Good luck to those waiting on Stanford REA! I am going to predict celebrations here because really, how could Stanford not?
Physics C is the toughest for D. Thankfully the teacher is the same AP teacher from Physics 1. Calc 3 was Calc BC teacher last year. D is extremely blessed to have great teachers.
So @cardinal2020mom I wouldn’t sweat it.
And I really, really hope that our kids will internalize the fact that so much of these decisions aren’t about them, but what a school might need in any year -Irish step dancing tuba player anyone? And that they should be happy and proud of themselves for all of their work and how much they’ve actually learned.
Of course fingers crossed for the Stanford crew!
Hardest/worst taught class for both my kids, and apparently for their classmates AP Physics I. Both of mine scrapped by with a B- and neither scored better than a 2 on the exam. Funny story - at the most recent NHS induction they read off 3 of the kids proudest accomplishments, one boy’s; “I passed AP physic I with a B and didn’t have a melt down during the exam”.
Although I guess I understand trying to look at apps together when kids come from the same school, I also don’t like the situation where one got the easy English teacher and one got the really hard one. The kid with the hard teacher did 4x the work and got a B, the easy teacher kid coasted through with no homework and got an A. Hopefully it all evens out in the end? 
What’s even more unfair is when AOs compare your kid with kids from neighboring schools that they assume are similar. We have a school ten minutes away that on paper looks the same. In reality, they hand out grades and awards so easily and the students are given very little homework. It truly frustrates me. Do what you want in your school but AOs have no idea how much more work it took for the student in D’s school to earn that A than the student in the school down the street. Only upside is that I know D is EXTREMELY prepared for the rigor of college versus the kids matriculating from the other school (even if they do hypothetically edge out our kids for coveted spots).
Lastly, while I’m griping (haha), D had a TERRIBLE teacher for AP Euro in 10th grade that has since been demoted. The teacher taught them nothing and often just told them to read at their seats. Result was that the kids got A’s in the class but the entire class (of legit overachievers) got ones and twos on the AP exam. 
That black mark isn’t explained in the eyes of an AO and imho was really underserved. You can’t say the teacher was awful bc it looks like you are blaming someone else (even if it is the teacher’s fault bc it’s the first AP those kids were allowed at this school and they had no way of knowing what was expected). All students were required to take the AP exam. :-??
I guess the school caught on bc after D’s class…no more AP teaching for for that teacher and those same students have fours and fives in their other AP exams, including in AP Calc, AP Physics, etc.
AP Physics C is the most difficult class for D18. She has a higher grade in it than BC right now (she thinks she bombed the most recent test) but she’s struggling with the concepts. Not a surprise, as this is first physics class she’s ever taken. I strongly recommended not taking it but D18 “really likes the teacher” (I said that wasn’t a good enough reason). Well, now she’s paying the price.
FWIW, D seems to have gotten the “easier” (still lots of work) AP Lit teacher, but had the really hard AP Lang teacher. So, maybe in the end, it’s the law of averages. Meaning you don’t compare same subjects, but overall records within a school.
The one course that very few kids seem to take at D’s HS is Multivariable Calc. Typically her classes are 30-35 kids and a couple or three sections. However, there’s only one section of MV with about 15 students. So few kids take it, because: a) it’s really hard and b) it’s not a 5-point AP course. So the general feeling is “Why bother?”. I hope that’s a “separator” for colleges when comparing kids within her school.
Looks like Wellesley is releasing today, and Stanford and Amherst tomorrow. It is getting seriously stressful in CC-land.
My D18 is a Music/Theatre kid. Her after school schedule has been dance/voice lessons/rehearsals which leave little time for homework. I have been so impressed with her ability to keep up with school with such a crazy schedule.
We made the decision early in her hs career to not overload on classes. She did take AP World History and is currently in AP Music Theory (plus some Advance classes), but that is the extent of her AP’s. Her downfall is MATH. It is such a struggle. There will be no calculus in her future. We are barely managing Analysis right now. It’s crazy how a kid can have all A’s and then barely managing a C in Math.
Our road to college acceptance includes applications, but also auditions. It has been a long fall. Really hoping she get into her #1 choice and gets to enjoy winter break stress free.
Wow…I’m rambling. Anyway…from reading your posts, your children are all super impressive! Congrats!
@3gigglinggirls , Welcome and good luck to your daughter as well!
My kid and a bunch of his friends are going out next Friday to the movies, on the grounds that a lot are expecting decisions that day and if they get deferred or rejected they’ll all have fun together anyway. Which is great and I love that they’re all bonding and in it to support each other.
But it appears that decisions for his ED school will be coming out around 6 pm Friday (last year it was on the 14th so I thought maybe Thursday) and now he has a performance from 6-7 (unexpected) and then the movie right after. So that timing isn’t great. Outwardly, he’s not stressing about that and says maybe he’ll wait till Saturday to check.
Yes, that was my son’s school that has a ridiculous number of applicants to early action for Stanford. About 4.6% of the class (ha! What a coincidence given the rate of acceptances last year). There is typically one acceptance each year from his school.
It’s so hard!
For my son, we had to convince him to check out Stanford. For some reason he was totally against any CA schools for awhile and then he balked at the price and then he was worried he wouldn’t fit in because he doesn’t consider himself a typical “smart kid”. He is more laid back than most and likes his social time. A lot of his classmates are very focused, driven, and tightly-wound when it comes to academics.
Once he attended the student-only session with admissions he was sold. He came home and said that the kids were just like him. He was so excited. He said you could tell they were smart because of the way they spoke, but they also just chatted about normal stuff. That opened his eyes to other higher-level schools as well. He ended up deciding to go with Stanford as his one private school early shot because he liked it better than MIT and at the time, those were the only privates he was applying to.
He has since added Dartmouth and does have regrets that he didn’t apply ED there as he feels he would have had a really good shot there (much higher than Stanford) and he loves it.
We’ll see how it all shakes out.
Good luck to everyone awaiting decisions!
Anyone know the easiest way to get from Georgia to Ohio? (Route, modes of transport) We may tour Steubenville during the break. Still in the planning stages. Thanks!
@Kayak24 - we have that SAME story here. One of the HS basically has every student on the honor roll. You really have to try to do poorly. A 4.0 there means nothing. At my D’s school these kids WORK HARD for their grades. I hope the AO can see through the smoke an mirrors and give value where it is due.
Oh, and my friends who have kids there complain about how hard their kids work. I’m like “Seriously? My kid went there for a while and I know it’s a joke”
So frustrating @amominaz ! Those kids are in for a rude awakening in college.
@ShrimpBurrito, for my S18, it’s been AP Calc, for sure, partially due to a brand new teacher.
Can’t wait to hear about these Stanford admissions. I can’t imagine how stressed you all are.
The dilemma here is D is thinking about not taking band next semester. A part of me wants her to finish it out, but she doesn’t love band. She likes marching band, but concert band is just ok. She will miss contest and probably one other concert due to cheer conflicts so she is thinking what is the point. I would hate for her to miss their year end concert and awards because they do the senior recognition, but maybe I just need to let her be done. Band is also last period so if she doesn’t take and replaces with a study hall she might be able to leave early on those days, which would be nice. Decisions, decisions…
@apraxiamom If I were driving from the Atlanta area to Ohio, I would take Interstate 75. To get to Steubenville, I believe you would pick up I-71 North in Cincinnati and then I-70 East in Columbus. If you want to fly in, you could probably fly into either Columbus or Pittsburgh and drive the rest of the way to Steubenville.
Well, the holiday party at DH’s former martial arts studio has been canceled because of the fires, and his parents’ move is being postponed for a month. The CC where S does his DE classes has also been closed for several days and they’ve canceled finals. S has already taken his, though, since he did it early because of his school play commitments.
My thoughts are with everyone impacted by the fires. Some of our friends are evacuated, so we’re hoping the best for everyone.
Stanford has been DD’s dream school for years but she didn’t apply REA because dd knows she most likely cannot afford it and she felt being able to apply EA to schools who offer good scholarships was a better choice. Since then DH has changed his tune and says Stanford might be the only school he would allow DD to go into debt for. But alas she will apply (note future tense grrr) RD and see what happens.
As for comparing schools I think the school profile helps with that. If a lot more kids have 4.0’s at school B they get an idea that school A is more rigorous.
DD’s class is AP lit. There are 3 kids (out of 51) with a 4.0 and all 3 are in danger of losing their 4.0 over this class. I told DD that it is what it is and there is nothing that can be done about it at this point.
Toughest class By FAR for S18 was AP Physics, only got a 3 on that exam but got a 5 without studying for APUSH. This year’s AP classes are Econ, Calc and Psych, easy A’s in all three so far…