This thread is designed for parents of potential 2023 high school grads.
And so it begins…
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Raising my hand here. DD will be high schooler after summer. How time flies.
Yep, my upcoming D23 just handed in her course requests for next year. I have a D17 in college currently - hopefully I’ve learned a few things by now!
Woo-hoo! I’ve been looking forward to this thread.
My D23 is homeschooled, but takes classes through accredited online providers (mostly with interactive live sessions) and does group coop studies for electives, plus is about to start independent research in a field of particular interest with a professor. She’ll do mainly dual credit in-person classes for 11th and 12th. I prefer to say she is “buffet schooled” instead of homeschooled since she has teachers from a variety of sources as opposed to mom grades. 
She has an older sister in the class of 2021, also “buffet schooled.” Her older sis starts in-person dual enrollment next year.
We live in the mountains up in northern New England (where it just doesn’t want to stop snowing lately!). Both D23 and D21 spend two days in the Boston area each week, where they visit their dad, so they have some fun activities and homeschooled friends there too. We spend a lot of time driving between there and here, plus the girls are part of a competitive sport that takes us through six northeastern states all year on many weekends…so you could also say the girls also do a lot of “car-schooling.” Thank God for those plug-in internet things (I call them “internet sticks”).
Looking forward to “meeting” everyone!
I guess it makes sense to offer an intro, so:
First of all, some who come by here may recognize me from the 2017 and 2019 parents threads. (D17 is at Muhlenberg, D19 is currently choosing between three options in the Southeast.) We’re in Alaska, which makes the whole college search thing weird, and I’m a college professor, which makes the whole college search thing even weirder.
My D23 is the third of four (she’s followed by a D25), and is completing her final year in a German-immersion K–8 public school (which is not a sequence of words that often all go together at once). There’s a German-immersion continuation program at one of the high schools in the city, but it’s quite inconvenient for our family’s morning commutes, so since she’s tested into the district’s “highly gifted” program (no, seriously, that’s the actual horrible, horrible name they use for it), we’ll probably be putting her in that for high school, which also offers the option of IB or full-day DE starting in 11th grade, should she opt for one of those.
She’s ultimately interested—and has been since something like 4th grade—in pursuing something in health services that doesn’t involve med school or the equivalent, with her current focus being occupational therapy, though I’m trying to convince her to keep her views broader than any one specific career option.
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Can’t believe this thread is started already! We live in FL and have 3 kids - D23 is our youngest. I am also on the 2019 thread (hi @dfbdfb!) and the 2021 thread (hi @JanieWalker!) D19 is about to pick her school and D21 is so sick of hearing about college that she doesn’t want to talk about it at all. S23 is oblivious to it most of the time, though once in a while he mentions something such as, “I’m not going to college, I’m going to invent something and get rich” or “I’m definitely going to Hobart (first school he saw with D19 and they had dogs on campus so that won his vote)” to “I’m definitely not going anywhere cold (goodbye Hobart!)”
He used to get all A’s and has had a disastrous year this year when it really counts - he is in two high school level classes (Algebra 1 and Earth Space Science) and he is not doing well. He can handle the work he just doesn’t do the homework or turns it in late and it drops his grades down even though he does fine on the tests. :(( Little does he know I just found out he can retake the class over the summer if he gets a C or lower! I guess they somehow keep the grade on the transcript but the higher grade gets put into the GPA? Not really sure yet just heard it from another parent.
He plays lacrosse and golf although he says he does not want to play lacrosse in high school and just wants to focus on golf. Who knows if he could make the team there because they only let on 8 kids vs about 50 for lacrosse so I am pushing for hi to stick with both.
Besides sports he has no extracurriculars at all. I guess we will have to think about that a little over the summer, seems so crazy to start thinking this early but now that I have gone through the process with a D who did not have a ton of ECs I can see how helpful it is to start early.
My D23 is my second and youngest. Some of you poor souls have to do a lot of thread juggling! (Waves to @dfbdfb from the '17 thread) My D17 is currently a sophomore at Hamilton, and thank goodness I found CC before her junior year of HS or I’m not sure she would be there! I’m really glad to have the collected wisdom and experience of this group to call on from the start of the process with D23.
I do think coming along for a couple of tours and talking to her big sister has D23 pretty excited about the next phase of her life. Mostly, she’s looking forward to getting out of the tiny (30-35 kids per grade) elementary/middle school in our little town and moving on to the HS which pools kids from other neighboring communities. Being stuck with the same handful of kids from K-8 can definitely get old by the time 8th grade rolls around. She’s also a huge tech nerd and is looking forward to the vastly expanded resources for robotics, 3D printing, etc. at the HS - not to mention hoping to find “her people”, as computer/tech kids are thin on the ground in our town!
@momtogkc Our schools have 8th graders take a couple of HS classes as well. D23 will have Algebra, Earth Science, Spanish I, and Art History carry over onto her HS transcript. We’re in NY, so Algebra and Earth Science are Regents (required state level exam) courses and she will take the Regents exams in June. Next year she’s signed up for Geometry, Biology (both also Regents, there are no Honors versions of them offered) as well as English 9 Honors, World History Honors, Spanish II, Band, and Coding (Python).
She played field hockey in middle school, but doesn’t plan to continue next year because the level of commitment at the HS level will conflict too much with ballet, which she’s been doing as a serious hobby (not pre-professional) for several years and wants to continue. She also is a pretty talented musician (clarinet) and will actually be performing in the All-County Orchestra festival this weekend. Tech (including computer art/animation), dance, and music are her main loves at this point - who knows what the future will bring.
Can’t believe I’m posting on this thread as D23 isn’t even in h.s. yet although we just went through a what could be considered prep for the college admissions process. She’s going to private h.s. which making taking an exam, writing essays, shadowing schools, applying for financial aid, etc. Today is the deadline for registering so decision has finally been made. However, as the youngest of four, I’m plenty experienced now with both the h.s. process as well as the college process.
I also have a D17 currently a sophomore in college in southern CA, S19 hears today from his final school, which also happens to be the school where he has committed to play his sport (of all the schools he applied to, it’s the only one we are waiting to hear from officially). I also have S21 - he has a learning disability (language processing delay) so while he’s doing well in school, it really affects his ability to take standardized testing so most likely we will focus on test-optional schools for him.
Nice to see some familiar screen names from the other board although I didn’t join CC until the end of the process for D17 so don’t really post on that board.
Hoping that since I will have been through it three times already, i will know what I’m doing with D23. Also I have the benefit of her having accompanied us on a few college tours with her siblings so she has an early start on seeing different types of schools (big, small, urban, rural, etc). We live in the mid-Atlantic.
@momtogkc Hobart was one of the schools S19 got a sports offer from and was one of the final three he was considering. In the end, he decided the school wasn’t the right fit for him (too small and rural) though he was conflicted as he thought academically, it was a great fit. The day we went for his OV, it had just snowed, temperature was in the teens with wind chills in the single digits!
Twin DSs are just submiting their freshman year classes and information booklets tomorrow @-)
They will join big brother who is class 2020…not sure the school is big enough for all three of them!!
Thanks to big brother we know all the classes to avoid at least and already know the counselor well.
Hard to believe they are headed to highschool, but there’s too many activities during the spring for 8th grade to get through still. Welcome 2023 parents!!
@momtogkc I hear you and sympathize about the not-turning-in-homework thing. My D23 has a couple of classes where she understands the material just fine, and then does the homework, but then keeps forgetting to actually submit the homework. I have to check in with her at the end of each week to make sure she actually turned in everything she did. This is better than last semester anyway, when she decided she didn’t like all the busywork one class gave her so she just didn’t do half of it. ? I found out in the beginning of December and made her catch up with everything. She got partial credit for the late assignments and ended up with a B (would have been an A had she turned in everything on time) but good lord why the heck did she have to go and pull something like that. She learned her lesson and now does all the assignments even if she thinks they are pointless, but I still have to make sure she actually hits “submit” and turns them in. I am hoping by next year she’ll have grown out of these kinds of things (but I’ll keep an eye on her for a while just in case). I’m tired of having heart attacks.
@thermom D21 visited Hamilton a couple of months ago and loved it! So cool that your daughter goes there.
Nice to meet all of you! Thanks for starting the thread. Our DS’23 is the final of four ('12, '14, & '18). He just heard from a private H.S. that he was accepted, so the timing for this thread is just right. I am amazed at how different the four are from each other. So, each college application journey is different too. Cheers.
Twin boys, sons 3 & 4 will be starting HS in the fall. DS1 '13 graduated NEU last May and is a firmware engineer. DS2
'15 will graduate Grinnell this May and will be going to grad school in industrial/organizational psych.
The twins were taken along on college visits for their older brothers starting when they were in kindergarten. For years they were upset that neither brother ended up at University of Rochester because they couldn’t go back to the museum of play.
Both boys are looking forward to marching band. Twin 1 says his only sport is math, will be competing in state Mathcounts this weekend. And his goal for the past 2 1/2 years has been to take linear algebra in high school. (He actually watches Youtube videos on linear algebra, who even knew anyone made that) I don’t know why our hs even offers it, but as soon as he found out he was determined. He is currently teaching himself Algebra 2 and plans to test out of the class. I have very mixed feelings and discouraged this for a few years, but he is determined so I will let him try, not sure if I am hoping he succeeds or fails.
Twin 2 (he is a full minute younger) is just as academic as his brother, but more social and more serious about music. He plays trumpet (twin 1 plays trombone) and started piano a few month ago and already knows the best schools to major in trumpet. He says he wants to go to Northwestern and double major in trumpet and finance.
Twins other big interests are dungeons and dragons and mountain biking.
I spend a lot of time telling them to focus on 8th grade and 9th grade, that it’s too early to think about college and by the way if you have to think about it our state flagship is excellent. This is the side effect of 2 older brothers and being the youngest of 10 cousins, the next youngest is a high school senior.
Looking forward to sharing our kids hs adventures with all of you.
Hello, I have been starting to hang around to learn the ropes for my d20 and stumbled on this one for my d23. Seems crazy to think about it but she talks about college all the time. She is an above average kid on lots of things but at this point has decided she would prefer to be involved in lots of different activities instead of choosing to specialize in one. I think if she chose one to focus on she could be really great but am glad she has such a diverse range of activities. She does basketball, track and soccer for school sports and then club soccer year round. she plays the trombone for jazz band and concert band but is debating picking up the trumpet this summer. She takes vocal and guitar lessons. She has a huge obsession with orcas and thinks she wants to be a marine biologist but we will see… She will be able to take her algebra 1 and geometry middle school classes up to high school for credit but probably won’t use them since she will take 4 more years of math. She will be going to just our boring neighborhood public school that has pretty generic class offerings. She will be able to take AP and college in the high school classes but just the basic stuff. Looking forward to following everyone’s journeys.
I also have a S23 who seems to “forget” to turn in homework…so instead of A’s he gets B+’s. So frustrating since the lower grade isn’t due to lack of understanding. I have D18 who is finishing her freshman year at UMiami (Florida) studying Meteorology.
I feel better prepared and less stressed with S23 after going through the process the last two years. You learn what matters and what doesn’t. S23 is looking at staying in Florida as of now…he doesn’t like the change in weather in other places and he has awful pollen and grass allergies so we think he will be staying where the palm trees sway in the wind :))
As far as interests are concerned, he loves history and environmental science…but when you ask him what he wants to study he says he has time to decide. This is new for me since I have a D18 that knew she wanted to be a meteorologist since she was 4. He is a cross country runner and a distance runner during Spring Track and Field. He is really involved in Environmental Club and Humanitarian type clubs…again opposite of my D.
So this should be a fun and interesting fun ride the next 4 years. Can’t wait to take it with all of you. This forum was so helpful with D18.
@Mom24boys - one of our DS23 twins is a trumpet player as well! Other is in orchestra instead with his violin.
@Grad2020n23x2 DS15 played viola for 1 year in 3rd grade and it was so painful to listen to I swore no more string instruments. I think he had no musical talent, but I just couldn’t risk it. Of course, I’m sure your son always sounded great.
@mom24boys the first year was pretty screechy, but thankfully it got better Haha His middle school does not have orchestra so he has been taking private lessons for the past few years. Next year will be the leap back into Orchestra! ( which for me means slightly less playing Star Wars songs! )
Hello
Glad to join this post. My DD attends a 7-12 exam school and is very academically driven. Next years starts honors classes, APs don’t start until 10th grade. She plays piano, does debate and started crew this year. Who knows what next year will bring. She is the second of two, very different kids!
I am just starting all this with my DS21 so learning as I go!
Hello everyone!! I have twin S23’s!!! Aaahhh! I can’t believe my babies are going to be starting high school…they’ll join their big brother (S21). I’m literally staring down the barrel of being an empty nester soon aren’t I!!!
The twins will be in marching band just like their big brother…I allowed myself to get volunteered into being Communications Director for the band boosters lol…might as well since our whole will be all about those Friday Night Lights…Texas y’all ?.
The twins are a tad bit more aggressive then their laid back big bro and have both signed up for the maximum 2 AP classes allowed in 9th grade (AP Bio & AP Human Geo)…we’ll see how this goes ??