D has always checked the box to NOT allow info released. (it defaults to allow if not checked on SAT/PSAT) We still are getting all the snail mail from all the top 20 for sure. We don’t even look it, goes straight to the trash.
And Welcome @Ukares
@JanieWalker Congratulations on your daughter’s nomination! It must be nice to have something to celebrate in the midst of all of this uncertainty.
Both of my kids are doing OK with online school although both find it tiring. There has been a good amount of synchronous learning via Zoom and lots of projects that they can complete at their own pace. D21’s school still has grades but is weighing the fourth quarter less heavily than the first three. While there’s a lot of work, there have been fewer high stakes exams.
We’re lucky that she front loaded SAT and subject tests because of her EC, which requires a lot more time in the Spring than the Fall. So she won’t be taking up any seats at the testing centers that could be occupied by somebody else! I’m just hoping that she can finish the semester strong because it’s more difficult to engage online than in person. I think that @JanieWalker may be right that homeschoolers and kids who had already adapted to online learning before COVID may have an advantage when applying to college next year.
Stay safe everyone!
Welcome @Ukares
3rd quarter report cards came out yesterday and D21 brought her average back up after the drop 2 quarter. Thank goodness, she was very happy.
We are still doing online schooling here in NY, no mention of if we will go back at all this year. I am assuming no, we don’t end until end of June and as of now still on shutdown until May 15. So we will see.
On the college front D21 said the other day that she really wants to go to Binghamton University, I’m not sure she has much interest in looking anyplace else before applying. She will apply to some others and then if they are a possibility after acceptances we will go look. She wants to stay in NY, maybe Jersey.
Welcome, @Ukares !
Many thanks, @mamaedefamilia . This national award nomination is sweet for a couple reasons, one respectable and one petty, lol. The first is that she chose a project she knew was right up the organization’s ally and met a great need of that organization. I advised her when she started working on this to find such a need, as when you do something that is both in your area of interest AND greatly fills a massive hole within a certain organization, it’s a win-win for everyone and the organization will likely boost your project above those that don’t really fit their specific needs. So she worked hard for months…and got the phone call two days ago. We are waiting for confirmation in writing before we announce to friends and family (I have only announced it here, and that’s fine since y’all don’t know us 
).
The second reason it is sweet is that at first, D21 tried to do something with a specific group of local kids who are also a part of this organization and who have actively shunned her for years. D21 has always been a social butterfly and she has a diverse group of friends across five states (all our traveling leads to lots of contacts). This one group though…a spoiled girl refused to play nicely since D21 doesn’t go to her school and all the girls in that group belong to the same school clique. So after two years of standing up to this bully as best she could (without punching her in the face, which quite frankly is what I wanted to do to the mother after a while), D21 decided her efforts with this group were no longer worth her time, and she went her own way with what she wanted to do. She no longer tried to cooperate with that specific group of teens (because cooperation requires ALL parties to do so) and she reached out to the higher-ups in that group for mentoring and advice, and she then accomplished far more outside that particular group (and very quickly) than she ever would have had she not left and done her own thing. So there is something to be said for being willing to set out on your own and do things a) way outside the box and b) in spite of others telling you you’d be silly to go that route. Now many in our area want to be a part of what she created, and I admit I can not wait for that group of immature teens (and that one awful mother) to find out that D21’s persistence and solution-finding just got her nominated for a very prestigious award…and no one in that group was nominated. And yes, that is very petty of me, but there it is. I will not say anything to any of them personally, but I WILL gloat with glee in my living room. 
Also @mamaedefamilia , it is great your daughter is happy with her scores! That must be such a relief. D21 has a respectable SAT but it really needs to be higher to be in a better position for her reach applications. She will take the SAT one final time in September, though that will be difficult because she has a heavy senior course schedule and her ECs will (hopefully) be back in full swing. She also should have one more strong SAT2 score (she has only one). Schools may be going TO, but for homeschoolers the more standardized tests the better, no matter what. (Though given the amount of cheating that apparently goes on at expensive private schools, I now think it is the private school students who should prove their worth with lots of SAT2s).
@janiewalker There is nothing wrong in being strategic in how you pursue your interests. And sometimes pettiness is justified! Good for you! And for her! My own D had has experienced her fair share of mean girl (and sometimes boy) behavior and has had to learn how to rise above it. She was hoping for a state level award this year, and had a reasonable chance at it, but the competition was canceled because of COVID. Oh well, she’s in the same place as thousands of other juniors around the world.
Even without all of the SAT/subject tests, I would imagine that your daughter’s college coursework plus any AP exam scores she already has obtained will add credibility to her academic record. She sounds like a terrific applicant for next year. Do let us know if she gets the award!
@ukares glad to have you join the group. Lots of very knowledgeable folks in the group and many who have gone through this process with older siblings. However, with the virus, there are many new variables and considerations that none of us have dealt with before. So in some respects we are all new to the process this year.
I think most of us who have been through the process before will agree, that although it is stressful and sometimes when your child does not get into what they believe to be their dream school can be heartbreaking… in the end they generally all find a place that is right for them and they thrive once they get there.
FYI…Yesterday Clemson announced they were not increasing Tuition or mandatory fees (of which Clemson has many) for 2020-2021 for both in state an out of state students in recognition of the economic strain Covid is placing on many families.
Christopher Newport U in VA made the same announcement.
@JanieWalker congrats re: your D’s upcoming award!
And welcome @Ukares! Lots of good advice here.
Yale stated that they would not send SAT Subject Test scores to admissions officers this year, even if submitted by the student. I find this a bit reassuring because that probably means that other T20 schools will place much less emphasis on subject tests if they still allow them to be submitted.
"In response to the global health crisis and the cancellation of several test administrations, the Admissions Committee will not consider SAT Subject Tests for first-year applicants during the 2020-2021 admissions cycle (Class of 2025). Applicants to the Class of 2025 who have already completed one or more SAT Subject Tests should not self-report scores, and any scores sent to Yale will not be made available to the Admissions Committee. The staff at the admissions office understands that students will have many priorities when schools eventually reopen; SAT Subject Tests should not be among them. The tests will play no role of the evaluation process for first-year applicants this year. "
I just found this thread, so a quick intro! My daughter is a junior looking for a pretty specific kind of school, but we are also hopeful she will be able to find a decent amount of merit aid so we can make that possible for her. She has a strong preference for women’s colleges or very liberal liberal arts schools. One of her favorites seems to be at the top of her list because there were students actively protesting something when she visited (lol!).
We have a decent list of schools that have offered a solid amount of merit in past years and would meet her preferences, but we are still working to expand her list. We know that all the uncertainties right now might mean financial aid is affected, so we will have some solid backups, including our state flagship. She should be fairly competitive for merit (very high SAT, almost certainly NMSF, high grades, pretty good ECs etc).
So question for those with more experience – For her senior year, she was already planning to go full-time to our state flagship, which is free under our state’s dual enrollment program. We are a little worried about the possbility of school being entirely online in fall and taking 4 onlines classes for her first college experience seems like it might be a bit much.
Trying to make use of being trapped at home in early summer, she is planning to take one college class online in may/june and then take three college classes in the fall (on campus if open or online if not). We are hoping she can use the extra time in fall to work on applications and also on a big EC project she has going that is difficult to do under our state’s stay at home order. If sports happen, she will also be competing on a varsity sports team which has morning/evening practices and travels every weekend, requiring about 30 hours a week.
Does anyone know if spreading a class out into summer will hurt her in her applications? She is a very busy kid who will be able to provide evidence she isn’t slacking.
@VeryFishyFish -Thx for sharing that about Yale and Subject tests.
First, welcome to the new folks and congrats to your D @JanieWalker!! 
@Iamdch – tks for posting this article; I’d actually seen it! I know the UNC System folks professionally. Not to get too technical, but this policy doesn’t really change things for UNC Chapel Hill, NC State, App State or the other bigger colleges. It’s designed to help some of the more broad access campuses enroll more students b/c incoming students no longer have to have BOTH a min GPA AND a min test score. Now they only have to meet one of the thresholds. This is good when so many students who apply may not have a single test score!
That said, my contact said 1) all students will have to submit a score but 2) UNC and NC State (and any other UNC system campus) could disregard ACT/SAT as an admissions selection criteria, but she has no insights on if they will.
Who knows if how many other flagships will get on the TO bandwagon. Right now it seems like it’s mostly privates.
On another note, our Gov. just officially closed schools for the rest of the year. I wonder if this means the ACT on June 13 is dead? I’d really like to know so we can figure out if my S should rev up again with prep starting in early May…
@AlmostThere2018 I think the June 13th ACT is going to be a no-go. Our school district just canceled it. ?
We’ve also wondered whether the ACT will actually be held in June and whether the AP prep needs to accompanied by/immediately followed by ACT prep. And, we’re pretty much expecting it to be canceled. D21 was really hoping to be done with testing by June. For a variety of reasons related both to teachers/resources and health, she’s had a rough junior year. It was my hope she could be done with testing by June and then get her common application essay done this summer so that she wouldn’t have to deal with those in the fall. Oh, well. We’re all in this together. And, she can still work on that essay.
NJ is pushing for a June 1 re-opening of public schools in some type of capacity. It may be AM/PM or odd/even days or combination there of. As of now the May 15 stands as the official date the state is shut down til. That came out of the mouth of a school district superintendent. Fingers crossed
I just got an email today reminding/encouraging me to reschedule to the June ACT. I’m holding out to see if I should just reschedule to July.
We signed up for the June and July ACT (until very recently, the ACT was not given in NY in July). Fingers crossed!
Welcome, @pickleberry7 ! I love your username. 
As to how many classes at once for college, I think it depends on the class and the college. D21 took 3 college courses and two online APs last semester and this semester, and for her that was just right in terms of rigor while still giving her plenty of time to do her very time-consuming ECs. Four college courses at once with no other courses should be doable – that being said, I don’t think an admissions officer would have a problem with what you suggested – please understand that is guesswork on my part though. Maybe call or write an admissions officer and ask what they think?