My son is visiting VA Tech this weekend too, @kona2012. It’s not on his “list” (that would require him to have an actual list of schools), but it is instate for us and it’s probably the best in-state option he might be able to get in to, so off to Blacksburg he goes. If nothing else, DH can make him drive there and back and get some hours in.
@eh1234 sounds like a win win! And who knows. Maybe he will like VT!
@Kona2012 - Yes, the IB program has been very challenging this year. My son had taken a number of AP classes prior to this year, but I finally feel that he is really having to work. The reason I hope that senior year will be somewhat easier is that he will be taking AP Stats and will take an IB science class (maybe environmental) which should be easier than AP physics this year.
Currently he’s taking Higher Level classes in: English, Spanish, and History and Standard Level for Math and Psychology. Plus TOK and AP physics. Better him than me!
Sounds like you are doing a lot of visits! I did a lot with my daughter but my son is not so interested and thinks they are a waste of time :)) . I thought they were mostly fun so I’m kind of bummed.
@eh1234 Now I wish my son was interested in driving! He is happy with Uber. We’ve told him learn to drive and we"ll buy you a mini (the car he would love to have). Nope nothing. My husband joked tonight about him driving us home from VT! We are from Maryland so VT would be an OOS admittance making it harder. I am hoping that VT is what my son is looking for in a school since I like the location and think the Neuroscience program will be a good fit.
@elena13 Our IB program does not allow students to take any other classes once they begin the DP classes their junior year. Has your son begun his Extended Essay? My son is loving TOK. He just started it this marking period because the first two marking periods they had to take an IB research class that taught them strategies for classes and their extended essay. I wish he had taken IB Psych but he has this artistic side and wanted to do IB Art. I feel like he is getting more out of the college visits now then he did a year ago. It’s becoming more real maybe…
@Kona2012 - Yes, he’s started his extended essay but I don’t know anything about it. There are some things he just wants to do on his own and definitely wants to limit the lengthy conversations we have. Ugh! He does love TOK and has been in the class all year. He’s much more interested in that than math this year. Given his other strengths, it’s made me investigate the PPE major (Philosophy, Politics, and Economics).
Anyone on this thread have knowledge of or experience with PPE programs?
In the “it could be worse” file… Ms. Borgity’s flight to Philadelphia with D19 was cancelled about 20 minutes before we were going to leave for the airport this morning. The airline via email asked her to confirm a rebooked flight for a redeye connection… Thursday night. It would have put them into Philly at 10 AM Friday, too late for a scheduled interview at Haverford (not to mention missing the entire day at Swarthmore). When we were talking potential options with our daughter, our daughter seemed upset, even though she says she’s indifferent to visiting colleges. Well, after Ms. Borgity talked to an actual person, she got onto a redeye tonight and will arrive tomorrow around 7 AM. That special topics in Calculus class D19 will be sitting in one will be extra sleep-inducing after a fitful night’s sleep on the plane, but at least they’ll be there… assuming Swarthmore doesn’t close down tomorrow as well…
I say “it could be worse” in that we heard from friends this morning who were, in a surprise to us, in Philly, stuck there until tomorrow. They were going to visit Penn today… and of course Penn is closed today due to the snow. And they visited Princeton yesterday (or the day before) and were walking around an oddly quiet campus when they found out that there was a person with a gun in coffeeshop nearby and the whole campus was on lockdown. No tours, no nothing. A “bust,” as our friends described it.
I hate the summer heat here, but having lived in cold-weather climates, I will say that the weather messes up plans down here far less often.
@BorgityBorg Best of luck to Ms. Borgity and D with the red eye flight to Philly! We did three Philly area schools in February. Believe it or not, it was 80 degrees and sunny at Bryn Mawr, but chilly and raining sideways at Swarthmore. Haverford was in between. I was happy that Bryn Mawr got the weather boost because D19 wasn’t sure about a women’s college before we went, but was won over (not just by the sunshine!).
Hope your D has a good trip. A plus for us was that it’s very easy to take the train from Bryn Mawr to Philly’s 30th St. Station, where we got on Amtrak and 1.5 hours later we were in NYC.
That is some crazy difference in weather, @3SailAway – not to mention that 80-in-February is Phoenix weather! Bryn Mawr is getting the short end of the visitation stick – much more time at Swat and Haverford but really only a tour at BMC – but our D19 is also not convinced by the women’s college concept and I’m hopeful she’ll warm up a bit to it. I think Bryn Mawr – and Smith and Mt. Holyoke and Scripps and a number of women’s colleges – are a bit like “value stocks” in that if schools with those qualities were co-ed, the admission rates would be way lower as a result of a larger population recognizing their quality. Admittedly some students are looking specifically for that women’s college experience, but that’s only one of their good points for some students.
Just got the call that school is closed again tomorrow. It is still snowing. Kids are losing their days off next week. Which means I have to reschedule three college visits. Yay winter.
That stinks @InfiniteWaves. Bummer to cancel the tours. Does your school allow a certain # of days for a kid to visit schools? I think as seniors the kids had 4 or 5 days to use for that purpose, but I have not checked on juniors.
Maybe call in sick one day and just go?
I’m trying tp squeeze in a couple of visits, one on Good Friday which som19 gets off, and then one or 2 over April break. Maybe the snow will be gone by then, who knows?
We have this new law in Maryland about school starting after Labor Day and out by June 15, its killing our calendar. We had three snow days built in but with today off we’ve now used three days. If we are out tomorrow then they are taking away Monday after Easter and our so called spring break becomes a four day weekend. Ugh!!! Plus I have Univ of Delaware schedule for that Monday with my son sitting in a Clinical Neuroscience class. Do I call out sick (teacher) and still take him or cancel the class and tour? So frustrating! I hate winter and snow!!
I can very much sympathize with you @InfiniteWaves – sorry about that!
School is out today, likely tomorrow too, but Friday they’re in and that’s a relief.
We have a 24 hour play festival scheduled for this weekend. I had tried to steer the kid into writing for it, but he wants to act. They come in Friday night and the actors ‘audition’ for the writers, who draft their cast then spend all night writing a 10-15 minute sketch. The actors and directors spend the day rehearsing and staging the play. Usually there are two sketches which are quite good, a few meh, and at least one that’s so bad it’s funny. I usually volunteer to be the chaperone from midnight to 6 am, because I love the energy of the kids who are up at that point.
Luckily the snow isn’t going to interfere. 24 hour play is actually my favorite event of the theatre year.
We hardly got any snow, glad to see another show day was not needed. Now the snow just needs to melt so the kids can play outside. Might take a few weeks until the fields melt, dry out and are deemed playable.
I’m so excited…my D got accepted to St. Paul’s Advance Studies Program for the summer!
@Kona2012 I hear ya. S19’s “spring break” is now down to the Monday after Easter. We got about a foot and a half in my part of PA.
We are fortunate in that the visits scheduled for next week are all within an hour of home. No travel issues. Just rescheduling challenges. Fortunately, the school went with a half day for next Friday instead of a full day. So we can keep the afternoon visit as planned.
@BorgityBorg , I hope that Ms. Borgity and D are able to make the most of whatever time they manage to get in Philly.
First day of school being in September seems really weird to me. That’s what I grew up with in the East coast, but in Arizona, first day of school was typically the first full week of August.
First day of school in NC when I taught there was always the beginning of August and here in Maryland I always went back to work mid August. I grew in in NJ and always went back after Labor Day. It never bothered me that we went back mid august because I liked how early we got out and now with this new law our school schedule has no wiggle room for snow days and longer breaks. I honestly think the kids suffer from not having breaks throughout the year. I wish they would get rid of this new law. Maybe if we elect a new governor! LOL. It was all done because of tourism and bordering states school schedules and Ocean City, MD.
Our schools start either right before or after Labor Day. We end in mid- to late-June depending on snow days and whether in public vs private. I’d hate to start at the beginning of August. It doesn’t stop raining until after 4th of July and it’s a crime to be in school in July and August when the weather is perfect (finally). Though with summer wildfires and the smoke, the summer is not quite the paradise it used to be.