<p>Fang Jr thought the people at Beloit were like him-- low key, quirky, intellectual. He liked the small walkable campus. At Beloit, both the institution and the students welcomed prospies, which he appreciated. Two students acted as hosts when we ate at the dining hall, and when one of them described her courses, Fang Jr thought he'd like to take all of them. Class sizes are tiny at Beloit, which is important to Fang Jr. </p>
<p>He liked the location of Macalester-- it's right in the city, with lots of restaurants and cafes nearby. Again, it's a small walkable campus. The food is amazingly good, an important issue for a foodie like Fang Jr. Students at Macalester are mostly liberal and love politics, both things that are true of Fang Jr as well.</p>
<p>He went to classes at all four schools he visited (Carleton, Beloit, Macalester & Grinnell) and while he enjoyed all of them, he found that the students at Beloit and Macalester were more engaged in the particular classes he visited than the students at Grinnell and Carleton (which is not what I would have expected, but of course, it was a small sample). He liked that the fraternity presence was minimal at Beloit and non-existent at Macalester.</p>
<p>Cpeltz-- Beloit is not in a rural environment. At least, I wouldn't call it rural. It's a faded rustbelt town. Grinnell, on the other hand, is unquestionably in a rural environment-- it's in the middle of cornfields, in the middle of nowhere. That's what Fang disliked-- but it's a matter of taste. Other students will feel differently.</p>
<p>Thanks for that input on working on the essay. Son is def a procrastinator, but I've seen him do revisions on written work that takes it up about 4-5 levels w/just a few re-writes. Hoping he'll see the advantage of working ahead a bit...</p>
<p>The Common App should become available sometime in July - if possible, have your students work on filling it out during the summer. The activity list format really seems to trip up a lot of applicants. Voice of experience here - senior year is BUSY, and application deadlines come very fast. Also, be aware of high school deadlines for processing recommendations and transcripts. Son's high school needs these requests at least two weeks in advance of deadline.</p>
<p>My DS will be told that he needs to have his first draft of his essay by July 25th. He will not even ask why(!). And then I will have myself and his sister read it and he will be told he needs to have his final draft by August 15th. He will do is and, again, not ask why. Now If I tell him the real dates------.</p>
<p>In our experience the key issue for the procrastinators, and the place to spend time, is on finding the right topic that gets them going. Some procrastinators are that way because they have found that 2-3 hours of their true focused work is usually better than 30 minutes here and there. And it's the right topic that focuses them.</p>
<p>It is a LOT more fun as a parent to help kids source, create, and sort through topics than it is to nag them to get something written.</p>
<p>It depends of course on your kid. I am talking in this case about kids who are natively pretty good writers.</p>
<p>True Alumother-DS is a very good writer-but only with pressure will he land on a topic that he can live with-too much space and he will not be able to settle. Thus, I have learned (or he taught me) that deadlines work for him.</p>
<p>my '08 son will be attending washington and lee university in Va so my '09 daughter and my '14 son and I will take a road trip from Fl to Va this summer to become acquainted with the beautiful area, I haven't seen school yet, he'd been to the school for a scholarship competition (awarded full ride , yay! ) along the way we will check out schools for daughter. (including w & l, flagler, new college. (she thinks she wants to be closer to home) It is a true process--college search, college visits, applications, essays, waiting waiting waiting, and hopefully some happy faces at the mailbox and internet. th process continues...</p>
<p>Hi - first post here. Our '09 daughter has had quite a unique HS background, attending a specialized, extremely small winter sports academy in New England. She is an alpine ski racer and although the school has traditionally had lots of success placing kids with traditional ski powerhouses (Dartmouth, Middlebury, UVM, Williams, Colorado, Denver, etc.) she's not sure now that she wants to continue racing in college. Grades are outstanding, waiting on May SAT's, several academic and athletic awards, local summer job and summer volunteering only because her intense year round training and travel schedule doesn't leave time for much else.<br>
I think the biggest obstacle for her will be that her school does not offer AP or honors courses, although she has taken (or will take) the most rigorous curriculum available, including calculus, advanced physics, French 5, etc.<br>
So far she's looked at and liked Colgate, Bucknell, UVA, G'town, and will visit others in NE this summer/fall. Since she's torn about the skiing she'll probably apply to schools with and without it to give her more options. At age 17 it's hard to know now what you will want to do 2 years from now.
It would be great if she could do a lot on her essays and app this summer, since the fall brings training camps in S. America and Colorado. But, I suspect that's easier said than done.
Welcome any comments or advice.</p>
<p>kbmom I have no personal experience or advice to offer but there is another parent on these boards whose D skis in college. I think its bethievt but I could be wrong about that. Anyway welcome. Our kids are all so varied in their interests and talents it's going to be an interesting 11+ months. Keep Posting</p>
<p>ChiSquare : "I'd like to encourage D to apply "as soon as possible" - which leads me to ask - how soon is possible? Can she already apply to schools in August? I suppose some things may have to wait for the start of the school year - this is a naive question, but can one apply piecemeal, e.g., get the application in & have recommendations, transcripts, etc., follow a month later?"</p>
<p>I think apply early means ASAP with whatever information you have at that point. You can go on appending information as and when these available.</p>
<p>My D recieved the pre-application from Washington University at St. L. last week. We were surprised but it seems they want you start the process if you are sure you will apply to the school.</p>
<p>S2 just got an email with an application form to download, as well as the teacher recommendation forms from U Michigan. It's not too early to let teachers know you would like them to do the recommendation for you, particularly if you are planning to apply early.</p>
<p>Thanks Parent and jazzy - as soon as the junior year stresses are over, we'll start looking into the common app process. It's going to start getting exciting now!</p>
<p>Thanks Alumother. I knew it was one of those Vermont moms :)</p>
<p>Chi square also I think August is when those on line priority apps that take almost no time start to come out. Not all schools do them but for those that do most promise an answer in under 4 weeks. I know...things are starting to get really interesting instead of just stressy!</p>
<p>Do you all use the college board site? It has a very helpful calendar feature that will show you all the pertinent dates for each school your kid has on their list.</p>