<p>I have a graduating senior and a rising senior - both boys. Couldn't be more different. S1 is learning disabled, has no interests, and is barely hanging on in two classes with D-. Packmom's son looks good in comparison! I am not even recommending community college for my son. He needs to have some time off to just figure out what life is all about since, for him, it's not about school. He hasn't even been able to arrange full-time employment because we still don't know if/when he will graduate. As you can imagine I have put much effort into this child, but to no avail.</p>
<p>S2 is more similar to those on this thread. Typical boy who is uninterested in the whole college process and very much a procrastinator. We did do the college visit thing in April and he also had an awakening as to GPA and SAT scores. However, he says he will be happy anywhere so I guess it will all work out. At least in the past month or so he has decided on a major. That's a big relief because it helps narrow down the list of schools. He is also willing to retake the SAT in the fall although don't know how much prep work he will do since he will be a camp counselor all summer.</p>
<p>In spite of comments in this thread to the contrary I do believe that certain colleges translate into more success than others. It's not a given, but on average, my friends who went to schools like MIT, Stanford, Rice, CMU are all independently wealthy or very close to it at age 50. One of my wealthy friends went to UCLA for an MBA and one went to UC Berkeley in business. My moderately successful friends went to places like UC Davis, UCSB, San Jose State, Santa Clara, UTexas. There are obviously exceptions - this is just on average. All of my friends are well-adjusted, happily married and those who have children have nice children, so although wealth is not the only measure of success in life, I find it to be the only distinguishing factor among my friends.</p>
<p>Another one here: D is a rising senior with a strong interest in international relations, development, human rights issues. She's got her list pretty well narrowed down, including a probable ED target, so she's unusually focused on that front. But she's another example of a kid with whom you have to walk a fine line between nagging and letting them succeed or fail on their own. Glad we're already forming a mutual support society!</p>
<p>Add me to the list. I have a D who will be a senior in the fall. She attends a rural public h/s. She is very active in school sports and clubs and has excellent grades and good test (PSAT) scores. Just took 2 SAT subject tests and will be taking the SAT in June. As you can tell from my screen name D is a dancer. This is her major EC outside of school. She has attended pre-pro summer ballet intensives (some on scholarship) since age ten. Three years ago she began competitive jazz and has won regional and national competitions. D has always loved school and is a people pleaser. She wants to major in journalism and we have visited two U with undergraduate journalism programs and one U w/o a J school. We plan on visiting at least 3 more schools before fall. </p>
<p>D is rather carefree about the whole admissions process and doesnt understand how competitive it can be. Hopefully, we can develop a list of schools that are a good fit (academically and socially) and have a good dance team. :o</p>
<p>Just found this thread. I recognize many of you on this thread, and we have been through a lot together. My 2 s's are both rising srs, one in HS, one in college. Oldest is more academically driven, youngest more socially driven. Oldest solicited my input, younger s fights it. It is going to be an interesting year....</p>
<p>I too have a rising senior S. We went through the usual angst-ridden process with my D who will be a sophomore at Pomona next year, but circumstances are different for my S. As a D1 recruited athlete, his choice of schools is narrower and the process is accelerated. He's done with testing and has moved on to gathering letters of recommendation and composing essays in preparation for an early read of his application at one school. Later, he will apply to other schools depending on what happens with the early read decision. He should know where he will be by early October. I also have a D who begins high school in the fall and we will begin the process all over again.</p>
<p>D is rising sr- but is out of the mold in that she has lived away from home for 2 years for ballet, cyberschooled (I'm hoping colleges see this as one very highly motivated and disciplined kid- AP and college level courses). Cutting down on the dance this coming year and living at home will allow for some comm. service. Looking at big cities (NY, MTL, Toronto) with good public transportation. Not a long list. Did well on the SATS, but writing was not what she is capable of and she'll take again.</p>
<p>I'm the mom of a rising senior -- strong SATs, coursework, ECs, etc. I offered to take him to see schools outside our area this summer (ones he knows or thinks he wants to apply to but hasn't seen) and he doesn't want to as he's busy here. He figures he'll see them next spring if he's lucky enough to get in but he's applying to places scattered around the country. I've been through this twice before and will do it one more time.</p>
<p>I'll post too, as I am here trying to deal with my anxiety while my daughter is off performing in "footloose" rather than studying for the Math and Chem SAT 2's next week. She and her friends are at the top of their class at a small Christian school in a suburb of San Francisco, and it seems none of them want to talk about college becuase " it's too sad". I stumbled upon this forum looking for something or other, and it's been quite an opener reading some of the kids posts about their "stats" and seeing how invested they are in the process. I think she's a great student, well balanced with a bunch of activities that she got involved in before I came here and heard of "EC's". Not the girl scout gold award, but the silver...She has a 4.0 GPA ( almost the same weighted as unweighted if you appreciate the relevence of that) and recent SATs something like 630/650/740, but again, after hanging out here, I wonder what it all means. The hardest part for me is wondering if I'm too invested in the process ( I also haunt the soccer forums because my son plays competitive soccer), and dealing with the fact that my husband and I feel differently about the ideal outcome.</p>
<p>HI, my D is a rising senior as well. I AM A COMPLETE WRECK!!!!</p>
<p>Not enough to deal with just college apps but she is going to be a Music Ed major (I post in the Music Major thread as well) so auditions. I am getting a migraine just thinking about it. We are so behind in college visits as she had mono this spring and was very sick and out of school for almost a month (but still made up all her work and maintained her high honor average). </p>
<p>We are particularly on edge this week as she was supposed to take SAT's on Sat but due to the death of a student at the school where she was to take them they were cancelled and re-scheduled for June 16th (AHHH!!) and now we have to let our ulcers fester till then and to compound that we are also under stress bc on Thursday night the official class ranking will be announced. She is definitely Top 10 but we are hoping for top 5. </p>
<p>Add all that to smaller matters like Senior pics coming up (school wants you to have them done there but sooo disorganized and low quality), trying to find a good private music teacher, learning to drive, and trying to find a summer job is just too much!! Is it over yet?</p>
<p>I'll join in. I have a rising senior son (S2) and a son who just completed his sophomore year at college. I've lurked here for a few years, and decided to "join the party" for this round. S2 is relatively engaged in the college search process, but has identified only large public schools for his list at this time. He knows he's grad school bound so wants to keep the debt low for undergrad - how's a parent to argue with that! Looking forward to using CC in the coming months for info and support.</p>
<p>I also have a rising senior S and another S who just finished his soph year of college. S1 got into a very good school, but it was a reach for him and were as surprised as were were thrilled (although he is doing really well there -seems to have come into his own). S2 is quite different - S1's reach school is probably a safety for S2. He's a quiet sort, but has done ridiculously well in a very competitive high school and on his SAT's. He will be applying to Brown, Columbia, Tufts, Penn and others as well. This is a very different experience for us, because he has the credentials for his Ivy choices, but so do the other bazillion kids who'll apply. Seems like a pure crapshoot at that level. Very strange.</p>
<p>I'm also on the 2008 track for S2, having found CC after S1 made it through his rounds of college and scholarship applications. He's just home from his "awesome" freshman yr at Washington & Lee. If only it were such a good fit for S2, that would make life over the next yr easier. But of course, NOT!</p>
<p>This time, with this next child, the most valuable lesson I bring from my first experience is how helpful deadlines can be in avoiding stress on the entire family. And with S2 at a diff private school than S1, I have the luxury of not having to set them myself. It's always better to have that college counselor tell him the same thing I would tell him! Can you say, "Draft essays over the summer so you have something to review and work on by the end of August?" Here's hoping I won't have to hold "essay incarceration" on Sats this fall . . . .</p>
<p>I've learned so much from CC -- both good questions and answers. Even made a CC cyber-friend who keeps me sane with her perspectives as a girl-mother! So I'll be here as we head into the game again with S2, who has his own playbook and "dodges." Can you tell I'm a jock-mother? The coaches are already calling, so the opening whistle has definitely blown . . . .</p>
<p>Hey, maybe we can make those Saturday "essay incarcerations" in the fall into a party....a party for us, that is. We'll sit our little seniors down at the computer, make sure the computer is <em>off</em> line, then we'll sit on our computers and chat while we keep one eye on them at all times. :-)</p>