<p>zebes & lindz--just wondered what "UF" was? I know you were talking about UCF for a while (Univ of Central Fla?) & wondered if UF was the same?</p>
<p>cpeltz--we are in the same boat! The more I go on CC, the more stressed I get, lol. And my son has almost identical stats as your son. Every person I've talked to on CC has said the same thing to me (I had the same quest re: rolling admission)---just go ahead and apply as early as possible. The advantage you'll get from the early consideration (more liberal standards of admission than later) is far greater than any advantage you'll have from waiting & hoping that better grades will make a difference. </p>
<p>Now that I think about it, though, I asked this question except I was wondering whether to wait until 1st term grades came out senior year. Maybe mid-Sept is not that much later. Perhaps a factor is when they open admissions? One school my son looked at takes apps on July 1st! (didn't know this). Others only put them online on Sept 1st. If it's an earlier opening at the son your school is considering, perhaps that would argue for submitting it before the replacement grade?</p>
<p>Btw, my son is also taking a summer college course to replace a 'slacker-induced' D grade. Except, our HS won't let it be used to factor into gpa as a replacement---it's more to shore up his knowledge of the subject and we'll send the college transcript w/HS transcripts to show that he's capable of doing the work.</p>
<p>Hope this was not more confusing..</p>
<p>Here are a few threads on rolling admission times:</p>
<p>UF is the University of Florida, which is in Gainesville. It's probably my d's match school, in that it provides everything she's possibly interested in studying. <g> She'll probably start in chem engineering with a biomedical track of some kind, but she also hasn't ruled out pharmacy school or med school. And, as UF has both pharm and med school, it's a good bet that they'll be able to provide sufficiently as far as the pre-reqs, etc. </g></p>
<p>She really seems to be focusing on UF as "the one" that she wants. So, getting her to get apps in other places has been frustrating. I'm fairly confident she can get into UF ... but their admissions has been completely screwy at times so I hate all eggs in one basket, ya know? :)</p>
<p>zebes--thanks...I thought that was it, but wasn't sure. Glad it's a match that has everything your daughter wants. That's what they tell us is ideal, right? A safety that you love? Don't think we're there yet. </p>
<p>Son drove through one FL school on spring break---he likes the warm weather aspect of the southern schools. One good thing-plane flights from NJ to FL would be more reasonable than those to CA (the other warm-weather spot that appeals to him!).</p>
<p>Ok, is it 5:00 somewhere? Dang, only 1 pm here....</p>
<p>Just spent 90 minutes watching S2 fill out the nuts and bolts of the common app and the state univ. app. online. He still has the short answer and essay to go. He didn't mind the common app so much, but detests the idea of the State U as his safety, so THAT was really fun (NOT!) </p>
<p>His assignment is to have the Common App essay done before school starts, so his teachers can edit. Though I work as a freelance/volunteer writer, it's much better to not have that as a bone of contention between us. </p>
<p>One step down, several to go.....and it will be 5:00 in four short hours.....</p>
<p>My d has filled out the common app - more or less. She plans to get some input from her gc after school starts regarding certain "snags" she hit when filling out the app. Now as to the essay and short answer on the common app - well, that's a different story.</p>
<p>D's essay should be done before school starts (next week), as she is now just "perfecting". Older d can can write a good (actually better than good) essay on her first go-round; yes, she still needs some minor proof-reading, but overall any essay she writes is over and done in one go-round. Youngest d - the gist of the essay: perfect, as it captured her personality on paper; the execution of the essay: ... many rewrites later, it still needs some work. Looking at all the essays (app supplements and scholarship essays) due for different schools scares me. Fall is a busy time of year for d with ECs; I truly forsee a Fall filled with angst.</p>
<p>D was going to finish-up the common app essay and work on the two short answers this week before the start of school, so she could at least have the common app complete. BUT (isn't there always a "but") she just found out that she has a paper due the first day of school in one of her H classes, so it looks like she won't be concentrating on finishing the common app after all. And this is only the start of juggling schoolwork and college admissions :(</p>
<p>Arg, it looks like others are trying to balance common app w/other obligations, too! Son finished an app to Rensselaer and got started on 'easy' (factual) parts of common app today. Goal is to finish at least one of the essays by tonight. He also has a final in his summer college course Wed, and an summer essay for AP English due then. And, we're supposed to leave for a 9 day vacation/tour of mid-west schools. </p>
<p>Seems to be the same story (& not unfamiliar..I do it too)...procrastinate, then get all jammed up. At least he can hopefully get in some apps to schools who take applications before Sept 1.</p>
<p>Just chiming in to say we're in the same boat here (a very crowded '09 boat, I think)! S1 claims he's "back burner-ing" it all but as far as I can see, all five burners are covered by Rock Band and Guitar Hero. D even took a swing at motivating him but so far, no luck. He's convinced that he's ahead of the game because his GC made everyone do a first draft of the common app (including essays) last spring - but that was the roughest first draft I've ever seen. </p>
<p>Oh well - it's going to be a loooong boat ride. Too soon to pass out tropical drinks for today but I'll be back later. </p>
<p>Jolynne, when do you all leave, and is your wee one going along?</p>
<p>OK - we are in a bit of a panic mode here. D's GC, who has only been at the school for a year, won a grant to teach HIV/AIDS awareness in Malawi for a year, found out this week that he is gone already, leaving D with the third guidance counselor in three years. Her app to her current first choice is due mid-September for a special scholarship, so hopefully she can get GC #1 (who is still at the school, just with a different group of students) to submit the rec for her instead of someone she doesn't even know yet! I am thinking of suggesting to the school that GC #1 take the seniors that are affected by this and having the interim handle the other classes that GC #2 had - it will be interesting to see how those seniors fare compared to the ones that have had the same GC all four years.</p>
<p>Rachacha, I think you have a very good chance at getting GC#1 back for your daughter, at least, given the special timing of her top-choice app. Fingers crossed for you. And I think the school ought to be on board with your overall suggestion for having GC#1 cycle back in for the rising seniors originally under his/her wing. I'm sure you know the personalities involved and know how to pitch it diplomatically.</p>
<p>How do kids get to know their GCs, anyway? The GCs at D's school are so over-worked, D has only spoken to hers once in 2 years. He did seem to know who she was, though.</p>
<p>And here's an unrelated question. I talked to the school yesterday to find out D's rank. She's 34 out of 412 students. I know for certain that only she and 1 other student had the extremely tough sophomore schedule that D chose. Last year she backed off a bit for mental health reasons, but this brings up the point that the ranking system is intrinsically unfair because it favors the students who take easier classes. Her school does no weighting whatsoever. Is that something her GC could/should address in his evaluations?</p>
<p>In the School Report/Recommendation that the GC sends to the college, whether or not the GPA is weighted or unweighted is asked. Also, the GC is asked to determine the rigor of coursework taken by the applicant...most rigorous, rigorous, etc. So there is a place on the evaluation for those issues.</p>
<p>The gc indicates the "rigor of curriculum" taken by the student on the counselor recommendation. I know at my d's hs three H classes a year is the standard for "most rigorous". </p>
<p>As to class rank, at d's school a friend is in the top 20 students (out of 200) and has only taken 4 H classes (rather than 9 to date). She is only taking 1 h class next year, I believe. </p>
<p>Anyway, in the above case, rigor of curriculum will be somewhat below the norm and class rank above the norm. It is up to the individual universities to sort through the various applications - my guess is that some universities will be swayed by a high class rank and others will not like the fact that a rigorous curriculum was not pursued, particularly senior year.</p>
<p>Ideally I guess the top tier universities want both the ranking and rigor (and the ecs and throw in athletics and leadership and ... insert accolade of choice. :))</p>
<p>Rachacha - similar situation here. D's GC just took on an adminstrative role in the district and her replacement is fresh out of grad school with zero HS counseling experience :(. I assume the original GC will, at a minimum, have input into D's GC recommendation since she is still around. I have a call into the school to verify this.</p>
<p>I am not typically a complaining parent, but at D's HS where very few kids go to top schools and the GCs are relatively clueless, I have adopted a "squeaky wheel" mentality. So far it seems to be working.....I was successful this summer in convincing them to revise the school profile, including cleaning up grammatical and factual errors :eek:</p>
<p>My girls' GC is also their socccer coach of 4 years and TwinK's AVID teacher for her upcoming Sr year.</p>
<p>I have found that regardless of the size or location of your public high school, a well informed student and parent know more about out of area privates. Our GC is tops w/ UCs and CSUs though as well as the few privates within a 4 hour drive. But in all seriousness with so few kids from our hs going to out of area privates why would he know about smaller less well known private schools in other states ? </p>
<p>Good Luck PRJ I am sorry your D hasn't had much GC continuity.</p>
<p>The very best of luck to all w/our class of '09 & the GC/application/etc. issues.</p>
<p>I think I need to take up meditation. Whenever I see son reading the Calvin & Hobbes collection or playing Call of Duty 4 instead of brainstorming his essay, I can just go "oooommm" and visualize a peaceful, island beach with palm trees and a gentle breeze. At this point it's meditation or medication (just kidding...sort of).</p>
<p>Harriet--thanks for asking. We leave tomorrow. 6 yo is coming; along with my 83 year old parents (who still can't figure out their new GPS). It's an extended, mid-west family reunion, into which I've shoe-horned possibly 3 college visits (UIUC, Carng Mellon & UofMich). I'm just hoping we survive with our equanimity intact. Hopefully GPS will alleviate any of the inevitable directional arguments among the generations...!</p>
<p>Well, it's almost 5:00 - you can switch from meditation to medication soon, Jolynne. I recommend a margarita. </p>
<p>Your trip sounds amazing. Three cheers for the GPS. (And btw, CMU was my 6-year-old's favorite, hands down, for scootering.) Hope all goes well!</p>
<p>Hi, historymom! :D I'm baaa-aack. Be afraid.</p>
<p>chintzygirl is also getting a new GC this year, but it's actually a good thing. Old GC has been calling D by the wrong name for 3 years; new GC is experienced and at least knows D a little through EC's.</p>
<p>My daughter's GC seems like a nice man and he's been in his position for many years but our school simply does not deal with competitive college admissions very often. He's definitely a big step ahead of another GC at our school who told my younger daughter that he didn't see why she'd prefer honors classes over regular college prep, especially for science since that's really hard you know. Uggh.</p>
<p>Older D is starting to realize senior year is really happening. They had senior pictures last week which included posing in caps and gowns, eek. Hopefully that will mean a little activity on the essays. I can dream. At least we've been talking. Right now it's about ED vs. EA or possibly SCEA. I don't like the strategy aspects of this process. Damned if you do, damned if you don't.</p>
<p>But I checked with the high school registrar, and transcripts won't be ready/mailed out until mid-September - they don't have the last semester of the junior year yet.</p>
<p>electronblue: I don't know if it will help: I have heard that when the USNWR rankings come out a bit later this month that they tell you the acceptance rating and avg. stats of students applying ED and EA. You have to buy the book or the online version to get that but It may be helpful. I think Naviance offers a similar thing if you have access.</p>
<p>Congrats fireflyscout how nice for you and your student!</p>