My concern with lazy S19 is that he will apply to one rolling admissions school, get accepted and just declare himself finished. I guess it’s fine if he finds one he likes and it’s affordable, but I would like the process to be a little more … interesting.
He received his December ACT score today and is officially done testing! (unless he ultimately wants to apply to a school that requires the writing section). He scored higher than he did on the SAT despite not doing any ACT prep beyond one practice test, so it was a nice surprise. Now, if he could do something about all the Bs he’s getting this quarter. He just doesn’t quite have the grades/rigor/ECs to go with his test scores so I don’t think this will change anything in terms of schools he will target.
I guess I could bring up the possibility of taking subject tests as a thinly veiled pretense for getting him to do a little research into schools.
I’m back! Took two years off for a break - my first two are plugging away at college. Now I am starting up again to look at colleges for next two - Son graduating 2019 - looking at biochemistry or pre-med studies. Daughter graduating HS in 2020 looking at psychology (cognitive). Daughter has challenges with keeping up academically (and social anxiety - a huge journey from my last posts two years again when we were first trying to figure out what was going on…finally on a good path, but different than my other decent academic kids.)
Doing a 3 week road trip down the east coast to look at colleges and have fun. Son 19 wants to go to college in the south which I am excited because we hope to settle in a couple of years in Atlanta.
Sigh on the college search. S refuses to express an opinion on anything to anybody. Other than the general preference of bigger than 5000 and in a city, I am rudderless. He originally had said close to home, but now is looking far and wide as he has discovered that many large publics are located in cities in other states. He has also realized that his not-so-great stats are good enough to get him into some of these schools. H on the other hand, still wants to keep S close to home where he can keep an eye on him (I’m still trying to figure out exactly what he means by that). So, my two clients in this effort are on completely different pages.`
I’m not so worried about fit for S. He is a very easy going, friendly, athletic kid. He never seems to have too much trouble finding a group of kids like himself or making friends. All he needs to do is head to a basketball court or the gym and he will find them. We went on a cruise over Christmas break and by the second day he had people calling out to him and waving hi wherever he went.
But I wish he had an actual list of schools that he created. I know his high school wants him to go into Naviance and start putting in schools. So far his list is empty. I have ignored the urge to add schools for him. I want him to do this, if for no other reason than I can actually see what he puts in first.
@me29034 What a great thing that your S is so likable! Don’t take that for granted. I bet he would do great at so many schools. Honestly, our entire search has revolved around fit since S19 had a hard time socially freshman year and has just found his buddies now. I really want to find a place where he can find his people quite quickly. He’s not been away from home for more than one week of XC camp. Maybe that’s naive of me to think we can find a place where he’s comfortable from the get-go but gosh I’m trying.
And I have added schools to his Naviance. Again, maybe there’s a crowd out there that thinks I shouldn’t be leading the ship but S19 has asked me to find some schools for him to investigate. And, when he comes up with one on his own, we add it. Just like lots of kids, he’s insanely busy. There is no time to be diving into college websites and thinking about what he wants. He read through some of his emails from colleges over Christmas break and he said they all seem the same. We’ve already discussed that he will make time this summer for sure.
Two clients on two different pages - hilarious :))
I’ve got one (S19) who is too busy and one (my husband) who is in denial at the cost and keeps asking if I’ve done my due diligence looking for schools with merit money. Meanwhile, he took him to Carleton (which will be full price) and they both loved it so I cannot understand how serious he is about the merit options!!
I add schools to the kid’s Naviance but I won’t take schools off, so he’s got 21 to choose from now. He put the first three on there to start. Two of the three were in Great Britain and terrible fits, but I haven’t taken them off the list. The third that he put on to start with was Yale. Heh.
The state thespian festival is this weekend and kiddo is beyond excited. He’s competing in a couple of categories, but the main fun is the workshops.
Hey “bigger than 5000 and in a city” is more than I can pull out of my S! I don’t even think he would know how to find the college info on Naviance, so I guess if I added schools,he would be none the wiser. D16 had a much clearer picture of where she could see herself, which makes stubborn, silent S19 even more frustrating.
My S is slow to warm up to people and I think he may end up just going to VA Tech with 10% of his graduating class for that reason (if he can get his GPA high enough!) Current challenge is trying to convince both S and H that maybe it’s worth looking at some somewhat smaller schools which might actually be better for an introverted ADHD kid. Having little to no idea about potential majors does not help.
S continues to insist that he will take his instrument, continue playing in an orchestra and/or jazz ensemble, and maybe minor in music so “good opportunities for non-music majors” is one of the only parameters I have now besides test scores, cost, and GPA (which is not set in stone yet either)
@cakeisgreat it is good to see you back! Your post on the first page of this thread is the bottom one so I see it often when I scroll to the bottom to link to the last page if I am reading without being logged in. I’ve wondered how things were going for you and your 19’er so it’s nice to see the update.
@eh1234 I know what you mean about wanting the process to be more . . . interesting. D19’s first choice now happens to be both a financial and acceptance safety (Bama). She’s not only guaranteed admission, she’s guaranteed a pretty big scholarship. There’s actually a possibility that she only applies there. The entire college process could be over in July! (As a rolling admission school, she could apply and be accepted in July).
A part of me wants her to apply to other schools. To see what other schools will give her for merit. To visit other campuses to see what’s out there. D19 is like “I could spend $75 to see, not only if Rice/Vanderbilt/Emory/etc. accept me, but also give me a bunch of merit aid. Or I could spend that money on books. What makes more sense?” She’s more logical with money as a 16 year old than I am!
@gusmahler I’d have her apply, it’s the only time in her life to spend a few hundred bucks on some apps. You’ll never pay for it again. Being practical and frugal is good, but spending some $$ to see if she gets in and gets any merit at some places seems to be a thoughtful " gamble". And it might open up some opportunities she hadn’t really considered. A lot changes with the kids until next May.
@homerdog Skidmore is dying for young men to attend there. We have a friend that is there playing a sport and he got a huge merit/need package. It’s a nice place. Wasn’t the right for my son, it’s bit arty and liberal. Nice campus, cute town. More girls than guys I think, so that may be a positive for your son
@homerdog, your son has really good test scores if I remember. They would probably back the Brinx truck up to get him there. I don’t think that school gets an over abundance of male applicants. Im sure they get some, and enough, but they are probably getting more female applicants. His stats would put him way up in the “good zone” on Naviance I think.
@RightCoaster Ha! I have no idea how we would get him there…I guess a plane to Albany? I’ll look into it more. I’ve been discounting some LACs in the NE because they are just a pain to get there from here but I think I need to get over it. I mean these schools must have ways for kids to get back and forth from airports or they would be filled with just kids from NY/MA/NJ.
I know someone who attends Skidmore from our area. There is only one direct flight per day from here to Albany and it gets in at like midnight. Thank goodness for that one flight. Then it’s a long drive but I think the student takes a cab or shuttle, not sure.
We were going to swing by Skidmore on the way back from UVM (flew out of Albany) but if I recall they don’t give merit scholarships so i took it off the list? We used to stop in Saratoga Springs for lunch on the way home from college - such a cute town!
You know, you are right. They don’t really have any great merit awards there. Which is funny then, as I talked to this kids parents of the kid that is going there, and they made it very clear he got.a very good deal to go there. He is playing a sport there, but there is no D3 scholarship $$. And this kid was not winning any science or music awards, lol. Trust me! So, maybe these people somehow qualified for a large need package? I find this hard to believe, as the kid drove around in a shiny new German sedan. But maybe they. spent all of their cash on hand to buy nice cars, ha. Totally broke parental units with sweet cars.
Either way, I didn’t investigate anything they said, I just took it for what they said, a great financial deal and a nice school. But I just looked up the info, and Skidmore doesn’t really say they are forking over the big bucks to get your kids there.
A lot of the schools in the east run shuttles to airports or large metro areas for the students to get home. Not all of the time, but end of year, holiday break, etc.
