Hey all! The IB College Fair was good, Driving on 495 and 95 in Northern Virginia… not so great!! UGH the traffic!
We got to the fair for when it opened and had a pretty easy time visiting with the few targeted schools. My son discussed with each school how his science choices would factor in admissions, not having Physics. All of the schools said his four years of science was fine and the IB Bio was plenty enough and not to worry about Phsyics since he wasn’t planning to be an engineer major. A couple said they would have him take Physics when he got there so not to worry that he wouldn’t have it. So relief there…
He talked for a while with the Furman rep and left there feeling really good about the school. We are going to change things around for July and go visit Furman.
We also went to a great presentation that discussed the different ways to use the IB education throughout college applications, essays and interviews. Good day!!
I hope that S19 can get a job this summer but fewer and fewer employers seem to be hiring younger teens around here, especially those who are just going to work for the summer. They have no trouble finding adult workers who want more hours, don’t want time off for family vacations, and can work year round. Even my 19 year old had trouble finding work last summer. (S19 didn’t look because he was 15 all summer). Lifeguarding is an exception, but he hates swimming.
@Kona2012 I am very familiar with Furman and live about a half an hour from there. My DS16 applied and was accepted there. He was also one of 48 students out of 1200 applicants invited to their scholarship day for the Hollingsworth, Towne and Duke scholarships. Feel free to PM me with any questions about the area or school.
@carolinamom2boys I have a quick question about Furman if you don’t mind. How big are Furman sports in the Greenville area? Does the community attend games? Do you see many people in the area wearing Furman Paladin shirts and hats? The schedule was too tight for us to get there for a tour during the school year, so we’re planning a June visit.
@Kona2012 - Glad things went well at the fair and that you got some relief about the Physics worry.
D17 and I loved our Furman visit. In the end she didn’t apply, but we liked a lot of things about the school, the campus is beautiful, and Greenville is so cute! I’d love to hear more about how to use IB through the application process but I can PM you.
@Kona2012, like others, S18 was was very pleased with Furman. It was his first choice in August and slipped to 2nd after S researched and visited Franciscan. But Furman had a beautiful campus and strong programs. WhenS declined admission, they sent him a note wishing him well. Very classy school.
@bettzke1 Sports are well attended by students and alum but you have to understand that Furman is right in the middle of Clemson territory, so in comparison, not close. I have attended a football game , and it was fun. People do wear Furman gear. It is a well respected school. My son applied there, as well as Wofford College, another small LAC in Spartanburg SC, about 30 minutes away. I actually prefer Wofford to Furman. Beautiful campus, strong academics, supportive staff. More sophisticated,but less uppity. Much friendlier, and they love their sports. They also have a Wofford Scholars program, similar to Furman, where students are nominated in their Jr year. They were also more generous in merit aid than Furman and are now test optional. If you are visiting Furman, you may want to take a little side trip ( about 30 mins from Furman) to compare.
I’ve lurked for a few years but re-joined today in earnest. My daughter is class of 19 and I can’t believe how much the college admission scene has changed! I went to Penn (I gather they call it UPenn today) and am started by my daughter saying she won’t get in to what I thought of as safety schools. I don’t care at all about the prestige of where she goes, I just want her to find somewhere she’ll be happy!
S19 registered today for the June ACT - wow was that a crazy long profile setup! He was really confused by the section asking you to rate whether you’d like to do certain things in college, with options like: “fix a tree damaged by a storm” and “build a picture frame”. I’m sure there’s a good reason, but holy weird questions, Batman LOL!
Welcome @WantBigAndWarm !
I don’t remember that section of the ACT registration, @parent2one , I wonder what my kid put for that?
We’ve narrowed down his retest date to the July ACT. June is going to be crazy busy and I suspect September will be too. The summer is filling up fast.
Kiddo has suddenly developed a passion for literature. He came home yesterday with Great Gatsby and a Jane Austen compilation. They’re not reading these for class, he got them because he wants to understand some references one of his teachers made.
meanwhile, as @ninakatarina 's kid develops a passion for reading classics, my son has developed a deep passion for Fortnite, lol.
Fortunately son19 does not have a lot of free time, otherwise he would be hanging out in the basement all day video gaming with his friends. It is rather funny. He goes down there with his laptop and phone, his friends all log in together from their homes, then the Skype each other so they can see and talk with each other. So they play the game, chat with each other and then use their phones to text and snapchat. What is wrong with them!!
My son. who has never played video games in the past, has discovered fortnite and has been playing a lot this past week. I guess its a such a good game that even kids who normally don’t bother with video games like to play it. He does play on his phone though, so no texting friends at the same time.
My kids both tried it for a couple hours, didn’t think it was worth their time, and then deleted it.
@elena13 Sorry for the delayed response - absolutely you can PM me…
Good Morning all… I’m not sure if anyone in this group has Tulane on their list but my son’s consultant messaged me this weekend to tell me that she was volunteering at a college fair this weekend and ended up next to an admissions rep from Tulane. The rep told her that they have seen a huge surge in applications and this year only 2% of their admits came from RD so if Tulane is high on your list apply early! They are also big with demonstrated interest. We are going down in July to visit and my son is planning to apply EA.
ACT scores should be in our mailbox when we get home. So nervous to see how he did. But at this point it is what it is and he is done with testing.
DD just read Great Gatsby for AP Lit and she liked it. Easier to get through than Jane Eyre I guess!
I think those ACT questions are to gauge career interests but I don’t recall if they ever tell you anything about your answers! I’m pretty sure I answered them for DD as she was probably gone for cheer when I signed her up.
Prom was this weekend (and post-prom did have a room for Fortnite). DD had a fabulous time, in large part because she had her favorite people there from outside of school. Her date was a friend from church camp who was so much fun, DD’17 went so a friend would have a date, and their cousin went with another friend. So the 6 of them were a fun, no-drama group for the night and DD was very happy.
@Kona2012 I had a friend who studied at Tulane and was able to visit several times when I was in college. It’s a very pretty place and I liked it a lot. I went to some excellent parties :))
Good luck on those ACT scores
D19 and I are back from our “Discover NAU” tour of Northern Arizona University in Flagstaff, AZ. I posted my trip report on the Parents of HS Class of 2019 3.0-3.4 GPA thread if anyone is interested: http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/discussion/comment/21476191/#Comment_21476191. NAU is part of the Western Undergraduate Exchange so if you live in one of the WUE states you can get a significant tuition break at NAU. Both residents and non-residents (including WUE applicants) are also eligible for merit scholarships based on GPA and test scores. NAU also pledges not to raise your tuition over the course of four years (eight continuous semesters not counting summer). https://nau.edu/admissions/tuition-and-cost/tuition-expenses/.
I love Flagstaff, I would consider moving there, seriously. I love the weather, scenery, vibe. Great mountain biking there and I’ve skied at the Snowbowl. It is such a unique place, the view from up top is amazing.
I think that would be a nice place to go to college, Flagstaff has everything a college kid needs. If you are getting a good deal on it even better!
@RightCoaster I’ve never been to New Orleans so I’m looking forward to visiting in July with my son. I don’t know how I would handle him being so far away that the trip home is a plane ride but if it’s the right school fit then I would support him applying. I bet there are some great parties there! Lol… The school closes for the first two days of Mardi Gras!