@momtogkc I’d have her go to the HS one over the big one in the hotel. She might get a chance to actually say hi and chat for a minute, and no driving and wasting another day doing college stuff. Let her enjoy the day.
@momtogkc I was reminded of this website, collegedata.com yesterday when I listened to a webinar about our favorite topic, college admissions. :)) If you go to this site, plug in the name of the uni, click on the school name in the list (there might be a few unis with similar names and you have to click on it), then hover over the name. A drop down menu appears, click on Admission. There’s all kinds of info but there is a chart that shows what the school considers important when looking at an applicant, that’s the Selection of Students area. Some schools don’t care about level of interest, and some do, this is where you can find out. Don’t know where this data comes from, but it’s worth a look.
Thanks everyone! She is definitely going to the meeting at her school, I just didn’t know if she should go again a week later, I think we will skip it if we find out they are both with the Admissions Counselor. I know the one at the hotel is but will have her check if that is who is coming to the school as well.
The school is Tulane - they are huge on demonstrated interest.
I heard D talking to my DH last night about her trip to UF. One of the there senior girls who went with her has an older sister at UF. My D was saying that she liked the fact that the sisters could see each other so easily (it’s about a 4.5 hour drive for us) and that she would love to be able to see D21 more than just on vacations. Makes me so happy that she is even considering her sister. :x
That data is mined from the previous year’s CDS. Some colleges are more than one year behind. I love using CD. I find the data more accurate and easier to analyze than college raptor. Just my opinion.
^^^
Just maker sure she signs in at the HS visit if they have a sign up sheet or whatever. It will count, if they consider that in their admissions criteria. No need to go to the other thing at the hotel.
At our HS some visits only get a handful of kids showing up so they can meet with the rep and chat for a minute if they want.
Still working on the multi-part procedure to get a counselor letter of rec here. They want a resume, a separate and redundant EC log, a parent brag sheet, etc.,…and 13 answers from the students about everything from a personal motto to academic highlights. D19 has been slowly, slowly working on this, and since we need it by tomorrow, last night I resorted to sitting next to her on the couch, putting her laptop on my lap and telling her to dictate her responses. It was ridiculous but it’s done. Some of these micro-actions are almost more annoying than the big-picture ones at this point.
@momtogkc One insight I gained recently is that the high school visits and attending the info nights near you are beneficial for cultivating more of a “relationship” with your regional AO. This goes beyond just signing up and checking off that box. The advantage to be gained is in contacting the AO directly. Shaking their hand and having a quick exchange at one of those events can be beneficial in their own right, yes, and they also give you an “in” for making that email contact afterward thanking them for their visit and reiterating what you discussed or asking a followup question. I’m sure this varies by school but it’s something to think about for following up afterward. Attending both isn’t necessary unless you want to again shake the person’s hand and continue a conversation or ask a question in person.
@cakeisgreat the SAT score that I ordered on 8/11/18 finally showed up on the list of ordered sends
last Wednesday, and finally sent out at some point between yesterday and today, 9/11/18. One full month! Whoo hoo really doing great, College Board!
@jellybean5. I wonder what the problem is. We sent SAT scores with no problem. Sent out right away as far as I can tell. Sent three batches and didn’t have an issue with any of them.
@homerdog, I ordered that one send on 8/11/18. I ordered three more sends on 8/24/18. Those three were sent out by 8/28/18. The one ordered on 8/11 was to Arizona State, not exactly obscure or a “low send” school, so there was no reasonable explanation for it, it was just in limbo. I called three times to get it to happen, and it finally did, but what a ridiculous amount of time it took.
@SDCounty3Mom That is definitely true. We did one of these last week and the AO was very generous with her time.
She mentioned that she’d put us in contact with a local engineering female alum if we sent her a reminder email.
Just finished reviewing a non-Common App school before she submits tonight. This kid didn’t even proof-read the name of her senior classes. Corrected Literature, Environmental, and spelled out History of the Americas in case HOA wasn’t obvious.
@peachActuary73 I’m sure we’ve all heard many times from AOs who, when asked for advice, say to proofread. It seems so basic but is clearly neglected – probably more so now by kids used to spell checks and autocorrects. I laughed at HOA listed only as HOA. Yes, not obvious at all what that means. Around here that’s always Homeowner’s Association. Ha!
@SDCounty3Mom Mom
This is so true! We had all of that to fill out for our guidance counselor as well. So much of this stems from the fact that the colleges insist on maintaining the fiction that guidance counselors know the students. The GC reccomendation should be optional – one of several choices the students have for presenting themselves.
@gallentjill Absolutely! I went to a small school and the guidance counselor was the Head of the Upper school, taught the required Comparative Religion course, and met with us multiple times between Junior and Senior Year about the college process.
No comparison to being in a 3000+ school where it’s actually a good thing that you don’t know your counselor too well. Their interaction was issues over Math placement, summer program application forms, and losing the RPI Medallion nomination form.
I sent six more ACT test scores for DS on Sunday and I can tell the schools have received them based on email he is receiving. We are no where near ready to press send and time soon.
We are also trying to determine if it’s worth going to a local event when we plan to go to an open house. It’s Clarkson, also a school that values demonstrated interest.
D pressed send on her first applications today! Go CUNY!! Common app schools will come much later. But it was still a very exciting moment.
I have heard more than one admissions counselor say they take the gc recco in context. Sometimes they get a rec that simply says this student has no disciplinary actions on his record. They don’t expect the same type of rec from a gc who has 1,000 students vs one who has 50.
I am amazed at the idea of 13 documents that a GC would need to write a letter for a student.
Our GC’s ask for…1. From the student. Only. The parents don’t see it at all. And honestly I am not entirely sure they ask for it from everyone, I don’t recall S17 being asked and S19 may only have been as his GC was going on maternity leave and I wanted her to write his, versus a temp.
Our GCs get a questionnaire from the students, one from the parents, and a teacher comment form. S19 did 11 of his 13 questions weeks ago and won’t finish it! I’m technically finished with my part but I keep going back to it and probably shouldn’t obsess over something that the GC is just going to skim.
Thanks for the reminder to send ACT scores, @MAandMEmom . I’ve now sent all the scores to all the colleges currently on the list. Surprise late additions will have to be sent when they’re sent.
Our GC has a form that she sends, where she checks boxes. It lists all the school’s possible AP classes, then she has a selection of how rigorous the kid’s schedule was, then she has a section for disciplinary actions. There is a freeform text area where she can talk about extenuating circumstances, she says she uses that one if the kid had a chronic illness, fire, death in the family, or was homeless or a foster kid.
Is there any downside to sending the ACT scores prior to sending in the common app? I worry that the scores will somehow get lost if there is not an application to anchor them.