<p>I went with bribing…put a carrot on the stick and now kid is the one who wants to knock out an application a week.</p>
<p>My kid started his U of Chicago essay “When my parents suggested I apply to U of Chicago, I thought they were crazy.” He got in. :D</p>
<p>S is working on his now . . . finally</p>
<p>Teeth are actively being pulled at our house . . . without anesthetic</p>
<p>“Any motivating techniques other than threats?” - That is a toughie. A high school senior often cannot see the big picture (especially the scholarship angle critical to parents)… When we were in this game a few years ago, I had a high stats kid. There were no worries about a “shut out”. </p>
<p>In late Oct I finally said, “I’d be perfectly happy with you staying in state. We have 3 great engineering options, with affordable in-state tuition. If you want to have other options (scholarships oos), you need to get in gear. Your choice.” </p>
<p>It seemed to work. But perhaps all along he was working to school deadline of apps to to GC before Thanksgiving. (That was the hs deadline, if students wanted apps processed/mailled before year end). </p>
<p>We have a combination dawdler and OCD kid all rolled into one. She writes then scraps the writing, she revises, then hates the whole thing and goes back to the beginning again. It is a painful, painful process to watch. The first application did make its way in but I am bracing myself for a very rocky November. This kid is now fretting that she should have revised the supplemental essay further because she’s not sure her ending tied in well enough to the rest of it. Of course it’s my fault because I forced her to submit the application “too early.” As in 2 days before the deadline. </p>
<p>Ha! I envy you. My kid divulged the other day that sometimes with essays where a draft is due at some earlier date he writes a final copy cold in one shot then edits in “mistakes” to turn in as a draft <em>facepalm</em></p>
<p>Hilarious, saintfan. Now I’ve heard it all, lol.</p>
<p>Final application turned in yesterday!</p>
<p>^^^Should we hate you or be glad for you, @Awesomekidsmom? ;)</p>
<p>I don’t hate @Awesomekidsmom, I’m jealous.</p>
<p>D is “researching” her schools for the Why X essays, procrastinating when she should be editing her common app essay.</p>
<p>Update: UC’s apps were in on time - if barely. Two top private technical universities are in the can and one’s not due until mid January. The two big-reach schools are works in progress. But I’m lettting go of the outcome and probably they’ll get submitted before the deadline. I am so glad this is nearly over. Thanks for the moral support. I appreciate all the great parents and students and school folks on here! Happy holidays.</p>
<p>It’s like pushing a string! And now I have 2 strings to push: my DS and my nephew.</p>
<p>Growth is a painful process ! 8 apps in, EA acceptance to Georgetown SFS, but two important financial safety schools left to finish. Seems the essay muse has gone away for dear D.</p>
<p>It is funny that somehow she got through the 18 or so application essays she’s written in the last 9 months (including TASP, NM, Common app, and supplementals) like a hot knife through butter. I am sure it’s some combination of waning motivation and app fatigue. Lucky for her, all of her classes this year are at the local university so she has a nice long 5 week break! When classes start on January 11th I’m sure she will be done.</p>
<p>I foresee growth though, more quiet evenings, space for my treadmill and ironing board to stay set up, and maybe the realization that adulthood bears real responsibility. College is only a warm up.</p>
<p>I kept prodding my kid that if his ED works out, he’s one and done. Worked out. </p>
<p>All the work is done by 9 pm of the day before it is due. Then, it gets a couple hours of review before submission efforts at 11 pm. That gives the entire next day to sort out problems.
(gritting teeth) Is that considered ‘dawdling’?</p>
<p>DS1 really enjoyed the interviews - and I think grew from them. He hasn’t been fond of the applications themselves as he feels like he’s answering kind of the same thing over and over but slightly differently. He’s signed up for three hackathons in January and February - his means of celebration of 2nd half senior year “freedom”. (Par-tay!) :-)</p>
<p>I feel for all of you. My son got his Early Apps done with minutes to spare. I was done with him. If anything had gone wrong with the computer or getting the apps out, he would have been toast. Left it that close. I did get him to do most of his RD apps as well, just in case, but he still had merit award, Honors college apps and essays to do had he not gotten into his ED school.</p>
<p>His two best friends are not available for anything–working on apps they did not even start after being deferred ED/EA, and doesn’t add a thing to the holiday spirit, I can tell you. All very bright, great kids, and this is what’s happening.</p>
<p>@singersdad 18 applications? Wow. That seems like an awful lot. Based on your handle, is she a vocalist and applying to music school? Curious because my older D two years ago was a music performance major and had a list of 10 schools to audition for and submit apps. It was a hectic time for sure!</p>
<p>9 of the last 12 applications just sent now, together with the CSS Profile and Sat scores. Three remaining have minor corrections/additions on the supplements before sending and D is off celebrating the last day of school until 2015 so we’ll take care of those on Sunday.</p>