Back when my S23 was applying to colleges, he was awarded entrance merit scholarships for both UBC and Toronto that would have made them affordable (not too much more than a UC). However these scholarships aren’t common and I expect there will be significantly more competition for our HS class of 26.
I just hope the tuition doesn’t rise so much that it falls out of our budget.
D26 has been looking at an international option for a while now. She has her heart set on University of Limerick (I know it is not wise to ‘fall in love’ with a school- but it just happens sometimes )
A year or two ago I would assume that she was a sure thing (or as close as one can be) at UL, but I now worry that there will be an uptick in applications that will make it more competitive than it normally would have been.
Now she is looking at a few other options that are international as back ups.
Have you pursued looking at Bradley? I’m also looking at it, but we haven’t visited yet.
Hey! I’m gonna be real, we started looking at Bradley – they offer some majors that were intriguing to D26 – but I read some articles about Bradley struggling financially, and that makes me nervous. I doubt I will encourage D26 to pursue schools that are far from us that aren’t well known AND are already struggling, because in this current political climate, even the powerhouse schools are cutting faculty in anticipation of not bringing in enough revenue from international students.
We actually have a trip planned in a couple weeks to see Clark and WPI – and I just read about Clark doing this kind of cutting, too. Oof. It all makes me nervous.
Hey all, we just got home from a whirlwind 12-day vacation to London and Paris. Partially a graduation trip for S25, and partially a family vacation because who knows how much longer D22 will be able to travel with us (presuming she gets a job or goes to grad school, lol).
It was a great trip overall but complete with travel snafus and illness, etc. So we’re all recovering. I am so behind on reading here, but I’ll try to catch up!
Ugh, I need to get back to it with D26 on her final list and the main essay. I also need to help D22 figure out what the heck she’s going to do with her life. And then, S25’s college orientation is in a couple weeks.
My twins (S25 and D26) turn 18 on Wednesday. They both want the Switch 2. Well, we were in Europe on June 5 when it was released, and I didn’t get it together to pre-order, nor did I know it would sell out in like one day. Oy. Parenting fail. I bought them each a copy of Mario Kart World (WTH why is it $80) as an IOU to buy the console when it’s actually available again.
So tired. I really just want to sit on my couch and read a book and not think about college or planning anything.
It is such a busy time. I just got my D22 off to her internship in Atlanta—she came home from school for one night. We went shopping for business casual clothes, she had her favorite pasta dinner and she was back on a plane.
And it’s finals week for S26. He doesn’t have a ton of tests—but three significant projects all due on the same day. And of course he left them to the last week. Then he takes the ACT on Sunday and we leave for the East coast on Monday.
I am already tired!
Finals week! But AP classes have no final and her French teacher opted for a project so D26 has ONE final lol. She’s happy with that.
Here is the great thing about Canadian universities. They are all generally great I am surprised that really only three or so have name recognition here. One of the very popular ones has a subpar campus vibe. The weak Canadian $ definitely makes them a viable option. My kids are dual citizens so they definitely price out much better for us. Currently it looks like they are not in the running for my oldest right now, but still keeping them in mind as a nice affordable and safe choice.
D26 and I were just looking at RIT’s website, and we noticed a little asterisk that said *Our new media design BFA program no longer requires a portfolio.
This is new, and it’s HUGE! New Media Design is exactly what D26 wants to do, and although we felt pretty good that she’d be accepted into RIT (71% acceptance rate), we weren’t at all sure about her getting into one of the College of Art and Design majors. She’s talented artistically and has done some great creative work, but she doesn’t have traditional studio art experience, so any portfolio she pulls together will be weak.
There is an online info session tonight that has breakout sessions by academic interest, so she’s going to try to find out whether the portfolio is just not requested for this major, or whether it’s “optional but strongly suggested.”
Still, this is great news! I do think RIT is her first choice at this point, despite the weather, despite no marching band (they do have a robust and fun pep band for hockey, plus an orchestra that plays all video game music!), despite the meh dorm situation, and despite the distance from home.
ok, we are officially giving up on trying to get CLEP credit for Spanish. D26 is burned out and no matter how much she reviews the material and takes the practice tests, can’t get a high enough score on the Modern States course to qualify for the test voucher. So if she attends U of A next year, she’ll be taking spanish again because her major’s GE requirements call for 2 semesters of a foreign language.
D26 gets her wisdom teeth out tomorrow. She’s really nervous about it.
H keeps hassling her about getting her driver’s license. Yes yes, that will happen. Driving school said she needs 25 more hours of on-the-road practice and then she’ll be ready for her test. Driving test will probably be next month.
D26 spent a little time last night working on app essay stuff…free writing, where you just write out whatever comes to mind about whatever the essay topic is at hand.
D26 left for her summer exchange program in France yesterday. She sent a few photos, her host family has a litter of kittens so I highly doubt she’ll want to come back to the US after being around all that cuteness
S26 is done!! Finally. Finally!
And it appears as though he landed all As (2 A-s that just barely squeaked over the edge–APUSH and Honors Physics). I’m super proud of him. He changed schools this year because he was having a terrible social experience at his old school. He really had a great year at the new school–made some lovely friends and made some great grades!
Senior year here we come!!!
All three of mine have had theirs out, with zero complications (even though my younger two both had complicated cases – D26’s bottom teeth were completely sideways and close to a nerve, and S25 had a cyst in his nasal cavity, and one of his wisdom teeth was floating in there.)
Best advice we got was to do a warm salt water rinse as often as humanly possible – every hour, even. This helps to heal quickly and prevents infection.
Wooo! So glad the second school was a better fit – it’s hard to change halfway through high school, I imagine.
My D26 also thankfully squeaked in As in Honors English and AP Physics after a nutty year in physics in which her first teacher left the school amongst some unsavory allegations – so I get it!
Happy to put this year behind us. Mine wishes she could just go to college now and skip senior year.
Hi! We just got a flier from Salve Regina University in the mail. I had originally discounted it because it was catholic -but it seems like it has a variety of students. I have a kid who would really like being near the ocean. Anyone know anything about this school -good or bad?
Salve is GORGEOUS!!! In Newport which is a beautiful town, great beaches. Friend’s daughter just graduated and loved her four years there. Def lots of kids from New England there.
I just looked at the campus for fun – it’s gorgeous (and has my D’s planned major). Hmmm, might be worth further investigation.
And… we are officially done with junior year! Second semester grades dropped (6 As, 1 B in AP Physics), D26 started her summer camp counselor job this week (she likes it so far!), and she will re-take the ACT on Saturday (final test, no matter the results). The finish line is in sight!
Yay to all those who have more recently finished school for the year!
C26 is on day 4 of the art camp job and has been really enjoying it. They were supposed to come home for lunch (it’s not too far from us - they have a morning and afternoon camp with no requirement for the assistants to stay during lunch) but a couple of the kids who are doing both AM and PM have begged them to stay over lunch and hang out/play uno etc with them. That’s so sweet!
They were exhausted the first day but getting used to it now - it’s basically an 8:30am-5.30pm day.
Thanks for the advice! My D23 will get his wisdom teeth off in 2 weeks!