@jeneric – They have officially cancelled state end of year testing in NC.
Amazing to read everything a lot of your kids are doing! My S21 has been a total slacker since they cancelled school two weeks ago. I’m going to see if I can get him to do some math review tomorrow b/c his grade had dropped b4 the world blew up. He seems to think online classes will not be hard or much work. I have no idea – uncharted waters.
He’s also blown off these virtual tours for colleges he was going to visit next month. I think most of his schools don’t look so much at demonstrated interest. I’ve told him the drill and led him to water – if he doesn’t drink that’s on him. Amazing how the whole pandemic put his college search on the back burner and I’m not pushing it much either. Just seems to have faded to the background. I guess means he may be scrambling this Fall.
Meanwhile, I learned a fair number of his senior robotics buddies were WL at NC State for engineering this year. It’s getting so hard to get in even in state – esp. males from our zip code. I’m sure he’s in the most over-represented demographic in the applicant pool.
I have unofficially heard that our district is being very careful about what they call the online instruction because of special ed requirements. They don’t have the resources to provide special ed classes. So they are using some euphemism for what they are doing. I don’t remember what it is exactly, but they have been told they can’t call it instruction, just educational activities, or something stupid like that.
My knowledge comes from the grade schools though, I don’t have any info about how they will handle HS classes. We are currently on a scheduled spring break, but it sounds like we are not having in person classes “indefinitely”.
There will be winners and losers no mater how grades and tests are handled. I’m guessing D21 gets the short end, but I could be wrong.
Our schools is on blocks, so a year long class is compressed into a semester. Her schedule was not good for this happening. The bulk of her weighted classes are taking place right now. 2 of them have exactly 0 grades in for the quarter. If they just give them P/F for that, she loses the weighting and that will drop her class rank. Also about 1/2 of the kids who take AP took AP Lit in the fall, the rest are taking it now. She took it in the fall, and had the 3rd highest grade in the class of 50 kids. That was a B+. For the kids taking it now a P will keep that class from bringing them down, as it did with the other 1/2 of the kids who took the class in the fall.
Mostly I worry about this because we are in a school that does not send kids to LAC’s, and only has a few apply to Ivy and equivalent every year. I think on Naviance there are 2-3 apps total from the last several years to NESCAC and similar schools. So other than class rank they have no idea what her GPA means. I have seen our School report. Because so few kids apply to schools that would look at it, little effort has been put into it. No information on grade distribution, etc., really very little useful info. When I looked at it for S19 there was info that was at least 2-3 years out of date. Pretty sure no one ever looks at it, just sends it to schools that request it. And this could drop her from 1/350 to 10/350. Which is still good, but from an unknown school I think most selective colleges expect you to be in the top few in your class.
@dadof4kids – You can use the Additional Information of the Common App to explain the rank drop (if it happens) b/c of more weighted classes in the 2nd half of the year that were changed to pass/fail (if that happens).
My D18 took online classes through the state’s science & math magnet that did not appear on her home HS transcript. She couldn’t take a full slate of APs at her home high school PLUS the rigorous extra online courses b/c she did want to, you know, sleep sometimes! This meant her rank dropped junior and senior year b/c she had fewer APs at her home school.
Anyway, I think she even said in that section what her rank was prior to enrolling in the statewide STEM program. She had very good admissions outcomes at highly selective colleges, including many merit offers.
I think there will be a lot of explaining going on in the Additional Info sections next year – I pity the AOs reading them!!
@AlmostThere2018 I’m already taking notes on what I think is meaningful enough to put in D21’s additional info section. Obviously, I want to mention the ECs she won’t be able to participate in. I’m also considering a short note on the national awards her high school’s yearbook wins every year. This year, they aren’t sure when it might get printed or if the competition will happen. It’s fairly important for colleges to know that her yearbook work would likely have garnered an award. Since she was chosen as the Editor in Chief for next year, that would show the level of excellence that’s expected for yearbook at her school. We may also have to say something about summer dance if that doesn’t happen. She’s currently in her room doing an online ballet barre class but I hope she can get back into class this summer!
Maybe some of you will benefit from the new College Board Recognition Program, which replaces the National Hispanic Recognition Program, a former national award. CBRP is awarded to the top 2.5% of a group comprised of African American, Hispanics, Indigenous, and - here’s the kicker category - students at rural and small town high schools. Except that how CB concluded that they were in rural or small towns is questionable - lots of typical large suburban high schools on the list https://apply.scholarsapply.org/uploads/CBOARD/Rural%20and%20Small%20Town%20High%20School%20List2.pdf
By my rough estimate, that’s about 16k high schools. (Random example, the list includes >550 high schools in the state of IL.) What little we know about the cutoff scores is that they might be dramatically higher than the old cutoffs for NHRP. Have to wonder what portion of those awarded CBRP are in the rural and small town category vs the rest. Guessing it dwarfs them. (I can’t begin to imagine CB’s thought process here, or maybe I can… covering average PSAT score drops, perhaps?)
So have your kids check the email that they use for College Board.
It would have seemed more logical to make an award for which all students were eligible. Or just the URMs, if that’s what they wanted. Not half-the-high-schools-plus-URMs. Doesn’t make sense. It seems unlikely the designation will be helpful to anyone.
ACT was experimenting with administering the individual sections of the test on computers for next fall. I wonder if on line versions of it or the SAT might be in the works?
In addition to test optional, I imagine that colleges may extend their deadlines for submission of test scores to accommodate the current crisis.
I wonder how class of 2021 NMSF candidates will manage obtaining a confirming score, if they have not already done so? Or if the larger National Merit-based scholarships will be cut or eliminated entirely due to the current financial situation? We are a donut hole family and were hoping that our kid might qualify for some merit money. Those opportunities may well shrink.
Right now, I’m just hoping that we are spared the loss of loved ones.
@homerdog, may I kindly suggest that the wording of yearbook info be something like: After working as-name of position for x#yrs-chosen to be Editor for 2020/2021 award winning yearbook-name. Then list the awards the yearbook won during the years your daughter worked on the book. Admissions counselors are going to gloss over the: if only for carona virus etc… For the summer dance intensive, if applying as a dance major, simply list: admitted to-name of intensive. If applying to a school that is not so informed about dance- admitted to the prestigious… If the intensive was the pathway to performance, awards, famous alum, then I would add that. Best of luck to your daughter.
Very thankful for the transparency which Alabama (roll tide) provides. We know our GPA and ACT score will qualify for some merit when applying this Summer. Then going to try to up the merit with additional tests through December 2020.
Hoping the campus is back to normal by August 2021.
@ECmotherx2 Kids are only allowed to work on yearbook for junior and senior year and the yearbook this year is the one that may not get out or get judged. So, D might want to comment in the additional info section that her high school’s record of winning awards for their yearbook even though those would have been books she did not work on. That’s why it would be additional info and not just in the EC section of the common app where she would likely have been able to write the name of the award they won.
No intensive for her. She’s not a dance major but planned to take certain classes this summer. Hopefully, they will still happen but, if not, she knows which online classes she could take and likely list those under her ECs and mention in the additional info section that the plan was Hubbard Street for summer but found online classes because her planned classes did not meet.
No need to call out the virus specifically. The AOs are going to know why spring ECs are slim, but I do think kids need to list what the plan was for spring if they could not be accomplished.
Still hoping Special Olympics will be moved to summer but not holding my breath. She’s supposed to be a coach and had to write essays and interview for that spot.
@ECmotherx2 Kids are only allowed to work on yearbook for junior and senior year and the yearbook this year is the one that may not get out or get judged. So, D might want to comment in the additional info section that her high school’s record of winning awards for their yearbook even though those would have been books she did not work on. That’s why it would be additional info and not just in the EC section of the common app where she would likely have been able to write the name of the award they won.
No intensive for her. She’s not a dance major but planned to take certain classes this summer. Hopefully, they will still happen but, if not, she knows which online classes she could take and likely list those under her ECs and mention in the additional info section that the plan was Hubbard Street for summer but found online classes because her planned classes did not meet.
No need to call out the virus specifically. The AOs are going to know why spring ECs are slim, but I do think kids need to list what the plan was for spring if they could not be accomplished.
Still hoping Special Olympics will be moved to summer but not holding my breath. She’s supposed to be a coach and had to write essays and interview for that spot.
The varied approaches to school are interesting. D21 is back in “school” full time and has tons of homework, particularly in AP Chem. She got email last night from her guidance counselor to fill out the senior information packet that’s used to compose her LOR. Grades are appearing on her portal. I’m not sure how “tests” will be handled but many assignments are essay or project type work. This contrasts sharply with reports some of you are posting about being out of school for several more weeks.
All high schoolers get a laptop in our district, and Xfinity has made their WiFi hotspots free for all students so life goes on in one of the biggest cities in the country for now. School day SAT is at the end of April - as of right now they are supposed to be back by then but I’m not holding my breath. I understand why some colleges are going test optional, and empathize with those who haven’t tested yet… but wish it wasn’t the year that my kid got a 36 on the ACT (when she didn’t even want to take it in February).
College planning is back on hold now that school is back in session. She did finally finish her first go through the big list of possibilities and we watched some YouTube tours over spring break last week. Our June tour trip is still up in the air. I think she may either wind up casting a really wide net and applying to a ton of schools, or sticking with the few we’ve already seen and adding a few others I’m familiar with near where I grew up. That may depend on class rank and auto-admit status to our state flagship. I think she’d be perfectly happy going to UT and we can afford it. I think the pandemic is definitely going to affect how kids and parents view going off to college in the class of 2021.
@mm5678 school here has remained intense. D21 is swamped from 8-4. I think the teachers are all doing a great job except her math teacher who is relying on Pearson site to teach. It’s not good.
We just found out (1) that spring break for next week is canceled. Parents agreed that, with no one able to travel and nothing open locally to do, it made sense to stay in school. Lots of us think that the routine of school is what is keeping the kids sane. Means we will be out of school a week earlier. (2) The kids will now get grades on their work. They are given this weekend and Monday to turn in or correct any assignments they had over this “no grading” period since now they will now count. The kids are supposed to hear from each teacher about how they will be grading assignments and tests.
They all have chromebooks and wifi. I know some have better home situations than others, though, and this has been very tough on some of D21’s friends who have family issues. Not being able to leave the house is making a lot of bad situations worse. She’s been reaching out to those friends and trying to cheer them up, but she’s still very worried about a few friends.
We are on spring break this week. Some families did go on vacation.
Some parents brought up the idea of cancelling spring break with administrators, but they said the teachers’ union contract would forbid that. So, S21 plays video games all day, online with his friends. Not great, but also keeping him sane.
@diegodavis Yes I love how Bama is so straight forward and transparent with its merit money. I am really pushing my D21 to apply. With her stats she could go there OOS for 19K a year. What a great bargain. And from the virtual tours I looked at it looks like a beautiful campus.
@Mwfan1921 The first thing I thought was I couldn’t believe the teachers agreed to this. I’m still very surprised. They do have Monday off since that’s a day that the kids have to “catch up”.
And families went on vacation? Fabulous. I hope they quarantine when they get home but I’m not holding my breath. Anyone who would go on vacation during this likely won’t quarantine.
@homerdog Likely the teachers figured they can’t do anything now but stay home so why not teach the break week and get out a week earlier when hopefully they will be able to go places and do things.
Governor said online school until at least April 17; luckily our spring break is that following week, so we’re hoping they can go back then. Not holding my breath, but with the mixed messages from the state and federal, who the heck knows???
I hate to complain because we are one of the very few who got in a March SAT test…but still no scores!!! Ugh! My false hope was less tests got done, faster scoring! LOL The waiting is the hardest part…
This meant her rank dropped junior and senior year b/c she had fewer APs at her home school.