Parents of the HS Class of 2019 (Part 1)

Parents of HS Class of 20xx
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Kid was exceptionally interested when he saw that a number of overseas colleges would have representatives at the fair. I can’t express how much I don’t want him at an overseas conservatory for 3 or 4 years. I’d be fine with a year or semester abroad, but I feel strongly that he needs a soft launch into the world, somewhere that we can drive to and in case of emergency drive back from. Husband accuses me of helicopter tendencies.

I don’t know, maybe going overseas would be incredible. OTOH, I’m going to stand firm against a conservatory and insist on a liberal arts experience of some sort. He needs a school experience that contains more than acting and theater.

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Hello all. It has been a hectic month and I haven’t posted in a while. D19 is becoming more focused, which is really exciting for me. Here’s an update on

We have visited Vanderbilt (during her freshman year, but she loved it), Maryland (our state flagship) many times, with a formal visit in February. She loved it, but she has recently changed her intended major and it is not offered at the College Park campus. It is my top choice for her, but she is not thrilled that it is 20 minutes from our house. It is an admission slight reach and a financial safety.

She visited Spelman last summer while visiting family without me and thought it was way too small. I was a bit disappointed because I know so many amazing Spelman women, but she will not budge. She got an invitation in the mail yesterday for a Spelman admissions reception in DC and immediately put it in recycling.

We visited Towson University in August, an academic and financial safety. She liked it (a lot more than I did) and said she would be fine going there “if she had to.” It’s a nice regional school, but not my preference for her.

We are visiting Indiana and Purdue next week. Indiana is my other top choice for her, but she is in that “anything but what mom did” mode. I’m hoping that the amazing campus and programs will win her over, along with some of the Homecoming activities going on that day. I’m having a huge reunion with many of my sorority sisters, some of whom she is close to, so maybe they will be the influence that I can’t be! IU is an admissions match and financial safety.

She is very excited about Purdue and it is her current top choice, sight unseen. Her brother (my stepson) went undergrad and is working on his Phd. I think she likes the idea of being where he is. I am concerned about racial diversity on campus (IU is slightly better with this and I am very familiar with the people leading the initiatives), but I plan to explore that issue when we are there next week. I also need to confirm that she will be eligible for in-state tuition there with one parent residing in Indiana. The Purdue policy was less clear.

We met with the regional rep from U. of Alabama a few days ago and she loved that as well. We are working on our spring break travel plans and may include Bama and a couple of other southern schools. Penn State and Pitt are her other current interests. None of these out of state options work particularly well financially unless there is a unexpected merit, but I’ll consider them for now.

SAT tutor is in place, as she struggles in this area. I’d be thrilled with an 1200…don’t know if it will happen. School is fine, but I’m unsure if she will get the 3.8-4.0 she is hoping for this semester to balance a tough sophomore year.

Thanks for letting me get it all out!

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@DeltaMom2019 What is your D’s intended major now? In a way, I’m glad S19 has already told us he is flat out undecided (but no engineering) so that we don’t have to cross off schools without his major. He will be some sort of liberal arts major, nothing obscure, so most schools will have what he needs (econ, poli sci, environmental studies, bio, history…who knows!)

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@DeltaMom2019 Funny about your wanting your daughter to go to Spelman, because I would absolutely love it if my son became a Morehouse man and of course, meet a Spelman girl :slight_smile: Hopefully we can take him for a visit this summer.

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@homerdog She is now interested in nursing. I’ve learned that many nursing programs are tough to get into, so we are looking at those that are direct admit as first choices. I’m really concerned that she will change her mind. She wanted to major in education for many years, then a change a few months ago. I know it’s completely normal, but frustrating when choosing colleges based on majors. I understand why you are glad your son is undecided!

@4MyKidz Everyone I know who attended Morehouse or has kids at Morehouse absolutely loved it! I hope you can visit this summer. I also had the vision of her meeting a Morehouse Man, but she’s not having it!

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@DeltaMom2019 Pitt is excellent for nursing - 4 hospitals right on campus to get experience and do clinicals. None of my kids were nursing but it also offers education, liberal arts schools. Good school spirit, cooperative and i appreciated that the town itself was fun but not overwhelming. And cost of living off campus is pretty inexpensive. If you have any questions, let me know.

My dd is interested in industrial design and/or comp sci. Tried to show her that industrial design is more art school than designing technology. She is more experienced in programming than drawing. Showed her the portfolio requirements that she’d have to build and pretty sure, her major will move back to comp sci.

Planning a couple visits in Nov - we will have to see what her major is then.

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@amandakayak Thanks for the insight. Pitt is on the list for those reasons. We just had our weekly college planning meeting and determined which visits to prioritize and Pitt will be one of the schools we see. I heard merit aid is tough there, but we are going to give it a try.

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“By this time next year” … a few college applications would have been submitted. :open_mouth:
Texas public colleges open application early ~8/1 and close early ~12/1.
Some schools have October 15th deadlines for Honors or Priority or EA, etc.
S17 submitted a few apps by October 15th and finished all submission around 12/15.
:open_mouth:

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@payn4ward This is what I’m try to convey to S19! Sometimes I think that my kid will end up applying to one safety school at 11:59 p.m. on January 14, 2019, with an undecided major. (Most of our in-state schools have a January 15 regular decision deadline).

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If you look at Pitt for nursing, also look at Pitt Greensburg and Johnstown which should be easier to get into and a bit cheaper.

There are lots of Catholic schools with direct entry nursing in PA. Some give merit.

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Temple also has a test optional application I believe. You might also look at Cleveland State.

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@mommdc Thanks. Temple is on the list as well. We are going to try to visit. I tried to pitch Villanova, but she said no more Catholic schools. There are definitely lots of options in PA.

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@eh1234 S17 is in the College of Natural Sciences undeclared. :slight_smile:
I was worried about him not getting a dorm room. Reading the college threads made me worry that he would not get a room if he does not put a housing deposit by November 1st (which is not true, but still made me worry.) Housing application can only be submitted after the application has been submitted, so I rushed him to submit it not for admission but to get a dorm room! :!!

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We’re back from the performing arts college fair. That was the best use of a portion of an afternoon thus far in our college search process.

D was great with each of the admission officers/reps, and was even comfortable speaking with department chairs. (This is a big deal for her, as she has lots of anxiety thrown in with her ADHD.)

She’s taking a nap now (all that excitement readying to go to the college fair!) She has a pile of college literature, plus contact info for each of the 8 schools she wanted to meet with, plus contact info for the in-state schools she’s already seen.

On the drive back home, she said she could see herself at each of the schools on her whittled down list. I call that a victory! :slight_smile:

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Full disclosure my kids got merit: ds ‘11 10k/yr, dd ‘13 19k, dd’15 full tuition so Pitt has been very
good for our family. I know that gas gotten tougher to get and relies on stats. But - like any lottery, have to be in it to win it!

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We were at the same college fair, @OrangeFish ! I brought two of the Kid’s friends who are seniors. I’m afraid that they didn’t find it as useful as your D, unfortunately. They talked with a grand total of five of the colleges. They ended enamored with the idea of the American College of Dublin because the guy at the booth was cute, and the same with Northern Ohio University (?). Neither one of those were anything I had wanted to steer them towards, but hey, it’s nice that they’re taking charge of their own future.

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Son19 has a bigger soccer game this week vs a rival team, and his first Math Team match too. I am not sure which one he is more excited for.

Regarding submitting apps next year: Last year Son17 sent pretty much all of his EA and even his RD apps in by mid Oct. Some apps were sent in earlier. And he did submit one late December. I think son19 will be the same, but he might submit one app ED to see what happens. The rest will all most likely be EA by this time next year. Exciting!
The hard part is getting everything done and submitted, but then getting deferred and having to wait until April for a decision. It’s so long and drawn out.

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Calculus continues to be the bane of my child’s existence. Got a C on a quiz two days ago, is currently averaging a C in class.

Apparently (according to his mile-long text) he had a nervous breakdown in class and started crying over an answer sheet. The teacher offered, once again, to give him extra help during lunch. He’s promised he will go there during lunch tomorrow.

I am a mean mother. I’m hoping that he digs deep and pulls out a decent grade in the class so that he has material for an Overcoming Adversity essay.

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That’s looking at the bright side!
D19 had a tough weekend because she was sure she bombed an AP Chem exam. Because of the curve, she did fine. But she probably would have appreciated knowing ahead of time that a wrong answer deducted points. She’d have done better if she hadn’t guessed on the last couple when time was running out.
She’s also been able to see the test and knows she did get the concepts, it’s the details that did her in.

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Junior year is a pain! My S19 had five or six tests last week and I only really heard about the A- on an AP Physics test (which he followed up with a late physics lab because he didn’t pay attention to the due date).

Pretty sure the other tests didn’t go that well and it turns out he got a 78 on a pre-Calc test (math is normally the only class he even likes). He said that it was a combination of switching teachers after two weeks of classes followed by missing four days while sick (and the six tests in one week thing) so I’m hoping it’s just a blip. He somehow has two more tests this Thursday (some of last week’s were make-ups).

@mom2twogirls I didn’t realize there were high school teachers that curved grades! Glad it worked out for her.