Touring the 5 school consortium will help her get a real feel for things. Downtown Amherst is really cute. Great pizza and boba!
2 Likes
After our visit, the Kid has decided to apply to the U-Dub (University of Washington in Seattle). We started off at the Reading Room at Suzzallo Library, and he loved the high ceilings and beautiful architecture. We admired the cherry blossoms at peak bloom in the quad, and then we wandered around the Physics and Astronomy Building. We did the West Campus housing tour, which was helpful. Almost all of the dorms have been renovated within the last ten years. All of the dorm rooms in West Campus have attached private bathrooms. The bathrooms are not cleaned by custodial staff, and the school does yearly or quarterly bathroom checks. I had never heard of school bathroom checks before. Afterward we walked up the Ave (University Way) and had lunch at Aladdin Gyro-cery, which was good. We also bought some snacks at the smallest, cutest Hmart I have ever seen.
WOW!!! You are all on the ball with your kiddos. We reside in the Great Lakes region, and S27 attends a public high school. I mostly joined for the athletic forum and insight regarding recruiting. My S27 is an average/above average student, but runs XC/Track & Field fast enough to garner interest (DIII). Though we won’t really know until August before junior year where he really sits (DI/DII). To top it off, the NCAA settlement (House v. NCAA; Hubbard v. NCAA; and Carter v. NCAA) will make DI recruiting more interesting.
I wish you and all the HS Class of 2027 the best moving forward!
3 Likes
I think recruiting is an entirely different, timeline, process etc, too. 
Must be exciting!
Also, I think a lot people add in college trips with other trips so get going early!
FWIW we aren’t close to having a list nor have visited anywhere. We will schedule a few tours for the summer though - trying to narrow down to if kid likes big, or small, city or rural, etc a bit. We also have, within 2 hours, dozens and dozens of colleges, so very easy to do!
3 Likes
Anyone else’s school not give parents or students access to Naviance/Scoir until junior year (assuming they offer it at all)? It’s killing me—lol. I’ve got kids at two different high schools: one gives access from day one, the other waits until way later. I think it’s supposed to calm people down, but it totally has the opposite effect on me!
We don’t get access to it until Senior year at our high school. I think Junior year makes sense.
That is silly- do they expect you not to be developing a list until then? I would think winter of jr year is last possible time to bother 
I want to starting bringing my 27 to some colleges over the summer (especially as they are tied up most of their spring break with Robotics, so trips then are out!), and would find it VERY helpful to have that data, when picking - like is ABC school a reach or a “don’t bother” reach- particularly so for this kid, as they go to an unusual school - public GPAs are not very helpful.(I actually think they are rarely as helpful as people think, but even less so if you go to an atypical one…)
1 Like
@BucolicDad - we just went through this process with our S25. I’m no expert at all but happy to share or offer support as things ramp up for your son. My son’s circumstances and stats made it important for him to shift his goals this year, but I think he is relieved as he starts to learn more about how the settlement may play out in some programs. It’s quite a journey - good luck with the spring season!
@L_NewEngland - haha fancy meeting you here! We have the same plan for this summer when it comes to our '27 kiddo. I almost took him to see some local schools over his March break, but my husband and I decided to hold off a little longer. His guidance office is just beginning to engage with him more, and tbh, I haven’t even checked his portal to see if I do have access to Naviance yet? I’m excited to dive back in to all this and am really curious how his list will shape up, since it will be so very different this time around. But I’m also kind of exhausted by it already?
S27 is in the midst of picking junior year courses. I am so excited because he is really trying to take some challenging classes and has to get teacher recommendations to take them. He’s pretty motivated about it though, which is a huge change. He is so different from his older brother, who was only ever interested in taking the toughest classes. They are at different schools, and that for sure plays a role in this, but we have been hoping and waiting these past two years for his self-confidence and enthusiasm for learning to return after a disastrous middle school experience and finally align with his smarts. Fingers crossed we’re turning the corner!
2 Likes
Hiya! 
My kids could have a very slight overlap in their lists. However, '27 seems keen to consider trying for some highly selective schools which will be a new challenge ('25 wasn’t reaching for top 20s or 50s..) That said I have NO clue what they will like, not like etc, or how far they want to move etc. 27 goes to a different HS too which adds a very different process too.
They just finished picking jr year classes last week here..
I have a S24 so I had access to Scoir until they recently deactivated his account since he graduated. I was so disappointed as I love deep diving into the stats from our h.s. Our school hasn’t set up for D27 yet. Hopefully next year so I can do more research!
2 Likes
We are in the process of picking courses for next year, I think it’s finally complete. I hope the school is able to get her first choices in. Fourth quarter has started and it’s time to start studying for AP exams and the SAT. Just some prep for next year with all the craziness.
We recently did another tour and it was much more interesting to D27. Now that we have officially toured a small and a large school, and s24 attends a medium school, we have determined a medium - large school will be a better fit for them.
2 Likes
My kids’ school doesn’t offer it at all. From what we experienced with C24, college counseling at their school begins and ends with “here’s what you need to enroll in our state university system,” and a smattering of campus visits from colleges.
1 Like
Jumping back in for the first time in forever. It’s been a long year so far. S 27 had a bumpy first semester, but has turned things around.
He registered for classes about a month ago, but nothing will be finalized until the summer since he’ll be taking a challenge test to skip Cal AB. He also signed up for physics C, I think that’s what it is anyway, but physics classes are always impacted so I’m not even sure if he’ll get that.
My big concern is that he’s hoping to take several classes at a local college his senior year. He’ll already be doing that for German, but he’s hoping to do so for math and maybe physics as well. There’s precedent for this, lots of kids do it, but his counselor seems completely unaware so it kind of feel like you’re floating. I need guidance!
Speaking of guidance, there was a big debate about whether my kiddo should take all AP or some IB courses. He really preferred the content of IB English, and IB history of the Americas, as opposed to AP history. All his counselor told me was, “they’re both rigorous.” And left it at that.
Summer plans involve learning to drive and volunteering.
1 Like
I love deep diving into the stats too!
2 Likes
Hello again! Like many of you said, it feels like things are starting to ramp up for D27. She got her driving permit and is doing very well. Her older sister was a nervous wreck (even with behind the wheel lessons, etc) and it was not fun at all to supervise driving!
We have done a few college tours. She is doing a parallel search of D3 schools where she could perhaps play her sport and other colleges where she could play club. We are very clear that it needs to be an academic fit and that is the priority. She is my 4th kid but none of her siblings went down the college athletic path. It feels awfully confusing.
It is also hard to search without test scores! She took the PSAT10 at school this month and I hope it will give us a baseline. S18 didn’t test great. S19 and D24 were super scorers. I think D27 feels some pressure to do well. Tricky line to walk!
I plan to pop in more frequently. The Parents of 2024 message board was a fantastic resource and sounding board and I look forward to a similar community developing here. 
2 Likes
Signed up for my '27s first 2 college visits in June! I have tentatively slated times for a couple of others in August- It is getting real!
All this at same time as my '25 is getting ready for graduation.
It.is.a.lot.
Fun, exciting, sad, nostaliga, etc. etc. etc.
3 Likes
Exciting! Where are your touring? Best wishes to your ‘25!
1 Like
Planned this summer:
UMass Amherst
Tufts
WPI
U of Rochester
RIT
Maybe Dartmouth, Cornell, RPI, Union, UVM, Trinity, BU Northeastern
2 Likes
Great places to start! I used to live down the street from Tufts in Davis Square. Love it there!!
We toured UConn earlier this month, and have UMass and Northeastern on the list also. We’re hoping to stay in NE but do have some PA schools on the list.
1 Like
I had a ‘24 also who did do the athletic recruit path. It definitely makes the college search different and it also depends on the sport. Luckily they found a place that was a fit all around and they are thriving.
1 Like