This sounds like a lot, it’s understandable that she’s overwhelmed. She will get through it, on task at a a time, one day at a time. Wishing her strength and clarity to get through this final push!!!
Mine is the same way. D26 HATES it. “Get over it”. While she knows she has to get over it, he totally fails to appreciate her lack of perspective and life experience that makes it a challenge.
Still no more essay or Common App progress here. D26 isn’t procrastinating, she’s just enjoying her last two weeks of freedom. Lots of sleeping in, seeing friends, reading for leisure, doing things she never gets a chance to do once school starts. I’m trying my best to lay off and not nag. She’s never been one to miss deadlines or commitments, so I’m gonna have to trust that she’s got it under control. Shifting from being an active participant to spectator status is HARD!!!
Sending lots of positive vibes to your D26! Mine is in a similar situation, all of her friends graduated last year, and she’s pretty much flying solo senior year. I keep telling her she’ll be so busy with classes and ECs that it will fly by, but having a couple of good friends in your grade does make it easier for sure. While she’s building her college list, definitely check out club volleyball at the schools she’s interested in. My son plays a club sport in college, and it’s been a really wonderful way for him to connect with students outside his major and make new friends. And remind your daughter that college is SO much better than HS socially- she’ll find her tribe for sure.
When I read your post, I got a picture of a kid who is brave and willing to put herself out there despite the risk of failure. She sounds amazing! Playing volleyball despite not being the stereotypical body type, overcoming her nerves and still trying out for a musical, wanting to do senior events even though her friends are not going to be with her. I see a clear pattern that she challenges herself and is willing to get out of her comfort zone. It may not seem like it right now, but these qualities will get her very far in life, and definitely in college.
Last week, D26 said that she kind of wishes that she could just fast forward to the end of senior year and be done with it all already. But she’s looking forward to seeing her friends at school this school year. BUT wants to just fast forward through the college app process so she can enroll in a college and move on. BUT she’s looking forward to going on the senior trip in Feb. And…and…and…
Thankfully D26s top choices has a sub 20% admissions rate. Rates that low feel daunting to me. She has a couple sub-20s still on her list, but likes other schools more.
D26 had an initial meeting w/a Univ of Tulsa admission rep/counselor today. Parents were welcome, so I attended as well. D26 was prepared well, asked some useful questions. Afterwards, we went ahead and scheduled our in-person visit for October.
Some random stuff we learned from this interview/meeting:
Do they allow students to have electric scooters? Yes. But no hover boards. The campus has Lime scooters available to rent all around school.
do they accept CLEP credit for foreign language? No according to their website. But this was a question from my spouse and D26 won’t be taking the Spanish CLEP exam anyway so it’s a moot question.
Is a foreign language required for cybersecurity majors? NO. Huge plus here for this.
How many students are in greek life? ~25-30%. This is a positive thing since D26 won’t be participating in a sorority.
Transportation around campus if you won’t have a car - it’s a 10 min walk from 1 end of campus to the other. There’s a grocery store ~ 5 min away + Target close by. Lime scooters available like mentioned before.
they have ‘success coaches’ that help students enroll in classes each semester.
if you apply by the 11/1 EA 1 deadline, they waive the $50 app fee. You get decision back by 12/15.
got some info about their presidential scholarship, which pays for full tuition. You need min of 28 ACT score, so D26 would need to take that test again to try for a higher score to be in the running for that.
On the international students topic - interesting observation from the Brookings Institute:
Colleges most vulnerable to international enrollment drops tend to be small, private institutions with a specialized focus, or affiliated with a Christian church
More specifically:
Based on my analysis of national data on the topic, I conclude that a handful of blue states would see large drops in spending by international students, but past that, the drop is spread roughly evenly across the country. Relatively few colleges would lose a large share of their undergraduate enrollment, but those at the highest risk are heavily concentrated among private rather than public colleges. Most of the more vulnerable colleges are not very large and have a special focus, such as art, music, or business. Also, colleges affiliated with Christian churches would be disproportionally affected. One suspects this was not the Trump administration’s intention.
Solidarity! Hugs to you and your kiddo. My D26 also tends to just not do anything when it’s all too much – and then it just spirals. And I so understand the lack of close friends worry, and also the musical auditions – all three of mine did/do theatre with varying degrees of success, and it’s so stressful.
It all sounds like a lot. I hope the college visit trip is fun and takes her mind off things for a bit!
I feel you on this one. D26 did a design exploration camp last year at NC State and a game design camp this year at Miami Ohio – both were productive and helpful in terms of identifying what interests her and what doesn’t.
But I’ve read the same caution about “pay to play” activities. D26 has nine solid activities to list on her common app, and in the tenth spot, we are debating whether she should list these summer programs – do they look better than not listing any summer activity, especially since they’re in her area of interest?
Her other option is to list a new group she just joined at school – Peer Advocacy League – which hasn’t even gotten off the ground yet. (She’s going to the new-student lunch next week for her first activity with that.) Or, she could list Chess club, which she really only did freshman year before she discovered jazz band, and it was just a blip – she doesn’t play at any meaningful level.
I don’t have a sense of whether “pay to play” activities can actively hurt you on an application, or whether they just don’t help. (But my kid, too, only has one selective school on her list, and she doesn’t even want to go there, lol. So maybe we’re overthinking this.)
I am right there with you on not having a lot of people IRL to talk to about this. My husband is the same way - “it’ll all work out in the end.” So unload here as much as you need to. I’m here to listen and support! Hugs!
To me, “pay for play” programs are worthwhile for students who want to explore a content area before college. I think they’re great! I think they don’t get much love here on CC because these programs are advantageous only to those who can afford it, BUT what most do not realize, some programs offer full tuition to those who may need it.
C26 is definitely listing the architecture program as it talks to their interest in it and some experience with studio now - it’s not something they could have done at school. One of the supplemental essays also asks about experiences related to major including ECs and the program is really it.
I don’t really see how this is any different to paying for lessons for another EC over the course of the year for things that are not offered at school ..
Just my opinion, but I find it hard to see how doing an EC within a university department related to your intended major would hurt just because there wasn’t much of a selection process. Again, it’s not like C is applying to tippy tops but I’m not sure my opinion would change even if they were.
I think ‘pay for play’ programs can be awesome and beneficial. I do not see a ‘negative’ impact by including them on the activity list. I think the issue is that many people think that these programs will WOW the admissions department when they most likely won’t. In the very limited character space for explanation- just make sure the impact statement is emphasizing what was gotten out of it.
D26 is including the program she did at Mines. No entrance requirements besides being a certain grade level and the ability to pay . But Mines being one of her top choices- looks at engagement- so one more check mark for that. For all other schools, the personal impact- she got her Certified SolidWorks Associate (CSWA) certificate.
(If Mines was not a top choice who also looks at engagement- she would only add that to her awards section)
She did a camp at CU Boulder for aerospace- not including that one. If she needed more activities listed- then she perhaps would with the spin on career/major exploration aspect. Not strong- but something
I think this is exactly right. As long as you talk about in the context of what you got out of it, I think it makes sense. At least, this is what my D26 intends to do.
Thanks, you guys! She will probably list them, then, especially since she didn’t work in her summers – it was mostly band camp and band leadership and then these two design camps.
The one this summer did require an essay about her interest, her transcript, test scores (if available) and a letter of rec from her counselor – so it wasn’t purely pay to play, I guess.
. But Mines being one of her top choices- looks at engagement- so one more check mark for that. For all other schools, the personal impact- she got her Certified SolidWorks Associate (CSWA) certificate.