<p>PRJ, D felt the same way about East Carolina. She fell in love with the school and campus but not impressed with the city of Greenville.</p>
<p>PRJ - Yes, we know about Worcester, but I'm not sure DS realizes that it may be very depressed right outside of campus. It's one thing for adults to comprehend that, not sure how he'll feel when he sees it. That said, there's something about it that is very compelling for him although I've done 95% of the research. We went to an informational meeting with a Clark rep, and he's still very enthusiastic.</p>
<p>With the 11/15 EA deadline screaming its way to us, I'm obsessing more than ever, and spending time on CC today have actually added a couple of schools to the list! I bow to the schools without Common App supplements.</p>
<p>ChiSquare - Hi! When the "big" acceptance envelope came from college yesterday, part of the information included was a paper congratulating DD on receiving a $40,000 Provost's Scholarship ($10,000 per year). In January she will interview for higher scholarships which are 1) %60 tuition or 2) full tuition. This is because of GPA and test scores. She doesn't know it yet, but the pressure will be on because we need more help than $10,000 per year. It's a private school. But I'm not telling her about the exact money issue just yet - just letting her bask in the glow of acceptance for awhile. She does know how much we have in our Maryland 529 plan and how much we will contribute over that. But of course she hasn't actually looked at the website for the tuition/board/other fees, etc. Went to the open house today and it sure felt good to know that she was already accepted. Although touring the college in the pouring rain was not fun. Although the tour guide assured us that it doesn't usually rain there - What???? Ha!</p>
<p>Son got an acceptance from U of Pittsburgh today! That was a surprise--sent in app only about 2-3 weeks ago!</p>
<p>Son is not as enthusiastic about this one as Drexel--this was a last-minute 'possible safety' school that we hadn't visited (but Pitt looks like a fun college town--2nd only to Boston in # of college students in the town).</p>
<p>I'm surprised at the acceptances D received so far, too -- and QUICK!!</p>
<p>okay, I may have to stop reading this thread until DS gets some applications in! JK - congrats to all who have started lining up the acceptances. What a great reward for all the hard work.</p>
<p>To the parents worrying about their students who still have essays to write - I've been on these boards for 5-6 years, and I've never heard so many stories about students having their essays done so early. My oldest really dragged, and didn't finish her applications until after Christmas. They are in kind of a strange place - knowing that this is their last year of high school, last year of the familiar, and a big unknown looming ahead. It's going to be a year of challenges until they leave (see previous threads about the summer before college begins).</p>
<p>Son received a letter from Allegheny with his estimated merit scholarship (they have an early aid calculator on their website), so we are assuming he will be accepted in the spring. Son has started to realize that he will have to make a decision. The only word to describe his state of mind is "flummoxed".</p>
<p>fireflyscout -- Thanks for the advice. It's strange for me to watch my daughter procrastinating with this. She has worked very hard all through school, has excellent grades and a great SAT score...........and yet she just can't get going full steam.</p>
<p>My older daughter who was a great student but not as good as this one had no problem getting her apps done........I know she has time but it would be good to see some serious applying.</p>
<p>We're way behind you guys, though not due to procrastination. DS was sick much of last year and so didn't take the SAT Critical Reasoning test. So, he spent three weeks studying for the October test and got his results back this week. He did fabulously well for a dyslexic kid (99th percentile in each of Math, CR and Writing). So, his high GPA is now complemented by high SATs. Yee ha. Lots of stress gone. </p>
<p>We did our second college visit two days ago, to Brown, which he liked quite a bit. He now has two months to a) visit colleges; and b) write applications. Because he is dyslexic and was partially high schooled and partially homeschooled and has done some really different stuff but hasn't done a foreign language, it is not clear which schools will love him and which will dismiss him out of hand. If it is crapshoot for everyone, it is probably more so for him. So, we think he probably has to apply to 12-15 schools. If he is going to apply to Princeton or Harvard, he has to take one more SAT Subject test, which will mean studying for it.</p>
<p>My son has questioned visiting the schools first and wonders if it wouldn't be more efficient to visit the schools to which he gets accepted. He'd prefer to focus on the next steps (applying and SAT Subject test) and wait until April to visit.</p>
<p>What's your sense? How many have waited and how many think it is very important to visit in the fall?</p>
<p>I would agree that it is more efficient to visit the schools after he is accepted. We've visited about 4 or 5 and both my daughter and I are just tired of it and as she has a job and is taking 4 AP courses the trips are very hard to fit in. Good news is that she's applying to almost every school that she visited because she somewhat liked all of them...but the bad news is that she didn't love any of them. I think she's looking for a school that she will just fall in love with completely but....I'm not sure there is a school like that.</p>
<p>He didn't do fabulously well for a dyslexic kid......with a 99% in CR, Math and Writing...he did fabulously well for ANY kid. Sounds like the 3 week cram really worked! </p>
<p>Good luck...but with his scores, etc.....he won't need much luck!</p>
<p>Visit schools after accepted. Visiting 12-15 schools will cost way more than it is worth. S2 and I visited 2 schools last spring. He applied to 6 total this fall, have visited one since acceptance, and have another trip scheduled in 2 weeks where he is also accepted. You can learn so much from the schools websites, here, and many other online sources, that an actual campus visit is not necessary IMO before applying, especially if app fee waived for applying online.</p>
<p>Shawbridge - that is an awesome accomplishment on the part of your son, I am sure schools will reward him well! Shame on any school that would dismiss him!</p>
<p>I think our summer campus tour was worth it, more for the fact that D completely changed her mind about two schools that were on her list after touring them (both were very active during the summer, she didn't see 'shells' of campuses). A couple of the southern schools, and some closer fee waivered schools she hasn't yet visited but is replacing the summer duds with, will have to wait until after acceptance (assuming there will BE acceptances), a great excuse for me to get out of the cool weather during spring break when there is usually still snow here!</p>
<p>Agree that it's probably not worth it to start now for visits, particularly with your son's unusual situation. Assuming his list of reaches, matches and safeties is strong, it seems like your money and might be better spent elsewhere. Sounds like a good time to follow his lead!</p>
<p>shawbridge - I agree with everyone else. We visited a couple of schools last spring, and none over the summer b/c D had a full-time, out of town job. I naively thought we'd make a couple of trips this fall, but with her course load, EC's etc., that wasn't realistic. So she will visit where she is accepted in the spring.</p>
<p>And congrats on his scores and other accomplishments - that's great!!</p>
<p>Thanks for the advice. We may visit Princeton and Harvard (an easy one since we live in the Boston area) because they would necessitate taking a test and also are schools in which he would have strong and weak legacy advantages to see if he wants to apply and thus take the additional subject test.</p>
<p>Do schools that do interviewing like Bowdoin and Bates like you less if you didn't come for an interview (especially if you are in the Northeast)? Would they think they are just a safety school and reject you because you haven't "shown interest?" </p>
<p>I looked at Naviance last night. My son would be in the far upper right of applicants from his HS to Bowdoin but Bowdoin has waitlisted a couple of kids from his HS who were close to where my son was. It is a little hard to read the tea leaves from this data, but do they think that if you want to go, you'd show up for an interview? Bowdoin seems like one of the good choices. [Interestingly, based just on who got in from his HS, Dartmouth and Penn look more likely than Bowdoin given his numbers. However, the numbers certainly aren't everything.]</p>
<p>D has now submitted her 3 early action applications; I don't know who is more pleased! It's been a chore to get here, and I hope the RD applications are easier as a result. But we had a small celebration -- right before she got back to homework!</p>
<p>As for visiting campuses, we're doing a combination of before and after. We're in Southern California, but D is applying in several geographical regions, so visiting campuses is not easy. We divided our trips by geographic region.</p>
<p>We visited two local campuses this summer -- but without students around, it was hard to get a real feel for them. It did help get the ball rolling. These she can more easily visit again.</p>
<p>We're about to visit 2 others, a bit farther afield, during a four-day weekend in November. It's a bit of a whirlwind tour, but I hope will be helpful.</p>
<p>The other 3 --3rd part of the country -- will wait till spring break -- and until we know about acceptances and what money might be available (and whether any EA decisions make a difference). </p>
<p>We've tried to be diligent about getting to local visits from reps, information sessions in the area, requesting DVDs if available, and that sort of thing -- but even then we've missed some. Colleges must know how exhausting the whole process is, and how hard it is to get to all of the campuses. I would hope that submitting an application (which is a bit of work after all) would tell them that the student is indeed interested!</p>
<p>getting on the schools mailing/e-mail list, meeting with the admin when they come to your school or a neighboring school, interviewing when they are in your area or with an alum, making contact via e-mail with the admin who covers your area...are some of the ways to "show interest" without visiting. Just sending an application without any other form of contact could look like "just another school" safety/reach. That said, I do not think you need to visit until accepted if the school is not close by. Good luck to your S!</p>
<p>Arghh... D took the ACT Saturday morning, and was upset afterwards because there was distracting music playing during the test. The school couldn't figure out how to turn it off! So much for a better score 2nd time around.</p>
<p>Delighted to hear that your offspring are receiving acceptances, and so early! It would be nice to hear about at least one before the holidays.</p>
<p>Oh, ChiSquare - how frustrating! Maybe she'll be pleasantly surprised at how well she worked through the distraction.</p>
<p>Having my own frustration here. I worked very hard to get D going early on her applications in anticipation of some time-intensive EC committments coming up in November. She got off to a good start, but has bogged down significantly as the ECs have started to ramp up. In addition, while she was making a serious effort to keep her grades up, that too seems to have slipped. First quarter grades come out today and hers look to be okay, not great.</p>
<p>So I was all set to have another serious conversation this evening, with new deadlines and the threat of pulling her from a 3-day EC event if she didn't meet them. But DH has a different perspective. According to him, the definition of insanity is doing the same thing over and over again, and expecting different results. He wants to change the conversation to, basically, "You're 17 and a high school senior. If it is important to you to get into the colleges you like, then it is up to you to get the work done and to keep your grades up." He wants to stop setting deadlines, incentives, and consequences.</p>
<p>As hard as it is for me to let go (I wouldn't be here on CC if that were my nature :)) I think he's right. What do you all think?</p>
<p>I think your husband has a great theory. It can work, in part, but I wasn't willing to take a risk. Son is much more motivated now, that he's applying to schools, but I also realized he was under lots of stress (decisions/applications/etc.). I decided that now was not the time I was going to abandon structure. I ended up assisting him more w/life stuff (wash, food, etc.) that I knew he should be doing. I also set up charts w/deadlines & asked a lot of questions (when is this going to be done?). I discouraged him getting a job (despite all the positives a job would provide) other than his own, free-lance business.</p>
<p>My thought (after trying different approaches)---just get them through this critical period. If it takes 'you can't do X until you've finished Y' than maybe that's what we had to do. In son's case, it was easier because he did it during summer. If he'd been doing it now--guaranteed he'd be applying to fewer schools.</p>
<p>Can she/would she temp pull out of an EC?</p>