<p>I don't think senioritis or procastination in my D case but rather it's over commited. Thank goodness the project for her EC was done last night, she came home at 10 P.M. However, she's scheduled to work next week and she's recovering from a flu. My husband and I had a talk with her last night, how she needs to take care of herself without getting sick and burnt out. She promised to do her reachy school essays on Christmas eve and Christmas day. But she loves Christmas(the kind of kid that sings Xmas music in June/July) and has been saying she won't have time to do Christmas shopping.</p>
<p>Writing good college essays takes time. They need to sit in the drawer for a few days before revisions are done... Most kids don't seem to get it though...</p>
<p>On the bright side, there are some schools that don't require any essays (U of Pittsburgh is one of them)...</p>
<p>Seriously, last December, the submarine cable broke near us, and our part of Asia lost internet connections. It took several days, but S was finally able to submit the last applications (on New Year's Eve) when the internet came back up.</p>
<p>D was so stressed out about the possibility of being rejected that she had a bit of trouble getting started. I had her go out with a friend of mine to discuss essay topics (by the way she didn't end up using any of them - but it did get the creative juices flowing) over a frappacino. I was tired of nagging (even though this was September), it is part of my genetic make-up. </p>
<p>Additionally, I printed out copies of all the apps to the schools she was applying to and wrote down the parent information for her to put in the forms so that I could remove myself from the process. Then I found CC and would write and complain to you so that she could be left alone :D</p>
<p>Really, I had her write her essays first for the reach-match schools (I now need two crowns and a root canal from all the tooth gritting). Then I had her apply to the rolling admission schools where she could take that same group of essays and modify them for those applications. She has already been accepted to all of her safeties and one match so when a rejection does occur, she can roll with the punch, shrug her shoulders and know that she is not stuck at home next year.</p>
<p>I did not review her applications, though I did sit and drink coffee while she filled them out, to keep her company and to answer any parental question she would have. For example: Mom how does this sound? </p>
<p>She has been admitted to 4 schools already and will make her own decision in April. She is waiting to hear from 4 more. She is considering applying now to one or two others, but is focusing on finishing scholarship and honors program applications which have more complex essay requirements. In a couple of weeks it will be all over. Too bad she has to do this over winter break, but the scholarship nominations came through a couple of weeks ago and you have to go with the flow!</p>
<p>I recall the household mood becoming MUCH more productive and sane for those college essays the moment the high school doors closed in the Dec. 20's.</p>
<p>Zoom in, trust your gut, do your best. The time is now. It's great not to have h.s. nagging at their heads. </p>
<p>Take a deep breath and YES, the personal essay counts the most (for writer's voice) as compared to the short answers. The shorties cover some territory. They only take time to edit to word count, but don't really have to have such a beautiful tone of voice. Let the kid write and sound just like him/her SELF. If you read and and feel as though you are meeting your own child as if for the first time, that's what the AdCom will be doing, too; reading and trying to imagine or envision your child, AS S/HE IS. </p>
<p>The personal essay, or anything like a supplemental intellectual essay (Amherst is the one I know) is where you need the well-rested, centered, focussed approach. Great not to be interrupted by homework, EC's etc.</p>
<p>GO for it now and best of luck to all.</p>
<p>--- also a last-minute sender household...
LOL, I am the Coal calling the Kettle "black"!!! Or, it takes one to know one :)</p>
<p>PS, last reminder: leave time (last minute time, perhaps) to put everything through your spellcheck, even the short answers. The apps don't necessarily spellcheck for the kids. Could it be that Cornell turned down our kid because he had two last-minute spelling errors that he only found out the day after he sent it off? We'll never know. Cornell was an "extra" one we leaned on him to do, because we hadn't discovered CC and were a bit nervous, so said, throw it in, it's just more Common Application stuff. I mean, he never toured it, didn't have his heart set on Cornell, so we didn't mourn when he didn't get in there, but we did wonder if it might have been the two spelling errors. </p>
<p>So learn from us: use your own computer SPELLCHECK before uploading onto their forms, even for short-answer paragraph responses. And then, still have a Mom read it because things slip the attention of spell-check.</p>
<p>Recently I mentioned to someone to apply to a "dual" program not a "duel" program; that's an example of what spellcheck might have missed but a Mom might see. Or find the best speller in your extended family and have them on-duty to review email versions, if everyone's shaky about spelling in your household.</p>
<p>Thanks for advice! I think my daughter really looks forward to a break from school. I expect that in three or four days she will have those essays in a much better shape. And possibly a good draft of the common app forms. Then she could start pushing out the apps one by one. I'll definitely start breathing easier when the first one goes out.
Hopefully there will be no urgent questions to admission officers. Are they already out till Jan 1 or someone is likely to be in later next week? And what about common app tech support?</p>
<p>You're all not the only ones. My D has been struggling with this since the summer as well. She has had other significant distractions going on, which I can't go describe here. One clincher is she had a French Student visit during the last two weeks of October - right when her two Early Action apps needed completed. We didn't have that on the radar screen when we agreed to participation in the program, UGH. We have also reconsidered her RDs in light of the the Harvard/Princeton shakeup. She was deferred to two of her top schools - accepted into one of her safeties. I told her we needed to be realistic - didn't know the implications of the shakeup. Now we do. Asked her to research another safety or good match. We found one, but like others here, has scholarship apps due as well. There is no end to the madness. I believe, as one other poster commented, that she is afraid of the whole process and her fears are keeping her from completing things. Go figure. I would have LOVED to have the opportunities she has. Things have certainly changed over the years!</p>
<p>I can really relate to this thread! Lots of video game playing, etc. Still no applications sent at this household, although he DID finally (last night) finish the final edit of his common ap essay. Hurray! This morning he asked me to sit with him while he entered everything into the common ap. Took about an hour and I was only useful for reading info about ECs off the UC application he did in November. Still hasn't submitted the common ap, though, as he decided to wait until he completed the supplementals to be sure which schools he was really going to apply to. Today, he has been working on supplemental questions and essays, but tomorrow he has other social plans. Luckily, we have no Christmas plans this year. Thankfully, the high school forced him to submit the teacher rec forms, etc. last month so those are all done.</p>
<p>I started one of my essays at 11:20 pm, finished it at 11:50pm, and submitted the on-line app at 11:58 pm - 2 minutes before it was due. A lot of parental angst over that. </p>
<p>Parents need to relax more.</p>
<p>I would make sure he starts with an app to a school that he is liking and able to get into. That way, you are safely submitted somewhere. Are these apps to places he actually wants to go? Maybe he is not motivated by some of the schools and just should drop the idea of applying there. I made sure the first app S did was to the school he really liked and knew he would get into. If he wanted to apply to more, fine, but I wasn't going to sit by his side and make sure he typed in each space on other apps. If he really wanted to go elsewhere, he had to do the work. BTW, a total of 5 got done and he decided against 2 when deadlines drew near....</p>
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Thankfully, the high school forced him to submit the teacher rec forms, etc. last month so those are all done.
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</p>
<p>That sounds like a helpful school that has its act together to help kids.</p>
<p>Well, I am trying not to nag my son because he has made it clear that I've been bugging him too much. Since he has his UC app in and has a couple of definite acceptances there through the ELC program, I figure what he doesn't get in at this point is his issue. He applied EA and was denied. He has since sent off three applications besides the UC. I think he has five more to do. I know he's working on one essay which might work for two schools if it's good enough. My daughter swears that she did nothing through December when I was stressing out and sat down around December 26 and got them all done -- with impressive results. I don't remember that really but it does sound like her. I'm more worried about his senior research project which is due the day he gets back to school. But you know what? This is what college is like - a constant triaging of priorities between classes and other commitments. If the next few weeks are rough, then he'll learn something and have a good idea of what to expect next year. But I can say that because that safety and match application is in. I'd be far less relaxed if it wasn't there.</p>
<p>We planned on my D starting essays in August when she returned from a summer program. She did absolutely nothing. She kept changing her mind about where to apply early, missed her brother who had just left for college, said she was scared about leaving home, was afraid she wouldn't get accepted and couldn't get started. After encouragement, conjoling and then arguments, we brought her to a therapist because even offering her the option of Gap Year didn't work. (The fights were getting bad even after we laid off for some time).</p>
<p>She has finished all but one of 12 applications now. It has not been easy. These kids have too much pressure!</p>
<p>I kind of fondly remember those last days of December 4 years ago. Lots of rainy-day trips to Fedex, and then tracking application packages online to be sure they had arrived across the country in the nick of time. (Those were the days before online submission had become more or less mandatory I guess). </p>
<p>I am guessing that the kids who are procrastinating are in the majority, as are the parents who are not really happy about it and wishing things could be different. </p>
<p>In my own work as a lawyer, it is very rare that I completely finish a brief or other similar document before the day it must be filed in court, but I know I am thinking about it and writing it in bits and pieces, and then editing ad nauseum, for many days before that. So I am hoping that is what is going on in the bowels of my house right now :( and boy am I glad that this is the last time I have to go through this....</p>
<p>I also rarely submit anything way before the deadline. But it is different. If it is something really important, I usually have a reasonable draft in advance and I am just using my the time to polish the text. In case something happens, I always have a file that can be submitted without further changes. If this is something that I do regularly, OK I can start 2 hours before the deadline because I know that this is what it takes to get the work done, and that an unlikely delay due to a computer crash will not ruin my career. </p>
<p>I am worried about my daughter's applications because there is not a single application for which she has a complete draft and it is hard to predict how much work is left to finish.
By the way, according to my daughter procrastinators are a majority among her friends.</p>
<p>My d has not finished her apps either - most are due on January 1. I worked it out with somebody outside the family to help her review her essays and do a final read on 12/26 - that kind of forces the issue. She's actually okay with that. </p>
<p>A big problem - she does not have any true safeties !! Hopefully she can find a safety that accepts the common app !!</p>
<p>citymom: I hear you about the complete drafts! My son also says his friends are procrastinating, but every parent I have talked to in the last two weeks says their kids are all done. Of course, many of them are not applying to private schools. Here it is Christmas Eve at our house and not a single application done. </p>
<p>NorthEastMom2: Doesn't she have to have the teacher rec's even for safeties that accept the common ap?</p>
<p>I see I am not alone. My son waits till the last minute for everything. He only has a few done, I think. When I ask him he says he has it taken care of. I have seen a couple application fees on the credit card. He did wait so long to send his application into USC that the day it was due he tried to submit and it was lost on their web page. He had to call them and do it all over again. They did give him an extra day. I suppose he will be busy this weekend. On the good side he has received a nomination from congressman Ben Chandler both to West Point and the Air Force academy. He has an appointment already at West Point. He also has received a verbal Full ride at Wash U from the ROTC. I asked him where his gut was leading him now and I got a "I don't know" I think he wants to see what else is available privately. Should I just back off and let him do it all or should I still keep pushing him to get it done?</p>
<p>Mines has yet to file any lined up RD schools that he promised to file each weekend since early Nov......We don't know any status and afraid to ask.....I'd rather be at work than suffered with anxiouse at home......here is the deep breath.....</p>
<p>Just saw a thread in College Admissions on what kids have to finish for all their apps. Looks like not everyone is procrastinating. Most have only couple short answers left.
On a brighter side - saw my daughter's common app essay yesterday. Pretty good ... if it were not the only one which she has at a more or less final stage. Got a promise that se will submit her first application tonight (not to the top choice school, just to make sure that the common app site works for her.</p>