Another thought occurs to me here, which is how this statement shows how un-level the playing field is, both in terms of access to such opportunities and how it reflects on those who can put a selective summer program on their college applications. Again, well done to your D for being selected.
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With D24, I nagged her the entire summer about this before senior year. She refused to even start until the school year began. She ended up getting her essays done with a couple of weeks to spare before app deadlines, so it turned out fine.
Itās not the end of the world if they donāt have a rough draft by the end of the summer. But in our neck of the woods, āend of the summerā is late July since school year starts here usually in early August.
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Yes, my D said that too. She doesnāt feel envious of these kids, and she thanked me for sending her to a HS that doesnāt have this atmosphere.
I just hope she can make some friends anyway, and I hope the social thing doesnāt interfere with her collaboration in her project group. The whole summer is about team projects, and sheāll be working with the same 3 other people for the rest of the summer.
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I hate that your D had to deal with this. Not many kids in our area attend summer programs, so I guess our local HS might be considered ghetto as well?
She did get a glimpse of this on her recruiting trips. The majority of them attend elite private schools, were in multivariate calc and all sorts of advanced classes that arenāt available in D26ās school.
UCD is an amazing school. HYPSM isnāt the be all end all for everyone.
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Whelp, D26 decided not to take the ACT today. She said she is comfortable with her 33 and feels it is a good reflection of her abilities. It is also at or above the 50% for most of the schools on her list. I would have preferred she try to squeak out a few more points for a 34, but my husband and I decided it was her decision. I guess that means we are officially done with testing!
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Huge congrats!!! One less thing to stress about!!!
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S26 is taking the ACT right now. He was running late, had agreed to pick up a friend, who is taking the ACT at the same location today and then calls me from the road that he forgot the paper they need to check inā¦sure enough, itās on the dining table 
So I jump in the car and meet him half way back to the house, ah the life of a teen boy mom 
But hey, he was very confident that he could raise his score by the four points he wants. We will see and I have the suspicion that if he falls short, that he will want to take it again. So we might not be done testing after today.
Good luck to all the 2026es who are testing today. An congrats to @aewlmom for being done!!!
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D26 just got home from the ACT. It was a LONG day. Up at 5:30 am for a long drive for the only seat left in our state that she could find for todayās test date. It was a gross rainy day so at least she didnāt feel like she wasted a beach day. They got a very late start and only started at 9:00 am!! She said it took forever for everyone to get checked in and she sat at the table for a full hour waiting to start. She also said this was by far the hardest of the three she has taken which I am hoping does not mean she did not do better. She was really hoping to raise her superscore by at least one point so keeping fingers crossed for her. We had a delicious Vietnamese lunch afterwards and she was in a great mood, feeling very glad she is done with ACT no mater what the outcome is. She decided to run for a NHS class officer position and has to submit a video so she is upstairs working on that right now. Hope everyone enjoys a nice weekend!
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The best feeling! 
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One of the art camp kidās moms has reached out to C26 for babysitting - apparently another 3 kids were asking too! It will be great if they can get this gig for senior year. Itās weirdly difficult to break into the babysitting āmarketā around here!
Edit - a second one just texted them too!
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2 days after wisdom teeth post-op and so far, so good. Kid felt well enough to join D24 & I on a trip to Wally World (Walmart). Then promptly took a nap when we got home. That was more activity than sheās had since Thursday! 
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Grades came in and d26 is pleased and so are we- not unexpected but precalc was touch and go for a while.
Technically, there is still one day of school left but itās for makeup exams. Sp d26 is DONE with junior year!
Her summer job started this weekend and sheās already scheduled for more hours than Iām comfortable with. I wanted her to get some rest. Hang out with her friends. Go to the beach. It was a grueling year and sheās deserving of at least a few days off to recharge but sheās scheduled out the next week with some doubles and no full days off. Itās very good money (she is basically a staff babysitter at an all inclusive very exclusive resort nearby) and it can be fun.. but itās the opposite of rest!
I hope all your kids had a good ACT this weekend! And you all had a good Fatherās Day! Perfect weather here in Maine. We kayaked and played ladder ball (mostly without D26 thanks to work. )
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Last day of school was Friday for D26. Teachers were super good about turning grades in, now she just needs her final junior transcripts for pre reads. Had some drama over senior year class scheduling, last minute adjustments were made, but core classes were largely unaffected.
Yay summer!
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Yep, sheās seriously targeting the UCs. Because the PIQs are so important-- and because she canāt exactly rely on a perfect GPA-- and also because sheās pretty private about what she wants to share with us, her parents (one of whom includes a college composition instructor 
weāre thinking about getting some professional help here.
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This happened to my S24 the summer after sophomore year- he was at a restaurant and they were scheduling him several days in a super long shifts. He ended up totally burning out and by mid July wanted to quit. Making sure that does not happen to D26 this summer!! Itās hard when the money is so good- all they see is dollar signs and get excited but donāt realize they need down time.
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Summer is officially here, and itās feeling more like this whole college application process has officially started for us! S26 finally signed up for a Common App account and filled in most of the personal info and added 4 colleges to his list so far - Kenyon College, Virginia Tech, Susquehanna University, University of Richmond. Heāll work on the essays in July after attending Kenyon Young Writers Workshop. Heās relieved to end up with an A in AP Calc AB, a class that has challenged him. So straight As for junior year, and weāll see what he got for the SAT he took earlier this month. Cannot help but be proud of S26 - he worked so hard all year and now itās time for him to share his story and see which college fits him best! Best wishes to all our kids as they begin this process!
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Completely a random aside, but we just saw the Mona Lisa a couple weeks ago, and some of my favorite pictures from our whole trip are of my kids taking a selfie with her.
I donāt know what your connection is to the painting, but your profile pic and screen name make me smile!
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Awwww, thanks! Thatās amazing you got to see her in person! I havenāt seen Mona Lisa in person yet! Iām an art teacher, hence the profile pic, hahaha and the Mona Lisa with the face mask was from the Covid days! Just never had a chance to change it lol.
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Is everyone now on Summer Break?!!
Hope everyone is enjoying the break 
while still getting done all that needs to be accomplished!!
D26 has most of her Common app essay done (very rough draft- but that is what she had wanted to accomplish before she left on her summer trip to Ireland)
She will not let us read it yet (always has been like that - lol). Wants a more complete version before we see it.
I am nervous about the topic she picked. It is a great topic/direction that really speaks to her personality - if she can get it to go the direction she is hoping it will go.
I am concerned that she will not be able to pull it together. 650 words is not a lot of room to convey what I think she is trying to say.
But I have to remind myself that this is her process and that she is a very strong writer (I am not ), so if it can be done- she can do it!
She is also working on her college list to add a few more options.
Really am pushing her to diversify her options a bit- just in case this next year has any major changes to what she is actually looking for in a school.
She has not really added anything new yet- but she has been doing a fantastic job of marking off the ones that I suggested that she adds 
She has marked off of āmy listā of schools to consider: Purdue, Rose-Hulman Institute of Technology (RHIT), University of Texas- Austin (Dad was sad about this) and Cornell. (location was the main reason for removing most of these)
The remaining parent suggestions are still being looked into.
Other than all that- just getting ready for summer fun!!
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D26 is still laying low and recuperating from wisdom teeth surgery. Discomfort levels much better today. Itās been a whole lot of laying around doing nothing since Thurs of last week. She heads back to work at Wally World on Saturday.
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