@eh1234 Ha Ha! “The cat loves him the most”. Thanks for the laugh!
I finished updated the list of supplemental essays and it is 7 pages just of prompts! S does not seem concerned at all but looking at it gives me anxiety. I’m thinking there will be some dropping of schools around Thanksgiving.
D17 also prefers real books to online. She hasn’t had to buy any new books, mostly used or used rental. For her first semester of college last fall, she had to get 25 books for four classes!
@elena13 , many of the supplementals are very short though - like 250 words. S19 made it through them quickly. Some schools have longer ones (Baldwin Wallace and Michigan off the top of my head from his list) and those are harder to delve into, esp. after spending so much time on the main common app prompt. I’m personally over reading/editing responses to the “why xxx school” prompts. (<<<tongue in cheek!)
I get books for DD’17 (at community college) mostly on Amazon, used if possible, and compare prices to the campus store. Then I tell her to see if the bookstore will buy them when she’s done. I don’t know if that has happened. She did rent something from the campus store for summer and forgot to return it, fortunately it was just $11 charged to her card. Her books for graphic design are not very expensive so it’s not a big deal, $100 or less per semester.
The school we are touring for DD’19 next week includes free textbooks and a laptop so that would be nice (and it costs less than the other schools she likes so it’s not like you’re paying for it by way of higher tuition). It would be convenient for her to just pick up what she needs on campus and not have to comparison shop like I do for her sister.
I have no idea what my D16 does about her books, except she mentioned that she somehow got through her chemistry class without getting one at all? I don’t even want to know, haha. The school has an estimated amount for books, I give her about 2/3 of that, and it seems to cover it.
S19 came home from day one with the usual drama over his schedule - he’s in a non-honors science and they are going to spend two weeks designing a project to test the strength of paper towels and talking about the scientific method. That got a big “nope!” after having AP Physics last year. He also didn’t like the “vibe” of AP CS Principles (probably code for “I don’t know anyone in that class”) so he is hoping to ditch geosystems for AP Enviro and ditch CS Principles and be a TA for the orchestra teacher. It will get sorted but he’ll be out of sorts until it is.
@mindatwork Did you visit Baldwin Wallace? - I was considering it as a late addition to S19’s list (music major).
No, we haven’t visited yet. He hopes to audition in November so the weather should still be nice enough to get a complete campus tour then.
@SDCounty3Mom Yes, the cost of textbooks is outrageous. I don’t know how many other colleges do this, but at Williams, any student who receives financial aid will get all of their textbooks paid for by the college.
^^ I believe that is very unusual. The estimated cost of textbooks is included in the cost of attendance, so if the family has a 0 EFC at a school that meets full need, their textbook expenses will effectively be covered, but otherwise it’s just one of the many expenses a student has to manage. My kids usually do used via Amazon, and re-sell them to Amazon when they’re done with them.
Did any of your kids list summer actives on their Common App?
My son did some random things over his last 3 summers such as taken online coding classes and attending an Intro to Engineering camp at a tach institute and learned CAD skills on his own.
He has 1 space left on his activities section and he hasn’t really mentioned anywhere in the rest of his app what he did during the summers.
He was thinking of having Summer Activities as a category and and then highlight a few of the things he did/learned/participated in. He accomplished some good stuff over 3 years, but it’s easier to lump them in under one heading, than giving each summer it’s own activity space.
I told him I thought it was a good idea.
What did your kid label the activity as if you lumped them in all together like he was thinking?
After he adds that I guess he is done now for sure. He cranked out his 2 250 word supplemental questions he needed to do. Then it’s just a matter of gathering some of the GC/LOR info and he can apply whenever. His app looks pretty good I think, hopefully he gets a few good LORs from his teachers.
Most of my son’s summer activities involved work experiences so they are listed that way. However, based on what you describe, that makes sense to have on category called Summer Activities. Sounds great!
@eh1234 I assume that adcoms know they can’t fill a whole class with strong-willed, competitive leaders! My first adjective I sent to the GC to describe my D17 was “introverted,” and she got into her (lowish acceptance rate of 14%) ED college.
One of the adjectives I sent to my D19’s GC, who is actually the same one as my older daughter’s, was “amiable.” That word doesn’t tend to strike terror into the hearts of men.
I messed up with buying D19’s books this year! To save money, because the prices are truly egregious, I used Amazon. One relatively reasonably priced book that I ordered still hasn’t arrived, and school started Monday. I didn’t realize until i Looked more carefully – that book is being delivered all the way from the U.K! Lesson learned. Be more detail oriented. I keep having to relearn that lesson. 8-|
I’m jealous of being able to fill up all 10 of the activities. My kid has 4 activities, and that’s with theatre taking up 3 of the slots. OK, we came up with a few others that are somewhat minor, but my kid is theatre (school acting), theatre (school tech) and theatre (professional companies).
@JenJenJenJen I bought our kids’ books mostly on Amazon too. D21 got the wrong version of her book (even though the ISBN number was correct!) and she spent three hours reading an assignment for AP Euro only to find out the next day she read the wrong pages. Her book is ok to use but some of the chapters were shuffled around a bit. The teacher didn’t tell them in advance what the topic was. He just gave them page numbers. Luckily, she wasn’t the only one in the class with her book so wasn’t the only one who read the wrong pages. Boy, was she unhappy to find out she spent all of that time reading and taking notes on the wrong pages!
@RightCoaster my son has a category called “summer academic programs” that has several different programs lumped together. It seemed better to include them somehow, than not at all, and he has the other 9 slots filled.
Current problem with the activities section on the Common App: D feels that it is repetitive and boring to list similar activities. So she’s only listing that she’s on the volleyball team, and not also listing the softball team. And only listing the Spanish language/community service program she did in Peru, and not also the ones she did the following summer in Spain. Paring back on similar items would be one thing if she had lots of other things to list, but she doesn’t. Grrrr.
The Activities Section is the weakest part of the Common App for sure. The colleges all say they want to get to know the stories behind the application, but lust isting some activities and giving a few spaces to describe them is pretty limiting in my opinion.
I know some schools let you write a supplement to expand, and the kid could write about the EC in the Common APP essay, but there is no way to really show how much time and effort the kids really put into certain things.
Some schools let you submit a resume, but many don’t.
@JenJenJen Thanks for that reassurance. i don’t actually have to provide adjectives, I’m supposed to provide anecdotes about my child’s work ethic, leadership and some other qualities that he hasn’t regularly exhibited to date.
@soxmom If my son pared back “similar” activities, he would be limited to listing one thing! (He has about 7 or 8 music activities, many of which most kids probably wouldn’t bother listing at all).
We don’t have to purchase textbooks here - the school just hands them out and uses them for several years.
My son only has 3 or 4 things he spends the majority of his time at, but the others he participates in and has an interest in them. As an example, he volunteers some, but it isn’t his major EC, and he does Model UN just to learn more and be with some friends in a club. They got listed because he thinks it shows some well roundedness.
@eh1234 good luck figuring out what to write about your son, it can be tricky.
I hear you guys about the activities section. When I see S19’s activities listed so succinctly, it’s weird. He’s pretty committed to his ECs and they take a ton of time. They just tend to not look like much when he only has a limited number of characters to describe them!