@sushritto. Who mentioned you? I certainly wasnt focused on anything you’ve posted. It was just the vibe. Quite common on cc about the south in general.
My thoughts on the subject are my own and they stand. I think every region has its problems and it’s positives. It’s not so cut and dry. For me. I wasn’t speaking for you or anyone else of course.
When parent won’t consider sending students to a school because of the people as a monolith, hows that not trashing an area? Not the academics, travel, weather, facilities or student priorities ie sports or the arts versus the student’s goals. That’s not what is being said. And it’s said a lot on these forums.
If It were framed that way about Michigan or California or Massachusetts in a general way some may see it framed as offensive or at least differently.
Back to the topic of this thread (before we get shut down)…
After refreshing a million times for 30 minutes, I was able to get SAT subject tests for S21. In August. At our local high school. I’m shocked. Last week I got the SAT in September, a reschedule of his June cancellation.
The subject tests are a backup for Duke and Georgetown apps. Both schools are reaches, Duke possibly more than GT. On the video admissions meeting, GT said that this year they would likely accept AP scores in lieu of subject tests. If S’s AP scores come back high, he might just skip the subject tests.
Another Texan here, originally from very blue Massachusetts. I would echo the sentiment of whoever posted that you could overlay the state onto the entire eastern seaboard. Texas has it all.
There are some schools and cities thought to be more liberal (UT Austin, Houston) and some more or very conservative (A&M, Baylor). There are major cities that have had elected a lesbian mayor (Houston) and there are “sundown towns” like Vidor. My child is mixed race and we are looking for diverse campuses, wherever they are. I will say, they are definitely NOT some of the state flagships in New England (UVT, UNH, UMaine).
The South is definitely a mix (and I’m from the Boston area originally – quite a bit more liberal than where I live now, but even Boston is still a mix). What I meant (quote above) was not that we’re ruling out all schools in the South but rather that we’re comfortable with very liberal schools because S21 has lived most of his life being a lone liberal voice in a very conservative area.
I believe it’s good to encounter multiple viewpoints and perspectives. It can be exhausting, though, to always feel like the lone voice, and at a time when S21 is about to embark on what we see as a great adventure and growth experience, we’re excited for him to have an experience different than what he’s had so far. We’re considering all factors (as I think many parents who find themselves on CC are) and actually looked hard to try to find a school in the South that would work for S21 in case we could find a school closer to us than a 10-11 hour drive. There is a thread here on CC where I reached out looking for ideas I may not have come across yet. We researched each suggestion that was provided and got so far as to schedule visits (most cancelled, of course) at a few of the schools. We had 3 Southern schools on the list for a while, but they were always just kind of hanging on there by a thread, feeling as if they didn’t quite fit, and recently we decided to cut them. One had a vibe that was just too beach party for my quirky kid. Another was a bit too crunchy and with academics that weren’t a fit. We looked at the degree requirements including core and distribution, read course descriptions, asked admissions officers questions, sat in on virtual Q&A panels with students, etc. We wanted to find a school closer to home that would work, but for the specific desires and challenges of my S21, we did not.
My son also wants to get out of the South because of the weather - he’s done with hot and humid.
For sure things aren’t all one way in the South - we’re in an area that is getting more and more purple. But my kid is ready for a change - he’s grown up in a very conservative area and wants something different. He’s not a kid who has been sheltered from other viewpoints. He’s neither seeking out nor avoiding liberal echochambers - he’s looking for schools with the curriculum requirements, professors, advising, culture, location/weather, surrounding area, activities, and overall vibe that are a fit for him, that he has a chance of getting into, that we might be able to pay for….and that search has resulted (through looking, as the colleges would say, in a holistic way) in no schools closer than 10 hours away from us in Atlanta. For this kid. I think that’s all most of us are doing – looking for the right match for a particular kid.
S21’s life is getting back to some sort of semblance of normal. He finished online school last week. I’m not sure yet what his final grades are but he did well his last quarter. His private school transitioned rather seamlessly to online learning; they didn’t change any grading policies WTE of canceling finals.
He hasnt seen any of his friends since 3/13. He goes to a private school in a city 45 mins away so most of his friends live near school so while some of them have been hanging out recently, he wasn’t pressuring us to go see them. Fortunately, we live in a waterfront community so he was keeping content paddleboarding and fishing, deigning to hang out with a neighbor 2 years younger LOL.
He applied for at least 6 jobs and didn’t hear back from any. For a change of scenery, on Sunday we headed down to our beach house two hours away. One of his friends is supposed to be here this weekend. On Monday night, I happened to see on FB that a dog grooming place back home was reopening and in desperate need for a “dog bather” - no experience necessary. S21 loves dogs, so he sent an email immediately that night. He woke up Tuesday morning to a request to go in for an interview Tues afternoon. So he drove home, went for an interview, then they asked him to come back yesterday for a trial run. I guess he did well because they scheduled him to work today and tomorrow. I was unsure if he would like it but apparently he did - even got to bathe a puppy!
On top of that, his club soccer team just started up “socially distanced” training last night. He had planned to miss it since he was supposed to be here at the beach, but since he is home, he got to go. I’m sure he was happy to back with his teammates. While he was managing quite well at home as he is a bit quiet and introverted, I’m so glad he has something to do now. And he really needed a job this summer as his “resume” for college apps isn’t that strong so this will help.
On the SAT topic, I heard back from his school. As mentioned before, his situation is complicated by the fact that he has an LD with accommodations. I found out that he won’t actually be taking the SAT on a regular test date but that his school will administer it in school over a couple of days (he gets 100% time). They told me to go ahead and sign up for the Sept date and the test would be sent to them to administer. So assuming school resumes on campus in the fall, he will take it at school. I had his registration ready to go and just needed to pay - fortunately I did it first thing in the morning yesterday so I didn’t get caught up in the “traffic” yesterday.
@nichols51 Curious about those three southern schools that were cut! Would you name them? Or shoot me a PM?
D21’s cookie fundraiser is going crazy! They started delivering cookies last night and everyone is giving them way more than the cookies cost. They got $60 from one family, $100 from another, etc. So exciting for her.
And the peaceful protest that was cancelled happened anyway on a lesser level. Supportive parents who were furious that it was called off for fear of a violent group showing up grabbed their own small kids, made signs, and reached out to enough teenagers via social media so they knew it was ok to show up. About 200 people walked around our town with signs and a few teens spoke afterwards. D21 has been reading a lot about what it’s like to be an ally of the movement understanding that she’s a privileged white teenager and trying to be respectful of how it’s best to participate. She knows everything she’s doing is small beans but feels pretty strongly about this and wants to do the little she can. She won’t be 18 by November but she can’t wait to be able to vote.
Some good news - S17’s off campus apartment is letting us sign a lease addendum. He has to turn his key in until Aug 31, but can leave everything in his apartment for the summer. Instead of the $949/month rent, it’s $700 for the entire summer! A nice welcome surprise since he’s found a FT job at home. He was planning to spend some weekends down there, but for that kind of savings he can bunk with friends when he goes down!
@homerdog and @NJWrestlingmom I didn’t mention the schools simply to focus on the fact that they weren’t right for my S21 (but am sure they are great for others) and also they are very small liberal arts colleges which are not highly selective, so I’m doubtful that they are on the radar for most on this thread ? Eckerd, UNC Asheville, and Hendrix were the ones that hung on the list for a while. We looked into other southern schools as well (Furman, Elon, etc.) but just didn’t find any that were a match specifically for S21. So his closest schools are Denison, Dickinson, and Knox at about 10-11 hours if driving without stopping (and two of those are reaches for him, so his real list is 11 hours+ in terms of driving, meaning he has a few that are long drives and others that are definitely flights).
@homerdog I love that your D’s cookie drive is going so well and that a peaceful protest came together.
Well, we have some first bits of normalcy here. S21’s summer cross country practices are going on as usual. They practice at a county park three mornings a a week, socially distanced. These practices have always been optional but the team members pretty much show up unless they are out of town.
The coach is not allowed to attend due to current Covid rules. That will change when our county moves to the next phase. So for now, S21 is running the practices because he’s the team captain.
The only seniors this year are on the boys team . They are a tight knit group, some have been running together since junior high. So I’m glad they have this time now. Because who knows if they will have their final season in the fall.
@kbm770 thank you. Do you remember if you specifically asked for a refund? I rescheduled a cancelled June test to July. Should that have automatically generated a refund or was I supposed to request a refund? @nichols51 Too bad there isn’t an in state tuition exchange for students like your s and my d. We are MN/spent a few years in CT and she wants somewhere warm! We are searching for instate rates at warm weather states.
@4kids4us I think a lot of us right now would enjoy a job bathing puppies.
My S21’s summer internship moved remote. So he is working his first real job, 40 hours a week, out of his bedroom. I saw him retrieve the soddering iron from the garage, so at least its not all computer work. He’s pretty fortunate that it wasn’t canceled.
@1Lotus The way I read it, we should have received an automatic refund when rescheduling a test. We have rescheduled D21’s April test and have yet to receive a refund. I contacted them via their contact form a few days ago and only received an automated “we got your comment” reply so far.
@theirchoices hoices. Thank you. I don’t log into my bank account often-h takes care of that kind of stuff so good to know that I probably haven’t gotten the refund and should continue to keep on my radar. Someone upthread mentioned getting a refund fairly quickly-I wonder if there is something one can do…or just wait. If anyone gets ACT refund, mention details. It will remind me to keep checking.
@homerdog Right? He’s very lucky. But all college planning/essay writing has stopped. And it’s a good thing zoom meetings only show a narrow slice of his bedroom. His boss encourages everyone to spend 20% of their time on their own project. But that project is dragging into the evening now. It’s an interesting challenge for him to stay balanced and I think he’s failing. Time will tell.
40 hours a week for a summer job for a high school student? I’m assuming he loves it, so it’s not really “work”, but man oh man, so much for being a kid/teenager. Time really does fly for some I guess.
