@mama3and1 I think just about all rising juniors receive it, and the name they use purposefully seems to confuse people with the National Honor Society (NHS) run via the high schools. I’m not sure if the “scholarship” aspect of it is legit or not, and didn’t bother looking into and threw out.
Scam to get money…means nothing
Serious advice: Toss everything related to NSHSS, without giving it anything remotely approaching a thought.
Well, Beloit was a hit! Seriously, this was a pretty random visit for us. Beloit not even on my “long long” list of possible schools. S19 liked visiting University of Chicago and asked me if we could go to another school this week. I happened upon a website saying that Wisconsin was having its Private School Week this week and Beloit was the closest. I figured it’s an LAC (which I still think is the best match for him) and it’s 90 minutes from home so why not?
Our tour guide was adorable. She was from Oregon and was down to earth but enthusiastic and you could tell she just honestly loved her school. We got to see the inside of the foreign language building (the classrooms were amazing with tables to work on grammar and then cushy chairs around fireplaces to work on conversing!!), the theater building (impressive, in-the-round set up), the anthropology museum (again, crazy impressive. biggest major on campus), freshman dorm room (bigger than mine at NU at least, otherwise just ok), and the science building where the kids had break outs with professors.
S19 chose the Physics breakout with only two other prospective students. Most went with the Bio prof. The physics professor told the kids to call her by her first name and took them on a tour instead of doing a simulated class. They saw the telescopes on the roof, the particle accelerator, and a whole bunch of other stuff I don’t remember. S19 couldn’t stop talking about it and said that this professor was exactly the kind of teacher he wants. He said he asked her how long she’s worked at Beloit and she’s been there six years. She said that a student was part of her interviewing process when she interviewed for the job. He liked that too.
We were given passes to eat at the cafeteria (there’s just one). I thought the food was average, but S19 liked it. I think it’s a bummer to eat at the same place every night even if they change the food each day. Maybe that’s typical? Don’t know. Someone from admissions sat with us and asked us how we liked the tour, etc., and S19 was happy and chatty after the physics tour so that was good to see that he can actually converse with an admissions person.
S19 and I walked around the town of Beloit afterwards and it was way more charming than I anticipated. S19 said it felt blue-collar to him and a little industrial (can you tell he’s a little sheltered here in our little Chicago suburb?) but he liked the feel of it. We are SO at the beginning of all of this but he wanted a Beloit sweatshirt and said the school should go on the list as a safety. Said he could see himself there.
My biggest concern is the size. It’s REALLY tiny. 1400 kids. S19’s high school has 3000. I asked the students on the panel if any of them came from big high schools and none of those six kids did. Hm. Not sure what that means. And some majors he’s considering only graduate 6-10 kids each year. That seems limiting. He’s not necessarily considering physics but today he found out that there are only three physics professors. What if his major only has a small number of teachers and he doesn’t hit it off with them? Seems a little risky since he will be going in undecided on major. My other concern revolves around career placement. Not sure about the name recognition or the alumni connections. Need to know more about that. Also, he will be way above the 75th percentile there. Wonder what the downside of that could be.
Overall, we had a great day. And I’m learning more about S19 on each trip. Can’t wait for next week - Kenyon, Denison, and Oberlin!
My DS16 chose not to join.
@homerdog sounds like you and S had a wonderful time. Very nice that they let you eat at the cafeteria. I would love my kids to be within 90 minutes from home. Thanks so much for sharing.
Picked son19 up from RPI engineering camp last night. He had a great time, but is very tired. Said he socialized and worked on stuff 24/7.
He found out he likes ME and Aerospace engineering the most, electrical engineering the least. He wants to learn to design things and likes human form factors/design elements too.
He liked the campus and he said they had some great rooms with cutting edge tech tools to practice stuff on.
Even though he stayed in a small dorm room he said it wasn’t bad and that he liked the bathrooms. Said the food was OK, but only one cafeteria was open for camp with limited food options.
He liked all of the kids at camp, and he he even said there were pretty girls there, lol.
We were able to meet one of the soccer coaches before we left and checked out the sports complex which was very nice. Sits high on a hill with a cool view. Pretty modern facility.
So, glad we shelled out the coin for this camp, it was a good test for him to see if he really wanted to do engineering.
It’s a good fit for him, so glad he enjoyed it.
@RightCoaster Sounds like your son had a great experience. I’m really regretting not putting S19 into a similar camp this year since he needs to figure some things out before we attempt to build a college list.
He’s taking an “engineering” class at school this year, but apparently only one of the two teachers is decent and the class is sort of “glorified shop”. Hopefully it will be enough for him to decide whether he’s interested in engineering - if not, I’ve identified a couple of camps for next year.
@eh1234 I really thought our son would like the idea of engineering. He loves math and science. Last year he took AP Comp Sci A (the one where they learn Java) and hated it. Our GC thinks engineering is out since S19 wants nothing to do with programming. At all. I hope that’s a correct assumption. I could still see him majoring or minoring in math or physics but, without any interest in Comp Sci, we think engineering is out.
Our school also as engineering classes but they aren’t all that challenging. I don’t think those classes really prepare the kids to make a decision regarding majoring in engineering in college.
@homerdog That’s actually what I’m thinking - even though engineering is an “honors” class and involves some programming, I don’t get the impression that it’s really going to be that valuable. He’s actually thinking of switching it with AP CS Principles, which seems like a good, broad intro to different CS fields… (He has no exposure to programming and, in our school, Java experience is a prerequisite for AP Comp Sci A). On the other hand, AP CS Principles is going to be new to the school this year. It’s likely to be full and/or taught by a clueless teacher. S19’s main worry is that it will be full of freshman (!) since it’s the only AP offered to them.
Plus, he is realizing he wants to take AP CS, AP Physics 2 or AP Chem, AP Stats, AP Music Theory, and AP Calc BC and he can’t take more than four of them senior year and still have room for English, government and orchestra.
I can see my kid majoring in math or physics. I cannot see my kid getting a PhD. in anything so I really hope he finds a four-year degree that will lead to the workforce. I’m thinking data science/analytics might be of interest.
@eh1234 it will be fun to be on this journey with you! S19 likes science and is a strong math student as well. He’s still not ruling out something like Econ or history or Poli Sci yet though. We’ve been looking at LACs and my concern is that I also don’t see him being an academic and I don’t know what majoring in math or science leads to in terms of jobs. He’s not interested in finance and I think a lot of math majors go that direction. Also, I’m starting to be worried about career placement at some of the LACs. At the higher ranked ones, I’m sure they help the kids a bunch. I don’t know about the LACs that would be his safeties though. Not many companies coming through and I’m not sure about alumni connections. What does a physics or math major do from a Colleges That Change Lives sort of school? We need to make sure to ask that question.
@homerdog It sounds like there are some definitely similarities between our sons, except mine would definitely rule out humanities and social sciences. There are probably some LACs that would work, but the core curriculum at others would require too many classes he’s not interested in. I do see him fitting better in a smaller school just based on his personality (unless he goes to large school with a group of HS friends which could happen by default - almost half of the class goes to VA publics).
I have the same concerns about the CLTL LACs and he wouldn’t be competitive for merit aid at the higher ranked schools. Oh, and he’s determined to take his 6 ft. tall instrument to school and continue playing. I think he is basically looking for U. of Rochester in terms of size and curriculum flexibility, but would need it to be cheaper, less competitive and maybe 2 hours closer to home lol.
@RightCoaster hi would you mind providing a link to the rpi camp that your son attended. It’s too late for me since I’m entering this fall, but would be nice for my younger brother in a few years.
Thank you.
@GoRedhead the program is http://summer.rpi.edu/programs/2017/engineering-exploration-program
You have to fill out an app, get some recommendations from teachers. They said they accepted 1/2 of the applicants.
It wasn’t cheap, but it might have been money well spent if it gave my son some direction and inspiration.
Just returned from vacation in St Augustine and briefly toured Flagler College. We did not take a formal tour because we were there over the weekend and no academic tours were available . We did walk around ourselves and toured the Ponce de Leon Hotel which was established as the college in the 1968. It houses the dining hall and the female dorms. The campuses absolutely gorgeous . It is located in downtown St Augustine , right near the water . It has about a 48% acceptance rate. SAT avg 1152, ACT 23 , GPA 3.43. They have approx 2900 students with 60% female, 40 % male. Popular majors include Business , Education, Communication, Paychology, Coastal Environmental Science and Sports Management . They have 31 Majors and 35 minors .
90% of students receive FA and their COA is approx 29,000 which is amazing for a private school. 40% of their students are from 40 other states and 45 foreign countries . 71 % complete an experiential learning opportunity . Student faculty ratio is 17:1.
Employers of recent grads include Google, Boston Celtics, Atlanta Braves, NASA , Marvel , USFDA, Disney, Florida Statea Attorney’s Office, Barclays, NBC and Northrup Grumman . Grad schools include Columbia, Duke, Georgetown, Harvard, Johns Hopkins, Oxford, SCAD, U of Chicago and Notre Dame.
75% retention rate and 85% of grads accept positions or enter grad schools within 6 months of graduation .
Looks to have a strong arts program as well. Plan to take an official tour in the Fall or Winter. It is HOT in July. DS19 saw enough to want a closer look. Hope this info helps some other parents. Everyone was extremely friendly and accommodating .
Just happened to see one of my favorite CCers, @carolinamom2boys, and wanted to chime in that I wish I could do college again and go to Flagler. 
Also, @homerdog, we have a friend from south Florida whose kiddo went to Beloit and absolutely loved it, for whatever that is worth.
[h.s. class of 2016 parent now butting out of this thread lol]
D19 took her first sample ACT this weekend. Absolutely no preparation, so she could see what she needs to work on.
We were hoping for a 27 on the math, so we were disappointed by her 25. But the other 3 sections were a huge surprise. We were thinking 32 to 33 would be a good start for her. Instead, she get 34 on the English and reading and a 35 in science. We now realize that 35 or 36 on the non-math sections are definitely in play.
I was worried that having her take the ACT in September would be making it too early. But now, we realize that she can get her testing out of the way before the first first month of junior here is even over.
@gusmahler Wonderful news. I think with a little bit of math prep, she can get up there in math too. We haven’t had problems in the math area and thus I can’t recommend a prep book from experience, but I’ve heard PWN Test Prep in Math mentioned by others as being helpful.
@carolinamom2boys – I wish there was a way to mark your posts as Like and Helpful at the same time. Thank you for the info on Flagler College.
Wow @gusmahler - those scores are great! We are focusing on SAT right now since I figured that prep would do double duty for PSAT. I do want her to try the ACT as well but not sure if I should have her do a practice ACT now or wait until after the SAT is over.
I’m jealous of all of you who have been doing school tours! We are heading up north for vacation in a few week and may do Bowdoin and Bates, but not sure if it is worth the time since they don’t do merit scholarships so are probably going to be a no before we even apply. I am considering flying up a few days early with just my D and figured maybe we could go to some schools in PA then head up to MA to meet the rest of the family.