DS took it yesterday and felt it was harder than the practice tests he’d been taking so hoping the curve helps. We had a pretty good snow storm while he was taking the test so he was surprised to see a good 5 inches of snow on his car when he came out of the test. Good luck to everyone!
Gloomy day here in the northeast today. Son19 is getting some schoolwork, done, did some robotics, and is doing some sat prep later.
He has one of school and then he is off for a Feb vacation week. Next week is a big State track meet. He has to finish pretty high to qualify for the Sate All Star meet the following week, so we’ll see how it goes. He won a few medals at the meet this weekend, and I think he ended scoring the most points for his team this season, so he might get nominated for some sort of award at the end of the season. That would make him happy.
We might try to sneak in a college visit over Feb break if we have time. We’ve got enough schools around here to choose from. I might see if he wants to bring a friend or two and check some place out.
We definitely are touring University at Buffalo over February break. Signed up for both the general and engineering tours.
We had a couple of hours of sunshine earlier this afternoon that we took advantage of by taking a walk around the block with the dog.
Going to follow along with this thread and hope to gain some words of wisdom along the way. It’s hard to believe that my S19 is 17 today! We were actually able to have a productive conversation about colleges yesterday, which was helpful as he’s usually a big smart ass when I bring it up. I still don’t think I will be able to convince him to visit any schools over spring break, but at least he’s been doing a little reading in the Fiske book that I checked out from the library. I think he’s also done with standardized testing (other than subject tests), so that’s a good feeling.
First college visit done, and it went well–I think he enjoyed the tour more than he thought he would and the school is staying on the list, so that’s good!
S19 and a few of his friends took ACT, and he felt it was hard. They are all relieved it is in the past. We will see in 10 days. I like ACT’s fast turnaround scores.
S19’s best friend’s mom wants to plan boys graduation party together.
What party? 
:(( Time flies. Both moms are sure they will go to prom alone, that is, boys together. S17 went to prom without a date but with friends. What? No photo? :((
Kiddo was told at the testing center that they would find out their ACT results in 5 to 6 weeks. I suspect that’s just when you get the physical envelope? I thought I had heard that you learned the scores online in just about 10 days, I’m happy to hear confirmation.
Now I just have to figure out the ID and password that I set up for kiddo’'s ACT account.
ACT results usually begin to get posted online in 10 days (February 20 at 1 am Eastern). Note that sometimes scores are delayed for unknown reasons. E.g., my D19 got her scores 10 days after the December test, but some of her friends got them a week later.
It should be noted that the ACT website specifically says scores begin to be released on February 21. Presumably because February 19 is a holiday.
I just set myself a reminder to check the scores on February 21 and hopefully I won’t fret between now and then. I don’t know why I’m so worried, it’s not like he won’t have other chances to take the test. I guess I am fretting because he was supposed to take the test twice in December but both were snow cancelled. The rest of the test dates between now and next year are unlikely to face that problem. I think.
Welcome @elena13! M D turned 17 yesterday as well. 
She had a pretty good weekend which hopefully took her mind off of school for a while. Had friends sleep over Saturday night then they all went to the beach most of the day yesterday. Dinner with us last night then a concert with her friends tonight. She is excited for the concert but they will be tired for school tomorrow!!
@momtogkc Ah…the beach! As I look out the window from my desk, all I see is white. White sky, a foot of white snow, and tons of icicles hanging off our neighbor’s house. Pretty in its own way I guess but sun and sand sounds better! Happy birthday to your D!
Man I would love to visit the beach right now!! I married someone from the Caribbean and assumed I’d live somewhere warm… nope! :((
@momtogkc Happy Birthday to your D! It sounds like her weekend was a bit more exciting than my son’s. Other than going out with family for dinner/trivia, all he wanted to do all weekend was have me make some of his favorite foods and lay around watching the Olympics. It rained all weekend here anyway. The school schedule and tennis season have really made him want to hibernate on the weekends. He says, “The only thing I want to do an investigative study of is the back of my eyelids”. :))
Thanks for the sage advice, eandeasmom. We’ve enlisted a tutor to try and help with study skills, organization, note-taking, etc, and after one session she decided to spend most of their time on APUSH. D passed her first test in the class this week, which I hoped would be a confidence boost, but she’s still miserable. She really hates school, and that worries me. If she’s this worked up now, what’s going to happen when she’s carrying a full load at college?
@homerdog and @toomanykiddos - As much as I miss living up north it is nice to be able to go to the beach in February! It hasn’t been the best weather the past few weeks so D was very happy to finally get some sun on her birthday.
@elena13 “an investigative study of the back of my eyelids” - I love that - sound like me half the time!
So son19 has been getting some mail and email from Case Western. I’ve never been to Cleveland. Is the area Case is located in really not that safe? Is it run down? Son19 does not have a lot of schools on his list, and that school has some features on paper that might seem appealing to son19, but I’m not sure if the locale is going to be a 100% turn off. I’ve read through some discussions on CWRU and get mixed reports.
Anyone been there?
@RightCoaster Haven’t been to Case but two sets of parents who I know from my NU days have sent their kids there and they love it. They are getting lots of research opportunities and enjoying their time there. I have been to Cleveland (but not in about five years) and it gets a bad rap but there are parts of the city that are a ton of fun and safe. I’m not 100% sure where Case lies in relation to the city but I believe it feels like an urban campus.
@RightCoaster I just talked to a friend of mine with a D18. She said lots of kids who applied to the “science-y” schools, also applied to Case this year. It’s early, of course, but she thinks a number will go there in the end. Her D was accepted to Tufts ED but had Case on her list. She’s planning on being a math major. Case has early action so that’s a plus as well. Good to have those EA schools on the list.
I’ve been thinking of taking S19 to see Case in the summer (well, if his end of year grades warrant the visit). He’s been getting a lot of mailings from them, and I think he would like their “secondary major” in music. Of course, I have no idea what his opinion on “urban” or anything else is.
“Safety” is so hard to gauge - there are some people on CC who will call a place unsafe if they see a certain percentage of minorities or anything less than pristine buildings and landscaping. There is a current thread started by a rich 15 year old who is worried that his family car will be stolen during his visit at Case. C’mon!
Son has been getting a ton of mail from Oberlin and might do a bass camp on their campus. I kind of wanted him to see Ohio State and maybe Denison. Ohio here we come?
As of now, we technically still have 0 schools on the list, although an application to VA Tech seems inevitable. We have a visit to Maryland - College Park on Monday, which I scheduled because. . . it’s an easy 45 minute drive on a one-day break!
@eh1234 We did an Ohio swing last summer. S19 just interested in LACs and doesn’t like urban, so we hit Oberlin, Kenyon, and Denison. He loved Kenyon and Denison. He didn’t feel like he fit at Oberlin. His main concern was how overwhelming the music scene seemed there. In addition to the conservatory, a large percentage of the kids in the “college” also play in a band or orchestra. From the student panel session, it also seemed that most of the fun stuff to do around campus was very music related. We thought the town was terrific and the campus was super interesting with all different kinds of architecture and pretty parks.
I would be remiss if I didn’t mention that the kids we met were also very liberal. We are not conservative but a decent percentage of these kids were just too social-justicy for S19. I also thought they were over the top (which, believe me, that’s saying something). We garnered that opinion not just from our tour guide but from a panel of 12 students who answered the prospective students questions.
S19 left there saying that he would recommend it to his band friends for sure. I believe art and science programs there are also very strong.