Congratulations @1822mom on the great news and to others who have gotten apps in recently. One more submitted here last night plus a scholarship essay in under the deadline. :)>-
Admittedly, I’m starting to worry that ED might have been a bad decision (bc if she’s admitted we can’t compare offers and I’m worried about the potential FA appeal mess) but I’m trying to stay positive. At least we’ll have an answer on her top choice in 13 days. She may get rejected, she may get deferred, etc. I’m also trying to remind myself that I ALWAYS second guess big decisions. It’s my nature, unfortunately. :-??
@MPT3D good luck with getting your younger child on board with starting the essays the summer before Senior year. Many of the parents on this thread were successful with that, but many (including me) weren’t. My D was so with it for testing early (which made her Junior year infinitely less stressful) but when it came time for writing those darned essays, it’s like someone switched kids with me. One thing I think that would have been really helpful would have been to coordinate with the other parents of her classmates in order to create an atmosphere/expectation of getting them done early. One of the things that happened at my house is that none of her classmates started them until the last minute, and her GC kept telling the kids to take ownership and keep the parents out of the process, so all of a sudden I was cast as this pushy mom whose expectations were so out of line with reality. And here we are, last minute, high stress…sigh.
I would think that any kid who could be convinced to start writing essays/completing apps during summer before senior year would be a kid who would not be at much risk of waiting to the last minute even if he/she didn’t start in the summer.
Getting essays done in the summer depends on whether the list of schools is done by end of junior year and whether the schools release prompts early enough. Both of my kids had relatively short lists and knew essay prompts by Spring/early Summer. That helped immensely.
Allowing 3 hours to write the first draft and about 2 hours to edit, meant a few days here and there over the course of the summer. Carving out 5 hours in the summer is so much easier than during the school year depending on which ECs they are in. Some essays got done faster than others.
One school (Texas A&M) opened the app July 1 and his choice of major is first come first serve so the goal was to get that app in on July 1. Those essays had to be done by July 1. UT opened August 1 so those needed to be done then because August had to be spent on ECs and AP Summer assignments.
Our junior English teachers assign the Common App or Apply Texas essays as an assignment in May so everyone has one essay done before end of junior year whether they submit it or not.
But if you are still touring in the summer or the school doesn’t release supplements until September/October, you can’t do much about essays.
Anyone else here with a kid taking a last shot at the SAT this morning?
I think we might done with apps unless D gets an inspiration about a college she didn’t consider before. But a higher score might help with merit scholarships.
I think there were originally about ten on the list. A couple she already applied to might have come off and a couple might not get finished.
Since she got the nice acceptance to Rowan engineering, it seems like a weight has lifted from D’s shoulders. She is underplaying it because it is local and she knows lots of people who go there. But I really think if it were less familiar or over a bridge in a different state, the local kids might appreciate it more with all the investment going on, the two medical schools, the beautiful facilities, etc. It would be hard to do better for engineering for most middle income kids. And it checks almost all of D’s boxes.
Of course, she didn’t even tell me she was applying for engineering…
Re essays, Every kid operates differently. Some need the pressure of a deadline, others need time to stew and analyze. I’d say encourage your kid to identify their best MO and make a plan. They’ll need to figure this out to be successful in college.
@labegg I’m so sorry you’re in the middle of that sticky situation. The phrase “Not my circus, not my monkeys” keep going through my head, but I know it’s hard to watch someone you care about self-destruct. Hugs.
State football champs over here. :bz D had SO much fun at the game. Her swim team has a shot at the State title in February, too. She’s having a fairytale senior year. I’m basking in it with her, as I know this is NOT the norm. Hugs to all of you struggling out there. (We need a wine glass emoji!)
My D16 did all her work on applications in the summer. She had the pressure of fall swim season with its insane schedule to motivate her. S18 had no such pressure, so got nothing done.
I should add, these kids are extremely different. One is hyper-organized, with lists for everything she done. Her favorite college course is accounting!! The other has had a running joke for years among family that he would find the cure for cancer, but lose it in the mess he calls his room.
Fellow USC applicants - My daughter submitted her app on November 30. According to Common App all pieces downloaded. When she looked at the USC portal last night it was showing her supplement hadn’t been received. She received a confirmation e-mail at 2am this morning from USC saying her app was complete. Now she is freaking out that somehow it didn’t get submitted from Common App correctly in time for the December 1 deadline. What type of confirmation did you receive and when did you receive it? TIA!
My daugher finalized her Chancellor Scholarship application after multiple essay re-writes and edits and meeting with her English teacher. It’s such a tricky situation because you have to convey a LOT in a short answer essay (250 words). There were three very broad yet difficult questions. I know it’s such a long shot but we both felt nervous watching her hit the submit button. It’s out of her hands now and she can go back to stressing over school work.
For all of those that followed her first marking period Calculus drama…she pulled a B with a hail mary 100 on her last exam which lifted her grade significantly enough. She currently has a solid A in marking period 2 so I think we’re out of the calculus woods. Unfortunately we have another issue now… her AP Economics teacher left the school unexpectedly so they will essentially be doing self-study of Economics since there aren’t any teachers with qualifications for this subject in the school and they were unable to hire someone mid year :(. It’s such a bummer because Economics is one of the majors she was accepted into at Pitt. So now we’re going to have to look for a Micro Economics tutor and she’s planning to continue her study and take the AP exam in May. Why can’t anything EVER be easy :(.
@MACmiracle good luck to your daughter today! BTW, forgive me for being dense, but what do you mean by “we have a 2018 mascot?” New pet? school decision? Your D is the mascot? Sorry for being so thick!
@amominaz, D submitted her app on the 27th and received an email on the 29th about the portal. By that time everything had been received. As long as the Common App showed that she sent it on time, she will be fine. The same thing happened at another school my D applied to. She sent the app on October 31. On that school’s portal it showed that they received it on November 2nd. My guess is that is the day they actually downloaded it.
@amominaz I wish I could help you. My D ignores emails and portals. And she just submitted last night.
@melvin123 my first reading I thought the same thing and believed @MACmiracle was announcing a college decision. But then my Jamaican Blue Mountain kicked in.
ha ha ha. Thanks guys! Hope you’re all having a great day. It’s gorgeous weather here at the moment. Bright blue sky, nary a cloud, the leaves are still on the trees and rich shades of yellow and gold, high 60s. Perfect walking the dog weather.
It’s beautiful here too (not quite as warm, but close) and I just finished putting up the Christmas lights. There’s a reason people pay someone to do that.
