Illinois just did this too, through a program called “One Click” – but it does not include UIUC and UIC (which I imagine have no problem attracting applicants).
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Yep, the CSU program excludes impacted campuses and majors.
We have this in Georgia, too – seniors get a “Georgia Match” letter in the mail that lists all of the state schools where their stats automatically qualify them to get in.
In fact, there are only three public universities in Georgia that practice holistic admissions – UGA, Georgia Tech, and GCSU.
Which was pretty awesome for my S25 last year, who is a different kind of student – we toured three in-state schools for him that were not holistic, any of which we knew he would get in. He picked his favorite, applied August 1, got his acceptance a few weeks later, and that was that. It was so very easy!
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Can your D26 use the common app essay for UW? Mine checked “no” to sharing it in the normal place but pasted it into the UW supplemental essay section. His essay fit the prompt, so that was a plus.
It doesn’t fit the prompt. It’s ok, she’s writing another one.
Yes, I scrolled a little more and saw you answered this already. Sorry! I hope it’s going ok. We are about to start the PIQs and I’m dreading it over here. S26 would love a break but I’m afraid it won’t happen until January.
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Courage! 
Soon enough our kids will have to submit those PIQs, and then we’ll be in the long, long stretch waiting for the UCs to release decisions 
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I’m torn between wishing a UC other than Cal offered undergrad architecture and thinking it’s a blessing in disguise that C26 doesn’t have to think about PIQs.
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S26 has a Google Meet interview with his ED choice next week. It will be his first interview and he’s pretty nervous. We will be doing lots of prep and practice between now and then.
In other news, S26’s class load is insane right now. His AP Chem teacher seems to be having a rough moment. Lots of absences, ranting at the kids, not teaching the content but expecting them to know it for homework and tests. He is barely hanging on to his A, and that’s because Khan Academy has been his teacher.
I’m starting to want to intervene (not only on behalf of my kid but to see if the teacher is actually ok). I’m not sure how best to go about it… reach out to the teacher, a counselor, a vice principal. I don’t want to create more problems for S26, either, by making the teacher feel threatened.
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My biggest strength: Im able to rise above dumb questions.
My biggest weakness: Not anticipating dumb questions.
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I am sorry to hear this! Last year my D26’s teacher was new to teaching AP Chem and his teaching suffered, at least he was not ranting at students or missing class but he was not keeping up with the necessary content. My D26 started using AP classroom and would learn the topic ahead of his class lectures. She found AP classroom had everything she needed. She managed an A in the class and an 5 on the AP exam ( the only 5 that year). Good luck I hope it improves.
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Thank you for suggesting AP Classroom! I will make sure S26 is using that too. It’s just such a shame. S26 was looking forward to this class and he loved the regular chem class that was required of all students last year. He went in with high hopes.
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On the bright side, D26 scheduled this one first to practice before she did interviews for the schools she cares about more. She said, this interview helped in two ways. The formality of it made the rest seem comfortable in comparison. And, the hard/unexpected question got her thinking on the fly and encouraged her to prep more for the others.
She is now done with interviews at all her top choice schools. She said after doing a couple you start to see patterns, see the questions coming, and know how to work your talking points into your answers. Overall, I think it has been a good experience for her even if she didn’t like doing it.
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Agreed. No downside and the experience is invaluable.
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This is a tough one. Does the school have a published policy for how to go about it?
Our school specifies that the first course of action is the student should speak to the teacher privately, and/or attend office hours for additional help. The trick is to approach the teacher in a way that doesn’t put him on the defensive – like, “I’m having a lot of trouble knowing what material from class is important to know for homework and tests. Do you have any suggestions for how I can approach this, or how I can best learn the material?”
If that doesn’t yield any results, then the student and/or parent is supposed to contact the grade chair at our school. (I’m not sure what the step is after this because we’ve never gotten that far, lol.)
Good luck – this is hard. We’ve had experiences with both good and bad teachers, but the one time my D26 had a teacher whose behavior was really inexcusable (AP Physics), he ended up leaving the school halfway through the school year.
This was at private school. For my son who was in public school, it was more challenging – he had a few really crappy teachers where he just had to suck it up. A couple times I did email a teacher directly and express concern about something happening in the class – and I always couched it as, “This is what I’m hearing from my kid, but as we know, high schoolers aren’t always reliable sources of info. I would love to know what you’re seeing on your end.”
(He also wasn’t in any high-level classes, so the stakes were a little lower.)
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D26 had her first and only early interview today (her other schools that do an interview are all RD). She was so nervous going into it, but it turned out to be very casual and enjoyable… they chatted for 2 hours and “the time flew by.” She feels satisfied that she was able to honestly and fully represent herself, which is a great feeling!
Best of luck to all other kids doing their interviews… hoping for positive experiences for everyone!
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Same here! But the break has been healthy for everyone. Back to the grind next week!
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At interview - they asked about her activities - to go into detail on one of her key ECs. And then they just chatted about school. She came with questions about the school.
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Just a note that some RD schools purportedly only do interviews through December or January. One school advised us to sign up for an interview slot now before they all filled up. So, if your kid wants to do them for any of the RD schools, it may be worth checking to see when they are available. Seems to vary by school a lot (at least at SLACs where D26 is looking).
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Thanks! She does not plan to apply to SLACs. She told me that she checked with her possible RD schools about interviews on the RD timeline, but I will ask her again… she’s been lukewarm about applying to those schools anyway so I wouldn’t be surprised if she’s not 100% on top of the process for them.
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