@dfbdfb@Reebtoor Thanks so much for the information. We’ll look out for the first email.
D19 turns 17 later this week, so her dad came to town to see her this weekend. Coincidentally, there was some extended family in town also. D got totally ambushed about Georgia Tech, more aggressively than in the past. On paper, it makes complete sense, but it is also the one school on her list she has no interest in. I think it’s really sinking in to her how hard it will be to turn Tech down if it was an option. I have empathy, but I need to stay neutral and let her figure this out for herself.
With school and homework and ecs and sports in full swing, it’s been hard for D to carve out time to work on apps. This weekend was the first chance she had since school began to work on some essays. (Thankfully she got a few done over the summer) She got 2 done this weekend that are in good enough shape to send to her counselor for review- was able to recycle some material from other essays. But there’s still a lot more to go. Quite a few schools on the list have more than one supplement, so it feels never ending.
@wisteria100 right there with you. No time for essays (unless he wants to write them at midnight when he’s done with homework!). Weekends super busy with XC and other homework too.
S19 did work on another essay today that’s due 12/1. I gave him until the end of the month to finish it. Then, he will have just two more essays unless he adds more schools. There’s one possible add to the list but that deadline is 1/3 so he will have time over winter break to write those essays if worse comes to worse. I can totally see why essays get worse over time or if kids have to rush them at the last minute. His best ones were written over the summer when they had time to stew. Maybe some kids can write well quickly but that doesn’t work for him.
DS hasn’t had a moment to work on apps in the past week either. He’s finally attending driving school and auditions for the fall play are tonight. He’s really hoping to land Sherlock Holmes but he would be happy with a host of other parts. He’s been practicing his British accent monologue and refreshing his memory on his other monologues. I suppose in a sense that’s working on applications… even if he’s only doing one audition application and that’s in January.
I think my son is going to apply to two state universities this week. He has the apps and short answers done, so he might as well submit them and get them off. It will be a good test run of the Common App, submitting scores, and getting LORs requested.
He still does not have much of a formal list, and he is still winging it until the Nov 1 EA/ED deadlines.
@3SailAway , if it’s any comfort, my S19 is the same way right now. Any prodding is just making him slow down some more. He wrote a draft of the Common App essay, which probably needs a redo. He is still sweating the GC questionnaire, has a bunch of deadlines coming up for NMSF, wants to record his music to submit an art supplement. I am not sure when he will time to do all these and complete his application to meet his EA deadline.
@peachActuary73 funny is that my S19 is applying to GT and even if he gets in, is not sure he wants to go. UAH might actually appeal to him more. He also has his ED school out of state that will rely heavily on merit $. UAH is a solid backup plan and very inexpensive.
@sdl0625 - just curious what your S doesn’t like about GT? My son will apply also. It’s not the best fit for him in some ways, but also hard to beat the cost.
My S would rather be a big fish in a small pond, and I think he is afraid of the pressure cooker that GT is. Since he is ASD, this is a real concern. i am not even convinced he will get in, despite good test scores, since his EC’s are not fantastic and does live and breathe community service. His top choice is RIT,. but we have to see what happens with merit $.
Trying to get through DS19s Eagle Court of Honor on Sat and then he’ll apply to 2 instate schools without essays next week, then finish his essays. Received his senior pics proofs today. That was harder than I expected.
I’m thinking the stress is beginning to compound a bit for D19. Had a college meeting with her last night, and she seemed more stressed than previously. She took the makeup SAT on Saturday, and we tried to suggest that she needed to stop looking at scholarships and spend more time on her essays (CA and specialized). [We are in a relatively fortunate position that NPCs are producing results that we can generally afford, so really, D19 should spend effort trying to get into those schools…]
She needs (more) progress on the essays and follow-up on a couple schools for alumni/Skype interviews. And hopefully the ASU app she filled out about 8 days ago will finally translate into an ASU ID and (shortly) an acceptance so she can move onto the Honors College app.
And hopefully the SAT score will come back before the end of the month.
D19 is taking pictures next week since she was traveling during the summer appt. It is turning into a “thing”.
Good birthday week. She apparently got into her second rolling school. This technology thing is kind of amusing, though. One school sends a congratulatory email two days after the portal changes status to “Admitted”. Another school sends an email indicating that she is eligible to submit an application for Honors Programs, which only implies but doesn’t explicitly state she’s admitted. Hmmn. It’s cool to get the early heads up, just strange from an old-fashioned perspective.
carolinamom2boys
Today at 4:51 pm
Just received a text from our HS. Our graduation date has been announced. Sat June 1 at 5:30. I’m so happy that it’s on a Saturday because DS16 should be able to attend if he does and internship fairly close by.
Checking back in after a bit of a hiatus. We’re making progress, but S19 is still making me absolutely crazy, as he had Lafayette, Bucknell, Dickinson, and Bentley at his school today and didn’t go to a single presentation. He has informed me that Penn State (which he has not even visited yet) is his backup because there are no other financial safety options. Uhm, yes there are - for instance, Bucknell, Dickinson, and Lafayette would probably give you merit aid. It’s my one major pet peeve with this kid - he makes decisions and renders opinions prior to doing any research. I don’t want him to end up like me, so bogged down in research that I can’t make a decision, but come on!!!
Anyway, his entire list apparently isn’t ready for public/parent consumption, but at least I think “we’ve” decided to apply ED to Brown. “We” like BU a lot - better than Cornell apparently. And I guess Colgate is still in the running, and there will be a visit to Vanderbilt in Oct. Oh, and UVA somehow made the list even though he absolutely refused to visit there when I offered in the Spring. I don’t think he has a clue how competitive admission is for out of state. So, I guess we’ll see where we get with applications to those schools and then go from there.
@Trixy34 I wonder if your son is maybe thinking he won’t need his safety so why have so many? S19 has some matches that he thinks are safeties and so took Denison and Lafayette off of the list. He has reasons to think two matches should come through for him. These are schools where he is above the 75th percentile and the two acceptance rates are 20% and 31%. Our Naviance shows no one has been denied even well below his scores and GPA from our school. And he’s had contact with both of the AOs who have told him that he would be a wonderful fit. STILL, the acceptance rates freak me out since he’s going RD to both. I did check with our GC to confirm that those acceptances on Naviance are RD and they are.
And, now, we seem to just be throwing darts. Because he finished so many essays this summer, he’s got time to do more. So, let’s just throw in a few more schools right? I tried to convince him to apply to the one school that my husband, I, and S19 all agree on but we haven’t visited yet (because it’s a big reach) and I wouldn’t want him to apply without visiting. He said there’s no time. Too busy with XC and school. And he likes every school we’ve visited and isn’t ready to give any up. He’s way less nervous than I am. The school we all like will be another RD app.
@carolinamom2boys Ooh, a Saturday graduation would be so nice. S19’s is on a Monday (June 3), held in downtown DC, and will be over right as rush hour begins.
@Trixy34 If it makes you feel any better, S19’s list includes two schools he sort of likes, one he’s sort of “meh” about, one he is very “meh” about, one he has barely heard of (“where is that again?”), and two reaches that he thinks he likes, but he doesn’t really know anything about them other than who the bass faculty are. Out of these seven schools, he’s toured two. If I try to get him to look at a college website, he acts like it will burn his eyes. Fortunately, he’s a laid back kid, so I"m not too worried about fit.
Common app essay is basically done. It needs a read through to check for errors but other then that. DONE! Now, D is working on all the supplemental essays. Its such a busy time of year, I’ll be glad when its done, but part of me wants to slow everything down. I’m never going to be ready to let her go.