32 schools? I hope many of those are common app schools with no extra essays. S19 applied to 14 schools and he had dozens of essays that took multiple rewrites. It was very intense and very time consuming.
I think D will have 8-10 schools. Since she wants to write her essays this summer and won’t know if she will ED anywhere until later this fall, she might end up doing essays she won’t use but what else does she have to do? Writing essays isn’t the worst way to spend time. I was doing more thinking about this today and I think she will get everything ready to apply to whichever schools she picks this summer. And then I will keep a very close eye on how those schools do this fall and she can wait until the ED deadline to submit if she uses ED. I want her to choose a good fit school for her but I think there’s more than one of those and how the school does with the virus this fall will be taken into consideration.
S21 is taking AP tests in Calculus AB, APUSH, Biology and Government. @mm5678 - American is also on my kid’s list, but this will depend on him getting a tuition exchange scholarship there, and I don’t think his odds are great for that.
School ends in a few weeks and we’ll deal with it then. If I had to guess, I’d say 10-12 schools total. D17 applied to 8, most with supplements and extra essays for scholarship consideration. It was a lot. Happily, D21 has a NMSF confirming SAT score in hand and three decent subject test scores so I am hopeful that she can focus on refining the list and getting some essays written over the summer.
I can’t believe we’ve finally gotten to this point. Seems like a long time ago when @TVBingeWatcher2 started this thread! Who knew that effective pandemic management would be a search parameter?
S21 will be applying to 6 in state Publics, 2 in state privates, and possibly 2 OOS Publics in neighboring states that give merit aid to bring COA down to march in state amount.
Could you arrange a birthday parade for her? I’ve seen two versions:
You contact her school friends and arrange for them to drive by in a parade at a certain time. Or maybe you could have a close friend of hers do that. IN the two I've seen, the parade people hung birthday signs out their windows.
You drive her around to other kids' homes, having alerted the othr kids ahead of time to come out and wave, maybe exchange a few words from a distance. (And although she might have a license, the chauffeur lets them focus on friends.)
S21’s birthday was two weeks ago. One of the girls in his gang called me a couple days in advance - she has set up a Zoom “surprise party” at a certain time on his birthday, needed me to find a way to have him tune in without giving away the surprise. I told him his grandma had learned how to use Zoom and he Better Not Call In Late because…grandma. It was great, about a dozen kids.
D is prepping for 2 AP tests over the next week, so the work/study load is manageable. She doesn’t seem nearly as concerned in past years anyway because the whole idea of a 45-minute test is just so unpredictable!
Her AP Lang teacher said that they will spend time after the test working on their personal statements, which seems like a good use of the time, since the class is made up entirely of juniors (AP Lang is 11th, Lit is 12th). D took a different junior-level English class last year where they also drafted essays, so maybe she can turn that one into a supplement or something!
D’s list now has 11 schools, fortunately a good mix of reach/match/likely. She may drop a couple if she is able to visit before applying, or if she gets sick of writing supplemental essays . For now she says she’ll apply to “around 10,” so she’s in the ballpark. As much as I’d love for her to have a decision this fall, and to relax second semester, I think there is too much uncertainty for her to ED anywhere. Besides, she and I both feel like she could be happy at any of the schools (okay, maybe some more than others!), and she will likely get merit at some places and not others… assuming merit aid doesn’t implode completely over the next year.
She told me a few months ago that she thought we might have started the college search too early – we both enjoyed the visits, though it is harder to remember some of the schools we saw a year ago! – but of course we now realize how lucky she is to even have a list! We are holding out hope she will be able to confirm the all-important campus vibes via in-person visit this summer… okay, maybe fall… or… how about just before she has to make any final decisions?!
@kbm770 right. When will visits even start again? Summer? Likely not. Fall? Even if students are on campus, will visitors be allowed? I mean, I’m sure we could walk around but likely not get into buildings or the cafeteria and not sure if schools will have tours. I’m wondering if I can find kids we know at each campus who could show D around. That might be the best we can do.
Son just got an email from a coach at Dickinson “Dickinson has made the announcement that we will be able to begin visits and have people back on campus beginning July 1st.”
S is auto admit to UT so he will be applying there, that’s the only school in TX on his list.
UT is his “safety” and it is probably his #1 choice. He is having a really hard time coming up with “match” schools, that he would like better than UT.
@homerdog There was a webinar on Grown and Flown’s FB page with Mary Fluharty from the ACT where she stated all decisions on the June ACT will be made on May 22.
My DD has 4 APs (Chem and Physics on the same day, the AP Lang and US History the next week. I have no idea if she is ready. She has been so depressed and a total vampire. She tells me she’s working, but when she’s not sleeping, she’s locked in her room, or I am asleep. I did have a long talk with her counselor a few weeks ago, and she is checking in via text with her 2x a week and they have a standing phone call every Wednesday. DD doesn’t know I know. The counselor said she’ll keep her privacy, but alert me if there is anything critical she feels I need to know. DD received a major state level award this week she had been hoping for and her response was “Whatever.” She won’t get to attend the national convention this summer where she would have been presented with the award on a stage in front of thousands of students from across the country. Big let down that reminded her again of all that’s now gone. I hate seeing her so low. Her B-day is in 2 weeks. I’m trying to plan a way to lift her spirits. She attends a magnet school, so classmates and friends are very spread out. Not sure the “drive by” would work out. I hope she’s not self sabotaging the APs, but who knows (no school support- it’s all on her own now). It is what it is at this point.
Well, Villanova is a beautiful campus! Freezing cold today, but they let us park and gave us a map to walk the campus. Just gorgeous architecture, the new Commons across the road looked impressive from the outside. But for my atheist daughter, she counted 8 crosses before we got out of the parking lot! Seemed too much for her. She’s digging a bit more into course requirements, but don’t know it will be the best fit. Was going to try to drive by St Joe’s but we were frozen after walking around!
@NJWrestlingmom - S21 and I toured last fall a local-to-us university called John Carroll, and THE FIRST PLACE they took us was to the church. S21 just LOOKED at me, and as soon as the tour was over, he said “I can’t go to school here, mom, even as a backup.” So, I hear you. @Rue4 - I hope your D feels better.
I think our closest AP match is @3kids2dogs; S is also taking BC Calc, Chem, APUSH and Spanish, but Lit instead of Lang. He was supposed to take Physics, too, but may blow it off. As I mentioned before, that class had 4 teachers this year and he doesn’t feel well-prepared for that exam, would rather spend his time getting ready for the others. Makes sense to me.
His list is fairly short so far - one safety, one match, and a few reaches-for-anyone where he’s got a decent shot (where he’s a legacy and/or they really value his EC). Beyond that, he may either go for some moonshot reaches, or else try for merit. But I’m pretty sure he’ll burn out on essay-writing quickly so I’m trying to keep my expectations reasonable on that score.
D is taking Cal AB, Lit, Chem, and APUSH. Her teachers have been keeping her busy, and I think that’s helped her keep a greater sense of structure/schedule. She is concerned that the score is based on the 45 minute task (especially chemistry and calculus), and wondering whether the questions really will be similar to what they’ve been practicing.
Her list is currently based on tours taken with big sister, plus the local state school that we are requiring her to apply to as a back-up.
Daughter and I just attended our first virtual tour. It was pretty…not great. They only allotted 30 minutes, which was not enough time to cover much of anything. I am glad we managed to visit most of her favorite options in the last year, if this is how things will be now.
She will be taking 3 APs and also starts an online dual enrollment class at our state flagship this week. Maybe after APs are over we will see more of her! Right now, she claims to be studying most of the time.
D21 is taking 3 APs- Apush, Lang, and Psych. She’s not too stressed. Schools ends Thursday after Memorial Day, so not sure what they will do after the tests are taken.
She has three schools that she regularly mentions, but she will apply to more. The most difficult part has been coming up with in state safeties (we are in Texas and she is not top 10 percent). Like S18, she insists that she will leave the state. But I’m not as confident of this for her as I was my son. Also, she’s had two coaches contact her recently. Both in state privates- one not a fit for her at all- although I feel bad passing up this opportunity, and the other probably better suited for her- she spoke with this coach last week. She vacillates daily on if she wants to run in college.
@NJWrestlingmom We visited CofC almost three years ago for S18. It was urban, but in a Charleston, SC way not a big city kind of way. I didn’t mind it at all, but I do remember being completely turned off by their dorms. They just seemed gross.
Most of S21’s AP test are next week - Chem, Calc BC, Physics 1 & 2 (one class at his school, but two tests). Then Lang the week after that. He says he’s ready and that his teachers prepped them, but we’ll see. School ends mid-June here so I’m not sure what he’ll have for those classes after AP tests are over.
No college list here yet, my hope is that he can find 8-12 schools he’d like to apply to. His summer will probably consist of essay writing, working on his senior Capstone project and maybe checking out a few schools in person, even if they aren’t officially open for tours.
@NJWrestlingmom my D18 really liked Villanova when we toured but the price and lack of merit made it not an option. The religion element didn’t bother her there.
However when we went to tour Notre Dame, another very nice campus, she was very turned off by the religion focus. The information session mentioned that 45-50% of the kids that go there went to catholic high schools. When you go on the tour one of the selling points was how many masses they had on Sundays in each dorm. Dorms are only single sex. I’m sure for lots of kids those are good things. But my daughter just had no interest based on that sales pitch.
. For now she says she’ll apply to “around 10,” so she’s in the ballpark. As much as I’d love for her to have a decision this fall, and to relax second semester, I think there is too much uncertainty for her to ED anywhere. Besides, she and I both feel like she could be happy at any of the schools (okay, maybe some more than others!), and she will likely get merit at some places and not others… assuming merit aid doesn’t implode completely over the next year.