Happy B-day to @Momof3B! We had a 17th a few weeks ago- challenging to make it special. How is the online Boys State going? That’s a full day!
Had a phone call from Ds counselor yesterday. They are working on the master schedule. She has many singleton classes (5 APs and DE Spanish 7), so we were worried if everything would fit and they were able to get her 6 of 7 classes- and thankfully the one that doesn’t work is her elective. She is in a health/sci Governor’s school and is required to have 1 specialty center elective each year. She doubled up and took 2 sophomore year, so it will be ok that she can’t take one sr. year- though she was really looking forward to it (Anatomy and Physiology with a rockstar teacher). In its place they offered her a lab assistant role with a great teacher, but it’s for a grade and a “C” level class (no honors gpa points), or an aide to the head of the Gov. school position for no grade. We still have class rank, and she was 4 after sophomore year and hopefully moved into top 3 this year and despite final rank not going to colleges, she won’t take a “c” level class that would drop her gpa- so the aide role it is.
Anybody see what’s going on at Virginia Tech? It’s one of the most popular schools in my area- our county sends tons of kids there every year. D has heard about it from her Sr friends and it’s starting to show up on the boards- they recalled housing from the 1000+ freshman they accepted off the waitlist and they now must find their own housing off campus and will not be allowed to purchase a meal plan (no off campus kids can have now have a meal plan). VT needs to limit dorm space to single or doubles only and keep rooms open for isolation if needed. Totally screwed over these kids who chose to come off the waitlist and signed a housing contract. They pulled back all housing contracts and students have to resign with a Covid waiver saying they agree there will be no refund if kids are sent home during the school year. The bait and switch is unreal! Last year they over enrolled and had to use hotels, this year they took all those kids of the waitlist and now have screwed them over. I get the business side of the housing contract- but wow!
@Momof3B - Happy 17th to your son! My S21’s birthday is today as well – we had birthday donuts together and he is heading out for a breakfast picnic with his GF (with all my admonishments about staying 6 feet apart), and then a hike. He’s making good progress with one of his essays for a program he’s applying to, and one of three online classes begins next week. Spending a tremendous amount of time watching virtual visits and information sessions online. It’s exhausting, and frankly, makes me really appreciate that my other kid only applied to seven schools.
@rue4 yes I saw that about VT. I know a rising sophomore there. She kept her housing but many of her sophomore friends were told that no longer have housing and now no dining plan either. What the heck? VT is kind of a mess. They also over-enrolled last year by some crazy percent and had to start buying off kids to take gap years. They were giving $5000 to incoming freshman and the option to transfer any community college credit so kids would take a gap year. Then they quadrupled up a whole bunch of freshmen anyway. Now this!
Some people think we don’t need to be watching how colleges handle Covid this fall and our kids should hope things are all better by fall 2021 but I do not agree. It’s best to keep an eye on stuff like this. It should affect our kids’ lists.
@Rue4 – whoa! Thanks for the heads up on VT. It’s at the top of my S’s list and this is very concerning. Seems very unfair to treat WL kids as 2nd class students. Yikes. I remember last year’s issues with over enrollment and was willing to look past it. But now I am getting a bad feeling. . . I will start following, and thanks for the heads up!
@burghdad – I have promoted Clemson to my S and will do so again! And tks for the Lafayette link – I’ll check that out!
@Mwfan1921 – I think the only demonstrated interest my S has done with Lehigh is he signed up for a tour in March but then of course they closed. I don’t think he’s done any virtual tours, but I’ll ask. Between that and the likely lack of $$, I continue to have doubts about it as a viable option.
From what I have heard a lot of state flagships have very high yields for instate kids, but not so much for OOS.
Someone asked about Colorado School of Mines a page or 2 back. I’ve toured it a few times since it’s only about 20 minutes away, but so far I don’t know anyone that goes there.
Golden is a great town, very safe, and the downtown area is becoming more trendy and interesting. It’s a great place for outdoor activities with excellent whitewater kayaking right through campus, beautiful hikes, and about a 45 minute drive to Loveland for skiing.
The vibe is what you would expect for an engineering school. Not a lot of partying, but it’s there if you want it. Small greek system.
There are a lot of new buildings on campus, so it feels like new and exciting. I think they are trying to move away from the mining and more towards engineering/CS. Still world renown for earth sciences though.
The one thing negative, and it might not be negative, is very few local kids go there, and it makes me think there is an issue. It’s like the kids look at Mines and then decide it’s not the best place for them. I know that is very vague, but our large top performing HS sends tons of kids to CU and probably 15-20 for engineering, but only 1 or 2 per year to Mines.
was looking Xavier on our school’s Naviance site and found this tibit.
“if you file the FAFSA by Dec. 1, automatically get $500 per year. If you attend a Pgh event, you get $1000 for housing. Books will be free for all students next year.”
Looks like they are trying to get creative to attract interest.
That’s crazy about VT! I have a friend who has paid deposits at 4 schools!!! VT is one. They didn’t get to visit, her kid didn’t want to decide so they’ve been paying deposits to hold all the spots!
Also meant to ask - any feedback on U of Miami? I’m doubtful the price will be right, but D21 is still harping on a reach. U Miami seems to be a doable reach, but originally FL was completely off the list; now that she hasn’t found anything intriguing, she’s looking. The beach never hurts!
@AlwaysMoving Thanks for the Mines info. I was asking and we just got an announcement that some Vail resident friends of ours are sending their senior girl there. So, we will totally be able to get the scoop.
CU Boulder is a strong safety for DS. We already toured and loved it, though my son leans toward a smaller school and I’m not sure what numbers are required for the honors program. The party reputation is a bit a of concern for me.
@AlwaysMoving Mines and the local sounds amazing! Sadly we in no way can afford Mines. D will major in engineering and she hopes to end up with a great job in Aerospace in Colorado.
Pa Gov announced schools can starts sports training as soon as the school provides the state department of health with a written plan for safe distancing etc. So school will not longer be shut down if they comply. As such I would expect testing can occur over the summer as well. D21 hoping the July ACT can occur.
My D turned in her last assignment yesterday (a history paper) and went to school at her appointed time-slot today to deliver her textbooks and pick up her yearbook (and the tennis team uniform that never got used ) . So, although school is not officially over until Friday, It is OVER and she is a senior!!!
S21 picked up his yearbook yesterday. Technically, school ends Friday but they are done.
I heard that about VT too, very concerning since it’s top of S21’s list. Definitely would concern me about taking a waitlist offer next year if it comes to that.
VT is moving from 10k on campus residents to about 9k b/c of COVID. They managed to get on-campus housing back for some of the students notified their contracts were cancelled, but still 500 are currently out of luck. It’s not clear how many of these are 1st years – but undoubtedly some are, and likely most, since not many sophomores or upperclassmen live on campus, period.
It’s also not clear how those whose contracts were cancelled were chosen – not sure they were all WL students or not.
Seems to be concern there’s not really off-campus housing avail at this point for these students. They have a housing WL so some may yet end up back on campus, but still. . .
Students living off campus also can’t get on campus dining this Fall. I don’t understand why they don’t move to ‘grab and go’ like we see other colleges doing.
Totally feel for 1st years who not only can’t live on campus but can’t eat there (other than food trucks and a Subway) either!
@AlmostThere2018 Does VT allow gap years? After seeing how they are handling this, if I had an incoming freshman, he’d be taking a gap. That whole thing sounds bad. VT seems very poorly managed - last year and this year.
It’s been…interesting. I gave him my home office to use since it’s really the only private space in the house behind closed french doors. I work from home and D23 twins are home of course, so he’s been holed away, emerging only for small breaks. S21 is a very social kid and needs the classroom/in person interaction. Sitting in one room for that long, listening, listening, listening and not being to collaborate in person has been kind of numbing for him .While I appreciate Texas adapting to this virtual format to at least give these kids something, I don’t think he’s getting the same out of that he would had Covid not shut everything down and he had been able to be in Austin for the week. It’s a lot being talked at with a couple virtual tours thrown in for places they should have been going to in person. I’m still extremely proud that he stuck with it (half of the delegates from our school dropped out) and maybe he’ll be able to get some good essay content out the experience lol.
@homerdog – I don’t know about gap years at VT. They are having a Housing & Dining townhall tonight and I imagine it’ll be tense! VT is supposed to have a new dorm open next Fall so that should help. But I just don’t see how the college can’t take responsiblity for finding housing for 1st years. I think that’s the message they are getting so they are saying the are working on it. But, yes, not well handled at all!
On another note, my D heard about Duke tossing out their housing lottery to start again and my D thinks there will be a lot of really upset students! I think the students just need to roll with it given everything, and I was surprised at her reaction/expectation that students will be really upset. I think as more specifics are released about the Fall we’re going to see how adaptable these kids are. I hope parents are managing expectations
@AlmostThere2018 yeah. It’s not going to be pretty. The bottom line is that kids want to go back and most parents want them back and that’s what colleges are planning. They are giving everyone what they want in that sense. If students or parents don’t like the details, it seems there’s always the choice to stay home and take class remotely or, in some cases, take a gap year.
Bowdoin hasn’t done housing or registration so kids will do both of those things for the first time in mid-July after decisions have been made about how to house the kids and what classes will be available. Not that it will offer better options than other schools but at least there won’t be turmoil over what the kids originally planned and what will actually happen in the fall. S19 is hoping to still room with (or be near) the boys he planned to room with next year. He’s pretty flexible about which classes he can take fall semester. Has only one distribution requirement left to take and can choose from a dozen math classes for his next math class. Doesn’t really matter which one he takes next.
I have two nephews (from Denver suburbs) who went to MInes. They both really liked it, but it’s a different experience. However, I think the same would be said for other Engineering schools (RIT, Rose-Hulman, etc). As you can imagine, it’s heavily skewed male, which isn’t ideal socially. The upside is it’s in a nice location/town and you have access to amazing outdoor recreation if you want it. They have both had amazing internships and jobs following. You just REALLY have to know that you FOR SURE want to be an engineer, vs going to UC or CSU where you have more options to double major or change your major outside of what is offered at Mines.
) . So, although school is not officially over until Friday, It is OVER and she is a senior!!!