<p>kathiep- I have been trying to get my D to agree to a study hall next semester. Right now she has no break all day-not even lunch. She is scheduled to take a 1/2 year creative writing class and 1/2 year art class. I am trying to get her to at least drop the creative writing class, but she is resisting me! Says she really wants to take it. The problem is she can’t drop any of her other classes, so it would mean no study hall again. She has agreed that next year she will schedule a study hall! But that doesn’t help us get through the next 25 weeks!</p>
<p>Our High School arranged the calendar so the semester ended before they went off to winter break. That way they can decompress, and it helps the stress level. But with signing up for next years classes, and the SAT prep companies touting their wares on campus, and everyone comparing grades etc, the stress level is shooting up.</p>
<p>Holliesue: See if she will agree to at least a study hall or lunch. At least she can chill during those times. I agree, I dont remember this pressure at their age.</p>
<p>D2 is stressed too, both mentally and for time. But it’s not due to SATs, ECs or even classes that much, it’s boys, or more specifically a boy. Alas, I now realize that the academic part of HS was the easy part :eek:.</p>
<p>kathiep: Any chance you could miss a couple of school days to build in a long weekend or two to visit colleges within driving distance? If your student could get the notes/homework from a teacher or peer, then missing a day or two might not have such an impact?</p>
<p>D1 showed me her list, which looks pretty conservative (in admissions strategy, not politics 
) It’ll be interesting to see if or how it morphs over the next year. I mentioned something about starting work on essays over the summer. That wasn’t received well; supposedly “no one” starts them early. If I’m going to pick a battle, this is going to be one of them.</p>
<p>Boy I wish my S would feel some of this stress. He is still in take it as it comes mode. He has written off schools like Notre Dame, because he doesn’t have the grades which drives me crazy. Wouldn’t you think he would ramp it up so he COULD get into ND? It is the end of his semester and we are going crazy with those end of the year assignments. Then we move onto midterm exams. Fun, fun, fun.</p>
<p>We will be visiting a lot of east coast schools over the next couple of months. A lot of midwest schools on our list too, but mostly safeties which we will only visit if he gets in. Trying to formalize the list this week, should have been done last week, but we have been busy.</p>
<p>Slitheytove, my D will be working at a sleepaway summer camp all next summer…I was planning on bugging her to work on her essays in her free time…how do you think she’ll react. Ha Ha!!</p>
<p>I will insist on the essays over the summer too.</p>
<p>mayhew, Here is our problem with visiting… March is two robotics meets and he’ll be missing two days of school for that and during the two month build time (now and until the meets) he has Robotics four days a week and it’s always a challenge for him to keep up with his work during this time. The one break he has over Presidents day weekend will be spent working on the Robot, or in his case, programming the robot. Oh yeah, and the SAT prep class twice a week.</p>
<p>All PA schools will be doing state testing in April this year, and that’s tests every week for all four weeks. The days of those weeks that they are not testing will be when the teachers will be trying to cram in their regular course work. The VP has already said that no educational leaves will be allowed. No matter, we ARE taking him out the last day of April so he can go with us to his brother College graduation. And there are three days off for Easter break where we’ll visit two colleges. If it wasn’t for Easter (and dinner with my parents here) we would just be gone that whole long weekend. We’re also going to see a State College within driving distance on one Saturday.</p>
<p>May is AP’s and when all the Colleges will be closing one by one. At son’s school it’s always a crazy time with tests and projects, including the Senior project presentations. There may be a window to visit in there if we can figure out the logistics. </p>
<p>June is more of the same May madness, minus the AP’s. Our AP teachers are required to still keep the kids active after the AP test so there is usually another final or some sort of project that drives everyone batty. </p>
<p>How is everyone else carving out college visit time?</p>
<p>kathiep, I know what you mean about the PSSA’s in April! Then AP tests in May. If I can convince S to do some college visits (a big if since he saw one school last year and decided he wanted to go there) it will have to be in the summer. We would go back after acceptances (if needed) to see them again with students. Our HS just finished mid-terms, my no-stress S didn’t study a whole lot. He has to keep his GPA in the top 20% to qualify for a scholarship at the top choice school. I am trying really hard to back off and let him manage his work this year, so far he’s keeping up, but does too much at the last minute for my tastes!</p>
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<p>What is the killer at our HS is the drop in percentage due to student attrition. My '09 son dropped from 19% to 21% after junior year when his numerical ranking actually went up. </p>
<p>His numerical ranking from freshman year ended being identical to his final numerical ranking. But due to student attrition, the ranking that was the top 16% freshman year was the top 21% by graduation.</p>
<p>Being in the top 10% is pretty much essential for admission to our state flagship. I always pity the kids who are right at the 10% mark for most of their HS career, because they will probably drop to the 11-13% before all is said and done. (For a while my own D was # 61 out of 600, but she doesn’t want to go to the state flagship anyway.)</p>
<p>Kathiep- we are doing our visits at the end of August, before her senior year but after the colleges are in session. Only gives us about 10 days. Unfortunately it is the only time we can go. I had originally counted on the Spring/Easter break, but then she got chosen to do an exchange with Costa Rica! She works at a sleepaway camp all summer. That leaves the end of August. We have already looked at the SUNY colleges and a few privates. The schools remaining after our road trip will have to be squeezed in during the fall or she’ll just apply and visit if accepted.</p>
<p>I am also going to try to get my D started on her essays early. Start date for her would be 07/01, when the CommonApp comes online. When I went through this with my S (HS 09) was literally a constant struggle and was done at the last minute.</p>
<p>Also, we are focusing more on Merit aid this time around, so her deadlines are moved up 1-2 months. She is more comfortable with writing then her brother-the technocrat-so I am hoping for an easier time</p>
<p>The in-state visits can be squeezed in, but the remaining OOS ones I have not a clue. Spring break coincides with Passover, which makes travel difficult. I’m going to ask D1 if she wants to consider doing a quick trip after the seders are over, but I’m not happy about that. Other than that, I don’t see her having time until after AP tests, at which point many schools are out of session. </p>
<p>D1 would like to look at DC-area schools, which are in session starting late August/beginning of September. Since her high school usually starts a couple of days after Labor Day, a DC trip is possible. There are two more schools to consider, one a small LAC, the other a giant public flagship, both with first day of classes on Sept 7. No idea yet what to do about those, or if she’ll have time in 12th grade to do any visits during that first semester.</p>
<p>And yikes, Rosh Hashana comes early this year, starting the evening of Sept 8. :eek: Our school district usually has no school on the first day of Rosh hashana, but it comes so close to the start of the school year…I have no idea what that will do to the High school start date.</p>
<p>slitheyTove, you can tell I live in an area with very few fellow Jews as I refer to spring break as Easter break because it is always scheduled to start the wednesday before Easter and through the following week! This week it is also Passover. If I had realized that back in the fall I probably wouldn’t have let my D go to Costa Rica because 1) she’ll miss the seder and 2) there is no way she’ll be able to even keep a semblance of my Reform judaism version of Passover!
Our school district would never dream of closing for the high holidays. So it looks like my D will be missing the first day of school! OY! I actually serve on the school board and have requested they adjust the calendar so that the students/staff who do observe (all dozen total in the district!) won’t miss the first day of school, but since we follow the BOCES calendar, it won’t happen!</p>
<p>anothermom- I can insist all I want…but that won’t get them done with my D! She’ll be 3 hours away all summer, far from my nagging!</p>
<p>holliesue: my older daughter worked at a sleepaway camp the summer before senior year; she actually did work on some of her essays on her free time but it was still a crunch in September; my younger (2011) daughter is planning on working in a day camp at home; essays will HAVE to be done…</p>
<p>In terms of the September calendar this year, it’s really nuts… we start on Wednesday, off for Rosh Hashanah on Thursday, back to school on Friday?..kind of silly if you ask me; will have to see what classes are on Friday; my daughter HATES going to school on the second day (actually prefers to be in synagogue that day over the first)…</p>
<p>Rodney, I will encourage her to work on at least an outline. She won’t have access to a computer to write it and she HATES writing on paper! I dare not broach this subject until June! I can hear the protests already!
for my information as this is my first (and only…since she is an only child) time through this. How many essays will she need for this process? All the schools she will be applying to take the common app (or the SUNY app). Won’t she just need one essay, unless she has a scholarship essay too?</p>
<p>Common app essay is the main one as you know…my daughter “adjusted” that one (and it’s theme) for all the others…there may be some supplemental essays but I found that those were more specific and easier to pump out on short notice…</p>
<p>holliesue, maybe you can send your D a howler? :)</p>