So good news, son19 was just accepted into the RPI Summer engineering camp. He really wanted to get in, so that made him happy. RPI is a great fit my son, so hopefully he’ll like it there. My son17 was accepted there, and liked it, but wanted to be in Boston. I don’t son19 really cares about that. He is more interested in the academics and sports there.
At son19 most kids are not taking AP classes until they are juniors. Some kids load up on them, some don’t. They also have Honors classes and regular CP classes available in virtually all of the required subject matters. In the Honors classes an A is worth a 5.0 and an A is AP is worth 5.5
To make the highest Honors List the kids need to either get nothing worse than an A- OR have above a 4.33 GPA, so taking a honors and AP classes helps you reach the 4.33 easier ( if you can do OK in the class).
I don’t know what the average amount of AP classes taken is, but I think I read that 60 percent of the kids take at least 1. I would guess the average is a 3-4 per student, then the super students take 10. I don’t think we have that many super students per grade. Out of 350 kids I’d say 10-20 kids take more than 6 APs. Just my guess, I could be wrong.
Thanks for that link @carolinamom2boys. Even though I have a kid in college, D16 only applied to schools that used their own applications. Everything about the Common App will be new to me.
6 out of 7 for S17 were common app and the one that wasn’t, really had only one additional item and it was a supplement one of the CA schools needed anyway. I suspect S19 won’t be as easy.
I think all of the schools on our tentative list are on the common app…but most have at least one extra essay! I guess that’s still easier than filling out individual apps.
Texas public universities have their own ApplyTexas app. Colorado School of Mines has their own app, but it is very easy and simple. The rest were on Common App.
I thought the Common App would be a pain, but it really wasn’t that bad. In our school we also used Naviance to manage letters of recommendation from the teachers and that seemed to go pretty smoothly too.
My older son did not have to upload any supplements/portfilios. to the Common App, he just had a few essays and award letters he added. All in all I think it went pretty smoothly and I hope Son19 has a similar experience when he applies.
S19 and I went to the Wash U reception at the local Marriott yesterday. I’m not sure where to start…
The presenters were so polished that it was almost off-putting. An alum and a current student bantered back and forth in a scripted manner that must have taken weeks to perfect. The information gleaned from the presentation made Wash U seem perfect for pretty much everyone. Small classes, fun city, 75% of the kids double major, awesome career counseling, 120 study abroad options, friendly Midwestern feel. But the message didn’t match the people. They were Stepford like.
The student in particular was a turn off for S19 and for our friends sitting with us with their D18. He had his navy jacket. He was a finance and film double major who did a dozen other things on campus. We think he was wearing a Rolex. This is not a kid that S19 wants to go to college with. There was nothing fun or laid back about this student. As we walked out, S19 and our friend’s D18 just burst out laughing and imitated the student all the way back to the car.
I knew we weren’t looking for such a pre-professional vibe. I just didn’t know that’s what Wash U wanted to project. Plus, the whole thing just seemed ingenuine - a show put on with information they thought kids and parents wanted to hear but with no heart. Not sure if we would pursue Wash U any further unless we find kids we know who had a profoundly different experience than what we thought we saw yesterday.
S19 did comment that the student presenter will certainly have a lucrative career. He said that he wants to make sure he can make a good living and understood why kids would want to go to a place that gave their students every opportunity to do so. I think visits to career centers at schools will be an important stop for him. My husband and I both believe that undergrad is way more than preparing for a job. Especially for a student like S19 who doesn’t have a clear path, it’s a time for exploration and learning skills that will translate for any career like thinking strategically and writing well.
Overall, I’m glad we went to the reception. It only took an hour out of a beautiful Sunday afternoon and S19 has now dipped his toe into “visiting” schools and can start figuring out what he wants.
D19 doesn’t really have a clue what she wants to do with her life and at 15, I am fine with that. Do most kids just declare ‘undecided’ if they don’t know? She really wants to go out of state (North Carolina preferably) but I don’t want to spend a ton of $$. Has anyone visited East Carolina? On paper, it seems like such a good fit (she wants big, sports with school spirit, lots of majors and right location).
@homerdog - my D19 would have been turned off by that presentation as well. She is laid back and chill. Good to get a vibe of the place so you can look elsewhere.
@Gatormama - I think mine will graduate with maybe 5 AP classes. Any more would be a stretch and probably make her life miserable. She has the AP GOVT exam next week so hopefully she passes (or $93 down the drain).
@Cotton2017 S19 completely undecided as well and I imagine will enter college still undecided. When he had to write down his interests to sign in at the Wash U presentation, he asked me! I told him to write what he’s interested in…and why was he looking at me? He turned around and wrote “Chemistry, History, English”.
So it’s science? Or History? Or writing? And then, when the presenter asked the group who may like to major in Art, he raised his hand. LOL. Undecided. :))
I’m prepared for the possibility that my d could change majors. I’ve already told her it’s ok if she does, but it’s why I lean towards recommending a college with a wide array of majors for her. My own university was small and while most people loved it, I knew at least 3 people who left once they figured out what they wanted to major in… and our university didn’t offer those majors. If she decides she doesn’t like where she is and wants to go elsewhere, I’m ok with that, but I don’t want to see her love where she is and have a great group of friends but have to leave because she can’t learn what she needs for the career she wants.
and she has 2 APs coming up. Since she tends to be a worrier and hard worker (so she doesn’t need to be pushed to study), I’ve told her to think of them like bonus points on a test. If she doesn’t do well, it won’t hurt grades or GPA but if she does get a 3 or better, it’s the bonus part. She was good with that. If she is over stressed, she blanks and freezes and it’s awful.
Son19 is taking the Chemistry Sat2 test in a few weeks, and he broke out the study guide for the first time yesterday . He promptly realized he forgot some stuff from earlier in the year and he needs to go back and refresh himself.
Got a long stretch of school coming up with lots of academic work and lots of extra curricular activities. It’s going to be long hard stretch until the end of May,
Just registered for the 8 of the Best Colleges reception coming here in May. Grinnell, Macalester, Kenyon among others are in this group. I have a feeling these might ring true a little more to S19. This is fun! And the bonus is that S19 gets to think a little more about who he is.
What a great experience watching your kids as they grow up. I think he’s been so over-booked (like most teenagers) that he can’t see the forest from the trees. Each day, it’s just do the homework, study for the tests, get through track practice, get some sleep, maybe grab some lunch on the weekend with friends or go disk golfing. His existence is so day to day. Making time for him to think about what he likes long-term seems important. He needs more breathing space to do that. Summer can’t come soon enough. Even though he will be busy, it will be nothing like the craziness of the school year.
