Today was finally the kind of productive essay-writing day I was expecting over the summer . A couple of supplemental apps are about ready to submit, and her Common App essay took a big stride forward. It was a delicate balancing act not trying to suggest too much, while still offering an opinion that she would actually listen to and consider.
I think she will be ready to submit 5 more apps by the end of the week, with only 1 college app and 1 supplemental app remaining. Unless I can talk her into adding a school to the listā¦
DS finished his engineering scholarship application for Iowa State today. Iām happy about that, since he was dragging it out forever. I was afraid heād just blow it off now that he got the acceptance to U of M -TC, because heās all of a sudden decided he only wants to go there, which is totally different than how he was talking before he got in. I think all the praise and congratulations heās getting for getting into CSE at the U is making him think that he of course HAS to go there and would be crazy not to.
Three weeks ago, going there was completely unappealing to him. This is going to be a long 6 months if heās going to change his mind this often.
On the bright side @cshell2, at least he has an acceptance where he is willing to go! That really takes the pressure off. Iām afraid of a funk in the middle of this process where all the applications are in, all within DD20ās control is done, and she is just WAITING to hear back. She will not hear back on admission + competitive scholarships from her current favorite until March. It could be a long, long, winter.
I am hopping everything will be ready and sent by last weekend of October. Right now everything is half done or almost done. My D has two days off next week and she will exclusively work on apps. Then EA decisions will show up in mid December. One of the EA schools is a Hail Mary but the other two are great, solid matches (the one an almost safety I would say) for her. The RD round will shape up after we see the EA results. In case of catastrophic results she will then apply to one of our state schools which is a true safety but as they do not offer any early preference for merit or admissions we decided not to apply EA and save the 75$ in case the EA round is successful. A little different than we did with our older kids.
About the APs none of my older kids listed expected tests and scores and they got in pretty much everywhere they applied. I personally donāt believe it matters one way or another.
Daughter got into the Honors Program at UMN-TC. Not sure what that totally means. Her counselor told her she would so it wasnāt a shock. Looks like applying for the CLA made it a little easier. Still a ways to go until May 1.
Iāve been trying to nudge DS to apply for Honors at a couple of the schools he was accepted at, but he doesnāt seem very interested (he really would lose interest if he knew they had essay requirements!) Iāve been reading through some of the perks and think it sounds worth it. One school has a scholarship for all the Honors students of $2600 towards study abroad, then early registration and access to honors classes (which sound like theyāre just smaller and more one on one, than more difficult).
Iām thinking Iāll let the schools talk to him about it at visits. He seems to listen to them more than me, especially if itās other students.
Automatic would be nice! I donāt expect to hear anything from Minnesota on Honors. Weāre just happy to be in. Iowa State and Duluth both sent info packets inviting him to apply for Honors. They require things like an essay (I think Iowa required TWO) and a letter of recommendation.
O. sent in all three of her early applications late last week. One ED application, two EA applications. She decided she didnāt want to deal with uncertainty all winter and had a clear first choice which looked to be affordable (based on the financial pre-read the school offered over the summer).
The two EA application schools both sent her email telling her that she should get an answer from them by mid-October, and her ED school sends their ED decisions out by mid-November.
Fingers crossed that she gets admitted to her top choice though we are lucky in that she is excited about all three and would happily attend any one of the three. I will say my anxiety dropped way down when she told me she had pushed āSendā on all three apps. It is out of her hands, and hopefully we will be done soon on this part and can just enjoy this last year she is home with us before heading off to college.
DD followed up with GC and all recommenders to make sure they had received and/or sent materials and found some gaps due to errors!! Encourage your kids to politely follow up if next steps and/or confirmations are not received. Those deadlines are coming and no one wants to be disappointed, or disappoint someone else, because of an error.
Congrats to those with acceptances or scholarships! My S20 got in to UMN-TC and is pretty sure heās done applying.
@Nicki20 I was in CLA honors back in the 90s and the biggest benefit to me was being in the honors housing, which was quieter and more my style than some of the other freshman housing. (OTOH, Middlebrook - the dorm with the Honors housing - is farther away from many classes because itās on the West Bank, so some students choose to live in a different dorm anyway.)
But they also can take honors classes, which can be pretty cool.
. . . ā¦ feeling really really antsy here as S20 has not finished even ONE essay . . . for common app or other special scholarships or admissions or potential REA . . . but heās helping ACT tutor a girl again tonight. I know thatās fun for him; but I wish he could focus! running out of quality time. (ok rant over.)
@bgbg4us and @NYC2018nyc Lots of kids in the same boat. Itās easy to become antsy, especially since many people have applied and have been accepted at various places. A quote from a movie really sums it up: It will all be okay in the end. If itās not okay, itās not the end.
Everyone has a different process, some people work really well with a looming deadline.
Got the word from our S20 that he will be hitting the submit button to three schools this weekend. He has been having his AP Comp teacher go through his essay and I guess they made some material tweaks.
One is to the UM-TC, so Iām hoping for a quick decision. So exciting!!
Fafsa question for parents of boys. I started filling out the fafsa today and there is a question about whether my son has registered for selective service. It also says boys wonāt be considered for aid if they havenāt. But my son is 17, I thought he didnāt register until 18.
If you answer ānoā the next question will be āDo you want us to register you?ā Then just answer yes. I donāt think they can actually do the registration until youāre within so many months of turning 18, but I think they send you a reminder card or do it automatically when they reach the age or something.
. A couple of supplemental apps are about ready to submit, and her Common App essay took a big stride forward. It was a delicate balancing act not trying to suggest too much, while still offering an opinion that she would actually listen to and consider.