<p>fyi, the essays really do not change year to year…not sure what fogfog is referring to…</p>
<p>We visited 16 and have 2 more planned for the summer, but I’m a gunner with twins :-).</p>
<p>We are Chicago-based and took 6 trips, leveraging three-day weekends and spring break. In order, we visited: Lawrence, Colorado College, Grinnell, Georgetown/GWU/American/Bryn Mawr/Haverford (one trip), Tufts/Brandeis/Clark/Wellesley/Smith/MtHolyoke (spring break), Case Western/Kenyon. Still planned are Macalester/Carleton, exact date TBD. I’ve written about them elsewhere on the parents forum if anyone’s interested. 13 of the 16 are still on the lists – the ones that came off were GWU, Clark and Case (fine schools - just not to my kids’ tastes).</p>
<p>We have visited zero. D is in a very demanding EC and there is just no time.</p>
<p>One SAT 2 this weekend
Three AP exams next
I don’t know if my S can add another SAT2 and ACT before final.
It’s been too busy for juniors!</p>
<p>mamabear - have you considered CMU? I believe they do offer video game design. I think this is also popular at WPI (which offers good merit aid).</p>
<p>Visits - I believe we have visited around 15 schools. Some of these were last year - and not necessarily ones that she would apply to (she was there for a tournament and so we figured she could take a look). I would like her to visit a couple schools more (near home - so we’ve been putting this off). She’s also considering Rice and Tulane - she’ll just have to apply sight unseen to these.</p>
<p>Visits=1 :eek: </p>
<p>We visited the oh-so-nearby State Flagship (hey, we would have walked if it hadn’t poured 
) near the end of last summer. I forced the issue, giving LuckyBoy the choice of two days. I wanted him to have a “baseline” for comparison purposes. He was already familiar with the campus, from gazillions of events over the years, but had never been in some main buildings and had never seen a dorm room. </p>
<p>I think S is comparing some of the schools on The Big List to the local school, and the other schools are losing so far on superficial but important “fit” qualities. The campus here is just beautiful, very green and tree-lined, brick buildings, columns, the whole stereotypical picture. The instate COA is very affordable. There are lots of things to do both on- and off-campus. Blah blah blah. This school will be on The Final List.</p>
<p>We’ll probably visit 6-10ish schools this summer. Summer isn’t ideal but it’s better than not. I don’t want S to apply to any school without visiting first. We can easily drive to lots, living in the midAtlantic.</p>
<p>Has anyone visited UPitt? What is the campus like? Is it really bisected by major roads? Are there open green spaces? Would one call it a bike-friendly campus? I’m looking for a rolling admissions school for a good start to next fall :)</p>
<p>Pizzagirl, did you have a separate thread about your Georgetown/GWU/American impressions? I’m interested in reading it—will search tonight, thanks for the reminder :)</p>
<p>^^^ I was looking at some posts back on page 113 or so…about the counselor telling someones kids to take a look and get started…
and about soomeone else’s student who would start essays after APs…</p>
<p>I assumed you all knew more than me–and that darn thing was up already…</p>
<p>So if that was a wrong assumption…ignore me :o)</p>
<p>also–please write your college reviews for those of us who might want to visit…
some of these reviews are OLD…</p>
<p>Here is the thread in which I talk about the 16 we visited, if it is of any use to anyone or if anyone here is interested in the same places. KLucky, if you have specific questions on GT/GWU/AU I am happy to give my perspective; there are plenty of other threads on this topic, too. Bottom line is you’re either a GWU person or an AU person (my son was more AU > GWU). </p>
<p><a href=“http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/parents-forum/901466-8-colleges-4-days-how-i-spent-my-spring-break.html[/url]”>http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/parents-forum/901466-8-colleges-4-days-how-i-spent-my-spring-break.html</a></p>
<p>Cool, thanks, I had seen that thread before but never paid attention—remember, S was planning on engineering :rolleyes:</p>
<p>arisamp, CMU has a graduate program in entertainment technology. They do have an interdisciplinary program in computer science and arts, but that didn’t appeal to him and I’m not sure he could get into CMU either. He is spending the summer there at their national high school gaming academy though.</p>
<p>klucky, I have a soph D at GW who loves it there (also considered AU, rejected from GT) She spent 5 weeks at Pitt at a governor’s school, and it has some similarities to GW, but with more green space. And yes, major roads run through the campus. It borders a large park, not sure how bike friendly the campus would be with lots of pedestrians on the sidewalks and busy roads.</p>
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</p>
<p>ST,
Sorry, I should have elaborated, I was referring to paying the extra $8 for rush AP scores (I’m cheap). I totally agree about paying whatever it takes to sit the tests. The only time I get a little testy (no pun intended) is when I sign a kid up for a Subject test and they decide later that they didn’t have enough time to study, money down the drain.</p>
<p>Common App for 2010-2011 goes live on August 1, so don’t set up an account until then. See <a href=“http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/common-application/894779-best-time-get-early-start.html[/url]”>http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/common-application/894779-best-time-get-early-start.html</a>. As someone already said, the essay prompt will (is supposed to? 
) remain the same. </p>
<p>KLucky, your son’s interests (though not all her restrictions) match my D1’s. At least for this week ;). D1 and I visited U Pitt. She found at the time that she really liked it, though lately she says she doesn’t. I still really like it and I’m going to insist that she apply, since the app is free (as we visited) and easy and rolling. It is quite urban but does have more of a campus feel than,say, NYU. Both D1 and I were quite taken with the Honors College presentation; sadly, the former dean recently passed away, a great loss to the college. Here’s a great photo tour courtesy of someone on the Pitt discussion board [Pantherlair.com</a> - Message Boards](<a href=“http://pittsburgh.rivals.com/showmsg.asp?fid=683&tid=139382896&mid=139382896&sid=996&style=2]Pantherlair.com”>http://pittsburgh.rivals.com/showmsg.asp?fid=683&tid=139382896&mid=139382896&sid=996&style=2). I love how Obama loves the breakfast place near campus!</p>
<p>D is taking the ACT tomorrow (yes, it really is tomorrow). It’s ACT “State Testing,” and the school district is paying for all juniors to take it. SAT IIs are on Saturday - she will be taking English Lit & Comp, and US History. She has one AP exam coming up - her school does not offer many AP classes. I’d say her stress level is pretty high right now.</p>
<p>Then the prom, and soon school is out. So there is a light at the end of the tunnel!</p>
<p>She’s excited for summer, excited to start on her apps. She has narrowed it down to 5 schools; two of them are safeties that she doesn’t really want to attend, and one is a mega-reach she probably won’t get into. The other two are quite interesting to her - one in particular. All but one take the Common App. The one that doesn’t is a state school and the application is super-easy.</p>
<p>SlitheyTove, thanks for the Pitt photo tour link :)</p>
<p>@SlitheyTove what is the previous common app essay prompt?</p>
<p>lovingbird, I have no idea (though I was tempted to make up something utterly outrageous like “Tell us about a time when you thought that your parents were space aliens from the planet Zoquar, here to enslave humans to do their bidding and also win Wimbledon” ). I believe the Common App for the current year is still available, or at least it can be found. You can also look at the Common App subforum off of the College Admissions forum.</p>
<p>oregonianmom, is there any chance that your D can reexamine her safeties? The biggest lesson I’ve learned here on CC (aside from the plans of the Zoquarians ) is that a safety is no safety if your kid doesn’t want to attend.</p>
<p>lovingbird:</p>
<p><a href=“https://www.commonapp.org/CommonApp/DownloadForms.aspx[/url]”>https://www.commonapp.org/CommonApp/DownloadForms.aspx</a></p>
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</p>
<p>Good heavens, the parents-as-space-aliens actually works for every one of these! :D</p>
<p>
One safety she hasn’t visited yet; I suggested it to her “just in case.” She may decide she likes it, who knows. The other safety - the state school - we put on the list as a financial safety with guaranteed admission. It’s there in case DH and I lose our jobs or something. Her cousin attends, and it’s a lovely school in a great town, but D is aiming a little higher academically, although it wouldn’t be the end of the world if she to go there.</p>
<p>The school she <em>really</em> likes is also considered somewhat of a safety for her. The other one she likes is a solid match. So unless something really weird happens with admissions (and we all know that is a possibility), she should have some good choices this time next year.</p>