Parents of the HS Class of 2021 (Part 1)

Parents of HS Class of 20xx
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@SammoJ - too funny – maybe our kids switched at birth, lol? I’ll PM you about my H, just for privacy’s sake.

I’ve heard very good things about business at UofSC and its honors college!

Seems like with politics and economics there are so many good options. I know UNC is very tough OOS but those are two of its strengths. Did he visit when looking at Dook? (haha, showing my colors here) What about UVA? Another reach, obviously. I’m a fan of Emory and know some happy kids there.

I think American and GW would also be good for his interests and he’d be very good admit candidates for both. So many internship opportunities. Both would be easier admits than UNC, Duke or UVA.

We have friends whose son went to American and studied economics. Did some cool DC-based internships and now lives in London now doing something around international aid. World Bank type stuff. Fyi, American doesn’t like to be anyone’s safety – you really have to demonstrate interest as they have had a rep for declining really high stats kids. Of course, this year is so odd and who knows how things will play out.

All that said, with law school on the horizon there’s a LOT to be said for choosing in-state public and banking $$ for grad school.

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@SammoJ I went to W&M, as did both my parents, my grandfather for 1 year in 1934 before he had to go back to the farm, my uncle, and my cousin. My parents retired to Williamsburg and I live an hour away… so I can tell you all things W&M!

Your description of your son sounds like a perfect fit. The term is TWAMP- a Typical William And Mary Person- google being a TWAMP. Quirky has come about more since my time there and I’d definitely describe the current student population as on the quirky side of smart. It’s an amazing place, and the proximity to Colonial Williamsburg (CW) is such a perk. Where else in the world are you going to find yourself waiting in line behind George Washington at the grocery store? Studying in the gardens, taking a ghost tour with friends, jumping the wall (trespassing and jumping over the wall to the Governor’s Palace and running the hedge maze out back must be done prior to graduation), chilling at Jamestown Beach. Yes, warm weather brings out tourists, but it’s not an issue. There is an awesome seasonal farmer’s market right in Merchant’s Square, art festivals, an ice rink goes up in the winter. The mile from the Wren Building to The Capitol is a popular run/walk for students and people watching is great! Williamsburg is a lovely area. There are so many restaurants, being a tourist area, and a nice outlet mall. It’s about an hour drive to the ocean front at VA Beach.

W&M has a very strong sense of family. There are so many traditions! As an entering student you really do become part of the Tribe. There may be 70% from VA, but there are students from all over. Hardly anyone “goes home.” My HS in Northern VA sent 7 of us. There are 4 from my daughter’s HS in Richmond this year. You are not going to have huge numbers already coming in knowing each other.

There really is no merit $. The honors designation is a Monroe Scholar. They get a few perks.

Campus is beautiful, easily walkable, many dorms are old and most freshman dorms do not have ac- that’s really only an issue Aug/Sept and May.

It’s a friendly and collaborative place welcoming to students of all backgrounds. Kids are serious students, but also have fun. The Greek system is very popular, but not exclusive by any means. Sorority houses only hold about 16 women (I lived in mine 2 years- such a cool experience, right at the top of the colonial area). The frats have been rebuilt since I graduated.

I majored in Government. Public Policy is very strong! I know there is a very popular improv group on campus. That’s something he can ask his interviewer about. A cappella and improv have always been hugely popular. Please ask anything. I could go on and on.

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The lack of structure is really taking a tool in our house. I signed up D21 for the College Essay Guy application and supplements online workshop. It meets one a week for 6 weeks, they have assignments to complete before each sessions. I did it to give her some structure and a to do list. It might have backfired on me, she was feeling very inferior after the class, she said all these kids have huge list of activities and accomplishments. It is hard not to compare, she has activities that she loves but they are not leadership or national award winning.

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@AOP1925, that is hard. We may be headed for the same thing in this house. I signed S21 up for a personal statement class specifically designed for homeschoolers - it’s better someone else coach him through this, I think, than me. But the kids were asked to share short bios up including activities, interests, grades, etc. and so many of the kids have super high SATs and such…I wonder if he’s going to feel crushed or if he won’t focus on it. His starts Monday.

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@AOP1925 I hear you and D would agree. She only has a few things she’s done outside of school and her CA essay covers two of them. When she starts supplementals, she has to come up with other topics and it’s hard. It’s taken a lot of brainstorming and she would say she’s having to stretch quite a bit to decide what else she wants to “show” each college.

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We experienced a similar thing last summer. S21 applied for an Economics For Leaders camp at Rice University…our intent was to explore Econ as a possible major…he was surrounded by SUPER high stat and competitive private school kids who literally asked him what zipcode he lives in. He’s a great, sociable kid so he made it through the week but when we picked him up I felt bad because he was so intimidated by them all.

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@Rue4 or @homerdog

Can you speak to whether or not William and Mary is strong in any STEM fields? The school really appeals to my son. Very mathy kid, but enjoys lots of other topics. His friends are mostly not STEM kids. He will apply to some STEM focused schools, but is also looking widely, looking for balance.

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Oh, yuck – that is so gross. I’m sorry your son had to deal with that. How obnoxious. He should feel superior to those kids, at least in morals and decency.

FWIW, I remember when I was doing lab research in a prominent NY hospital during my undergrad years. The doctor I was working with told me a story one afternoon of how they had a lunch meeting on which residents to admit to a program. Anyone who had a hint of arrogance was immediately rejected. At that round, everyone had what it took intellectually. They wanted someone who was nice, someone they could work with, someone lacking in snobbery.

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@Zinnia203 Biology is a very strong (and very popular) major. No Engineering. I have many friends that were Bio and Chem majors who went on to top Med schools. W&M is lower on My Ds list because it’s too familiar and she wants to go somewhere totally on her own. She is a STEM kid, and if she were to attend, she’d be a Bio major.

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@homerdog, @AlwaysMoving, @burghdad, and @Rue4 … so many thanks! I knew the board would have great advice.

Everything y’all said about W&M makes S21 more excited. He looked up TWAMP - says “that’s me.” The sense of family and the collaboration all resonate. And unlike a couple of your stories, he thinks Williamsburg is cool. Weird, but cool. He remembers being chosen to play cards by a character at one of the venues and petting the sheep.

And @Burghdad, he was intrigued by you D’s experience at Clemson. He knows a lot of Clemson kids, but unfortunately, the majority are in the four-year-party program so doesn’t tend to see it as a serious school. Sounds like she has thrived on a path similar to his. Is there an Econ advisor she would recommend he talk to?

So now his universe is expanding. He will probably pass on UVA, UNC, and UG - all good schools, but when S19 was applying we looked at them and decided they were rather like Clemson or UofSC with OOS costs. He’s looking further at American and GW - the idea of being in DC excites him. I didn’t know it, but he submitted part 1 of the Georgetown app (a reach). And Emory is now on the list.

We are hoping to go up to W&M this fall. Campus tours aren’t going, but we know someone who will be attending so maybe we can do a bit.

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Re: all the talk about William & Mary, my daughter and I coincidentally watched a W&M virtual session this morning and she has stars in her eyes about it. Would be a high reach for her OOS unless she is able to get her math score up quite a bit .

She knows Colonial Williamsburg depicts a prettied-up version of history for sure, but she is among those who have always loved it (I think we’ve taken her three times). She would not at all mind the old people walking around, lol, and though Williamsburg is a small place it would still be a heck of a lot more exciting than where she grew up, and the campus size is a lot bigger than the LACs she otherwise favors. Regarding all the Virginia students, it again would be more diverse by far than our hometown, and many students residing in the DC suburbs and exurbs probably come from families not originally from the South.

She is thinking of majoring in history, so plenty of opportunities for hands-on internships in the area. Also there is the possibility of a joint history degree with St.Andrews (and she’s a fan of Scotland). She would definitely fit in with the crowd who would rather socialize in small congenial groups than huge parties most of the time (We’ll have to look up TWAMP).

Hope this will be a big incentive for SAT math study! She did say that she is now generally getting most answers right when Khan feeds her math problems whereas last December (prepping for her first SAT) she often got half wrong. I’m also assuming she’s being fed harder problems now. Fingers crossed for the August and September SATs!

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@SammoJ - Regarding D&D and W&M - two kids from my high-schooler’s D&D group now attend W&M and love the school and community. One compared it a bit to Grinnell with very accepting, smart kids - TWAMP is so true and seems to be a great piece of info to see if it could be the right fit socially. Both are boys - one very involved in sports throughout high school + D&D and the other student was D&D, Mock Trial all around nice, quiet kid with college professor parents. (Out of state - west coast)

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If schools decide to go with fully online / remote learning for August, does it affect taking SAT in those school centers? Will they still go ahead with precaution having SAT or cancel it?

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I don’t know, as it will likely vary from state to state, county to county, school to school, but being in a state that is currently categorized as having “uncontrolled spread” by Covid Exit Strategy, I foresee the possibility of our schools starting remote (though that hasn’t been announced yet - school starts in 4.5 weeks) and expect a high probability in our area that the tests would then be cancelled as well (as happened to us in March). Maybe in a state that is trending better but opts to start the year remote in order to keep it that way there is more of a chance that the SAT could still go on ? But in one of the worst trending areas of one of the worst trending states, I feel S21’s chance to improve the score he got as his baseline last Fall slipping away.

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We live in the Bay Area and one of our neighboring school districts (Fremont unified school district) announced yesterday that they are going with remote learning. ( they would consider reopening for in-person if their county does not have a single new covid case for 7 consecutive days) I’m scared our school district might get influenced with neighbors doing so ? in any case I would like to have my S21 take his one last SAT if possible…

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We already heard it is not happening in our district or surrounding districts. The campuses will be closed to everyone until sometime in Sept.

6403

Oh my ? May I know which area / state is that? Also how did you hear it? Any official news?

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@Suave123 We are in TX. We got the news from the District not CB, S has a couple of friends scheduled for the test and they haven’t heard anything from CB.

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@AOP1925 - do not feel bad about your kid not having leadership or national awards. Remember that colleges are admitting a class.

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@TVBingeWatcher2 - so glad you had what sounds like a fun and successful college visit trip. I know what you mean about Alabama. I had heard it was pretty, but didn’t have super high expectations. I was wrong - it was gorgeous. I was so impressed.

@2ndthreekids These interviews at Tulane with admissions are new this year. I’m thinking maybe because they went test optional for this year, they are looking for another data point? They are “optional” but we all know what that means in college admissions. My daughter’s was a three way zoom meeting - herself, the admissions officer and a current student. Current student didn’t ask questions, just played color commentator for the admissions officer about student life.

I have to say there was one tidbit that came out of the interview that made my daughter really excited. She’s on the greek life fence - likes the idea of the community, but not super “into” the classic sorority life. She mentioned that part of her college search was that she wanted to go someplace with a marching band she could be part of. The student took her interest in greek life and her interest in marching band and mentioned that there is a coed music fraternity at Tulane called Kappa Kappa Psi. My daughter googled it later in the evening and it sounds perfect for her - community without total social commitment. Just about every school she’s looking at has a chapter - I think she’s found her niche in greek life.

So now we are considering the interview in a much more positive light.