I was the CC for my oldest 3 at a pretty good otherwise LPS. They all had a 10 minute meeting with the school GC (not calling her a college counselor because that is a small part of her job) and once she had ascertained that she didn’t need to prod them to at least apply to the community college that was it for counseling. They did submit things that we needed submitted, although twice D was incorrectly told that she was wrong about the college needing something and I had to intervene to make sure our school GC sent what the colleges were requesting. I even had to tell her how to submit a form on the counselor’s portal of the common app that she told D could not be submitted. I’m pretty sure I’m not supposed to have to do independent research to find out what a school’s portal looks like so I can tell the GC which buttons to click, but it got the job done.
If D gets good news M10, she will be happy for several reasons. I will be happy that I am done dealing with the LPS’s college counseling office, or rather its complete absence at our LPS.
@dadof4kids I can’t wait until 4 years from now to hear how your experience with BS CC offices differed from your prior dealings with LPS. I think it will be very enlightening to this forum!
Its wonderful how stress-free the college application process is so far. And I see no reason why that would change. We’ve offered our son to help and advise in any way he asks for, but he is completely driving the bus. His CC is his best resource this time around (not like BS applications, which I still have PTSD from). So, we are enjoying watching it unfold and serving as cheerleaders.
This. I wish kiddo was a little more into it, but I feel like he had a dry run with bs, and knows himself pretty well. His chill attitude probably is a good thing. I also know that there are a lot of good schools out there. His college experience will be what he makes of it wherever he goes. I learned that from our bs experience.
I am just grateful he is starting from a place that all possibilities are open to him, as much as they are to any unhooked kid.
I also kept offering to help DS and his response was always “I got it”. So, he didn’t ask for anything until he needed a credit card. Which, surprisingly, was only once because all of the rest of his schools waived his app fee!!! BONUS
I will probably get a phone call from D at some point.
Dad, the CC wanted me to tell you to stop freaking out. She has in fact done this once or twice and knows what she is doing, it’s embarassing that you keep checking to see if she is on top of things. She knows more than you, chill out.
Oh, what I would give to have a CC that actually knows what she is doing! D21 was told that she couldn’t EA and ED, they were basically the same thing and she had to pick just one school to EA or ED to. I could go on for pages, but that’s a flavor of what I was working with. So few kids apply to selective schools that each counselor probably only gets a couple every year. So those kids are on their own. They are helpful for kids like my D’s 3 best friends, who are all going to the local directional, which is literally between my house and the HS. Or the community college across the street from the HS. If you want to travel further, you are on your own.
The process was (and still is) stressful because my kid waited until almost the last minute to submit 21 applications and then yesterday told me that he couldn’t see himself going to any schools other than his super reaches or U of Utah.
I forced my son to work on apps for the days leading up to his ED release because I was afraid he’d lose motivation if deferred - it was definitely a tense Christmas. Thank goodness a lot of the supplements can be repurposed for other schools!
My husband has a great BS experience and a great college experience. But he still claims he worked much, much harder at Exeter than at Harvard. Of course college had the opportunity for a martini/ Punky Brewster hour, so there is that.
I think this is the real issue with the SAT boarding scores being discussed. Kids chasing merit have to offer tippy top test scores. A kid who is full pay and has many other weapons in his quiver can be more casual about them.
I certainly agree with you that a student is more likely to have to work harder at Exeter than at Harvard later. However, that’s not what I’m trying to figure out. The reason I asked the question was because I know that some colleges actively discourage its graduates to enroll in its own graduate programs because they think exposures to the same (or similar) institution for both undergaduate and graduate studies would be limiting (in experiences, thoughts, etc.) for these students. I was wondering whether there are similar concerns going from a BS to an LAC because of the high degree of similarities between them.
Not really applicable. Unis encourage undergrads to pursue PhD studies at a different uni for exposure to different professors, ideologies, etc. But the experience at Yale vs Stanford from an overall perspective is similar. Or at least more similar than different
But to your question, I ruled out all LACs for the reason you mentioned; they were mostly too similar to them BS experience.
We went to visit one small LAC that was really similar to Deerfield - even the same architecture of many of its buildings. But it seemed actually “smaller” and the athletic facilities would be a let down at the college compared to DA
A pro po of your love of southern schools: having toured Deerfield and attended William and Mary, to me, William and Mary feels like the intersection between southern schools and Deerfield. Totally the same historical vibe as Deerfield. I think that is why I have always had a soft spot for Deerfield.
@1NJParent My kid ONLY considered LACs. He felt like he stayed more engaged academically when he had more of a connection with his profs and classmates and he enjoyed the strong sense of community… And he said he’d have the rest of his life to live in an overpriced city. He loved his college experience and managed to do a lot of things that were new, so I don’t think he felt like it was 4 more years of the same. Like most kids at his school, he spent time abroad and one of the things he was looking forward to when he left was meeting new people. In this regard, that sentiment wasn’t limited to kids from BS.
I’d say his BS friends were pretty evenly split between “this works well for me and I want a LAC” and “I am so over this!” I know of 2 of his classmates who transferred, one from a prestigious LAC to a huge state school, and the other from a large urban university to a highly selective LAC,.
As with so many things, it really depends on the kid, their wants, and their expectations. My kid did feel like a change in geography would be welcome and at least a little bit of protection against “four more years of the same.” I don’t think, with college now behind him, that he wishes he’d done anything differently.
I think that is why I have always had a soft spot for Deerfield.