@curiousme2 Don’t forget about all the individual homeschools out there. too. Every homeschool has its own unique culture. Ours is the exact opposite of AP-oriented. That doesn’t mean my kids aren’t pursuing academics at an incredibly level (and some of my kids at levels way beyond AP-level).Some of our kids take unusual, self-selected courses simply based on interests. But CB doesn’t own our goals or define our courses. (Thank goodness!!!) And, they have not been negatively impacted during admissions season. In some cases, their courses and interest-oriented purusuits (totally self-motivated and not high stress) have led to them being awarded extremely competitive scholarships/opportunities. (During high school one of our kids was selected to represent the US for an international Olympiad.)
I think it’s a misconception that every kid is stressed out by AP. Just like every private school isn’t as competitive as a competitive public school. Or as a home schooler must have a religiously nutty or ego stroking parent.
@Nicki20 My comment was not meant to be personal nor directed toward ps students taking AP courses. The poster I directed my response to asked about how rigorous high schools were defined. The conversation defined many of the schools by the number of AP courses being offered. Simultaneously there is a thread right now about a student at a highly competitive prep school who was only getting 3 hrs of sleep per night and received a discipline on her record for improper citation leading to accusation of plagiarism. Not necessarily due to an AP course, but a stressful academic environment.
So, yes, there are definitely stressed-out kids at competitive schools. The stress doesn’t have to be connected to APs, but the academic stress is real for sure. (How many suicides are there in Palo Alto? https://www.nbcbayarea.com/investigations/Palo-Alto-Unified-School-District-Says-its-Now-Keeping-Better-Track-of-Student-Mental-Health-Data-504721891.html )
6062. My comment wasn’t really directed to yours. I think public schools are always going to be easier to be compared based on rigor certainly more than private school. Private schools are only going to give information that they want to give. As to Palo Alto again it’s a public school. Can’t cover that up
Time for a joke of the day:
A weasel walks into a bar and the bartender says, “Wow, I’ve never served a weasel before. What can I get you?”
“Pop,” goes the weasel.
We took a tour of the University of South Carolina this past week. Unfortunately during the scheduled tour time there were thunderstorms so they gave us a presentation instead. What a disappointment! Several of the folks in the room had traveled long distances just to get what we could have recieved from the website.
We did get to walk around before hand though and my D20 thought the campus was too spread out. It seems that she cares more about that than anything else right now.
We visited the honors college and one thing of note for potential nursing majors (we didn’t get to take a nursing tour). If you are admitted to the honors college you can be provisionally guaranteed a spot in nursing. Not quite direct admit, but a step in the right direction.
My D20 crossed it off her list though, so we will be moving on to somewhere else. I think our next visit will be a smaller LA college.
@WasIDremin That’s really interesting that your D felt UofSC was spread out. My S has visited twice, and he likes it because he feels the campus is compact and easily walkable. Having said that, he is also applying to Bama and UGA, which have massive campuses where shuttle busses are frequently used. It’s all relative, right?
I understand the disappointment with the weather ruining the campus tour. The same thing happened to us at FSU last summer. It was still helpful to meet some staff and students and get a feel for the campus culture.
@ShrimpBurrito What were your thoughts about FSU? Might be on my daughter’s list.
@WasIDremin Bummer about the rain at USC. We had a similar issues, but the sky eventually cleared. Similar to @ShrimpBurrito’s kid, my D17 felt it was a nice size campus, but we live in an urban/suburban area where we walk all the time, and D17 is now at Michigan State, which is YUGE!
Regarding the provisional entry to nursing, can you elaborate on the provision? I am guessing it was GPA-related? I don’t see anything on their website. My D20 has already taken southern schools off her list, but it would be interesting to know for future reference.
We visited Brown on Friday. Had perfect weather. D20 really likes the open curriculum and the location in Providence. And they have both engineering and cognitive science, so she could explore each before deciding on a concentration. (They don’t do “majors”.) Of course, the acceptance rate is ridiculous (single digits), but they do seem to like the kids from D’s high school. If Naviance is to be believed, Brown’s acceptance rate at her school is close to 35%!
We’re visiting Tufts tomorrow. It’s nice to have so many great schools in driving distance of home.
@bigmacbeth and @WasIDremin we looked into the U of SC Honors provisional nursing direct entry. It looks to be highly competitive, but a really nice bonus if you can get in. It’s called Smart Start.
https://sc.edu/study/colleges_schools/nursing/academic_programs/bs_nursing/fall2014programinfo/honors_college.php
@bigmacbeth
Thank you for the laughs! It has been a dreary Monday here.
@momzilla2D
Wonderful to hear about Brown. It has not been on our radar until recently. Don’t know whether we will (have time to) visit it. I am more traditional in the sense that I like the idea of “core curriculum”, it looks like your DD loves the “open curriculum” concept, what’s your take on it? Do many students do double “concentrations”? I have heard their dorms to be in not ideal condition? True still? Thank you.
@janiemiranda Both S and I really loved FSU. We managed to walk the campus after the storms cleared and it is breathtaking. One of my top two beautiful college campuses (the other being UBC in Vancouver).
It’s an urban campus much like UofSC, in a laid-back, smallish southern capital city. Restaurants and services are very walkable, but you aren’t amongst high-rises and crazy traffic. We found Tallahassee charming and unpretentious. I’ve heard it referred to as the armpit of Florida ? or Lower Alabama. It does feel more like Tuscaloosa than Miami.
The airport is about a 10-15 drive from campus and very easy to navigate.
It seems to be a school on the rise. They are climbing in the UsNews rankings and have a lot to offer. We loved the energy and enthusiasm from our very nerdy guide, who emphasized that there is wealth of opportunities at FSU for serious students.
They are building a massive new student union complex. Looks like it will be amazing.
It seems to be a good school for pre-med, as the medical school is right there on campus. Doors are open to undergrad students and they have some unique opportunities there.
S is applying to five colleges, and FSU is on that short list.
@ShrimpBurrito Thank you so much! That is very helpful. My DH and D20 were supposed to get down there for a tour at the beginning of the summer and then had a scheduling conflict. They still plan to go before the summer is over. FSU is one of the few schools that seem to have an BS in Computational Biology which is what my daughter wants to pursue. We are also very interested in it because (fingers crossed) we are hoping she might make NMF and get a very good scholarship.
Oh yes! The Benacquisto! My S likely just missed NMF, but since we figured he’d be close, we have been following the Benacquisto happenings. I have heard, third hand, (so please verify!) that if an OOS NMF student matriculates to FSU, and the state takes away the funding, FSU will finish out the scholarship. I would absolutely verify this with an FSU rep, though, and get it in writing if your D matriculates.
Full ride to FSU would be a fantastic value.
@makemesmart There were 4 tour guides, and all 4 seemed to be doing multiple diverse concentrations. Can’t recall them all, but ours was concentrating in Pre-Law and Cognitive Neuroscience, having started initially with Political Science. My D liked the open curriculum for a couple of reasons. One, she can explore before deciding on a concentration. Two, for English she’d like to take more of a creative writing class. All through middle and high school, her English classes have been expository or analytical writing.
We did not see the inside of the dorms. In fact, didn’t go inside any buildings, now that I think about it, except for the auditorium for the info session. Oh, another thing D liked was they have an LGBQ+ fraternity. She’s not LGBQ+, but has many friends who are. She was impressed by that.
@momzilla2D
I definitely could see the positives of exploring different courses before deciding on your concentrations, but do wonder whether schools with open curriculum tend to have lower rate of students graduating in four years?
Recently toured Harvey Mudd. It’s been described a smaller, more relaxed Caltech, if that’s possible, with an undergrad population in the 700s. There are no grad students to take away the attention of the profs. The Claremont Consortium is really intriguing. Eating and taking classes from four different schools mere footsteps, not bus rides, away gives students the variety they may need just to change cultures.
It started with an information session and then an hour walking tour. We did see the guide’s dorm where there was a living room along with a kitchen, bathroom, and five bedrooms. The interview lasted nearly an hour. The person who hosted it is the one who will read his application, so at least she can possibly remember him when she reviews it.
It’s still in the running, unlike USC. We visited Southern Cal the weekend before it hit the fan and was then suddenly dropped off (idealism ruled). Had that not happened, it would have been in contention because it’s unique in being a Cali school which recognizes NMF and give discounted tuition. Multiple FL spots are in contention because of Benacquisto full rides, specifically Wilkes Honors College and NCF.
@onthewestfence - thanks for the info about Harvey Mudd. Its on our radar for DS20. Wondering about the interview - is it normal for colleges to interview during the visits or is it a special circumstance (like sports recruitment). If its not related to any targeted recruitment, wondering if we need to request for interview?
PS: didn’t visit any west coast colleges - the few colleges we visited are in New England area, none involved any interviews (they are just generic presentation by an adcom member followed by a college tour - this is along with several hundred other people visiting). Interviews sounded new to me.
@onthewestfence @hs2020dad
We visited Harvey Mudd last summer and liked it, the consortium really works there. I think some schools offer senior/rising senior onsite interviews (not always with AOs), I guess it kind of shows your interests to that school. I don’t think it is necessary or essential.