<p>Are they safeties that she would absolutely love to matriculate? Or are they so-so? In state?</p>
<p>"How is he enjoying Duke? "</p>
<p>It was my D who attended, and she graduated in May. Overall a good thing, but she could probably write a book…or maybe her “Capstone” project she called “Make Them Hear You”.</p>
<p>"Shrinkrap-how is son doing in 2nd year? "</p>
<p>It remains a roller coaster. He has been without a phone for two weeks, so I have been spared the ride. We are all meeting in ATL for Thanksgiving next week.</p>
<p>I’m here!! Love this thread. I’m an Afro-Am mom of a 2013 high schooler.</p>
<p>I’m so glad this forum is here.</p>
<p>Glad you found the thread violin! You must be in the thick of college apps at this point in time!!! Having fun yet? :)</p>
<p>Yes! But not as much fun as you, rest assured! Seems you’ve gotten off to a very wise and earlier start. I had hoped my DD would have completed testing, apps, essays, etc., before senior year kicked off. But still, the process is a joy.</p>
<p>Good Morning Violin.</p>
<p>I was being facicious(sp?) LOL. DD14 is taking the SAT today. Her first sitting. She is not feeling well. I think she has caught a bit of what I had all week. Which was a horrible upper/lower respiratory thing that had a hold of me til yesterday. She is feeling a bit headachey and fatigued. I hope her 8 hours of sleep will do some good(she is still in bed). I am trying to let her sleep as late as possible. The testing site is about 6 minutes away from us so I am not pushing it too much. But I still want her to get there a little early so she can pick her seat and feel comfortable. I think I am more than she is. Say a prayer for her today… wouldn’t it be nice if this was the only time she had to do it? Thank goodness she is still only a junior.</p>
<p>@NewHavenCTmom,</p>
<p>I wish your daughter a very successful SAT this morning! I hope you both get well soon.</p>
<p>My DD took a No-Risk full ACT at school last month. She’ll receive her score on Tuesday after school. We’ll see after that if she will go the ACT or SAT route. After the test, she felt that the ACT was easier and more direct. She’s an avid reader but she hates all of the vocabulary on the SAT.</p>
<p>Any parents with recent experience with Howard University? My D has been accepted there, and I hear mixed reviews. The experience, the academics are fine, but I hear bad things about the dorms, year to year housing, paperwork, etc. She has received a scholarship, so I am hard pressed to pass it up, but I wanted to get some feedback. We have visited the school, and I really liked it. I am posting this in several forums, so that hopefully I will receive some replies.</p>
<p>thx</p>
<p>@NewHaven, My wife and I both attended Hampton University and thought at least one of our kids would go there. But with two very differently gifted kids they are or plan to go to schools that are best for their aspirations.</p>
<p>One is getting a BFA at a specialized college the other just got accepted to UPenn.</p>
<p>That said, as parents, we’ve had to overcome massive amounts of low expectations from teachers, guidance counselors, family, friends, neighbors, etc. it’s amazing. My D has scored in the top 1% of every standardized test shes ever taken, has a 4.0 GPA, has taken all honors and AP classes and ranks about 8 out of 550 students in a competitive school and got a 2250 SAT. And still, her athletic coach of 3 years who is teaching her APCalcBC says to us a few weeks ago, I didn’t realize how smart your daughter is until I graded a couple of tests. A compliment, I’m sure, but how does she have to do until she doesn’t have to prove herself, it’s just accepted.</p>
<p>I’m saying this because you are very likely going to have people always trying to help you be realistic about your daughter and her odds. They’ll encourage you to set your sights on realistic and attainable albeit lesser goals. Don’t ever listen.</p>
<p>The learning curve for us was steep. There are so many opportunities to excel and stand out from the pack but the process begins now if it hasn’t already for you. All the students look very similar statistically on paper. You should be developing the 2 or 3 passions that will help you stand out in life and on paper. And there is so much no one is telling you that you have to find out on your own. Academic, intellectual opportunities available to folks who know. It’s a complex maze. I learned that the wealthy don’t pay a fortune to private schools to teach their kids better biology or algebra. Those hefty bills buy guidance, the road map to elite schools admissions.</p>
<p>This is a little long winded and all I’m saying is to expect to do this mostly alone, CC is tremendously helpful. The people you hope to b the most helpful may not be at all. Cling to your daughters best teachers, keeping those LORs in mind. Experience life and don’t worry if your D isn’t always as strategic in her choices. If shes not happy, it won’t work. And make sure her social network, FB, Twitter or whatever is a diary of her successes, triumphs, community service, awards, etc. not her complaints, troubles or worst errors in judgement. We friended all of our Ds target schools and implemented a social network strategy.</p>
<p>All the best to you.</p>
<p>One last thing, we never pressured our D to go Ivy league but because we gathered so much knowledge it was easy to say at times when she was slacking, if you want to get into an Ivy, you gotta do X, if not, then do what your doing. Our D is very competitive so that was usually all that was needed to get her back on track.</p>
<p>Our S was the opposite, he had to be told to eat, sleep, etc because he ould relentlessly pursue his passion at his own expense. Still does. Different folks, different strokes, I guess.</p>