Question about the common app- are your kids already able to make an account for next year? I haven’t looked at it at all yet but when my son applied 5 years ago I thought it all reset on July 1st or something like that. So I figured it wasn’t even worth looking yet, not that DD has a free second anyway. I’m thinking she’ll first have time after school ends late June. Thanks
I can not even imagine my D looking at the common app right now! Probably labor day weekend?
My D19 started her common app early and lost stuff when it reset, so I’m in no hurry for D20 to get started. She’ll probably get it going in August to apply to her rolling/EA schools before September 1.
@milgymfam I wish my oldest could wait until August to begin but school starts so darn early around here (2nd week of August) that we are hoping O. will be done before August 1st with everything but the high school specific requirements. Good to know that college board account resets on July 1st, O. has done a lot of work on there…I will make sure everything is backed up elsewhere.
No more resetting of data. From CA: “You can now roll over your Common App account from year-to-year, so there’s no better time than now to open an account, get familiar with the system, and get some of your app work completed.” April 19, 2019.
@bigmacbeth that’s a fantastic change imo. Thanks for sharing!
@bigmacbeth - thanks! That was how coalition app was for S19 so i figured it must be the same for common app. Either way, essay prompts have been out for a while. Hoping S20 gets essay done by 7/1. Fills out common app prior to 8/1. His schools will have limited supplementals if any at all. Really want him done with apps by Labor Day weekend. Senior year is so crazy and I don’t want him overwhelmed. A mom can dream, right?
First, APES of several AP exams start today. ?
@mountainmomof3 I’m right there with ya. D20 is very motivated to get her applications in before going back to school. Even without the applications, it will be a busy fall.
D20’s list is far from finalized. There are a bunch of schools we are still looking at, and we still want to make visits and she has to do several interviews. You all are so much more organized than we are! I find it difficult pinpointing what would be a safety, for both admissions and finances, but I think we have one that she thinks she would like. That is one of the schools we still need to visit, but on paper it sounds pretty good.
S20 is planning to start working on the common app in August. I’m hoping he can get most of it done before school starts but we’ll see.
So for essays - do you just read over them? Do the students do it themselves? Does anyone work with a tutor or a class? I’ve seen summer essay programs advertised but I don’t think S20 would be interested.
@NYC2018nyc My D19 had two other people look over her essays (one an english teacher, one a counselor), so I didn’t feel the need to read over them myself. But I should have. After they were submitted, I saw a couple of typos in her essays. I was reassured when I read an article somewhere that said schools don’t hold typos against you, as long as they aren’t excessive or change the meaning. The most important thing is that it is the student’s voice.
Yes, I read it over and provided feedback on typos and content. For example, I would read a line where my kid said he’s good at X, and I said Show, don’t tell. I also said - “this part is boring” and he went back to the drawing board.
Also, his English teacher and GC proofed.
If your kid is hyper sensitive to your advice (take it as criticism), then they may not want your proofing. This may be the case for my 2020 youngest.
5he important thing is that essay has their voice and tells something to the adcom that they don’t know.
I proofed D17’s Common App essay. I may have a friend look over D20’s supplemental essay for her #1 choice, but not the CA essay. We were talking with her, and she had such good ideas of how D20 should talk about herself with the prompt…she will just do a much better job than I would.
Yes, usually kids go over their essays in English at HS, but D20 will be done before they get to it. D17’s English teacher was not much help with her CA essay…she was too formulaic and boring, whereas my D wanted to be a little more creative. I thought her CA essay ended up being just ‘OK’.
I review college essays for local kids. I feel like I can tell when mom or dad helped with an essay. Defintiely proof reading for typos and consistency is always beneficial, but some parents actually write the essay. Its obvious most of the time. When my older ones were applying, they had groups of friends that would have ‘app parties’ where they ordered pizza and everyone brought a laptop and commented on each other’s essays. It was great! I doubt my D20 is the kind of kid to do this, and she refused a college essay class (said that I do that, why would she need to pay for it). We will see how it all works out.
At our school, the English teachers proof read for grammar and transition, but no one reads it for content.
@HarrietMWelsch let me know when you find one! Our kids aren’t clones but have enough similarities that I’d love to hear what you end up with on the safety list!
I have never heard of our English teachers doing anything with kids’ essays.
AP Physics 1.today. I am letting her skip.periods 1 and 2 and sleep in as she is still tired from this week end. Shhhh.
Sleeping on the ground and competing all weekend wore her out.
https://www.latimes.com/socal/daily-pilot/news/tn-dpt-me-girl-scouts-nautical-20190505-story.html
A slight brag. D found out yesterday that her APES teacher has recommended her for a STEAM award. Totally unexpected but a good sign as D had been planning to have her as one her LOR teachers.
Hi, I just found this and would love to join in. My eldest is HS class of 2020 and we are wading through the process. I sometimes feel overwhelmed and am just hoping not to miss what we should/could be doing. So far he has taken both ACT and SAT. He would like to retake the SAT this summer because he isn’t happy with his number, but he did well enough on his ACT that I don’t think he needs to bother. I’m not sure if he should do some subject tests, a couple of far reach schools ask for them. It might be good to just do them to have in his pocket in case he chooses to apply to schools that want them.
I’ve encouraged him to start asking for LOR now, especially since his GC will be going on maternity leave at the end of the summer. He does have a couple of teachers on his list too. His school encourages the kids to do their essays over the summer. He will probably start once APs and finals are over.
He has a list of schools so far that look like a good range of reach, target, and safety. Our plan is to cast a broad net and pray for some merit aid. We won’t qualify for need based aid and can’t just write a blank check. We have some to help him with, but he will need some loans most likely as well. We aren’t saying no to anything until numbers come in and he is aware of that. He does tend to look at the pricier schools but we are making sure he understands reality and making sure he applies to some that are more reasonable. My biggest quandary right now is balancing his (at least current) interest in International Relation and the schools he hopes to get into, with their price, vs a cheaper alternative that may not have the same opportunities. It seems to make sense for him to be DC bound, but the schools he likes there are so much $$$. But the opportunities there do seem to make that cost seem a little more worth it…possibly. We are in MA and my husband is all about UMASS. Again, we will cast a broad net and see what this next year brings. So far we have been able to tour 4 schools, will tour some more over summer and a few more in the fall. I would love to do all when school is in session but hard to fit in. I figure we can re-visit if he wants/feels he needs to.
I’m looking forward to getting to know all of you and also just hanging with people who understand the process, or at least are wading through it along with us.