Parents of rising seniors: Let the games begin

Parents Forum
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<p>Screen name: Fireflyscout
Is your junior male or female: Female
Home state: Texas
Preferred geographic location for college: Generally east of Texas
Any specific things looking for in a college (large, small, urban, etc.): Preferably small liberal arts college, setting doesn't matter, prefer moderate politics
Child's possible academic interests: History, political science, international relations
Schools currently on child's list of possibilities: (in alpha order) Allegheny, Bowdoin, Carleton, Davidson, Hamilton, Macalester, Rhodes, Sewanee, Southwestern, Williams
Schools we've visited (whether or not child is still interested in going there): Southwestern, Tulane, Davidson, William and Mary, Williams, Skidmore, Hamilton, Allegheny, Centre, Sewanee, Rhodes, will be touring Carleton and Macalester later this month</p>

<p>Was kinda hoping my d could meet up with firstsonofthree at Rhodes, but he chose Brown. Ah well. Be sure to invite me to the wedding of Carolyn's D and secondsonofthree!</p>

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<p>Screen name: Mezzomom
Is your junior male or female: Female
Home state: MI
Preferred geographic location for college: Anywhere but MI, although will probably have U-M or Central MI as a financial safety (I know, I know, for all of you OOSers, it's hard to see "U-M" and "financial safety" used together!)
Any specific things looking for in a college (large, small, urban, etc.): Urban or suburban; must be near a city. Sigh...there go some of my personal favorites (Kenyon, Grinnell). LAC or slightly larger.
Child's possible academic interests: BA in music with a vocal performance emphasis doubled with either political science or public policy
Schools currently on child's list of possibilities: Otterbein, American, Brandeis, Case, Hobart and William Smith Colleges
Schools we've visited (whether or not child is still interested in going there): Otterbein, U-M, Central; we're way behind in the college visits but hope to make up some lost ground this summer.</p>

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<p>Screen name: Calmom</p>

<p>Is your junior male or female: Female</p>

<p>Home state: California</p>

<p>Preferred geographic location for college: D. wants East Coast, Mom happy with Calif. ;) (I don't care how far away she is - its all about the $$) D. particularly likes NY, DC, Boston & Chicago.</p>

<p>Any specific things looking for in a college (large, small, urban, etc.):</p>

<p>Daughter is a city girl, through & through. College should be in a city, or suburban/near a large urban area. College should not be too small. Preferably in a blue state.</p>

<p>Child's possible academic interests: Russian, linguistics, poli sci, psychology. D. is a dancer - does not want to study dance at college, but will use dance if it helps her get into a school she wants. </p>

<p>Schools currently on child's list of possibilities: Dream school: Barnard. Still completely open on other colleges. </p>

<p>Schools we've visited (whether or not child is still interested in going there): D. has visited U. of Chicago - loved it - (but may not be the Chicago "type"... Saturday nites are party time, not study time). No other formal pre-college visits.</p>

<p>"Admissions Profile" (adding this extra note, because it helps narrow down lists -- don't suggest MIT for this kid!):
Academic strengths: GPA - 3.9 unweighted; Russian study; dance. Writes exceptionally well, & will interview well.
Weaknesses: Mediocre test scores; weak high school transcript & test scores in math & science.</p>

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<p>Screen name: Lalady</p>

<p>Is your junior male or female: female</p>

<p>Home state: CA</p>

<p>Preferred geographic location for college: CA, Hawaii, Florida, Arizona Do you see a pattern here?)</p>

<p>Any specific things looking for in a college (large, small, urban, etc.): Lots of school spirit, medium to large, good dance team, may or may not play soccer.</p>

<p>Child's possible academic interests: forensic science, business</p>

<p>Schools currently on child's list of possibilities: Chapman, SDSU, CSULB, Eckerd, U of A, ASU, Hawaii Pacific, UOP.</p>

<p>Schools we've visited (whether or not child is still interested in going there): We're going this summer!</p>

25

<p>Screen name:Taxguy</p>

<p>Is your junior male or female:Female</p>

<p>Home state:Maryland</p>

<p>Preferred geographic location for college:North East or Mid West,but preferably as close to Maryland as possible</p>

<p>Any specific things looking for in a college (large, small, urban, etc.): She isn't sure.</p>

<p>Child's possible academic interests:Communication Design, Graphic Design or New Media Design</p>

<p>Schools currently on child's list of possibilities:Univ of Cincinnati, RISD,Pratt, RIT, Syracuse,Towson University and Maybe CMU</p>

<p>Schools we've visited (whether or not child is still interested in going there):All of the above except University of Cincinnati</p>

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<p>Screen name:curmudgeon
Is your junior male or female:Female</p>

<p>Home state:Texas</p>

<p>Preferred geographic location for college:will consider all except Texas</p>

<p>Any specific things looking for in a college (large, small, urban) Small to really dang small,moderate,unanimously residential, rural, suburban, or highly protected/segregated if urban (think Rhodes)</p>

<p>Child's possible academic interests:Chem, Bio Pre-med</p>

<p>Schools currently on child's list of possibilities:Williams,Bowdoin, Middlebury, Hamilton, Centre, Rhodes, Hobart and Wm. Smith, Ursinus, Washington and Jefferson, St. Mary's of Md.,Hanover</p>

<p>Schools we've visited (whether or not child is still interested in going there):Within the last two years with D:Southwestern, Austin College, Hendrix, U of Arkansas, U of Mississippi, Emory, Oxford at Emory, Furman, Wofford, Davidson, Clemson, Maryville , Rhodes (2),Centre (2), William Jewell, Grinnell, Drake, Cornell College, Lake Forest, Knox, Rose-Hulman, DePauw, Hanover, U of Missouri-Rolla, University of Oklahoma,Texas A+M, Baylor.</p>

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<p>Screen name:theocmom
Is your junior male or female:female
Home state:California
Preferred geographic location for college:Calif. , possible boston or D.C.(will visit this summer)
Any specific things looking for in a college (large, small, urban, etc.): large or medium
Child's possible academic interests:Communications and/or Theatre as minor or extracurricular
Schools currently on child's list of possibilities: UCSD, UCLA, Berkeley, San Diego State, USC, Stanford? (reach)
Schools we've visited (whether or not child is still interested in going there): UCSD, UCLA, Pomona, Pepperdine, Berkeley</p>

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<p>Screen name: Eagle79
Is your junior male or female: Male
Home state: RI
Preferred geographic location for college: Undetermined
Any specific things looking for in a college (large, small, urban, etc.): Trying to pin this down but he has liked every school he has visited.
Child's possible academic interests: Math, Economics, Science perhaps engineering
Schools currently on child's list of possibilities: Notre Dame, Stanford, BC, Northwestern, U of Chicago, Cornell, Williams
Schools we've visited (whether or not child is still interested in going there): Columbia, Notre Dame, Northwestern, U of Chicago, Amherst, Williams, Cornell</p>

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<p>Screen Name: Holycow
Is your junior male or female: female
Home State - NY, but we've been living in Asia for 14 years or so
Preferred location for college: northeastern US
Specific things looking for in a college: no clue
Child's possible academic interest: Int'l Relations, int'l business, polsci, eventually law school.
Schools we've visited: Williams, Brown, Bodoin, Columbia, NYU.
any suggestions for this summer's college visit road trip?</p>

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<p>Ladylazarus, I'd also suggest you take a look at Lewis & Clark and Goucher. Seems like both would be good fits for you. And, since you have several all-female schools on your list, you might take a quick peak at Mills in San Francisco as a possible safety. Glad you are joining us - I didn't mean to make it seem that ONLY parents could post here --- the more the merrier and we'll all stick together for the next year!</p>

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<p>Holycow, you migth consider adding Amherst, Boston U, Johns Hopkins, George Washington, Georgetown, Dickinson and Colgate to your list for summer visits. Is your daughter open to any all-female schools? If so, throw in Smith, Mt. Holyoke and Wellesley.</p>

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<p>Cur, I didn't know that you had visited Hendrix. If you get a chance, could you say a few words (either here or through PM) about what Hendrix was like?</p>

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<p>Calmom, You consider a 3.9 unweighted GPA to be a "weak" high school transcript? LOL! :)
Has your daughter considered Wellesley? And, I don't know about Dance but Johns Hopkins and Georgetown both come to mind for russian/russian studies.</p>

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<p>Juana, Don't know if you'll see this but Goucher College in Maryland or Skidmore in NY may both be nice fits for your daughter - strong art programs, strong theater program,s some undergraduate education courses but would probably need to get a teaching credential after undergrad.</p>

<p>Momofthree: You said: Can you imagine the wedding thread we could start??? Even better, we could save a mint on invitations by just posting invites on CC.</p>

<p>Susan/Soozievt, Glad to hear your daughter is doing better. She is still in my thoughts and prayers for an easy and full recovery before she has to get up on stage at NYU next fall.</p>

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<p>
[Quote]
I didn't mean to make it seem that ONLY parents could post here --- the more the merrier and we'll all stick together for the next year!

[/quote]

I'm going to take you up on this.</p>

<p>Screen name: Anoel
Male or female: female
Home state: NY
Preferred geographic location for college: Below the Mason-Dixon Line, between Maryland and North Carolina (warm weather a must), prefer east coast and within reasonable amount of distance (ie parents said no Florida/CA)
Any specific things looking for in a college (large, small, urban, etc.): in or near a big city, big school, good psychology department a plus but must have plenty of research oppurtunities early on, good sports teams a plus
Possible academic interests: Psychology all the way (Favorite areas include Social, Industrial-Organizational, Educational and Cognitive)
Schools currently on child's list of possibilities: University of Maryland-College Park, North Carolina State, considering others and likes to explore all options
Schools we've visited (whether or not child is still interested in going there): None yet (unless you count SUNY Upstate Medical Center where my mom goes) but will be doing the Great 2 week college tour this summer</p>

<p>Good luck to everyone in the college process!</p>

36

<p>OK, I just did a quick tally - so far we have 18 girls and 4 guys. This includes 4 from California, 3 from Michigan, 3 from Texas - and the rest from assorted states, plus one living in Asia. </p>

<p>Looks to be an interesting year. :)</p>

<p>How many are stressing over AP's next week? My d. is taking AP English Lang & Composition plus Psych next week.</p>

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<p>I'm really stressing over them. I have AP US History this Friday and AP Chemistry and Psychology the following tuesday. It's been so crazy with all the studying and the pressure considering its worth so much college credit and worth in the admissions process. I've got to limit my CC time (oh no) to study for them. I'll be so glad when they're over with.</p>

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<p>Anoel - I know its a lot of stress. My daughter was also supposed to take the new SAT this month - but when I realized how much she was stressing out, I suggested postponing the SAT until June -- you wouldn't believe the look of relief in her face when I said that. She is stressed because she only came into the AP psych class this semester - she was out of the country during the first semester, with a foreign exchange program. At her school its usually a senior class, but she is taking couses out of sequence because of the exchange - she will have to take US history next year. </p>

<p>Do you have outlines to study from? I got my daughter the Barron's prep book for the psych exam because it looked like it had a good summary for her use to catch up and review the parts she missed first semester.</p>

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<p>I'm taking the SATs in June as well for exactly that reason, I can't handle another test when I could be studying for APs. Plus then I also have to study for the SATs which would cut into my AP study time even more. After all my AP's are over, my classes in school will be a breeze and I will have a lot more time to study for the SATs and pull off a high score. </p>

<p>I'm actually not even in an AP Psychology course, I'm self-studying. My school doesn't off an AP Psychology course although it does offer a college level one through a local college. I'm taking that next year actually, I decided to take the high school psychology course at my school which is nice because it does review some of the major points. I've already had some basic knowledge of psychology already so that's helped me as well. I also have the Barron's review book which is really helpful to me. A great psychology resource I know of that can help is <a href="http://www.appsychology.net/%5B/url%5D"&gt;http://www.appsychology.net/&lt;/a>. It's got notes, outlines, tips and other study resources all on the AP psychology test. Hope that helps and good luck to her on her exams :)</p>

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<p>Thanks for the site - I've passed it on to my daughter. My d. loves psychology -- when she was a little girl she always wanted to grow up to be a psychologist. When she was about 8 she would tell people that she planned to get a Ph.D. in psychology, and that she thought it would take her until about age 32 to do it -- serious kid. Now she's not so sure, as her interests have expanded, but she absolutely loves her AP class. I think she'll do fine on the test because of her high interest -- when you really love a subject, you tend to retain all the information on it, and it is also easy to write about. I think with your interest, you'll do fine, too - its just too bad that you have chem and psych on the same day. My d's school doesn't offer any AP lab sciences - my d took regular chem last year & is hoping to take physics this summer at the local community college. </p>

<p>Anyway, if you were my daughter, then I would be telling you to quit messing around on bulletin boards and get to work -- so I guess that is what you should be doing. ESPECIALLY since I just realize that you are in NY at it it was almost 3:00 am for you when you made the last post!!! So now the mom in me says: Get to BED!!!! The best thing you can ever do to prepare for tests is get plenty of rest!</p>