Agreed with the NASA internships looking at those other than just CS or Engineering. My first “real” job out of college I worked for JPL/NASA in Pasadena and I knew people with degrees in Psychology. I worked with the Deep Space Network program so it was working directly with the space program. Now D21 wants to work for NASA. But I think that’s more due to her falling in Love with Physics this past year, Hidden Figures & Agents of Shield. lol
Appreciate all this helpful input about tech jobs and skill! When I ask, my S. says he sees himself as a product developer and possibly entrepreneur, and he does want the technical background b/c that part of it interests him. In fact, he worked really hard last year to get himself in the position where he’ll be the lead for the Build Team this year on his robotics team (assuming there is a robotics season!).
He likes the technical problem-solving parts of tech, but I totally get that developing products is a team effort that doesn’t just comprise technical folks. We’ve continued to pressure test his commitment to engineering, and so far he’s holding steady, but we’ll see.
What are your thoughts on ED related to the pandemic? We might still be in the thick of things next year (depending on whether we get a vaccine). What if we learn about more longterm sequelae in young people who get covid-19? What if the school you picked does poorly managing students this year? What if the epicenter of the cases is where the ED school is? With so many unknowns, is anyone concerned about letting their kids apply ED?
My only concern with ED is the certainty, or lack thereof, about whether the school is the top choice and whether that could change between Oct and April. Hoping they’ll be able to visit in the fall if students are back on campus. (As for the virus, there are a number of treatment trials underway that, while slow to come out this summer, should hopefully provide data within the coming year. I’m not worried, even for a medically-complex kid with risk factors.)
Before the pandemic I though D21 would apply ED but without being able to vitit schools she does not have a true number one school. As much as I think it would be good to apply ED and maybe get an admissions bump I do not think it is the right move for her.
@havenoidea All of those reasons are of concern when it comes to ED. I thought schools would maybe have prospective students on campus but every day now it seems colleges are more locked down. Visiting campus might just be walking around, maybe with a printed out walking tour. Not sure the kids will get the vibe that way. As time goes on, too, we will get new info about the pandemic - certainly by May 1 - so deciding if one feels comfortable going farther away from home will be easier to decide by then. For us, going ED seems like rushing the decision. Even S19 who had his feet on a lot of campuses and was able to go to class and stay overnight couldn’t pull the trigger on ED. D21 has seen only one of her schools in person and it was in 2017!
Happy dance - 5 on all three APs taken, including Physics E&M and Mechanics!
@havenoidea - no ED here for many reasons including the ability to assess COVID management in the longer term. By May 1 of next year, we will have a lot more data than will be available by November or December. Hopefully there will be better therapies or mitigation strategies in place by then too!
By the way, I am loving the availability of online information sessions, campus tours and interviews for the same reasons that @janiewalker mentioned. While I enjoy college tours, there is something to be said for the ease of doing this from home. If we were contemplating ED, I’d probably think very differently about this.
Congrats @mamaedefamilia fantastic scores!!!
Any thoughts on ASU Barrett Honors college? Thanks!
Congrats for all these great AP scores coming in. S21 got a 3 on APUSH, making his ability to improve his SAT score (from the one baseline sitting he did last Oct) more important. (we’re good with the 3 - wish it were a 4, of course, but we’re proud of him for all the effort he put in studying and all the history he learned…it’s a topic that really interests him and matters to him).
Twp of the metro Atlanta counties just announced they are starting school all remote. One of those counties is the one where his SAT is scheduled for late August. They are starting school two weeks before the August SAT, so I feel as if that means the chances are extremely low for the SAT to happen there in late August. Our county hasn’t announced all remote yet, but I expect they will soon.
Meanwhile, our governor yesterday explicitly invalidated mask mandates that various local cities and towns had decided to put in place. ?
I feel like this application season is just so out of our control - as a homeschooler, S21’s chances for admission to some of his schools is really hurt without a chance to sit for the SAT again (less validation for his GPA). But I think I’m at the point where I’m just going to accept the fact that it’s great he’ll still likely get into several schools on his list…his shot at some feels as if it’s disappeared, but there’s nothing to be done about it. It’s hardly the most important thing right now.
I’m going to wait a few weeks until the school personnel is back in the office and then reach out to find out about the SAT. He’ll keep studying until we find out for sure, as reinforcing the math can’t hurt, and it could still be helpful if he ends up being able to test in September.
Meanwhile, he is currently staring at the blank MS word document that is to become his personal statement.
@nichols51 same situation here, our neighboring districts have announced remote learning for the upcoming school year and we are expected to receive a similar message in a day or two. And our S21’s SAT text center falls in one of the remote learning school districts. Not sure whether testing will happen given the schools might be closed. Still having a slight hope that irrespective of schools running for regular year or not, testing may happen if they follow all the rules of distancing every kid inside the room with their masks on. Lets wait and see 
@nichols51 and @suave123 Is it possible to shift their testing sites to a school district that has a greater chance of being open? Even if you had to drive aways, it might be worth a try.
@TVBingeWatcher2 Thank you!
@mamaedefamilia thanks for the suggestion. My S21 needs a seat with accommodations which is, unfortunately, tough to find. There aren’t really any counties here doing great with COVID, but there are some better than ours - the closest of those has no SSD seats available at all. The closest seat I can find in a county with perhaps a better chance of staying open is far enough away that it’s probably not worth it because, knowing my kid, he isn’t going to do well on the test if he has to be up at 5:30AM and then be at the test center for 6-7 hours (time and a half plus check in procedures). I’m going to keep it in mind but I think not change anything at this point.
@mamaedefamilia S21 is not a morning person either besides we are not that particular about getting it done as he already has one ok score from last August 2019. Giving a try once more to increase, that’s all. Let’s see…thanks for your suggestion though… will keep it Incase anything changes.
Board of education meeting held in person, where 4 of the 6 board members were not wearing masks! They announced that all students are coming back, full time. They are pushing the start back to either the first or second week of September. By this time, I expect my county in Northeast Ohio to be fully red (we are surrounded by red counties). There is a virtual option planned that I am seriously considering, mostly bc I am immune compromised and a single mom. This sounds terrible, but our mask compliance isn’t high, and I don’t trust other parents / their kids to take all precautions. Also, the HS is huge and it will be very hard to enforce distancing. Not crazy about the option, but it is what it is, and we’ll make the best of it.
@carlson2 I’m so sorry to hear that. It perplexes me as to why people won’t just wear masks. It’s ridiculous. Are these people telling their doctors to feel free not to wear a mask during their operation??
@TXStuMom We know lots of kids who go or went to Barrett and I’ve never heard anything but good reviews. Apparently, they do a good job of helping the kids with the various scholarship programs (Fulbright, etc.) and it brings some of the like-minded peers together. It (or just ASU) is a big draw from our state bc it’s drivable and affordable. Kids from our kids’ school have gone on to good med schools and law schools. Our older son’s assistant mock trial coach recently graduated from Harvard Law after Barrett.
Just saw this tweet from ACT.
"With ongoing COVID-19 changes and closures, please know there is a chance that your test center may close between now and test day.
We will continue to add to our cancellations page with the most up-to-date information
http://www.act.org/content/act/en/products-and-services/the-act/test-day/rescheduled-test-centers.html"
This is beyond frustrating. I hope no one will have to go through what we did in March. We did not know that the test was cancelled until we went to the test center !
ACT and SAT should just cancelled all test until further notice. It is crazy that they make kids waste time prepping and then cancel at the last minute.
The more ACT and SAT cancellations, the more these colleges had better be TO for real. I’m so sorry about this ACT.
The school where D is taking the Aug SAT is supposed to start school early Aug so I hope that, at the very least, we will know a few weeks ahead of the test if that school is meeting in person or is all online. Maybe that will give us a clue as to whether it will happen. I’m so over it though.
North Texas/DFW area districts are announcing no in person school until Sept 7. Dallas County Judge Clay Jenkins got the ball rolling early today and within a couple of hours 3-4 other districts outside of Dallas County followed. Our school district is usually the last to announce anything lol but I’m already mentally prepared that we’ll follow…so…that probably means Aug 29 SAT cancelled for S21…I’m done with this…He’ll apply TO to TAMU & UT and whatever happens, happens.