@bgbg4us One of the schools on my D20s list has a “spa” with nap pods and massages for students.
@bigmacbeth and @cshell2 None of D20s schools require a mid year, only final. They all required an official transcript when she applied.
@momzilla2D Actually, it is a public and it’s probably the lowest cost on her list. There’s also an outdoor pool at one of the dorms. Maybe since we’re in California and they’re trying to get students as they are an easier one to get into and not as “prestigious”.
I found CC a couple months ago and then just recently this parent forum. It has been so helpful. My son received an email today telling him EA results for his top choice (reach) will be announced next week. Suddenly his stress level went up exponentially and every choice he’s made in this application process was in doubt. He’s been focused, but relaxed to this point. I’m honestly a little shocked at his response. I guess this is normal? Any veteran college app parenting advice to get through the next week?
@momzilla2D Have you seen Texas Tech’s lazy river and pool complex?!?!
https://today.ttu.edu/posts/2015/06/leisure-pool-ranked-one-of-nations-best
@MommaCat & @Momof3B
Wow, I had no idea. Google says it’s a “thing” now. We visited a lot of schools, but didn’t see a single lazy river. Bummer.
For Texas Tech, the Beautiful campus and extra amenities make up for the fact that it’s in Lubbock lol. My S21 just announced that he’d be interested in touring Tech and Will wconsider it and I was like “Really?! Lubbock???”…it’s about 5.5 hour drive from where we are in North Texas and to me seems like the middle of nowhere lol. He’d be an auto admit with his stats and we can afford it financially but I just never pictured it as a “fit” for him.
@momzilla2D Yeah, it’s been a thing for a while…at least 4-5 years. We saw one at Mizzou, and I think Arizona State. The times I got up close and personal, no one was in the lazy river. It’s kind of a little kid thing. Dumb waste of money, IMO. :neutral:
@Tigerwife92 OK, maybe ‘most’ was an over-statement. Of the 9 schools D20 applied to, 4 Required the midyear report. All colleges get official transcripts, just like they all get midyears, at our HS.
@Momof3B That pool complex is amazing!
My husband and I were in Tampa a few weeks ago and saw some gorgeous buildings on the river downtown. We drove over and checked them out and it turned out to be University of Tampa. The campus was beautiful from what we saw, and they had a big pool with cabanas. It looked like a swanky country club.
It’s amazing how much college campuses have changed since I went to school.
@bigmacbeth I missed adding D20 only did EA/EC, not ED. After getting up at 5 most mornings, it’s amazing if anything I write after 10pm is coherent. Was just adding for data purposes. Thinking EA vs. ED played a big part in what they requested. All but one of her EAs are in; the last one releases in January, thinking if she’s deferred they’ll ask for mids. Fingers crossed for eveyone waiting!!
RE: the lazy river. I guess I sort of get it if the school is in a hot climate. But this kind of thing is the exact reason why people complain about our tuition rising. Not just water features, but the expectation of big beautiful new rec centers, fancy buildings, etc. Sure, sometimes monies are donated to finance such things. But they require operation and maintenance costs. These are things that add to the budget and cause tuition to rise. Schools should be competing on academic quality, not aesthetics. But these new generations prefer to feel like they are at a 5 star all inclusive resort.
I know, I’m generalizing. There are many who are not specifically swayed by the aesthetics. But most are. Businesses know their market and will compete. So, we are all paying the price.
@inktopaper Welcome to the forum. My D20 is my only child so this is all new to me so unfortunately I don’t have any good advice to offer. I wish your son best of luck on his EA decision next week.
Sorry but need to jump in about lazy rivers. (And say that I’m rooting for all of your kids!). My husband absolutely abhors when schools spend money on amenities like this and I have a funny story. When we visited Davidson, he was even upset about how beautiful the landscaping was. He would say, “who is paying for this?” When we got to Bowdoin, he yanked up some crabgrass and declared he loved the campus because the school had its priorities straight on what it spent money on - no beautiful flowers planted there! Ha!
Asking for a priori forgiveness if this is in the wrong place. Question about precise ranking. My S20’s HS does not publish class rank. I understand that the GC probably provided a rank, or at least a range, in his report to the college my son applied to, but I have no idea if it is specific rank or a range.
He applied EA and was accepted to his #1 (tOSU). There are three apparently automatic scholarship levels ($1k, $2k and $3k for instate) based on SAT/ACT score AND class rank. He qualifies for the $3k with his SAT, but the range for the top $ for ranking is top 3%. For the second level, it is top 10%. The difference is about top 12 kids vs. top 40. He could be top 12; is definitely top 40. But he could be 19th…or around there…splitting hairs here. There are about 400 kids in his graduating class.
With his senior schedule (as many AP’s as one can take) and that he is doing well this semester, his GPA will go up at the end of this semester. If every kid in his orbit has the same rigorous schedule, his rank potentially will not move. But chances are, it will go up. It won’t go down.
All of these kids’s GPA’s will only be moving to two decimal points, but within the top 20 kids, their rank could move a lot. Because our school never talks about rank, the kids don’t focus on it. But tOSU does!
Here’s my question: for the ‘automatic scholarship’ levels determination, either at tOSU if someone happens to know that, or in general, which rank is used? The one submitted when he applied, or can he submit a new rank at the end of first semester? Or…does the rank he has at graduation ‘count’ instead?
We’re not talkin’ a boatload of $ here, but knowing my son he’s plotting to make sure he gets the max. But…if it doesn’t matter if his rank moves now, he can relax a bit. He has 11 hockey games the 15 days before finals start and I personally would rather he not have the physical stress of that many games in a row AND the emotional stress of getting a 5.0 this semester. At some point, I’d like him to chill out and just enjoy his senior year. For him, chilling out won’t mean completing forgetting he is in HS. It will mean not neurotically doing every possible extra credit option.
I know I could ask his GC this question but he’s a tad tied up right now with the race to the RD apps for everyone else. This feels like a trivial question for him. Was hoping the collective wisdom of the CC Brain Trust could advise instead.
@cypresspat I think that is a question only tOSU can answer. You can phrase it more as “ should we send a mid year teport including rank and/or range and is 1 copy sufficient or does one get sent directly to scholarship committee as well?”.
@cypresspat - I wouldn’t assume your high school put a rank in it’s report. Ours definitely does not. However, I’ve heard that they will accommodate students if it’s something they really need for admissions or a scholarship, but you have to request it specifically. Even then, they won’t tell you the rank, they just send it off.
@cypresspat My D19 is at tOSU, so wrt tOSU specifically… Their merit scholarships are not automatic. If you read carefully on the website, those are qualifying stats; meaning you need those stats to qualify for consideration, but you’re not guaranteed to get a scholarship. I believe D19 qualified for one of the National Buckeye Scholarships (though her school doesn’t rank), but she was not offered a scholarship.
Also, the scholarships for tOSU are given out around March so they definitely don’t have graduating rank at that point. So, it must be either rank as of EO Junior year or mid Senior year.
Re lazy rivers - at a local U, families can rent the lazy river for littler kids’ birthday parties. 
That’s the only way I know about this one, actually!