Hang in there!
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Oh my goodness, if my S26 had summer homework I would lose my mind. Hang in there!!
Also, that last minute flurry of dorm purchases⊠I remember it so well from D22. Itâs like all my big feelings could be dealt with by putting them in an Amazon cart. You get a pass for all spontaneous shopping this month.
You guys, I have discovered a secret hack for getting S26 to work on essays and applications. S26 is now very motivated to hit his 50 hours of practice driving with an adult. So Iâve made a deal with him: 1 hour of common app work = 1 hour of driving with me or dad. Iâve gotten 3 hours of common app work this week!
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D26 did not get the class schedule she wanted, sadly. She does not even have an English class! They put her in a film class instead of any of the English class options⊠this is not a class she wanted at all.
Our HS doesnât release schedules to students until the week before school, and if students didnât get the classes they wanted, it can be hard to change (âsorry, the class you wanted is full nowâ). The process is not transparent at all, nobody knows how the counselors make these decisions. D was worrying all summer about what classes they would put her in⊠and was upset when she got the schedule. 
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Oh no!
What kind of film class is it? (Our school offers a film, literature and media criticism class as one of the senior English options. Itâs quite popular, though obviously not an AP if thatâs what your D was wanting). If itâs not English at all ..how does that work if she needs 4 years of English?
So, the first thing I did was to go to the UC a-g list to check if it technically counted for the b category (English). This one does technically count as a (non-honors) English class for UC, however our HS also has other film study classes that are in the arts category or in the elective category. For example IB Film is in the arts category. My D is concerned that not every college might consider this to be an English class. The literature content is low. The class description says that they watch films and do filmmaking and learn about film criticism. This is not what D wanted to do in her English slot, and she doesnât think itâs good prep for college English classes. The teacher also has a reputation for giving a lot of time consuming work (filmmaking outside of classâŠ) My D wanted either AP Lit, or a short story class.
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How frustrating!!
Ah, got it, ok then thatâs not at all like ours which is writing-heavy on analysis of film, literature and media. I hope she can figure out a way to get a class more aligned with what she wants.
Is she happy with the rest of her schedule?
Okay thatâs terrible. I understand that itâs tough to give every kid exactly the schedule they want, but usually itâs electives that go awry, not core requirements. If she requested AP Lit and got this instead?! Thatâs nuts. I hope sheâs able to make some noise and get it changed. Is there anything you can do as the parent?
My S25 had a very similar class his senior year (heâs planning to major in film), but it was only one semester and counted as an elective. He had to take a regular English class in addition.
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Students are allowed to put in one request through a form, and then they must just wait and see what happens. They are not allowed to submit multiple requests or contact their counselors directly about course change requests. As her parent, it would not be appropriate for me to get involved and would probably backfire somehow.
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Thank you for this! 
The Holderness family captured it pretty well, lol.
This is ingenious. I remember when these kids were little, we were all advised to âfind their currencyâ â well, there you have it, lol!
My D26 actually wrote and revised her common app essay as a procrastination tactic for summer homework. Imagine.
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I totally hear you. It is a lot. I would be going crazy too. I know so many people say âjust let them fail and deal with the consequencesâ. But that is so hard, especially when we know the consequences can truly impact their academics at a time they canât afford to slip up. My D26 was so burned out by her last day of school (June 25) that she refused to do anything related to school or college applications until after she returned from her nursing camp which was July 22. I reminded her daily about needing to get it all done before the pre season starts and also get her AP summer work done. I was nagging but then would feel guilty and frustrated. I finally just told her âI am trusting you to figure this all out b/c I canât deal with the stress and worry that you arenât going to get it doneâ. It worked. Sending hugs - deep breaths.
FWIW I totally got my S24 a shower head with a filter b/c the water where he is in school is terrible. It worked well and they switched it out when they moved out at the end of the year. Make sure you have a tool kit and a good wrench though. The original was very hard to get off. MANY kids switched out the shower heads.
I am in the process of getting ready to send S24 back to school in a week as well as juggling being a captainâs mom this year for D26- we are hosting the team tomorrow (40 girls) in my not very big back yard and I am working all day, so leaving all the prep to D26 (lord help me- I will not micromanage I will not micromanageâŠ).
Sending hugs, empathy and a virtual drink or three!!
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Oh yes- the dreaded summer work!! D26 took TWO English classes so itâs double for her. One of the classes is just a packet with several letters and the same questions for each- but itâs due August 15. Has she started it? Nope.
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That really stinks! I donât know how they could do that to a senior- I could understand if it was an elective but not a core class like that!
I was the principalâs secretary at the middle school for several years and did all the scheduling so I get that itâs complicated, and takes a long time to get it right BUT as the parent of a senior it drives me nuts that they donât get the schedules out sooner. One good thing about our school is that while other grades are told âyour schedule is done and no changes allowedâ, the seniors are actually encouraged to make sure their schedule meets their needs and request a change if it doesnât.
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Sometimes being on them is the right answer, sometimes conveying that we trust them to handle it will motivate, sometimes it is neither, nothing, or something that for the life of us we canât figure out. I love that you were able to pivot and it worked! I wish I could figure out the right approach for both apps and driving with my kid. Nothing I do works so far.
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Ugh! It is just so hard! My D26 and I agreed some weeks ago on two 90-minute blocks of work on days that she is home (one block for summer work and one for SAT/college prep work) with a scheduled break in between. Unfortunately, there has been a definite lack of follow-through on her part. So, this morning, I created a daily to-do list on Google Keep and shared it with her. Every day between now and the first day of school is accounted for - summer work, college prep, day trips and fun stuff. I am planning to meet with her this afternoon when she gets home from work so that we can discuss it. She will NOT be happy about it.
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Mild annoyance & whine: 
1 of the schools on D26âs list announced yesterday that theyâre adding the student ID card to be 100% digital and going forward, wonât be printing physical student ID cards unless the student requests it.
So yay and boo for that. Yay that you can add the student ID to something like Apple Wallet. But boo if you donât want to add stuff like that to Apple Wallet.
And what happens if you misplace/lose your phone and you donât have a physical student ID card? Youâre screwedâŠcanât get into campus buildings, canât get into your dorm, canât get into your dorm room, etc., etc.
If my kid chooses to attend there, sheâll be getting a physical student ID card, not just relying on an electronic one.
</end whine>
** edited to add **
apparently, the college also decided that you can only have 1 electronic or physical ID card active at a time. So you have to choose electronic version OR physical card. Canât have both active. Dumb.
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Sympathies to spreadsheetmom, heatherroal, snowyjojo and anyone else going through this. I feel you. C26 just wants to c-h-i-l-l this week. Meanwhile my anxiety is ratcheting up. I suspect they will not be too happy with me this evening when I start insisting on stuff âŠ
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Sports start next week. D26 âclaimsâ that the Activities section of her Common App is mostly done. Essays are still anyoneâs guess.
But, she has all her outfits ready for her senior pics next week and found her homecoming dress, so thatâs somewhat productive, right?
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My D26 is a high stat kid, 4.0 and 1550, and she will have taken 11 APs by the end.
For her senior classes, she had planned to take AP Lit, however, due to conflict of schedule, she may have to take Englisg 4 Honors instead.
Considering that sheâs got 5 on AP Lang, will this hurt her in any way if sheâs aiming for Top 20 colleges?
I would definitely have her put in the part of her Common App where they ask about âadditional informationâ that due to a scheduling conflict she was not able to take AP Lit. Will help give it some context.
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