My kids don’t like schools with “too much sunshine.” They require a certain amount of overcast / rainy / foggy, or winter weather.
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That’s the kicker. Mine is quirky too! I think she needed a little diversity. Student population is the size of her high school and she didn’t want to be surrounded by permutations of herself.
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S23 goes to Pitt and loves the Cathedral of Learning aka “Cathy” 
! If you haven’t been inside it feels like walking into Hogwarts! It’s gorgeous inside! If you go visit, take the Nationality Rooms tour to see decorated classrooms showcasing a country’s culture. Yes, they are used as classrooms. It’s amazing!
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Thank you for the heads up about WPI. Biology and Biotech-that’s the major we were looking at too at WPI. The way my kiddo feels about a few areas of study, ease of switching majors is a big priority for us.
Thank you so much for the detailed info and feedback on WPI and RIT! You hit the nail on the head with the whole tech bent on Biology.
We went through the majors at RPI in depth. The Environment Sc program is such a fit for S26, they have different concentrations with this major, one being Biology. Looking at the sample course plan, it is exactly what he is looking for. Unfortunately, going by the common data set, RPI is a big reach for him. Also looks like the academics are a little intense at RPI, although to be fair, this impression in based solely on whatever info we found on internet.
So now he is thinking he might just apply to RIT.
And now instead of curtailing the college list, we just added one more to it 
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This was our impression, too – and coupled with the fact that their game design major is pretty narrow (my D26 is more looking for a broader interactive media design focus with a little big of game design thrown in), she decided against RPI. She’s not interested in that intense of a program, either.
It’s hard, this winnowing of schools!
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Wanted to share this with you guys, even though it’s kind of obnoxious.
Every county in our state sponsors a program called “Star Student” – this award is given to the senior that is the top SAT scorer in each school (from one sitting, not super score), provided that student is also in the top 10 percent of the class.
That student then gets to pick their favorite teacher, and both of them get their names in the paper, are treated to a county-wide lunch and awards ceremony, etc.
A couple years ago, a band friend of D26’s won this award. He’s a brilliant chemistry student who is now at Duke, but instead of picking an academic teacher, he picked their band instructor as his favorite.
My daughter saw that and got in her head that she wanted to do the same thing. She’s always been a good test taker. So spring of 2024 she started taking the practice digital SATs in blue book – there were six or eight of them at the time – and then sat for the test in June 2024. She got a 1560.
We were pretty pleased with that, obviously, and she knew most people in her class were taking the ACT instead (only the SAT counts for Star Student), so she was crossing her fingers it would be enough to win.
Well, yesterday she found out her friend – another band kid – scored a 1580. They were playing “hot seat” during the band leadership retreat, and someone asked him his SAT score, LOL. And my kid’s reaction was to say, loudly, “Dammit!” (I’m sure she got some side eye – she’s at a conservative private religious school.)
She didn’t think to ask if that 1580 was a super score. She did learn that he didn’t have a perfect English section, so she still has those bragging rights, LOL. And she also said jokingly, “Yeah well I know he’s failing French, so maybe he’s not in the top 10 percent.”
He’s one of her favorite friends – they dated briefly in middle school, and he was her woodwind co-section leader for a year. So she doesn’t begrudge him or have any desire to retake the test just for this one thing – also, it comes out in the spring, so it has no bearing on college applications at all. Just a fun little award to get.
Alas! If this kid wins, I hope he also chooses their band director as his favorite teacher – good chance he will. 
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So here’s a question- D26 is taking a Dual Enrollment class this year. Her school rarely has that available so she is jumping on the opportunity. Her school says they will weight it as an Honors level class (adds a 0.5 to the grade). But it is definitely a DE class. Through a local university that will be sending the prof to the HS to teach the class, etc. On her schedule for the upcoming year, it is showing as an Honors class- there is no “DE” distinction on her schedule b/c the HS doesn’t do DE often. She obviously wants colleges to know it is in fact a DE class for rigor sake. But she is worried to list it as DE and then it shows as honors…thoughts? Her college counselor (I explained that whole debacle) is new to the school and doesn’t start until end of August. I am also not overly optimistic about her as based on what I found, this is her third job in four years 
It’s possible – probable? – that the transcript will show it correctly as DE, even though the schedule is listing it as honors? Somehow you have to push for that to happen because it only makes sense to list it as a DE class on college apps, if that’s what it is.
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So, for what it’s worth, here’s what we’ve heard about dual enrollment. First, there’s a difference between dual enrollment where you go to the college and dual enrollment where the college sends a professor. My understanding is that it’s more interesting from an admissions perspective when you take dual enrollment at the college since you’re interacting with college-level students. That said, I also got the impression that taking dual enrollment wasn’t a big deal per se. It’s more that you’re maximizing what’s available to you.
This is all different if you’re actually wanting to use the class to get college credit. Then the transfer value is the more important thing than the admissions value. So whether it shows up on the transcript as honors or dual enrollment isn’t a big signal unless you’re trying to say that you went out of your way to maximize your opportunities.
All said, I’m happy to be told this is wrong. It was just the impression we’ve gotten from trying to decide my D26s classes for next year.
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It was fairly common in my D’s HS to have college professors teaching courses but they were listed on her transcript as honors (or AP if the prof was teaching the AP class). DE was seen as less rigorous.
And in terms of getting college credit for the DE classes, my D had to jump through a lot of hoops in terms of transcripts from that university and needing all of the course syllabi.
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It is definitely worth it to ask her counselor to put it in her recommendation - she might surprise you. Your daughter could also explain briefly in the CA’s Additional Information section (with specifics such as name of college, professor, etc.).
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D26 reached out to the Marist admissions counselor with a question about rigor when it comes to math. She was extremely helpful and encouraging.
And D26 drives me nuts about what will take a college off her list too- Stevenson and Marywood have ugly colors and she doesn’t like the name “Stevenson”. 
She’s also dead set against going to a school where too many from her HS attend- she really dislikes her school.
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For DE courses: In the Common app for Current or Most Recent Year Courses section, we are trying to figure what to put down for one of her classes (And one of D26 schools requires the Courses and Grades section to be completed- so many questions on this 
lol)
She is taking Calc 2. On her transcript it will show Just as Calc 2. But in this class students sign up for the Calc BC AP test and the second semester it becomes a DE class (optional). So, when it asks the Course Level- no clue to what to put down?
We have a meeting with her counselor next month- so will ask then. But it is only a 10-minute meeting and there are so many questions!!!
If you want a chance to get an answer earlier than next month, go ahead and email the counselor and ask. Worst thing that will happen is the counselor won’t respond until your meeting with them but you could luck out and not have to wait until then for the info.
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We have this issue with Pittsburgh…
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After watching MORE videos yesterday, I thought that would be a good place for it as well! It’s not a BAD thing - it’s just different than your normal high school approach and might cause confusion.
Appreciate the advice!
Honestly, it’s a bit of a bummer -because I think she’d love many things about WPI BUT she is just NOT set on a major.
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We keep adding and subtracting from our ‘finalized’ list so I feel the pain. Haha!
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