@homerdog Has he looked at Colorado College? My D17 is there. It fits that description, but, it’s not for everyone – it operates on a block program instead of semester. My daughter really, really likes it a lot; it was her ED school and no regrets.
@InfiniteWaves I don’t think it’s too soon to ask by the end of this school year for recommendations. I think that’s what students at our school are encouraged to do.
@InfiniteWaves - Most students at our HS ask for teacher recs before the end of the school year. That way it gives the teacher enough time over the summer to work on it. I think they appreciate the time…
@JenJenJenJen ah Colorado College. We often go to Colorado in the summer and love it there. Two issues with CC, though, are the block plan and the skiing. Since S19 is completely undecided, we thought the block plan wouldn’t be the best idea. He wants to try all different classes and we’re afraid it would take too long to choose a major with only one class at a time. Also, he’s never been skiing and I’m afraid that would hamper him socially. I’m guessing it’s a major thing to do on the breaks between classes. We have family who live in Colorado so I do wish there were other options for him in the state but I don’t think other CO schools will work. I have been told not to bring him to Boulder unless we want him to go to school there since it’s gorgeous and kids fall in love!
I’d argue that, yes, it’s entirely possible that he won’t ever know which school is best for him—but that is quite likely because there is actually no single school that’s best for him.
Colleges—particularly but not exclusively the highly selective ones—have done a brilliant job working to convince applicants and their parents that there’s One True Best College for each applicant (and then that they’re the one that fits that). This is, I would argue, not just untrue, but in the long term a dangerous attitude for the higher-ed sector to be cultivating, both to the colleges themselves and to their applicant pools.
@dfbdfb I agree with you about the One True College. One of my closest friends still talks about how she wasn’t accepted to Brown. Never mind that she’s a successful professional who ended up going to Berkeley. Or that she met her future husband there. She still wishes she went to Brown.
That’s what the attitude can lead to–if you believe in the One True Best College, then no matter what school you go to, how much you enjoy college, or what you do in your professional life, you could end up regretting your college.
In the acceptance/rejection threads, you see people who are just crushed when they don’t get into their dream school. It’s really sad that they bought into that hysteria so much that they think their life is over because they didn’t get into their top school.
I found Joyce Slayton Mitchell’s “8 First Choices” a really good read in that regard – I think it speaks in slightly more concrete terms than Frank Bruni’s “Where You Go Is Not Who You’ll Be” about how “fit” is a broad term and it’s good to think about 6-8 colleges where the student would be happy at. I probably learned about “8 First Choices” here on CC, but if anyone reading this thread hasn’t read it, I recommend it. A quick read.
I too am thinking the last thing we need is for there to be one dream school - a lot of “good enough” schools on the list is what I’m hoping for.
@homerdog re: skiing, there are probably lots of kids at CC who don’t ski, with 83% OOS and of course many college students may not be able to afford it (though I suspect college student discounts exist). Besides, he is not too old to learn if he’s interested! The CC block schedule, on the other hand, is a very significant consideration. The problem with CU Boulder for a student like yours is that it has strong majors and less-strong ones, so it may not be a great fit for a high-achieving undecided major (though I can’t remember what your ds was interested in)
Every school we’ve visited “seems pretty much the same” according to S19. They say the same things in the presentations and don’t really even look all that different. Maybe he’s on to something. I told him that his perception is probably correct. Instead of that being worrisome, it should be a good thing. It means that, no matter how things shake out in March of 2019, he will find a school that offers him what he wants.
If he’s looking at mostly rural LACs, they all have small classes, strong mentorship, good study abroad programs, community feeling, cool clubs, smart kids…so maybe worrying about choosing a perfect one is a little silly. They have more similarities than differences. One thing my husband is really focused on is each school’s career center. Seeing a majority of kids go right to grad school or off to the Peace Corp won’t work for S19. We need to see the college have concrete ways that they are helping kids find jobs out of undergrad.
@evergreen5 Great info about Boulder…and probably many other big universities. I agree. When S19 likes astronomy, history, English, econ, math, chemistry, political science, environmental studies…who the heck knows what he’ll end up with! The only options off the table are engineering, business, and comp sci.
@BorgityBorg Looking on Amazon to get that book. Thanks!
@homerdog, my S19 has made the same observation. We have heard the exact same thing at every school. Not surprising as we are visiting schools that are similar because they meet most of the parameters on his checklist. He caught on pretty quick that visits are for checking out the campus aesthetics, location, and dorms while observing current students if they’re there. Because we already screened for program availability, size, etc.
I think he gets that there is no such thing as one, single soulschool that will complete him. And that’s a good thing in my book. So perhaps your S19 is onto something. 
My S19 also has made the same observations and comments. He went on every college visit with my D16 and has visited several on his own, but has come to the conclusion that pretty much all of the LAC’s are the same. He is very laid back about the whole process and thinks he will be happy at any one of the schools we have visited - they will all be able to offer him something that he wants - there is no perfect school for him. He doesn’t want to talk about college anymore, doesn’t want to test anymore (he has taken the ACT twice) and doesn’t want to visit anymore schools. If I can be honest, I am a bit sad because he is my last one and I really enjoy the college visits, the presentations and wandering through different college towns! He seems to be done and I will let him be. This experience has been so different than it was with my D - we had spreadsheets,books, college visits every month and many “dream schools”… but as many of you have already said, (and I am slowly accepting), they are all different and they all have their own path. Maybe this will be a blessing in disguise because her junior/senior years were very stressful.
Schools throughout the Houston area will be closed tomorrow because of cold weather. The low tomorrow will be about 30. My co-workers in the New England office had a nice chuckle about that.
Though, to be fair, it might snow during the day, so it might actually be a good idea. You don’t want Houstonians driving in the snow.
@gusmahler. 14 degrees tomorrow and kids go to school. And we just had five inches of snow. lol. Of course, we have snow plows and warm coats. 14 is actually not so bad after what we endured during winter break. XC kids still ran outside during break when temps hovered around 5 degrees!
I’m visiting in Ohio right now and they waste no time clearing the roads. I’m very impressed with both Ohio and Pennsylvania DOT., clearing things up quickly. People drive during snow and go on with their day. At home in Savannah, one snowflake and the city shuts down for days.
When places have more snow, they have necessary equipment for snow removal .
Right, @carolinamom2boys ! Sort of like, rain is so rare in Los Angeles, that when it rains even just a little, everyone drives 15 MPH. You’d think it was the beginning of End Times.
@homerdog While my daughter and her friends, mostly, don’t ski, it’s true that taking one class at a time works better for a kid with a pre-existing idea for a major. So, scratch Colorado College off that list!
We’ll probably have a school delay/closing here if we get a sad two inches of snow overnight tonight. DC area is weird - we have some winters with 3 inches of snow total, and some with a couple of pretty big snowfalls. Our county is large and it doesn’t take much for them to call it off.
Discussions of what classes to take senior year are ramping up and S19 seems to have 10 classes on his list! Yeah, that’s not going to work. I wish he had taken one of those this year instead of “STEM Engineering” which so far is glorified wood shop.
Looking for insights on the following:
- Is AP Calc really a lot more time-consuming than honors pre-calc? It just seems like just the next step in math.
- Has anyone had a kid take AP Physics I/2 and AP Chem at the same time?
Basically he has one slot available that he will fill with AP Chem/AP Stats/AP CS Principles. He will potentially apply to engineering programs and I think he should take Chem for that reason. He’s not going to be taking AP English or Gov’t, but will have AP Calc, Music Theory and Physics 2. (AP Phys 1 is not a huge homework load).
@eh1234 I’ve heard at our school that AP Calc is roughly the same amount of work as Honors Pre-Calc. At our school Honors Pre_Calc is the toughest of all classes supposedly because it is a weed out class to get to AP Calc.
You need an A in Pre Calc to get offered a slot in AP Calc.
There are plenty of seniors who don’t even end up taking pre-calcat all. Some seniors have done. Ag1, Geometry, Alg2 and then Pr-Calc. That’s what my older son did. He didn’t love math, but he was decent at it.
My son19 did Alg 1, then geometry and alg2 as a sophomore, now Honors Pre-calc, and next year some sort of AP Calc.
If your kid is going into engineering AP Computer Science would be helpful. That’s what my son is taking as a senior, not AP Chem. He’ll also take Ap Physics. He is taking AP stats right now.
So his senior AP course load will be AP Calc, Ap Physics, AP CS. I doubt he’ll take any other AP classes.