@Mwfan1921 Those are some crazy number on that page. Mid 50 ACT 33-35 and Mid 50 SAT 1500-1560. 6% acceptance rate and 80% yield.
@3kids2dogs Good luck! I think thatās a reasonable plan. Good potential for success with some nudging, and a kid who seems open to it.
My kid is an extremely stubborn, overscheduled procrastinator, and much like @AlmostThere2018 's son, gets by with too little effort sometimes. We have discussed the default, our local Uni, which he is not excited about. And he is working 40 hours a week right now, so I understand, a little. I think Iāll control what I can, and fill in our spreadsheet more fully, especially double checking NPC numbers, deadlines, etc
And when July hits, maybe Iāll nudge a little more. And ask how his friendsā college lists and essays are coming along?
Agreed. I even reached out to them to confirm the ranges of test scoresā¦really surprised on the low end, but kudos to them for truly being holistic in their evaluations.
Agreed. I even reached out to them to confirm the ranges of test scoresā¦really surprised on the low end, but kudos to them for truly being holistic in their evaluations.
S still doesnāt have his list finalized and he is definitely not working on essays yet. He started looking at the apply TX prompts, but hasnāt started anything.
I am going to mention the spreadsheet with the essay list, I think thatās a great idea to keep organized.
what college is that?
@homerdog University of Chicago
My S21 is open to my involvement and a horrible procrastinator, so Iām keeping him on track with a plan to get a lot of the application process done this summer. We check in with each other every day or two - some days heās just being sure to answer emails and sign up for virtual things at colleges, other days heās more fully researching colleges, doing virtual interviews, etc. Heās just about finished the activity list for the Common App (should be done this week) - I felt like that was a nice one to get started with because itās not so overwhelming (character limits are pretty short), and it will help him feel as if heās made some progress while also reminding him of some facets of himself that may help him in interviews and essays. We used the collegeessayguyās tips for writing up activities (easy to find online and something I originally discovered through CC).
As he is a very reluctant writer, I ended up signing him up for a class for the personal statement. Iāll help him brainstorm a bit before the class begins, and then heāll have 3 weeks of working pretty regularly on the essay in July during the class. Having deliverables to someone else and getting feedback from someone else will help him. (He agreed to the class - heās not excited about it but knows himself well enough to know it will help him). His school doesnāt start back up until early September, so he has a decent amount of time to work on apps and study for the SAT, but I am definitely concerned about whether heāll manage to get all of his essays done by the end of summer - he has probably 6 supplements (if they stay the same as last year) and most of those are either āwhy usā or āexplain more about an extracurricular.ā There are one or two on other topics.
Weāre using Trello to try to stay organized. Iād never used it before, and he hardly loves it, but itās helping us keep track of to-dos. For example, while I did a lot of spreadsheet building, Iāve assigned him making a list of application and financial aid deadlines for his schools (once they get updated which I presume will be August 1st or somewhere in that vicinity) and putting it in a google sheet. The āassignmentā is a ācardā on our shared Trello Board. It describes what he is supposed to do, it has a due date and will send him an email reminder beforehand, and he can link the completed google doc to that card once heās done. As heās hardly Mr. Organized (more like Mr. Extreme ADHD), Iām in the process of getting him in the habit of checking in on Trello - itās going to take a while to make it a habit with him - but I find that having the Trello board there with the deliverables, dates, and checklists makes it seem like a shared plan instead of like me nagging him so much. And he does love the part of checking off the completed items and seeing them turn green. 
@nichols51 ā wow, thatās cool. Is Trello free? Maybe something other than a spreadsheet would get my techie kid more interested.
I think the root of my Sās hesitancy is a few things:
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He doesnāt really get how much work lies ahead and says āI have all summerā¦ā
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He says ānobodyās working on apps yetā which I donāt think is accurate, but itās often not until he hears his buddies talking about things that he gets motivated.
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Going deeper, I also think heās stressed about applying and pushing things off is a bit of an avoidance measure. I think if he had a better test score in hand, heād feel more confident and would be more proactive.
He is doing some test prep, so thatās good!
I mentioned this earlier, but anyone have any reports on taking the June ACT that was this past weekend and how it went from a safety, social distancing, mask perspective?
Oh boy. I think most students think all of the above. D21 would say āno one is working on essaysā and I also think her list is so tentative that writing some of these may even be a waste of time. Sheās also pining for when things were more simple and she didnāt have to think about growing up. But, she knows S19 did his essays in the summer and she doesnāt have a job. Thereās a lot of time in the day and working for a couple of hours a day on this barely puts a dent in the 14 hours sheās awake. We also donāt question what she does the rest of the day as long as she makes some progress M-F on her essays. Today, she wrote for a while and is now going to lunch with friends and then hanging out at some park somewhere. She and I both like that she feels productive for at least some of the day. For kids who are working, and especially those who are working full time, it would be harder to sell doing the essays now but fall is likely to be more stressful with classwork so thereās no great option for when to start apps. One thing for sure is that writing rushed essays in October on top of studying of AP tests and doing after school ECs is not a whole bowl of fun.
The Essay Guy has two good classes going on this summer - one is on writing a personal statement and the other is on supplemental essays. If you sign up for the first, you get the second for half price.
I didnāt mean to imply that my daughter is super organized or ahead of the game because she has her list. She actually is avoiding everything. She has one school that sheās always wanted to attend and was coaxed to think about a couple of other āsimilarā schools that she might like. We were fortunate to have some time off school for fall and winter break and I basically forced some early campus visits then, so that helped round out the list - she is pretty much just applying to the places we visited. I wish she would research/consider others but she says she thinks she could be content with what she has (I think more out of not wanting to think about it than anything else) so Iām leaving it be. Really trying to let her drive the process - the only request I did have is that she educate herself about the essays (hence, the class) since the college counseling at her school isnāt really strong.
@nichols51 thatās awesome. I have a good hardworking kid and Iām admittedly little obsessed about maximizing his ultimate choices and helping navigate all this. He has a community college class coming up in July, plus hopefully the ACT in July (or Aug/Sept), which he sorely needs, as he has a lopsided SAT and will apply computer science. So now is the time to do apps. Iām getting involved in the sense that Iām pressing him to do one thing at a time and laying that out for him.
Luckily, his college counselor made videos and had zoom meetings to answer questions in early June so that kicked things off. I also asked her to book the College Essay Guyās seminar on the personal statement, which DS did. Then she books the UCSB AO to give a PIQ zoom, and today he has her give feedback on his draft PIQs. So he will need to revise the PIQs first, then move on to the big common app essay.
The College Essay Guy is fun and helpful but the presentation was a little bit long for DS. DS doesnāt have any big challenges, so a fair portion of it didnāt apply to him. Also, some of the exercises donāt really help directly create an outline, so DS still doesnāt really have a good outline yet but we do know the type of essay he will write and some things to avoid.
I really hope to find out about the July ACT before the test is upon us, because I donāt want to make DS study for that now if he canāt take it for months. Word is the CC classes are much harder this year since the professors are adopting othersā existing online programs rather than creating their own. Normally itās a cakewalk for top high school students but it might end up being more time consuming this time.
@AlmostThere2018 that is good to know. The virtual tour was fine but D21 said they are all the same to her. It really is not a replacement for being there in person but it is better than nothing. She did agree to add it to her list. I feel like we are making progress with a balanced list, she has a lot of reaches, 2 matches and two safeties.
College Essay Guy also has a free podcast and he has some that really get to the heart of how to write these essays. Maybe try those first before buying anything from him. They are shorter and seem pretty helpful.
Ack. We also found out that two of his targets are not common app or UC app, so he has to do all four, including Coalition App for UW and Cal State for Cal Poly.
There is a free version and a paid/premium version. We are making do with the free (though there are some paid features I wish we had access to, but Iām all about getting by with the free version. ?
My daughter is in the same boat - CA, Coalition, and UCā¦ bummer.
Rice just went TO also for those considering the school.
@AlmostThere2018 I tend to think outside of the CC world, not a whole bunch of kids are working on college stuff yet. I think a lot depends on the schools involved. I remember helping S17 with his essay while we were on a college visit in the fall of his senior year (he didnāt apply to top schools). I also remember hearing about one of the top kids in the class, who hadnāt submitted an app by the end of football season (late Nov/early Dec). I remember him being disappointed in his results, but heās a rising senior at Villanova now, so it all worked out!
I think if we hadnāt shut down in March, D21 wouldnāt be as on top of things as she is. She had a lot more downtime than she normally would have. Sheās working but still has enough time to work on stuff. Sheāll be happy in fall when sheās back to a full class schedule and commute to/from school.
@Aguadecoco ā tks for the news re: Rice!
@NJWrestlingmom ā yeah, I think youāre right about where kids outside of CC world not starting. But given the summer of everything cancelled, Iād think a lot of kids are getting started earlier this year ā at least more than usual.
@homerdog ā I agree completely. If he did 2 hours a day he could be in great shape! This is the first week heās back at test prep and itās probably just an hour a day. Maybe Iāll suggest he do an hour of test prep and an hour of essay stuff. We shall see. . .