@coastal2024 – Would you mind sharing your list? We are looking at the same major but struggling to create a good list! TIA
Same with us as well, but S26’s priority schools are unfortunately RDs (only other option is ED which he doesn’t want to do) so it’ll be a long wait for him! But he wants to get every application done early as well so that he can focus and enjoy his senior year.
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D26 is hoping to front load all application stuff before school starts so she can then just relax and wait. (only need to worry about tying up loose ends and such after school starts)
She is planning on putting her focus only on her top 4 choices.
All her back-up/safety schools do not require much beyond what she will already have completed so she should not really have any added extra work.
Her LORs are expected to be completed on or around 15 Aug so that is her goal time to be done and ready to submit.
*Application completion goal mid Aug
University of Limerick
Colorado School of Mines
University of Colorado Boulder
Rochester Institute of Technology (RIT)
All these below are being added against her will (according to D26 
).
Yes- I am forcing her to have some backups on her list just in case! They are easy/free applications, so I do not feel bad about it!!! lol
*Applications completion goal Oct 7-9 (free apply day for CO)
Colorado State University
University of Denver
University of Northern Colorado
University of Colorado- Colorado Springs
South Dakota Mines- Applied already
*Researching these to see if they will make the list
Application deadlines are further out- so she plans to look at these after she applies for her top 4!
Cal Poly SLO: (Dec 2)
Stevens Institute of Technology: (Dec 1)
Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute: (RPI) (Dec 1)
She truly only has 4 Schools on her list- and none of them seem too complicated.
1 common app essay (Rough draft completed) and it looks like only a total of 3 supplemental/short responses needed.
All other action items will be just chasing down needed forms and recommendations to be sent.
Hoping that this will mean a less stressful application time than I was anticipating!
She comes back from her summer trip at the end of this week. After a long weekend to rest and recover- she will get things finished off! (Hopefully 
)
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Our school asks for the first actual deadline the LORs are needed and emphasize “that doesn’t mean when you want them”..so we may not get before 1 Nov. but there are a few schools that don’t require LORs so hoping those will be in earlier (including a spread of safety to reach - ASU, UMN, UIUC). Only one of those requires a supplemental essay, too.
Then later ones that need LORs and essays (but still by EA deadlines where applicable) will include CU Boulder, UIC and UoA (C26 misses the guaranteed admit for architecture, which is above the general minimum, so will need to write an essay here too.. with a possibility that they just let it go as it’s a 5 year program with secondary admission to major so not high on their favored list at the moment). Then it’s disentangling which schools allow self-reported grades and test scores and which require official transcripts and score reports (adding another column to spreadsheet). And getting the CSU app done (2 colleges) sometime around then. Will see if they are still interested in USD at that stage too - it’s on the fence at the moment for a few reasons.
Everything should be in by mid-November (naybe a little later for the CSUs depending how time is managed) and then the waiting begins…
One thing that makes me slightly less angsty about sending them off to college is that they actually handled all the normal worries with ADHD kids well during the summer program (waking up without help, remembering to take their meds, remembering to put their retainers in at night and so on). And didn’t lose anything, either in the studio or the dorm.
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Our school makes the kids fill out a spreadsheet in SCOIR that lists application deadlines for each school, plus whether there’s a separate scholarship application and the deadline for that, plus same for honors college. And then, which application, whether a SRAR is required (hello Pitt), when decisions are released, blah blah.
But the student is required to print out a proof of application from Common App (or whatever they used to apply), then attach it to a particular form and turn this in to the guidance office – two weeks before the actual application deadline. Because then the school will send transcripts, LORs, school profile, etc.
They finish this whole process by mid-November, so there’s not a lot of option for applying to a bunch of places in December or January (unless the student has been rejected everywhere ED and EA, I guess – I don’t think the school hangs people out to dry).
But Georgia Tech’s in-state EA deadline is Oct 15, which means D26 has to apply and get her form in to the guidance office by Sept 26. That’s going to be a big push because Tech has one of the more intense “why this major and why us” supplemental essays. (Never mind that she also has to get the main personal statement revised on top of the summer reading work. Once band seasons starts – which it already has – all bets are off. Oy.)
Next big date after that is Oct 17 for three schools (for Nov 1 deadlines), and then the last two are rolling, but there’s not a lot to prep for those, so she may as well submit them early. Only one of these has a “why us” supplemental essay.
So looks like we’ll be done with applications by Oct 17.
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D26’s school isn’t organized enough with this process to have a set LOR timeline/guidelines.
I guess in this case- it helps 
.
It is an ‘every man for himself’ mentality and at the discretion of the teacher being asked for the recommendation.
RIT wants a counselor rec- this is the only one that may get delayed. They work on their own timeline. 
But RIT also does not announce the admission decision notification until late-Jan, so waiting for the counselor is not going to cause any extra delays.
That is awesome that C26 did well this summer!!! Such a relief. We also sent D26 off for the summer as a test run. Her therapist highly recommended it. Just to see how she does and to highlight anything that they can then work on over this next year before heading off to college.
We sent her to Ireland since her top pick is an Irish school, so she should at least see the country first .
Also, D26 has a hearing disorder- so needed her to be around the Irish accent to ensure that she could understand the people that she will be around and taught by!
We will get the full debrief from her when she returns this weekend- but from talking to her over this last month- all seems to be going well.
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This is great! My D26 has never once remembered to take her vitamins while away from home, although she does take her meds (usually because they’re monitored and dispensed by staff).
I don’t worry about her losing stuff as much, but I am holding my breath with S25. I think we could fund an entire college education with the number of water bottles he’s lost at school.
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I don’t know the specifics of her hearing disorder, but is her interest in RIT because of their NTID?
It seems like such a fantastic program. RIT is probably top of my kid’s list. Her hearing is typical, but we read that sign language is prevalent at the school, and that at hockey games, they sign the chants at well as saying them. She was excited to learn that.
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She was mainly interested in RIT because of the Art Experience (ArtEx). She is very artistic and passionate about it- but doesn’t want to pursue a major related to it. So, to her- this would be a perfect combination of a great Engineering program and an avenue to stay engaged in art!
She did not even know about NTID until she looked into the school further. But once she found out, she became very excited. It feels like this school could be a great fit for many reasons.
She has to reach out to see if she would fall under the NTID supported student category. But even if not- they will have a great community that she would love to be a part of, not to mention excellent accommodations already in place!
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C26 has I think lost one hoodie during their entire school career. D19 on the other hand, lost things with regularity ever since she was a preschooler and that continued on to with, I think, 4 dorm key replacement fees while at college 
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My kiddo is intrigued by ArtEx, too! Although she’s applying for a major that is through the College of Art & Design, it’s more techy UX/UI stuff – so she’d love to explore doing all the creative things without any pressure.
Maybe they’ll both land there and be besties! (We can never tell them that we discussed their lives on a public forum. 
)
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After developing the whole list -my daughter is considering an ED choice. We’ve been doing a lot of research and it seems like it would be a good choice for her (and the NPC is good). I had initially left it off the list because it has a very low admission rate (RD), but ED is much higher so I told her to go for it! It doesn’t really change the overall picture - obviously, if she gets in - she will go -but she still needs to fill out all the other applications so that part of the process isn’t any different.
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I don’t know how serious the interest in film really is, but if you think your student really will be applying to film programs there is an entire thread on this:
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I just finished two new tabs on D26’s spreadsheet. One is a list of all supplemental essays (some are last year’s prompts, but gives us a flavor and sense of how much work). The second lists the dates apps are due. Right now she is planning to EA everywhere she can, plus one ED.
If that works out and she meets the deadlines, she will be done with all but one application on Nov 15. She will have one RD due in Jan.
All told, with just 7 colleges on her list, she will have 21 supplemental essays to write 
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Godspeed.
My D22 had that experience, too, with 10 schools. Hopefully some of yours can be used for several schools with minor editing.
Mine last year applied to maybe 15 schools. She was applying for an arts major so also had creative applications with their own written responses for about two thirds of them.
I lost track as to the total number but she was after a while able to repurpose quite a few. It was still painful but it helped a little.
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I wish that film thread was current because D26 wants to apply as a film/cinema studies major but just figured this out last year. She was always an athlete and spent all of her time on cheer, volleyball, and track so doesn’t have much in the way of extracurriculars related to performance or production. (Her grand passion is actually acting but once again- she only discovered that recently. She is much too practical to major in it though. Unlike her mother 
)
I really have no clue what to expect when she starts applying.
The thread may have started in 2021, but it’s still current! Posts #85-201 are from November 2024-May 2025, and I strongly suspect that many of the parents whose kids were applying last school year will still respond to an @ page even if they’re not on the forum daily.
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some colleges have hardly any supplemental essay questions, while others have a boatload of them. 1 of the schools on D26’s list has 5 optional supplemental questions.
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Yup. D26’s ED school has 7 supplements. SEVEN.
Seems a bit much. Granted, some are 100 word max. But it’s still kinda over the top.
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