is currently a C+ and she thinks that it will affect merit and she’s freaking out that she will have her acceptances rescinded. She is carrying a full load…no lunch or study hall…5 AP classes, 1 DE/Honors, plus her easy Phys Ed and Wind Ensemble. She has A or A+ in every other course. I don 't know what to tell her to calm her down and it’s way too late to drop :(. She should have taken AP stats but that ship has sailed. Feeling really bad for her. Any words of advice…aside from hire a tutor (looking into it).
I was a bit hyperbolic last night. D is working her bottom off, but she suffers from “perfection syndrome.” And I don’t know where she gets that from. 8-| She has 2 apps to get done before 11:59 PM 11/1, one REA and one EA. She essays are being tweaked and tweaked and tweaked, plus, like everyone else’s student, D has a boatload of homework. As I’ve said several times, thank goodness she dropped AP Comp Sci due to her “no zero period” rule.
@AmyBeth68 Besides hiring a tutor as you mention, my D has always had the ability find another student or two or three (or students found her) to study with and form a informal study group for certain classes. If my D weren’t so freakin’ busy I’d ask my D to help your D, since D took BC last year and math is her “strong suit.” Essay writing OTOH, well, I digress. Is she meeting with her teacher at least on a semi-regular basis, before school, during lunch or office hours?
My D will do her RD apps later in the month and more likely in December. I know she has another couple due 11/15 and 12/1. And the balance 1/1 or thereabouts.
@sushiritto I think your advice on working in groups is a great one. Her main sports season ends this week so she will finally have time after school and on weekends to get together with her friends in AP Calc. She has always done well in math even in Calc A last year…but this has blindsided her for some reason. I think she’s just making bad mistakes because she got 100 on her last quiz then bombed the test with the same material. It’s more concentration and focus perhaps?
My D has been really good about working on essays and applications. Now we are at a standstill due to CollegeBoard delaying SAT w/Essay scores. After multiple calls, emails and twitter messaging to their poor customer service team we got her multiple choice scores released the day after their deadline. Now we’re told we need to wait 5-10 days for her essay to be scored. This means that her two Nov. 1 early action schools won’t have her scores in time. I’ll be reaching out to them to see if we need to move to regular decision. So disappointing.
@AmyBeth68 My daughter runs hot and cold with DE Physics the same way. She is taking AP Calc AB and doing well, but she has the same teacher as last year and has her figured out, lol. We don’t have BC.
For physics, she understands the problems. She can do them for homework. When she gets to a testing situation that has the same stinking problems - like, the only thing different is the number of km or something like that - she can blank. She says she gets confused … she knows she did the problem in the past, but “gets confused” as to how to proceed. She’s not alone in that class (don’t get me started …).
So it’s not unusual to understand the homework, and then just fizzle on the tests. I’m not sure what the answer is either.
@AmyBeth68 , Is the stress of apps getting to her? Now that her sport is ending this week, maybe she will be less stressed. Hugs!
Anyone else waiting foreeeeeever for the College Board to send SAT scores? We ordered them a week ago and they still say “awaiting fulfillment”. I called and they said it takes up to 10 days for the scores to be sent once you order. Any idea why when it is all electronic? We were hopeful the scores would get to schools by Nov. 1, but now it looks like they won’t.
About Regular Decision, our S18 has submitted all apps, whether early or regular, that he can at this point. He has a couple UC apps he is waiting until Nov. 1 to submit as that is the earliest you can. Other than that, he has completed ten apps, a mix of early and regular.
You’d think it would be a relief, but now it’s just on to all the scholarship applications and other things. I thought junior year was supposed to be the worst, but senior year is just as stressful or even more so because of the agony of waiting on decisions.
@AmyBeth68 Also take a look at Kahn Academy for AP calculus help. My D has just started doing the Khan academy quizzes for the topic she is working on along with her homework, and has found it helps a ton with being able to go back over the topics covered in class and make sure she 100% understands before struggling through the problems.
Of course this takes time. Time is really really short here.
I was thinking of doing a tutor, but there’s not anyway to slot that in the schedule. Khan can be done any time.
Never thought about it but what I’m reading here is some Cali kids get to attend a school 5 hours away and still pay in state tuition. Nice work - if you can get it.
Wish Rutgers had a commercial music program with a recording studio
D18 submitted his pre-audition video to Frost and his supplements to Drexel over the weekend.
@AmyBeth68 Tutors, working with other students and perhaps a teacher’s meeting sound like good things, at least they were for us. The meeting can help set expectations properly and show your D that there is a get-well plan worth following (it also shows the teacher that your D is invested in improving). Organizing her schedule to adjust to the change in emphasis will probably be the biggest challenge.
@newenglandjane “meh” GPA/high test scores = the Island of Misfit Toys… ok maybe not that bad but it sure feels that way. I agree with others saying that targeting schools using test scores is, while uplifting, generally not worth the exercise. A reach here or there doesn’t hurt (as there are occasional lottery winners) but I wouldn’t get too comfortable strolling through that neighborhood. I’d also spend some timing thinking about how much rigor is beneficial and which side you should err on… different for each child in this situation imho.
GPAs in the lower half of the mid 50, and test scores in the top 50% are “ok”, with top <25% test scores being more helpful for admission and merit. (To get a very rough feel on how schools use gpa vs scores takes some patience internet searching for clues. Some articles have charts that show how test scores can “adjust gpas” - I can’t find those right now and I’m unclear if these have any basis in reality. CSUs have a raw formula showing how they rank applicants using gpa and scores, and it is evident there that the gpa emphasis is strong. Other hints at weight are the criteria for merit. Oregon and TrinityU list out their criteria for merit awards and one can get a sense of equivalency gleaning through some of that material).
Long story short: Target with GPA and adjust slightly due to scores, add a dash of reaches (esp schools that really want high scores… I don’t know of any though). I may be somewhat conservative, so you may want to adjust based on your child. And remember that many schools will do the job; the task is to find the one where your child will want to invest their effort the most.
I’d lean towards applying to a longer list of schools, since results seem to be haphazard.
@AmyBeth68 So sorry to hear your daughter is struggling. I’m certain her admission won’t be rescinded, and merit probably won’t be affected by one class since she is strong overall. I have perfectionist kids too, and I know they can not be easily “talked down”. The study groups and meeting with the teacher should help, but outside counseling may help with coping skills for now and when in college. Best of luck to you!
DD’18 hit submit on her EA application last night! She was required to write one additional essay in addition to the Common App essay. That is 8 out the door.
Or even significantly more than 5 hours, depending on where you live! Good point, I hadn’t thought about it that way before. In a big state, you can really be “away” while still being in state.