<p>Wow Alumother, talk about gutsy!! Way to raise a confident kid! Did she go with him? </p>
<p>Arpmom You DD doesn't have to wait to be asked. My two went with girlfriends and had a blast! Your D sound like a dedicated student. I hope her college admissions dreams come true.</p>
<p>For that matter I hope that all of our kids realize their admissions and financial aid dreams!!!</p>
<p>Yeah she went with him. On the other hand they were already BF and GF:).</p>
<p>The confidence part was making that happen to begin with....</p>
<p>Isn't it cute watching them grow up?</p>
<p>On the subject of asking the GF to the prom....</p>
<p>Around here, the boys make a big deal of very imaginative ways to invite someone to the prom. Most involve flower petals, candy, or other romanticisms. A friend's son bucked the trend; he mooned his girlfriend, with "Julie prom?" spelled out on his butt.</p>
<p>Now, that's a memory!</p>
<p>ChiSquare - that's my kind of kid!</p>
<p>Lolololol :)</p>
<p>My D plans to apply ED to U-Penn. If she doesn't get in, she plans to apply to Harvard, Yale, American, George Washington, Texas, Northwestern, Wash U, Tulane and maybe UC-Berkeley. She plans to major in political science and eventually wants to go to law school.</p>
<p>bbronston I am not familiar with the selectivity of all of the schools on your D's list. Are any of those schools safeties?</p>
<p>My D is number 2 off to college so we did this exactly 4 years ago. She wants to study genetics, be involved with music (plays the flute and piano)and has also been stressing over AP's - 5 this year (Calc AB, USH, Bio, Chem and Lit) with 5 planned for next year (Physics, Comp, World Hist, Gov and Calc BC) and 1 as a sophomore(Sadistics). We've constantly tried to talk her out of such a course load but she doesn't listen and then she handles it. She has no clue where she wants to go except that she doesn't like our state U which would definitely be a safety. She feels that its too big (it is), too into sports (it is), and has crappy dorms (it does sortof) and because everyone else will be going there. She's a pretty independent one.</p>
<p>We've visited Vanderbilt and Case already (she could see herself at either -- wasn't that helpful) and will visit USC and Mudd in June, Kenyon for a science day in July and a large driving circuit to VA, NC, PA, and MD in late July. Hopefully at that point she'll have narrowed it down by size and feel a bit better. Aside from those she may also look at Chicago and Brandeis. Even though we live in Ohio, she'd prefer to move somewhere warmer.</p>
<p>Her dad and I are planning to relocate (and we don't know where either) so location will not be a major consideration for her nor is our not knowning what we're doing helping her.</p>
<p>Sharon, your D and mine seem cut from the same cloth. Twin E loves genetics. Took AP bio test today and though she was very well prepared is ambivalent about her performance. She's a mallet percussionist who wants to continue to play and doesn't want to go the the closest state U campus because it is where "everyone goes" I hesitate to suggest it as your D would be in competition w/ mine but would she consider Scripps?</p>
<p>College visits now?</p>
<p>Now that many of our juniors are in the midst of AP tests, SAT IIs, upcoming finals, etc. -- wondered if anyone thought about fitting in some college visits? I'd really hoped to get son to see some schools before the college students left for the summer. It seems very important, especially if he's going to be making decisions re: schools/writing essays over the summer.</p>
<p>But, it seems nearly impossible to fit in. Anyone have any thoughts on prioritizing this? Or, maybe it will just have to wait until the summer and we'll walk around empty campuses....</p>
<p>This is definitely the time to prepare for college visits. Once their Senior year starts they are going to be crazy busy. A lot of schools do summer tours and interviews. It is also a good time for your child to get a feel for the different types of schools. Large, small, city, rural, etc... Even if the campus isn't buzzing with students I think you can get a sense from being in the area. I am planning a Pennsylvania tour this summer and we are seeing 4 schools in 4 days that are each between 2-3 hours apart. It will be a more relaxed time for all of us and I was able to fit it in after her summer camp program ends.
We are also doing this as a family so that my 10 year old isn't so left out. In our case my D will have to fly around the country for auditions throughout the year (she's going for a BFA in musical theatre) and I will be away from her younger sister-this will be a nice time to include dad and little sis!
Good luck...</p>
<p>Pohsmom, where in PA are you going? We are going to visit Gettysburg, F&M, and Dickinson. We're from NC so don't know much about these schools. Any insights are appreciated.</p>
<p>To historymom: Yes, there are some safeties on my daughter's list. American and Tulane are definitely safeties, and I'm pretty sure she can get in GW. In light of current admissions situation, Harvard and Yale are definitely reaches. I think she has a reasonbly good chance to get into Penn, but these days, you never know.</p>
<p>We did some college visits over spring break. We visited Penn, Harvard, Yale, Brandeis, American and GW. My daughter has some friends going to Indiana and Kansas next year, so she may visit both of them and add to her safety list.</p>
<p>historymom, that AP Bio test was apparently ugly. My D was really well prepared but thought that some of the questions were just on material that wasn't covered in anything taught or on the review materials.</p>
<p>Re Scripps, the only general thing my D has decided is that she does NOT want to go to an all women's college. So that leaves Scripps out.</p>
<p>She should be NMF and has a straight 4.0 u/w with lots of volunteering at the zoo. We're really hopeful we can find a good school that fits her with a strong science program and merit money. I personally feel that a smaller college will be best for her but we'll have to see. We're probably going to include applying to Emory although I doubt whether we'll have a chance to visit.</p>
<p>My S is also in the class of 2009. He is 4th in his class of nearly 1000. He got a 35 on the 4/12 ACT (his first) and is awaiting 5/3 SAT results (also his first). He is taking 3 AP's this year, and 4 next year. He has dreamed his whole life of building roller coasters. (Think 4 year old with a notebook of track designs and car themes - seriously) He thinks, and I am not sure how he came to this conclusion, that civil or mechanical engineering is the way to go. He has visited UIUC and Purdue, and plans on seeing U of M soon. What other schools might you all suggest for him? He is quiet, extremely self-motivated (like I have to tell him to stop studying for AP Econ to play a little Rock Band with his sister;) and quite musical. He plays sax, sings and is learning guitar. He might consider marching band at big school or at least some sort of musical outlet at a smaller one. Big schools don't seem to intimidate, probably because his HS is quite large, but he would like to see a couple of small schools as well. I am nervous about him attending a technical school as I could totally see, if he ever switched majors, him ending up a history major. (Took AP US History last year and got a 5, just has always excelled in/loved history) Any ideas? Anyone out there have any insight on the whole roller coaster designer career path? His GC just keeps telling him he should be an engineer, but what kind?</p>
<p>Thanks so much and you should all be so proud of your students - they all sound amazing!</p>
<p>Jolynne - as far as college visits before school is out, it's too late! I tried to make some visits early this week (there were some great deals on airfare), but none of the schools I contacted recommended visits this week due to finals and commencements. </p>
<p>Looks like we'll be busy this summer with a trip to the midwest and at least one to the east coast. I'm actually thinking DS and I will need to skip our annual family vacation at the lake this year to make time for trips. DS is working and excited about that, so hate to have him miss many weeks during the short summer. </p>
<p>Mommymo - your son might want to investigate structural engineering for the roller coaster design. In addition to Purdue, another fine engineering program is at Penn State, FYI.</p>
<p>252525,</p>
<p>We've been to F & M several times, since my husband was part-time in Lancaster (we live in VA full-time). It is a lovely school. Kids can create their own majors. The science building is new. They have new apartments for upperclassmen. Dorm rooms are a little small -- or at least he thought so. But each dorm gets money to do whatever it wants each year. My son liked that. The town is nice --- good bus service and it's right down the road from the new baseball stadium. </p>
<p>One of my husband's co-workers went to Dickinson. Says it's lovely. Nice town. Good academics. Good merit money -- he never paid for tuition, but then again, he did play in the band.</p>
<p>One of my fellow teachers went to Gettysburg. Again, nice school and town. </p>
<p>Sharonohio: Tell your daughter that an all-female school is not bad. Usually there is a college with lots and lots of guys nearby!</p>
<p>Mommyo I don't know how you feel about him traveling all the way out west, but Santa Clara University has a fantastic engineering program. Contacting the engineering dept at any of the schools in which he is interested will help you answer the "what kind?" question. I don't know if rankings matter but SCU is ranked #2 in the west for the USNWR category of "Masters Universities" Plus there is a theme park (Great America) about 10 minutes from campus and the Santa Cruz Beach Boardwalk is only about 40 minutes away. Both come complete with roller coasters.</p>
<p>Re visits: Summer visits are OK to get the "Do I want to apply?" question answered. They aren't really the best way to answer the "Do I want to attend?" question. That can often be answered after acceptances are in and if the school offers early action you will have from Dec. to May 1 to schedule a visit. There are two schools that are several states away. We won't visit them unless one or both of our girls are accepted to them. In the meantime they have been in contact with the admissions reps to show interest.</p>
<p>HistoryMom: Santa Clara ranks higher than San Jose State in the west for the USNWR category of "Masters Universities" but its Engineering program is ranked lower than San Jose State. So I won't recommend it for a strong student.</p>