That is my thought process too. I know he will eventually settle in a STEM field as that’s where all his interest and strength has been since tiny, but which one I have no clue. Two years ago he was talking EE and there are a couple schools near us with strong programs in that, but not much else. Now it’s AE…
Quick question if you have the time: What date do supplementary college questions come out? We will organize our summer plans around this info. Someone told me that August 1st was an important date.
To clarify, I meant supplementary essay questions from each specific college. Also, do they change from year to year?
octagon; wish i knew your answer; don’t; hopefully someone will respond.
but i’ve been giggling all night. S20 did an essay question on a test today; the question was about something that is overrated. He couldn’t come up with anything. So he wrote that “being comfortable” is over rated. His friend is laughing at him right now; asking what examples he gave! it’s funny. he’s blushing.( but i’m also guessing this isn’t going to help get any college credit for him though. )
^^I truly love your son’s response to that prompt. I hope his examples knocked it out of the park - truly a stirring, thought-provoking response.
you are too kind, waiting2. 
i appreciate your optimism.
but the more i think about it; it could be interesting… . . having clean sheets, hot dinners, soft blankets, your own car to drive – living comfortably – could be over rated. You could be missing out on learning to use your resources and a motivation to move forward. hmmm. . .
@bgbg4us I love that. I recently overheard a friend of my D18’s say that she is happiest when she is outside her comfort zone. (She is in college in Scotland, for the record.)
So today was the first day the juniors at D20’s school could ask teachers for rec letters for next year. For some reason the college counseling office made it sound like Hunger Games or something (or maybe the kids just decided it worked that way) – by lunchtime some kids were bragging about which teachers they had “landed” for their recs. It’s a small school and I’m fairly certain the teachers say yes to everyone!?! Crazy.
D20 was pretty paralyzed by the whole thing, but wanted to start with her math teacher. I got this text at 11:30: “I waited after class to talk to her but seniors kept talking to her and her next class started coming in so I ran away”. 
Poor thing! She’ll try again tomorrow, maybe send an email first.
D20 is done with APs and Dance auditions! Happy day. 3 more weeks of junior year.
@bgbg4us Thanks and I love that response. I once heard a psychologist say that if everyone did something uncomfortable once a day (e.g., push self to go the gym) the world would be a better place.
@Octagon Have you created a practice account for the Common App so you can see what’s in there? Many schools already have there writing supplement prompts. If the school is not on the CA, then I can’t help you. You can also get started on the “Why XYZ College”, if the schools your kid is planning to apply to has one, which should be easy to determine.
It’s a marathon, though, not a sprint. Good luck.
Agree about the one uncomfortable thing a day, @Octagon. And I like that response a lot too, @bgbg4us. The head of S2’s school likes to say that she wants kids to become comfortable with being uncomfortable.
Here, there’s one request in for a rec (and the teacher gave him “homework” to complete - a sort of prompt/brag sheet), two to go. (The third one is for the outside-of-school EC he does.)
S2 is done with APs and done with round one of high-stakes auditions. One final project, one makeup test, one actual final exam, callbacks, and two performances to go in the next 3 weeks.
@HarrietMWelsch re: the rec’s homework…
We spoke to an outside counselor last year for D19, and she recommended writing a letter to each of your teacher/recommenders, outlining what you’ve accomplished in the class and anything you’d like them to remember about you. Like a cheat sheet for the recommender to make sure they don’t miss anything. D didn’t do it, because she goes to a fairly small school and felt like she knew her recommenders well enough and, more importantly, they knew her well enough that she didn’t need to remind them. But it sounds like a great idea for those students who are in a larger school or who tend to be quieter in class.
@momzilla2D, that’s great advice! I think it always helps, even when the teacher does know the kid outside of class.
@Octagon Hi there. Lurking from the 2019 page but we’ve got a 2021er as well. As for supplemental essays, we had S19 email the admissions officers from each of his schools in early June to find out if the essays will remain the same as last year or if they will change. This worked for him since he had mostly LACs on his list but W&M and Vanderbilt also answered him in June. If supps remain the same, you can find them on the Common App or sometimes on the school’s website.
I thought it was important for S19 to have those essay prompts early. He wrote almost all of his 15 essays before school started in the fall. The two that waited until after school started were hard to get written with rigorous classes and a fall sport.
Thanks @homerdog !
@cshell2 Regarding UAH- it is a bit far for you guys, but it is a good engineering school overall. (I would caution to factor in travel costs when evaluating the schools)
Obviously, Aerospace is big, but the EE, civil and ME departments are solid as well. It is less of what I consider a “traditional” university experience, although they are working to change that. ( lots of commuters, etc- adding a new “city center” on campus). That being said- My nephew just completed his freshman year there (lived on campus) and really enjoys it. its in my backyard so to speak, so let me know if you have any specific questions.
@Itisatruth I hope your daughter is able to ask that teacher today… it’s hard for the more shy / introverted kids to go ask. My oldest was like that. Middle kid managed to ask the Calc teacher yesterday before the AP test and got a ‘yes’ so now it’s just a matter of figuring out whether it makes more sense to ask the Spanish teacher she had in 9th that she’ll have again for AP (she does really well in Spanish but it’s been a while with this teacher) or one of the social studies teachers from 10th or 11th (she’s only a so-so writer but speaks up a lot in class and chats with teachers before class) or just have a second recommender also be a STEM teacher.
My D has her recommendation letters kind of done since she applied to many summer programs and needed them already. The teachers told her they will change them slightly but they are mostly done. She also has about 6-7 different essays done for those programs and although they might not exactly be recycled they are at least a start. That was one good thing that came out of that painful ordeal ha ha ha.
@Octagon
For the few colleges that my D is interested I googled the name of the school + supplements 2019 and they all had a web page about them.