<p>We have something called "Junior College Workshop" next Tuesday night. Must be something new because three years ago the only meeting I remember was for senior parents only and involved mostly financial aid info (that meeting is on the calendar for Nov.). I'd like to think that between getting one kid off successfully to college and perusing CC, there is nothing new to learn ;), but it will certainly be good for S2 to start hearing about the college app process from someone other than a parent.</p>
<p>I know they have a college meeting for juniors and their parents at some point - not sure when as it's not on the school calendar. I'm sure I'll be the one attending - DH is just not that into the whole process.</p>
<p>H went to the meeting and it was about college and they spent the majority of it telling parents not to worry and that it is really too early to do anything before the kids get their PSAT scores back. That was basically it. I really think that by reasing this board I know more about what's going on than the Guidance Dept does. Of course, it may be that they are just calming down jittery helicopter parents.</p>
<p>On the plus side, Wash U at SL sent a postcard saying they'll be at D's school during lunch to talk to students. I want her to go even though that school is not on her list. She needs to expand her horizons in my opinion.</p>
<p>Our HS is having a meeting for parents of Juniors...but due to the hurricane power outages, they changed the night so now I can't go. I think I'm ok, though, esp. with CC to keep me on my toes!</p>
<p>S gets mail from colleges now due to having taken a couple of APs, but he barely looks at it. He is not impressed by glossy brochures or by computer-generated letters with his name on. </p>
<p>(Not because he thinks he's so great. He's just...nonchalant.)</p>
<p>Queen's Mom -at least WUSTL is coming during your D's lunch period. That's convenient. That meeting sounds like it was a bit of a waste - but I guess you're right and it could be the school's way of calming down overanxious families. My D's school is having their junior parents "college meeting" in Dec. - but I even found the ones I attended her freshman and sophomore years to be helpful.</p>
<p>mommusic - my D gets tons of mail from colleges, but I think it's from the PSAT she took last year. Today alone, she got mail from Susquehanna, Creighton, U of VT, Moravian, Fairfield, Furman and Oberlin. She's already gotten mail from all of these schools, but none of them are on her list. I don't think she's looked at any of it! She's just not in any rush when it comes to selecting colleges.</p>
<p>Does anyone have questions for or about Brown, Chicago, Cornell, Columbia, or Rice? We're attending Exploring</a> Educational Excellence on Sunday evening and I'd be happy to ask stuff on your behalf. (Assuming there's an opportunity.)</p>
<p>:)</p>
<p>What a nice offer, DougBetsy. No questions at this time, but I'll let you know.</p>
<p>DougBetsy, ditto thanks for the offer</p>
<p>We attended this show last year, along with the similar one exploring college options. They were both very good shows with the right length of presentations/panel discussions (the 8 of the best show we went to this year had no panel or questions from the floor, and 8 schools is too many to sit through at once)</p>
<p>the only thing I would be interested in hearing is the schools' take on the new score choice thing from the college board (ie SATs). Some have alluded to schools wanting all the scores anyway. Would be good to hear what this smattering of reps has to say.</p>
<p>Sorry, jackie. Didn't make it to the meeting last night. :(</p>
<p>Son was pooped from homecoming Saturday night then working for Red Cross all day Sunday. He said he would rather study for Tuesday's math test than drive an hour each way for a 90 minute meeting. Since only one of those schools remotely interests him, I said OK. </p>
<p>He's got an invitation to a Denison meeting on Oct 5. Maybe we'll have a more realistic chance of getting to that one.</p>
<p>Aw, that's too bad. I was looking forward to hearing about U of Chicago since that is on D's list. I hope your don feels better.</p>
<p>DougBetsy - sorry you missed the meeting the other night. I'm sure there will be others. We're hoping to visit one this weekend - one of the big ones - the NACAC. Not sure how useful it will be, since there are just so many colleges at their events. </p>
<p>D finally took her first practice PSAT - started at 11:30 last night! Not sure how she did because once she was finished, she couldn't find the answer key (which I had emailed to her). I'm sure it won't be her best effort since she did it so late at night after doing over 3 hours of homework - but I'm glad she made the attempt. She has no school today or tomorrow, so maybe she'll squeeze in another practice or two when she's not so tired.</p>
<p>Son has taken 2 practice tests. And either I'm scoring them wrong or he has finally "woken up." Scores thus far...</p>
<p>~180 sophomore (I can't remember exactly)
202 practice #1
212 practice #2</p>
<p>I'm really scratching my head.</p>
<p>DougBetsy - I think there's often a big jump between Soph and Jr year PSATs because of the additional year of math plus and increase in vocab/reading skills from that extra year of study. Congrats on those scores though - very nice. D still hasn't checked hers!</p>
<p>Obviously someone out there has decided my daughter needs to know more about colleges - the mail flow has gone from a piece or two a week to 3-4 a day. Yesterday was 7 mailers - we are getting more college mail than Christmas mail order catalogs!!!!</p>
<p>It wasn't like this for my 2008 son - who actually had better numbers at this point. Any ideas as to why the mail is so much heavier this time and are others experiencing this?</p>
<p>On a different note, next week, during a week off from school, we will be making our first college visit trip. Due to other scheduling constraints we are cutting back on the potential full pacific northwest trip that we had previously discussed on here and instead are focusing on Portland only. Linfield, Willamette, Reed, Lewis and Clark, and University of Portland are the planned stops. If anyone has anything they would like me to ask on the trip, just let me know.</p>
<p>scualum - good luck and have fun on your college visit. Thanks for the kind offer, but D won't be looking at schools on the west coast (at least that's not in her plans at the moment).</p>
<p>Not sure why the college mail has started to pour in again, but it's that way here too. D got a small pile of stuff yesterday as well, though only 2 things today. No matter, she doesn't look at any of it anyway.</p>
<p>Hi all, just joining in. D is negotiating a new school in a new community, half-way across the country. She is doing well, has already made some nice new friends, and is still in touch with her old friends. She is also really enjoying her E.C's, so all in all, a happy transition. My only concern is that she is overworked, and doesn't get enough sleep. She is often up until 1-2am, even on school nights. How much are your kids sleeping?</p>
<p>Welcome, vicariousparent. Glad to hear your D's adjusted so well to her new school. My D is in the same situation as far as sleep is concerned. She's out late many nights for her ECs, so she doesn't get to sleep until 12 or 1, and sometimes even later. Then she gets up at 5:45 and starts all over again. So yes, overworked and not enough sleep here too.</p>
<p>DD is not so stressed / sleep deprived at this point - but on the other hand she has dropped nearly all her ECs to stay caught up. The big decision is coming up - will she drop soccer (which she has played since 2nd grade) or not? Her schedule is brutal this year with 4 AP classes, 2 honors classes, and 1 regular class.</p>
<p>scualum - our D's seem to have similar courseloads this year. Mine has one more course than yours, but it's PE, so at least it's not a class that requires homework. My D hasn't dropped any ECs, and in fact has taken on a few more, since last year. She has a very full schedule, but she seems to be handling things well, though at times I can tell she's feeling the pressure.</p>
<p>Queen's mom, I noticed that your D is interested in the U of Chicago. My daughter is presently in her third year there so I could answer your questions from the perspective of a parent of a daughter. Feel free to ask me any questions.</p>