We’re in the same boat. Things are just… going wrong. Nothing horrible, but if it could break positive or negative, everything is breaking negative. Kid has Calculus and Physics finals today, part 2 of Physics final tomorrow. And somehow, inexplicably, he didn’t KNOW about either of them until Sunday night for Calc, Monday night for Physics. Since school doesn’t get out until mid-June, I think he was thinking the exams would be after the AP exams, but nope. I sincerely doubt he’s appropriately prepared for either, and this morning he was super sleepy and groggy when I went in to get him, so not the best start to the day.
In positive news though, he (1) finally got his Eagle Scout Board of Review scheduled (he’s been done with all the sign offs since February, just the person who needed to do the scheduling hasn’t done anything). Of course, it’s going to be next Monday, which he can do, but it would’ve been nice to have it when it wasn’t basically the most stressful week of the year for him as AP exams start next week. And (2) he interviewed for a summer job last night and they offered it to him on the spot. He’ll be a camp counselor at a “learn-to-ride-your-bike” camp. It sounds like he’ll be assigned the 4-7 year old group who are trying to get off training wheels. It’s the perfect activity for him - outside, moving his body, with little kids who will likely listen to the big 17 year old, reasonably close to our home so he can get himself there and back, decent pay, and a 9-4 schedule so enough hours to make some solid money, but not weird or insane hours so he still has evenings to do college apps (yeah right) or hang out with friends.
Perhaps this should go under the “Say it here…” thread, but here it is:
It feels impossible to not have a list that’s too long for D25, because while I think I can help her somewhat accurately assess her academic chances at a given school, the artistic admissions feel entirely unreadable. So right now I have a love/hate relationship with ballet, and keep adding to her “please research” list as a nervous tick. When will she start researching these schools more? After APs? After finals? On our vacation before she dances for eight weeks and then has to start turning in those applications for the schools she hasn’t researched?
Not my circus, not my monkeys, right? (But I feel like I live next door to the circus, and the elephants might escape into my backyard.)
Not much to say except that I can commiserate. My C23 is in a fine arts-adjacent major (audio production at the time of application, though it seems her interests are expanding to include film production as well), and a lot of those programs are audition-entry (because a lot of them are administered as BMus programs, even the ones without a performance component). That’s a whole scary world.
The one concrete thing I would suggest is to have a couple solid backups she’s good with that aren’t audition-entry—they’re rare, but they exist for music, so I would guess they exist for dance? Those would end up as safeties, though in a different sense from the way people usually mean it here.
And FWIW, my kid ended up in a non-audition program because she decided she wanted something that would allow her wider exposure to fields outside of a narrow specialization (and, bonus, the money that college offered was really good).
I’m in the same place with - feels like the list needs to be longer because something is just not very guessable. And so to assuage my nervousness, I keep trying to research other places that should feel like safety schools so we can find at least one that legit makes him happy. However he so doesn’t want to hear it anymore, so I’m just keeping it all in my head until there is a better time to say something (if ever). But I’d really like to add a few more to his list…
I feel you. My kid isn’t in an audition major, but another niche major where admissions is wildly more competitive than the school as a whole. They also are waaaaaay too busy trying to survive school and AP exams to put effort into college search. Then they’re gone for 7-8 weeks the summer so idk when we are supposed to visit colleges, or when essays will happen. Etc.
D25 has a few senior friends and she follows the 24 College Decision Instagram page. She counted 11 kids from her school committed to UW (and none identified that they were sports recruits), so out of a class of ~300 that is OOS, that’s good to know they like our grads.
Now if D25 can just get her grade in AP Physics to a decent result. I’m literally holding my breath she won’t get a C.
Also, our school is changing its College Admissions platform. She’s been using Nanviance for the past 3 years and now we have to do it all over for when it counts. I hate system changes at my own job, so hopefully this transition is smooth and there’s a lot of help to do so.
Has your child asked specific teachers to write a recommendation? I ask because 8/9 of my kid’s teachers had their own template they gave each student whose recommendations the teacher had agreed to write. Each template was slightly different so the kids filled each one out separately.
Yes, and they requested it, but provided no specific template (large urban high school where counselors are mostly focused on gettings kids to graduate)
The key part here is why they’re asking me to write a letter. This is going to help differentiate one LOR from another. If you’re giving identical brag sheets to teachers, then there’s a good chance there will be strong overlap in the letters. But if the information is differentiated by teacher, then their letters are going to add much more to the student’s application.
Additionally, if one is at a big school, or doesn’t feel one has super deep relationships with the recommender, or wants to be even more thorough, this sample has additional questions on how to make it personal for each teacher with reference to particular lessons, projects, etc:
Also, the how you see yourseelf/adjectives to describe yourself is important because then the teacher can use their own examples to illustrate how you’ve fulfilled those characteristics, but the message can be hit home in different LORs (for instance, persistence or curiosity or kindness…the themes can be the same across LORs, but the teachers will provide different examples of how the kid demonstrates those qualities).
You can see the forms a local high school uses on this webpage Forms - Yorktown
They are called “insight” forms, scroll down a bit and you’ll see it. There’s one for parents to do four counselor, kid for counselor, and kid for teacher.
This is super useful info. S25 has had the same four teachers (one for each core subject) since freshman year, and I think he’s operating under the assumption that they all know him very well and won’t need something like this. I think they would probably still appreciate it though. Since he’s switching schools this fall, he’s really going to be relying on the teachers from his current school for at least one of his letters, and I think making it as easy as possible for them is going to be important. Trouble is, right now, he’s not too into the process. Research a few more safety schools? Nope he says the list is fine (eh, maybe, as long as he is making peace with his state flagship). Study a bit more for his APs? Nope - doing enough review in class. I keep trying to think of “fun” ways for him to engage in this part (how can he not love researching schools like I do - I mean, who doesn’t??). Just trying to avoid him getting swamped later in the summer/fall, but boy, my overdeveloped “plan ahead” skill does not seem to be one he is keen to improve these days… Thankfully, he does at least agree that he needs to get this part wrapped up before school ends in June. And I imagine he should plan to ask for one from a teacher at his new school, so a brag sheet would come in handy there.
Good luck to all taking AP exams this week (and next)! D25 has APUSH Friday and then Calc Monday and APLang on Tuesday. Some of her friends have Chem today.
We’ve got the same schedule as you - APUSH Friday, Calc and Lang Mon and Tues, and then he’s got Physics next Friday. At this point, I’m just hoping there’s a little gas left in the tank for Physics. Also, frustratingly, my older son is only home for nine days this summer, starting late this Wednesday night. So basically the end of this week and all of next. And i really was hoping to do some fun family stuff, but no can do with all four AP exams during the nine days he’s here… Sigh.
My daughter has Calc next Monday and then Bio the following Thur. It wouldn’t be too bad except that finals also start that Thursday and all of the classes have one more project or test that they’re trying to squeeze in before finals. I really don’t understand why. If the goal is an honest assessment of what a student has learned, upping the pressure to the point of panic just isn’t the way to get there.
Only 2 AP tests for D25, Chem today, and Lit on Wednesday. Chem will be tough, but Lit is her wheelhouse, so she’s not too stressed about that one. Her only issue is they have to take it paper/pencil. She is so used to typing everything!
Three AP tests for S25, and I’m just crossing my fingers for a 3 on them. (But that may be wishful thinking at this point!) He has Comp Sci A on Wednesday, APUSH Friday, and Physics 1 next Friday. In retrospect, taking the SAT this past Saturday probably wasn’t the best timing, but he felt okay about the test. He was pressed for time at the very end and couldn’t get to the last question on module 2 math and had to guess on two before that. Crossing my fingers that it went better than the March test. This weekend he has to play at the baccalaureate mass and graduation on Saturday, so it will be another busy weekend. Thankfully things are winding down, and I think most of the remaining work is just for the AP exams and maybe a couple of finals (which he may be exempt from) 5/16-5/21. We leave for our family vacation to Japan on 5/25, and I’m so ready for us to all have a break from the stress of this year!
We are somewhat contrarian on APs in our house and don’t do stress or do outside studying for them… I think grades matter way more for admissions (and learning) so focus energy there, and if the AP isn’t great, we won’t report
Also, at my kids school almost everyone gets 3+ on exams (like 85% overall?) and in some courses 100% do, so they are prepared enough from class, IMO.
However, kid isn’t looking at T20s, or even T50 universities (though maybe a T50 slac)…I will concede I’d be less chill, most likely, if they were.
My kid had AP Gov this morning. AP Lang, AP Bio, and AP Calc AB next week. He’s sort of a mixed bag on outside studying for these. I stressed about it a lot more last year (AP Lit and APUSH), but that was because I was more worried about grade inflation than I am this year, especially in his English class, which suffered from the resignation of a teacher in November of last year, then a long-term sub with not a lot of background in teaching AP anything, and then a new teacher started in March. I think he was actually the only kid in that class to take the AP exam because everyone figured it would be a waste of time - he came away with a 3…
That early senioritis is striking again! It’s really coming in waves. His classmates today got permission to go home after the exam, but I said no to that yesterday. He still tried to get me to give permission middle of the day today! I get it, but come on… hopefully he got some work done. Time to start asking some hard questions about what the plan is for after the AP exams, because his school is still in session until mid-June!
