We also did what others have mentioned. No paid for tutors or classes. S19 is also a rule follower and he came along on my prep ride pretty willingly. I used the official red book plus also the extra released tests you can find online. He would do a section or two during the week depending on homework, and then full length practice tests on the weekends. After each section he would review the ones he got wrong. Initially, he was in the 28-30 range for most sections, but was easily score 33-36 toward the end. We did this off and on for about three months. I think he was very prepared academically, but actually what helped him most was that he had seen so many practice tests. He scored a 34 composite on his first ACT, which was the notorious hard February sitting. We are considering whether a retake is worthwhile as his weakest section was match (32) and he plans on engineering.
Well, we have scheduled the first college interview. Gettysburg, which on paper is a match. Iāve set up the interview for next Monday morning. Then, since I donāt want to take the tour all over again, Iāve set up afternoon meetings with the campus LGBT coordinator and heāll sit in on a rehearsal of one of the senior seminar plays.
I was thinking as I talked to the admissions officer lady, āOh, this should be fun,ā but now that I write everything down itās feeling more real. My baby is applying to colleges. He may be ready but I am not.
Hi all, Iām popping my head in again because Iām finally feeling like this is the start of DSās rodeo. The seniors in DS hs program have pretty much heard from all of their schools (except NYU) and are now busily making last minute campus visits, waiting on their FA packages, making final decisions and sending up prayers to get off waitlists. There are lots on waitlists!
This is our much needed spring break. When school resumes itās go, go, go until the very end with back to back rehearsals, tech and performances, all while maintaining academics.
I was able to schedule a local campus tour for later this week - really HIS first (although he was dragged along on DD16ās).
Heās already being stubborn in that when I suggest a college that is not on his radar, he flat out refuses. The good news (I guess) is that if he doesnāt get into one of his choices, heās ok with a gap year working and then reapplying, or would consider auditioning for a company trainee program. This is going to be an interesting ride.
My S19 was happy with his no-prep ACT score and seems oblivious to the nature and extent of his friendsā test prep so he didnāt feel like he needed to be doing anything in particular to get ready. He also didnāt stress about getting a certain score because he remains generally oblivious about college in general. He can barely name 20 colleges.
I think that he was able to do his best because he didnāt feel any pressure. Unfortunately, this laid back attitude does not lead to a great GPA to go with his test score!
@ninakatarina Hope that first interview goes well!
we are squeezing in a few visits in the next few weeks and then weāll be done, unless son19 wants to take a vacation trip/school tour to CA in the summer. He talked yesterday with the consultant that is helping him craft his essay over the summer. So my work is almost done, right? :))
@InfiniteWaves, take Thursday afternoon off! Go to the beach 
@elena13 and @homerdog D19 is my easiest kid, so thank goodness sheās the practice one. I better have all my ducks in a row before D21, and itās still going to be a roller coaster. I canāt think about S23. Mantra to self: He is 12. He is 12. Step away from the edge.
@3SailAway I was actually able to move the Monday 4/2 visit to this Thursday afternoon. So now we can all enjoy 4/2 as a day off. With some hiking perhaps.
I went though all the options, AGAIN. And honestly, all viable ones will be exhausted within a week. He will end up with a really good list with all bases covered. FOMO be darned. He should focus on AP test and SAT prep.
Remind me I wrote this when I FOMO again. 
@InfiniteWaves itās hard to visit schools. These kids are so busy without the added issue of those snow days!
So excited to see Davidson this week. Heading to Charlotte tomorrow. S19 is going to a class called The Future of Humans. Mr Homerdog and I cannot wait to find out what the future of humanity is.
Just saw a photo that the school posted on Instagram and there are flowers everywhere on campus. Iām so excited to see green. Weāve been living with brown, grey, and white for a while now.
We are discussing the New England college trip for this summer, if we ever figure out what kiddo is doing for the summer so we can work our way around that. Once we do that the list should be set.
We hadnāt been doing interviews during our college visits up until now. We are going to have to revisit 3 schools for the interview. I donāt mind much because theyāre all within easy day trip distance and my husband missed out on visiting 2 of the 3 so I hope to drag him along with us.
I know that the colleges want to do the interviews in the fall, but I really want to get them done and over with.
ok. so here is an interesting question. Turns out my S has spend a lot of time in the media center. I was in there doing an event for the HS and they are like, arent you Xās mom? We love him. He is so helpful. So I am thinking that even though they are not his teachers, a LOR from them might be more impactful. versus a regular teacher? What do you all think?
@sdl0625 - I guess it depends on the kind of schools in which your son is interested. If they are fairly selective, I think you have to go with academic teachers. However, there is a way to add an additional LOR in a separate section of the CommonApp. I canāt remember exactly but it is for coaches, employers etc. We added an additional one for my D17 from her drama teacher but her two main academic ones were from Lang and French teachers.
OK, a relatively brief rundown of Ms. Borgityās and D19ās trip to Philadelphia late last week, which included 2 canceled flights, a sleepless night in the Detroit airport, and some lovely snow-colored campuses. I wasnāt there, so these are limited and highly impressionistic views (YMMV) based on texts and subsequent notes.
Swarthmore: My wife did not like at all ā never spoke with a single student (though she skipped the campus tour, led by a student), was frustrated the lack of clear meeting area for admissions. Students in the dining area were all sitting by themselves. Felt the campus (and student body) was small. [Note: her comparison would be to places like Carleton, St. Olaf, and Macalester.] Very pretty campus. In the end (esp. after the other tours), thought the school was too driven and insular for what we think would serve our D19 best. Useful info session; daughter liked the math class she sat in on. (She also appreciated the student-led tour, describing the guide as āhonestā and āfunny.ā) Note: this was the day after the mostly sleepless night travelling, so who knows the extent to which that might have colored opinions.
Haverford: Ms. Borgity was a bigger fan of Haverford. True to the stereotypes of the two campuses, she thought the campus was slightly more laid-back. (This was helped by an e-mail from an alumna of Dās HS, who attends Haverford, while her older sibling attended Swat ā the alumna described Swarthmore as a āpressure cookerā but thought Haverford wasnāt.) D19 had an interview with a Haverford senior. I guess it well? Since it was my daughterās first college interview, she didnāt have anything to compare to. Mostly basic questions asked of her. Compared to Swarthmore, my wife said she spoke to at least six different students, and found them very accessible, down-to-earth. (Meaning, there were many in the office, etc.) Daughter liked the physics class she sat in on. (Note: She seems to have enjoyed every class sheās sat in on, and I think sheās up to five or six at this point. Maybe she just likes learning?)
Bryn Mawr: Leaving Haverford at 2:30, they did not much time have much time here, just a student-led tour and a brief hello at the admissions office. Quoted D19 in her notes: āVery castle-y campus.ā It did seem to be very pretty from the pictures I saw.
In the end, Iām not sure how this necessarily moved the needle. We asked yesterday (they came home Saturday night) if she had preferences between the three, and she just shrugged her shoulders. The closest thing we got was during the Bryn Mawr tour, when my daughter told Ms. Borgity, āIf I went to school here, I could still take classes at Haverford.ā I think we would not be sad to see Swarthmore taken off the table because the chances of admission are small, and we think she needs a school that allows for a little more time to develop non-academic interests and to be engaged in the world. (At least, thatās the impression Swarthmore seems to convey.) Haverford I think is a possibility (although her chances of admission are definitely less than 50/50 at this point), and if the trip cracked the door open to more serious consideration of womenās colleges (both Bryn Mawr in particular, and that universe more broadly), that is in my opinion a good thing.
We are trying to figure out if we can do a spring trip. Reed could be done in 24-36 hours and affordably from here, but Ms. Borgity just read a description of Reed as having a ādrug culture,ā and is slightly less enthused. (I canāt say that I disagree ā I understand that virtually all colleges will have some sort of drug and alcohol use, but if itās significant enough to be called out in Fiskeā¦) Hopefully we can visit Smith and Mount Holyoke in the fall. (Fall colors in western Massachusetts would be our big trip for the year.)
I also put together a list of maybe 5 slightly less-selective colleges Iād love for D19 to look into more ā we might not get to visit, but now that sheās visited 9 colleges, I feel like she has a good idea of what she likes and wants, and some of these less-selective schools could be just as nice. (I think Lawrence is great, for example.)
That seems like enough prattling on. Feel free to ask specific questions (e.g., ādid the info session address [X]?ā) and Iāll answer if I know.
Ah, the advantages of going south for school! DD is considering it and it sure seems nice to have more temperate weather for the school year. If she goes, I think Iāll be jealous.
@bjscheel Jealous, yes! But I would visit a lot if heās somewhere warm! We have a friend whose daughter is at Davidson and she said itās a super easy trip. Our flights tomorrow were not expensive and Davidson is only 35 min from the Charlotte airport once we get there.
I wish he had more schools on his list where itās warm more of the year. He REALLY hates humidity and super high temps so schools like Rice are out. He doesnāt want to go west so CA and AZ schools are out. I asked him about the weather issue and he said it would be nice to be in a more temperate climate but itās not a deal breaker. This is someone who has visited some cold weather schools and liked them. Plus, we lived through our sub-zero holiday break here and he and his friends just bundled up in the -10 degrees and played outside.
Time will tell. If he doesnāt end up south, weāve got a chance with D21!
Hello! Iāve been away for a while, just read the last few weeks of posts. Everyone has been busy!
DD19 took the March 10 SAT and she is really pleased with her scoresāas am I! Still shy of the 1200 goal, but Iām confident she can get there or get closer. I remain confident that she will get into at least 3 of her top 4 choices. I hope this is encouraging for parents of kids with LDs and ADDā¦itās not easy, but it can happen. Iām so proud of her and she is so proud of herself!
Iām debating on whether to visit some of the schools she wants to apply to as her āback upsā but I donāt think they will work financially and I donāt think they are any better fit than her top choices. Iām thinking I will let her apply and if for some reason she changes her mind, we can go check out any schools that she get accepted to. Especially if one of them could work financially.
Spring break starts on Thursday and goes through April 8ā¦we need the break!
Kiddo surprised the heck out of us and himself by getting inducted into the math honor society. He keeps telling us that he is very bad at math, yet heās pulling an A in AP Calc AB. Now if only that was reflected in the test scores.
I just realized that your kids that took the 3/10 SAT already have their scores. Thatās fast turnaround!
Yeah, SAT scores are turned around in under 2 weeks. ACT scores are even fasterā10 days.
Thatās why PSAT scores were so frustrating because you had to wait two-three months for the scores. D19 took the PSAT followed by two ACTs and an SAT from October through December. She got both ACT scores and the SAT score before she got the PSAT score.
The problem is that SAT and ACT scores are fast, but not always. Some kids are still waiting on scores for the test a month later, while some get them the following week. I suspect that some centers ship their completed packets less efficiently, and some probably get pulled for verification, especially if you have an essay.
Didnāt the process recently change for the SAT scores and thatās why they are so fast now?