Ahhh…. My D is on tour in Hawaii with her school orchestra. She sent some beach pictures. I don’t have strong enough words to express how happy I am to see my hardworking, usually stressed out D, hanging out on the beach with her friends looking super relaxed with a huge goofy grin 
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I’d be concerned about declining enrollment and the potential for closures- so many schools have been closing departments, even closing their doors. That would be awful to happen while a student there.
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That’s funny, because my D26 also wears 10.5-11 in shoes. She’s just north of 6 feet tall, and also because of DH’s genes. 
(We tried DSW with no luck – but we have one pair of shoes that I ordered that kind of work, as long as I find some kind of rubber inserts to keep the heels from slipping off.)
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C26 is ‘only’ 5’7” (5’10” with these heels lol) - D19 is an inch taller but a shoe size smaller. Go figure. DH is 6’4” and a size M13 and often has same issue of not finding his size in stock. This is not ever an issue I’ve had to face lol
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Only factor making me think she should retake is she’s planning on an engineering major. So the 720 is in math - if it was flipped I would feel more comfortable sticking at the 1510. I’m gonna let her make the call. It’s a great score and she can get into great schools as is!
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Plenty of adults get tested for ADHD – so later in high school isn’t unusual. My kid asked for a Autism test late in high school --and it turned out he was accurate. That also revealed some learning issues we didn’t know about (he generally compensated for them with his outstanding skills in other areas). So - I highly recommend testing if that seems like a possibility. There are many options for treatment.
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Hilarious I had no idea that was considered a large shoe size for girls. D30 is 5’8" and also a 10.5-11. Wife was busy so I took her shoe shopping and had a tough time finding something that was cute/affordable and in her size. She is very active and her shoes get destroyed every 6 months or so.
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Oh yeah. Stores will often stop at a 10 for women in stock, although we have found a few times if we go to the online shopping site they’ll be available larger. (In fact this just happened too with a pair of converse C26 liked at the store but they didn’t stock above a 10, we found them online in the right size. Bonus, they were normal price at DSW in store but on sale on the converse site!!).
When we were in Tokyo last spring break and C26’s sneakers broke (it was raining so they had to get new) , we popped into ..i forget the name now but it’s a popular chain that sells sneakers* …and basically C26 had to buy men’s in their largest size to get a pair to fit!
*edit: ABC-mart
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We did this test in 9th grade as part of the evaluation. What was especially helpful was not just the “yes they’re on the spectrum” finding, but the therapist actually explaining to us as parents how people on the spectrum can think differently about some things (example, why C26 just didn’t seem to care about not handing in homework on some subjects) and helped us understand (1) how they think different from us and therefore (2) the best way to approach and manage issues.
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How can you tell which schools have supplemental essays? Google search?
Yes, google works pretty well. A google search will usually list a few college advising websites that post supplemental essays, and often the individual school’s admissions page. But the best way is to add the school on the common app. That will open the individual school’s supplemental questions and essays. * Ofc, there might be essay changes for this fall that will not be reflected online or on the common app yet.
Edited to Add: When my kids made a college list, in addition to the regular stats (size, acceptance rate, test scores, etc.), we had a column for supplemental essays. There were a few schools that got scratched because of the time and effort of extra essays.
Wake Forest had pretty interesting prompts a few years ago including a top 10 list.
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Great tips, thanks! I like that idea of keeping track of supplements using a spreadsheet. You are way more organized than me lol.
I’m more of a lurker here, but I just had to share that S26 got accepted to the Kenyon Young Writers Summer Residential Workshop!!! He wants to be a writer so this is huge for him!!!
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Each school will have a website page telling you what they need for a freshman application
Examples
Keeping a spreadsheet of all relevant factors definitely helps keep track of the process as well as show how each college meets what you’re looking for
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Another option would be to create a parent practice account on the Common App. Add the colleges you’re wondering about and then the supplemental essay questions will show up. It’s a specific account type that’s solely to use as practice. For example:
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How awesome! Way to go!!!
Sheesh! After playing with this, I see now that:
- 1 college has 5 additional optional essay questions
- Another college has 2 optional essays of a max of 800 words each + 4 other ones if you’re applying for scholarships.
And that doesn’t include any separate essay questions for honors college apps.
How do students who are applying to 20 schools handle all of this? No wonder the Your College Bound Kid podcast talks about how you should start your essays the summer before senior year starts. Dang. It’s like a part time job.
You know…I should have remembered this from when D24 applied last school year. I probably mentally blocked it out in order to cope. 
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That’s wonderful!! Congrats!
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My daughter’s school has all students complete their first draft of the main common app essay before the end of junior year for this very reason!
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So great! Congrats!
I wish I could attend that myself, lol.
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