my kid is a stem kid but his essays read like we paid an adult to write them, no clue where he got this ability, it isn’t from me!
Some of us need unlikely letters. Sigh.
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The kid just texted me. His friend got into one of his RD schools during the EA round, so they just checked the dates for Admitted Students Days to see if they could go together. He must have been logged into the portal because when he clicked the registration link from his Google Search, he got a “You’re in!” video and a banner with his name on it. REALLY hoping this isn’t a glitch. He isn’t supposed to hear back from this school for another week (we think).
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This is very much where we are. My kid is still writing essays, doing interviews, etc, chasing scholarships & honors programs. He’s been fairly chill until recently, but now he is tired & whiny. I get it, and also it’s hard for me to stay patient. I don’t want to push him, but also I know that he doesn’t really want to close these doors at this point (he says so, in his calmer moments). I cannot wait for March to be over.
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I mean, it is silly any of those would require 4 essays either. It is all just make work for applicant.
I have a pretty senior job and do pretty senior things professionally and don’t have to go through half this many hoops for things on the regular that aren’t part of my actual paid duties.
I also have a VERY strong aversions to “competitive clubs” unless we are talking performing arts. I went to an ivy and don’t think any of those existed back then (once again except performing arts or to get a specific “post” on the paper or whatever). I am sure they have plenty now, but it is just forced scarcity IMO.
The only I thing i can think of that was really hard to apply to were things like Rhodes.
Edit. We did have to write essays for study abroad, but it wasn’t 4 of them and it wasn’t super competitive in most cases. The competitive ones were weeded out by things like major relevance, grades, etc. Not EXTRA work.
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re: competitive clubs, one of the schools we toured, the tour guide mentioned how very hard it is to get in to the competitive business club, how the majority of applicants aren’t accepted but they have a few alternate options for the kids who don’t make the cut.
And it was so offputting.
My kid isn’t a prospective business major, and I understand that the business clubs seem to be like this at a number of schools. But I just don’t get why it has to be that way. If there’s that much demand, why CAN’T you scale up?
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Essays for study abroad programs, TA positions, grad school…
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My son both studied abroad and is a TA, he didn’t write an essay for either.
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To go on a paid 11-day educational trip to Spain, our 11th grader needed to make a 3min video in Spanish… so these things make sense… but sometimes also makes you question… it is hyped… just like everything.
See also: most small-scale grants for nonprofits (former fundraiser here and boy do I not miss those days.)
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On the flip side…if S25 is going to get into Case in the RD cycle, I’m really really hoping there’s some merit aid left in their pockets. $90K/year is a tough pill to swallow, especially compared to ~$50K/year for RPI. Cleveland isn’t THAT much nicer than Troy. Maybe I need to think of this as a deposit on the grandchildren I hope to have (that 70/30 gender at RPI…oof.)
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a) this makes so much sense and also
b) (as the parent of an ADHD boy) LOL. I wish. My best hope is that he ends up rooming with someone as regimented as your daughter and somehow adapts. But this is a kid who seems categorically unable to work on anything unless he’s actually actively under the gun (as in, he’ll wake up early to do homework the day it is due rather than doing it the night before. UGH.)
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They should have an algorithym (I cannot spell this word, have tried three ways and clearly have no clue) - like give this much of our $$ away to EA/ED people, hold this much aside. Because yeah, RD people absolutely should get merit aid too.
Like with some of my complaints about how VT runs their EA process (and how slow it is) the issue is more just how very different Clemson is wrt merit aid announcements than everyone else. Like we got Pitt aid in October, UTK aid came in the EA acceptance letter in December, JMU aid came in the acceptance letter in January, and I think the folks who got aid from VT were all notified too. Clemson accepted students day is Saturday March 29 - since that’s the VERY end of March, I assume we’ll hear at least the day before - but we’ll already be travelling at that point - if the money isn’t there, it’s not worth going to see. So I certainly hope we hear before then.
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FWIW, this is us too. I am hopeful this improves when classes seem more rewarding and useful and are things he actually wants, rather than things he has to take.
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Yes and no.
The things you list later in your post are mostly more spread out, or at least much lower intensity. I mean heck, even a grad school statement of purpose is the only newly-written thing most any intensely selective grad program will ask for!
One of the dirty little secrets of education is that if you are able to self-motivate—but note the huge if!!—college is actually a lot easier than high school. The work you do has to be at a higher level, and it’s harder to catch up if you fall behind, but you can actually spread out the work in ways that high school schedules don’t allow for.
They do! (Some years ago, but my RD C17 got the highest scholarship possible to her college, for instance.) But you still have to apply early, in many cases—the two RD colleges C25 is waiting to hear from, the applications had to go in by their ED1 deadlines to retain eligibility for their good scholarships.
It was really, really hard to get into the performing arts clubs at the college I went to my first year—except for one drama club set up specifically for nonmajors who just wanted to put on a goof of a show during spring fling or whatever it was called. We didn’t care about quality, we just cared about throwing enough jokes at the wall that some of them would land—and it was perhaps the most fun I had my entire time at college.
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EXACTLY - it is forced scarcity to promote prestige.
I mean make officers and sub commitees and such to show “honors”. It is almost as schools work so hard to be more inclusive overall, and then some to try to make more exclusivity.
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My daughter (HS class of 2021, currently a senior in college) studied abroad and applied for a TA-ship for a selective undergrad course, and she wrote essays for both. She even had to try out for the club sport she plays. There are of course a variety of experiences depending on the institution and the spots available, as well as number of students interested.
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I guess I’m interested what kind of study abroad essay she had to do - was it for a particular destination, to study abroad in the first place, etc? At D19’s college most students study abroad (it is one of the colleges where the cost of tuition doing so is the same as staying home) and all you really do is rank which destination you want to go to. AFAIK most everyone gets their first choice destination. No essays or anything else required other than your advisor approving that the courses you’ll do fit in with your degree plan. (And I think you have to not be on academic probation or have a minimum gpa to go)
I can’t speak for @Shawk, but at the college where I work students have to write two essays for study abroad. One is general and the other is specific to the program. Our programs tend to be competitive. Most students who apply will get to go, but they may not get their first choice especially if it’s a popular or selective program. There is also one program that is essentially a scholarship program, and selected students go for free.
Our summer research programs also require an essay and tend to be really competitive. It doesn’t hurt that room and board is included on top of pretty good pay for 8 weeks.
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The “illusion” of free time, since there is typically a lot more outside work required. Structure is one of the reasons many athletes tend to do quite well. I highly recommend getting involved in a regularly scheduled club or activity. Additionally, I second getting a job. 6-10 hrs a week are enough for providing much needed structure and IME its enough pin money for most students.
One of the things I tried to drive into my kids heads before they left is that NO ONE gets out of bed for homework. That doesn’t mean you need to schedule 8 AM classes, but 10AMs are great. My kids also like when they end up with a period between classes. Its not worth going back to their room when they are where they need to be, so they just pop into the library or even the coffee shop and get some work done.
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