Interestingly enough when we started having conversations with S23 about programs and locations (Fall 20?) he had his heart set on Carnegie Mellon for some reason. No idea why - we had never visited and didn’t know anyone that had gone there. Spring of '21 we visited Syracuse, CMU and UVA. Long story short he ended up not even applying to CMU - didn’t like the school, the vibe, etc. His perceptions of that visit were different than mine but it’s his that matter in the end.
Not suggesting your X26 WILL pivot - but be prepared that it might well happen!
Tryouts for fall sports began today, although S26 runs XCountry which is no cut. We’ve still got two more weeks before school begins. I feel bad for everyone who is back already! Of course come May you can all feel sorry for us.
I feel as though we’re getting close to knowing where to apply. S26 wants small, not too far away, with a combined degree program with Occupational Therapy. We’ve got another trip planned in October to go look at some more schools.
Can’t believe we are already in week 2 of school. S26 is taking the year seriously and said there’s a different vibe in classes this year. He has 3 AP classes, he could have taken a fourth one but decided to take honors English instead of AP English, one less AP exam to take and it still counts as a 5 in the GPA calculation. Plus we figured the class might be smaller so he would have more attention from the teacher to work on his essay writing.
He still hasn’t show any interest in getting his driver permit, I asked him a few times if he wanted to do it and got a vague yeah maybe and no follow through. Given how much stuff he has this year it’s low on the priority list unless he wants it.
SAT prep, jazz band, jazz ensemble are all going to take time. I’ve told him to schedule his time and he seems to have made an attempt to at least do something on Saturdays instead of letting everything wait till Sunday night.
We did a few campus visits, UC Davis, UCSB, UCSC and Cal. Of these he likes UCSB the most, who can blame him ? Santa Barbara is a gorgeous city, he liked the vibe of the campus my wife thinks it’s unreasonable. To her college should have some struggle in it and UCSB is too pretty. “it’s not real life” were her exact words. I went to Cal so was excited to show him around, he thought downtown Berkeley a bit dirty. He loved UCSC and all the redwoods. My big surprise was UCDavis just a friendly vibe, they have 15 boba shops in downtown which he was happy with.
But he didn’t like that Davis is isolated and the closest thing is Sacramento. I tried to tell him he won’t be going to LA from Santa Barbara but he thought it’s at least closer.
On the positive side we no longer have to fly to San Diego to take the SATs, turns out his school has some seats they save up but you have to ask the counselor and they will free up a seat for you. I am hoping he just takes it once in October and is done with it. It’s going to be a busy year, we will visit my sister in the east coast for spring break and do a few college tours there too. Although he’s very much afraid of the cold.
My kid is also dragging feet on the driver permit - trying to get the learner permit done still! They only turn 16 in October.
What college app systems do your schools use? Our school switched from naviance to Maia sometime between D19 and now. I don’t love it, then again I didn’t love Naviance either. The info is all fine and useful but I don’t find them user friendly.
A bunch of colleges (100+) will be sending reps to x26’s school later this semester for a college fair. Juniors are allowed to make 2 appointments and X’s current top choice will be there so they’ll go see the rep. Not sure if they’ll see anyone else at the moment, but apparently they’re still adding colleges to the current list so we’ll see who else is on. It’s all starting to feel a bit real.
We use Naviance, his counselor told us it would be changing and wouldn’t give us access to it. Turns out he just used his school account and got in. In his 3rd year he is on his 3rd counselor they keep leaving for private roles. I don’t expect much from them at this point.
Our school district just switched last year from Naviance to SchooLinks. I rather liked Naviance, or at least I found it useful for my older kids. I have only played around on SchooLinks once, so I am still trying to figure it out. Looks like there are already 112 college visits scheduled for September/October. Our kids can stop by as many rep visits as they want but it often requires missing classes – which my D26 hates to do (causes lots of stress/anxiety).
Joining the club of juniors without a driver’s license. Mine turned 16 back in March and he still shows limited interest in even getting his permit. TBH, I don’t mind. Driving him around is a good way for me to keep up with him since we talk, listen to music and have a good time.
I’m looking forward to taking S26 to Davis and Cal soon. We saw UCSC a few months ago, for an official tour. He thought it was “ok” – it’s gorgeous but he didn’t like how it would be tough to walk anywhere cool. And for some reason, both times I have toured UCSC, the campus has seemed empty. I don’t know if the separate colleges keep people from forming a critical mass anywhere, but it was too quiet for my kids (by contrast, my D22 goes to UCLA and it’s always got people roaming around… I have never been on campus or on the hill and not been surrounded by bustle).
And, S26 started junior year today! Excited to hear about his first day when he gets out in a couple of hours!!
Join us for the second session of the CC Bootcamp line-up on Wed, Aug 21 at 7pm ET and learn more about the importance of standardized tests in the college admissions process. This session is hosted by our partner @Tony_PrincetonReview.
Session Outline:
Overview of Different Standardized Testing Policies
Some Case Studies on Test-Optional Admissions
Why Have Schools Gone Test-Optional?
Should I Send My Scores or Not?
Taking/Retaking Soon? Some Advice for Juniors & Seniors
Art program kids are the best! So happy for your S26. I sent my D26 to a precollege art program last summer and she LOVED it for the same reason–being surrounded by a community of artists when you are one yourself is magical. Good luck with the new school. I hope it’s a wonderful fresh start. Sounds like he’s ready, which is half the battle.
I think they limit the juniors so the seniors get preference,which makes sense. Yep, they need a teacher pass and can’t miss tests etc if they clash. I think it’s a nice thing to do for those who find it difficult to visit colleges or to visit all of them.
As long as it’s not 4pm on a Friday that traffic. SB does have the beach though and other cute towns nearby. D19 only had one friend at Davis but she loved it and I’ve worked (used to volunteer in a wildlife hospital) with some of its students who were interning who loved it too.
I agree. S22 goes to Cal and a couple of his good friends are at UC Davis. They keep visiting each other all the time, for events, concerts and what not. A lot of kids from our high school go to UC Davis. They all seem to love it, I have only heard good things.
I went to UCSB for undergrad, and to Cal for grad school. My oldest went to Davis. We are in So Cal and visited Davis because every alum that my spouse (UCLA & Cal) and I had met, spoke so fondly about their experience at Davis.
The vast majority of the time, students stay in their college town. UCSB students go into Santa Barbara (11 miles away) as often as Cal students go into San Francisco. At least the Bay Area has BART. If your UCSB student doesn’t have a car, they will need to rely on rideshare or buses to get to Santa Barbara.
Don’t get me wrong. UCSB is beautiful and has a great college town, but I wouldn’t discount Davis because one is comparing Sacramento to Los Angeles.
For those considering Davis and/or Berkeley, there is a very popular student shuttle between the two campuses.
We visited Cal and UCSC while they were in session while Davis and UCSB were on summer break. I have to agree with the poster who said UCSC didn’t have a lot of people around it’s true even when the school was in session the library was not full and there just weren’t a lot of people around. While we were driving out we saw the engineering building at UCSC and they had some type of event with food trucks and a lot of students out for it, I think they were signing up for clubs. But otherwise the campus was strangely silent.
I have two uncles and an aunt who all went to UCSB and one also ended up teaching there so I am very fond of the school. It’s changed a lot since the 90s when it had a party school rep I am sure there’s still partying going on but with 17% acceptance rate from our highschool I’ll be glad if S26 gets accepted there.
One thing that they did emphasize at Davis is how available the teachers are and the opportunities for research. Talking to a friend who went to UCLA for example it’s far more competitive and you have to push to find a spot for yourself. Not sure if S26 wants that or not nevermind the less than 10% acceptance rate at UCLA.
Overall UCSB hits that sweet spot between big and small school size, amazing nature activities while not too far from us (6 hr drive). Oh and of course cost, S26 mentioned USC and I reminded him they cost about 3x the UCs so might not be top of the list for us.
I gotta say on a personal note I am not ready to see him leave, S26 cracks me up with jokes and it’s amazing seeing him grow up, he’s changed a lot in the last two years. When I see his peers that he grew up with they have similar changed, it’s like oh these little kids that used to run around our house screaming are now small adults who can form full coherent ideas. How did it go by so fast ?
that traffic. SB does have the beach though and other cute towns nearby. D19 only had one friend at Davis but she loved it and I’ve worked (used to volunteer in a wildlife hospital) with some of its students who were interning who loved it too.