<p>My S will be senior this fall. That</p>
<p>Here is the re-posting:</p>
<p>My S will be senior this fall. That’s mean a lot of work on college applications. He is also taking 5 APs. I wonder why no one suggests seniors to prepare or even finish college applications during the summer before senior year. At least you can finish all the application assays and a few forms, right?</p>
<p>I've often wondered why high schools don't have a class on college application/financial aid filing. </p>
<p>wzzzz, my D the "professionl" procrastinator, took her sweet time filing out the apps (while I pulled out my hair), and basically waited until the last moment to submit (meanwhile I was bald!), Alas, the apps were in, and she is now in her 2nd semester at a fine LAC. </p>
<p>I suppose this is a learning time for parents too. Learn to be more patient (yeah, right) and learn that the stuff will get done, just not on "our" schedule.</p>
<p>A very stupid suggestion was made in our house last summer that he work on essays over the summer, especially in August, so that everything could be ready by the time school started. Son plays a fall sport, and is taking two college classes. This was obviously a stupid suggestion because essays were written AFTER soccer season and the application was sent in Nov. 4. (Rolling admission school that says "the sooner, the better". Hopefully by Halloween.)</p>
<p>If your student is the type who likes to get things done in advance and over with, he may want to see which of the colleges he's applying to accept the Common Application. He could then write his Common App essays over the summer (the essay questions do not change from year to year).</p>
<p>In real life, though, very few kids do this. </p>
<p>A more realistic thing that your son may want to do is to speak to the teachers from whom he wants to obtain recommendations (he will probably need two) before the end of the year. Some teachers have quotas; they will only write a limited number of recommendations each year because it's so time consuming. It helps to get on the teacher's list early.</p>
<p>I thought it would be a great idea to get essays done. S thought otherwise!! What he did do, was his write up about GPA, classes, extra curric., jobs, sports, student activites, volunteer, etc. When it was time to do apps. all he had to do was pull this out and away he went. Over the summer, he remembered other things to add to this list, so it was really helpful to do this ahead of time.</p>
<p>Our school used to have a Senior composition class that was about filling in applications (both college & job) as well as writing short essays, etc. Problem was, Senior year was too late for most of them, including everyone trying for scholarships, early decision, etc. Would have been much more helpful Junior year (which is probably why hardly anyone signed up for it as Seniors, and it was dropped from the curriculum. Admin could not figure out why it was so unpopular, and decided it was because "apparently no one needed the help." The explanation that Senior year was too late went right over their heads...apparently they were stuck back "in the day" when schools had May of Senior year application deadlines, and kids spent the summer after graduation waiting to hear if they'd been accepted...</p>
<p>The thing to remember is, regardless how brillant out kid is, we are still dealing with 17-year-old priorities.</p>
<p>Note: My fingers aren't working well today, and the first time I typed this, it came out "1-year-old priorities". Which sometimes are much different than 17-year-old priorities.</p>
<p>Our HS does have a class Writing Prose that many take as a junior that does focus on essay writing. It is a good idea. I would have liked my son to get his apps in months before he did, but he did it his way and got them all in on time. I was glad I stopped nagging him about it and so was he.</p>
<p>Our kid's high school requires a "personal statement" essay due the first day of senior classes. It goes to the English teacher and the college counselor. (The teacher doesn't really do anything with it - I think she's included in the loop so that the kids actually turn it in.) During the first fall meeting with the college counselors it may be discussed. These essays are not something that the kids have to use on their actual apps, and many don't - neither of mine did. But it does get them thinking, it gives them some valuable feedback, and may give them a sense of how long it takes to put one together, and maybe some ideas. Both of my kids trashed theirs, but I think it helped them with the next batch, which they put together at the last minute just like everyone else.</p>
<p>Come to think of it, this idea probably helps the counselors do their job as much as it helps the kids. I'm sure every year there are some kids who really don't get anything finished in time for the apps to go out . Then the counselor can pull out the summer essay and say, "This will have to do. The deadline is today!"</p>
<p>LOL, Peggy...but sometimes, 17 year olds & 1 year olds are VERY similar! Sometimes, they have tantrums about exactly the same thing...only difference is you can usually understand what the 17 yr old is screaming...sometimes, but not always.</p>
<p>You're right, though, it is a very good thing to remember actual age, especially with kids who usually act and sound like adults. Experience-wise, a teenager is a teenager, and should be expected, and allowed, to have teenage emotions, desires, etc. They may jump ahead on most types of development, but it's not generally wise to skip the emotional stages (even if we'd rather they did...At least skip the overly-dramatic angst-ridden teenaged steps!)</p>
<p>Coming from the perspective of a current senior, I also did not finish, or even start, my essays during the summer. What I did do, and would suggest to anyone, is that I began filling out all the "easy" information during the summer. It has been observed before, but it bears repeating: it takes a decent amount of time to even fill out the biographical information on applications. I filed nine applications total, and I worked on these applications from August until whenever they were due. When you work on applications for that long, a) you read over them a million times and they are more polished at the end and b) when it does get to be the day before the application is due, you don't have that much work left. No one was pulling out their hair, because we all knew that I had plenty of time to finish the applications. </p>
<p>Also, don't let your son underestimate the amount of time that short answer sections take. If there is a crazy word/character limit, a 50 word answer can take up to an half an hour to fit within a strict character count. In the end, I was happy for these limits, becuase the editing made my answers better, but even small portions of the application take time to do well.</p>