I’ve been checking and none of the schools have updated that they’re starting tours. JMU, App State, ECU, NC State, UNC Wilmington.
@yearstogo Your son has great summer plans. Sounds like quite the engineer. Reminds me of my engineer father, who used to spend all his paper route money on nails in junior high.
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So talk to me more about how their high school factors in to admission. Mr D is at a magnet program within a typical lower middle class/middle class HS. Only about 55% go on to a 4 year school and hardly anyone goes out of state. I’m in VA, so we have great in state options and all the top students to to UVA or W&M or VT for Engineering. Kids around here typically have no reason to go out of state. We don’t have Naviance, so word of mouth (and instagram) and a conversation with her counselor are my only insight as to schools. In fact, I looked up the senior class instagram accounts of all the HS in my county showing where kids are going to school. About 50% of each class shared their info and hardly any were going out of state- and a very small handful to any of the schools on Ds list. Need we be concerned that she comes from a school that will be an unknown to AOs?
@NJWrestlingmom go on the website and find out who the AO is for your area. Have your son (or D, I can’t remember, sorry!) email that person and ask if/when tours will happen again. Good question to ask, shows interest, and I bet you’ll get an answer. AO’s on D’s list all replied.
We might consider ED if my D decides on a clear favorite (or tosses a coin on her top favorites) as I doubt she will get significant merit in any of the schools she likes, anyway. There seems to be a big gap between schools that could be potential safeties and those that may be matches/low reaches and she’s not going for any of the safeties. I honestly don’t feel that there’s going to be a perfect school for her in every aspect (or a way to accurately figure out that elusive vibe of each school even if there are visits) so it may be just a matter of deciding which are the most important features and going with it. I think not having as many months of stress (if she gets in ED) could be worth it.
The thing right now is to rule out anything where she’d definitely feel miserable. I hope some fall visits are possible. Our main problem is, competitive marching band (IF it happens…and I’m actually rather terrified of it, but that’s another story best not to discuss here ?) would take up almost all time and energy from late July into early November. At least one of her possible ED schools has a November 1st deadline. She is normally just gasping for breath to keep up with schoolwork during the fall as is. And these senior grades will be important to keep up. So though I’m a little afraid to travel now (it’s public bathrooms that most give me pause) I’m gearing myself up to think of doing a couple of road trips soon that might involve an overnight or long days of two-way travel. Even without tours or students it may be worth it just to walk around a few empty campuses and see the towns or (lack of town) to know whether or not a school should be dropped or is worth the effort of a second look in the fall (Looking at YOU, Kenyon ;)).
With the possibility of band starting, My D really has only the next four or five weeks for doing SAT prep, interviews and essays. In August she’s physically and mentally exhausted after eight to twelve hours of marching/playing in the sun five days per week and it’s unrealistic to think she will do much else then. So though she’s still in “but mom, school just ended!!!“ mode, I may just have to spell out reality in stark terms soon. Neither she nor I feel happy in very stressful circumstances.Procrastination and this situation are not going to mix well!
I’m not good at being a tough-love mom but I may soon tell her she’ll have to make some hard choices or life will choose for her. Either she decides to relax and plan to apply during a gap year, or gets a lot less choosy about where she goes to school, or she drops band, or she gets busy very soon OR she figures it out on her own. I do NOT want to get pulled into a vortex of stress to help her scramble at the last panicked moments if she fails to make use of her available time now. right now I’m putting together a spreadsheet of the main info of a dozen or so schools (deadline dates, application requirements, SAT ranges, costs, distances, etc) so she has the basic tools to start driving this process soon.
As noted by some others earlier, I think she and I are both in a little bit of grief. I think she’s a little afraid to grow up and I’m a little afraid to see it happening! My stomach is starting to churn thinking about her actually going away. I really would love to take a few weeks just to enjoy being with her while doing very little. A gap semester would be just about right, if there were guarantees of something great to do with it and a college in the wings.
@inthegarden I feel the very same when I think of D21 leaving for college. Everyday, I think “this time next year … “. She has just finished school this week, so for the next week she will relax and have fun before diving back in to the process.
We looked at 14 schools prior to the pandemic, so she knows which ones will be on her list and which will be tossed. There are still quite a few she is interested in seeing, but they are a flight away so I think we’ll wait until the Fall. A local friend has rented a Winnebago and they’ve visited a dozen campuses up and down the east coast in the last week! That’s one way to do it, lol!
Disappointed about the ACT section testing being postponed until the Spring. Hopeful that the July test happens here and she can pick up a couple of points so we can cross that piece off the list!
Thanks so much for this helpful conversation about ED. We had planned to visit all the schools my S21 would consider for ED over March break but those plans were cancelled. The schools on his possible ED list have an admit rate of 2-3x that of regular and while he’s a smart kid, he has no special hook. Right now his top choices are Brown, Penn, Rice, Northwestern and Duke. He’s only seen Northwestern so I welcome any insight on the schools on his list!
@Solstice155 Was your friend able to walk around most of the campuses they visited? We are going to try to do the same thing soon but I’m worried that we’ll get there and not be able to walk around campus. Especially if they are more of a contained campus.
Villanova is open to walk around, but 2 miles down the road is Haverford and their campus is closed - can’t even get on it - security guards turn you away.
We have several trips planned for fall visits. I figure even if we can’t do full visits, she can at least get an idea of the environment and area.
Happy Father’s Day to all the dads! We had our first dinner out in over 3 months that night - hybrid Father’s Day/birthday/anniversary/retirement dinner rolled into one with the in-laws! Nice and weird all at once!
@eb23282 interesting about Haverford. We actually debated going there after Villanova but D really has no interest (top small). Glad we saved our time!
In-laws are driving D crazy insisting on in state schools or schools within an hour or 2 of home. The more they push, the more she adds U of Wi and U of Iowa!
Welp, it’s been an interesting weekend here…an assistant manager at the S21’s Whataburger sent out a text that he may be Covid-19 positive (was/is awaiting results)…Son and his friend both worked a shift with this assistant manager this past monday. Friend/coworker went and got tested…came back positive. S21 started freaking out…didn’t want to tell me. Finally got it out of him and took him to get a test…came back negative for both him and myself.
S21 had no symptoms, and has been feeling perfectly fine.
The friend/coworker who tested positive is asymptomatic as well.
I’m very upset with the general manager at Whataburger for not being more forthcoming with all the employees…lots of hysteria and assumptions were being passed around a group text but no direction from the store manager.
I told S21 he’s not going back to work. He would be quitting in 2 weeks anyway with band camp starting. He doesn’t work during the fall/marching season anyway. He can find another job next January.
Now that he’s calmed down, he’s back to ACT prep and gearing up for the July 18 test.
So glad you all are fine, @Momof3B. You’re doing the right thing…not worth it for two weeks!
@Momof3B – Ack! So glad you guys are okay! Does he need to test again in a few days or do you think the test was after the infection range?
@AlmostThere2018 testing clinic/doc said no need to test again, just continue with social distancing. I talked to me niece who is pediatric resident in New York City and she said the same thing, just stay self contained for the next week or so, so that’s what we plan on doing.
@inthegarden thank you!
What’s his intended major or area of study?
@socaldad2002 - he is undecided about a major. I’d guess he’ll end up as an econ/poli sci/math major but I wouldn’t be surprised if he got swayed to physics/engineering or double major across disciplines.
@Momof3B Glad your son is ok. I can’t believe how badly Whataburger handled the situation, they should have protocols in place for notifying employees they have been exposed.
@Momof3B - hope all remains well with your son!
DS is scheduled to take the ACT in July at a local HS. We found out that the HS has told ACT several weeks ago that they would not be hosting the test this summer but it is still listed as a site. We sent them an email today asking why they have not notified anyone so that we could try to reschedule. Interesting if they will reply with a possible location to take it. I think we might just request a refund and be done with it. These testing companies really deserve to lose all the business they are losing with many going TO. They have had virtually no competition for years and it shows.