And meanwhile my COLLEGE freshman just dropped precalc/trig b/c he was not going to pass…
Well D26 is just finishing up tour #1 of four schools this week. Today was James Madison University in Harrisonburg, VA. I am not there as I am working but I could tell within 30 minutes of them arriving on campus that this was not going to stay on her list. I am bummed b/c it seemed like a perfect fit for her. My husband texted me and said she was tempted to bail on the tour and said she couldn’t put her finger on it but the vibe feels really weird/off. Says the campus feels super low energy, the presentation was low energy and the student giving the tour was the same. Just everyone seems almost bored. My work friend’s daughter goes there and is meeting up with them now and she is now nervous b/c she doesn’t want to be obvious that she doesn’t like the school. I am eager to talk to her later when she calls me to tell me her version of the day. I think she feels bad that she doesn’t;t like it- but I told him to reassure her (and I will do the same) that it is just as helpful- if not more helpful to take schools OFF the list after a visit. One less application to do, etc. Of course tomorrow they visit UVA which is a near impossibility but they are staying in Charlottesville so makes no sense not to visit. Interestingly, she has the grades and if you read their description of “what they are looking for” she fits, plus they are test optional, but UVA accepts maybe 10% OOS students and their nursing program even less. Anyway, just wanted to share.
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Ah, sorry to hear! For what it’s worth, my daughter had a similar feeling about Franklin & Marshall. She thought it was fine, but nothing great. Rutgers is her primary target school, and her comment was, “Why would I go here over Rutgers?” She’s not entirely wrong, BUT if she decides that she really does want a LAC, then it was a good option for her. On paper, it fits a lot of her needs really well. So now, one of the things that we’re talking about is to have a “parent school” on the list that we ask her to apply to even if she’s not super interested right now. At least it doesn’t require an extra essay, so it’s just 70 more bucks of my money and not hers, lol. Not that I think she’ll end up there, but it’s an option I want her to hold on to just in case.
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I’m souring a little on the school I had pegged for a good reach for C26. The department has a couple of email info addresses for questions about different aspects of admissions etc. I emailed one a few weeks ago and the other last week with different questions. Neither has bothered to respond.
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Neither D24 or D26 took Calculus in their junior year. D24 took AP BC Calculus as a senior last year (and received a 5). D26 will also be taking BC Calculus as a senior.
It really doesnt matter.
Neither of my kids struggle in math - it’s just a normal math progression.
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This is a busy time for admissions with acceptance offers going out, people asking that their admissions decision be reconsidered, admitted students day, hosting admitted students outside of admitted students day. It is no excuse, but your email may have gotten lost in the shuffle, or postponed until after May 1.
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These are department specific emails though, not general admissions which it sounds like you’re referring to. It does contrast to a couple of other colleges who have been much more responsive. (Also this school releases RD decisions at end February.)
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So, D26 found out today that she was NOT chosen as one of two drum majors for marching band next year.
The director created a new leadership structure for next year, and there will be a “cabinet” with six leadership positions – two drum majors, a head house leader (the social coordinator, basically – the band does Hogwarts-type houses), and three other positions. One of those, which does not yet have an official title, was given to D26. She will be the person in charge of all the section captains – so the woodwind captain, brass captain, etc. will report to her.
She’ll also be involved in some teaching, because her strength is really marching, playing – and mentoring of the younger kids. Plus some administrative tasks – organizing and getting people to do the things.
She understands it on a practical level – she is not a “hype” person, and she’s definitely not the warm and fuzzy get-everyone-excited kid. Rather, she’s very good at teaching people how to execute perfect marching technique, dance steps, etc.
And yet, she’s had a dream of becoming drum major since she was 12 when she joined marching band in 7th grade. She’ll be the senior-most person in the band (no one else is left who joined in 7th). So, this stings a bit, and it’s going to take a minute to process. She said to me, “I let myself think it was plausible, likely even, so of course I’m disappointed.”
(I’m gonna be real – I might be having a harder time with it than she is. I can’t help but think she was given a job where she has to do all of the work and get none of the recognition, but that is perhaps my mama bear coming out.)
We’re trying to look at the positives – she was kind of dreading conducting in the stands, because you have to watch the game very carefully and play the right thing at the right time, and she couldn’t care less about football, LOL. And she’s a wee bit scared of heights, so getting on the rickety platform to conduct the halftime show would have been…something.
Plus, now she gets to actually march and play, which she loves.
Still, ugh. Well, I guess this frees up a little time this summer for college visits, LOL!
Oh, and the band director said she could suggest titles for her position. He said that each cabinet position was intended to be at the same level (dunno if he’s just blowing smoke, but he’s not like that). The individual sections are headed by Captains, and then obviously there are Drum Majors. I don’t know what the other cabinet positions are, or what they’ll be called. (They’re supposed to all meet next week after the director talks to each kid individually.)
Any suggestions? It could just be Band Captain. We joked about Captain Captain, or Captain Squared. I don’t know military designations at all.
Sigh. This parenting stuff is hard.
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I’m so sorry. It’s so hard to see them work so hard, be so committed, and not get selected. While the position she was chosen for might be better fit-wise, it doesn’t take away from the sting. Rejection hurts, period.
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That’s frustrating and annoying.
FWIW, D22 emailed a couple professors in the department she was interested in – plus the chorale director – at the school where she is now, when she was making her decision.
Crickets. I was really surprised. But she chose the school anyway, and she knows both those professors very well now, has even been a TA for one of them twice. (He’s her major advisor, and she might be doing a year-long honors thesis under his advisement next year.)
The chorale director is, well, eccentric – she’s learned how to navigate interactions with him.
I have no idea whether they mostly check emails that come from internal school addresses and ignore everything else? It’s still a mystery why she never got responses. (But her experience at the school has been nothing but good.)
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Why would you go to the trouble to put contact details for queries on the website and not assign someone who will actually respond, though? I’d be far more understanding if a “cold call” email to an academic wasn’t answered. Queries to another college were fairly promptly answered, so that contrast is there too.
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D26 just finished her UVA tour. She said it was “fine” but not anything that excited her. Says the simulation lab is pretty similar to others she has seen. They have a 4% acceptance rate to their BSN program and are around $88K/year so I am glad she is crossing it off her list 
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This is the last week of regular instruction. After this week, there’s no more assignments, tests, or quizzes that have grades. Teachers can give out assignments but it can’t be for a grade. So all of next week is basically review & test prep.
As a result, this week is chock full of tests. Yesterday was Psychology, today was Human Geography, tomorrow is AP USH, Friday is Calculus. There’s also an English Lit FRQ somewhere in the mix, too.
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I hate those weeks where they’re so bogged down. Ugh.
D26 is upstairs cramming for her last AP Physics test. She has an unweighted 89 in the class. She really really wants to bring it up to a 90. AP classes are weighted 8 points at her school, so it’s actually a 97, but she’s reasoning that unweighted grades will be on her transcript.
I’m staying out of it, because I’m going to stress her out no matter what I say.
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It’ll all be ok in a couple of days. So it’s just temporary. 
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It’s midnight. Mine just finished studying for AP chem.
3 more weeks.
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Some good news to report..using the Modern States Calculus online course appears to be helping. D26 has taken some online quizzes in the class and is doing much better on them than before. Hoping this all helps reinforce the material from her in-person AP Calc AB class at school so far this year.
I think it’s torturous to students and parents that we have to wait several weeks before finding out AP test scores.
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Don’t scores release first week of July?!?! Ugh, such a long wait.
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Grinnell has a high ED admit, like Bates. It’s not as reachy as they make themselves out to be. It is totally in the middle of nowhere though. That said, we know 3 kids who went (all ED 
) and they loved it. 2 are super sporty “I’d love to repeat boarding school as an adult” types, one is a quirky kid and they are also happy.
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