Congratulations to all of the ED acceptances.
@socaldad2002 I saw your comment on the Duke thread that Duke had been recruiting Jewish applicants. How and where did you find that and do you know why?
Anyone else dealing with a senior who is suffering from senioritis? My D is so over high school even though she knows she should be trying to enjoy and appreciate her senior year. I am looking forward to January because her school starts a new semester with new classes so at least it will feel fresh.
Not yet @MommaCat but I feel for you! My DS16 struggled mightily in the spring but it was not all that different than every other spring. He was always so done with being cooped up indoors by then. I dread my DD20 having senioritis since she has always been āeasierā in that regard.
Our private counselor said that Duke was looking for Jewish kids (presumedly to increase their population to compete with the ivies that have a larger percentage). In fact Dean Guttentag made special trips to NY and LA to meet with prospective Jewish students at a local synagogue and my D attended. She also played up in her app her Jewish identify and social action through our congregation and had our Rabbi do a 3rd LOR.
We will never know if this helped or not but my personal opinion is that it certaintly did.
This is the type of insight that some private counselors have that make their advice invaluable IMO.
Thanks for your reply. Dukeās supplemental questions seem to be focused on diversity so you are probably right. Congrats to your daughter.
Congrats on all the awesome ED acceptances!
My S20 is half time at the community college, and he just finished his fall semester classes there. I think itās been a good transition for him, and reassuring for us to see him succeeding in college classes. Itās hard to believe that this time next year heāll be taking finals at the university!
Now D22 has a list of several colleges sheād like to visit next year (including some out-of-state options that weād need to fly to), and has been doing some self-directed PSAT prep, so it is all beginning again.
@MommaCat - My son is enjoying high school, but heās starting to get really lazy with assignments. Chemistry is āhis thingā and he got 100% on absolutely every assignment and test last year. This year in Honors Chem heās been skipping all the optional formative work, which I didnāt agree with but whatever, if he feels he knows that info it might just be a waste of time, but lately heās been missing and getting lousy scores on the graded stuff too. Heās barely squeaking by with a B in the class which for him in Chem is pretty lousy.
@MommaCat - S20 had a case of senioritis back in November. He had 5 weeks between sports. Now he has captain responsibilities on the swim team, plus 3+ hours of practice he has plenty of distractions. Once the season is done in mid March it is going to be a disaster. Oh well, heās been great academically for 3 1/2 years, Iāll give him a pass on his last two months. Plus, judging on his grades this semester, Iād guess ācoastingā will mean low Aās for him. We have been blessed with this kid. S23ā¦weāll see!!
@roper1313 Definitely being super busy in activities was helpful but for now, she has some downtime. I think once the spring musical rehearsals start at the end of January and all of the senior activities really get going she will have those distractions.
After worrying for days, my son got into his dream school REA!
He has to keep applying RD so we can compare financial packages, but oh, what an amazing moment. Thanks for letting me celebrate here.
D20 got into her ED school, Barnard. She is over the moon! So happy this process is over. And the financial aid package she received is fantastic! We are so grateful.
Congrats to all those hearing the good news! It sounds like a banner day!
D20 got accepted to her ED school last night. FA package is very manageable. We are so relieved and excited. Iām wondering what to do now that this process wonāt dominate every conversation and monopolize every waking moment.
@helpingmom40 Wow Iām glad she got in after all that time spent fixated on that decision. I hope you think of something else to do with your energy. Good luck!
Big congrats to all who have received great news this week! A lot of amazing schools here.
D20 did not get accepted to her ED school (Brown). It was pretty expected because it was a reach for her. She handled it pretty well. Was teary eyed lying on her bed for about an hour and then got up and unfollowed them on Instagram. LOL Was proud of her though because she then celebrated/was happy for her friends that did get into their schools.
So now it is back to the grind, cranking some more essays out. Thankfully, she has continued to send apps these last few weeks, so just has a few more to get out before the end of the year.
Question for you guys whose kids used the Common App: How did they handle the Additional Information session? D has left it blank, as she didnāt really feel that she had anything that needed further explanation. I am wondering if she should utilize that section to expand on one of her activities and/or career goals? Or talk about something else? Or is that overkill?
@AlwaysLearn my S did not put anything in additional info, so I am not sure what could be helpful there Sorry about the ED news. I have been hearing about all yesterdayās results among Sās classmates. Mostly rejections and deferrals, with only a couple getting into their ED choices. The news travels fast among the kids. What a fraught time for them.
Yes, it is a fraught time for seniors right now. For every report of good news on here (which rightly should be celebrated), there are several families who received bad news, and they often donāt post online about it.
My S was fortunate to get good news yesterday. After a lot of waiting and resultant angst, U South Carolina released EA decisions last night. S got the OOS tuition waiver, with the likelihood of additional merit coming later. This is one of his top three choices, and the first of those to officially land in the affordable range. S is thrilled and relieved.
@AlwaysLearn Iām sorry your D did not get the news she was hoping for, but Iām glad she is handling it well and moving on. She will land in a place where she will thrive, Iām sure.
On the additional information section, my D expanded on one of her ECs, visual arts, where she has received several awards and had some unique activities. She included a list, it was not in essay form. It was stuff she didnāt have room for in the rest of the Common App. Hope that helps.
Congratulations to everyone who got into their ED schools - getting into that dream school and be done with the process before holiday season must be awesome (they deserve that break).
DS20 didnāt get into his ED school - he is disappointed but processed it better than we thought he would (even consoled his mom who was in tears). After an hour of low-key moping he went out to personally congratulate his friends who got in.
It sure is a tough time to be a senior - but they will make it and even grow personally/emotionally in the process.
@AlwaysLearn My D used the additional info section to explain some scheduling issues at her HS and how she had to choose between AP Calc and French 5 or AP Chem and Orchestra. We had her GC look it over to make sure it didnāt come across as whiny but she felt she needed to justify why she wasnāt doing any AP stem even though they were available. I think the section is truly optional and many kids donāt write anything there.