C25 was working on their app this morning. They had to fill something out for one school in order to schedule an interview. I think they are ready to hit send, but we are going to wait a bit. Unfortunately no rolling admissions schools here. One school wants official test scores, which seemed weird.
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Our high school has indicated that they will not even process anything on their end until after Labor Day so there is no real rush here. That being said, child’s application is 95% complete.
Letters of Recommendations are done and submitted to the counseling department so all we will need is the counselor to do her part and get the school stuff in once the applications are submitted.
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@OctoberKate , @Izzy74 , @groundhog74 , and likely @chicagoshannon I’m so impressed your kids are ready to go on 8/1. My kid is mired in “I get anxious every time I look at my CommonApp essay” mode, despite having done a couple of drafts. I actually reached out to her old English teacher to see if she could look at it, as I think D25’s anxiety which turns into procrastination to avoid it might draaaag this process out.
Can I say that I’m glad that CommonApp “only” has 20 spots? When asked to narrow, D25 shuts down; I think it’s because there aren’t any dance “safeties” that she loves. (I know, I know, I know: “Love Your Safeties.” Believe me, I’ve tried. There are colleges that have dance that she likes that she can put in her safety bucket, but she also knows they would be recreational for dance. They remain on the list. I think she just needs to start auditioning and see what starts happening.) So I have no idea how she will ultimately whittle to 20 or less. I really just don’t want it to be “Well, I ran out of time; I guess I won’t apply there.”
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Honestly, I think if she’s even started she’s doing great. My son is the only one of his friends who even has a complete list of colleges!
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Yep, kid is ready to go, already filled most of it out. Now trying to get counselors to help since certain schools assign housing contracts on the basis of when applications are complete. They say after Labor Day. 
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My kid worked on filling out all the factual parts of the form. I still don’t know where they are on the essays. It’s been largely decided that the kid will confer with Dad for any editing, and I am to keep my nagging self out of the situation, because for some reason I inquire incorrectly, and Dad doesn’t.
Whatever it takes!
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@Izzy74 - I asked our college counselor about the schedule thing. My guy won’t have his schedule for at least three weeks (they often come out the day before school starts) but he wants to apply before that for housing purposes. The counselor said that it would be ok to include the courses he requested, and if they change, then to go in and update the schools that he’d sent the application in to already. So I think he’ll do it for the two schools that have a reason for earlier application, but then not submit to the other schools until he knows his schedule for sure.
@groundhog74 - it looks like a handful of S25’s schools want official test scores. He’s been happy with his test for a while (he wanted all testing done before ACT and SAT converted to digital, so he finished in December). So he went ahead and sent them to every college he was interested in a month or two ago. Now it looks like several of those schools he could’ve self reported (and saved me some $), but oh well.
@MMB21 - yeah, same with our school. S25 sent his “brag sheets” to his recommenders and counselors over the summer, just in case they wanted to start early. I assume they don’t, but you never know, maybe one of them wanted to get something done before the onslaught. Only one person replied to him, so I’m guessing no one is taking him up on that. I know the school won’t process anything until a week or two into the year (so likely a week after Labor Day) so we’re in a similar boat. I’m hoping that just submitting his own things early will help him for the school where submission determines housing lottery.
@illneversaynever - there was bribery involved. He really wanted to build his own desktop computer, and to build a fancy one. He only had the $$ for about half. I told him I’d give him the $$ for the other half for an early birthday present (birthday is September) if he had his essay done before the summer ended. He REALLY wanted to build that computer…
@sbhubbell - I’m really hoping that the schools assign housing based on when the STUDENT part of the application is complete. That seems only fair.
@nothappyabout - in our house I’m the one who can inquire and Dad is not. Which, I’m fine with, but I need Dad to understand that when he tries to be involved it makes it actively more stressful for S25. Theoretically I think Dad gets it, but then he’ll say something and it starts a weird defensive aggressive nastiness spiral. Sigh. I get that he wants to be involved, but the name of this game is getting through it with solid family relationships intact at the end.
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I know that spiral well 
My son completed his college list this morning. He looked up all the audition songs and started working on those (which he likes to do) and has not started on any applications or his brag sheet or essays (which he doesn’t like to do). I am really not looking forward to the nagging part of this season.
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Any Texas-knowledgeable people? If a private school in TX says you can submit an optional resume, does that fall under the same category as “optional” essay questions? It seems like nowhere else in the country asks for this resume, and it also sounds like this is a “here’s what I did every waking minute, in extreme detail, for the last four years” document. Am I wrong? I will coerce D25 into writing one if she will be frowned on without it, but she’s having enough trouble with the activities section, so I’m sure this one might be pulling teeth. I’d love input!
Resumes are an optional submission for many colleges. I would not bother with a resume if there’s nothing that would go in it that isn’t already covered elsewhere in the app. There is no need to regurgitate the rest of the app. It’s not akin to an “optional” essay.
Generally, a resume would be one page. A summary, not “here’s what I did every waking minute, in extreme detail, for the last four years.”
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My son has several schools that have asked for a resume. He has one so he included it but I don’t really see the point, everything is already on his app.
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My kid is easily bored and super organized. S22 was the opposite. I’m pretty sure he first visited his ED school a couple weeks before the deadline (although COVID).
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I think only one of their EA/ED schools requires an official report.
Technically C25 doesn’t have a finalized list. They have their ED/EA list (5 schools) and then plans to reassess/scramble if they get deferred and/or rejected from their 2 ED/EA schools in their top 3. That sounds stressful to me.
Normally, I agree. But here’s what one website writes about the resume for UTexas (not the school my kid is considering, but I figure most kids will probably use the same resume for all TX schools):
The expanded resume is basically a list of every experience a student has had that will help the admissions office get a sense of who they are as an applicant. UT expects that these resumes might run three to four pages—or even more—so instead of just listing titles and dates, students should describe their activities, define their roles, and elaborate on their specific experiences.
We are in Texas, and have just had this conversation with our school college counselor.
For our D22 we included a 1 page summary resume with the common app. For our S25, he has also created a 1 page resume. However, for UT and A&M admissions, they have stated that a longer resume is preferred, as these schools do not necessarily use the activity list from the common app!!! Bizarre I know!
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I seriously don’t get resumes for college applications—they’re built for a different purpose. Is it an attempt to look Connected With The Rel World™? Because that’s all I can figure, but if so it’s a dumb way to signal that.
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This is a good point and I think it’s probably the case for UT. Texas A&M seems to assign housing based on when they are accepted and I know it’s possible for auto admits to get acceptance very early but I don’t know what the counseling office needs to send for the app to be complete.
So S25 comes downstairs this morning and tells me that he signed up for Niche Direct Admissions and has a conditional acceptance from Illinois Wesleyan with a 35K scholarship. He’s such a random kid, I had no idea he had signed up for anything.
Anyway, it made his day, even though I don’t think it’s a “real acceptance.”
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According to Niche,
The scholarship offers are set by the college and are conditional—the students must submit verification materials to satisfy requirements at the institution. Students are provided the initial merit aid as determined by you, but Niche does not award the full financial aid package which keeps control in the hands of the institution. Once they take the next steps by submitting their transcripts and any verification materials and add you to their FAFSA you will be able to award a full financial aid package through your normal processes.
Getting an offer of admission and scholarship package is a great way to start the day and to have a good idea of whether the school will fall within the budget. If he investigates the school and thinks he would like it, it would be a great sure thing.
I suppose that if kids decide to participate in these direct admissions programs that there’s not necessarily a need for an early application to a rolling admissions school, if they already have acceptance offers to other colleges (assuming they end up liking one of those schools and that it’s affordable).
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oh she’s not completely ready. She’s still working on her essay. I told her she needs to go give it another read right now. The one application she already turned in didn’t need an essay. What I’m really hoping she does is reach out to her English teacher soon to have her read it over. She needs to have this done before school starts on Aug 22 because she will not have time after that!
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