@Samsmom2019 S19 doesn’t have any summer AP homework and has four APs next year (including APUSH and AP Lang). I wonder if that’s because we start school August 11th and the teachers can get through the material in time before the May test. He’s heard that both classes are homework heavy once school starts - in APUSH they have a paper due at midnight every Friday 
@Samsmom2019 – D is not taking APUSH and the only summer AP assignment she has is for APES. It doesn’t seem too bad. (She is also taking AP Studio Art and AP Human Geography in junior year.)
Opening night is tonight so she’s pretty excited. Has to take her road test this morning, though.
@Samsmom2019 lots of AP HW were, Calc, APUSH and AP Language. He’s started the calc packet…
but that’s about it.
We don’t have any AP homework over the summer either, but we also start school Aug. 14th so I guess they think we have time to do it then. D is taking APUSH, AP Lang Arts and maybe AP Photo.
D and her friends got around waiting for their AP scores by somehow putting in that they were in a different state. She is happy she passed all 3, but not happy that she got a 3 in her Capstone research class, that is her best subject. She did say she didn’t work that hard on it because she had so many other hard classes (AP Bio,WH and 2 AICE classes.)
We have done one SAT practice test from he official book - it did not go so well! The next few days I will have her go over the wrong answers (mostly math) and then we will try again in a while. When she finished the first text I said, “good job - only 7 more to go” - I thought she was going to die! I am sure we won’t do all of the practice exams but hopefully we will do a few more. She is one of the kids who gets very good grades but does not do well on standardized tests.
@Samsmom2019 the good news is that your son can do EA at other schools even with Georgetown EA. Here is the quote from the Georgetown wesbite:
" In keeping with this principle, students applying under the Early Action program may not apply to any binding Early Decision programs since they then would not be free to choose Georgetown if admitted. Students are welcome to apply to other Early Action programs or other Regular Decision programs while at the same time applying to Georgetown’s Early Action program."
I knew this because my D15 applied there and UVA early action. She couldn’t do ED at her other top choices (William & Mary, and American University) because of this policy.
Just to restate terms because I know I was really confused about this with kid #1:
ED = Early Decision. You can only do 1 school ED. If you choose ED you are committing to attend that school no matter what if you get accepted. Some people on CC will say that you can still turn it down if you don’t also receive an aid package you like but that is shaky ground IMHO.
EA = Early Action. This means the school will give you an answer earlier than March but an acceptance is not binding on you in any way. You can apply to as many schools as will let you EA but some schools (like Georgetown) do not let you apply EA if you are applying ED somewhere else. If you apply EA you will either receive an acceptance, a rejection, or a deferral. If you are deferred that means your application is reconsidered in the regular decision round.
RD = Regular Decision. Not binding in any way.
Generally there is a benefit to applying ED because since it is binding and you can only do one school ED it lets a school know you are really passionate about attending.
Generally the only benefit (but this is big) to EA is that you have less anxiety during senior high because you get your decisions sooner.
The only time you don’t want to apply EA (where available) is if you have a weak Junior year for any reason and anticipate a strong start to Senior year and/or plan to take an Aug, Sept. or Oct SAT/ACT and expect those scores to be much higher.
Most schools do EA or ED but not both.
My advice (which I think a majority of CC, but not all, would agree with) is apply everywhere EA if you can (unless Junior year is weak). If you have a clear top choice that gives an advantage for ED and would still be your top choice even if other schools offer better financial packages go ahead and apply ED.
@momtogkc I hear you about the seven SAT tests. I think S19 won’t take more than five before the August date. I feel like we need to save some in case he wants to practice more and retake.
Here, all high school English students have a summer assignment, not just AP.
My d hasn’t yet had time to get a start on the summer work for AP Lang or APUSH. She looked through it and didn’t think it looked too bad though.
YAY! She passed the road test. 
She has not been out of school for two weeks yet and she has completed behind-the-wheel, passed the road test, and successfully completed the practice ACT test. Nice productive start to the summer! Wouldn’t know she has ADHD. :)>-
Congrats @OrangeFish! Mine too! So nice to have that behind us.
Congrats to you, too, @mom23travelers ! And yes – that’s a BIG WHEW heard across the land!
@ThinkOn Thanks. I thought the AP score release date was based on the mailing address, not the IP address. Luckily, I work for an employer based on the east coast. I just log in to the college board site from work and got her scores!
5 for AP Psych. Yay!
3 for AP World History. Boo! We did a brief look at schools that accept a 3 for college credit–only the local community college would accept it.
@mom23travelers Completely agree with your EA recommendations. ED can really work against you in some cases. For example , Furman has ED with notification end of Nov, EA with notification right around Christmas and RD with notification in March ( I believe ) By applying ED, you may potentially miss the merit deadlines at other schools who have deadlines in November or be pushed to scramble to get other applications in by early Dec merit deadlines . You are committing to a school without being able to compare financial packages or use offers to negotiate a better package . The ED accept rate is 73%, RD 67% . For our family, it wasn’t worth it to apply ED, but YMMV. ( you is being used generically in this case)
My D16 had one school that she loved and wanted to ED to. That school only had ED and RD as options. We told her no because of finances. She ended up applying EA to all schools on her list where that was possible and got into all of them. When Christmas break came around and it was time to finish the RD apps, she didn’t bother with any of them because she was happy with her EA choices and I think a bit tired of the stress associated with the process. The school that she had wanted to ED to didn’t even get an application from her. In the end, I think it was for the best. I will also be encouraging S19 to apply EA to as many of his schools as possible. Its so nice to get it done early.
@Samsmom2019: it’s not. Essays and topics are released pretty early. Common app topics came out around Feb/May of Junior year, if I remember right.
@Samsmom2019 If you make contact with the schools on your child’s list and request info , they typical will send you emails regarding deadlines and when applications are open. They may also send an application code that will offer you to apply for free. My DS19 did not pay to apply to any of his 5 schools.
Visits for “demonstrated interest” count when you’re a rising junior, right? Just wanted to confirm with all of you experts before we make any more plans to travel!
@homerdog, depends on the school—but at most of the ones we toured when D17 was a rising junior where demonstrated interest is a thing, yes.
DS19 just received his AP World score. He earned a 3 which we are very happy with since this is his first attempt at an AP class and he has difficulty with timed tests.
Son19 heads out this weekend to RPI for a weeklong engineering camp. Hopefully he likes it and finds the school interesting. On paper RPI meets most of his needs, we’ll see.
Bit the bullet and went to our first official college tour. Hit up University of Chicago this morning. First off, I would like to say that any admissions event that starts at 8:30 in the morning should include coffee. We left home at 7:00 and I assumed that there would at least be coffee (if not a little food). S19 grabbed a banana and some toast before we left but I was starving and needed coffee!
The morning started at the chapel with the admissions chair giving an hour talk on the academics, student life, and application process for the school. Honestly, it wasn’t anything I hadn’t already read either on CC or in Fiske. He went through how the Common App works, how kids should choose their essay topic, and who should write their recommendations. Shouldn’t everyone know that already? On the bright side, his talk was conversational and he was very likable. He took questions from the crowd and answered them with humor and honesty.
After the main presentation, five students took to the stage and answered questions. Everything from “how should I survive Chicago winters?” to “how stressful REALLY is Chicago?” were asked and answered. Three of the kids seems bright and comfortable and down to Earth. The other two were just difficult to listen to. They talked too fast and were WAY too enthusiastic. Both S19 and I were cringing every time they talked. S19 even said, “These kids are supposed to be some of the brightest kids. Aren’t they self aware enough to know they are talking too fast?”
Then, 20 additional students showed up and joined the panel students in taking groups around the campus. And, wouldn’t you know it, we got one of the annoying girls from the panel. S19 was more forgiving than me. I spent the whole time asking S19 if he just wanted to ditch her and jump into another group but he was too embarrassed to do so. I had a giant headache by the end. This tour guide was “presenting” the whole time. Never just talked in a normal conversational way. She barely took a breath and talked way too fast. And went on and on and on about how she always wanted to go to Hogwarts and her dream has come true. Chicago was the absolutely most perfect school in the nation, everyone in your house (dorm) is your instant friend (all 100 of them) starting day one. Um. That can’t be true. The campus, though, was drop dead gorgeous.
Positive takeaways included:
(1) S19 really like the intellectual nature of the kids. Liked the idea of everyone challenging each other. Liked the core curriculum idea.
(2) He thought the campus itself was beautiful and appreciated being able to get to the city so easily for fun.
(3) Liked all of the talk about research available for undergrads starting freshman year.
(4) Loved that so many cool things had been discovered there (Carbon 14 dating, study of black holes, etc)
Negatives:
(1) Didn’t like that freshman don’t all live together. They are divided up and put with upperclassmen for dorm assignments.
(2) Probably wants more green space (like an arboretum or a lake with a trail). Felt pretty boxed in.
(3) The neighborhood outside campus just kind of spooked him. We live here so I know it’s not great, but I also don’t think it’s as bad as he thinks. Still, though, it’s true that he wouldn’t just be able to wander off campus.
(4) No college town feel. He likes the idea of a town with restaurants and coffee shops where kids hang.
Overall, let’s face it, Chicago has a ton to offer. Any student who could get in would get an awesome education and amazing connections. I just don’t think it’s exactly right for S19. No idea if he would apply. I’m guessing no. For me, it confirmed that he likes the feel of an “intellectual” school, wouldn’t mind a school with a core curriculum, and probably doesn’t want an urban campus. Still not sure how he feels about not having a sports scene. He didn’t mention it as a downside. After we visit NU and Madison, though, he will see if the rah-rah thing is important to him.
I’m glad we went but we’re tired. I don’t know how people do a whole week of college visits.