<p>Apollo~ DD has St. Olaf on her list, but she is not sure about the spirituality aspect. She is not religious at all, but wants to go somewhere with alot of diversity, so she has not completely crossed it off the list. I am not sure why she is so sold on Carleton. They started sending her info after last years ACT PLAN, and she liked what she saw. She always talks with the same rep at college fairs, but when she attended a coffee klatch in Oct that she was totally sold. It will be a major reach for her, and I hate to see her get her hopes up. We will see how she ends up after her ACT in Feb, and then she should get a feeling how of how she will stack up. I think she would be a better fit at Macalester or Grinnell, more reaches. We are planning to visit Carleton, Macalester, Grinnell, Gustavus, possibly St. Olaf, also Beloit. Then there is Lawrence, Knox, Kalamazoo, Denison, Earlham, and her other fav, Smith. We seriously need to get on with it!</p>
<p>Youdonātsay~Thank you! I am happy to hear that your DS is so happy at Carleton. I donāt know what DD will do when she actually sees the campus, she was so excited about it talking to the alums. I worry about it being too competitive, but sometimes I think I sell her short. She is taking care of things this semester, and has risen to the occasion so far.</p>
<p>Midwest, by competitive, do you mean competitive to get into or that the student body is competitive? Because it itās the latter, my ds hasnāt experienced that at all. He seems not to know anyoneās grade and isnāt terribly concerned about his own, lol. </p>
<p>Dh and I for the past two years have attended a coffee like the one youāre talking about as parents answering questions. Three years ago, dh took ds1 to it as a prospie, and dh fell in love, too. This year, I took ds2 with me when we moved ds1 back to campus, and HE fell in love with the school but doesnāt want to follow his brother AGAIN, he said. And then we went to the coffee in October, and he fell in love all over again and said heād definitely apply. Maybe they put something in the coffee at these things? </p>
<p>So yāall havenāt been to Northfield? The advantage that Carleton has over St. Olaf is that downtown is literally a block from campus. Itās a lovely little area. I seriously fell in love myself when I visited in April of his senior year while he was still trying to decide. If you have a chance, spend some time on the trails in the Arboretum. Itās breathtakingly beautiful, IMO. Ds2 runs cross country and came back from a 45-run totally energized. He said a run in the Arb is the no. 1 selling point about the school. Thereās a funny video on youtube where St. Olaf kids make fun of the Carleton kids. You should try to find it!</p>
<p>I really liked Macalester when ds2 and I visited, but he didnāt like it as much as I did (I think it just didnāt compare to Carleton for him). Ds1 really liked Grinnell, too, and applied and was accepted but thought Carleton was more āhis people.ā I have a good friend who graduated from Knox and thinks highly of the place.</p>
<p>So many great places from which to choose! Iām getting excited thinking about the possibilities. I donāt want to think about nagging ds2 to write essays. I have a feeling the college app process is like childbirth ā you forget how painful it can be.</p>
<p>My dd has a portion of her first final tomorrow-the listening and speaking portion of Spanish 2H. The scantron portion is next week. Our kids have finals next mon, tues and wed.</p>
<p>DD is pretty calm so far. I also work in education, but the opposite end (I run a PS program for kids with autism) and my last day is Friday. I<code>m glad I won</code>t be working next week when the kids have finals.</p>
<p>Still no PSAT scores they are serious when they say after Xmas.</p>
<p>Does anyone know anything about the lockheed scholarships? The give 100 a year. my understanding is that they offer more than a 100 kids the opportunity to apply, solely based on PSAT scores. The application then asks for grades, coursework, etc. The initial sign up is very basicā¦kids name, school attending and parents name and their Lockheed ID number. I know its an incredibly long, long, longshotā¦but what if this years group of kids isn`t as smart and the average PSAT is lower? So we are entering dd.
I`m hoping for a calm holiday season, and hoping dd will begin some SAT prep (although highly unlikely!!!!)</p>
<p>Youdonātsay~ Competitive student body. I am very glad to hear that your sonās experience has been the opposite of what I have heard. Fit will be extremely important for DD, and I donāt think she would function well in a pressure cooker environment. She really needs a place where she can grow, learn, live, be herself. Coming from a small, midwestern town where almost everyone goes to state schools she is so excited about going somewhere else. Whatever was in the coffee got her hooked!lol I hope the weather cooperates and we can visit in March or April. The last time we drove from KS to MN in March we drove into the Blizzard of 2005 which shut down I-35, not fun.</p>
<p>As a sidenote, my DS is a cross country runner. He is in 8th grade, and has only been running for two years, but loves it. He did really well this season, and plans to run next year in high school. I never see the look of complete freedom and contentment on his face as I do when he runs. It is so good for him. Weāll see how that plays out in the years to come.</p>
<p>VBC~ I am hoping for some test prep over Christmas break, too, but I have a feeling DD will have other plans. I will have to find something to occupy my time so that I donāt drive her crazy! Good luck to your DD on finals.</p>
<p>Oh, good luck to her! I hope she is able to accomplish her goal. Let us know!
My D doesnāt have her exams until after Christmas break, except for her AP one, which is before. She was working on those notecards last night! :-)</p>
<p>I kind of wish that they were having exams before break. Most kids arenāt going to spend their break studying and nine days can cause them to forget some stuff. I guess they will also do some review when they return from break though.</p>
<p>Ooh! Iāve never heard of the Lockheed. Must go look, just in case. </p>
<p>YDS: that is a ridiculous grading system. They get double hit by ONE test? Geez, suppose youāre having a bad day?</p>
<p>The math nightmare is over. 3 nights of ridiculous homework. Kids who liked the teacher before have changed their minds, and rumors are that parents have been complaining to administration. 3 nights of epic homework in a row (last night was 130 problems) for an honors level class when some of the kids are taking 3-4 AP classes. And itās exam week. </p>
<p>D2 does not have stamina, and has made it into bed before midnight each night. But thatās way too late for her, she is feeling it today. I think sheāll be tucked in early tonight :)</p>
<p>@Apollo- Everything Iāve read about St Olafās I just love. It sounds like a wonderful school to me. Iām not sure about D though. First, the weather might be too much for her. Second, the cost. Itās pricey and in order to even have a remote shot at merit aid, she would need to score significantly higher on the SAT than I think she would. It looks like only 17% of kids get non-need-based merit aid. </p>
<p>Other than that, I think it might be a good fit for her, based on not actually having been there but what Iāve read. They offer Education and Social Work, which is her interest, and I donāt think it is a big party-heavy campus, which is also a plus for her.</p>
<p>RobD and YDS- What is with teachers just piling it on like that? Or putting so much pressure on an exam or project? That really infuriates me. Teachers and parents alike should realize the pressure these kids are under at this point in their schooling. ARGH!</p>
<p>I had another dream last night. I donāt usually remember my dreams so for three nights in a row- super strange! In this dream I was D for a while and then myself. The neat thing is that when I am D, I can really feel how she must be feeling about things. I canāt decide whether itās good- that Iām trying to get in touch with how sheās feeling so I can be empathetic, or bad- that Iām taking over her and making her issues too much my own. OMG, a psychiatrist would have a freaking field day with me right now! :-)</p>
<p>vandy, thanks for the good wishes! D reported there were 140 short answer questions of which she knew 137 and 7/8 longer essay responses that she was less enthusiastic about. The second quarter doesnāt end until the end of January so she will still have some work to do, but a good grade on the exam would give her hope and ease her stress some. Our school system moved semester exams to before winter break several years ago for the exact reason you mentioned. Students were ill prepared for exams because of lack of class and study time during their time away from school.</p>
<p>RobD, my D had a teacher like that in middle school for algebra and geometry. Yes, she was so fortunate to get her two years in a row! She would assign hundreds of problems to 12 and 13 years who were already challenging themselves in honors high school math classes. So rediculous!</p>
<p>YDS, agree with RobD about the double whammy effect of your Sās semester test!</p>
<p>Thanks for that VBCMom. Wonāt need to google that now ;)</p>
<p>PSAT scores were distributed. Quietly optimistic as Dās are a few points higher than the cutoff last year, but since things were so squirrely last year and some states had a 4 or 5 pt rise, my comment was that it was wonderful and itās probable but that we canāt celebrate anything till we here either way around August 31st. Iāll have a better sense of things once college board releases their state data summaries in the next month. And I may have to talk with Descartesz :)</p>
<p>Been paying attention for a couple of weeks and thought I would join in a little. Iām new to the CC thing. Started by looking at financial aid thread and then found this one.</p>
<p>S1 is a junior this year. Still waiting on the PSATs. Students at his HS take the PSAT as Freshmen and Sophomores, so they know what to expect come Junior year. Not sure it will count for much though. He is mostly interested in schools that donāt base aid on PSAT scores. But the state schools might, so a good score canāt hurt.</p>
<p>He took the SAT a few days ago. So we are waiting on those scores as well. Those are the ones I am really waiting for. Heāll take them again in the spring some time as his school will pay for that one (actually not sure if it is the school paying or the academic foundation). At least SAT IIs are out of the way (unless he applies to georgetown - then he needs another).</p>
<p>Just got word our school will be handing out the PSATs on Wednesday January 11th (in the evening). At least he finds out his SAT score on 12/22. </p>
<p>I guess S3 is lucky, only one test this week (APUSH). We donāt end the semester until February 2nd. So not a lot of stress right now. Of course with S2 home on break he is staying up to late! Tonight they have try-outs for the musical. Since S3 is not a singer and has virtually no experience singing it should be interesting. </p>
<p>I made the huge mistake of looking at some of the early decision results threads. Scary stuff!!</p>
<p>Welcome dadotwoboys- nice to have another dad on this board (Iām assuming based in your name). My S will be taking the SAT in January and yes those are the scores that will matter more although who knows maybe great PSATs will help. congrats RobD on the possible NMSF-</p>
<p>Thanks for the welcome MDMom1314 and David1126.</p>
<p>Great PSAT scores canāt hurt - so I would love to see them. I think our state schools do give some benefit to NMF status.</p>
<p>Itās just that, for us, they mean a little less because S13 should be eligible for a Bright Futures scholarship (based on a combination of grades, SAT scores and community service hours for in-state students going to an in-state university) and we already prepaid his tuition when he was in elementary school. So, the SAT scores will help with admissions and the Bright Futures scholarship.</p>
<p>Of course, he would like to go someplace where they have all four seasons. Thatās a different issue, but I canāt say I blame him.</p>
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