<p>Congrats on the SAT improvement and all of the acceptances for y’all’s kids. I gotta say DS is about the only human being I know whose scores <em>dropped</em> at the second sitting. Oh well. And while I’m whining, he had his first app in to a rolling admissions school on August 2nd. Not a difficult school to get into, and I was wondering why he hadn’t heard anything. I finally nudged him to ask his GC and I guess they wait until <em>all</em> LORs are in before sending even one transcript out. Grrr. . . . OTOH, maybe when they all do get sent he’ll get a bajillion acceptances all together?? (<–I know. As if.)</p>
<p>Congrats to all on the acceptances and progress toward completing applications. The wait is grueling.</p>
<p>MyLB - my DD went into her 3rd SAT sitting with the express purpose of bringing up the low math score. Her CR and W scores dropped dramatically, but her math did go up 20 points. It was a hard earned 20! Thank goodness for score choice!</p>
<p>Well–all in all he didn’t end up too badly, but, really–I’ve just never heard of anyone doing worse on a second sitting (even back in my day). And he had just finished an SAT prep class. He said the problem was the June test was several days after school was out and he just was not in academic mode at all. Might be something to that. He would not even consider taking them again, so I guess we’ll see.</p>
<p>School transcripts/recs still held up here waiting for one teacher’s LOR - despite multiple requests. Really causing a lot of unecessary stress - D did her part getting apps, supplements, etc. done early and this teacher has had - literally- months. If not in by today, going to go ahead with the 2 LOR’s she has - but one is not an academic teacher - was supposed to be the “bonus” letter. Guess the other can get sent in late when/if it gets written.</p>
<p>Annie/Heavy - A suggestion for your kids on the essay. Sounds like they might be overthinking it and trying to come up with the “big” idea. Perhaps they can just try writing “small.” The essay could be about anything - how they like to fish with their grandpa or how much they love their dog. Over and over again I’ve heard the Admissions people say they want to hear who the student is rather than hear about some astounding feat or important lesson that’s supposed to impress them.</p>
<p>Congrats Jane!</p>
<p>Eli - I think you are asking about the essay on an extracurricular. I don’t remember the character count - but it needs to be pretty brief. If you’ve already focused on an EC in your main essay, pick a different one to focus on. Express what you’ve gained from participating and if you can add in a little creative flair - all the better.</p>
<p>Congrats on the acceptance to U of Oregon, Go Ducks!</p>
<p>My D is still figuring out what schools she will apply to. Mostly CSUs and UCs. After visiting UC Merced, Chico State, and Sonoma State, she is still leaning towards Sonoma. Thinks Chico is too big!</p>
<p>I wish there more were privates around here (No Cal) that were small and we could afford, as she really likes a small school. </p>
<p>She is taking the SAT again Nov 3, hoping to improve the writing score, but I won’t be surprised if she doesn’t do as well as on her first one, as she really isn’t into it this time.</p>
<p>Crizello - my D prefers small to medium schools too and even with big merit awards from private schools, the cost is just too high. I feel your pain! D is retaking the ACT this Sat 10/27 in hopes of raising her score from a 25. She didn’t prepare or really even study last time. But now she is super motivated and has been going to a private tutor for the past 3 weeks. She only got in 6 sessions with the tutor but feels it has been a huge help. We’ll see, it cost $210 so I hope it pays off. She has quarter finals today and tomorrow, then the ACT on Sat. What a week! Good luck to your D on the 3rd. Keep us posted.</p>
<p>crizello: Have you looked at St. Mary’s College? They seem to give out quite a bit of merit aid.</p>
<p>^St. Mary’s is a good suggestion. My D1 also liked Whittier College, though in soCal. You might look at Dominion University of CA? Another small private known for good FA. </p>
<p>[Undergraduate</a> Admissions ? Dominican University of California](<a href=“http://www.dominican.edu/admissions/undergrad]Undergraduate”>Office of Undergraduate Admissions | Dominican University of California)</p>
<p>Have you looked at any of the Western Exchange schools? (tuition reciprocity agreements with CA)? I don’t know if there are any smaller schools, but just thought I’d mention it. </p>
<p>[WICHE</a> - Student Exchange Programs](<a href=“http://wue.wiche.edu/search_results.jsp?searchType=all]WICHE”>http://wue.wiche.edu/search_results.jsp?searchType=all)</p>
<p>I love Sonoma State. Crossing fingers for your D!</p>
<p>Congrats on U of Oregon, Jane!!</p>
<p>Jkiwmom - I’m a student not a parent, but here are some of the 4 year WUE schools which are smaller (less than 9,000 students) and have a significant portion of their students living on campus. Note that many of them are technical oriented.
-California Maritime Academy
-Montana Tech
-Humboldt State
-South Dakota School of Mines
-University of Wyoming (has about 10,000 undergrads)
-Southern Utah University
-CSU -Monterey Bay
-New Mexico Institute of Mining and Technology</p>
<p>The Western Schools for the 3.0-3.3 thread has some good suggestions for schools with good merit aid for the B student. Additionally, if your daughter can raise her scores by a few points, Willamette, a great LAC in Salem, might show the money. Both Willamette and University of Puget Sound ended up being cheaper after merit aid (did not qualify for financial aid) than any of the UCs</p>
<p>@Whenhen, you just saved a bunch of parents/students a lot of time! Also, really good suggestions for Willamette and U of Puget Sound. Great West coast LAC suggestions.</p>
<p>MyLB- my s took the sat in June also, after six tutoring sessions, and both his reading and writing scores dropped. Now he has to take it again next Saturday even though EA deadlines are Wednesday. Had he picked up a study book? Absolutely not. </p>
<p>However, he has completed four applications and two more will be done by 10/31. After that, only two more with December deadlines. Now if we would just start getting some responses!</p>
<p>Check and done. Finished and submitted common app this afternoon. Hooray! I <em>think</em> both teacher recs are finished. Now DS just has to get his counselor to get the transcript and recs out the door. </p>
<p>Not sure if this is really the end–that’ll depend on the news he gets back. Still–really looking forward to a little down time with all of this. And really hoping to hear from a school or two within a few weeks. Some of DS’s apps were submitted months ago but the counselor wouldn’t send transcript until common app and LORs were done. Stay tuned. . .</p>
<p>HeavyLidded: That Additional Information might be a useful place to explain that D grade, especially if she can write about ways she DID handle the stress successfully (assuming things could have gone worse for her…a D is not an F or an I or a W, afterall), and what she learned from the experience.</p>
<p>Heavylidded - yes. I have heard more than one Admissions person state that this the place to explain a low grade. The trick is to make sure it comes off as an explanation not an excuse.</p>
<p>Hi everyone! First 2 apps went today! Both should be admits, one instate public and one private close to home.
The ones she really wants are common app schools and it isnt quite done. I want D to send one CA with a nov 1 deadline, but D has come down with a cold and I dont think it will be done before we lose power from the storm! Oh well. </p>
<p>Sent from my DROID2 GLOBAL using CC</p>
<p>Congrats on the 2 apps, anniez. It looks like some schools are extending their Nov. 1st deadlines, so she may still be able to get that CA in. Of course, without power it may be very difficult to even know if the school has given everyone that extension of time…</p>
<p>Jane, I just checked and one of the CA schools has pushed back the deadline til next Monday! That’s the easy one, so I think it can get done. But HL reminded me that we need to include something under the “additional information” section - I thought the GC was going to write something but apparently she didn’t, so I need to do that…</p>
<p>Yay to annie and HL for supporting and encouraging your daughters through these applications. Hopefully any temaining ones will now be pieces of cake :)</p>
<p>HL, wonderful news! I feel so much for our kids - I know that some kids seem to whip the essays off without trouble, but for the kids who struggle with writing, it’s awful!</p>
<p>reeinaz, I saw that you have a few EA schools- I hope that your DS is able to get them done before the power goes out, or that you get an extension. Most of D’s schools have an 11/15 deadline so we are prolonging the angst!</p>
<p>anniezz - he got his applications sent off a while ago. It seems it’s the school thatlikes waiting until the last minute. They still haven’t sent transcripts, school report, or LOR. I did email his 2 EA schools to ask if they were going to extend their deadlines. They’re in the midwest though and not affected by Sandy.</p>